jen2222 Posted January 5, 2021 Report Share Posted January 5, 2021 We booked a cruise with Royal Caribbean back in February 2020 right before the pandemic started. We were planning on getting married and were bring and paying for 8 people. We were very excited as we were going to have the ceremony at Royal Caribbean's island. Getting married on Caribbean water was our dream wedding. When we booked they asked for an $800 deposit. and the rest of the money ($8,000) was due at the end of March. Well as we all know this is when the pandemic started. We had no idea what was going on but we did know there was a cruise ship in China where people were stuck and dying. So we made what we thought was the best decision and canceled our trip. As $8,000 is a lot of money to give away at such an uncertain time. Today Royal Caribbean refuses to give us our $800 deposit. They said we can get a credit that has to be used by the end of 2021. Well, I lost my job and am not in the financial position to pay for a cruise. Also, who would want to go on a cruise any time soon. I have called Royal Caribbean over a dozen times to try and get my money back as we NEED it and they refuse. I think this is absolutely unacceptable!! If it was not for the PANDEMIC we would of had our dream wedding and this would not be an issue. The fact that Royal Caribbean is keeping our money at such a trying time looks very poorly on the company and I have NO desire to do business with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharla Posted January 5, 2021 Report Share Posted January 5, 2021 Hi Jen, When you booked it did you book as a non-refundable deposit? If so then you can only get FCC back. Royal Caribbean has been pretty fair with their Cruise with Confidence plan- no change fees and letting people move their cruises a year out for the same price. Baked Alaska, WAAAYTOOO, Neesa and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted January 5, 2021 Report Share Posted January 5, 2021 Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials. Unfortunately those are the terms of the contract you agreed to. In hindsight booking with a refundable deposit would have allowed a full refund. I am assuming you chose a non-refundable deposit and with that choice came terms and conditions which you accepted at the time. All cruise line have been shut down by the government (and the pandemic) and they have had no income for 9 months and unlikely to have any measurable income for several more months. They are struggling to survive like so many companies during this pandemic. As such they need to adhere to the terms everyone agrees to when booking a cruise. Giving everyone full refunds would wipe them out, they would go bankrupt in which case you'd have nothing. Per the terms of the contract you do have your future cruise credit and many FCC were extended to April 2022. It is always possible they could be extended again but that isn't known right now. I understand your frustration but the cruise lines didn't create the virus or the pandemic. Travel insurance may be an option to pursue assuming you purchased travel insurance. Welcome to the message boards. Baked Alaska, DDaley, RWDW1204 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen2222 Posted January 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 No one knew a pandemic was going to happen. It’s a very unfortunate time for EVERYONE!! We have 2 kids and I lost my job and with the holiday $800 would of made things better in these times. And I am sure my $800 was not going to bankrupt the company. We have been on Carnival numerous times and I can tell you they would of refunded our money. A lot of companies are struggling and closing. The government also has plenty of funding to help companies. But Royal Caribbean is more concerned with paying there upper management and keeping there stocks up then there customers and that’s not right. If a company can’t see that this is a difficult time that NO one expected and can’t look out for there customers better needs it’s not a company I want to do business with. So I am supposed to just let them have $800. They are probably a billion dollar company and we are a family with 2 kids and we lost our jobs. Sorry my family comes first. And if they did give us our money back which I will do what I can to get it. Then we would go on a cruise with them when we could. We have been on many cruise with Carnival and we’re excited to try Royal Caribbean but now I am just disgusted. If things were different and we canceled then I can see them keeping the deposit. But this is a once and a life time or many life times situation. A PANDEMIC. I don’t see how a company can just take money from people it’s not right. Especially when people are struggling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen2222 Posted January 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 I am assuming you must work for Royal Caribbean or something because I have talked to many people and they all agree we should get our money back. It’s the ethical thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen2222 Posted January 6, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 I also did not create the virus or pandemic..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharla Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 Jen- did Royal Caribbean cancel your cruise? Or did you cancel before they did? That makes a difference. Also- we don't work for Royal Caribbean this is an independent blog. Neesa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyC Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 2 hours ago, jen2222 said: I am assuming you must work for Royal Caribbean or something because I have talked to many people and they all agree we should get our money back. It’s the ethical thing to do. No one here works for Royal Caribbean. We are a group of cruise fans, and we do sympathize with your situation as many of us have lost our jobs too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coneyraven Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 13 hours ago, jen2222 said: A lot of companies are struggling and closing. The government also has plenty of funding to help companies. Just to make sure you understand.... the government hasn't given Royal a dime in assistance during these times...... they ARE struggling and are trying to stay afloat (pun intended) just like all the other cruise lines. The federal government, to my knowledge, hasn't given any financial assistance to any of the major cruise companies (RC, Carnival, Norwegion) ----- Also, to assume that Carnival would've reacted differently during these tough times is just that, an assumption. When you made the booking, there were options out there, like, for example, booking a refundable deposit, which would've solved your issues immediately. The fact that you didn't is on you, not the cruise company. None of us could've predicted the world going to shit like it did, but there are things we CAN do to protect ourselves in the event that bad things happen...... like a refundable deposit or travel insurance. If you declined those options, again, that's on you, and only you. Personally, I DO hope you get it resolved, and I know these are emotionally charged times, but the charges you are making against RC are baseless without knowing all the facts. Hope things get better for you. Neesa, teddy, WAAAYTOOO and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gears Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 Hang on a minute... Your first post says "So we made what we thought was the best decision and canceled our trip." Your second post says: "If things were different and we canceled then I can see them keeping the deposit." Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicallyLazy Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 I love how 'Not reinforcing your opinion' = 'working for Royal Caribbean' Sharla and Neesa 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisinForABruisin Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 15 hours ago, jen2222 said: I also did not create the virus or pandemic..... Please record your next call with them, use this line, and post it here. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgestang Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 I think I see the issue here, just want to confirm I am reading this all correctly..... 1. You booked a cruise in Feb 2020 for sometime in 2021 (sounds like July timeframe) with a non-refundable deposit and opted not to add in any extra cost with trip insurance 2. Planned cruise hasn't been cancelled by RCL yet because it is for sometime in 2021 (again sounds like a July cruise) 3. You lost your job, so not in position to pay final payment on March timeline a. Historically speaking, Royal has been pretty predictable in terms of they don't cancel a cruise until after the final payment has been made b. You called and cancelled the cruise prior to it being cancelled by Royal which puts YOU on the hook for the non-refundable deposit Based on my read, you are on the hook because of the contract you signed. Could Royal do things different? Sure, they could put themselves out of business letting everyone cancel all non-refundable bookings ad infinitum. I've had 3 cruises cancelled. I am lucky enough to be able to afford making the final payment and then waiting for it to be cancelling. In some cases I have opted for a full refund of what had been booked as non-refundable (like my 2020 Christmas cruise), in other cases I have opted to lift/shift like my Alaska cruise with the inlaws (moved from 2020 to 2021). I'm getting ready to have to make final payment on a July cruise as well....one that I know will change because it is a 9 night and they currently aren't going more than 7 night cruises because of CDC. If I called and cancelled today I would lose my $1000 deposit so I have to make the choice of either fronting RCL another 30k or losing my 1k. Did you ask about shifting the cruise for free to 2022 when you may have been in a better position financially to take a late Honeymoon? The only silver lining in all this is you already paid the deposit, and 'should' NOT be still carrying that cost on your CC...so it is a sunk cost. If you opt to cancel and lose, you technically are no worse off than you were prior to cancelling. Most people don't think like that, but then again, not everyone buy trip insurance either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 One thing Royal could do is make it alot easier to choose a refundable option on their booking screen...they charge WAY more for it...but I bet 90% of people who aren't familiar with Royal or with cruising don't know or even see that option....i mentioned on another post I visit the Royal site and this site almost every day and I cant see or find how to get pricing for the refundable cruise option.....hence I don't book anything on the Royal site for cruising! Sharla 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharla Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 49 minutes ago, monctonguy said: One thing Royal could do is make it alot easier to choose a refundable option on their booking screen...they charge WAY more for it...but I bet 90% of people who aren't familiar with Royal or with cruising don't know or even see that option....i mentioned on another post I visit the Royal site and this site almost every day and I cant see or find how to get pricing for the refundable cruise option.....hence I don't book anything on the Royal site for cruising! Another plug for using a travel agent. Neesa, monctonguy, teddy and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted January 6, 2021 Report Share Posted January 6, 2021 15 minutes ago, Sharla said: Another plug for using a travel agent. So true. It's amazing how simple the whole process has become since we started booking with a travel agent. <insert shameless plug for Michelle from MEI> WAAAYTOOO, Neesa and Sharla 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 8 hours ago, monctonguy said: .i mentioned on another post I visit the Royal site and this site almost every day and I cant see or find how to get pricing for the refundable cruise option You have to go so far as entering in the passenger's names before you see the refundable option. It's on the same page where you select pre-paid gratuities and dining time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted January 7, 2021 Report Share Posted January 7, 2021 For the record I don't work for Royal. Second I have cruised Carnival and they aren't issuing refunds to everyone either. They too are issuing FCC. I am sorry you lost your job and you find yourself in this hardship. This darn pandemic has hurt a lot of people. It's easy to think an exception should be made for one family, it's only $800. Royal had capacity on their ships for over 70,000 guest every single day. If you do the math, 70,000 guest each with a $250 deposit for a 7 night cruise is $17.5M dollars every week in deposits. They haven't sailed for 10 months now or around 40 weeks. That's $700M in deposits that everyone would expect. No company can pay out $700M while earning no revenue. It's simple to think it's just my money so what's the problem but it's not just your deposit, everyone would want a refund. Royal has had to sell off some ships just to survive. This has hit them hard too. I lost $2,500 when the March travel ban was announced and I had to buy a plane ticket on the spot to get home. Who should pay for that? The airline? The government? I didn't like paying