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Cruise this weekend from Miami to Nassau & Perfect Day at Coco Cay - HURRICANE DORIAN


arabucki

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55 minutes ago, arabucki said:

Jeopardizing their passengers safety to maybe still sail doesn’t seem like a good decision to me.

In no way, shape, or form did they jeopardize their passengers' safety to sail.  They will keep their ships (which are huge investments) far away from the storm. 

How you get to the cruise is not the cruise line's responsibility.  Any changes you have to make to travel arrangements or accommodations is on you.  It's not on the cruise line to make you "whole" for your trip.  That is what travel insurance is for.

23 minutes ago, arabucki said:

So far the airline we are taking will not waive the cancellation fees which blows my mind; that’s because the storm isn’t expected to hit Miami/FLL until Sunday/Monday which doesn’t affect me flying in Friday morning but does effect us flying home on Monday.

That's when you invoke the travel insurance.  If your flight home on Monday is canceled, then you will file with your travel insurance company to recoup the extra costs incurred to get home.

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1 hour ago, Crabbycruiser said:

I have never had a Sea Day that I didn't like....?

I never have either, but on my last cruise it was pretty clear many people were not having a nice cruise day...my wife included. Rain, rough seas, and I was the only person out of 4,000 in the pool (and only about 25 people on the pool deck as a whole). This was for multiple hours. Overheard lots of people saying they were sick and sounded like a lot of people didn't like that particular sea day.

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All of you complaining about this situation need to review your travel insurance policies to check your options for trip interruption.  You did get travel insurance when you booked a Caribbean cruise during hurricane season with flights involved, right???  Of course you did.  You sound like responsible, intelligent folks.

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6 hours ago, Brobbins246 said:

All of you complaining about this situation need to review your travel insurance policies to check your options for trip interruption.  You did get travel insurance when you booked a Caribbean cruise during hurricane season with flights involved, right???  Of course you did.  You sound like responsible, intelligent folks.

Trip insurance does help soften the blow..but it's a pain to deal with and you have to be able to front the money to make your alternative arrangements.  It also helps to be savvy when it comes to traveling and also familiar with where you are going.  Not everyone even knows what they can do if something happens with a flight delay or cancellation that would cause them to miss out on their cruise.

When we had to face a trip interruption situation last minute flights were $2000 where the original ones had only been $400.  Insurance ended up covering it all, but we still had to front the money.  We were on a cruise in the northeast and saw a hurricane heading to Florida and started looking at flights and gathering information so we could jump as soon as we heard of airport closures.  We alternatively could have taken the earliest available flight after the storm passed and the airport reopened and travel insurance would have covered our extended stay in NJ which would have been even more out of pocket expenses.

You technically don't have a claim until something gets canceled or delayed, so you can't make any non-refundable alternative arrangements for a backup plan until you have proof of the delay or cancellation.  The domino effect of all the cancellations and short notice, limited supply and high demand, makes it stressful.  And then even when you do have a loss, you have to exhaust every avenue to be able to recoup from insurance.  Just ask @twangster about his experience with that.

A position that many people are in now is that they have to wait for a flight cancellation or delay or airport closure (which could them to miss the cruise) to have a claim.  At that point they have to find the next available flight to get to the embarkation port and if they can't find one that will get them there timely then insurance would cover them getting to the first port of call of the cruise.  So they'd have to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed for all of that and miss out on some or most of the cruise as well.   

If they change their flight ahead of a cancellation to ensure they are there before the storm could affect their travel, that would all be on them with zero chance of insurance reimbursement because there was no official triggering event in the eyes of the insurance company. 

There's really nothing that the cruise line or airlines can really do in this situation unfortunately.  They're in to make a profit and outside of making all travel refundable for any reason, this is going to happen.

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I didn’t get an email from Royal at all, not about any of this as a matter of fact. So Navigator is planning to go to Nassau on Sunday in estimated 100-120mph winds in the projected path of the hurricane? Ugh, no thanks!!! 

