RCCL cancelled cruise--SO MAD

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

 

LOL! Don't ever try and survive in the business world.  And entitled customers garner ZERO sympathy.  "I want my refundable booking so I can cancel right before final payment with no consequence!  But, if you DARE cancel on ME well before final payment, you will incur my irrational wrath FOREVER!!!"

 

Do people even get that cruising BARELY qualifies as "travel".  It's a creation so devoid of culture, adventure and variability, it's barely a step up from watching Golden Girls reruns on your sofa.  The fact that people complain like this only underscores that fact.

I will agree with you when it comes to Caribbean itineraries on Royal , NCL and Carnival. They are nothing but amusement parks and shopping malls at sea. Any thing that they provide on these ships  can be done better on land. However there are other lines with smaller ships that travel to places that have more culture and history. I would not choose any of the mega ships to sail Asia, Africa , South America or Europe. 

[Hanzo]

4 hours ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

 

LOL! Don't ever try and survive in the business world.  And entitled customers garner ZERO sympathy.  "I want my refundable booking so I can cancel right before final payment with no consequence!  But, if you DARE cancel on ME well before final payment, you will incur my irrational wrath FOREVER!!!"

 

Do people even get that cruising BARELY qualifies as "travel".  It's a creation so devoid of culture, adventure and variability, it's barely a step up from watching Golden Girls reruns on your sofa.  The fact that people complain like this only underscores that fact.

Being upset something you planned and paid for potentially a year or more in advance is cancelled so they can make more money is considered entitled? Alrighty then.

 

And it sounds like you don't like cruising, any reason why you are on a cruise message board?

[gatour]

This is the business model, that the mass market cruise lines employ.  While it can be considered unfair that they do this, I have found life is generally unfair.   Esp. in regards to large corporations and how they interact with individuals.

 

Since the OP is so upset, perhaps they should consider no longer taking cruises as a vacation option.

 

For example, I am a Disneyphile.  And literally grew up at Walt Disney World since the day the Magic Kingdom opened.  Had annual passes for a very long time.  However, 10 years or so they started to raise their ticket prices each year at a rate greater than the increase in the rate of inflation.  We dropped our annual passes 7 or 8 years ago.  Started to go to Universal Studios and actually started to do more cruises, as they had a better value/entertainment ratio than Disney.

 

Disney doesn't seem to miss my business as they have seemed to found enough people to take my place. I don't piss and moan about the prices as I understand that it is a business and they run it as they see fit.  The same goes for Royal Caribbean.  I may make complaints about certain things,  I am still happy with the product.  However there may come a time when I decide to move on.

[steevo L]

5 hours ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

 

LOL! Don't ever try and survive in the business world.  And entitled customers garner ZERO sympathy.  "I want my refundable booking so I can cancel right before final payment with no consequence!  But, if you DARE cancel on ME well before final payment, you will incur my irrational wrath FOREVER!!!"

 

Do people even get that cruising BARELY qualifies as "travel".  It's a creation so devoid of culture, adventure and variability, it's barely a step up from watching Golden Girls reruns on your sofa.  The fact that people complain like this only underscores that fact.

How does cruising barely qualify as travel ???    please answer that as it makes Zero sense. Not everyone books a cruise for the rides and waterslides.....  We dont all own private jets like some internet keyboarders.  I have been to most islands already and go on a cruise to get away from daily stuff in life. I like nothing more than to sit out on my balcony and do nothing but watch the water while in the sun, sip some cocktails while listening to some good music.  It would be cheaper sometimes to go to europe or a resort some where, but what a better way then to do nothing but relax.  but hey....... its a step up from golden girls.

 

If people want to complain, let them, its a forum. isnt hurting me, so i feel no need to insult people. 

[mr walker]

As disappointing as having your cruise cancelled for a charter, the cruise line is merely doing to you, what you could similarly do to them, at any point up to final payment.

 

You make a booking, they accept your booking upon payment of deposit, and then, as per the contract, you have the ability to cancel your cruise up until final payment without penalty. No reason required. 

 

So, why is it so unfair, for the cruise line to be able to cancel your booking, without penalty (returning deposit), again up to final payment? No reason required.

 

Do you think it would be better if once you booked and paid your deposit, & from that point, maybe more than a year ahead, you could no longer cancel & would be up for the full fare, whether you went on the cruise or not. If you say yes, then in that case, the cruise line also cannot cancel. Fair??

[mayleeman]

There is a big difference between a single customer cancelling 91 days out, and a cruise booking being yanked out from under thousands of passengers. Customers are fungible and the cruiseline will have no problem replacing one. The displaced passengers may or may not have the resources or the flexibility to replace the cruise.

 

For those of you saying it is no big deal, I suspect you are not among the people who save for years, or work overtime to finagle time off, or have had to scramble to replace a cherished dream. 

 

The only way a cruiseline can do this ethically is if they provide passengers with full refunds and compensation for any rebooking fees customers have incurred (not advocating extra, just costs). 

 

As to the comment about modern Caribbean cruises being worthless and offering nothing not better done on land, I am looking at my snorkel and out into the backyard--no, I don't think you get it at all.

