Cruiseline refuses to refund trip

[Aubiecruiser]

Cheerleader? We are asking for personel accountability. We all feel sorry for the lady but it does not take away from poor planing or, if she on purpose refused insurance, accountability.

 

Why does it has to be that everybody's health problem, death and other personal problems becomes the responsibility of someone else?

 

Do you think if she and her husband, based on double income, would have rented or bought a house and once one dies the mortgage company or landlord would have said: sure, just break the lease (mortgage)?

 

Get real.

 

I agree completely, why is it always someone elses fault when people don't plan for the unexpected. RCI was more than fair in their initial credit. I'd like to see what Carnible would have done.

Aubie

[PhoenixCruiser]

Cheerleader? We are asking for personel accountability. We all feel sorry for the lady but it does not take away from poor planing or, if she on purpose refused insurance, accountability.

 

Why does it has to be that everybody's health problem, death and other personal problems becomes the responsibility of someone else?

 

Do you think if she and her husband, based on double income, would have rented or bought a house and once one dies the mortgage company or landlord would have said: sure, just break the lease (mortgage)?

 

Get real.

 

Well said!!!

 

###

[kingsgirl]

I sent off a reply too. Man I am Canadian and this infuriates me!!!!!!!!

[alphakitty]

I was looking for an e-mail address as well. Couldn't find it though. It is truly a bad investigative reporter when you put a company in a bad light even if they go beyond what they are supposed to do.

 

Sure we all feel sorry for the family. But let's not forget that if the family and friends (over 20!!!) would have properly planned this would be a non issue. Accountability is at an all time low.

 

I did write and told them how I felt about this terrible reporting. There is a link on the website under "Station Info" for Feedback to New Stories.

[OHCruisin]

I still want to know how they had a "bill" from Royal when they got home. That alone is enough to send up red flags. Does anyone know of a cruise line that lets you cruise first, pay later?

 

I have all the sympathy in the world for the woman and her children. It's heartbreaking. But the fact is, anything can happen on vacation, to anyone, and insurance is a must if you expect a refund should something occur.

[Rancher Dave]

Cheerleader? We are asking for personel accountability. We all feel sorry for the lady but it does not take away from poor planing or, if she on purpose refused insurance, accountability.

 

Why does it has to be that everybody's health problem, death and other personal problems becomes the responsibility of someone else?

 

Do you think if she and her husband, based on double income, would have rented or bought a house and once one dies the mortgage company or landlord would have said: sure, just break the lease (mortgage)?

 

Get real.

 

Well put and very on point. With the subprime financing issues going on there are a lot of folks who want society to bail them out even though they knew darn well they could not afford the house when they bought it. Why should I pay more money to bail them out when I control my spending and make sure to live within my means?

 

It is almost as bad as criminals complaining that they are victims and that is why they became criminals and gee we as society should let them off. Just like guys who think because their parents spanked them, it is ok to beat their wives. NOT OK....

 

The reporting is like so much in our current society, no personal responsibility. (Working on a client issue today w/o getting too detailed I was glad I caught the error, the carrier is correcting it and ultimately we will figure out what went wrong...I think ultimately it boils down to about 4-6 total errors/oversights that combined to cause the issue...which is being fixed, but I will definitely own up to any part that was my fault) <I may have failed to catch that one of the pages never went thru on the first fax...>

[Conanc]

I feel that Royal Caribbean is more than fair in dealing with this type of situation. Before we bash them, let's talk about Holland America! I have a friend who booked a 10 night cruise with them. Several months after she booked, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She went through tests and the surgery and because they caught it fairly early, and all looked pretty good just afterwards with her tests, so she was planning to cruise as planned as a reward and relaxation from all they had been through.

 

She then found out that they were recommending chemotherapy so she went to cancel the cruise on the very day her final payment was due. To avoid losing her deposit, it turns out that she should have cancelled with them the day before her final payment was due according to her confirmation paperwork from HA. She understood this, but asked if there was anything at all they could do about crediting her $1200 deposit and they refused. She was willing to provide necessary medical forms, etc. and spoke to several people and even sent a letter to the president but they didn't budge. So technically, yes she was one day late but with all of her health issues she wasn't thinking or reading carefully as she was researching all about the chemo, 2nd opinions, medical centers, etc. You would think that Holland America would have been understanding under these circumstances and maybe tried to work with her but they were just so heartless and weren't even all that nice to her. The fact that it was only ONE day later and on the date the actual final payment was due could have counted for something.

