Feeling a bit screwed over by RC, Irma safety/risk issue and no-refund, greed?

[Reader0108598]

Sorry for your troubles really! I was supposed to be flying into Fort Lauderdale this morning for my Birthday weekend!

 

I did not take out insurance as my package was a bit over 700.00 ..lucky for me JetBlue will refund. I always take out insurance for my cruises though.

 

Stay safe Florida!!

 

 

Good luck

Reader

[lowsidr]

Did you purchase insurance?

 

 

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No I didn't, i'm fine with the fact I didn't. Worst case scenario I get a FCC. Best case scenario I still have a home, the 13th will be a go and Irma doesn't devastate Florida or other states. My post isn't about insurance, this is bigger than that.

[Jade13]

Didn't know this. Thanks for the enlightenment in regards to what the insurance covers. I was under the impression it was not for 100%, thought it was around 50%.

 

 

 

It depends. Some policy's require you to insure the entire amount paid for the cruise, flights, hotels, etc., while some allow you to insure a smaller amount. I believe there is an insurance section on cruise critic that you should check out. Why should the cruise line reimbursement people who failed to insure their vacation?

 

Now if a trip is canceled because the ships engine is damaged than in that case the cruise line should be responsible.

 

 

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[lowsidr]

Sorry for your troubles really! I was supposed to be flying into Fort Lauderdale this morning for my Birthday weekend!

 

I did not take out insurance as my package was a bit over 700.00 ..lucky for me JetBlue will refund. I always take out insurance for my cruises though.

 

Stay safe Florida!!

 

 

Good luck

Reader

Happy early Birthday and thanks for the well wishes. Sorry you are missing out on the cruise....

[lowsidr]

It depends. Some policy's require you to insure the entire amount paid for the cruise, flights, hotels, etc., while some allow you to insure a smaller amount. I believe there is an insurance section on cruise critic that you should check out. Why should the cruise line reimbursement people who failed to insure their vacation?

 

Now if a trip is canceled because the ships engine is damaged than in that case the cruise line should be responsible.

 

 

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Appreciate the info but I disagree entirely that the entire weight of responsibility should be placed entirely on a persons choice of whether they purchased insurance or not, that's just not rational thinking. If the product I purchased cannot be delivered as advertised due to the cruiseline not being able to fulfill the product sold, customers should NOT be left on the hook or blamed simply because they didn't purchase insurance.

[ONECRUISER]

But, if you look at statistics or listen to those of us that live in these areas, the majority of the severe hurricanes happen in August and September. I don't think most of us are saying don't cruise at all during these months. But, be prepared to need a backup plan.

 

And most importantly feel comfortable enough in your own knowledge and gut to do what YOU think is right for your family. Don't wait for the cruiselines (any of them) to make that choice for you.

 

And for the non insurance purchasers, maybe those 2 months you might want to re think it.

 

For what it's worth, I have a cruise out of Miami Sept 25th!

I don't sail every Labor Day weekend, but in last 30 yrs years I did have had to watch at least one Hurricane and as many as 4 while sailing, that one was a choppy sailing. Had to miss ports at least 12 times, one time they all changed. Never got a penny in compensation and yrs ago if you missed a port you never even got Port Tax back...

[Reader0108598]

Happy early Birthday and thanks for the well wishes. Sorry you are missing out on the cruise....

 

 

Thank you! This was not a cruise it was a kick back on beach Birthday getaway! Cruise in November..hubby feels so bad we are not going away for my birthday have the go ahead to book another cruise!

 

:)

 

Reader

[Big_G]

It is incredible to hear that RCL is telling passengers to come to South Florida while local officials are saying get out or stay away.

 

They're not.

[lowsidr]

They're not.

RCL's most recent post today at 6pm stated my cruise has been modified and it will leave on the 13th instead of the 10th. If that's not saying "come on down" i'm not sure what else does.

[Wanderfully]

I guess we can all agree that cruise lines have contracts that pretty much remove them from bearing any responsibility for cruise changes, delays etc. And we can agree that trip insurance is a good thing to have.

