Barcelona Unrest affect anyone else? Oct 20, 2019 - Brilliance of the seas

[bevnpaul]

Royal Caribbean refused to even discuss a refund or reassignment of our cruise coupons for our Oct 20 Mediterranean cruise.

We had planned this vacation a year in advance with plans to spend several days in Barcelona before heading out on the cruise.

 Unrest and protests/demonstrations in Barcelona were all over the news. Flights into Barcelona were affected, transportation to and from the airport was affected.

We had planned walking tours and a trip to La Sagrada Familia, which was closed to tourists. 

United airlines offered to rebook our flights or cancel without penalty. 

Royal Caribbean reps were useless before we had to make a decision whether to go (from San Francisco) and risk NOT getting into Barcelona, or risk getting in, and risking our lives!

Our vacation a year in the planning was not going to turn out well either way. 

Now when I speak to RC rep and his supervisor, he says "well the ship sailed (literally and figuratively) and we cannot offer any exceptions to just you".  

If there are others who did not go, we might have a case...

Please, if you know anyone else who did not go to Barcelona for the Oct 20-28, 2019 cruise, please let me know. 

Beverly Joyce

bevnpaul@x 

[Jan115]

I'm so sorry this happened; the riots in Barcelona must have been scary for everyone. 

So you're saying the ship sailed from Barcelona, as scheduled, on October 20? Your flight into Barcelona a few days before cruise departure was canceled by the airline? Was it an independent flight or one arranged through the cruise line? A couple of things to try:

Did you book with a travel agent? Perhaps they can advocate on your behalf for a resolution. 

Did you have travel insurance? Some plans do have coverage for cases of political unrest, but I'm not sure that's true in a case where the ship chose to sail as scheduled.

I would suggest posting your question on Facebook in one of the Royal Caribbean groups. You'll likely find more people, if any, who may have missed the cruise for the same reason. 

Otherwise, from your description it sounds like you chose not to attempt another flight to Barcelona to reach the ship, and the ship chose to sail as scheduled. Did you contact the cruise line before scheduled departure to ask about assistance in getting to the ship? While it was an unsafe time for visiting Barcelona, but perhaps a new flight could have been arranged on the day of or the day before sailing, and you could have enjoyed the cruise and the other destinations on the itinerary. 

Come back and let us know what you find.🙂