Cruiseline Versus Airline Compensation......

[Sarge6870]

Here's the scenario, your on a cruise and due to bad weather, your ship has to deviate from it's itinerary for your safety. It has to skip a port of call and "maybe" dock at another port or spend a day extra at sea. In most cases, even though in your cruise contract it states the cruiseline has the right to do this, they may compensate you for your inconvenience. This may come in the form of an OBC (On-Board credit) or a discount on a future cruise with that line. They give you "something" for the change of schedule.

The other day, my niece flew home to N.Y. from here in Tampa, FL. via a major airline. She originally was scheduled to depart at 7:05pm. Due to bad weather along the East coast, her flight was delayed 4 hours. She arrived home near 3:00am. The difference here is the airline offered NOTHING! No free drinks, no apologies and no discounts on future flights due to her inconvenience. See where I'm going here?

The reason of this post is to bring to light one comparison between flying and cruising. When a ship has to change itineraries due to bad weather, people jump up and down with complaint. Even though the cruiseline may already have a remedy in place for such occurrences as part of their standard operating procedures. But, how many have complained to airlines because of cancelled flights, late departures or arrivals or lost luggage. How many airlines offered anything in return for your now scrambled schedule? I had an occasion back in 2007 when flying to Aruba where our connecting flight in Miami was delayed 3 hours because of what the airline deemed as "SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE"! I couldn't understand why they would schedule a plane for a flight when it was scheduled for maintenance. They offered nothing for our inconvience. That is until I called the airline and complained but all they did was reverse my miles on my account (which expired 2 months later).

So the next time you experience a changed itinerary on your cruise, remember this post. And remember, it could be worse....you could be FLYING!!!!!

[Huntm]

You are completely right! I am amazed at some of the complaints and demands made to the cruising industry.

[Mach]

I have had similar experiences... my then girlfriend and I were flying from San Antonio to NYC (actually Newark) for a cruise sailing from New York's Pier 88. When we got to the airport, at 6:15 AM, and arrived at the gate the display on the monitor said that our flight was 'Delayed.' An aircraft was at the gate and a glance out the window told the story... the windscreen on the co-pilot's side was shattered.

8 AM came and went without a word from anyone associated with the airline... 10 AM came and went no word. At 10:45 the flight was officially cancelled. Great. No flight. Now, the next available flight isn't for 2 hours and our arrival time in Newark is unknown. Had I not been smart enough to plan on arriving a day early the ship would have sailed without us.

In addition, the flight was to Houston and no connection was offered. They told us to check with the counter agent at Houston. Oh well... pretty much normal normal for the airlines.

Once in Houston we were told that they could not book us on ANY flight as they didn't show any space available but prior to each flight headed to Newark they would let us know if there were any seats open. I told the agent that we would be around the corner at the bar calming down. Did she call us over the PA system? Nope. The next flight left with 4 empty seats. I checked in and she said 'Where were you?' I could have spit.

Flight after flight departed for Newark with either no seats available or just one seat open. Finally, at about 5:30 PM we were able to board a flight that had two seats... not together but at least there were two.

We arrived in Newark at about 8:20 PM... more than eight hours late. No compensation, not a free drink, not even an extra pack of peanuts.

As we took the shuttle to the Marriott near the airport we could see the Dream docked at Pier 88 across the harbor.

Now, for the sea born experience... We sail every year during hurricane season and we have only missed two ports... unfortunately, they were both on the same cruise. We were on the Carnival Conquest with Montego Bay as the first port, Grand Cayman as the second and Cozumel as the last.

We sailed on Sunday and were scheduled to make port in MoBay on Wednesday. Tuesday afternoon we began to hear about a tropical depression that was forming south east of Jamaica and might be an issue. It was. Wednesday morning dawned rainy with seas of about 12 feet. I knew the wind was going to make getting to the pier a problem. We actually got to within 60 feet of the pier when winds kicked up to 70 knots making docking impossible. No Jamaica. We were informed that the port fees would be added to our Sail & Sign accounts and to expect Grand Cayman as scheduled.

With Georgetown well within site Thursday AM the nasty weather had tagged along. As I'm sure everyone knows Cayman is a tender port. Seas were six feet plus forcing the Port Authority to require us to hold offshore hoping for the seas to lay. They didn't. The port was declared closed and off to Cozumel we were.

I failed to mention that this was a group cruise for us. About 130 Crazies were on the ship with us... experienced cruisers all, thankfully. In the lobby there was an uncomfortable undercurrent.... folks complaining about missing ports... that it was Carnival's fault... they knew the ports would be cancelled before we sailed and so on. There was a jail house lawyer presiding over the commotion. This guy had never cruised in his life but he was telling the guests that if he got the names of 51% of the passengers on a petition the cruiseline would be FORCED to give them the cost of the cruise back. I guess the lawyer had failed to read his cruise contract. Rubbish.

