A reporter's view regarding compensation

[DUBIDUB2]

creempuff0530 - I think we all agree, she has the right to be mad - Heck - I'm always "mad"...

 

However..

 

She should be mad at herself mostly for not taking out insurance.

 

and

 

Her family would be mad if something had happened to her (or any one of the other 3000 passengers and crew). bet your life, there would be a line of lawyers ready to take the cases (rightly so).

 

So, the moral of the story is, ALWAYS... blame the lawyers... whereever they are - LOL

 

 

 

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RCCL - Mariner (April 3rd 2005) - Click here for April 3rd 2005 Mariner Roll Call

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RCCL - Voyager (June 2001)

Carnival - Paradise (Dec/Jan 1999/2000 Millenium Cruise)

Big Red Boat (1997)

[DocJohnB]

creempuff,

 

Absolutely. Would I be mad - I don't know, certainly might be a little upset (depending on circumstances). But, seriously, sh** happens. One has to have the ability to adjust to a given situation and go on with their life. Sure, you can be upset about it, but, guess what, the world is not coming to an end because of it.

 

 

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by creempuff0530:

Having said that, I think what some people are trying to say is that when you are expecting to go on a warm and tropical cruise and get rerouted to somewhere that is well, not tropical, people might be mad about it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

 

 

Until we sail on SUMMIT for 10 nights

 

 

Roll Call Summit 11/05/2004 click here

 

 

 

Until MOAGC's on Explorer of the Seas

 

 

 

Seven Cruises last Century, then:

 

Norwegian Sky 2000 GGC2000

Volendam 2001 GGC2001

Paradise 2001

Sensation 2002 GGC2002

Millenium 2003 (Nov 16)

Mariner OTS 2004 (Feb 29)

Summit 2004 (Nov 05)

Explorer OTS 2005 (Jan 09)

[rockyhou]

The same people that can't accept RCCl's response are the same people that get irate at the airport when an airline cancells a flight. I don't care if it is weather or a mechanical problem if a flight is cancelled or a cruise changed, I will accept and be glad they are looking out of the safety of the ship and passengers.

 

I am not a promoter of insurance and have never bought it. I guess I am just playing the odds until I really need it. So I know I would not have had insurance for this situation. Granted I would have been very dissapointed...but made the best of it as there was really nothing I could do about it anyway.

 

Michael

 

Soverign of the Seas Nov 99

Majesty of the Seas Apr 00, Nov OO

Enchangement of the Seas Sep 00, Oct 02

Rhaposdy of the Seas Jun 01

Elation Oct 01

Zuiderdam Apr 03

Radiance of the Seas Jun 03

Voyager Nov 03

Mariner Apr 04

 

[GinaDucey]

Before leaving on the Sovereign on 4/30 I had been made promises by the sales agent that booked my cruise prior to the transfer to my TA - those promises never came to light - even with that in mind - the lady in the article is nuts to think that a cruise line regardless of who it is - is going to just let them go the following week. This person sounds like they have never been on a cruise and is very a in-experienced traveler.

 

I am constantly amazed about peoples unrealistic expectations about cruising. 2,000 plus people cruise each week, there is salt water out there that tends to rust and chip away at paint, plain and simple it is a wet environment, etc....

 

Fact is there are compromises that need to be made when you go on a cruise vacation and if you do not want to compromise then do not go!

 

Just my opinion

 

Carnival

Fantasy 11/91, Ecstasy 1/98, Fascination 11/99, Paradise 2/00, Imagination 4/02, Ecstasy 5/03, Paradise 10/03

 

Royal Caribbean

Sovereign of the Seas 4/04

 

<MARQUEE>Hey - when's my next cruise?</MARQUEE>

[Merion_Mom]

Was RCI within its legal rights to do what it did? Yes, of course. Did it HAVE to use the solution it used? NO, it didn't. It is, indeed a matter of customer service.

 

I wasn't directly affected, so I can't tell you how calm or how angry *I* would have been. I can tell you that EVERY cruise line was affected by the same weather and not EVERY cruise line did what RCI did.

 

My father was booked on Radisson Seven Seas, and was offered to change his cruise to any other sailing. Since they had just been to Canada on a land vacation literally three weeks before, they took the offer, and sailed over New Year's instead. No muss, no fuss, Radisson just let them change.