 

I have seen and read about Royal Caribbean and how they handle situations like these and while I can't attest to what they would have done for my friend, I am certain that they would have handled it better than Holland America did. That is another reason why we prefer Royal Caribbean and once my friend is finished with her chemo, will take that cruise, and has decided to stick with and book it with Royal Caribbean.

[FL_Cruiser64]

I did write and told them how I felt about this terrible reporting. There is a link on the website under "Station Info" for Feedback to New Stories.

 

Here is what I wrote:

 

I like to comment on a recent "Call 12 for Action" by Susan Hogan piece titled 'Cruise Ship Refund'.

 

First of all I like to express my condolences to the lady who lost her husband. It is always hard to lose a loved one and there is never a right time for this to happen.

 

Having said that I am deeply disappointed in the investigative part as well as the presentation.

 

Several items are incorrect and others are presented in a slanted way. Cruise lines do not bill post cruise. Unless the family booked the cruise within the penalty phase all payments for a cruise on the Freedom of the Seas (which are 7-Night cruises) have to be paid 70 days prior to the date of sailing. The only bill this lady may have gotten is the credit card bill in case she booked the sailing within the credit card's last billing cycle.

Further, no cruise line is responsible for the cancellation of a cruise for any reason once the penalty phase is in effect. In the case of a 7 Night cruise with Royal Caribbean the penalty for canceling after the final payment date (70 day-marker) is $250 per person, 30 days prior to sailing it is 50% of the cruise fare and one week prior to sailing it is 100%.

 

Cruise lines and travel agents always advise and ask if the passenger wants to purchase travel insurance which protects customers from a financial loss in case of cancellations in the penalty phase.

 

The offer made by Royal Caribbean was a kind offer since cruise lines are not responsible for passengers missing cruises because of a variety of reasons.

 

What really disturbs me is that the pictures shown on your report is clear evidence that this family has cruised before and they should have known of the rules.

 

Also disturbing is that the lady watched the Freedom leave port. According to your report her husband died within hours of boarding. How could a woman sit at the window and watch the Port of Miami immediately after her husband passed away? Isn't there first a trip to the hospital required? Paper work to fill out? Making arrangements to fly back home?

 

Also, the trip was extremely poorly planned. On a trip of 20 people you have to plan with insurance because the odds that something happens are much greater than if it is only a couple people cruising.

 

In your report, you also stated that the cruise was on January 13. I am assuming that it was 2008. How can a woman within less than three weeks of losing her husband of 18 years be concerned about some lousy refund? In less than 3 weeks, she lost her husband, watched the cruise ship leave, had to transfer her husband back home, make funeral arrangements, have a funeral, received a bill supposedly from Royal Caribbean, contacted Royal Caribbean, talked to friends and then contacted your TV station? How composed can a person be having just lost a spouse of 18 years? And she rejected Royal Caribbean's offer immediately? Did not even try to renegotiate? Basically given the cruise line no chance of reviewing the matter? Was she able to send Royal Caribbean a death certificate? If yes, all that in 18 days? If no, is Royal Caribbean just simply going to believe someone who calls?

 

As I said, my condolences go out to the family but it does not release her from accountability and responsibility of booking a trip without coverage and essentially holding someone else responsible for that.

 

My question is: what if he would have died hours before boarding an air plane? Would she have gotten any refund? Or from the hotel? I highly doubt it.

 

We have several TV stations down here who do similar consumer pieces. And if the cause is right it is a good thing. But a consumer help line or consumer protection should not be used to break a contract in the consumer's favor.

 

Thank you for reading this.

[R'man]

Local TV news is "entertainment" - from the bogus teases like "a mention of the 's-word' in our Storm Tracker forecast at eleven" to stories like this, with the poor, grieving widder woman battling Snidely Whiplash over her stolen cruise fare. And that nice lady from channel 12 was sooooo helpful, she fought Whiplash and got that widder her money back.

 

If you're watching your local TV news you've probably seen hundreds of broadcasts featuring "dramatic footage from yesterday's Main Street fire", or "the heartwarming story of a loving family's adoption of a homeless puppy minutes before scheduled for euthanization." It's all about ratings, and advertising revenues, i.e. drawing an audience, and none of it is about truth because none of that matters. Just get the cute, "concerned" talking head some soundbites and pictures!! Ask someone in the racket about it sometime.

