Compensation after returning from cruise?

[squirk]

We stayed at Wilderness Lodge back in '10, and all five of us got the 24-hour stomach bug, with all of the usual complications. I rarely get sick, and even I got hit on that trip.

While odds are high that that bug was picked up somewhere on Disney property, it never occurred to me to ask for "compensation". Disney is not accountable for any and every bad thing that might happen on a Disney vacation.

I mean, **** happens, folks. Sometimes, no one is to blame, and as such, no one owes you anything.

 

[SpaceSquirrel]

No, that isn't it. This is for a Fantasy sailing that just ended.

I found this on Cruise Junkie, but it happened in April and is on the Disney Wonder: CDC reports 92 of 2679 (3.43%) passengers and 5 of 991 (0.5%) crew have reported ill with gastrointestinal illness. A CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officer is making plans to board the ship upon arrival in the port of Miami on May 1, 2016 to conduct an environmental health assessment and evaluate the outbreak and response activities.The cruise began April 27 and ends May 1. UPDATE: 131 of 2680 (4.89%) pax; 14 of 991 (1.41%) crew.

 

[Vijoge]

I just don't understand why people feel entitled to compensation for every bump in the road in life. Yeah, it's too bad the OP's daughter got sick on vacation-I get that. It's happened to us, too. But to question the right to be compensated? There's what? close to 4000 people on a cruise ship at any given time. I'd say the odds are pretty high that someone on board is contagious with something. This certainly doesn't mean anyone was negligent or that they could have prevented it in any way. People pick up germs everywhere (work, school, the grocery store, the mall, and yes, even Disney cruises) and sometimes they get sick. It's just a fact of life.

 

[Catvondita]

Going to agree with many here that the medical coverage you received is compensation enough. Sorry your daughter got sick. Hope she's all better!

 

[smiths02]

Sorry to read about your daughter, and your family's vacation. Certainly not what you signed up for.

Please follow up on this thread if you should reach out to DCL. I'd be very interested to learn what response you get if you do.

IMHO, you are certainly entitled to ask for compensation in some form, though, like other responses on this thread, I would be very surprised if you got anything. I learned first hand about 5 years ago that DCL is generally very strict about not rewarding guest who incur hardships like this, beyond what they are required to do. My family had a DCL cruise booked back then and were unfortunately forced to cancel last minute due to Hurricane Sandy. Fortunately we had insurance through DCL which gave us a credit towards a future cruise in the amount of our original trip, which happened to be at the beginning of November. Very fortunate for us, but the only time we could reschedule when everyone could go was July, which of course cost more, $2000 more to be precise for our family. More also for the other families joining us. Despite numerous requests and emails to DCL asking for some help due to our circumstance, they stood firm and would not do anything more than they were obligated to. So, I would be surprised, but pleased if you received anything.

OASN, You had insurance through DCL and all you get is a credit for a future cruise? I would assume you could get your actual money back if you had insurance.

 

[SeaSpray]

On our 2012 Magic cruise my DH's diabetes went haywire and we made the decision to visit the doctor onboard. They did lab work, consulted with their shoreside people, and provided my husband with additional insulin. We were charged about $240 and it was added to our onboard bill.

However, I feel that receiving medical care for something like diabetes or an injury etc is quite different than the medical department treating someone with a potentially very contagious illness, so I can understand the difference in how each situation is handled/billed.

A previous poster mentioned something about a doctor on one of the Disney ships telling her that they either can't or don't charge guests with stomach/intestinal illnesses because it's in Disneys best interest to keep those illnesses as contained as possible especially when the decision is made to quarantine someone.

 

[RedSox68]

On our 2012 Magic cruise my DH's diabetes went haywire and we made the decision to visit the doctor onboard. They did lab work, consulted with their shoreside people, and provided my husband with additional insulin. We were charged about $240 and it was added to our onboard bill.

However, I feel that receiving medical care for something like diabetes or an injury etc is quite different than the medical department treating someone with a potentially very contagious illness, so I can understand the difference in how each situation is handled/billed.

A previous poster mentioned something about a doctor on one of the Disney ships telling her that they either can't or don't charge guests with stomach/intestinal illnesses because it's in Disneys best interest to keep those illnesses as contained as possible especially when the decision is made to quarantine someone.

That makes good sense.

