SHAME ON YOU ROYAL

[Beachin2]

Do not expect this post to last long since it does not cast RC in a favorable light.  This was submitted to RC Corporate with all signatures disclosed.  There has been no response.  The 67 cruisers that signed this letter ranged from Pinnacle to first time cruisers and came from across the globe.

 

Mr. Bayley,

 

We are writing to express our displeasure over your handling of the now canceled Radiance sailing of April 26, 2024.

 

The ship broke down on April 22^nd – 4 days prior to our scheduled sailing.  We were informed of the difficulty, but were encouraged by several communications from you to travel to Vancouver as you were repairing the ship.  Similar breakdowns have happened to this ship over the years (2002, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2023, 2024) and resulted in delayed or canceled sailings. We assumed that you knew your own equipment and trusted that the ship would be repaired in time for our voyage, especially since it had just completed a maintenance dry-dock. That obviously did not happen.

 

After traveling and boarding we were advised that the sailing would be delayed, then the next day advised that the sailing was canceled and told to vacate the ship.

 

All of us have incurred unreimbursed travel expenses by relying on your encouragement that you had the problem well in hand.  Many of us had either refundable or cancellable air, hotels, etc. that could have mitigated the financial damage had you either canceled – or offered us the opportunity to cancel – in a timely manner.  You chose to do neither.

 

Yes, you refunded our cruise fare and gave us discount coupons.  But we are left holding the bag for significant expenses that not even travel insurance will respond to.  Most travel insurance policies, including your own, have excluded coverage for this as they exclude the mechanical breakdown of your equipment.

 

We have spent countless hours speaking with your, mostly, off-shore representatives and have had to educate them as to what happened and having to chase down correct refunds, missing credits and promised actions.  It would seem that you would have a “go” team that would issue them some guidance – but apparently that didn’t happen.

 

Now, after sticking us with the task of chasing everything down, you have now added insult to the financial injury.  We were all provided a letter that at least our loyalty points (which cost you nothing) would still be applied.  The fact is a very few have had them added, but most have received written responses that they are either “in process” or “will not be credited”.  Some of us have received both.  It seems that the reps are making it up as they go along.

 

Shame on you Royal Caribbean.  We have grown to expect better from you.  We are actively sharing our experience with others and will continue to do so for years to come.  You had the opportunity to take a big negative and ease it into an acceptable positive, but failed at nearly every turn.

 

Again, shame on you RC.

 

[Signed by 67 passengers, with more that came in late] (Names redacted here for privacy).

[Another_Critic]

I see nothing in the letter that indicates how you wish to have your situation resolved.

 

At this point, the letter just seems like a rant (deserved or not).

[shandryl]

Don't forget to post it on FB/twitter<<old name and any other high audience platform you can think of for a bigger response/re-action. you never know could get the ball rolling. 

Edited Wednesday at 06:53 PM by shandryl

[gumshoe958]

2 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

I see nothing in the letter that indicates how you wish to have your situation resolved.

 

At this point, the letter just seems like a rant (deserved or not).

Agreed. Dreadful letter. You need to set out, clearly and concisely, what Royal needs to do to satisfactorily resolve your complaint.

[PhillyFan33579]

2 minutes ago, shandryl said:

Don't forget to post it on FB/twitter<<old name and any other high audience platform you can think of.

Do you really think the OP’s rant is going to make any difference no matter where it is posted? 

[shandryl]

Just now, PhillyFan33579 said:

Do you really think the OP’s rant is going to make any difference no matter where it is posted? 

I did say "you never know"  E for effort! 😁

[Beachin2]

Our group does not support blackmail.  We are posting this as a warning and information to others.  RC has already shown us their backside.

[not-enough-cruising]

TLDR as I am sure the corporate office also didn't  

 

two words  TRAVEL INSURANCE

[Another_Critic]

8 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

TLDR as I am sure the corporate office also didn't  

 

two words  TRAVEL INSURANCE

OP said: "But we are left holding the bag for significant expenses that not even travel insurance will respond to.  Most travel insurance policies, including your own, have excluded coverage for this as they exclude the mechanical breakdown of your equipment."

[livingonthebeach]

Many travel insurance companies sell trip interruption / cancellation policies. You did get a full refund and discount coupons. Are you looking for anything else from RCI?  I agree that you should have been given an option to cancel but that's water under the bridge now.  If you incurred extra fees from the airline to change your flight, I would submit that to RCI as well as any other fees you incurred due to the cancellation.  Good luck. 

[Another_Critic]

13 minutes ago, Beachin2 said:

Our group does not support blackmail.  We are posting this as a warning and information to others.  RC has already shown us their backside.

So, this was indeed just a "rant"?  No resolution is expected?

