Not allowed to board cruise ship :(

24karat · December 2013

aceboom said:
I would be sooooooo damn livid. 1. Letters to company executives and customer service managers. 2. Names of all persons providing inaccurate information to you 3. Description of reason why they refused to REFUND all of your money. 4th and last, wrap this all up and send it to the local news station where the call center is, your city, and the headquarters. They should be ashamed for the lack I training they provided I the booking agent. I hope you get your money back and a cruise paid in full in the best room they have on the ship

Um, no. The OP is doing the mature (right) thing by owning up to her mistake and NOT throwing a tantrum or blame shifting.

salsamommy · December 2013

ktpaladino said:

ANDYLEAH said:

No offence but this whole post made me LOL. As a travel agent (which you should have used instead of going directly to RCL) and former cruise ship crew member, it really is common Knowledge and written very clearly in your passage contract which you should have read at time of booking.

By agreeing to that passage contract, you take full responsibility for your ignorance.

Next time. 1. Use a travel agent and 2. Buy travel insurance.

The trip was a birthday group event and was originally booked by a friend, hence the lack of info I received at the start. Big mistake, I know.

That's no excuse. You are required to complete your online check in and the passenger immigration form. If you had done this early on, the passage contract is the first thing that pops up! In order to continue, you must agree to the terms. You may have been able to cancel earlier on and fall into one of the cancellation penalty dates, instead of losing the entire amount!

@aceboom, she wouldn't have a leg to stand on! This is common policy. PERIOD. By accepting the passage contract, she also accepted that she didn't acknowledge the information provided in that contract! Her letters and complaints would go right to the trash can! If she's going to be livid at anyone (other than herself of course), it should be her friend that booked the cruise (but only if this friend failed to give her the information/cruise booking number right away).

Just like if you were on the ship, came down with Norwalk and were quarantined to your cabin for 3 days out of your 7 day trip. The cruise line has the right to do that and you agree to it by accepting the passage contract and boarding the vessel.

Or another great "I demand a refund" excuse we used to hear onboard, the ship can't go into a port due to high winds and it is unsafe to attempt to berth the ship. "Livid" people (like how you're describing you would be) would say that Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala was the only reason they came on this cruise, which i simply responded with "really?! Because I thought the highlight of this itinerary was the Panama Canal, not the 5 hours we have in Guatemala?"
It's all in the passage contract and every cruise line has it. They refused her boarding because it is for her own damn safety and the safety of her LO.
If her water had broken while the ship was at sea, she would have been screwed. The doctors onboard are amazing and many of them I worked with were OB's at one point, but they don't have every piece of equipment required to deal with a premature labour and baby.

So before getting all "livid", think of the serious complications and consequences that were quite possibly avoided by them refusing her.

The OP is definitely doing the right thing and leaving it alone.

ktpaladino · January 2014

ANDYLEAH said:

ANDYLEAH said:

No offence but this whole post made me LOL. As a travel agent (which you should have used instead of going directly to RCL) and former cruise ship crew member, it really is common Knowledge and written very clearly in your passage contract which you should have read at time of booking. By agreeing to that passage contract, you take full responsibility for your ignorance. Next time. 1. Use a travel agent and 2. Buy travel insurance.

The trip was a birthday group event and was originally booked by a friend, hence the lack of info I received at the start. Big mistake, I know.
That's no excuse. You are required to complete your online check in and the passenger immigration form. If you had done this early on, the passage contract is the first thing that pops up! In order to continue, you must agree to the terms. You may have been able to cancel earlier on and fall into one of the cancellation penalty dates, instead of losing the entire amount! @aceboom, she wouldn't have a leg to stand on! This is common policy. PERIOD. By accepting the passage contract, she also accepted that she didn't acknowledge the information provided in that contract! Her letters and complaints would go right to the trash can! If she's going to be livid at anyone (other than herself of course), it should be her friend that booked the cruise (but only if this friend failed to give her the information/cruise booking number right away). Just like if you were on the ship, came down with Norwalk and were quarantined to your cabin for 3 days out of your 7 day trip. The cruise line has the right to do that and you agree to it by accepting the passage contract and boarding the vessel. Or another great "I demand a refund" excuse we used to hear onboard, the ship can't go into a port due to high winds and it is unsafe to attempt to berth the ship. "Livid" people (like how you're describing you would be) would say that Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala was the only reason they came on this cruise, which i simply responded with "really?! Because I thought the highlight of this itinerary was the Panama Canal, not the 5 hours we have in Guatemala?" It's all in the passage contract and every cruise line has it. They refused her boarding because it is for her own damn safety and the safety of her LO. If her water had broken while the ship was at sea, she would have been screwed. The doctors onboard are amazing and many of them I worked with were OB's at one point, but they don't have every piece of equipment required to deal with a premature labour and baby. So before getting all "livid", think of the serious complications and consequences that were quite possibly avoided by them refusing her. The OP is definitely doing the right thing and leaving it alone.

@ANDYLEAH....being a first time cruiser I went to do the online check in 24 hours prior to the cruise (like with an airline flight) not knowing that it had to be done at least 3 days in advance, so online check in was not an option for me at that point. I was not presented with any kind of passage contract/immigration form until we were going through the check-in process in Miami. Maybe my friend did all that when she made the initial reservation. I dunno, I'm still so confused about the whole mess LOL! Yes, totally still my fault for not checking the policy for myself online in advance, but after going through what I had after the incident happened to double check, this policy wasn't located in any of the confirmation emails or documents that were sent/forwarded to me prior to my trip.

