Vanessa Thompson checks into what she thinks is an all-inclusive hotel before her cruise. Then she discovers she doesn’t have a reservation. When she’s allowed in, she discovers there’s nothing all-inclusive about her room. Is she entitled to a refund?
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A word of warning to anyone taking a cruse: Don’t trust anyone with your valuables.
Remember the Prime Travel Protection scandal? You know, the one involving fraudulent insurance policies, scores of denied claims and an investigation by state regulators?
Now there’s a headline I thought I’d never write. But it’s true: Carnival has refunded a passenger’s cruise fare after a last-minute cancellation.
Is the Jones Act a legitimate reason for a travel insurance company to deny a claim, or a convenient excuse? Depends on your perspective.
Here’s a real Morton’s Fork dilemma: You’re about to go on a cruise when you’re suddenly diagnosed with an infectious disease. But your cruise line won’t refund your fare if you cancel.
Timing is everything when you pull a bait-and-switch. Most of them happen just before or after the purchase – an “oops-the-price-isn’t-available” or a “sorry-did-we-forget-to-mention-a-fee” stunt. But for Mary Hoefs’ Royal Caribbean cruise, she didn’t find out until she tried to board.
Every now and then, it’s useful to take a peek behind the scenes in the travel industry to see how the machinery works. But don’t stare — it could drive you mad. That’s what almost happened to me when I tried to mediate the case between Jerri Olsen and Carnival Cruise Lines. Before you continue, a warning: The following case contains information that some travel agents might find offensive.
One of the most common swine flu-related questions I’ve been getting relates to rescheduled cruises. Many cruise lines are diverted their ships to avoid Mexican ports. What if you don’t want to go? Should you be able to get a refund?
Let’s say your cruise is cut short by the outbreak of a gastrointestinal virus. You spend most of your vacation quarantined in your cabin. Should you pay for it?
Cruising isn’t what it used to be. Just ask Steve Roberts, who recently sailed from Costa Maya, Mexico, to Nassau, Bahamas on the Carnival Glory. Although his floating vacation was billed as an “all inclusive” experience, Roberts found it was anything but that.
Are tourists destroying tourism? The ones Bob Menconi saw on the lido deck of the Celebrity Solstice were — one heaping plateful at a time.
The trip cancellation policy for her European river cruise promises her a full refund, but when Sylvia Sweeney tries to recover the $5,595 she spent through her tour operator, she’s turned down. Can Sweeney do anything to recover her money?
Stuart Harstrom applied for a Carnival Sea Miles MasterCard in 2004 and used it for most of his purchases, hoping to redeem his points for a “free” vacation. Then the cruise line pulled the plug on his plans, he says. His story is a cautionary tale about vague promises made by loyalty programs, imprecise wording on Web sites, and the fleeting nature of points.
When Gary Moll disembarked from a recent cruise in Santo Domingo, he encountered a fishy fee he’d never seen: Uniformed agents offered a $10 “Tourist Card” to passengers coming ashore. Are these cards for real? Moll doubts it.
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