Woman Can’t Get Refund From Royal Caribbean After Cancelling Trip Due To Husband’s Heart Attack
No matter how meticulously one plans a vacation, sometimes things fall through due to circumstances beyond our control.
Unfortunately for one Facebook user, her dream holiday did not exactly go as planned.
On Monday (13 Feb), the woman detailed her unpleasant experience with cruise company Royal Caribbean (RC) in a post on the Complaint Singapore Facebook page, claiming she was denied a refund after her husband had suffered a heart attack.
Source: Facebook
She also claimed that she received “cold” standard replies from the cruise company that lacked empathy for her situation.
Husband suffered heart attack days before cruise
The OP and her family were supposed to set sail on 30 Jan.
However, according to the post, her husband suffered an acute myocardial infarction, i.e. a heart attack, on 22 Jan. She stated that they also had a doctor’s memo saying that her husband was “unfit for travel”.
The family trip was booked for the OP, her husband, four elderly family members, and one baby.
They booked three staterooms on the cruise to accommodate their large family size.
Royal Caribbean allegedly only allows refunds for cases of COVID-19, pregnancy, or death
In the post, the OP claims that she received “cold-hearted” replies from the cruise company after emailing them about the situation.
She was reportedly told that refunds were only allowed for cases of Covid-19, pregnancy, or death.
The OP expressed her disappointment with the way RC handled her situation and the customer service she received, writing,
Extremely disappointed with RC’s way of handling with only a standard reply of an email from their APAC team saying they have to follow the cancellation policy and will not be able to do anything.
She added that she had asked to speak to customer service but was “pushed around” between departments.
When she asked to speak to senior management, her email was reportedly ignored for over a week.
Received “standard reply” referring to terms & conditions
The OP told MS News that she received another “standard reply” from RC after she emailed them again on Monday (13 Feb).
The OP added that while she understands she might not be able to get a refund, she is still unsure whether she can change the date of her booking since her cruise date has passed.
“We paid over S$3,000, close to S$4,000 in total,” she said.
Royal Caribbean advises guests to reach out to travel insurance provider
In response to MS News’Â queries, Royal Caribbean said: “We are very sorry to hear the guest was unable to sail with us as planned, and we wish the guest’s husband a speedy recovery.”
In these scenarios, we suggest guests reach out to their travel insurance provider to discuss their options.
While it is unfortunate that the OP had to go through this situation, perhaps this can serve as a timely reminder for all now that travel restrictions are mostly lifted.
Investing in insurance for your upcoming travels might be a good idea as you will never know when you might need it.
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Featured image adapted from The Points Guy for illustration purposes only.
