Layoffs continue - not looking good

[Jobeth66]

I have a friend who is an entertainer on RCI, she was moving to a new ship and was in the process of learning a new show when this all happened and her contract was canceled.  She keeps hearing that they're going to be ready to go 'any day now' and that she should plan to return 'imminently'.

 

She's not.  She can't wait to go back, but she's not planning for it to be soon.

[BP99]

1 hour ago, justKirbo said:

We did get a 100% refund but it was for a trip booked for next year. When this all started to go down, my first thought was bankruptcy. We had a cruise on the Liberty scheduled for April 4th (I'm pretty sure that was the day) of 2021. Our friends and I had scheduled it when we got off the Liberty last year. I emailed my TA on March 15th and they canceled our cruise on the 16th. We had two rooms reserved with refundable deposits, so RCI had $1000 of ours. The credit went through on our (RC) Visa on the 23rd, I believe. I contacted the Visa and they mailed me a paper check that I deposited in our bank. 

I did email our TA to let them know we got our refund (he'd asked me to) and he said we were some of the lucky ones and he was hearing it could be up to 90 days from some lines.

But it was a future cruise that was not near its PIF day.

 

Our friends that were going with us, they used Costco as their TA and I'm pretty sure they have not received their refunds yet. She didn't call right away because the wait times were so long. I'm not sure if that's why we got our credit and they didn't or not. They also had a DCL cruise scheduled for this month (either to or from Hawaii, I can't remember which) and DCL canceled their cruise and they got full refunds credited to their card within the week of DCL canceling.

Hi,

Thank you for you reply. Glad you got your 100% refund which was a refundable deposit.

However, Most of the cruisers complaining made final payments on their cruise (what I call 

the BIG bucks- Thousands of $$$). After RCL (or Celebrity) cancelled their cruises

they offered a 100% refund that was to be given in 30 days. This was not stated as a "maybe in 30 days" So far (on these boards) I have yet to see anyone getting this. They are only getting other creative excuses either from the cruise line or their TA.

They broke their agreement. They had NO updates to anyone who filled out the

online refund. They also did NOT contact anyone that they even received the online form.

Silent. Many are (like me) out large sums ($5K to even 20K) and are worried that 

they may never see this money again. Several cruisers have posted that many can afford

the loss but many can't and their financial status should NOT play a role in this

discussion!!! Money is money! All they want is what RCL/Celebrity promised them.

In all THEIR (RCL) contracts, times are specific. They use them to the day in their benefit.

 

 

[EscapeFromConnecticut]

14 minutes ago, dodgestang said:

 

Post was funnier before you edited it to add the disclaimer.  I got it the first time 😉

 
☺️ Folks like you I wasn't worried about.  

[Iamcruzin]

57 minutes ago, ownedbypets said:

 

I'm sorry. My son also works for a cruise line and we are saying that any day he still has a job is a good day.

Hopefully they can get back to work soon.

Hopefully the millions who have been unemployed since The beginning of March can get back to work if they have anything to go back to. 

[justKirbo]

16 minutes ago, BP99 said:

Hi,

Thank you for you reply. Glad you got your 100% refund which was a refundable deposit.

However, Most of the cruisers complaining made final payments on their cruise (what I call 

the BIG bucks- Thousands of $$$). After RCL (or Celebrity) cancelled their cruises

they offered a 100% refund that was to be given in 30 days. This was not stated as a "maybe in 30 days" So far (on these boards) I have yet to see anyone getting this. They are only getting other creative excuses either from the cruise line or their TA.

They broke their agreement. They had NO updates to anyone who filled out the

online refund. They also did NOT contact anyone that they even received the online form.

Silent. Many are (like me) out large sums ($5K to even 20K) and are worried that 

they may never see this money again. Several cruisers have posted that many can afford

the loss but many can't and their financial status should NOT play a role in this

discussion!!! Money is money! All they want is what RCL/Celebrity promised them.

In all THEIR (RCL) contracts, times are specific. They use them to the day in their benefit.

 

 

Yes. I am aware. I even said that my cruise that was refunded was nowhere near PIF date. I posted because some people *did* get refunds, just not for cruises that had been PIF. I also know that we were incredibly lucky to get a refund at all. Based on what I see here, we may have been some of the only ones that got a refund (my TA actually tried to talk me out of canceling because we got an amazing deal on the cruise next year).

 

I did ask our cruise friends if they got their refund and they have not. (I mentioned them in my post, they were scheduled to be on the same cruise with us but asked for a refund a few days after we did.) They seem to be in the same limbo as most other Royal cruisers.