But what the issue seems to be is if they talk the talk, then they should walk the walk

If they SAY they care about passenger safety first, and their passengers in general, then they should show it. Keep them safe and do the right thing

We were on a cruise a few years ago to the ABC islands. The day we were supposed to dock, after 2 days of cruising, the captain came on at 8AM and said we were turning around and heading back to Ft Lauderdale. Norovirus was so bad amongst passengers and the crew that the cruise was compromised. We received a full refund to our credit card, 25% off another cruise if taken within 2 or 3 years AND the cruise line rescheduled everyone's airline tickets FOR them. Also 5 days cruising around the Caribbean for $0 ( we didnt get sick)

Did they have to do that? Was it in the contract? I don't think so. Was it a small ship? Nope, 3000 passengers.

But I'll tell you this, that bought my loyalty.

And I hope RCCL does the right thing here by its passengers and everyone can stay as safe as possible and out of harm's way

[Big_G]

RCL's most recent post today at 6pm stated my cruise has been modified and it will leave on the 13th instead of the 10th. If that's not saying "come on down" i'm not sure what else does.

 

Officials are telling people to get out of the way. Royal is telling you to wait until it passes. This isn't the Harvey experience.

[lowsidr]

I guess we can all agree that cruise lines have contracts that pretty much remove them from bearing any responsibility for cruise changes, delays etc. And we can agree that trip insurance is a good thing to have.

But what the issue seems to be is if they talk the talk, then they should walk the walk

If they SAY they care about passenger safety first, and their passengers in general, then they should show it. Keep them safe and do the right thing

We were on a cruise a few years ago to the ABC islands. The day we were supposed to dock, after 2 days of cruising, the captain came on at 8AM and said we were turning around and heading back to Ft Lauderdale. Norovirus was so bad amongst passengers and the crew that the cruise was compromised. We received a full refund to our credit card, 25% off another cruise if taken within 2 or 3 years AND the cruise line rescheduled everyone's airline tickets FOR them. Also 5 days cruising around the Caribbean for $0 ( we didnt get sick)

Did they have to do that? Was it in the contract? I don't think so. Was it a small ship? Nope, 3000 passengers.

But I'll tell you this, that bought my loyalty.

And I hope RCCL does the right thing here by its passengers and everyone can stay as safe as possible and out of harm's way

Great post. I'm also a loyal RC fan and we cruise a lot. Never had an issue with them not bending over to keep us happy. I'm just annoyed right now because they refuse to answer any questions in regards to the time-frame in which they will 100% confirm a departure, in my case anew date of the 13th instead of the 10th. I don't think it's an unreasonable request for them to give more notice. Another person stated earlier that they were still saying the cruise was on the day before and even though the port was closed. Insanity to do this and claim it's all being done for the safety of their customers....Yep, time to walk the walk if you talk the talk.

[beachnative]

Congratulations on 1/4 of this 160 post thread being yours.:):cool:

[MrsPete]

This is what Trip insurance is for. A cruiseline (or any vacation) is not there to hand money out if something out of their control happens.

I know you're frustrated and are lashing out, but this is the truth. When you book a cruise during hurricane season -- which, by the way, is my favorite time of year to cruise -- it behooves you to opt for insurance or be prepared for this very situation.

[Luckybee]

Officials are telling people to get out of the way. Royal is telling you to wait until it passes. This isn't the Harvey experience.

 

This unique and extraordinary storm one of the most powerful in history is scheduled as of 5pm today to be hitting Florida from the 10th to the 11th. If I am not mistaken at this point RCCL is telling people that cruises will be leaving on the 12th and 13th.

 

We live near Toronto....we do not have a cruise scheduled for this time and if we did there isn't a snowballs chance in heck that we would head for Florida . But if we couldn't afford to take the hit, and our insurance didn't cover unless the cruiseline cancelled then we would have to get to south Florida on either the 11th or 12th....that isn't waiting until it passes with Irma. . In the islands waiting until it passes is months, in Fla it is likely weeks if the damage is anywhere close to the places it has already hit....even if it is a fraction !

