Holiday cruise shipwrecked

I contacted Royal Caribbean’s Corporate Communications spokeswoman, Lyan Sierra-Caro, who gave me a copy of the fax that was sent out to agents about the itinerary change. It was dated August 25, not October 3, as Deemer had earlier been told. Sierra-Caro attributed the discrepancy to a limitation of the fax-recording system, which logs the date a fax is sent but not its content. Apparently, the Deemers’ travel agent, Cruise Value Center, had received two faxes from Royal Caribbean, but sadly, the Deemers received no information at all.

Cruise consolidator nightmare

The Deemers are regular cruisers who have sailed more than 20 times. The voyage on Sovereign of the Seas was to be their seventh cruise with Royal Caribbean. Knowing the exact cruise they wanted, the Deemers felt comfortable booking for the first time with Cruise Value Center, a large cruise consolidator.

Cruise consolidators purchase blocks of cabins from the cruise lines and then resell them to consumers. Because they buy in bulk, travelers can find deals with consolidators that they can’t find anywhere else. The Deemers may have saved a little money, but they certainly got shortchanged on service. Sometimes at large agencies things fall through the cracks — in this case, two faxes from Royal Caribbean.

When contacted for this story, a Cruise Value Center official stated, “This is in the hands of Royal Caribbean and the client.” When asked about the missing faxes, the agent gave a terse “No comment.”

“The whole point of having a travel agent is to have an advocate in situations like this,” says Lucy Hirleman, president of Berkshire Travel in Newfoundland, N.J. “Mrs. Deemer’s travel agent should have worked harder for her. If I were the agent, I’d be on the phone to Royal Caribbean and to my local Royal Caribbean sales representative until I got answers.”

Sea of blame

So, who’s at fault? Royal Caribbean for lying about the port change or Cruise Value Center for losing the faxes?

Royal Caribbean created and sold a cruise itinerary that many customers bought into. Eight months after selling the cruise, the cruise line realized the itinerary was poorly planned, as it required two time-consuming immigration checks. But (as Deemer found out the hard way) lurking in the small print that comes with your cruise ticket is a big surprise: The cruise lines reserve the right to change itineraries for many reasons, and they are not required to offer refunds or compensation.

In fact, Royal Caribbean’s cruise ticket contract states that the cruise operator can make changes or cancellations for five stated reasons — strikes, lockouts, riots, weather conditions, and mechanical difficulties — and, for that matter, “for any other reason whatsoever.” True, Royal Caribbean got caught up in numerous lies and self-serving excuses, but legally it can change its itinerary in any way it pleases.

Thomas Dickerson, a judge in Westchester County, N.Y. and the author of “Travel Law,” says, “Consumers should be aware that the cruise ship’s duties and liabilities are governed not by modern, consumer-oriented common and statutory law, but by 19th-century legal principles — the purpose being to insulate cruise lines from the legitimate claims of passengers.”

As for Cruise Value Center, its agents provided inexcusably poor customer service, which led to the Deemers losing half their vacation funds.

And what about the Deemers? Do they bear any blame? Maybe. Some cruise experts will argue that travelers should never depend on a cruise itinerary, as too many circumstances can intervene between them and their port-of-call.

“You cannot book a cruise and depend on any particular port on a certain day,” says Linda Coffman, editor of Cruise Diva, a cruise Web site, and author of “Fodor’s Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises.” “A number of things can go wrong, like weather or propulsion problems.” Better to adopt a laissez-faire attitude and choose a cruise whose overall experience appeals to you.

How to avoid a shipwreck

So, how can you avoid a shipwrecked vacation? Here’s some advice:

Buy insurance. Several cruise lines including Royal Caribbean offer vacation-protection plans. For an additional fee, travelers on Royal Caribbean can buy cancellation insurance for covered events like sudden illness or a death in the family; the coverage provides a 100-percent fare refund for such events. The coverage also provides for non-covered events, typically giving travelers a 75-percent fare credit toward a future cruise when a non-covered event happens. When it comes to itinerary changes, Carnival Cruise Line has the most generous policy, allowing passengers 24 hours to cancel without penalty.

Use a local travel agent. If possible, use a local travel agency when you book your cruise. You may pay a few dollars more, but there’s nothing like personal service when you need it.

Join a cruise message board.   Cruise Critic has a terrific message board section called “Roll Calls” where you can find other passengers booked on your cruise. Members post information and tips about your cruise and ports-of-call that you won’t hear from the cruise lines. In fact, many passengers on the Deemers’ scheduled cruise posted comments about the itinerary change in August. If only the Deemers had been watching.

In the end, Bobbie Deemer took a $907 loss on her cruise. She plans to remain a landlubber for a while. “I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” she says. “I can guarantee you I’ll never book another cruise with Cruise Value Center nor sail on Royal Caribbean ever again!”

Anita Dunham-Potter is a Pittsburgh-based travel journalist specializing in cruise travel. Anita's columns have appeared in major newspapers and many Internet outlets, and she is a contributor to Fodor's "Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises 2006." E-mail Anita or visit her Web site anitavacation.com.

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