10 Recession Proof Cruise Tips
Surefire strategies to get more cruise for less.
Even in the most difficult economic times, savvy travelers can always find ways to save hundreds of dollars off their cruise vacation. Here are 10 tried-and-true strategies to help you get more bang from your cruise vacation buck:
1. Become a savvy traveler. A bad economy makes for some very good deals: Super cruise deals, lowest prices in years. But don't book them directly with the cruise line. You can get "bonus" savings from many travel agents. Not only a better price, but some agents throw in shipboard credits, pre-paid gratuities and other incentives to get you to book. Shipboard credits, where available from the cruise line, are house credits that are placed on your stateroom's account for you to use during your cruise vacation. You can use the credit towards merchandise, lounges and in some, but not all cases, for Spa Treatments or Shore Excursions.
Contact your credit card company. They may offer additional savings, shipboard credits or frequent flyer miles when you pay for your cruise in full with that credit card.
Sign up for e-mail deal alerts that let you know where the great deals are. Some services will e-mail you when cruise fares drop for the cruise you want.
2. Pick a cruise departure port within driving distance. Save the cost of airfare and drive to where the ship departs. The high cost of air travel is a compelling reason to target cruise ships that sail within a day’s drive or less of your home. Cruising close to home has never been easier. There are over 20 departure ports in the United States that have cruises departing from them. It's one of the best ways to stretch your vacation dollar. Plus, you can choose from hundreds of voyages to destinations like the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Mexico. Departures will vary by cruise line and not all cruise lines sail from your closest city.
Here's our list to check out.
From the East Coast, you can sail from; Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, New York City, Norfolk, Philadelphia,Port Canaveral, Tampa. From the West Coast; Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle From the Gulf Coast; Galveston, Houston, Mobile, New Orleans.
3. Haggle for your cabin. Cruise pricing is all about supply and demand. The cruise line Inventory managers get nervous when there aren’t enough "heads in the beds", so take advantage and use your leverage. “Don’t be shy about negotiating with your travel agent,” says Marty Trencher at Cruise Traveler Magazine. “Travel agents are more willing to bargain now that business is soft. Even if the price is the same, we’re seeing travel agents throwing in incentives, such as complimentary ground transfers, free parking at the pier, pre-paid tips or onboard credits that can be used toward dining, spa services, and other amenities. Remember, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. Seniors are most effected by the economy. Seniors should look to book with the cruise line that offer the best reduced rates for seniors. Senior discounts are offered by Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line and others. One passenger in the cabin must be at least 55 years old to receive the discounts.
To broaden the geographic make-up of passengers, many cruise lines may offer special reduced prices for residents of your state. Ask about it
Inside or out? Why not save money and book an inside cabin. Inside cabins are windowless, but are priced huundred's of dollars less that outside or balcony cabins. As you only sleep in your cabin, why not?
Is the balcony really necessary?. If your budget allows, consider upgrading to a balcony also known as a veranda cabin. But first, think about how much time you will spend gazing at the stars or having breakfast in. On a transatlantic voyage, the scenery always the same, but on a coastal voyage around Alaska or the Mediterranean a balcony cabin may be worth it.
4. Book your own shore excursions. When budgeting for a cruise vacation, it’s easy to underestimate how much you’ll cruise will cost. Beyond the cost of the cruise fare and taxes, there's the fuel surcharges and other fees to consider. One area you can really save money is do your own sightseeing or shore excursion planning. Almost all the local vendors that the cruise line uses, can be found on the internet. Visit the port’s official tourism web site for up-to-date information on tour operators and pricing. Their direct to the consumer prices in most cases are cheaper than if you bought the tour from the cruise line. Shore excursion income is an important part of a cruise lines onboard revenue. So, they mark it up to maximize profits. Booking just one shore excursion, such as a helicopter ride to land on glacier, for a family of four in Alaska, can save you hundreds of dollars in your overall cruise vacation costs. And you can put that savings to better use.
Two online firms that specialize in sightseeing tours for cruise passengers include Port Promotions and Shore Trips. You can book online, and pocket the savings.
