Storms happen... then what?

[vanelli56]

So.... with Dorian out of the way, I wanted to ask about folks experiences with any cruises that were changed... mainly ones that were canceled or shortened. I've browsed some of the previous posts, but they are kind of spread out. What options did royal give you, how much notice did they give you, what was your deciding factor for the option you chose, do you feel Royal did the best they could, etc.?

The reason I'm asking is we have an upcoming cruise in 13 days... and the long range models are showing the potential for a storm somewhere in the Atlantic / Caribbean / Bahamas. 

Granted, this far out... there is no telling if this will come to fruition let alone where. BUT.... I would love to hear what people did recently and what options the cruise line gave them. 

Just to give a little insight into our upcoming travel arrangements, We would be driving from South Carolina, leaving about midnight sat. night / sun morning.... to arrive in port Canaveral early AM. (est. 6am). This should give us plenty of time just in case for our sailing on Harmony. So, we have the option to change our driving arrangements at a moments notice... its just a matter of timing.  

Thanks in advance for any info and thoughts on what some of you just went thru. (fingers crossed we don't even have to worry about it) 

[twangster]

Keep in mind that Royal will adapt to the situation and timing will change based on circumstances on a case by case basis.  

Their goal is to operate each cruise as it was scheduled.  So while they notified me on the August 29th for a shortened cruise that was supposed to depart on September 2nd that will likely not be the case next time simply because the storm will be different, the cruise will be different, the track will be different and so on.

There are so many variables I'd be careful drawing conclusions from what was offered and when from this storm.

[vanelli56]

43 minutes ago, twangster said:

Keep in mind that Royal will adapt to the situation and timing will change based on circumstances on a case by case basis.  

Their goal is to operate each cruise as it was scheduled.  So while they notified me on the August 29th for a shortened cruise that was supposed to depart on September 2nd that will likely not be the case next time simply because the storm will be different, the cruise will be different, the track will be different and so on.

There are so many variables I'd be careful drawing conclusions from what was offered and when from this storm.

Totally with you on this.  Completely understand that every situation is different from ship to ship,  storm to storm,  cruise to cruise, etc.  More of a general curiosity to get a feel for what each person's thought process was.  

Like,  I think Matt opted to just go on a later cruise.  But he's close to the port.  So maybe that was his deciding factor.  

I read somewhere else that some folks weren't even notified of an extended cruise until they were getting on board.... and had to decide right then. (Might of been a carnival ship that did that) 

I would love to know what those folks thoughts and decision making points were.  Just to get a feel for what helped guide people's decisions is all. 

6 cruises so far... and haven't had to worry yet.  Hopefully,  that trend will hold true in 13 days. 

[Wnbfrog]

Hi I am Wendy from North Carolina I have only been on 1 cruise 5 years ago for my 10th anniversary, on a different cruise line. My husband and I love waterparks so in January we seen the commercial for the perfect day at Coco Cay and just knew we had to go. So we booked Mariner of the seas out of Port Canaveral for 9/2-9/6. Our 15th anniversary being 9/4. Unfortunately we are no stranger to hurricanes  being married in Sept. 2004 We had to leave Jamaica 2 days into our Honeymoon due to a catagory 5 hurricane Ivan. The 1st to hit Jamaica since the 1980s. We had to fly to New York on the last flight out of Jamaica at our on expense. Well fast forward to now. Everyone joked that with my luck another one would get me this year and that it did. So on Aug 28th we received the email saying our sailing would be shortened to 2 days leaving 9/4 and would go to Coco Cay and back and would receive a 2 day refund or a 100% refund if canceled.. We opted just to cancel.  So we started looking at other cruises. We have now booked the same cruise just for Dec 9th. Had to ask off work again ugh lol. So with the refund you get the cruise fare 100% refunded but per person. So where I paid full price I got all my money back. My husband had the deal of 60% off so he got that back. Insurance is not refundable.  Taxes and gratuities go directly back to you as does anything in the cruise planner. So when we booked the new cruise unfortunately we only got the buy one get one 50% for second cruiser. So I have a credit of $85 I can't use now and my husband's fare is $91 more than the other and we can't transfer between one another even though it came from the same bank account. This makes me upset but nothing I can do but let it go since we do not cruise often. I still feel we made the right choice for us but I guess everyone's story is different. Happy sailing. Can't wait to cruise Royal Caribbean. 

