ANYONE ELSE IN THIS SITUATION?

[huntr104]

HI all,

I am hoping someone will have some insight/advice/ect into my situation.   My family and I are booked on a cruise for April 17th 2022. My 12 year old son is not vaccinated. We booked a non refundable deposit way back in 2019 and after several cancellations on ROYALS side due to COVID, we are now booked for this cruise an cannot go on it due to my sons vaccination status. I have found this "Royal Promise" document online (see link below) and the date only extends to  APRIL 14th 2020.  We are hoping that it gets extended so we can get a refund.  We have been checking daily.   Is there any other "COVID policies" that anyone could direct me to for my situation? We have about 1500 tied up in this cruise payment and we really want a refund.  

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2021_2022/RTS_FAQs.pdf

We are waiting to see if they extend this policy but we have a feeling it will not be extended until AFTER our final payment is due which is on MARCH 18th...

Thanks in advance for any input on this. 

[Biker19]

19 hours ago, huntr104 said:

Thanks in advance for any input on this. 

Call them now (maybe a couple of times) and ask for a refund. If they won't budge cancel all planner purchases and then a day later cancel the sailing taking the FCC, which I hope you can use later on.

[nelblu]

 I have a similar situation.  I booked 4 cabins on Harmony for Easter '20 sail which was cancelled due to C19.  Used the FCCs issued and applied to Anthem Easter '21 sail and this was also cancelled.  My TA did a lift and shift to Anthem Easter '22 sail.  

 

Same problem, I have 3 granddaughters and each is in 3 of the cabins.  The youngest who is not vaxxed and under 12  is sailing with parents and me (solo), but the other 2 are 12 and over and not vaxxed.  I started the process early as I knew that vaccine would be required and there was no way that RCL/CDC would allow them to sail.

 

The process was frustrating as some on Royal kept telling me to book something in the future before the CWC opportunity expires and same with some on this board.  My TA was almost non-existent due to C19 and the lack of staff. 

 

Finally, after I submitted more e-mails and phone calls, I get a call from agent from my TA.  I calmly explained how disappointed I was from the lack of acknowledgement on their part and that Paxs  in 2 of the cabins would not be able to sail because RCL/CDC will not even allow them on the ship.  I explained to her, that I would not accept FCCs because they are basically useless in this situation due to the inherent expiration of certs. and that the vaccine requirements will never go away.  I. further emphasized that they are ready to sail, but prevented by the H&S protocols in place.

 

She understood and told me that she would contact RCL and get some resolution.

 

A week later, get an e-mail stating that once the H&S protocols are announced a request for refund will be initiated.

 

Good news, but won't be satisfied until the full refund appears on my CC.

 

[huntr104]

50 minutes ago, nelblu said:

 I have a similar situation.  I booked 4 cabins on Harmony for Easter '20 sail which was cancelled due to C19.  Used the FCCs issued and applied to Anthem Easter '21 sail and this was also cancelled.  My TA did a lift and shift to Anthem Easter '22 sail.  

 

Same problem, I have 3 granddaughters and each is in 3 of the cabins.  The youngest who is not vaxxed and under 12  is sailing with parents and me (solo), but the other 2 are 12 and over and not vaxxed.  I started the process early as I knew that vaccine would be required and there was no way that RCL/CDC would allow them to sail.

 

The process was frustrating as some on Royal kept telling me to book something in the future before the CWC opportunity expires and same with some on this board.  My TA was almost non-existent due to C19 and the lack of staff. 

 

Finally, after I submitted more e-mails and phone calls, I get a call from agent from my TA.  I calmly explained how disappointed I was from the lack of acknowledgement on their part and that Paxs  in 2 of the cabins would not be able to sail because RCL/CDC will not even allow them on the ship.  I explained to her, that I would not accept FCCs because they are basically useless in this situation due to the inherent expiration of certs. and that the vaccine requirements will never go away.  I. further emphasized that they are ready to sail, but prevented by the H&S protocols in place.

 

She understood and told me that she would contact RCL and get some resolution.

 

A week later, get an e-mail stating that once the H&S protocols are announced a request for refund will be initiated.

 

Good news, but won't be satisfied until the full refund appears on my CC.

 

Yes, this sound very familiar.  I've spent hours on the phone, too!  Unfortunately I booked the cruise myself through Royal and I don't have a TA to do the leg work for me.  The multiple people I spoke with over the phone from Royal had the same response.  It's like they had a pre written response that they would not deviate from.  It was like I was speaking to robots.  I have sent 4 different emails and still have not heard back from them.  So at this point my 2 options are.

Pay the final payment and have more $$$ locked up in them and cross my fingers that they extend the mandatory vaccine date past April 14th and they issue me a full refund from my FCC's.

or my other option is

Kick the can down the road and try to squeeze the cruise in before the end of the year.  Which my kids still won't be vaccinated and I'm sure their mandatory vaccine policy will still be in place.