5. Choose a cruise where kids cruise free. Find cruise line promotions that let Kids 12 and under sail free when they share a cabin with mom and dad. MSC cruises is offering Children 17 and under to sail free in the Caribbean & Mediterranean when traveling as the third or fourth guest in a cabin with two full-fare paying guests. Check with MSC cruises for details. Take advantage of reduced rates for 3rd/4th passengers with Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Princess. You can also save money onboard. Purchase an unlimited "coke" card or other budget stretcher offer. A deal that offers unlimited sodas for $20, is a real money saver when you are traveling with kids. Tip: many of these 'budget stretcher" deals are not well publisized. Be sure to check out the cruise lines special offers web page, and ask your travel agent about family deals when you reserve your cruise.
6. Think about the future. Some cruise lines offer discounts on a future sailing if you book it while on a current cruise. Back home, you can work with your travel agent and try to lower the price even further.
7. Keep your onboard spending low. Limit your spending on photos, spa services, art auctions, shore excursions, jewelry, casino and drinks of the day.
Stay away from the Specialty restaurants. Many cruise lines have several alternative dining venues to the usual main dining room. These restaurants, offer special menu items with prices ranging from $10 to $45 per person. Sure, the fare may be better, but is it that much better than what you can savor in the ship’s dining room for free?
Almost every cruise ship offers Internet access, but they often charge a ridiculous per-minute access fee. Some cruise lines even offer package deals for 100- 200 minutes of Internet access. Forget about it! Instead, visit an Internet facility when you are in port. How to find one? Easy, ask a crew member where to find an Internet cafe on shore, or check out the local public library, where you can sometimes check your e-mail for free.
8. Discover free airfare. Air add-on rates are offered by many cruise lines in conjunction with their cruise only rates. Sometimes, special promotions are offered where the air is reduced. For example, a Caribbean cruise sailing out of Miami, may have an air rate of $389 from Chicago. But the cruise line may subsidize the rate and offer the plane ticket for $179 per person. In some cases, economy airfare is offered free from select cities.
Save on Airport transfers. The cost of cruise line provided round-trip airport transfers can run $20 per person or more. A better (and often faster) way to get to and from the ship is by local taxi. The fare can be $20-30, but the taxi can take up to four people.
9. Snag a better cabin at no extra cost. Look for free upgrades: Frequently offered by Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Upgrades are usually from an inside to an inside cabin, or an oceanview to an oceanview cabin, excluding suites and sometimes oceanview cabins with balconies. Most of these upgrades are unadvertised and you need to do your homework to find them. For instance, if you head to cruise direct online you’ll find that it’s loaded with money-saving discounts on many cruises plus many bonus features, such as upgrades, shipboard credits and more.
10. Aim for the off season. For cruises that sail year-round to the same destinations, certain sailings sell out more slowly, or don't filll up at all. If you are considering a Caribbean cruise, then consider sailing between the end of August and the sailing before Christmas. Looking to sail to Alaska? may and September offer the best deals. Europe? September and October sailings are the cheapest. During the "off" season, you'll find the best senior citizen rates, regional promotions, past passenger, or last minute deals.
October 20th, 2008 | |
Posted in cruises
For their sixth wedding anniversary, Mark and Melissa Hill looked forward to a four-day Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Ecstasy.
''We get one vacation a year,'' said Mark, a telephone technician from Dallas. ``And this was our first trip alone together since we had kids.''
The Hills now wish they had stayed home. Their story shows how cruising during hurricane season can create a perfect storm of problems.
With Hurricane Ike headed toward Galveston, Texas, where their ship was to depart Sept. 11, the Hills tried to cancel their booking, but Carnival said they would forfeit their cruise fares, about $1,100 total, if they did.
So the couple drove to Galveston and boarded the ship. Two days later, Ike devastated the coastal town and flooded vehicles parked at the port, including the Hills' 2003 sport coupe, which was destroyed.
The Ecstasy cruised safely. But unable to return to Galveston, the ship diverted to New Orleans and later to Houston. The Hills, like more than 1,200 of their fellow cruisers, disembarked in New Orleans. After finding ''not a single rental car,'' Mark said, they paid nearly $400 total to fly home.
The Carnival Ecstasy's plight has kept cruise chat rooms buzzing. Some people blame the cruise line for the fiasco; some say it did the best it could; some say passengers were foolish to sail.
Mark said he and Melissa weighed ''a guaranteed loss of money'' against ``a risk of something possibly happening to my car.''