 

[lanejudy]

OASN, You had insurance through DCL and all you get is a credit for a future cruise? I would assume you could get your actual money back if you had insurance.

DCL is not the insurance provider, they offer insurance via a 3rd party by acting as the middleman. If it's a "covered" reason under the policy terms, you should get cash reimbursement. The "cancel for any reason" coverage through the DCL-offered insurance is actually a secondary benefit direct with DCL -- if the insurance company denies the initial claim, DCL will offer a credit towards a future cruise (I believe it's a 75% credit). So, it would depend on the reason for the claim and what the policy stated as covered reasons for cancellation -- "weather" is not usually a covered reason under the DCL-offered insurance unless 1) DCL cancelled the cruise or 2) you also purchase your flights through DCL and have airline cancellation or airport closure impacting ability to get to the cruise ship. I don't know if the DCL-offered policy includes any trip interruption coverage, but that might have provided the OP with some amount of reimbursement for the days under quarantine. I sincerely hope the child has fully recovered and the family can look forward to another vacation someday.

Trip insurance can be very important for a variety of reasons, and it's even more important to know what coverage is included in the policy you purchase.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Amw1064]

We had a similar incident back on the Magic 3 or 4 years ago. They did not charge us for any medical care and they brought Gatorade and crackers to the room a few times. My complaint was that they kept calling to make sure my daughter was in the room. We would just get to sleep and the phone would ring. I finally unplugged it and then they sent someone pounding on the door. We had been up the entire night before from her throwing up constantly. My husband went on our excursion that we had planned as they said they would only wave the cancellation fee for my daughter and whoever was going to stay behind with her. I was a little mad about that but never thought to ask for any compensation and she got sick at the end of the cruise and it was going around the ship.

 

[xavier2001]

On our 2012 Magic cruise my DH's diabetes went haywire and we made the decision to visit the doctor onboard. They did lab work, consulted with their shoreside people, and provided my husband with additional insulin. We were charged about $240 and it was added to our onboard bill.

However, I feel that receiving medical care for something like diabetes or an injury etc is quite different than the medical department treating someone with a potentially very contagious illness, so I can understand the difference in how each situation is handled/billed.

A previous poster mentioned something about a doctor on one of the Disney ships telling her that they either can't or don't charge guests with stomach/intestinal illnesses because it's in Disneys best interest to keep those illnesses as contained as possible especially when the decision is made to quarantine someone.

Yes this!! When my son got a stomach bug on the Fantasy we called the ship doctor, they said to bring him in and if it was a stomach virus there would be no charge but if they found something else wrong there would be a charge. The CDC (or whatever health department agency) has rules about treating noro on cruise ships without cost, at least thats what we were told.

 

[CruizinTigers]

Curious - why do you think the OP is entitled to ask for compensation?

Fair question, squirk. My point is, IMHO, anyone is entitled to ASK for compensation from the cruise line when something like this goes horribly wrong, outside of your control that so drastically impacts your vacation. Key to my comment is, you are not entitled to ASK. I'm not suggesting you are entitled to RECEIVE. Quite the contrary. If you ask for compensation in a situation like this where where the cruise line is not obligated to compensate you in any way, then you are at their mercy. If they find it in their good graces to do something for you, great! If not, so be it. You have to accept the consequences either way. To be totally honest, years back when DCL refused to help my family and others traveling with us due to our Hurricane Sandy cancellation, I was very angry with them. I perceived it then as this big, behemoth company not willing to help a poor slob like me after getting slammed by this devastating storm, and I couldn't understand why they didn't bend at all. A bit removed from it now, I realize that they were not obligated to do anything more than they had, and while I don't feel I was not wrong in asking for their help under the circumstances, and frankly still a little disappointed that they didn't, they are after all a for profit company and not a philanthropic organization. I understand that and accept the consequences.

 

[squirk]

Fair question, squirk. My point is, IMHO, anyone is entitled to ASK for compensation from the cruise line when something like this goes horribly wrong, outside of your control that so drastically impacts your vacation. Key to my comment is, you are not entitled to ASK. I'm not suggesting you are entitled to RECEIVE. Quite the contrary. If you ask for compensation in a situation like this where where the cruise line is not obligated to compensate you in any way, then you are at their mercy. If they find it in their good graces to do something for you, great! If not, so be it. You have to accept the consequences either way. To be totally honest, years back when DCL refused to help my family and others traveling with us due to our Hurricane Sandy cancellation, I was very angry with them. I perceived it then as this big, behemoth company not willing to help a poor slob like me after getting slammed by this devastating storm, and I couldn't understand why they didn't bend at all. A bit removed from it now, I realize that they were not obligated to do anything more than they had, and while I don't feel I was not wrong in asking for their help under the circumstances, and frankly still a little disappointed that they didn't, they are after all a for profit company and not a philanthropic organization. I understand that and accept the consequences.