 

This has been a tough couple years for everyone but my way of thinking seems very easy to understand and I don't know how it doesn't make sense to them.  So here it is!

When we booked this cruise back in Nov. of 2019.  Covid 19 was never heard of!  I would have never booked the cruise under these mandates, restrictions, policy changes, etc.  So, just give me my money back and I'll cruise again when I'm ready!  

 

Thanks for your help!

[huntr104]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Call them now (maybe a couple of times) and ask for a refund. If they won't budge cancel all planner purchases and then a day later cancel the sailing taking the FCC, which I hope you can use later on.

I don't have any other purchases with them.  They have a $1000 non refundable deposit and $543 that I had to pay when rebooking for taxes, fees and port charges.  Yes I can take another FCC but I would have to use it by the end of this year!  My kids won't be vaccinated by then either and I doubt their mandatory vaccine policy is going away this year.  Maybe it will be gone next year but who knows.

 

Thanks

[MommaBear55]

21 hours ago, huntr104 said:

HI all,

I am hoping someone will have some insight/advice/ect into my situation.   My family and I are booked on a cruise for April 17th 2022. My 12 year old son is not vaccinated. We booked a non refundable deposit way back in 2019 and after several cancellations on ROYALS side due to COVID, we are now booked for this cruise an cannot go on it due to my sons vaccination status. I have found this "Royal Promise" document online (see link below) and the date only extends to  APRIL 14th 2020.  We are hoping that it gets extended so we can get a refund.  We have been checking daily.   Is there any other "COVID policies" that anyone could direct me to for my situation? We have about 1500 tied up in this cruise payment and we really want a refund.  

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2021_2022/RTS_FAQs.pdf

We are waiting to see if they extend this policy but we have a feeling it will not be extended until AFTER our final payment is due which is on MARCH 18th...

Thanks in advance for any input on this. 

Sadly, the way to use up the most money without taking a hit would be to leave your son home. That would totally defeat the purpose of a family vacation. Have you tried getting a vaccine exemption for him? You could also use the CWC and hold on to your FCC for a few more months and see if the vaccine requirements go away. Another option would be to look at how much money you'd lose if you just cancelled this cruise and just accept the loss and walk away. Royal Caribbean gets to decide what it's rules are, you get to decide if your child gets vaccinated, but you may not get everything back based on that decision. 

[PTC DAWG]

I thought 12 year olds were eligible for the vaccine…

[LGW59]

Just now, PTC DAWG said:

I thought 12 year olds were eligible for the vaccine…

You thought correctly

[huntr104]

15 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

Sadly, the way to use up the most money without taking a hit would be to leave your son home. That would totally defeat the purpose of a family vacation. Have you tried getting a vaccine exemption for him? You could also use the CWC and hold on to your FCC for a few more months and see if the vaccine requirements go away. Another option would be to look at how much money you'd lose if you just cancelled this cruise and just accept the loss and walk away. Royal Caribbean gets to decide what it's rules are, you get to decide if your child gets vaccinated, but you may not get everything back based on that decision. 

Thanks for the input.  It's not just my son.  He's 12 and would need to be vaccinated.  My daughter is 8 and she would have to wear a mask.  I don't want to cruise under theses conditions.  That's not what I signed up for back in 2019.  We only get to cruise every couple of years and we love cruising.  I just don't want to cruise under these circumstances.

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, huntr104 said:

Thanks for the input.  It's not just my son.  He's 12 and would need to be vaccinated.  My daughter is 8 and she would have to wear a mask.  I don't want to cruise under theses conditions.  That's not what I signed up for back in 2019.  We only get to cruise every couple of years and we love cruising.  I just don't want to cruise under these circumstances.

Totally understandable, but like you, in 2019 Royal had no idea this was coming either.  Either way good luck, I hope they will refund you.

[not-enough-cruising]

3 minutes ago, huntr104 said:

Thanks for the input.  It's not just my son.  He's 12 and would need to be vaccinated.  My daughter is 8 and she would have to wear a mask.  I don't want to cruise under theses conditions.  That's not what I signed up for back in 2019.  We only get to cruise every couple of years and we love cruising.  I just don't want to cruise under these circumstances.

Just off 8 days on the Allure. Almost zero children were ever masked. 

[Biker19]

40 minutes ago, huntr104 said:

They have a $1000 non refundable deposit and $543 that I had to pay when rebooking for taxes, fees and port charges. 

The fees above the deposit should be refunded. 

[Native Floridian 26]

They are supposed to announce the new protocols at least 30 days before so that is by  Wednesday March 15th, at the latest because there are cruises on April 15th.  You will then be able to request a refund of your deposit, regardless of whether it was refundable or not.  I can't believe they haven't announced them  yet.

