Radiance cruise cancelled last minute

[Biker19]

Biker 19

East Coast Australian current - southwards up to 3 knots.

Ah, that makes sense, most of he time the ship was doing about 15 knots.

 

She's now half way between Sydney and Newcastle doing a leisurely 7 knots.

[dani negreanu]

As someone impacted by this cancellation, I would just like to add my 2 cents and hope you appreciate our situation. .....

 

When considering all the planning and emotional state of mind invested in this "once in a life time trip", I'm not impressed by the "free cruise" offered. Sure, things like that happen, but since this cruise is on the other half of the world, the disappointment is huge.

I've just returned less than 2 months ago from this cruise, and I remember being relieved that all went well, the looooong flights and the cruise, and both DH and I came home healthy and "in one piece"....

We had trip insurance, but not all is about the money lost. For me, it was an unique opportunity to travel down under in business class, and, at my age, I don't know if I could wait another year or two to embark in such a long and exhausting journey.

Murphy,

May I suggest Holiday Inn Old Sydney if you wish to consider staying at a hotel in Sydney? It is just opposite the cruise terminal, 5 min walking tops.

10 min walking to the Circular Quay subway, very central. Walking distance to the Opera House and the Bridge.

Affordable rates, and free membership gets u free WiFi. Opposite this hotel is a nice restaurant, very good value for money "Burgers and Ribs".

Hopefully, you'll be able to make lemonade, I feel for all of those impacted by this unfortunate situation.

[cruisingjodi]

Thinking of you all and understanding of all the planning, excitement, and disappointment that comes with what happened.

[Beachin2]

American Airlines is STILL sending me email updates on the cancelled flight from 2 night ago - and they sent 5 updates on the flight that left last night that we weren't even booked on. The added salt to a still open wound is REALLY starting to irritate me. Of course, no link to deactivate it.

 

Most of the refund has appeared as multiple part refunds to our AMEX. Not 100% back yet, but they are "working on it".

[Arubamoose]

When considering all the planning and emotional state of mind invested in this "once in a life time trip", I'm not impressed by the "free cruise" offered. Sure, things like that happen, but since this cruise is on the other half of the world, the disappointment is huge.

 

 

May I suggest Holiday Inn Old Sydney if you wish to consider staying at a hotel in Sydney? It is just opposite the cruise terminal, 5 min walking tops.

10 min walking to the Circular Quay subway, very central. Walking distance to the Opera House and the Bridge.

 

Hopefully, you'll be able to make lemonade, I feel for all of those impacted by this unfortunate situation.

 

I feel for everyone involved!! It’s a once in a lifetime trip and we would have been devestated.

 

We were on the Radiance last year (with Merion Mom) doing the NZ and coastal Aussie trip. We were lucky not to be too impacted by the cyclones except for the aftermath to Airlie Beach.

 

We jumped ship for the Explorer TP.

 

Hopefully they get everything up and running for the TP and everyone gets settled into alternate travel arrangements. It’s just a part of traveling.....

 

I too can highly recommend the HI Old Sydney. Great hotel!!

 

And not too far from the culinary school for great meals (William Blue)!

[Esilef]

We are flying into Christchurch today to spend a week there. Being an Australian I have already done this cruise previously and really loved it.

 

With our FCC we have decided to use this and our refunds to go to Barcelona in September this year. Brining forward a future trip.

 

So disappointed to miss this cruise but looking forward to the next.

 

Hopefully all our American friends will be able to do a New Zealand cruise at a later date. New Zealand is truly a unique and beautiful country to see.

 

 

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[zigtraveller]

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/5327179/800-visitors-as-cruise-ship-berths-in-newcastle-for-repairs/?cs=5951

 

News article from the Newcastle Herald this morning about the arrival of Radiance for repairs.

[Milwaukee Eight]

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/5327179/800-visitors-as-cruise-ship-berths-in-newcastle-for-repairs/?cs=5951

 

News article from the Newcastle Herald this morning about the arrival of Radiance for repairs.

 

 

 

Good article. Kind of lays to rest all the stories about the crew being displaced. Serenade drydock just recently kept a bunch of crew onboard. They had specific jobs during drydock.

 

 

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[travelberlin]

I am sorry to hear the problems with the Radiance. It is very unfortunate. I was booked on the Transpacific but cancelled it on favour of another cruise.