 

People get PO'ed, and that seems to bother the scoffing crowd. It must be a great luxury to feel as if you have the right to tell people what emotions they are allowed to have.

 

Incidentally, I guarantee you that if the group chartering the ship cancelled under their contract, the honchos at the cruiseline would also be furious. These things are called reactions. They are normal. Ridiculing someone for being disappointed is, in contrast,  pretty sick.

Edited March 22, 2019 by mayleeman
typo

[mr walker]

28 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 

Incidentally, I guarantee you that if the group chartering the ship cancelled under their contract, the honchos at the cruiseline would also be furious. 

 

There is a very strict payment protocol for charters, which includes payment guarantees,  very big up-front non-refundable deposit and payment mile-posts along the timeline. There will be no furious honchos - the risks are with the group chartering the ship.

 

I agreed it would be disappointing for the people who are cancelled, so I trust you are not saying I am ridiculing.

[mayleeman]

5 hours ago, mr walker said:

 

There is a very strict payment protocol for charters, which includes payment guarantees,  very big up-front non-refundable deposit and payment mile-posts along the timeline. There will be no furious honchos - the risks are with the group chartering the ship.

 

I agreed it would be disappointing for the people who are cancelled, so I trust you are not saying I am ridiculing.

It wasn't you. Your post just happened to be right before mine. 

 

On further reflection  my comments were more about the individuals who were scoffed at when they related their own cancellation stories than about the OP's group anyway. My point is that the anger makes sense even if these things are to be expected occasionally. Like when a shopping cart hits your new car after you kept it ding free for 6 months. Inevitable, but who isn't really mad?

[leisuretraveler223]

8 hours ago, Hanzo said:

Being upset something you planned and paid for potentially a year or more in advance is cancelled so they can make more money is considered entitled? Alrighty then.

 

And it sounds like you don't like cruising, any reason why you are on a cruise message board?

 

What did you "pay for" potentially a year in advance?  Because the last time I checked, payment wasn't due until three to months before or so....

[leisuretraveler223]

7 hours ago, steevo L said:

How does cruising barely qualify as travel ???    please answer that as it makes Zero sense. Not everyone books a cruise for the rides and waterslides..... 

 

I like nothing more than to sit out on my balcony and do nothing but watch the water while in the sun, sip some cocktails while listening to some good music. 

 

Great! Nothing wrong with that.  In fact, that's why I cruise too!

 

But there are a lot of people who get worked up over the most trivial things (like having a refundable trip you are under no obligation to take being rearranged for reasons beyond your control)  that just makes me laugh.

 

No way people doing travel that involves a little more effort and actual cultural experience could possibly get their panties in a twist over the nonsense people cry about here on a daily basis.

 

Go on a trip!  Be it a cruise, a safari, a bus tour of Europe! Who cares!  But stop crying about trivialities.

[leisuretraveler223]

6 hours ago, mayleeman said:

Incidentally, I guarantee you that if the group chartering the ship cancelled under their contract, the honchos at the cruiseline would also be furious. These things are called reactions. They are normal. Ridiculing someone for being disappointed is, in contrast,  pretty sick.

 

Congratulations on demonstrating you have zero clue as to how big business works.  The "honchos" (read business professionals running a multi-billion  dollar publicly traded entity) couldn't care less about any cancellation.  Instead of "being furious", they actually structure transactions in a way that minimizes their risk- as they should.

 

Really, just stay in your lane.

[mayleeman]

Thank you for the education. I forgot that I have never seen anyone upset when schedules change or contracts are cancelled.  

[Paulette3028]

7 hours ago, mayleeman said:

There is a big difference between a single customer cancelling 91 days out, and a cruise booking being yanked out from under thousands of passengers. Customers are fungible and the cruiseline will have no problem replacing one. The displaced passengers may or may not have the resources or the flexibility to replace the cruise.

 

For those of you saying it is no big deal, I suspect you are not among the people who save for years, or work overtime to finagle time off, or have had to scramble to replace a cherished dream. 

 

The only way a cruiseline can do this ethically is if they provide passengers with full refunds and compensation for any rebooking fees customers have incurred (not advocating extra, just costs). 

 

As to the comment about modern Caribbean cruises being worthless and offering nothing not better done on land, I am looking at my snorkel and out into the backyard--no, I don't think you get it at all.

 

People get PO'ed, and that seems to bother the scoffing crowd. It must be a great luxury to feel as if you have the right to tell people what emotions they are allowed to have.

 

Incidentally, I guarantee you that if the group chartering the ship cancelled under their contract, the honchos at the cruiseline would also be furious. These things are called reactions. They are normal. Ridiculing someone for being disappointed is, in contrast,  pretty sick.

We have had the experience of a booked cruise being turned into a charter and we had to choose a different time to cruise.  I did not like it....it did cause us to use up a little extra vacation time (which we stretch out as much as possible) and Royal did compensate us with OBC for the inconvenience.  Since we did not have to fly to the cruise port, we did not have that headache and that could add to the problem.  