I was also told by the travel insurance company that we can’t get our money back due to inclement weather.

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Just now, arabucki said:

I didn’t get an email from Royal at all, not about any of this as a matter of fact. So Navigator is planning to go to Nassau on Sunday in estimated 100-120mph winds in the projected path of the hurricane? Ugh, no thanks!!! 

I was also told by the travel insurance company that we can’t get our money back due to inclement weather.

The current itinerary is not cast in stone.  In order to petition for a waiver from the PVSA they must demonstrate they had an established itinerary that satisfied the PVSA.  Only when that itinerary becomes impossible will a waiver by our government be considered.  

No cruise line can just sail wherever they want to or just show up at a port.  There are a lot of rules, protocols and regulations in play that they have to navigate.  

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

The current itinerary is not cast in stone.  In order to petition for a waiver from the PVSA they must demonstrate they had an established itinerary that satisfied the PVSA.  Only when that itinerary becomes impossible will a waiver by our government be considered.  

No cruise line can just sail wherever they want to or just show up at a port.  There are a lot of rules, protocols and regulations in play that they have to navigate.  

 

1 hour ago, twangster said:

The current itinerary is not cast in stone.  In order to petition for a waiver from the PVSA they must demonstrate they had an established itinerary that satisfied the PVSA.  Only when that itinerary becomes impossible will a waiver by our government be considered.  

No cruise line can just sail wherever they want to or just show up at a port.  There are a lot of rules, protocols and regulations in play that they have to navigate.  

 

1 hour ago, twangster said:

The current itinerary is not cast in stone.  In order to petition for a waiver from the PVSA they must demonstrate they had an established itinerary that satisfied the PVSA.  Only when that itinerary becomes impossible will a waiver by our government be considered.  

No cruise line can just sail wherever they want to or just show up at a port.  There are a lot of rules, protocols and regulations in play that they have to navigate.  

 

1 hour ago, twangster said:

The current itinerary is not cast in stone.  In order to petition for a waiver from the PVSA they must demonstrate they had an established itinerary that satisfied the PVSA.  Only when that itinerary becomes impossible will a waiver by our government be considered.  

No cruise line can just sail wherever they want to or just show up at a port.  There are a lot of rules, protocols and regulations in play that they have to navigate.  

 

1 hour ago, twangster said:

The current itinerary is not cast in stone.  In order to petition for a waiver from the PVSA they must demonstrate they had an established itinerary that satisfied the PVSA.  Only when that itinerary becomes impossible will a waiver by our government be considered.  

No cruise line can just sail wherever they want to or just show up at a port.  There are a lot of rules, protocols and regulations in play that they have to navigate.  

Lol ?

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2 hours ago, arabucki said:

I didn’t get an email from Royal at all, not about any of this as a matter of fact. So Navigator is planning to go to Nassau on Sunday in estimated 100-120mph winds in the projected path of the hurricane? Ugh, no thanks!!! 

I was also told by the travel insurance company that we can’t get our money back due to inclement weather.

Royal's meteorologist said they will have an update about Navigator and Mariner by 6:00 PM this evening

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2 hours ago, arabucki said:

So Navigator is planning to go to Nassau on Sunday in estimated 100-120mph winds in the projected path of the hurricane? Ugh, no thanks!!!

They won't be doing that.  The strong winds are really only in a super small area.  This is a relatively small and compact storm.  The ship can navigate around it when they are in the open ocean.

2 hours ago, arabucki said:

I was also told by the travel insurance company that we can’t get our money back due to inclement weather.

You can't get your money back if you cancel or don't show because the weather was bad.  However if the cruise line delays or cancels the sailing due to weather you should be able to get some money back.

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I am on Mariner of the Seas from August 30 to September 2.  Of course we are not going to CocoCay now it is closed, but will be going to Nassau and a sea day.   We are going out of Port Canaveral.  I just have no idea how they think they are going to get us back into Port Canaveral, as the hurricane is hitting Florida then.  I got travel insurance, big deal, I called them and there is  nothing I can do unless Royal cancels the trip.  