 

Did Radisson have to do this? NO, but they did, in the interest of GOOD customer service.

 

JMHO - YMMV.

 

Carol

 

 

Voyager of the Seas - 5-day to Canada - NO AIRFARE!!!! 8/2004

 

Jewel of the Seas 12/2004

Explorer of the Seas 12/2003

Explorer of the Seas 8/2002

 

<marquee>till we sail on the Jewel! New Year's Cruise.....12/26/04</marquee>

 

<marquee>..........................Oh, no! We have become New Year's Cruise Addicts!</marquee>

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[superjerryw]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DocJohnB:

Sorry SuperJerryW,

 

I have to disagree with you here. Finally, you wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>If you booked a cruise to Alaska and they sent you to Mexico instead I am sure you would be very upset.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Of course I would be upset, but having said all the above, I would either collect my insurance money for the change or I would enjoy what I was being offered.

 

A good thing about this board is that we can agree to disagree <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Unfortunately, you could not collect your insurance money as you say you would. If the person cancelled they would only get a credit of 75% towards a future cruise, they could not collect any money as you imply. If the insurance would have allowed them to get a 100% refund it might be a different story, but in this case the insurance is just part of the overall scam.

 

Additionally, while you may not care what ports are visited since you have been on so many cruises, that is not the case for everyone that cruises. For many people a cruise is a once in a lifetime event so I think you need to imagine their disappointment when they are put on a totally different itinerary and cannot back out without losing their money. Perhaps I should have used a different analogy about the change of itinerary from Alaska to Mexico. If you went to buy a new car and you paid for a Cadillac and the dealer delivered a Chevy to your house I'm sure you would be upset. I don't think you would find much consolation in having the dealer tell you that somewhere in the fine print is says they reserve the right to give you any car made by General Motors if they want to. The bottom line here is that the person paid for something and did not get what they paid for.

 

 

Donuts, is there anything they can't do....

[mikesteg]

Well that isn't quite the same thing Jerry. This is more like the dealer giving you the right car with an ugly color of interior. (Or is that "colour"? )

 

The destinations are important to most people, but they are only a portion of the trip. However, like others I get the feeling that this lady is an uninformed cruiser and would otherwise be whining that she 'only got to spend 4 or 5 hours in Bermuda after traveling 3 days each way'.

 

Even though I really like Canada, I admit I'd have been disappointed as well. Still I'd have gotten over by the time the ship left port (though this is another good reason to cruise out of Galveston!)

 

Does anybody know for sure that RCL didn't give cabin credit on this voyage? It seems like that is what they usually do since it is much cheaper than giving real credit.

 

Mike

[mikesteg]

Oh yeah: if a cruise is a once in a lifetime event don't book during hurricane season!

[fireguy091]

If a passenger were traveling to Florida, we would not send you to Canada.-----------------------------

The lady that complained is just plain dumb. What a stupid statement.

The airlines make diversions to other airports even in other states all the time because of bad weather.

 

 

Serenade 10/30/03

Destiny 6/02

Monarch 5/99

Holiday 4/98

Tropical 6/95

Asure Seas 3/93

Asure Seas 5/91

Holiday 3/88

Ms Southward 5/85

 

 

[jstducky]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DUBIDUB2:

bet your life, there would be a line of lawyers ready to take the cases (rightly so).

 

So, the moral of the story is, ALWAYS... blame the lawyers... whereever they are - LOL

 

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

a bit off the subject... why does everyone always blame lawyers for everything?!?!? i work for a law office and not all lawyers are sleazy! a lot of lawyers are helpful. in our office we are only transactional and only deal with the writing and interpreting of contracts.

 

the sleazy lawyers and the ones that give every laywer a bad name are the sleazy litigators and ambulance chasers. not all laywers are like that!

 

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

Her family would be mad if something had happened to her (or any one of the other 3000 passengers and crew). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

here, here...i totally agree with this comment.

 

everyone always seems to think that money is the bottom line. and it isnt!

 

i agree that perhaps RCI could have handled it a bit differently, such as the example from the other poster of the radisson cruise her parents were scheduled to take. but they didn't. and they didn't have to. as has been stated, RCI was within their legal rights to do what they did.