Ivi

[cruisenfever]

When considering all the planning and emotional state of mind invested in this "once in a life time trip", I'm not impressed by the "free cruise" offered. Sure, things like that happen, but since this cruise is on the other half of the world, the disappointment is huge.

 

Not only a FCC for a free cruise but a 100% refund on the canceled cruise.

[lbjen]

Not only a FCC for a free cruise but a 100% refund on the canceled cruise.

 

Are they supposed to be grateful that they got a 100% refund on the cruise that was canceled?! Of course they are entitled to their money back on a cruise that didn’t sail!

[xpcdoojk]

As someone impacted by this cancellation, I would just like to add my 2 cents and hope you appreciate our situation.

 

We were on the March 29, April 6 and April 17th Radiance cruises. I am from Florida. Had this cancellation been a Caribbean cruise out of one of the Florida ports I might agree with your assessment of the compensation, but I spent more than 2 years planning this trip , pre and post hotels , excursions and experiences. The logistics, flights and hotel research and options took hours to coordinate .

 

Then 1/2 way through the first leg, we are notified the next sailing is cancelled. We are on the other side of the world headed to a town that has a very expensive hotel accommodations rate and no plan for what to do.

 

Is the refund enough? I don't know yet. I spent one entire day of the cruise trying to find hotels, or air and touring options to New Zealand or a train tour to Perth or something besides staying in Sydney for 11 nights waiting for the next sailing instead of being able to relax and enjoy that day of the cruise. It may have helped tremendously if RCCL had provided a list of hotels with negotiated price breaks, or contacts of local travel agencies that had open availability of tours to choose from.

 

Did I figure something out? Yes. Is it what we wanted or expected to experience? No. Am I making the best of the situation ? I am trying to.

 

Good luck and I hope you have a great 11 nights. That is way too many for Sydney so, take the train or the plane or even a bus or a car, and go have an experience. That is truly what travel is all about. When things go perfectly that is one experience. When things go to crap that is another. You get to find something new, and while you are on the other side of the world and things might be expensive, it is a very nice other part of the world where the people are friendly the beer is cold and the food is 90% familiar.

 

Safe travels and cheers to new adventures.

 

JC

[xpcdoojk]

So where is the discount and what does it costitute of?

 

Maybe they should get Pesos or Thai Baht so they get a 3000% discount?:o:rolleyes:

 

This is soooo stupid! :rolleyes::eek:

 

So, what exactly should they do, Debbie Downer?

 

Good grief....

 

JC

[xpcdoojk]

Agreed. Prices for hotels alone are much higher in equivalent US cities, when converted. Convenience food may be a couple of dollars cheaper in those US cities (though not top restaurants) but that's not going to make up for the extra cost you're paying for accommodation.

 

Then you've got 20% tips and extra taxes for all and sundry, so not seeing how it's cheaper there.

 

So, lets talk about the cost of hotels. A hotel in Sydney is expensive to where I live, but a hotel in Sydney is cheap compared to a hotel in NY, London, Tokyo, Paris, Vienna, Singapore.

 

This is just to say, travel half a world a way is not by definition cheap. Getting to Oz is expensive both in time and money. Do Aussies tip like Americans? I was not aware they had strayed so far from their English cousins....

 

I thought Sydney was a very reasonable large city compared to many I have visited. If you want cheap go to Prague or Bucharest.

 

JC

[Zach1213]

Not only a FCC for a free cruise but a 100% refund on the canceled cruise.

Well no ****, I sure hope so

[critterchick]

It's the normal amount for a change fee. They're not looking at reimbursing you for air, just reimbursing you for the cost to change it to something else. What you do with your air credit is your business.

 

True, but on some international itineraries the change fee is higher than that. We paid $450pp last year when we found a massive price drop that made it worth coughing up the dough. I think RCI should pay the change fee, whatever it is, not limit the amount.

[resstation]

Good luck and I hope you have a great 11 nights. That is way too many for Sydney so, take the train or the plane or even a bus or a car, and go have an experience. That is truly what travel is all about. When things go perfectly that is one experience. When things go to crap that is another. You get to find something new, and while you are on the other side of the world and things might be expensive, it is a very nice other part of the world where the people are friendly the beer is cold and the food is 90% familiar.

 

Safe travels and cheers to new adventures.