Your point is well-taken; it certainly can't hurt to ask. Your phrase "entitled to ask" just confused me a little bit.

 

[CruizinTigers]

OASN, You had insurance through DCL and all you get is a credit for a future cruise? I would assume you could get your actual money back if you had insurance.

Nope. Perhaps it's different now. Back then, Disney gave us a credit for the amount of the cruise that November to use for a future sailing. Trust me. I was so angry at the time because they wouldn't doing anything more for us when we had to reschedule to a date that was costing us a lot more, that I wanted nothing more than my money back and to never cruise with them again. But we had not choice. Don't cruise and lose the entire amount we had already paid, or pay more. We chose the latter.

As I stated in another post, some may view this as whining, but understand, I didn't feel we were "entitled" to anything. Just hoped, due to the crazy happenstance that befell us, that someone in the corporate world might empathize with our situation and offer even the smallest assistance as a gesture of good faith to help.

 

[SuperDry]

I'm sorry to hear about what happened to the original poster's family. I've been through several on-board sicknesses on DCL, and they're not fun. None involved formal quarantine, but several involved effective self-quarantine where a member of my party was basically in their room for days at a time, too sick to do anything other than order room service. It affects everyone on the trip.

As I stated in another post, some may view this as whining, but understand, I didn't feel we were "entitled" to anything. Just hoped, due to the crazy happenstance that befell us, that someone in the corporate world might empathize with our situation and offer even the smallest assistance as a gesture of good faith to help.

I think what's rubbing some people the wrong way is the notion of this being "compensation" - there's an implication in the choice of words that Disney is being asked to help "make good" on something that was their responsibility. I completely agree that there's no harm in asking for a good-will gesture of some sort, and providing something might actually be the right thing to do on Disney's part.

 

[CruizinTigers]

I think what's rubbing some people the wrong way is the notion of this being "compensation" - there's an implication in the choice of words that Disney is being asked to help "make good" on something that was their responsibility. I completely agree that there's no harm in asking for a good-will gesture of some sort, and providing something might actually be the right thing to do on Disney's part.

I like the way you phrased it - a good-will gesture of some sort. That's what I was trying to convey.

I recall many years ago planning a group cruise to Alaska on RCCL. Long story short, there were some discrepancies between what some of our guest were paying when they should have all been equal. I seem to recall it turned out to be something with the airfare, though booked through RCCL, was not really in their control. Despite this, RCCL made the good-will gesture of providing on board credits for those in our group who were being overcharged for airfare to make up for the difference. This was about a dozen people, not just one or two. As a consumer, I will never forget that gesture from RCCL, and probably because of that, look to them first now when planning a cruise. Sometimes, a simple act of kindness can go a long way. I'm sure RCCL made back their money on us several times over on that cruise alone, but the positive feel for them goes on.

 

[squirk]

I think the problem with good-will gestures in cases of "cruise disruption" is that there is no objective standard by which to grant these favors consistently and fairly across a wide variety of circumstances.

Everyone will naturally think that their personal set of circumstances merits a good-will gesture, and once a precedent is set on social media, everyone will expect the same, even if their situation is not exactly the same.

You can see the progression:

"I read that you gave a break to a family when the kid had diarrhea and was throwing up. My kid didn't throw up, but still had diarrhea. Surely we deserve something?"

"I read that you gave a break to a family when the kid had just diarrhea. Mine didn't have diarrhea, but felt really queasy for a whole day. How's about a little help?"

"I read that you gave a break to a family where the kid had an upset stomach for a day. My kid tripped on his shoelaces and twisted his ankle and had to skip our day in Tortola. How about a 'good-will gesture'?"​

I'm being slightly ridiculous, but I don't think it's that huge of a stretch. And the instant that DCL pumps the brakes and says "Whoa! We are making way too many 'good-will gestures' lately, including for relatively minor inconveniences that are patently not our fault", tons of people will cry "foul!".