''We took the risk, and we paid,'' he said.
To avoid such a Hobson's choice, you must evaluate the risks of a Caribbean cruise during the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs June 1 to Nov. 30. Your trip could be trouble-free, of course. But if bad weather develops, things can go very wrong.
As some Carnival passengers learned, safeguards that seemed sturdy can crumble faster than a sand castle in a rainstorm. Here are some of the issues that arose and the lessons cruisers can take from them.
• Can I get a weather-related refund?
It's logical to expect a cruise line to return your money if the ship's departure city is under a hurricane warning. Logical, but in this case wrong.
Cruise lines generally decline last-minute refunds. Carnival's ticket contract says, 'No refunds will be made in the event of `no shows,' unused tickets ... or cancellations received late or after the start of the cruise.''
Like the Hills, Chris and Shelly Nors of Waco, Texas, tried to cancel their Ecstasy bookings because of Ike. If the ship sailed, Carnival said, it would keep the couple's money, whether they boarded or not.
At 9:30 a.m. on departure day, Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas ordered an immediate, mandatory evacuation of the city. And the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning that included Galveston.
Surely Carnival would cancel the cruise now, the Norses figured. But when they called around noon, the company again said the Ecstasy would sail. And when the ship departed that afternoon with 1,694 passengers, the Norses were on it.
In interviews and e-mails, Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said the Galveston port and the U.S. Coast Guard cleared the Ecstasy to sail.
She also said that the ship's guests were allowed into Galveston. But despite several opportunities to do so, she did not say which agency authorized guests to enter the city despite the evacuation order.
Carnival sailed because it knew it could operate the voyage safely, De la Cruz said, and it didn't want to disrupt its customers' vacation plans. At the time, she added, the company was ''optimistic'' that the ship would be able to return to Galveston.
She confirmed that Carnival declined pre-cruise refunds, but after the cruise, De la Cruz said, Carnival would review, on a case-by-case basis, requests from customers who canceled because of ''specialized circumstances.'' She did not define the circumstances or possible remedies.
From Sept. 9 to 11, more than 600 Ecstasy customers canceled, she said.
Al Anolik, a San Francisco travel attorney and co-author of The Frequent Traveler's Guide, said that despite what a ticket contract might say, passengers shouldn't have to pay for a cruise if its departure city is under a mandatory evacuation order. Here's the logic, he said: If fulfilling your end of the deal might require you to break the law, the contract is canceled.
Lesson 1: Don't count on a refund.
• Can I get a refund if the itinerary changes?
Unlike many other people who canceled their Ecstasy cruise at the last minute, Shanna Sutton of Texas City, Texas, got her money back.
Her secret? When she phoned Carnival on departure day, the agent told her the ship would miss its scheduled call on Cozumel, Mexico, and instead call on Veracruz, Mexico. Sutton asked for a refund and got it: $782.96 total for herself and a friend.
Carnival's brochure says customers may cancel without penalty if a ship's itinerary is changed before departure. You must cancel within 24 hours after being notified of the change.
Carnival decided to make Ecstasy's port switch the morning of departure, De la Cruz said. It notified passengers about the change as they were boarding, without reminding them that they could cancel without penalty, she said.
By the time the Hills and the Norses said they figured that out, it was too late.
Lesson 2: Read the cruise brochure.
• Will a ''Vacation Guarantee'' help?
Under this program, Carnival says that if you are not satisfied with your cruise, you can get your money back. But you must notify the ship's information desk before arriving at the first port of call and disembark at the first non-U.S. port of call. (Carnival would then pay for your flight back.)
By several accounts, the Ecstasy cruise went pretty well until Veracruz, the first port of call, which some cruisers found disappointing, or later, when they learned they wouldn't return to Galveston as scheduled. By then it was too late to protest.
Lesson 3: Absolute guarantees don't exist.
• What about insurance sold by the cruise line?
Many travel insurance polices will reimburse you -- with various restrictions -- if a hurricane affecting your destination interrupts your trip or causes it to be canceled. But not the Cruise Vacation Protection Plan that Carnival offered.
Under covered reasons for trip interruption and cancellation, that plan listed a hurricane affecting your home but not your destination.