 

In recent years, expecting corporations to have 'ethics' seems outrageous.  If corporations had ethics they would not damage our waterways by putting poisonous chemicals in them  --- this is an extreme example, for sure....but the point is --- sure I want ethical behavior from corporations,  I just hope for a compensation plan when things go awry (not life threatening) that affect me to 'minimize my disappointment'.  I will stick with my philosophy of 'when life gives me lemons, I choose to make lemonade rather than suck on the lemon'.

[SRF]

16 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

If you are referring to drydock those are planned out and sailings aren’t offered during that period. Can’t be an emergency maintenance since OP booked 2 years out so this is clearly to make money. No shame in that but taking advantage of guests who have committed and paid a deposit is bad format no matter how high and mighty the business is at the time. 

 

No I was not.

 

But Grandeur just came out of dry dock a couple of days ago.  At least two cruises were cancelled, and people rebooked on other cruises or refunded.

[Hanzo]

In case anyone ever wonders why some companies seem egregiously anti-consumer or have terrible customer service yet still remain popular remember to thank people like @leisuretraveler223 that gladly bend over with a smile for them. In the meanwhile for the rest of us, if you don't like something about a business's operations, be it legal or not, don't be afraid to let your voice be heard.

 

Cheers.

[Paulette3028]

8 minutes ago, Hanzo said:

In case anyone ever wonders why some companies seem egregiously anti-consumer or have terrible customer service yet still remain popular remember to thank people like @leisuretraveler223 that gladly bend over with a smile for them. In the meanwhile for the rest of us, if you don't like something about a business's operations, be it legal or not, don't be afraid to let your voice be heard.

 

Cheers.

Personally, singling out leisuretraveler223 isn't right, but that is my POV.    I will agree with you that if someone doesn't like how a business operates they have 'every right' to let that business know directly (take it up the corporate ladder if necessary) and as you say 'let their voice be heard' -- by the appropriate people.  

 

I work for a corporation that has policies and customers have a belief that 'they can have any policy changed to suit their personal situation', because our society has adopted a theory that "The customer is always right" --  well the 'Customer is NOT always right'.  A company isn't 'egregiously anti-customer' automatically because of a policy or practice that they utilize.  

 

In our cruise experiences which now total 27 cruises, we have had TWO situations, that came up that caused stress for us.  Once was a cruise that was turned into a charter (similar to this thread) and the other was when Royal 'cancelled' our paid in full cruise 'by mistake' after final payment had been made.  The 2nd situation was more difficult to remedy and I had to go up the corporate ladder for immediate help (my TA couldn't even solve it), but Royal corporate -- got it done and compensated us for the stress and aggravation (we were less than 60 days from sail date).

 

In the long run, when thousands upon thousands of cruises/cruisers are being managed --- we have had 25 cruises that went off without headache or aggravation.....I believe that is a phenomenal track record....just speaking for our cruise history. We have 3 more booked and expect the odds are in our favor that these next 3 will come off without a problem.

 

 

[mayleeman]

I agree about planning for contingencies and anticipating problems. That makes it easier to adapt. I have always been a fixer and I don't think it is healthy to be immobilized by anger. In the OP's case, being mad is a normal reaction, but with a group that size and so much time they can still preserve almost all of their expectations. My posts are focused on people with little or no cruising experience--in the drydock thread someone blamed the upset passengers saying they should have researched drydock plans and anticipated it could be extended. Yeah, right!

Edited March 22, 2019 by mayleeman

[Hanzo]

17 minutes ago, Paulette3028 said:

Personally, singling out leisuretraveler223 isn't right, but that is my POV.    I will agree with you that if someone doesn't like how a business operates they have 'every right' to let that business know directly (take it up the corporate ladder if necessary) and as you say 'let their voice be heard' -- by the appropriate people.  

 

I work for a corporation that has policies and customers have a belief that 'they can have any policy changed to suit their personal situation', because our society has adopted a theory that "The customer is always right" --  well the 'Customer is NOT always right'.  A company isn't 'egregiously anti-customer' automatically because of a policy or practice that they utilize.  

 

In our cruise experiences which now total 27 cruises, we have had TWO situations, that came up that caused stress for us.  Once was a cruise that was turned into a charter (similar to this thread) and the other was when Royal 'cancelled' our paid in full cruise 'by mistake' after final payment had been made.  The 2nd situation was more difficult to remedy and I had to go up the corporate ladder for immediate help (my TA couldn't even solve it), but Royal corporate -- got it done and compensated us for the stress and aggravation (we were less than 60 days from sail date).

 

In the long run, when thousands upon thousands of cruises/cruisers are being managed --- we have had 25 cruises that went off without headache or aggravation.....I believe that is a phenomenal track record....just speaking for our cruise history. We have 3 more booked and expect the odds are in our favor that these next 3 will come off without a problem.

 

 

If they don't want to be directly responded to they should probably not condescend to multiple people in this thread. One thing of note, in all these instances the cruise lines gives some sort of compensation which is nice, but that is also an indication that they know what they are doing is wrong, despite having the legal right to do it. Again, I am glad you don't mind the inconvenience, I take more issues with people telling others what should bother them and what shouldn't. The OP seem to put substantial effort into this, who are we to say how they should feel/react?