He approached me with the petition he had and gave me his spiel. I listened as I sipped on my scotch and soda. At the conclusion of his diatribe I told him that, sadly, he was way off base. That the cruise contract that he agreed to online during the check in constituted acceptance of the contract.and that none of the ports were guaranteed. Later, I found out that many of my group had encounters with other disgruntled first time cruisers and told them the same thing. Additionally, they mentioned that the people they talked with thanked them for the information and they understood.

Mr. Jailhouse was now encouraging people to go to Guest Services and cancel the automatic gratuities which hurt no one but the people working hard to make their cruise as positive as possible. Sad... very sad. We tried to tell people that what they were doing wasn't right and wouldn't help their position but few listened.

We decided to gather on the Lido Deck, as a group, to let every crew member we saw how much we appreciated them despite the actions of the unhappy guests. We cheered every single person who walked by in a Carnival uniform. They really appreciated the support. Smile broke out on faces and we were thanked frequently.

A bit later in the day, when I returned to my cabin, there was a letter addressed to all the guests on my desk. It was from the Master of the Ship informing us that We would get a $50 OBC, a three hour open bar, any bar on the ship, and a 25% discount on a future cruise. Carnival went above and beyond with the compensation when they were required to do pretty much nothing. Amazing.

Not surprisingly, later in the evening the Mr. Jailhouse was spreading the rumor that we would not make Cozumel, either. He claimed that he was told that Cozumel had over a foot of rain and that mudslides had wiped out the port. HUH? I KNOW Cozumel... the highest point on the island is less than 50 feet above sea level! Mudslide? No way. It would have to be a mud push and a difficult mud push at that.

The next morning dawned perfectly clear promising a gorgeous day and it was. We had a fabulous time on the island, as always and came back to ship to glory in the drunk run down the pier prior to sail away.

Bottom line... compensation from the airline... nada. Compensation from the cruise line... over the top.

To a degree I blame the cruise lines for expectations of compensation. Someone gets upset at a joke a comedian tells and they get a bottle of champagne and a fruit basket, etc. If the line would simply stand their ground and NOT go overboard with needless payback people would have much more reasonable expectations.

Oh, by the way... the cruise director called John Heald, Carnival's Senior Cruise Director, and told him about how we were supporting the crew and encouraging others to do the same. On his blog the next day he pronounced that the Cruisin' With The Crazies group were officially 'The SWAT Team Of Fun'!!! Too cool!!!

[WeCruiseToo]

Definitely a double standard at work here!

[jacketwatch]

Hmmmm. Honestly not sure I agree here. You are on a plane for hrs. vs. a cruise ship which is not just a means of transport but a vacation package which includes food, a cabin, entertainment, etc. Naturally you expect more in the event of problems along the way. I would expect a vacation venue like a cruise to do more vs. an airline that may have to delay or cancel a flight. The airlines aren't promising a vacation whereas a cruise is.

[Mach]

Hmmmm. Honestly not sure I agree here. You are on a plane for hrs. vs. a cruise ship which is not just a means of transport but a vacation package which includes food, a cabin, entertainment, etc. Naturally you expect more in the event of problems along the way. I would expect a vacation venue like a cruise to do more vs. an airline that may have to delay or cancel a flight. The airlines aren't promising a vacation whereas a cruise is.

Let's see if I follow you here... you're supposed to be on an airliner for, say, five hours. They charge you for little things like water or the ability to bring a suitcase with you. Because of circumstances beyond their control or even something UNDER their control your five hour journey takes an entire day... or two... or three. You miss meetings, lose days of vacation and likely lose the cost of at least a portion of that vacation. What do you expect back from the airline? Nothing.

On the other hand, for the same price as a five hour flight you board a cruise ship to be served hand and foot, feed very good food three... four times a day or as often as you wish, be entertained, transported and pampered for a week. Mother nature unleashes weather that makes putting into port hazardous to your continued existence and they have to cancel a port or two TO WHICH YOU AGREED WHEN YOU PURCHASED THE CRUISE and you want to be compensated by the cruise line but you let the airline off the hook.

Hummmm... still very confused...

[jacketwatch]

We all have our own opinions. This is mine. I am not here to defend myself or argue with you. And all caps is considered shouting.

[Mach]

We all have our own opinions. This is mine. I am not here to defend myself or argue with you. And all caps is considered shouting.

And I respect that completely but that doesn't prevent me from being confused. I am not arguing with you... just stating my opinion as well.

Also, my post was not all caps... caps can be used to indicate emphasis.

[jacketwatch]

Your entire tone is argumentative and I do not appreciate it and caps is considered shouting in cyberworld. Sorry if you don't t know that. No one here has to answer to you as to why we feel the way we do. I could say more but it seems I am not being asked politely but rather in a way to defend my opinion. I am not here to debate you or anyone about why I feel the way I do. I would appreciate it if you would just agree to disagree and move on. I intend to.

[DebbieandJerry]

This is an interesting topic.