 

their number one priority is to the ships passengers and crew. if the ship had decided to go to bermuda or the bahamas or whatever other warm, southern route they could have chosen, and they ended up getting caught in another hurricane or a tropical storm and had to be diverted away from ports of call and had to sail around the weather problems, you can bet people would be mad then too.

 

there is just no way to make everyone happy. if RCI broke its policy and gave this woman compensation then it would have to do the same for everyone else as well.

 

we all know when we book a cruise that the cruise line has the right at any time, for almost any reason, at its discretion to change the itinerary. if it is for the safety of the crew and the passengers than i am all for it.

 

of course if we were supposed to go south and ended up going north instead, i would be bummed. but i would try to make the most out of it. when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. the cliche holds true.

 

as disappointing as an itinerary change may be. in the end a vacation is a vacation. isn't it more important for you to be out there spending the quality time with your family and your loved ones rather than griping and complaining about every little thing that goes wrong?

 

you have to just view the trip as an adventure and make the most out of it. takes things as they go and be greatful that you're alive and so are you're loved ones!

 

and sure, the lady should have purchased insurance. but she didn't. and that was her choice not too. and since she knew, or should have known, that RCI had the right to change her itinerary she has to suffer the consequences from not purchasing insurance.

 

as a previous poster mentioned, we have all been burned by fine print. you learn from your mistakes and move on. and then you hopefully don't repeat the same mistakes twice.

 

jstducky!

-----------------

...til 9/04 - Jewel of the Seas - Canada / New England

 

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...til 7/04 - Zuiderdam - Western Caribbean

 

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7/03 - Zaandam - Alaska

4/03 - Norweigan Star - Hawaii

7/96 - Noordam - Alaska

7/96 - Golden Princess - Alaska

8/95 - Jubilee - Mexican Riviera

 

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[Mark_K]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by superjerryw:

Sorry, but I do not agree that RCCL did the right thing in this case. I perfectly understand the need to alter an itinerary due to weather problems for the safety of the passengers. However, substituting Canada for Bermuda is not a change in intinerary, it is a completely different itinerary. People that book a cruise to Bermuda do not want to go to Canada or they would have booked a cruise to Canada. RCCL should have given passengers the option to back out with out penalty. As to the fine print in the contract, what contract are we referring to? Is it the contract that you get after you have made final payment so if you disagree with the terms you can't change your mind without penalty anyway. As for having insurance, even that would not have been sufficient in this instance. If the passengers had RCCL insurance and decided not to go they would have been given credit for 75% of what they paid. Not 100% credit and not a refund, just a partial credit they could only use on another RCCL cruise. I think RCCL really missed the boat on this one. For those people that say the ports don't matter, do you really book a cruise without considering where the ship stops, I doubt it very much. If you booked a cruise to Alaska and they sent you to Mexico instead I am sure you would be very upset.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>We live in a country whose legal system forced department stores to allow solicitation by any and all organizations due to the fact that they allowed Salvation Army bellringers on their premises.

 

From RCI's point of view if they gave a refund/credit in this instance, where does it end? Could I not say Labadee (or any other missed port) was the only reason I booked the cruise, demand my money back, and use the fact that they did it once against them?

 

----------------------------------------------------------

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits" Mark Twain

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's formal night attire, poolside attire, child rearing practices, walk-talkie usage, chair hogging, seat saving, line cutting ..." Mark_K

[dobie]

We were on the Vision last Oct, at the lifeboat drill the captain came on and told us we would not be going to Mexico (2 hurricanes). We went to San Francisco for 2 days, then Catalina and Ensenada. I wasn't happy, of course, I didn't have any long pants or sweatshirts and we had to buy some because it was COLD!!! But we still enjoyed the ship, the staff, and our vacation--we weren't working, after all! RCI gave us $100 shipboard credit and 2 $100 off vouchers for a future cruise (we already used them). The very vocal passengers on board, however, were horrible. They crowded the pursers lobby, yelling obscenities at the staff. It looked like a riot. They had shore side security come onboard. They allowed anyone to get off that wanted to, but these people were disgusting--demanding all of their money back, and creating huge scenes. We finally left port after second seating dinner. For the rest of the week, anytime we were sitting in the Jacuzzi, or wherever, there was always some loud obnoxious person complaining about the change. People were demanding to go to Hawaii! I heard one person want to go to Miami. Have these people not noticed that there are no warm islands north of LA? Carnival rerouted the same way RCI did, I'm not sure about Princess, I heard one story that they tried to go down and had some pretty severe weather. I'd rather be safe and cold. All that being said, believe it or not I booked the same cruise for the same week in October this year--couldn't happen twice, could it? I will pack some sweats this time tho....

