On April 26th the Radiance of the Seas was scheduled to depart to Alaska from Vancouver for a 7 night voyage on its first sailing for 2024. All the passengers boarded on Friday and then Saturday afternoon they were told the cruise was cancelled. They could stay on the ship in the Port of Vancouver until Sunday afternoon to make arrangements to return home, or organize a different vacation from Vancouver. The ship had an issue with the ship's propulsion. The ship was repaired in Vancouver and the next sailing departed on schedule.
Royal Caribbean gave them their money back as onboard credit with any remaining amount refunded, increased their future cruise credit to 100% of their fare and kept its open-bar policy for the remaining time on board. The line also offered to reimburse trip change fees up to $250 for guests traveling domestically and $400 for international travel and additional reimbursements for hotel and transportation costs, among other compensation.
On Saturday, my friend was scheduled to board the Sapphire Princess for a 14 day cruise to Alaska from Vancouver. At 5:30 AM Saturday morning, I got an emergency email from Princess asking me to contact my client and tell him "boarding will now be at 3:00 PM, do not come earlier"! He lives in Vancouver, no problem.
On Saturday my friend Pina was at the Port of Vancouver and watched the Sapphire Princess get towed into port! Passengers disembarked at noon and the new cruisers started boarding at 3:00 PM. They left at midnight, going very slow. They have propulsion problems too!
I got an email from the passenger on board that stated:
Hi Linda: new itinerary;
14 May, Juneau ~3-10 pm; 15 May, Skagway; 16 May, cancelled Glacier Bay; 18 May, Whittier.
"you will receive a 75% refund of the cruise or cruise tour fare you paid along with a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) of 75% of the cruise or cruise tour fare.... adjustments to taxes, fees, and port expenses ..." for North Bound portion only.
I know if passengers have travelled a long way, they compensate for travel on a case by case basis. This looks to me like fair compensation. They are getting 7 days of meals, entertainment and activities. They missed Ketchikan and Glacier Bay. Very upsetting for people who have travelled a long way. They are repairing the ship enroute to Alaska and let's hope it's repaired for the trip south.
The reason it did sail northbound is there are a lot of passengers onboard have a cruise tour booked when they reach Alaska. There are also many people ready to board on Saturday who have done a cruise tour who are looking forward to a 7 day cruise southbound.
I've been on ships that have missed ports because of weather and my attitude is, enjoy the ship, it's going to be a glorious day at sea. I hope the passengers make the best of an unfortunate situation.