On the sunny side: Because ''inclement weather'' was covered for trip delays, policy holders who got off the Ecstasy in New Orleans or Houston might be entitled to collect as much as $500 for air fare they paid to get home and other costs, according to Carnival and BerkelyCare, the plan's administrator.
Lesson 4: Be wary of insurance sold by your travel supplier.
• What about traditional travel insurance?
''We didn't buy travel insurance,'' Mark Hill said. ``We could have kicked ourselves now.''
But the truth is, it's unlikely that such insurance would have solved all the Hills' problems.
''The policies are killers,'' Anolik said, because they are full of exceptions and complicated definitions.
For instance, travel insurers typically don't cover vehicle losses.
Some travel policies require that a hurricane make your destination uninhabitable, defined in various ways, for you to collect. Or they might require that it cause ''complete cessation'' of travel services for 24 hours. Some cover evacuations, but some don't. How these provisions apply to cruises is not always clear.
Representatives for three insurance companies I interviewed agreed on one point: Their policies won't pay for trip cancellation solely because your destination is under a hurricane warning and you're worried it could affect your trip.
''Insurance does not cover your state of mind,'' said Dan McGinnity, spokesman for AIG Travel Guard in Stevens Point, Wis. ``It covers events that actually occur, not events that might occur.''
Lesson 5: Insurance won't cover everything.
• What about ''cancel-for-any-reason'' coverage?
This might be offered as a stand-alone policy or an optional addition to a traditional travel policy. Details vary, but it typically allows you to cancel your trip for nearly any reason.
It can spare you from haggling with your insurer over definitions. But generally, you won't be reimbursed the full cost of your trip; some policies pay as little as 50 percent. You might not be able to cancel any later than 48 hours before departure, which might be too early for forecasters to predict a hurricane's path. And premiums are often higher.
Lesson 6: The smaller you want to make your risk, the greater your cost.
• Will a credit card save me?
If you buy a product or service with a credit card and fail to receive what you paid for, you are entitled, under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act, to ask the card issuer to remove the charge from your bill. Other means of payment don't have this protection. It's not foolproof, but many travelers get refunds this way.
Lesson 7: Sometimes it makes sense to charge it.
All this brings me back to my original suggestion: Be wary of sailing during hurricane season, no matter how good the deals.
As I was reporting this story, a news release touting fall discounts arrived from Carnival. It said, in part:
'In addition to offering excellent value, October is the perfect time to book a `Fun Ship' cruise for some much-needed R&R as it is positioned perfectly between the busy summer period and the often-hectic holiday season.'' The first cruises mentioned: trips to the Caribbean and Mexico.
The last time I looked at my calendar, October was still part of hurricane season.
Source: LA times
With gas prices rising, can a cruise be a bargain?
With gas prices going up just about daily, planning an affordable family vacation may be out of sight. But wait, how about a cruise.
If you plan it right, the bottom-line should be less than staying at a hotel or resort where meals and entertainment cost extra. Let's compare.
Cruise to Mexico
How about a four-day cruise, leaving from Long Beach, Calif. Ports of call: Catalina Island and Ensenada. The cruise sails at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, and returns at 8 a.m. Friday.
Transportation
Let's say you live 350 miles from the pier. ( 700 miles roundtrip ) Assuming 20 miles per gallon and gas at $3.50 a gallon, total cost for gas $122.50. If you fly, as an example from Phoenix, Arizona to Long Beach, California and return, for two adults and two children under 12, you might spend in excess of $900, ( your amount will vary by departure city and the airfare rates on any given day ).
The Cruise Cost
The least expensive inside cabin will cost you $419 for each adult, and $329 for each child for a total cost of $1,496, which includes port charges but not government taxes. Then you need to add a fuel supplement of $7 per day per guest. Then add gratuities (tips) of $10 per person per day. Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages are additional. So if you have wine with dinner and sodas for the kids everyday add another $200, or less depending on your needs.
Want Better Accommodations?
If you choose a cabin in a higher category, say a balcony, be prepared to pay way more than the minimum.
Cheapest Way To Go
If your family of four drives to Long Beach and takes the cruise, based on our example, It comes out to about $140 per day per person. Thats $560 a day for a family of four. Meals, entertainment, accommodations and more. Now compare that to a land-based resort and you will know what's the better deal.