 

I've only been through 2 hurricanes on land based vacations, and while we did have to evacuate both the Bahamas and South Fla on the one occasion(after evacuating the Bahamas to get to South Fla, only to have the hurricane cross central Fla where we had finally evacuated to....lol) and it wasn't a fun experience....and the remnants were a mess. We rode out one which was only a Cat 1 ....and that was a mess too! Having read many posts on here from those either not living in hurricane areas, or having no experience at all with hurricanes I am convinced that part of the problem is many don't seem to understand what a category 5 hurricane is capable of. Reading some posts on another message board a recurring theme is ..."wow some of the pictures look like a Tornado went through" .I want to yell "no chit people what do you think a Cat 5 is.....its like a very very very big Tornado"...omg !!!!

[dswallow]

Royal Caribbean using its own cruise ship to evacuate employees

 

Royal Caribbean is putting its employees aboard one of its own majestic ships to get them out of the path of Hurricane Irma.

 

The employees and their dependents will board the Enchantment of the Seas, a thousand-foot ship that can handle almost 2,500 passengers, and churn to calmer waters before the hurricane slams into Florida this weekend.

 

[...]

 

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/07/news/companies/royal-caribbean-hurricane-irma/index.html

[LPut714]

Anything beyond a full credit towards another cruise is just a courtesy on the part of the cruise line. We are booked on the Oasis on the 17th - we knew it was hurricane season when we booked, so have cruise insurance. Hmm... makes me wonder... if you have cruise insurance and cancel totally - does insurance reimburse? Or do you only get the credit from RC. What they are offering for the 13th is a sweet deal if you can take advantage of it!

We are on the Allure on the 17th and called Travel Guard today-was told only way we could get reimbursement is if air and or sea portions cancel. You would then attach that email from air/sea and file a claim. You can't just cancel on your own.

Safe travels everyone

[lbjen]

We had people in Houston who came down early for their cruise, because they knew it was likely that their flight would be canceled the day before the cruise was supposed to depart. They came early, into a storm, because RC said they would not get their money back if they weren't here when the ship left.

[LPut714]

We found our insurance through them for our cruise this year. We bought a policy through C&F Travel Insured International. Kids were free so we only paid $100 for my husband and me. I'm in my 50s.

Does that include air flight to the port and back, medical evacuation, etc. Am a nurse and have done cpr on a cruise passenger would not want to be off loaded in a 3rd world country-in this gentleman's time it was Jamaica

[nancy513]

I do purchase cruise insurance and I would hope I'd be covered if I were sailing in hurricane season with a hurricane heading for my departure port. Having said that, if the cruise line realizes it can't deliver what I purchased, and I know I read the contract about changing ports, meaning my 7 day cruise is reduced to 3 days, why should they not refund my money?

 

 

 

For many of us, it's not just a matter of reducing the number of days, it involves hotels, flights etc. The offer of OBC is totally wrong. Last week Royal made some very poor decisions which I felt left some stranded by waiting until the very last minute to say no cruise etc.

 

 

 

Even though Royal Caribbean has no say in the weather, they are still penalizing their customers. They can't deliver a 7 day cruise and expect passengers to say oh, well, I will find a flight etc and go for 3 days. I think this is the worst customer service and makes me think of how they only think of the almighty dollar.

 

 

 

Now, I just want to say that I don't have a cruise scheduled for a few months, but I do understand those who feel they are being ripped off and saying they should have insurance, isn't like saying I got a sore throat or the flu and Royal Caribbean won't refund my cruise fare.

 

 

 

I think Royal Caribbean's thoughts are "you pays your money and you takes your chance." Once again, I have no problem with their changing ports, but shortening the cruise or letting passengers hang is NOT good customer service.

 

 

 

From Royal Caribbean's website. If you booked your flight through them, they will let you cancel or reschedule without penalty. If you booked privately, then you need to contact the airline or your travel agent and it is up to them if the charge any fees. Makes sense to me

 

 

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[MikeBTN]

This unique and extraordinary storm one of the most powerful in history is scheduled as of 5pm today to be hitting Florida from the 10th to the 11th. If I am not mistaken at this point RCCL is telling people that cruises will be leaving on the 12th and 13th.

