What about families that can't meet the new mandate, by the time of their cruise.

[Cheburashka]

Not getting vaccinated is 100% the fault of the customer.

It isn't the fault of the customer if that wasn't a requirement at time of booking. If you change the requirements for sailing, then you need to allow the customer a way out that doesn't make them lose any money.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

No, it's not the fault of the customer if that was not the policy at the time of booking.

It isn't the fault of the customer if that wasn't a requirement at time of booking. If you change the requirements for sailing, then you need to allow the customer a way out that doesn't make them lose any money.

Of course, the booking contract that a passenger agrees to by making a reservation says that the cruise line can change policies/itineraries/whatever at any time.

That's why you buy insurance, to cover any losses you may incur. Now, if the cruise line cancels the trip and refunds everyone's money, they've not lost any money to be recouped via insurance.

 

[DCLMP]

Of course, the booking contract that a passenger agrees to by making a reservation says that the cruise line can change policies/itineraries/whatever at any time.

That's why you buy insurance, to cover any losses you may incur. Now, if the cruise line cancels the trip and refunds everyone's money, they've not lost any money to be recouped via insurance.

It's called a goodwill gesture or just plain good customer service, I'm sure you've experienced it at some point in your life. It's like Uber eats doesn't have to offer me a refund when Chipolte screws up my order, but they always do. If they didn't I would never order from Uber eats again.
I will say you have an interesting way of looking at things. I also think in the long run DCL will make it right with their customers because that is what good company's do.

 

[starry_solo]

DCL uses Arch insurance for their insurance. Arch will let you apply the premium to another trip for up to 2 years, usually.

 

[Cheburashka]

Of course, the booking contract that a passenger agrees to by making a reservation says that the cruise line can change policies/itineraries/whatever at any time.

Being required to be injected with a medication in order to sail is a far cry from a changed itinerary, so that argument doesn't really hold water. It's simple customer service. DCL refunds their insurance premiums when they cancel cruises, so they should refund them in this case, too, and I'm sure they will. This is about DCL providing decent service to their customers.

Btw I'll add that I'm vaccinated and am glad that DCL has added this requirement. But it's simple logic that if they add an invasive medical requirement to be able to cruise with them, they should refund all monies in full if the customer isn't prepared to go through with it.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Being required to be injected with a medication in order to sail is a far cry from a changed itinerary, so that argument doesn't really hold water. It's simple customer service. DCL refunds their insurance premiums when they cancel cruises, so they should refund them in this case, too, and I'm sure they will. This is about DCL being reasonable with their customers. I'm not talking about separately-purchased insurance, which is always nonrefundable.

A vaccination requirement to port in a given country is not a rare thing in the cruise world. Just because the requirement is a new thing in a different country, meaning that a ship must require passengers to have the vaccination in order for the ship to port there, is something that could be expected. Especially in a pandemic.

 

[Cheburashka]

A vaccination requirement to port in a given country is not a rare thing in the cruise world. Just because the requirement is a new thing in a different country, meaning that a ship must require passengers to have the vaccination in order for the ship to port there, is something that could be expected. Especially in a pandemic.

It's expected now but it wasn't before. They change the requirements to sail, so they provide a refund if the customer isn't prepared to meet those new invasive medical requirements to sail.

From a legal perspective they'll probably want to refund everything, so they can't be construed as having pressured customers into getting vaccines they didn't want, by not refunding all of their payments otherwise.

 

[Husker Mike]

DCL refunds their insurance premiums when they cancel cruises, so they should refund them in this case, too, and I'm sure they will. This is about DCL providing decent service to their customers.

My agent told us earlier this summer that DCL changed their policy so if you were to cancel after your reservation was paid in full with FCC, the insurance would be non-refundable.

 

[Cheburashka]

My agent told us earlier this summer that DCL changed their policy so if you were to cancel after your reservation was paid in full with FCC, the insurance would be non-refundable.

Earlier this summer, DCL hadn't even published any protocols, so that isn't relevant. DCL's insurance was always non-refundable when you cancelled for your own reasons. DCL refunded the premiums when DCL cancelled a cruise. DCL also should/probably will refund now that they've changed the requirements for sailing to require passengers to have a drug injected into their bodies to be able to sail. (I'm all for that, btw, but it is an invasive medical requirement to even be allowed to board the ship, not just "we're sailing to Grand Cayman instead of Cozumel.")

Instead of arguing about the theoretical, we need to hear from a person who had the insurance & cancelled due to this & tells what DCL did. 99% chance DCL refunds the insurance for the multiple reasons I've listed in this thread.