Compare Prices
Want to compare cruise prices and whats on offer? Visit www.cruisedirectonline.com. This site often has fares lower than those offered by the cruiselines. To get opinions from cruisers who have sailed, go to www.cruisereviewsonline.com.
March 7th, 2008 | |
Posted in cruises
From an article we read at MSNBC;
Peter Greenberg explains how and why you’re entitled to your money back.
What happens when you buy a ticket for a cruise, airline flight or an organized tour — and then cancel? Do you — or perhaps more appropriately, can you — get your money back? What's the true meaning of "nonrefundable"? And what about undisclosed service fees and charges? Or taxes? Should you be taxed for something you didn't actually use?For starters, we're talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars and who — legitimately — deserves them.I start with the story of the dream trip that wasn't. This story appeared late last year in the Washington Post, written by reporter Cindy Loose.
It's all about an elderly woman who purchased a cruise from Princess Cruise Lines. But she didn't just purchase the cruise through the cruise line, she also purchased her air travel and all other aspects of the cruise — shore excursions, port fees, surcharges and taxes, directly from Princess. And when the cruise line sent her on an absurd air itinerary with numerous hard-to-make connections and she missed her cruise, things got ugly.
From Cindy Loose's story: "The 78-year-old woman, who lives on a Social Security pension, missed the Alaska cruise she'd spent 10 years dreaming about. Princess Cruises kept not only the $2,500 she had paid for the cruise and airfare, but also the $559.80 the airlines refunded because the woman missed the last flight to her cruise.The woman didn't know until after she'd paid and her tickets had arrived that she was being sent to Anchorage in a roundabout way on three airlines, with three legs in each direction.
That's according to her daughter, who asked that her mother's name not be used because she'd suffered enough, and 'I don't want people asking her about it and making her rehash it over and over.' Seeing the difficult flight route, the daughter tried to talk her out of going, but the woman insisted she'd make the best of it.The woman arrived at 6:30 a.m. at BWI Airport for the first of her May 19 flights to her cruise.
She and an elderly friend got to Minneapolis just fine. But the Northwest flight to Seattle was delayed by mechanical problems, causing the two women to miss their connection to Anchorage.In Seattle, Northwest agents urged the two women and about 25 other passengers to run and try to make an Alaska Air flight, the woman said.
But that Alaska Air flight to Anchorage was full. So was the next one. Finally, the women were boarded on a third flight.But after they'd settled in, an Alaska Air attendant told them they had to get off the plane because two of the airline's own passengers had just shown up.
Two young people were so sympathetic to the elderly travelers that they offered to give up their seats, saying they lived in Anchorage and were in no hurry.
But 'the flight attendant was adamant that we should de-board the plane' and wouldn't allow the switch, the woman said. She wanted to call her daughter back in Washington but couldn't figure out how to use pay phones that required credit cards. She said two Alaska Air representatives refused to allow her to use company phones for a long-distance call.
Moments later, the woman's traveling companion had an asthma attack.Near midnight, the two finally made their way back to the Northwest terminal. Northwest offered to put them in a hotel and fly them to meet their ship at another port the following day. 'At this point my body was weak, I had a severe headache and was so tired and confused I could not think. I would miss the glaciers, the part of the trip I was most excited about, and I was too exhausted mentally and physically to continue.' Instead, Northwest flew them home without charge."
Loose reported that the woman's daughter had been fighting — since last May — for a refund from Princess as well as a refund for the unused air tickets.Princess Cruises took a very hard line in this case, claiming that under its stated refund policies, since the woman essentially canceled her cruise within 30 days, that she was entitled to no refund.
It would stick to its contract stating the woman would lose 100 percent of her payment.Loose did some additional digging and discovered that United Airlines did refund the unused ticket money — to Princess! When Washington Post readers read this sad tale, the response was intense and immediate. Dozens of readers wrote letters and sent money — ranging from $9 to one couple who sent thousands so that the elderly woman could not only take her dream cruise, but also take a friend.It was the kindness of strangers to the rescue — Princess, only under pressure, refunded the taxes and fees to the 78-year-old woman. But the story became ground zero in the discussion of refund policies and what travelers are entitled to receive.
(Read the entire Washington Post article here)
(Read the entire MSNBC article here)
Here is more excerpts from the article...