 

[guinea pig]

About 26 year ago we were on the Winder when my nephew got his elbow dislocated. It's a common pediatric thing called nurse maids elbow and the doctors on board did not know how to reposition the elbow. I asked tbe front desk if they knew if any orthopedic surgeons were on on board because it is supposedly a simple arm maneuver to get it back in Location. They couldn't help. My sister and BIL had to get off the boat at Nassau and go to a hospital. The X-ray tech took my nephews arm and turned it to get the X-ray and it popped in place and Huey left and hurried back to the boat before it left port . I was upset that the MD's onboard our cruise didn't now basic pediatric ER skills

 

[Dug720]

I think the problem with good-will gestures in cases of "cruise disruption" is that there is no objective standard by which to grant these favors consistently and fairly across a wide variety of circumstances.

Everyone will naturally think that their personal set of circumstances merits a good-will gesture, and once a precedent is set on social media, everyone will expect the same, even if their situation is not exactly the same.

You can see the progression:

"I read that you gave a break to a family when the kid had diarrhea and was throwing up. My kid didn't throw up, but still had diarrhea. Surely we deserve something?"

"I read that you gave a break to a family when the kid had just diarrhea. Mine didn't have diarrhea, but felt really queasy for a whole day. How's about a little help?"

"I read that you gave a break to a family where the kid had an upset stomach for a day. My kid tripped on his shoelaces and twisted his ankle and had to skip our day in Tortola. How about a 'good-will gesture'?"​

I'm being slightly ridiculous, but I don't think it's that huge of a stretch.

It's really not. Look at the changes and just general issues that have come about due to the internet and forums like this.

* No more dropping something off at Guest Services to be signed because it was getting to the point of being ridiculous and a full-time job.

* At the WDW resorts, towel animals are no more because apparently they were intended to be taken home and as such were made out of old and fraying towels, which housekeepers don't always have...plus it takes extra time, and some simply don't know how to do them. People started whining that they didn't get any (in reality either due to lack of available towels, lack of time, or lack of a housekeeper who knew how to make any) and now the resort housekeepers are not supposed to make any.

This summer I was on a RCCL cruise in the Med. The sailing of the itinerary before ours got back and was reporting in all reports that they had dropped the shuttle charge in Ravenna. Well, we get onboard and get our compass (their navigator) for Ravenna day and see "A shuttle is available for $22 round trip". Apparently after the city realized how much they lost with the first sailing, they changed their minds. Now, it would have been an amazing goodwill gesture for RCCL, knowing that word was out (they have people who monitor cruise critic and the like) about no fee, to just pick up the charge or negotiate with Ravenna for a fixed amount for shuttles for the summer and not make the guests pay for the rest of the summer and then just let the city know they needed to make their decision before the first cruise. But they didn't. I did go into the city for a little while, but I know a lot of people who opted to walk to the beach next to the port because that was free. I just chalked it up to the old "don't count your chickens" thing. I did mention it in a letter to RCCL about the cruise in general - both great things and growing edges - but only received the explanation I gave here. I sucked it up and didn't let it ruin anything, but there could be some people who will never sail RCCL again because of it.

So yeah, it's not a big stretch to see how things grow on the internet with the old "But I heard..." And then it turns into "this is why we can't have nice things."

 

[guinea pig]

About 26 year ago we were on the Winder when my nephew got his elbow dislocated. It's a common pediatric thing called nurse maids elbow and the doctors on board did not know how to reposition the elbow. I asked tbe front desk if they knew if any orthopedic surgeons were on on board because it is supposedly a simple arm maneuver to get it back in Location. They couldn't help. My sister and BIL had to get off the boat at Nassau and go to a hospital. The X-ray tech took my nephews arm and turned it to get the X-ray and it popped in place and Huey left and hurried back to the boat before it left port . I was upset that the MD's onboard our cruise didn't now basic pediatric ER skills

16 years ado!

 

[CindysFriend]

Hi OP here.

I did send an email to DCL Guest Communications, but I didn't ask for anything. Instead I gave them an excellent review of their medical and Guest Services staff, and also made a practical suggestion that would be beneficial for the cruise staff as well as any future guests who get sick, and I asked them to pass my suggestion on to the appropriate department.

I received a beautifully worded email back from DCL, as well as a phone call.