NJ Sues RCI

[JohnG]

The original post on page 1 left out the RCCL statements, which were included in the story in the 6/16 story in Travel Weekly:

"In response to the suite, Royal Caribbean released a statement countering that on July 23 the National Hurricane Center forecasted that Tropical Storm Franklin would become a hurricane that would likely intersect the path of the ship sailing to or while in Bermuda.

The lawsuit, filed in State Superior Court in Hudson County, alleges that the cruise line violated New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act and that the state is seeking restitution for consumers and civil penalties. The statement said that New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs received 53 complaints from passengers on the cruise who were allegedly told if they did not board the ship, despite the change in plans, they would lose all their money.

Royal Caribbean’s statement said that had guests gone to Bermuda, the storm conditions there would have prevented them from partaking in outdoor activities as well. The company also noted that its ticket contract specifically outlines its ability to make such itinerary changes under “unusual circumstances†and that “a cruise to Bermuda is not inherently more expensive than a cruise to Canada.â€Â

“Royal Caribbean has an obligation to avoid threatening sailing conditions that could endanger the lives of guests and crew members,†RCCL’s statement added.

The lawsuit also said that Royal Caribbean made no attempt to alert passengers of the change prior to the July 24 departure. However, Royal Caribbean said that the final decision to divert the sailing was made the morning of the cruise.

[JoeyandDavid]

Thanks John.. for another side of the story...

It only makes sense to wait until the last possible moment to make a change in Itinerary...I think most operators would like to stick to the origional game plan.. and will hold off making changes as long as HUMANILY possible so the argument about no notice in a timely matter is irrelevant in this case....(mho)

If<] this is true statement.. then, in that instance, I think RCCL was wrong.. A full refund should have been an option, in my opinion... no additional credits with a full refund.. but they should at least have had that option when requested by guests checking in ..(once again MHO)

[Dan]

The statement said that New Jersey’s Division of Consumer Affairs received 53 complaints from passengers on the cruise who were allegedly told if they did not board the ship, despite the change in plans, they would lose all their money

If

I agree they should have allowed cancellations or rebookings without penalty. For it's warts, Carnival was good about this sort of thing on both our cruises with them. First, they sent us a notice 2 weeks before departure that they were dropping the port call in Cartegena Colombia. The stated reason was civil unrest. The real reason was the ship wasn't fast enough to have any useful time in port, and they received complaints that people would prefer more time in Aruba and none in Cartegena on the Panama route. They offered us no penalty cancellation, or $50 pp credit if we kept the booking. Needless to say, they got that $100 back in the casino LOL.

At 9-11, when we were booked on 9-15 out of NYC, they didn't offer us cancellation, but they gave us the opportunity to have a future credit for 18 months for the value of the cruise. Or should we take the cruise, and get ourselves to Boston, they would give us $200 pp credit, which was also able to be refunded in cash when we didn't spend it all that week. (We also got another $20pp when the port call in Sydney NS was cancelled due to weather).