Boy did this strike a travel warning nerve for me! Not only did so many people miss out on a fabulous vacation, plenty of them lost much of their vacation investment unnecessarily. We can't control the weather, but here's my top 3 tips to minimize your risk of loss should this happen on your trip.
#1 Use a Travel Advisor (especially for first time cruisers)
Service doesn't end after the sale. Too many people are focused on price and forget issues can come up where you'll need someone on your side trying to help.
#2 Buy Insurance
Many people in the comment section jumped on RCCL and noted how they will cruise Carnival next time. Well, Carnival has had their share of poor customer service responses in the past also. That is a risk you take with any large company. Sometimes the bottom line will be more important than the welfare of their customers. Don't rely on them to do the right thing. Protect yourself!
#3 Get a Passport
Note how even the cruisers Carnival accommodated needed to have a passport to fly to Barbados. Since only about half of the people took the offer I would bet the other half were told there;s no point in getting a passport by their neighbor or the call center just trying to make that sale. I know it's expensive relative to the cost of a short cruise. Just do it! That $100 just saved some of these cruisers' vacation.
I truly care about each of my clients' experience. No one can guarantee a flawless vacation, but most travel professionals will do everything they can to help YOU when needed. If I had a dollar for every time someone chose to believe the cruise line that they would be fine with just a birth certificate! You may be fine, or you may end up paying for a flight home instead of going to the next port when something like this happens.
Once, I had a client that booked their first cruise during hurricane season with no insurance and arrived at the port on the day of departure. They liked to live on the edge! I nearly had panic attacks for a week on that one. Luckily they arrived back with no incidents, but I hope this story is a strong warning for them the next time and to everyone else.
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