Hope this helps. 

[Wnbfrog]

The Banner I made for our door. I need to modify it just a little. Lol

[twangster]

I was on a B2B.  Both cruises were altered.

First email notice came that they were closing CocoCay so employees could take care families and prepare.  This email arrived 3 days before the 1st cruise departed.

Two days before the cruise another email that indicated they were waiting to see how the two models, the American and European, which were in disagreement would develop before announcing our changed itinerary.

Later that day they announced a sea day to replace the closed CocoCay with a one day FCC based on cruise fare paid.

Another email with the revised itinerary and an intention to update us again at 6pm.  This email arrived before I boarded my flight to Miami.

A short time later the update came with news of the 1st cruise being extended to 5 days.  This included notice that any pre-purchased packages would be extended at no cost - beverage, internet or unlimited dining.  The one day FCC for missing CocoCay remained if we cruised.  If we chose to cancel the FCC would be 100% of cruise fare, with taxes/port fees refunded along with any packages or excursions purchased.  

Some in our group had to cancel due to work commitments. Eight of us boarded our flights to Miami.  

A short time later another email for the 2nd cruise of my B2B arrived informing me of the shortening of that cruise.  If I stayed on the offer was a refund plus an FCC both or two days of cruise fare.   Any packages would be pro-rated for the 2 missing days and refunded.  if I chose to cancel I'd get 100% FCC, taxes/port fees refunded and any cruise planner purchases refunded.  The FCC would be provided by September 20th.  

The night before boarding another email indicating Nassau would also be missed and replaced with Cozumel.  We immediately made reservations for Nachi Cocum.

The next day we boarded normally.  At this point we were notified it was still extended but in addition to Cozumel,  Costa Maya was added as a port of call.

Once on board I cancelled the 2nd leg after verifying details with my travel agent.  In my case I had used an FCC from a previous cruise to pay down the 2nd cruise.  I was assured that would be re-issued and the balance of cruise fare would be issued as a new FCC.  

I stopped by NextCruise to inquire about a future cruise.  While there I was offered a deal to stay on for the shortened 2 day sailing after this one.   The deal was basically port fees and taxes per person.  For a balcony this was $199 for me as a solo.  For a suite guarantee it was $50 more or $249.  Suite would be a JS, GS or OS.  I chose the suite guarantee.  The next day I was given a GS.

While on board the first cruise we were told we would receive 5 C&A points for the first cruise.  Normal suite and solo multipliers would apply.  Also while on board on the last day of the cruise our one day FCC for missing CocoCay was issued by email.    It was exactly what I expected.  

In summary, for the first cruise they refunded my excursions for CocoCay and provided a one day FCC.  The cruise went from 3 days to 5 days at no cost.  Dining, deluxe beverage and Voom all extended at no cost.

For the second cruise I'm getting it all refunded in the form of FCC.  I rebooked on board for less than 1/4 of the original price moving from a JS to GS.  CocoCay excursions for the 2nd cruise also refunded.  My original FCC that I used towards this booking has now been re-issued and applied to a different cruise.  On or before the 20th I am expecting the balance of the FCC offered for cruise 2.

I shared a cabin for the 1st leg but was solo the 2nd leg.  Originally I was supposed to get 3 x 2 for being in a JS so 6 C&A points, plus 4 x 3 for being solo in a JS on the 2nd leg for a total of 18 C&A points.  Since I was "stuck" with my cabin mate longer on cruise 1 I ended up with 5 x 2 plus 2 x 3 for a total of 16 C&A points.

During the first cruise on day 4 this note was delivered:

I had prepaid gratuity but only 3 days worth so we went to guest services and added two more days to our accounts.  

Normal gratuity was added to the 2nd cruise. 

[AshleyDillo]

I was affected by Dorian for my most recent cruise on Allure of the Seas.  We were originally scheduled to leave on Sunday, September 1, 2019.

On Thursday, August 29, 2019 was when Royal made the announcement that they were going to extend the current cruise and that my cruise was going to be shortened to 4 days.  My departure date was now going to be Wednesday, September 4, 2019. 

They offered those who were willing to still sail a FCC (Future Cruise Credit) equal to 3 days worth of what was paid for the cruise.  We would also get that same amount in the form of a refundable OBC if we chose to still sail.  If we chose to cancel we would get a FCC equal to what was paid for the cruise less port taxes and fees.  Port taxes and fees would be refunded to the form of payment.

