Comments on: Cruise rescheduled because of swine flu — what are my rights?

By: Glenn

Glenn — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:40:29 +0000

Since the cruise lines (and airlines) seem to write their own arbitrary contracts, my solution would be to write my own arbitrary addendum…. and on my check or credit card slip add the verbiage – “Acceptance of these funds constitutes acceptance of the terms of addendum (available on request)”. See if they send your check or credit card slip back to you :-) If you have to go to court, just pull out your copy of the addendum, which has terms favorable to you!

By: Julie W

Julie W — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:41:12 +0000

Here is my past experience last week.
I had never taken a cruise and we booked and paid for one on The Holiday (which I do not recommend) in November for May 14th.
I never wanted to cancel or get a refund. However, I did get a passport to go to Mexcio, but unfortunately I ended up in Key West. I was fine with this and made the best of this old ship trip.
I have heard from many people that they get their original price from taxes on the port and in Mexico paid more than Key West. I have also heard from people booking during hurricane season, that after their changes received money to spend on the ship.
I was very disappointed to not receive anything. I didn’t like how Carnival handled things from the beginning. We never received anything in the mail prior to sailing and also never responed to 2 emails tht I sent inquiring about changes. I was never even contacted. I had to keep watching on the website for the change and it finally was posted a week before we left.

By: Kathy Langley

Kathy Langley — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:16:51 +0000

Remember, Princess did NOT “cancel” the cruise, they simply changed ports. So travel insurance would not have covered this change of ports. Their “gift” of half off my next Princess cruise is a joke, like I would ever give them another penny! My guess is that the 500 or so others like me that also canceled rather than go with the new itinerary feel the same way. I think in the long run, it was a bad decision in this economy. And keep in mind, we did not ask for a refund, just the ability to cruise the Mexican Riviera at a time that worked for Princess.

By: Carver

Carver — Sun, 10 May 2009 00:36:53 +0000

@Nirdeshini

That hardly fair. How is Langley’s attitude callous. She booked a cruise. The cruise line didn’t deliver. She’s owed a refund.

What’s particularly troubling about your post is that it repeats the falsehood that travel insurance is a panacea that covers all woes. A quick google search will show that travel insurance in this case would have been useless for many reasons, including the fact that the trip was not cancelled.

To Quote..

Travel Guard Vice President Dan McGinnity says most traditional travel plans will not provide coverage for canceling a trip due to a health scare.

“Most of our policies have a provision in there for terrorism but not for something like swine flu,” adds Ambrose, who is also the president of Travelex Insurance Services.

By: Nirdeshini

Nirdeshini — Sat, 09 May 2009 12:07:33 +0000

Like Kathy Langley there are several thousands of people who just because of their callous attitude land up to such problems. I too faced the situation once and from that time i have realized travel insurance is must. It helps us to utilize out hard earned money wisely and get it back if such cancellations are to be made by us or the company has to cancel the trip for some unavoidable reasons like the swine flu.

By: David Z

David Z — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:52:11 +0000

Why not cruise credit like everyone else?

It’s understandable if this answer’s not liked, but it’s because each provider will decide on their own how to approach an issue based on what they can and can’t afford. None of them are required to act in the same way, and each has varying costs and benefits in doing something.

By: Grace

Grace — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:29:32 +0000

I have a question maybe someone can answer. Regarding the no refund policy on Carnival Cruises, why are the Galveston Cruises offered a refund. The cruise is being extened from 5 to 7 days at no extra charge, Carnival is crediting $150.00 per person for airline changes, but if you do not want to go on a 7 day cruise instead of the 5 day cruise you paid for, you will get your money back. Why not cruise credit like everyone else?

By: Carver

Carver — Wed, 06 May 2009 03:52:12 +0000

@John

I understand your logic. However a contract must also be read in light of prevailing customs and law. There are powerful counter-argument to the position that you are only buying “x” days on a cruise ship.

The first is the prevalance of marketing the ports as well as any advertising calling the cruise a Caribbean cruise, or an Alaska Cruise or other such nomenclature.

The second is the price differential. Unless the cruise ship charges the same price for every cruise of “x” days during the relevant time frame, then the argument goes bust. For example if a 7 day South American cruise from Jan 1 to Jan 8 leaving San Diego costs $2,500, but the same seven day California cruise from Jan 1 to Jan 8 leaving San Diego only cost $1000. Then we know that the cruise line’s argument that you are only buying days on the ship is demonstrably false. If that were true, no one would ever buy the South American cruise.

The value of the South America ports is at least the difference, i.e. $1500.

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:48:24 +0000

I find this statement interesting from the original posting “The reason for this it’s simply not fair to the over 3/4 of our passengers that spend their money to purchase travel protection, to provide a benefit to passengers who choose not to purchase this.”

I would like to see proof that over 75% of all the passengers that Princess has on board that ship have purchased the travel protection….
and to *NOT* offer a re-booking to a customer who did not purchase this protection because it would not be fair to the others who *DID* purchase this protection, is the completly wrong reason! Live ain’t fair…Princess should tell the truth of why they don’t want to rebook or refund the fares…they are hurting in this economy just like every other company…they don’t want to let go of the money they have in their hands!
Ed

By: Sharon

Sharon — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:45:07 +0000

I’m currently battling Carnival for a refund. I would like to point out my cruise to Mexico was canceled/changed to avoid swine flu, yet there was no swine flu suspected or confirmed in the Mexican ports of call as of the day the cruise was changed to be a cruise to the Pacific Northwest (per Google Maps and my multiple Google searches). There WERE numerous cases of probable or confirmed swine flu in ALL ports of call in US and Canada as of the date of the change. What the….?????