Iccup7

You are correct. RC will refund you if you call customer service and insist on a refund, the first level reps who answer the phone may not do it immediately, but if you ask for the resolution desk, they will give you the refund. They still don't recognize or unwilling to admit the fact that the quality of the cruise has now degraded to the point where it is no longer worth the original price they charged. So they refuse to issue any credits. Basically still a take it or leave it stance. Disappointing, but I am glad the public pressure at least forced them to allow full refunds. Hopefully I am not speaking too early and the refunds actually show up.

We have already booked a bunch of stuff revolving around this cruise and all those changes and cancellations are a pain. It would be great if they offered something to keep us from cancellation. In any case, I called customer service and was initially told there is no refund. Apparently there is some major internal communication issue with Royal Caribbean. The agent had to ask the resolution team and it is true that a full refund is available. I asked if there are credits like the Panama cruise, I was told no. You should call, maybe you get a different response. Let us know if you get a different response.

With all due respect, if our attempt to hold Royal Caribbean to a higher standard of customer service is somehow, in your eye, offensive to the suffering people of Maui, then I really don't know how to explain this to you. All I can say is, the natural disaster and resulting trauma experienced by the people of Maui should NOT absolve Royal Caribbean (a for profit corporation) of their responsibilities to their customers. I am sorry we seem insensitive to you, many of us have donated to Maui relief effort and will be still going to Hawaii to do what we can for the local Hawaiian economy in general. Just talking about greedy corporate practices does not mean we have no compassion.

According to this article, Royal Caribbean came out and offered to refund for cancelling the cruise. Did anyone actually get this email?

Did anyone who booked the cruise actually got the second email from Royal Caribbean about cancellation?

What you say have a very high likelihood of being exactly what happened, but it actually is a perfect example of why we are so pissed. Why is Royal Caribbean not coming out and say this is the reason? Why does it take average people like us to try to analyze ship size and guess at why they changed to Victoria and Seattle instead of another Hawaiian island? If they don't say it, we can only assume it is not the reason, and the real reason is something they don't want to say, for example "Kona and Hilo were charging too much to dock a ship of our size and we don't want to pay that much, Victoria and Seattle are much cheaper ". All that aside, It could very well be true that there are no ports to accommodate Ovation. However our anger is the way RC chose to communicate and respond to the subsequent frustration. They could have easily put out a notice explaining that they tried their best to get a port in Hawaii but ultimately failing due to size, dock, whatever. But no, they decided to advertise Victoria a nd Seattle and try to make it sound like it is an adequate replacement when it is clearly not remotely equivalent. This description below is an insult to anyone who knows how rainy Victoria and Seattle could get in October. When RC made the announcement, any competent team could have anticipated that customers will not be happy. But what they did do? They chose to have their customer service tell us:" you already paid for the cruise in full, there is nothing we can do for you". This means one of two things, 1. they thought customers would happily accept Victoria and Seattle as perfectly fine alternatives. or 2. they don't care because they know we can't get a refund according to their terms and condition. Either one reflects poorly on Royal Caribbean. Ultimately, there are things outside RC's control, but they can't even do basic customer service that is completely under their control.

Is your Panama Canal cruise also with Royal Caribbean? If so, there is a pattern emerging here . Also, I assume you cruise regularly enough that you are one of those ultra golden diamond cosmic elite status member, how can they not care about your cruising experience is beyond me. If I were a cruise company I roll out the red carpet for you every time you come near my ships.

Terrance my friend, Normally one would think a company like RC would treat Status holders like you with the dignity and respect that you deserve. Your dollars (or bitcoins )are what pays them. If they don't even care about you, what chance do plebs like us have??? In all seriousness, I have never seen status transfer like that. But hey if I was Princess or Norwegian, now is a good time to start poaching some customers! Go on twitter and @ the twitter handle of Royal Caribbean, Princess and Norwegian and ask. Shake the trees and you never know how many bears fall out

Also, if you guys use Twitter (now X apparently), go and post @Royal Caribbean on their twitter handle and complain. Public pressure may be the only leverage we have. Also calling their customer service may also help, shot in the dark but who knows.