Needless to say very nervous about going on cruise in this storm and this is my first short cruise to see if I even like to cruise.  So it will most likely make me not want to cruise again.

 

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Royal just updated their Itinerary Updates to include this blurb:

HARMONY 8/25/19 & HARMONY 9/1/19, ALLURE 8/25/19 & ALLURE 9/1/19, EMPRESS 9/1/19, NAVIGATOR 9/2/19, MARINER 9/2/19, MAJESTY 9/2/19

Once we have a better understanding of the storm’s route, we’ll confirm if alternate ports are needed and share your final itinerary changes with you by 6 PM EST on Thursday, August 29th, or sooner.

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Well I'm glad they'll be able to tell me if my ports get changed by 6pm today, but they won't be able to tell me if they will be able to sail out on Sunday.  That's out of their hands completely because the port/Coast Guard makes the decisions to close.

It's funny how they word these updates.  People are going to be just as mad at 6pm still because Royal can't tell them 100% that they are going to be able to leave the port as scheduled.

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2 hours ago, MistSky said:

Needless to say very nervous about going on cruise in this storm and this is my first short cruise to see if I even like to cruise.  So it will most likely make me not want to cruise again.

Try to stay positive.  There is a ton to do on Mariner and they will keep you well away from the storm.  If you go in thinking it will be terrible there is a good chance it will be.  I'll gladly trade places with you!  Have fun for all of us that are still on land.

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14 minutes ago, arabucki said:

Sprit Airlines just added Florida airports to their flight modification locations so I was able to modify my flights without a fee, one less thing for me to worry about.  Now I just wait to hear about the cruise....

Same with United Airlines.

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7 hours ago, arabucki said:

I didn’t get an email from Royal at all, not about any of this as a matter of fact. So Navigator is planning to go to Nassau on Sunday in estimated 100-120mph winds in the projected path of the hurricane? Ugh, no thanks!!! 

I was also told by the travel insurance company that we can’t get our money back due to inclement weather.

We have a pending cruise, and our plan is to take it unless Royal cancels it.  Travel insurance should cover a named storm, but it doesn't cover just 'bad weather"---there is a difference.  Even if the destinations aren't great, the music, shows, and dining are something to enjoy.  Whatever you choose, I hope you have a good time.

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My heart goes out to you all going thru the stress of it! I agree with the advice try to go into it with a positive outlook. I know that's much easier said than done so I'm wishing you all happy cruising and memories of a lifetime. 

 

I'll be putting up shutters wishing I were on a ship.

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1 hour ago, ChessE4 said:

We have a pending cruise, and our plan is to take it unless Royal cancels it.

That's my game plan.  I'm in limbo now because if I get down to the port the day before the cruise as scheduled and it ends up delayed, then I'm scrambling to find a hotel room to ride out the storm which appears to be getting stronger and slowing down.  My contingency plan at this point only has an extra hotel night, so if the ship is delayed several more days I might be in a bind.  So I am hoping that I know for certain before I get on that plane!

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1 minute ago, arabucki said:

Has anyone gotten an update on Navigator of the Seas leaving tomorrow, 8/30? I haven’t seen an email. 

Yes.. They are making it a 5 night cruise going to Nassau on Saturday and Cozumel on Monday.. If you don't want to go you can cancel and get a 100% future cruise credit

 

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1 hour ago, arabucki said:

I couldn’t see the full email that was posted but did it also offer the option to get 100% cruise credit instead?

Yes.  They will send you information about that after the cruise.   You don't have to let them know..they will know based on who checks in for the cruise.

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I’m wondering how Royal Caribbean thinks it’s acceptable to shorten a 4 day cruise to basically 1 day. I got an email late last night that Mariner leaving on 9/2 will now leave 9/4 at 9PM, head to CocoCay and return the following morning. I mean are they serious? I’m not flying down to FL for that and will do everything I can to try to get a refund. 

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