[Mark_K]

dobie,

 

IIRC, the Princess ship was scheduled to leave on Saturday, as opposed to Sunday like the other two, made it south of the storm path before it got there, and actually had pretty decent weather.

 

----------------------------------------------------------

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits" Mark Twain

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's formal night attire, poolside attire, child rearing practices, walk-talkie usage, chair hogging, seat saving, line cutting ..." Mark_K

[superjerryw]

Several years ago I booked an Alaska cruise with Princess. A few weeks before we are supposed to go we were contacted and told that they overbooked the ship and they would like us to switch to another ship. If we switch they will compensate us monetarily or if we don't want to go they will give us our money back. We opted to switch ships, but I think that overall they handled this much better than RCCL in the situation we are discussing here.

 

The bottom line is that we are customers of RCCL, we don't work for them, they work for us. If you make the customers unhappy you will lose them. If they were going to sail to Canada instead of Bermuda they should have offered passengers the chance to back out without penalty as no one had booked a Canada trip. If people were OK with going to Canada instead that's fine, but those that did not want to go should have been allowed to back out.

 

 

Donuts, is there anything they can't do....

[justcruzin85374]

One possible reason is they may have not been able to go to Florida, Coco Cay or the Bahama's is dock space and/or tendering due to the ships already scheduled in port. Coco Cay is very small and with having to reschedule other ships there due to Labadee, it was most likley not a option.

Just my opinion

 

Soveriegn 92 E. Caribbean

Majesty 95 W. Caribbean

Granduer 97 E. Caribbean

Rhapsody 00 Mexico

Vision 02 Alaska

Radiance 03 Panama Canal

Brilliance 3/29/04

 

 

 

Radiance of the Seas/Panama Canal 10/18/2003

Are we there yet?

 

My bags are always packed!

Brilliance 3/29/2004

[Nancyquilts]

I'm getting itchy for another cruise - anywhere. Hey, RCCL, send me! I promise not to buy insurance and to take whatever is offered. A day at sea anywhere is better than anything else. Nancy

[Mark_K]

superjerryw,

 

Apples and oranges.

 

Even the airlines are nice to you when they overbook flights and want you to take a bump.

 

----------------------------------------------------------

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits" Mark Twain

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's formal night attire, poolside attire, child rearing practices, walk-talkie usage, chair hogging, seat saving, line cutting ..." Mark_K

[dobie]

Mark, what a difference a day makes, huh? I know that Randi in Mazatlan (of Randi's Happy Horses),told me that we should be glad we were not down there. We had reservations with her and I emailed her from the ship and told her of the mutiny. She told me to tell the passengers of the waves, winds, and electrical outages, and maybe they wouldn't be so mad. Hopefully we'll see her this October. She was the one who told me of the bad weather for the Princess ship, she said that the seas were really bad and that the rain was also incredible when they were in port.

[mariapd719]

I have to agree with Jerry 100% - even if you had insurance it wouldnt of really done anything for you. Ohhhh i Hate the cold - I would of not been a happy girl ...Im sure after a few glasses of punch rum though I would of been fine. I would of tried to ake the best of it - but to wait all year to go away on vacation and (in my job I am locked as of Dec 2003 for all vacation throughout 2004 - no exceptions!) then be disappointed like that. SOme people are NOT retired and are NOT flexible due to their jobs - so imagine how it would feel to try to escape the beginning of the cold NY winter and get to go to Canada - Ackkkkk

 

Enchantment Feb,2002; Monarch Nov,2002; Radiance Nov,2003; Golden Princess Feb 28,2004

 

 

[Mark_K]

mariapd719,

 

I'm not sure I would call a 75% credit toward a future cruise "nothing".

 

----------------------------------------------------------

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits" Mark Twain

 

"Nothing so needs reforming as other people's formal night attire, poolside attire, child rearing practices, walk-talkie usage, chair hogging, seat saving, line cutting ..." Mark_K