Age 70 policy

[mek]

22 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

Cruising is closed ......its going to be a very long time before you have to worry about a doctors note ... 

Many cruise lines may not survive  and cruising as we know it will change 

 

regards

John

While I think you are right about it not starting up again soon, (like any time this year), speculation doesn't help those of us who already have cruises booked for later in  2020 and at some point will have to decide if we want to lose our deposits or take a gamble and make final payments.  I'm glad I have until August  to decide, but there are many out there right now with final payments due for late summer/early fall cruises and they are not being treated fairly by Royal. Yes, the cruise might be canceled and they will be eligible for a full credit, but that is a risk some don't want to take - especially if a large sum of money is involved. Royal should really step up to the plate and let anyone over 70 know if for some reason cruising starts back up and they still require the doctor's release that a full credit will be given - not this lame BS that the booking can be transferred over to someone else - how generous! 

[VK3DQ]

6 minutes ago, mek said:

While I think you are right about it not starting up again soon, (like any time this year), speculation doesn't help those of us who already have cruises booked for later in  2020 and at some point will have to decide if we want to lose our deposits or take a gamble and make final payments.  I'm glad I have until August  to decide, but there are many out there right now with final payments due for late summer/early fall cruises and they are not being treated fairly by Royal. Yes, the cruise might be canceled and they will be eligible for a full credit, but that is a risk some don't want to take - especially if a large sum of money is involved. Royal should really step up to the plate and let anyone over 70 know if for some reason cruising starts back up and they still require the doctor's release that a full credit will be given - not this lame BS that the booking can be transferred over to someone else - how generous! 

 

 

Yes , you must consider if Royal will survive this ...I wrote to the CEO and asked the question re the 70 y/o doctors note ...no reply as yet .. dont hold your breath .... if you put more money in now I suggest its quite a chance that you wont see it again

 

Ask for a refund ...

is not the US advise that no person over 70 should cruise??

regards

John

Edited April 11, 2020 by VK3DQ

[Ocean Boy]

9 minutes ago, mek said:

While I think you are right about it not starting up again soon, (like any time this year), speculation doesn't help those of us who already have cruises booked for later in  2020 

I understand your concern mek. Half the fun of a cruise is the anticipation. It is pretty hard to enjoy that when everything is up in the air. I feel badly for people with cruises booked in the next several months whether they actually get to go or not. It is very hard to know whether to finish paying off a cruise that may or may not happen. Vacations should not be stressful.

[mek]

2 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

 

 

Yes , you must consider if Royal will survive this ...I wrote to the CEO and asked the question re the 70 y/o doctors note ...no reply as yet .. dont hold your breath .... if you put more money in now I suggest its quite a chance that you wont see it again

 

Ask for a refund ...

 

regards

John

I booked with a non refundable deposit, so no chance of me getting it back if I cancel and as I mentioned,  my final payment isn't due until mid August so my best bet is to ride it out - right now I have nothing to lose by doing that.

[mek]

5 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I understand your concern mek. Half the fun of a cruise is the anticipation. It is pretty hard to enjoy that when everything is up in the air. I feel badly for people with cruises booked in the next several months whether they actually get to go or not.

I know - I had another one booked for June that was canceled and I was offered the FCC or a full refund - guess which one I jumped on!

Edited April 11, 2020 by mek

[orville99]

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

I know we won't lie about our pre existing conditions just to take a cruise.

Of course not. No one would ever lie on the health screening process.

 

Bridge for sale, bridge for sale

[VK3DQ]

34 minutes ago, mek said:

I booked with a non refundable deposit, so no chance of me getting it back if I cancel and as I mentioned,  my final payment isn't due until mid August so my best bet is to ride it out - right now I have nothing to lose by doing that.

Yes just dont pay any more ride it out ...if they cancel you will get something back 

 

Regards

John

[Ourusualbeach]

5 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

Yes just dont pay any more ride it out ...if they cancel you will get something back 

 

Regards

John

Unfortunately that won’t work.  In order to get money back Royal has to cancel the cruise.  So far they have only been cancelling 30-45 days ahead of departure which is long after final payment. 

 

If you cancel a NRD before final payment all you get is a FCC. 

[VK3DQ]

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Unfortunately that won’t work.  In order to get money back Royal has to cancel the cruise.  So far they have only been cancelling 30-45 days ahead of departure which is long after final payment. 

 

If you cancel a NRD before final payment all you get is a FCC. 

Which is not going to be worth much 

[Ocean Boy]

10 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Unfortunately that won’t work.  In order to get money back Royal has to cancel the cruise.  So far they have only been cancelling 30-45 days ahead of departure which is long after final payment. 

 

If you cancel a NRD before final payment all you get is a FCC. 

RCI is doing its best to make sure it stays in the driver's seat. And that all contributes to the stress of having a cruise booked instead of the fun of the anticipation of having a cruise booked. I truly feel badly for folks. This just isn't what a vacation is about.

[JT1962]

Unfortunately that won’t work.  In order to get money back Royal has to cancel the cruise.  So far they have only been cancelling 30-45 days ahead of departure which is long after final payment. 
 