Hi Matt, Yes you have valid points. If I may, I think I can summarize why we are all angry at RC as briefly as I can. There are multiple layers of our anger: Ports. Yes this point has been beaten to death, many of us are all looking forward to spending 2 days at Maui, 1 day cruising the Napali coast, then land at Oahu. Now it is a glorified water taxi. My party consist of my parents and in-laws at 70+ years old and not the most robust health. This is their last chance to visit Hawaii before their health prevents from doing so ever again. I am sure there are others in similar situation sadly. Communication. Royal Caribbean's communication has been very poor. Their email can be summarized to "for your safety, we are changing ports to Victoria and Seattle, have a nice day". If you call their customer service, their agents all read the exact same statement: "safety safety safety". We all know "not going to Maui" is about safety, but going to Victoria and Seattle has absolutely nothing to do with safety. This is an insult to our intelligence. If they tried all they can and just couldn't find anymore berth for a ship this size, then no one has ever communicated it, so we can only assume it is about cutting cost. In fact, I am willing to bet a health sum that docking at Victoria and Seattle is cheaper than any Hawaiian Island. Refund/Reschedule/Compensation. In an ideal world we would all be able to refund and reschedule to our heart's content, but we are not unreasonable people. Refunding a massive ship like this 2 months away from sail date is probably financially unsustainable for RC. We get it, but at no point did RC show even a bit of "care" for us as customers. If they just came out and said "We tried our best and couldn't find any better ports because of "ABC" and "XYZ", tell us how we can make you feel better? As a sigh of appreciation, here is some future cruise credits because we care". I guarantee you a lot of people (not all) would have taken this as a sign of good customer service and gladly solidify their brand loyalty to RC. Or at the very least make this easier to stomach. Now, the Too Long Didn't Read summary is this, RC has not been forthright and honest in their communication and response. Port of Call may not be under their control, but how they choose to communicate and compensate for this downgrade is entirely within their control. And if they don't think this is a downgrade, then seriously I wish them good luck with their company.

https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-adjusts-itineraries-due-to-lahaina-devastation/108486 If you ever have any doubt about whether Royal Caribbean cares about its customers, don't focus on what they say, instead focus on what they do. Norwegian has changed to Hilo, and Princess has changed to Kona. We get Victoria and Seattle! It is unfortunate that your first cruise experience is like this, but hopefully your future cruises are all smooth sailing! In fact, for anyone who is unsatisfied with how Royal Caribbean is handling this, I strongly recommend you call Royal Caribbean customer service to make sure they know we are not happy. If enough of us calls, maybe it will remind them that customer satisfaction is what leads to repeat cruising and drives future revenue.

Hi, My friend, I am in the same boat (see what I did there). Unfortunately it seems Royal Caribbean doesn't really care that much about their customers. While other cruise companies change the port to another island in Hawaii, Royal Caribbean decides that Victoria and Seattle are suitable substitutes! I lived in Vancouver most of my life and I don't know anyone who prefers the pacific coast to Hawaii in October! Norwegian has changed to Hilo, and Princess has changed to Kona. We get Victoria and Seattle! This shows you which company makes an effort and which one doesn't. I strongly recommend you call Royal Caribbean customer service and if enough of us calls, maybe it will help them change their mind... low chance, but I can't take this on the chin and just lay down... Once a while we have to advocate for our own rights. https://www.cruisehive.com/norwegian-cruise-line-adjusts-itineraries-due-to-lahaina-devastation/108486

After doing some searches, it turns out other cruise companies affected by the Maui fire have elected to change their port of call from Maui to Big Island. Royal Caribbean is the only one (as far as I know) who is downgrading. Now I know which other company to book the next time I am looking for a cruise. Norwegian Cruise Line Adjusts Itineraries Due to Lahaina Devastation (cruisehive.com)

Sure still going to Hawaii. Imagine you booked a cruise to the western Caribbean's with stops 4 stops in the actual Caribbean (Mexico, Haiti, wherever), now they are telling you the cruise is changed to Orlando -> Miami -> Tampa -> 1 stop somewhere in Caribbean's.

It is possible, but then that would be very poorly communicated. The email we received from RC made no mention of any unsuccessful effort to reschedule to another Hawaiian port, only that it is going to Victoria and Seattle for 1 day each instead of 2 days in Maui. It makes a huge difference when originally it is 4 days of a 9 day cruise in Hawaii, now it is only 2 of 9 days in Hawaii. And that is if you count the last day in Oahu. Very disappointing indeed.