 

JC

Totally agree! This happened to us about 10 years ago. We are from Florida and we were going to cruise out of Vancouver to Alaska on Celebrity. THREE DAYS before the cruise it was cancelled. Since I worked for a travel agency and got 10% off the cruise when I booked, we were only given a refund but not a free cruise like the rest of the non-agent passengers. It was too late and too booked for us to get any discounts on hotels but we made the best of it, experienced beautiful Vancouver, took a train to Whistler and had one of the best vacations we have ever had. Like the saying goes, "**** Happens".

 

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[Jana]

So, lets talk about the cost of hotels. A hotel in Sydney is expensive to where I live, but a hotel in Sydney is cheap compared to a hotel in NY, London, Tokyo, Paris, Vienna, Singapore.

 

This is just to say, travel half a world a way is not by definition cheap. Getting to Oz is expensive both in time and money. Do Aussies tip like Americans? I was not aware they had strayed so far from their English cousins....

 

I thought Sydney was a very reasonable large city compared to many I have visited. If you want cheap go to Prague or Bucharest.

 

JC

 

When were you last in Prague? NONONONONO, it is NOT an inexpensive city. It was once, before Czech was chasing EU membership, but no more. Not by a long shot.

 

(That said, it's still one of the most incredible fairy-tale cities I have ever visited...)

.

[Murphy]

True, but on some international itineraries the change fee is higher than that. We paid $450pp last year when we found a massive price drop that made it worth coughing up the dough. I think RCI should pay the change fee, whatever it is, not limit the amount.

I am not saying they will end up paying anyone more than the original offer but they did tell us to supply any additional plane change fee receipts within 30 days to a specific email for review.

[Murphy]

Bravo.

 

As someone who did this cruise last year and would have been devastated to be affected, I applaud you.

 

I'd love to hear what you end up doing, and how it turns out.

Although the itinerary is nothing like the cancelled New Zealand cruise, we did manage to secure an inside cabin on the Explorer of the Seas cruise due to a late cancellation by someone and thanks to the other b2bers in the Concierge lounge who told us about one cabin being available. We will board tomorrow. Did some additional sight seeing to Manley Beach today that we hadn't seen yet and will have 2 days after the Explorer in Sydney to do some other touring from here. There is a lot to see here, but won't have wanted to spent 11 days .

 

We are thankful to have a plan and will have to reschedule NZ for later.

[ReneeFLL]

American Airlines is STILL sending me email updates on the cancelled flight from 2 night ago - and they sent 5 updates on the flight that left last night that we weren't even booked on. The added salt to a still open wound is REALLY starting to irritate me. Of course, no link to deactivate it.....

 

We have never had that happen, but I would be ticked if it did. Even if we weren't in the situation that you are in and we were receiving emails about a flight we had never booked I think I would be even more ticked. Do you think that Choice Air might have given AA your info when they were helping you book another flight? Either way if you were never booked on those flights they shouldn't be emailing you.

 

Hope all goes great from now on.

[Murphy]

Not only a FCC for a free cruise but a 100% refund on the canceled cruise.

The FCC cruise credit doesn't really enable us to rebook a replacement cruise to New Zealand since the airfare is a large part of a trip this far away from home. This isn't just another cruise for us, it is likely a once in a lifetime trip that will be difficult to replicate for us for many years,

[dani negreanu]

The FCC cruise credit doesn't really enable us to rebook a replacement cruise to New Zealand since the airfare is a large part of a trip this far away from home. This isn't just another cruise for us, it is likely a once in a lifetime trip that will be difficult to replicate for us for many years,

 

Well said.

That's why I said that I'm not impressed by the FCC.... NZ isn't the Caribbean -- it's a short season, with no many choices and cruises are in high demand, rapidly booked.

And, yes, a full refund for a cancelled cruise is expected -- nothing to be impressed by it.

I'm sure everyone impacted will gladly have his cruise back, instead of a refund....

[GUT2407]

Pity there wasn’t any opportunity to offer a room to anyone caught.

 

I know I pay significantly less for a cruise per night, than a hotel in Sydney and dinner without thinking about breakfast, lunch and entertainment.

[The_Big_M]

Are they supposed to be grateful that they got a 100% refund on the cruise that was canceled?! Of course they are entitled to their money back on a cruise that didn’t sail!

 

So very generous of them!

 

Moreover the FCC isn't even the full cruise cost, let alone adjusting for current pricing which is up. Some may well need to put the FCC together with the refund just to get an equivalent cruise.