If you cancel a NRD before final payment all you get is a FCC. 

You are correct. It’s almost a Ponzi Scheme - cancel 30 days at a time, wait 45-60+ days to refund, get more final payments during that 45-60+ days, then use those funds to send to those who requested a refund. If the delay in cruising continues long enough, at some point when most of the future cruises are being paid with FCCs, the money will stop coming in to issue refunds.

[pcur]

On 4/10/2020 at 1:03 PM, parrotfeathers said:

 

Especially those lines geared toward older people.  I guess that means if you are on supplemental oxygen you aren't going to cruise.   I don't see how they can keep up with enforcing these requirements.  

 

I agree.  Unless the condition is visible in some way to them, they are breaking all kinds of HIPPA laws asking for private medical information.  

 

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, pcur said:

 

I agree.  Unless the condition is visible in some way to them, they are breaking all kinds of HIPPA laws asking for private medical information.  

 

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

They are not breaking any HIPAA laws. HIPAA applies to medical facilities only. RCI can ask for anything they want as far as HIPAA is concerned.

[pcur]

9 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

They are not breaking any HIPAA laws. HIPAA applies to medical facilities only. RCI can ask for anything they want as far as HIPAA is concerned.

It's a gray area.  I just browsed through the HIPPA regulations, and a request for health information by an individual can be denied if it is likely to harm the individual.  The sentence does not indicate the type of harm.

 

I doubt if the CDC no longer asks cruise lines to do this, if RCCL will continue to do so.  I can see their lawyers saying, "NO, no, no:  class action lawsuit!!!"

 

We'll see.

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, pcur said:

It's a gray area.  I just browsed through the HIPPA regulations, and a request for health information by an individual can be denied if it is likely to harm the individual.  The sentence does not indicate the type of harm.

 

I doubt if the CDC no longer asks cruise lines to do this, if RCCL will continue to do so.  I can see their lawyers saying, "NO, no, no:  class action lawsuit!!!"

 

We'll see.

One does not have to comply with a request for information. RCI also does not have to let you on their ship. Now, maybe other laws come into play but it isn't HIPAA. I have to live with that law everyday. However, if I supplied your medical info to RCI without your consent I would end up a very unhappy person.

[pcur]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

One does not have to comply with a request for information. RCI also does not have to let you on their ship. Now, maybe other laws come into play but it isn't HIPAA. I have to live with that law everyday. However, if I supplied your medical info to RCI without your consent I would end up a very unhappy person.

Understood. 

 

My post above actually was from the HIPPA verbiage.  The scenario would be pretty far-fetched, because RCCL would hypothetically ask for confirmation of underlying conditions, and I would say you can't ask for that information as it would cause harm to me in some way. 

 

Then, they would just tell me to go away!  

 

They've got a devil of a problem, because they would be severely limiting their passenger count by doing this.  I think the doctor's notice dated within a week of sailing is a much better way to go.  

[Ocean Boy]

18 minutes ago, pcur said:

  I think the doctor's notice dated within a week of sailing is a much better way to go.  

Well, I guess someday when I turn 70 I'll just have to keep my license active.😉😁

[taglovestocruise]

32 minutes ago, pcur said:

They've got a devil of a problem, because they would be severely limiting their passenger count by doing this.  I think the doctor's notice dated within a week of sailing is a much better way to go.  

And what about those of us doing B2B cruises and flying into Europe a few weeks early for sightseeing.  

[Ocean Boy]

8 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

And what about those of us doing B2B cruises and flying into Europe a few weeks early for sightseeing.  

Screwed...😉😄

[Bailey & Sophie]

11 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

And what about those of us doing B2B cruises and flying into Europe a few weeks early for sightseeing.  

 

Or those lucky enough to do 10+ cruises a year. 

[griffy116]

I'm pretty sure the doctor would have you sign a form saying you are giving them permission to attest to your health. The form states you don't have a heart condition, kidney condition, diabetes  etc. It requests the doctor's registration number. Lots of people over seventy cruise, but I'm sure many of them have at one time or another have been treated for one of these medical conditions. If so, the doctor is not going to lie on the form. It's going to be very difficult for a lot of those over 7 cruisers to get this form signed. We cruised with both of my parent when they were over seventy. BOTH had been treated for heart conditions. We would not have been able to get a doctor to sign this current form for them, even though, at the time, their doctor knew they were going on cruises and had no concerns.This will affect a lot of family cruises.

[molly361]

7 hours ago, pcur said:

Understood. 

 

.  I think the doctor's notice dated within a week of sailing is a much better way to go.  

Getting in to see a doctor within 7 days, especially for a non  essential reason(except for the cruiser)  is not very practical in some areas 

[pspercy]

So if you take blood pressure pills and are over 70 you'll be denied boarding ?

[molly361]

11 minutes ago, pspercy said:

So if you take blood pressure pills and are over 70 you'll be denied boarding ?

You will be allowed if you can get their letter signed by a doctor

[mugtech]

9 minutes ago, pspercy said:

So if you take blood pressure pills and are over 70 you'll be denied boarding ?

Without a note from your doctor.