 

[Sun_soakin]

I don’t know why people would be expecting a refund of travel insurance… Disney required for unvaccinated travelers because there was a higher risk they wouldn’t be able to sail. Disney is being good about issuing refunds, but if they weren’t, you’d be using that travel insurance right now. This is what it was for.

 

[tirfaie]

For my cruise, we were four friends going and each paid an equal amount of the overall fare when we booked. With the vaccination requirement, one of us had to drop out because she was not comfortable with getting the vaccine.

As far as I can tell, they have refunded the entire amount of everything she had paid for that related to her. It's hard to fully confirm because there were four credit cards involved and they refunded random amount to three of those cards without any kind of logic so it took me half an hour to figure who owe who what.

We had paid for our fare, Travel insurance, Ground transport and gratuities.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

DCL didn't change the requirement. The Bahamas changed the requirement. Like it or not, that is a huge legal difference when talking about refunds.

Now, sure, had DCL made vaccination required to start with because that was the direction the wind was clearly blowing in the Caribbean, they might have had more obligation to refund. But they did not.

Port requirements fall into their contract quite clearly. They cannot allow unvaccinated adults to sail and make a port call. ADA and religious exceptions allowed for under US statute do not apply, as they are dealing with the rule of a sovereign nation that is not the United States. They cannot just have the unvaccinated passengers stay on board, because of the Bahamian rule.

Anything DCL do here is goodwill. Given that they gave people free cruises for failing to read instructions, I'd THINK they'd do something, but we seem to be hitting the end of their willingness to do much financially for most guests.

 

[Travel60]

Agreed. This was unexpected and no fault of the customer. If things were normal I would only buy the cheapest medical third party insurance for a four night cruise. I bought through DCL this time because it was mandated and had to meet certain criteria. My cruise is not affected though, but if it was I would expect at least a discount or OBC on a future cruise.

Not unexpected. Totally foreseeable.

 

[DCLMP]

I don’t know why people would be expecting a refund of travel insurance… Disney required for unvaccinated travelers because there was a higher risk they wouldn’t be able to sail. Disney is being good about issuing refunds, but if they weren’t, you’d be using that travel insurance right now. This is what it was for.

Yeah, and Disney would be getting a ton of bad publicity if they went that route. It's always in the best interest of the company to do right by the customer.

 

[VAlegacy]

As a side note, its sad that taking a cruise is the driving force for people to determine whether or not to be vaccinated

 

[zeferjen]

Again I'm happy whatever the reason people finally decide to do it.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Right, but if your cruise is less than 5 weeks away, there is no way to finish and be considered fully vaccinated before the cruise.

it's not like there hasn't been massive writing on the wall about this... as well as the availability to get it taken care of...
it's like planting a tree, best day was yesterday but today is the 2nd best day!

 

[SteveMouse]

I, for one, was not terribly surprised by The Bahamas announcing that vaccines are required for entry. If I had been planning to go, I’d have been sure I was vaccinated, regardless of the cruise line’s policy.

In a very real sense, you are cancelling for medical reasons if someone in your party isn’t vaccinated. If you filed a claim because of the medical status, you would be eligible for whatever compensation is appropriate under the policy. If Disney is providing you an option for FCC, that may be better for you than a refund based on your insurance claim.

 

[Henlady]

Yeah, and Disney would be getting a ton of bad publicity if they went that route. It's always in the best interest of the company to do right by the customer.

You do realize that the few customers they loose for a while is negligible? People will do Disney even though some are unhappy. Disney “looses “” customers every day over some issue. But they eventually come back or are replaced by others. For small companies this would be an issue. I honestly don’t think a few unhappy people here and there are that much of an issue for DCL

 

[SteveMouse]

And to put this topic to bed, straight from Disney’s web site:

You further acknowledge that the COVID-19 rules, regulations, mandates, and safety protocols issued by Disney Cruise Line and/or Public Health Authorities and/or other governing bodies are subject to change. Disney Cruise Line reserves the right to change any health and safety protocols, including, but not limited to, requirements on vaccinations, masks, and physical distancing related to COVID-19 at its sole discretion, without notice, both prior to and during your presence on the cruise ship. It is your sole responsibility to confirm any changes to any health and safety protocols that may be applicable and ensure compliance with all health and safety protocols in effect on the cruise ship. (Emphasis added)

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/contracts-terms-safety/terms-conditions/united-states/