Refunds
Airlines
If you buy a fully refundable airline ticket, the price is broken down between the base price of the ticket and the taxes and government fees. If you don't use the ticket, you get the full amount back. But what if you buy a "nonrefundable" ticket and don't use it? Do you at least get your taxes back? You don't. According to the IRS and the airlines, under most nonrefundable policies, the ticket is deemed "used" the minute you buy it, not when you use it. And the airline pays the government taxes on that ticket whether you use it or not. Most airlines allow you to apply the full value of the ticket against future flights, usually with a change fee ranging between $50 and $100 per ticket.
The IRS holds that the tax is imposed on the amount paid, not on the actual transportation. That means the government keeps the tax, since the tax is based on a percentage of the amount the customer paid.
Cruises, tour operators, trains and buses
Officially, you are entitled to your taxes and fees back. But how many people know this? Not many.We contacted a number of cruise lines for their policies and response:
Disney Cruise Lines: If customers cancel the cruise, the amount they paid, minus cancellation fees and other amounts owed, will be refunded. If customers cancel 75 days or earlier before the cruise, they will not incur cancellation fees and will receive a refund; if customers cancel 74-45 days before the cruise, they will lose their deposit. If they cancel within seven days or less, they will receive no refund.
According to Disney, if you cancel the cruise and receive no refund, the taxes and fees are still refunded to customer. When asked to comment on how many taxes and fees were refunded to passengers last year, Disney refused to comment.
Royal Caribbean International: Guests will receive a full refund if they notify Royal Caribbean in writing 70 days (60 days for 3- and 4-night cruise vacations) prior to the departure date. A cancellation charge may apply, depending on when the customer cancels the cruise.
If the customer cancels the cruise, the taxes and fees are refunded. It happens automatically, even if they miss a port of call, whatever that tax was for the port.Again, when asked how much money was refunded or how many passengers received back those taxes and fees last year, RCCL declined to comment.
Carnival Cruise Lines: Carnival Cruise Lines will not refund “no shows,” unused tickets, lost tickets, interruptions, partially used tickets, or cancellations received late or after the beginning of the cruise. A cancellation occurs when a stateroom is released and not simultaneously rebooked on the same sailing. If customers cancel their cruise 61 days or earlier, they will receive a 100 percent refund. If customers cancel 60 to 30 days before the cruise, they will lose only their deposit. If they cancel within seven days or less, they lose 100 percent of their fare.
Carnival Cruise Lines says they charge fees/taxes levied upon them by the home port and ports of call and a fuel supplement. When a cancellation is made, Carnival will refund taxes, government fees and the fuel supplement. Again, the cruise line would not comment on how many of their passengers who canceled actually received back those taxes and fees.
Princess Cruise Lines: For most cruises, if customers cancel 75 days or earlier before the cruise, they will not incur cancellation fees and will receive a refund. If customers cancel 74-45 days before the cruise, they will lose their deposit. If they cancel within 14 days or less, they will receive no refund.
According to Princess, "No matter when customers cancel their cruise, they receive the government fees and taxes back."Really? While the line again would not comment on how many passengers who canceled did, in fact, receive back those fees and taxes, we know for a fact that our 78-year-old woman did not receive them back.
As for tour companies, it actually varies by company.
Bottom line: If you have a sizable investment in your travels, you should purchase trip cancellation and interruption insurance. If not, getting any kind of refund, including taxes and fees, can be difficult. But almost everyone we talked with stated that at the very least you deserved your taxes and fees back.
But going back to the cruise example, the words "port fees" have now been altered by many cruise lines in their contracts to make it almost impossible to get those back, even if you never set foot on the ship.
My advice? Buy trip cancellation and interruption insurance.
If you purchase travel services with a credit card (and we strongly suggest you do this) and you don't receive the service for which you contracted, under federal credit laws you can dispute the charge on your bill and the credit card company will investigate and issue a temporary credit while they check into it. If that fails and you are still charged for something you didn't get, you also have recourse in small-claims court.
In addition, as in the case of the woman who missed her cruise and had bought her airline tickets through the cruise line, there's the legal concept of detrimental reliance. She relied on the cruise line to provide all her travel services, to her detriment. The minute she bought everything through the cruise line, the cruise line became, in effect, the agent of the airline as well, and should be responsible.