LEIGHLOVE09 · January 2014

Well I've only cruised once when I was younger and I had no idea about this policy. Maybe if you have never done a cruise before you would not know this. Give her a break especially since she spoke with someone from the cruise line when she found out she was pregnant and they said she would be fine. That would have been good enough for me.

OP I'm sorry this happened. I would fight fight fight to get something from them.

kennazebrowsky · January 2014

Most cruise ships list this as a policy online and when you purchase a cruise you have to tell them if you're pregnant. Being pregnant makes you a liability and they don't have a full hospital on staff to take care of you if something happened

Excitedmum35 · January 2014

I agree with OP that yeah she should have read the policy on the website- but I also think it's incredibly unfair as she wasn't given all the information. And she DID look into it, call, ask the policy and talk to her dr and get a drs note.
You would think that the cruise company (who make craploads of money) would be nice and at least reimburse half the cost or give OP a voucher for a future cruise. It's not about blame shifting, it's about compassion and recognising that their rep didn't give all the info.
I'm sorry this happened OP.
If it's any consolation, I went on a cruise at around 10 wks and all I wanted to do was sleep- it made my ms worse and the rocking if the ship was like a rocker putting me to sleep!

kristine526 · January 2014

Pregnancy related concerns are clearly stated in your cruise contract which you are required to read and sign before boarding. All cruises clearly state that women past 24 weeks gestation will not be permitted to board a cruise ship. It sucks, and I'm sorry it happened to you, but you really should have covered all your bases as soon as you found out you were pregnant.

As for getting your money back, tbh, you were the one who didn't do your homework and chose to show up anyway. Policies are easily researchable, and policies in regards to pregnancy are to be read before you book, so the fact that you didn't do that is on you.

Trip insurance *probably* wouldn't have helped either. I looked in to getting insurance when DH and I went when I was 18/19 weeks, and the insurance policies I looked in to would not cover pregnancy related issues.

P.S. At 24 weeks, the baby is viable. Cruise ships don't have the resources to handle labor and delivery, much less a NICU if one is needed. At that point you become a liability. It sucks that it happened to you, but it was completely avoidable.

kennazebrowsky · January 2014

kristine526 said:
Pregnancy related concerns are clearly stated in your cruise contract which you are required to read and sign before boarding. All cruises clearly state that women past 24 weeks gestation will not be permitted to board a cruise ship. It sucks, and I'm sorry it happened to you, but you really should have covered all your bases as soon as you found out you were pregnant.

As for getting your money back, tbh, you were the one who didn't do your homework and chose to show up anyway. Policies are easily researchable, and policies in regards to pregnancy are to be read before you book, so the fact that you didn't do that is on you.

Trip insurance *probably* wouldn't have helped either. I looked in to getting insurance when DH and I went when I was 18/19 weeks, and the insurance policies I looked in to would not cover pregnancy related issues.

P.S. At 24 weeks, the baby is viable. Cruise ships don't have the resources to handle labor and delivery, much less a NICU if one is needed. At that point you become a liability. It sucks that it happened to you, but it was completely avoidable.

This completely. It sucks but I know when we took our cruise it clearly stated the policy.

This is why they offer vacation insurance. Seriously even if you couldn't go because of a death in your family they would not have to refund you your money. They have a timeframe you have to cancel by.

gobbo1985 · January 2014

Maybe you should have read their pregnancy policy, they have it online. You should have informed yourself. But I would still try to get some money back

spacepotatoes · January 2014

To those of you saying OP should have had insurance, I don't think it would have helped her in this case unless it was a "cancel for any reason" policy. Insurance doesn't usually reimburse when the passenger is the one who fails to read/follow a policy that they agreed to in the contract.

OP, I'm really sorry that this happened to you. I hope RCL is willing to work with you on a future cruise booking but I don't think a refund is the "right" thing to do in this case. Their policy is standard across the cruise industry (I know that Carnival, Norwegian, and HAL all have the same rules). They should offer something for their own incomplete information but as you admit, you did not verify for yourself when the information was readily available.

ktpaladino · January 2014

I realize this post is getting old and I hate to keep beating a dead horse but it seems people are not reading through the pages and keep making the same points over and over and missing some details about the whole story. I've explained numerous times why insurance was not an option, why I was not presented with a contract until boarding, why I am NOT trying to get my money back any longer, how I fully understand the policy and liability, and admitted it was totally my mistake from the beginning. I thank everyone for their input, and again, the main purpose of this post was to help inform future mamas to be of this policy that might not be aware of it because I feel horrible that so many other people have had to go through it. This will be my last response to the post- thank you again for your help!

PrimRoseMama · January 2014

aceboom said:
I would be sooooooo damn livid. 1. Letters to company executives and customer service managers. 2. Names of all persons providing inaccurate information to you 3. Description of reason why they refused to REFUND all of your money. 4th and last, wrap this all up and send it to the local news station where the call center is, your city, and the headquarters. They should be ashamed for the lack I training they provided I the booking agent. I hope you get your money back and a cruise paid in full in the best room they have on the ship

You sound fun & full of class...
:-@

SparkySharky · January 2014

ktpaladino said:
The cruise line booking agent didn't necessarily misinform me, just omitted some obviously VERY lucrative details.

The cruise line booking agent? Sounds like an agent (in the legal sense) of the cruise line. Your chances of getting your money back just vastly improved. I'd contact them again and say that their agent misrepresented their policies and you're entitled to your money back. Then I'd go to your local small claims court and file a claim if they don't give you a full refund.

SparkySharky · January 2014

You should also ask for your flight costs, any hotels, anything you spent money on as a result of relying on what the agent told you. Cab fair, airport parking, gas. The beauty of an agency relationship is that the cruise line is bound by the representations of its agent.

calimama2007 · January 2014

Time to lawyer up?

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