Following the fire on the Carnival Freedom cruise ship, the burned ship was neither safe nor suitable to carry vacationing guests on a return cruise back to Florida. Despite telling its guests in a letter delivered to their cabins on the burnt ship that it intended to send them home “as soon as possible,” Carnival
This weekend, several employees of Pullmantur Cruises informed me that employees (or contractors) hired by Royal Caribbean (which has a 49% ownership in Pullmantur) were involved in removing equipment from and dismantling the interiors of two of the companies’ cruise ships.
The Monarch and Sovereign are currently at the cruise port of Naples, Italy (Stazione
The Italian news agency ANSA and public broadcaster RAI reported this morning that a passenger from Hong Kong on the Costa Smeralda has been found to be showing symptoms (a fever) of what is suspected to be coronavirus. CNN reports that the 54 year old woman and her husband are now were being kept separately
Several major cruise lines, including Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn Cruises, are refusing to cancel voyages which call on ports in China as concerns grow about the spread of 
the Wuhan coronavirus. The New York Times published an article this morning that Hong Kong has restricted travel from mainland China due to the
Several guests aboard the Celebrity Summit have notified us that the cruise ship is currently unable to leave the port in San Juan, Puerto Rico due to what the guests understand to be either a “computer glitch” or “propulsion issues.”
The Summit was scheduled to leave San Juan yesterday but has been unable to due
A lack of functional air conditioning on much of the Anthem of the Seas for the past week has left many guests feeling that they did not receive the cruise vacation which they paid for and which Royal Caribbean promised to them.
A couple of cruise passengers contacted our office yesterday to state that the
A couple of years ago, I wrote a number of articles asking the rhetorical question why cruise lines have an image problem.
I discussed a number of rather outrageous cases where the cruise lines refuse to refund or credit cruise fares when their customers face a personal catastrophe, like the unexpected death of a loved
One issue we write about often is the cruise industry’s refusal to refund cruise fares when tragedy strikes their customers.
We have seen cruise lines refuse to accommodate their guests when family members die unexpectedly, natural disasters destroy their customers’ homes, and even when children develop cancer. The cruise lines pocket the fares and then
National Geographic Traveler magazine ombudsman Christopher Elliott is often asked to try and recover canceled cruise fares when passengers suffer serious illness, a death in the family or other misfortune.
All cruise passenger tickets contain draconian terms and conditions, drafted by the cruise line attorneys, which address what happens when a passenger is forced to
Earlier this month, we were contacted by passengers aboard the Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas because of back-to-back norovirus outbreaks requiring "deep cleaning" of the cruise ship.You can read our article about the situation here.
A number of passengers complained of some pretty gross conditions:
One lady said "i was swimming and
This weekend saw the epic failure of Royal Caribbean’s corporate communications department after two of its cruise ships, the Adventure of the Seas and the Navigator of the Seas, encountered difficulties returning to their respective ports.
The Adventure of the Seas encountered propulsion problems last week and, eventually, a total failure on Saturday night
Crew members work hard on cruise ships. Waiters and cabin attendants earn wages from Royal Caribbean of only $50 a month. That’s right. $50 a month. That’s something like $1.67 a day. They depend almost exclusively on tips from the passengers to support their families back home.
Utility cleaners are not entitled to tips, and
An article this morning in the Chicago Tribune caught my attention – "Compensation Doesn’t Float After Cruise Ship Skips Port." The article involved a family’s request for a refund after a cruise ship missed one of the scheduled ports of call. Instead, the cruise line issued a $500 credit toward a future cruise – $200 for each parent
The Federal Maritime Commission just issued the folowing update regarding Cruise West cancelations and refund options:
The United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) has announced on its website that consumers should be aware that partial or full reimbursement of lost payments and/or deposits for Cruise West products made prior to September 11, 2010, may be protected under the