[Stoneyard]

February ratings period started yesterday. All you will see this month is sob...sob...sob.

[Rancher Dave]

February ratings period started yesterday. All you will see this month is sob...sob...sob.

 

Even so, they should provide accurate ideally balanced reporting. If they can't be trusted with a simple story like in the case we are all debating here, how can we trust them when the information is of vital/critical importance to everyone involved?

[Cruising89143]

Did anyone else notice in the video that they were showing photos of the family and some were taken on a Carnival ship. What happened to this family is tragic but it's obvious that since they have cruised before that they knew the rules of the contract. This story was not reported in a fair or accurate way.

[auburn77]

I got the Norovirus on Mariner last Feb. and was quarantined 2 days. My wife never got it, but was quarantined 1 day. RCI was very generous to us. They gave us a large credit for our next cruise (we never asked for). They also treated me very well while sick. I don't consider them to be heartless at all. I was very satisfied with the way we were treated. You won't see a story like this on the news.

[Conanc]

I got the Norovirus on Mariner last Feb. and was quarantined 2 days. My wife never got it, but was quarantined 1 day. RCI was very generous to us. They gave us a large credit for our next cruise (we never asked for). They also treated me very well while sick. I don't consider them to be heartless at all. I was very satisfied with the way we were treated. You won't see a story like this on the news.

 

Another good reason to sail RCCL. Thanks for sharing.

[Robb]

Gee, look at all the money I could have saved if I had not wasted it on insurance. Several years back, before I started buying insurance, I had a heart attack-resulted in triple by-pass surgery-and missed a cruise. We lost over $5000.00. Do you think I have a chance of getting my money back?

 

Buy insurance people and if you do not, do not expect anything that is not rightfully yours.

 

That being said, I do feel sorry for the family in their loss.

[auburn77]

Call an auto insurance agent and tell him you didn't think that you needed auto insurance and that you have totalled your car. See if he'll send you a check. If he doesn't, he's heartless.

[kingsgirl]

If anyone gets a respons from emailing the news site, please post!

[SomeBeach]

My sympathy goes to the lady and her family.

I agree with just about everything said. Insurance is offered and was probably offered to them. The gambled, played the odds all would go well and lost. It is not RCIs fault if they chose not to get it. Out of goodwill, an offer was made, it just wasn't what she wanted. I'm sure, so early on, the lady is scared about the drastic change in her life but that is no reason to blame RCI for their not protecting themselves with trip insurance.

I believe the reporter would have done better in explaining the importance of buying insurance for big trips, at the very least mentioning more about that at the end of her piece. Then again, what kind of story would she have had doing that. :rolleyes: Her show is the kind to make the big, nasty corporation look bad because of the consumers stupidity.

I also emailed her my thoughts about this. I do not expect to hear back.

[Annieeee]

I filled out the complaint form and sent it to the reporter. Maybe everyone should fill out the complaint form and send it to her. At least get the story straight.

 

Annieeee

[SomeBeach]

I feel that Royal Caribbean is more than fair in dealing with this type of situation. Before we bash them, let's talk about Holland America! I have a friend who booked a 10 night cruise with them. Several months after she booked, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She went through tests and the surgery and because they caught it fairly early, and all looked pretty good just afterwards with her tests, so she was planning to cruise as planned as a reward and relaxation from all they had been through.

 

She then found out that they were recommending chemotherapy so she went to cancel the cruise on the very day her final payment was due. To avoid losing her deposit, it turns out that she should have cancelled with them the day before her final payment was due according to her confirmation paperwork from HA. She understood this, but asked if there was anything at all they could do about crediting her $1200 deposit and they refused. She was willing to provide necessary medical forms, etc. and spoke to several people and even sent a letter to the president but they didn't budge. So technically, yes she was one day late but with all of her health issues she wasn't thinking or reading carefully as she was researching all about the chemo, 2nd opinions, medical centers, etc. You would think that Holland America would have been understanding under these circumstances and maybe tried to work with her but they were just so heartless and weren't even all that nice to her. The fact that it was only ONE day later and on the date the actual final payment was due could have counted for something.

 

I have seen and read about Royal Caribbean and how they handle situations like these and while I can't attest to what they would have done for my friend, I am certain that they would have handled it better than Holland America did. That is another reason why we prefer Royal Caribbean and once my friend is finished with her chemo, will take that cruise, and has decided to stick with and book it with Royal Caribbean.