it. I'd love to find someone else to pay it. I am sympathetic to your situation and you are in good company with so many other good people who have lost so much in these unprecedented times. whitsmom, Matt, Sharla and 6 others 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmef Posted January 20, 2021 Report Share Posted January 20, 2021 On 1/5/2021 at 6:26 PM, jen2222 said: No one knew a pandemic was going to happen. It’s a very unfortunate time for EVERYONE!! We have 2 kids and I lost my job and with the holiday $800 would of made things better in these times. And I am sure my $800 was not going to bankrupt the company. We have been on Carnival numerous times and I can tell you they would of refunded our money. A lot of companies are struggling and closing. The government also has plenty of funding to help companies. But Royal Caribbean is more concerned with paying there upper management and keeping there stocks up then there customers and that’s not right. If a company can’t see that this is a difficult time that NO one expected and can’t look out for there customers better needs it’s not a company I want to do business with. So I am supposed to just let them have $800. They are probably a billion dollar company and we are a family with 2 kids and we lost our jobs. Sorry my family comes first. And if they did give us our money back which I will do what I can to get it. Then we would go on a cruise with them when we could. We have been on many cruise with Carnival and we’re excited to try Royal Caribbean but now I am just disgusted. If things were different and we canceled then I can see them keeping the deposit. But this is a once and a life time or many life times situation. A PANDEMIC. I don’t see how a company can just take money from people it’s not right. Especially when people are struggling. You signed a contract. You are bound by the terms. If you booked non-refundable that means non-refundable. The government has given NO money to the cruise industry, unlike the airlines. If they give you cash back, they would have to give everyone their cash back. They can't do that right now. They didn't take anything from you- you freely gave them that money as a deposit and chose a non-refundable deposit. I am sorry you are struggling during these times, but you are not "owed" that cash. Sharla 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonOasis Posted January 20, 2021 Report Share Posted January 20, 2021 On 1/5/2021 at 10:45 AM, jen2222 said: We booked a cruise with Royal Caribbean back in February 2020 right before the pandemic started. We were planning on getting married and were bring and paying for 8 people. We were very excited as we were going to have the ceremony at Royal Caribbean's island. Getting married on Caribbean water was our dream wedding. When we booked they asked for an $800 deposit. and the rest of the money ($8,000) was due at the end of March. Well as we all know this is when the pandemic started. We had no idea what was going on but we did know there was a cruise ship in China where people were stuck and dying. So we made what we thought was the best decision and canceled our trip. As $8,000 is a lot of money to give away at such an uncertain time. Today Royal Caribbean refuses to give us our $800 deposit. They said we can get a credit that has to be used by the end of 2021. Well, I lost my job and am not in the financial position to pay for a cruise. Also, who would want to go on a cruise any time soon. I have called Royal Caribbean over a dozen times to try and get my money back as we NEED it and they refuse. I think this is absolutely unacceptable!! If it was not for the PANDEMIC we would of had our dream wedding and this would not be an issue. The fact that Royal Caribbean is keeping our money at such a trying time looks very poorly on the company and I have NO desire to do business with them. Your cruise credits are now good through April of 2022 as long as you sail by the end of September 2022. This extension was just announced, I received an email a few days ago from RC confirming this. In my opinion we could see another extension on those cruise credits if this suspension drags on into the summer months of 2021. Having said that I am sorry you've lost your job hopefully things will turn around for you and your fiancé. I'm not sure whether you are new to cruising or not but unfortunately you made a mistake many people made by booking (either mistakenly or purposefully) a nonrefundable cruise. Royal Caribbean is not trying to steal your money, they are not trying to keep your money but the nonrefundable contract is clear and your money is safe with Royal Caribbean which you can use towards a future cruise. Don't let this experience turn you off to cruising or to Royal Caribbean because I don't know if you have taken the time to peruse this blog site but if you have you have seen there are a lot of people who still want to get on a cruise ship as soon as possible. I wish I could offer you a different answer we saw airlines try this approach of offering credits but ultimately they had to offer full cash refunds. However cruise lines are not airline lines they operate under to completely different set of rules so even though passengers who booked nonrefundable airfare were able to receive a cash refund that simply isn't they way cruise lines operate. I hope you will reconsider and give Royal Caribbean the chance to show you how great their customer service both on land and especially at sea is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWhoWaits Posted June 6, 2022 Report Share Posted June 6, 2022 10 minutes ago, MARY ANN BARIL said: I am entitled to get some or all of my $1800.00 back I didn’t cancel the cruise I tested positive for Covid and was told I would not be able to go. If you want a copy of my positive test just tell me where to send it This is a board for fans of Royal Caribbean (and cruising in general). If you have specific questions for Royal, you will need to contact them directly. In general, folks have had good luck getting responses by posting questions to social media (whereas email tends to be much slower). Another options is to call Royal and ask to be escalated to the Resolutions department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealbigredrules Posted June 6, 2022 Report Share Posted June 6, 2022 Jen, It gets even better. I booked a trip and purchased the RCCL cruise insurance. The cruise was canceled due to the pandemic. While I successfully navigated the world of the FCC for my deposit and I have successfully applied it to an upcoming cruise, they refused to refund me the cruise insurance I paid associated with a cruise that NEVER took place. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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