 

We live near Toronto....we do not have a cruise scheduled for this time and if we did there isn't a snowballs chance in heck that we would head for Florida . But if we couldn't afford to take the hit, and our insurance didn't cover unless the cruiseline cancelled then we would have to get to south Florida on either the 11th or 12th....that isn't waiting until it passes with Irma. . In the islands waiting until it passes is months, in Fla it is likely weeks if the damage is anywhere close to the places it has already hit....even if it is a fraction !

 

I've only been through 2 hurricanes on land based vacations, and while we did have to evacuate both the Bahamas and South Fla on the one occasion(after evacuating the Bahamas to get to South Fla, only to have the hurricane cross central Fla where we had finally evacuated to....lol) and it wasn't a fun experience....and the remnants were a mess. We rode out one which was only a Cat 1 ....and that was a mess too! Having read many posts on here from those either not living in hurricane areas, or having no experience at all with hurricanes I am convinced that part of the problem is many don't seem to understand what a category 5 hurricane is capable of. Reading some posts on another message board a recurring theme is ..."wow some of the pictures look like a Tornado went through" .I want to yell "no chit people what do you think a Cat 5 is.....its like a very very very big Tornado"...omg !!!!

 

Yes, but they're giving people a choice.

 

1 - sail a shortened sailing. You will receive 50% of what you paid as a refundable on board credit and 50% as a future cruise credit. You're essentially getting.free 4 or 5 day cruise (obviously you'll spend something on board).

 

2 - decide not to sail and receive 100% of what you paid as a future cruise credit.

 

They are not forcing anyone to travel to Florida or sail on the 12th or 13th.

 

Some people, like the OP, are just complaining that that they just don't get a complete cash refund like those folks who's cruises have been cancelled.

[nancy513]

Agree. We were in St. Thomas a month after Hurricane David in 1979 hit St. Thomas. They sustained a lot of damage, but the island was open to tourists and we had a great time. We are also scheduled on the Allure in November with a St. Kitts stop and we hope the port is open for business. If not, Royal will take us elsewhere which will be ok with us.

 

 

 

That's a bit of a relief for me since I'm sailing to the Southern Caribbean in November. I just saw images of the famous airport in St. Martin and how torn up it was. That beach is one of my shore excursions. Now, I just have to worry about Irma as she continues her path of destruction. I live in Southwest Florida [emoji53]

 

 

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[WeLuvVacation]

My 2 cents. After seeing pictures and reading accounts of the utter and complete destruction that Irma has caused anywhere near the eye of the storm. And since right now as of the NOAA latest tracking map showing the eye is right near if not over Miami/Fort Lauderdale unless things change drastically over the next little while Irma is going to suck up the Mia/Ftl area and spit it back out into the Atlantic Ocean.

 

RCCL's continuing joke of a plan looking for an "all is well on Tuesday" is 100% bull. Mia/Ftl is going to be uninhabitable for weeks if not months. The cruise terminal building will most likely be either heavily damaged or totally destroyed. This is a 185 MPH hurricane. The worst ever on record. As it is they will have to port somewhere else to disembark their passengers that they have now. Where I don't know since in this case bigger is not better. Only so many ports can port an Oasis class ship. One of the ones that isn't destroyed is where they will go.

[perditax]

I'm not trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation, but I don't think Miami & Fort Lauderdale will be "uninhabitable" for months. You're talking about very large areas that may not even interact with the actual eyewall. And things don't have to change "drastically", there's still a lot of time for wobbles in the path.

 

Again--not saying there won't be devastation, because Florida is unlikely to escape fully. I'm just saying making definitive statements about what & where is premature.

[fla gang]

I am also a 60 year Florida native scheduled to be on the Harmony on the 23rd. If this hurricane comes in on the east coast of Florida I would bet that port of Miami and Port everglades will sustain a lot of damage and the hurricane will push a lot of sand into the channel making it too shallow for the ships to come into until it is dredged. I hope none of this happens!