 

Edited Wednesday at 07:30 PM by Another_Critic

[Pratique]

2 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

Many travel insurance companies sell trip interruption / cancellation policies. You did get a full refund and discount coupons. Are you looking for anything else from RCI?  I agree that you should have been given an option to cancel but that's water under the bridge now.  If you incurred extra fees from the airline to change your flight, I would submit that to RCI as well as any other fees you incurred due to the cancellation.  Good luck. 

Yeah, it's not a cure all.

 

Last year Royal canceled our cruise the day before sailing, literally as we were heading out the door to the airport I got an email on my phone. I was able to cancel the airline tickets (for travel credit) but it was too late to cancel the hotel. Interruption insurance would not have covered it since we never began the trip other than loading luggage into the car.

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

Yeah, it's not a cure all.

 

Last year Royal canceled our cruise the day before sailing, literally as we were heading out the door to the airport I got an email on my phone. I was able to cancel the airline tickets (for travel credit) but it was too late to cancel the hotel. Interruption insurance would not have covered it since we never began the trip other than loading luggage into the car.

 

Did you try calling the hotel? Some big chains like Marriott will reimburse you if your trip was cancelled. What did RCI offer you?

[Pratique]

1 minute ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Did you try calling the hotel? Some big chains like Marriott will reimburse you if your trip was cancelled. What did RCI offer you?

That's not the point. The point is insurance isn't a cure all. Yes calling can help but that's not an insurance issue. As far as RC, they refunded the cruise and gave us a very limited window (about four weeks) to rebook with FCC, which we were not able to take advantage of.

 

The OP is just telling us what we already know, which is RC is not very good on the customer service end of things.

[not-enough-cruising]

15 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

OP said: "But we are left holding the bag for significant expenses that not even travel insurance will respond to.  Most travel insurance policies, including your own, have excluded coverage for this as they exclude the mechanical breakdown of your equipment."

Well, like I said, the letter was way too long and I didn’t read it. 
 

My annual policy covers mechanical breakdown. 

[livingonthebeach]

7 minutes ago, Pratique said:

That's not the point. The point is insurance isn't a cure all. Yes calling can help but that's not an insurance issue. As far as RC, they refunded the cruise and gave us a very limited window (about four weeks) to rebook with FCC, which we were not able to take advantage of.

 

The OP is just telling us what we already know, which is RC is not very good on the customer service end of things.

 

Their Customer Service is hit or miss. At times it's good, but when it's bad (I'll leave all expletives out). So if you had been able to take advantage of the FCC it would have been a free cruise - not too shabby, IMO.

 

I realize the OP just wants to warn people that this might happen to them as well and is not very happy with the way it was handled. That's the reason I have a yearly travel insurance policy that covers what he described. I'll be on Radiance in May of 2025 and if Michael Bayley sends me a message that the ship is broken but will be repaired I'll know better. 

[Southern Dan]

9 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

My annual policy covers mechanical breakdown. 

What company do you use?  I need to look into yearly coverage with how much I travel...

[not-enough-cruising]

2 minutes ago, Southern Dan said:

What company do you use?  I need to look into yearly coverage with how much I travel...

I have an annual policy with Trawick International for “travel” issues and I have a separate Geo Blue annual policy strictly for medical. 
This has been a great combo for me for years. 

[taglovestocruise]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

Yeah, it's not a cure all.

 

Last year Royal canceled our cruise the day before sailing, literally as we were heading out the door to the airport I got an email on my phone. I was able to cancel the airline tickets (for travel credit) but it was too late to cancel the hotel. Interruption insurance would not have covered it since we never began the trip other than loading luggage into the car.

All of the travel insurance policy's we have purchased are door to door, out your door to put luggage in your car and you are covered. 

[Airbear232]

1 hour ago, gumshoe958 said:

Agreed. Dreadful letter. You need to set out, clearly and concisely, what Royal needs to do to satisfactorily resolve your complaint.

Why? They’ve outlined the issue and the loss.  At this point it’s up to Royal to reply with a suitable course of action. I thought the letter was very well written. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 minute ago, taglovestocruise said:

All of the travel insurance policy's we have purchased are door to door, out your door to put luggage in your car and you are covered. 

Yes sir, exactly my situation. 

[Airbear232]

33 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

So, this was indeed just a "rant"?  No resolution is expected?

 

I took it as education and not a rant, YMMV.

[chfenton]

One other tip for the OP and their gang.  Over the last 20 years or so, I have had two relatively minor issues that i needed resolved and frontline customer service wouldn't/couldn't help.  A brief, polite email to the executive offices resulted in return phone calls from the executive office (United states) personnel within a day.  

[Biker19]

 

[Pratique]

19 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

All of the travel insurance policy's we have purchased are door to door, out your door to put luggage in your car and you are covered. 

I think we are getting off topic. The OP says RC encouraged guests to travel to the port knowing that the ship was not in condition to sail, and that their insurance didn't cover that situation.