 

Couldn't she get her deposit back from her trip insurance?

[emdia43]

I was looking for an e-mail address as well. Couldn't find it though. It is truly a bad investigative reporter when you put a company in a bad light even if they go beyond what they are supposed to do.

 

Sure we all feel sorry for the family. But let's not forget that if the family and friends (over 20!!!) would have properly planned this would be a non issue. Accountability is at an all time low.

 

 

If you click on the links to the Newsroom you can send feedback which I just did- I couldn't find a link to the 'reporter' herself. And they wonder why no one respects media anymore? This report is just inflammatory.

[Conanc]

Couldn't she get her deposit back from her trip insurance?

 

She did have travel insurance with Travelguard. My friend had hoped for more from HAL and hoped not have to go through all of the paperwork filing a claim while she was undergoing chemo. HAL never asked once so they didn't know she had insurance. Even the agent at Travelguard was incredulous that HAL would not refund the deposit considering she cancelled on the same day as final payment was due and under such circumstances. The agent said that she would pass the story around to people not to book with HAL. LOL. I should have posted that this story has a happy ending, because she received all of her money back from Travelguard.

 

The reason I posted this was because when I first read this thread, I reacted because I am tired of hearing stories bashing Royal Caribbean when in fact, their customer service is generally very good and frankly HAL's (lack) of customer service stinks!

[crusingdave]

I agree completely, why is it always someone elses fault when people don't plan for the unexpected. RCI was more than fair in their initial credit. I'd like to see what Carnible would have done.

Aubie

I had a run in with Princess and I can tell you one thing with them would have received NOTHING back. Period. Royal Caribbean has been more than generous with me and with these people.

[dobiemom]

If they open the door just this once, a zillion people will storm it, demanding refunds for far less extreme circumstances.

 

And then they raise fares to recoup their losses!

 

I feel that Royal Caribbean is more than fair in dealing with this type of situation. Before we bash them, let's talk about Holland America! I have a friend who booked a 10 night cruise with them. Several months after she booked, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. She went through tests and the surgery and because they caught it fairly early, and all looked pretty good just afterwards with her tests, so she was planning to cruise as planned as a reward and relaxation from all they had been through.

 

She then found out that they were recommending chemotherapy so she went to cancel the cruise on the very day her final payment was due. To avoid losing her deposit, it turns out that she should have cancelled with them the day before her final payment was due according to her confirmation paperwork from HA. She understood this, but asked if there was anything at all they could do about crediting her $1200 deposit and they refused. She was willing to provide necessary medical forms, etc. and spoke to several people and even sent a letter to the president but they didn't budge. So technically, yes she was one day late but with all of her health issues she wasn't thinking or reading carefully as she was researching all about the chemo, 2nd opinions, medical centers, etc. You would think that Holland America would have been understanding under these circumstances and maybe tried to work with her but they were just so heartless and weren't even all that nice to her. The fact that it was only ONE day later and on the date the actual final payment was due could have counted for something.

 

I have seen and read about Royal Caribbean and how they handle situations like these and while I can't attest to what they would have done for my friend, I am certain that they would have handled it better than Holland America did. That is another reason why we prefer Royal Caribbean and once my friend is finished with her chemo, will take that cruise, and has decided to stick with and book it with Royal Caribbean.

 

I have a HAL cruise scheduled for later this year and thought I may have to cancel. I had bought HAL's insurance. I called well in advance of my final payment day and was told that if I cancelled before final payment was due, I would be refunded everything except what I paid for the insurance. BUT if I rescheduled when I cancelled, I would not be out any monies.

Just my story. And luckily, I did not have to cancel. I am hoping your friend is doing well, but I have a question: Did she have insurance?

[Rancher Dave]

Gee, look at all the money I could have saved if I had not wasted it on insurance. Several years back, before I started buying insurance, I had a heart attack-resulted in triple by-pass surgery-and missed a cruise. We lost over $5000.00. Do you think I have a chance of getting my money back?

 

Buy insurance people and if you do not, do not expect anything that is not rightfully yours.

 

That being said, I do feel sorry for the family in their loss.

 

$5K lost, you're still alive...probably not too bad of a trade off most of your friends and family would agree.

 

Just don't let anyone buy too much life insurance on your...or watch your back. :D

 

Honestly, glad to hear you survived the H/A given the stats you beat the odds. :)