Edited March 13, 2022 by Native Floridian 26

[Jimbo]

5 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

They are supposed to announce the new protocols at least 30 days before so that is by  Wednesday March 15th, at the latest because there are cruises on April 15th.  You will then be able to request a refund of your deposit, regardless of whether it was refundable or not.  I can't believe they haven't announced them  yet.

Probably waiting until (tomorrow) Monday when they have more people working to take phone calls.

[huntr104]

22 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

They are supposed to announce the new protocols at least 30 days before so that is by  Wednesday March 15th, at the latest because there are cruises on April 15th.  You will then be able to request a refund of your deposit, regardless of whether it was refundable or not.  I can't believe they haven't announced them  yet.

Oh, good to know.  Thank you!

[nelblu]

5 hours ago, huntr104 said:

Yes, this sound very familiar.  I've spent hours on the phone, too!  Unfortunately I booked the cruise myself through Royal and I don't have a TA to do the leg work for me.  The multiple people I spoke with over the phone from Royal had the same response.  It's like they had a pre written response that they would not deviate from.  It was like I was speaking to robots.  I have sent 4 different emails and still have not heard back from them.  So at this point my 2 options are.

Pay the final payment and have more $$$ locked up in them and cross my fingers that they extend the mandatory vaccine date past April 14th and they issue me a full refund from my FCC's.

or my other option is

Kick the can down the road and try to squeeze the cruise in before the end of the year.  Which my kids still won't be vaccinated and I'm sure their mandatory vaccine policy will still be in place.

 

This has been a tough couple years for everyone but my way of thinking seems very easy to understand and I don't know how it doesn't make sense to them.  So here it is!

When we booked this cruise back in Nov. of 2019.  Covid 19 was never heard of!  I would have never booked the cruise under these mandates, restrictions, policy changes, etc.  So, just give me my money back and I'll cruise again when I'm ready!  

 

Thanks for your help!

My fallback will be legal action. 
 

You may try sending a e-mail to:

 

 

Aurora Yera-Rodriguez 

AVP Guest Experience

 

avera-rodriguez@rccl.com

 

She was doing a lot of talking on behalf of RCL during the summer months. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by nelblu

[klfrodo]

I can’t have much sympathy when the OP tries to put 100% responsibility on the big bad corporation.

There are work arounds which the OP is unwilling to accept.

We all have choices to make in life. We all have battles in life. We also need to make wise choices on which battles we are willing to die on the hill for.

 

This would not be my choice of battles, but it’s not my battle.

[BirdTravels]

They policy is the policy,,, and has not changed much (except to get a little less restrictive). The OP has made choices. And made final payment. Waiting until it is "too late" to make a decision, then complaining is just silly. 

[BirdTravels]

24 minutes ago, nelblu said:

My fallback will be legal action. 
 

You may try sending a e-mail to:

 

 

Aurora Yera-Rodriguez 

AVP Guest Experience

 

avera-rodriguez@rccl.com

 

She was doing a lot of talking on behalf of RCL during the summer months. 

You know that all of these public facing email addresses do not go to the executives. They go to a general call center where minimum wage call center personnel issue canned, legally approved responses on behalf of the execs. Aurora does not read and respond to thousands of complaints each day

[Another_Critic]

4 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

They policy is the policy,,, and has not changed much (except to get a little less restrictive). The OP has made choices. And made final payment. Waiting until it is "too late" to make a decision, then complaining is just silly. 

The OP has not made final payment ... it is due 3/18.

[MikeTheNFT]

6 hours ago, huntr104 said:

Thanks for the input.  It's not just my son.  He's 12 and would need to be vaccinated.  My daughter is 8 and she would have to wear a mask.  I don't want to cruise under theses conditions.  That's not what I signed up for back in 2019.  We only get to cruise every couple of years and we love cruising.  I just don't want to cruise under these circumstances.

She can get vaccinated, too. Problem solved.

[yogimax]

6 hours ago, huntr104 said:

 I don't want to cruise under theses conditions.  That's not what I signed up for back in 2019.  We only get to cruise every couple of years and we love cruising.  I just don't want to cruise under these circumstances.

Do your kids have real medical exemptions from being vaccinated?  If not, you can remedy the situation by simply having the kids vaccinated.

[Ashland]

OP can move the cruise out and have both kids vaccinated by the time that cruise sails.

[xtremegk]

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

My fallback will be legal action. 

 

Yeah, good luck with that. 🙄

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, nelblu said:

My fallback will be legal action. 
 

You may try sending a e-mail to:

 

 

Aurora Yera-Rodriguez 

AVP Guest Experience

 

avera-rodriguez@rccl.com

 

She was doing a lot of talking on behalf of RCL during the summer months. 

My fallback will be legal action.  ROTFL