I have to wonder if there is more to the story. I've been cruising 44 years, and back in the 1980's the cruise lines required you to flight in the day before, and they provided a hotel room at no extra cost. I think NCL called it something like their "Gateway" program. Now, if you book through the cruise line direct, including air fare, it can be difficult to get them to book your flight the day before. We cruised Celebrity out of Vancouver and their rep said there would be absolutely no issue with this. I did ultimately buy Celebrities insurance. I had a choice of "perks" and one of them was their top of the line travel insurance for $25 a person, so the agent then said even if I did have an issue, with the insurance they would make sure we got to the ship.As a seasoned cruiser, I find it impossible to believe the cruise line refunded their fare without insurance. Simply DOES NOT happen. They must have had coverage, probably the basic little policy you get for a few dollars by checking the box when you book the cruise. The article is unclear on this, purposely, I believe, to make the airline look worse.
In my business, we call this type of behaviour consumer terrorism, usually done through social media. I wish more companies would start pushing back by making a robust public defence of the facts. It’s infuriating to me that people expect companies to provide everything (and more) that they have contractually agreed to, but refuse to understand that they (the consumer) are equally bound by those contracts.
I’m doing a NCL Hawaiian cruise in February. We are arriving on Wednesday for a Saturday embarkation. We decided to do a cruise tour through NCL, but I would have arrived days ahead anyway. This is an incredibly expensive trip and I would be so disappointed to miss it, insurance or no insurance.
The passengers will need a passport to be flown to the next port (unless it's San Juan, PR, or the USVI). Many cruisers do not have passports, or if they do, they might not bring them along if they don't think they'll miss the ship.
My parents are going on a Norweigian cruise on the Celebrity Apex next summer and they're doing a whole other European vacation before the cruise. They're going to visit family in the Netherlands and then go over to London to do some touristy stuff before hopping on the cruise. With how incredibly unpredictable airlines are these days, that's what I would do IMO.
Not having a passport for a trip that visits other countries is not a great decision.
I don't disagree. I'm merely pointing out another downside of day-of travel.
We fly day-of quite a bit; it totally depends on the departure port. From here, we can get to LA, Vancouver or Seattle direct in just a few hours, and there are always a decent number of flights per day that arrive in plenty of time to board cruises. We've also flown day-of to Houston and Anchorage, but those were dancing a little closer to the edge.
We couldn't consider it for cruises out of Florida, or like our upcoming one going out of Boston. Very few direct flights between here and those places and with the time change going west-to-east, we can't really make it work, even if everything went perfectly.Bad publicity? Why would there have been bad publicity? As sympathetic as I am to your late Mom's illness, without insurance she wasn't entitled to a refund and I'm sure she knew that. Would she have tried to raise a ruckus with the media anyway? If so, that's not cool.
Thanks for mentioning this. I was wondering why the family didn't simply try to catch up at the next port.
As a Canadian, we need passports to go anywhere and never travel without them.
Some businesses still believe in good will. I figured it was a lost cause, but the Travel Agent said, it wasn't, and she was right. Sadly, mom was not well enough to advocate for herself, doubt she would have gone to the media. But I am fairly certain she would have contacted HAL herself for a refund if she had been able, that was her nature. And she had great success over her 90 years with that attitude. You never know until you ask.Bad publicity? Why would there have been bad publicity? As sympathetic as I am to your late Mom's illness, without insurance she wasn't entitled to a refund and I'm sure she knew that. Would she have tried to raise a ruckus with the media anyway? If so, that's not cool.
so people who purchase insurance are just suckers because they can take their story to social media (or tv) and shame the business into covering something that is not their responsibility?
No, not at all. As I have advocated on these boards for over 20 years, you need to review what insurance you already have and what risk you are willing to assume. Did you pay with a credit card that offers travel coverage? Does your health insurance cover you outside the U.S.?
asking is one thing. Shaming the business is another. I was in the hotel business for many years and you would not believe the number of people who expect the "big business" to compensate poor little them. When I multiply my experience by 10? to account for the number of cabins vs my hotel's rooms, I can't even imagine
No question, many people feel entitled. HAL certainly didn't have to refund the money. But my mom was a decades long cruiser on HAL, and the trip was booked through a Travel Agent that does a lot of business with HAL. I think those two reasons were the reason the Travel Agent felt there wouldn't be an issue getting a refund.