In the case of Princess, it seems they were so obsessed with generating revenue that they forgot some basic responsiblities. And the tag to the piece — the woman will finally be cruising to Alaska this summer, courtesy of the generosity of Washington Post readers.
Yes, she'll be buying the trip cancellation and interruption insurance, and, not surprisingly, she won't be cruising on Princess!In almost every case involving a cruise line, tour or bus operator, demand your taxes and fees back if you cancel, even if the company has a "no refund" policy. You shouldn't be assessed taxes or fees if you never used the service, especially if the fees are paid to a third party based on the policy that you were charged a "head fee' for being somewhere you weren't.And sometimes, when travel providers fail to disclose additonal charges, you also have rights.
For example, if you used a credit card overseas between Feb. 1, 1996 and Nov. 8, 2006, you are probably eligible for at least a $25 rebate check from your credit card issuer. Why? A class action suit against Mastercard, Visa, Diners Club and Bank of America (and many other credit cards) charged the companies for not disclosing to their customers a foreign curency transaction fee they charged you for using the cards overseas. The credit card companies settled and established a $336 million settlement fund. Just log on to www.ccfsettlement.com before May 30, and you can file for your settlement online (some settlements may be huge, depending on how many trips you went on and how much money you spent).
Travel basics
Keep in mind that virtually all cruise lines have what amounts to a draconian refund policy and you need to read the fine print carefully. For most cruise lines, if you cancel your trip for any reason within 30 days of the cruise, you are entitled to no refund at all. So if you have any sizable investment in travel, (and a cruise certainly qualifies in this case), you should seriously consider purchasing trip cancellation and interruption insurance.
The premiums range from 8 to 13 percent of the cost of the trip, and the difference in premiums is really a reflection of how comprehensive the insurance policy is. Some policies will protect you if you get sick or there are weather issues. Other policies (more expensive, of course) allow you to cancel for any reason.
But if you don't have a substantial investment and don't purchase the insurance, here are some real-world scenarios under which you can —and should — get a refund:
Your flight is canceled by the airline: If your flight is canceled by the airline (and not by you), you are entitled to a full refund, even if the ticket was listed as "nonrefundable." The airline might want to give you the opportunity to rebook your flight later for no additional fee, or they might offer you vouchers to "compensate" you for your inconvenience. But that's not cash back to you, and you are entitled to that refund.You're offered a voucher: Airlines and cruise lines are notorious for trying to offer vouchers in lieu of refunds. This is problematic on a number of levels.
Firstly, a voucher only really works if you're planning on taking a flight, or another cruise, within a year. But the real problem is that it obligates you to take another flight or another cruise and spend even more money. It is not a real refund.
If you do accept an offer for a voucher, make sure it has at least a two-year expiration and there are no blackout dates — which could render it valueless in real-world terms.You didn't get taxes and other fees refunded:
Every cruise line insists that even when you cancel your cruise, you are entitled to taxes and fees back.
And here's the real confusing part: The fees. After a number of lawsuits against cruise lines for charging port fees but then keeping those fees — even when the ships didn't even stop at those ports — many cruise lines changed the language in their contracts and no longer call them port fees.
One reason they did this: The amount of money represented by just port fees is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Keep in mind that cruise ships pay port fees on a per-passenger basis, based on the number of heads in beds on each cruise. If you werent on the cruise, the cruise company didn't pay the port fee — but they sure collected it, didn't they?
By "bundling" those port fees as part of your overall cruise ship fare, it's now become difficult, if not impossible, to get the cruise lines to break them out and refund them.
It's another strong case to buy travel insurance.
Small-claims court.
In recent years, many states have upped the dollar limits for what can be filed in small-claims courts. In California, it's now $7,500; in Illinois, it's $10,000, and in some states, like Tennessee, it's as high as $15,000. And the good news about small-claims court is that you don't need a lawyer. You can represent yourself — of course, all the basic good judgment and homework principles apply — you need to have all your records, receipts, witnesses and other documentation ready to present to the judge. But the other good news here is that in many cases, the defendants (cruise lines, tour operators) don't appear on their case date, and as a result, the court issues a judgment against them for the amount of your claim. Basically, you get your money back.