We were fortunate that the airlines and the hotels were waiving cancellation and change fees, so we ultimately didn't incur any additional expenses due to the delay.  We live in Florida and while we chose to fly for this cruise, it's only a 7 or so hour drive for us to Ft. Lauderdale if we had needed to do that.  We didn't make the final decision to go until Tuesday morning before the cruise was rescheduled to leave.

In our case Royal made the right decision and stuck to that decision.  It may have seemed premature to delay the sailing but in these situations the cruise lines are at the mercy of the port.  Royal made the right call as the port did end up being closed on our original departure date and time.  

The ship sailed with about 3,000 guests which is a very, very empty ship for an Oasis-class.  Nothing was crowded, no reservations needed for shows.  I'm glad that we made the decision to go even though there was a lot of nail-biting going into it and waiting to see what was going to happen.  For us it was the right decision and with the OBC and the FCC, the net effect was that we enjoyed 4 days in a Central Park balcony for about $400 for 2 people.

[Pima1988]

We sailed on Anthem 2 yrs ago.  Our cruise was out of NJ to Bermuda in the end of Sept.  48 hrs prior they emailed us and said we now would be going to NE instead because of a hurricane.

If we still chose to do the sailing they would give us 50% credit for the sailing + 250 OBC pp.  If we did not use all of the OBC while on the ship, the remaining balance would be credited back to our credit card on file within 7 business days after the sailing.

We chose to cruise and they sailed 100% occupancy.  

[vanelli56]

Good stuff so far. 
Thanks again for everyone sharing their experiences. Seems the theme so far is that Royal does try to make the best of it where they are able to.

[devbak150]

We were scheduled to set sail on Mariner on Sept. 2-6th.  We were given and email that the trip would be shortened on Thursday 8/29.  They gave us the option to sail and have pro rated refund or for a full refund via future cruise credit.  We were traveling via air from Kansas (me driving from South Dakota to Kansas to meet my mother) and knew we were not going to be able to get flights into Florida on Sunday.  We got "vouchers" from Southwest for airfare.   We opted for FCC (future cruise credit).  So far it has went really well.  I had the credit send to my travel agent, my drink package and excursions were refunded to my cc on file 2 days later, just received the taxes and fees back to my cc on Friday.  I was also able to have the MyVegas credit redemption switched from the cancelled cruise to the new cruise. The only thing we are out is the fee for travel insurance on the first cruise, and have to pay for it again on the second cruise.  Not a big deal as, I understand you pay whether it is used or not and it is through a 3rd party. We have already re booked for December.  The only thing I need to re do is the drink package.  I need it to go on sale again, as they won't honor the price I purchased at for Sept. cruise. 

[mark.s]

18 hours ago, vanelli56 said:

So.... with Dorian out of the way, I wanted to ask about folks experiences with any cruises that were changed... mainly ones that were canceled or shortened. I've browsed some of the previous posts, but they are kind of spread out. What options did royal give you, how much notice did they give you, what was your deciding factor for the option you chose, do you feel Royal did the best they could, etc.?

The reason I'm asking is we have an upcoming cruise in 13 days... and the long range models are showing the potential for a storm somewhere in the Atlantic / Caribbean / Bahamas. 

Granted, this far out... there is no telling if this will come to fruition let alone where. BUT.... I would love to hear what people did recently and what options the cruise line gave them. 

Just to give a little insight into our upcoming travel arrangements, We would be driving from South Carolina, leaving about midnight sat. night / sun morning.... to arrive in port Canaveral early AM. (est. 6am). This should give us plenty of time just in case for our sailing on Harmony. So, we have the option to change our driving arrangements at a moments notice... its just a matter of timing.  

Thanks in advance for any info and thoughts on what some of you just went thru. (fingers crossed we don't even have to worry about it) 

So our 4 night Mariner Cruise was cancelled , however, Royal offered to move our reservation to Harmony. It was a shortened cruise( 3 night) .we took their offer and they gave us 2 night FCC( which has already arrived). Everything worked out. They gave us our same state room ( did the Royal Up for a OS). Our concierge , Mohamed, was awesome. We ate in  The Coastal Kitchen every night( daughters food allergies - just easier). Great substitute cruise..