 

I posted to say that Royal *was* refunding mid-March. Then it all seems to have ground to a halt. And my TA told us when we asked for the refund that Royal told them 7-10 days. Our refund came in a week. When I contacted my TA to say that our refund was processed, he then told us that we were super lucky and they were then hearing it could be 30-90 days.

 

I sincerely hope that you all get your refunds before Royal sails off into the sunset. It's horrific that they are using your monies as interest free loans.

[Hobby3333]

Some are going to diss me on this but what I think is horrific is that they are still taking deposits and payments for cruises at the end of May.   They know better and the people booking should know better.  Not any better than phone scammers.

[Iamcruzin]

21 minutes ago, Hobby3333 said:

Some are going to diss me on this but what I think is horrific is that they are still taking deposits and payments for cruises at the end of May.   They know better and the people booking should know better.  Not any better than phone scammers.

No diss here. I agree with you. This is how they can borrow money interest free. It's starting to look like a pyramid scheme. They take money from people who are willing to pay a deposit and then pay back those who are waiting for a refund.  Anyone who is stupid enough to book a cruise leaving in the next 3 months deserves what they get or what they don't get back. There is enough information and signs that the world won't start up overnight. If people want to live on Fantasy Island and not in reality you can't stand in their way.    

[Milwaukee Eight]

40 minutes ago, Hobby3333 said:

Some are going to diss me on this but what I think is horrific is that they are still taking deposits and payments for cruises at the end of May.   They know better and the people booking should know better.  Not any better than phone scammers.

Best Ponzi Scheme going today. 
 

In my opinion 

[Jonbiloh]

16 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

No diss here. I agree with you. This is how they can borrow money interest free. It's starting to look like a pyramid scheme. They take money from people who are willing to pay a deposit and then pay back those who are waiting for a refund.  Anyone who is stupid enough to book a cruise leaving in the next 3 months deserves what they get or what they don't get back. There is enough information and signs that the world won't start up overnight. If people want to live on Fantasy Island and not in reality you can't stand in their way.    

 

This is spot on accurate. 

 

It pains me to go the credit card dispute route for fear of creating more confusion and or, if rcl survives, losing my d+ status, but with over 15k at stake, and no formal communication in 35 days since rcl canceled my may cruise, I feel as though I've got no alternative. It's just too much money to risk should rcl default or the credit strain become even worse in their balance sheet. 

[Iamcruzin]

4 minutes ago, Jonbiloh said:

 

This is spot on accurate. 

 

It pains me to go the credit card dispute route for fear of creating more confusion and or, if rcl survives, losing my d+ status, but with over 15k at stake, and no formal communication in 35 days since rcl canceled my may cruise, I feel as though I've got no alternative. It's just too much money to risk should rcl default or the credit strain become even worse in their balance sheet. 

I'm sorry you are going through this.  I would be upset if my average $3500 refund was at risk. I do buy insurance but I think in this case the company would have to go bankrupt before I could make a claim. We don't have cancel for any reason in NY.

[twins_to_alaska]

I had made final payment on my May 16 cruise - RC is still booking for it. I canceled Mar 11 during the 50% refund phase and had to insist on getting 50% money back instead of 100% FCC. I was refunded 4/4 for the 50% fare, taxes/fees, and cruise planner purchases. I called 4/8 and was approved to get FCC for the remaining 50% cruise fare. Told had to be manually processed and expect 30 days. No hurry... 🙂

[bonsai3s]

20 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Best Ponzi Scheme going today. 
 

In my opinion 

 

Agree with your opinion.

Not feeling good about the company we learned to love.

Too much invested...but still hoping.

(Now I sound like victims I used to interview...retired FLEO.)

[pcur]

On 4/15/2020 at 9:06 AM, gatour said:

Permanent is a relative term.  I imagine if RCCL survives as a going entity, when things pick they probably look at rehiring the former employees first.  Saves on training costs.  Obviously if RCCL is smaller then probably won't rehire everyone.

 

Many companies have laid off employees.  I am sure they also would do the same.

 

I agree.  I think this is a survival move:  cut operating expenses, put money where it matters most to keep the company going.  Survival mode sucks, but sometimes is necessary.

 

With the US unemployment rate at 13.5%, I'm not surprised with this RCCL move.  I hate seeing all of this, because I was unemployed several times in my career, and it's scary times.

[firefly333]

I guess op is glass half empty.. my first thought at lay offs, rcl has better chance to survive, good news.