Medical emergencies cutting cruises short, a new trend for RC??

[LittleSisBeck]

It seems lately, Royal Caribbean has a growing trend of either cutting cruises short or taking passangers on a different route, due to some sort of medical emergency on board.  By all means, I understand things happen.  However, a medical emergency has occured on multiple cruises, to me, a close friend of mine and other people I've talked to.  We all reside near port Canaveral, Florida, which is the port we all departed from for our Royal Caribbean cruises.  Just yesterday, I see in the news, that a RC cruise had to go back to port Canaveral due to a medical emergency, causing traffic issues in the area and the passangers never got to sail to the destination they paid for.  Same thing happened to me.  On my RC cruise, we couldn't go to Haiti as planned, due to a medical emergency on board, we had to port in Miami, and then circled around in the water near Miami for 3 days.  But, RC said, don't worry, we'll give you 2 days at Coco Cay.  What a joke.  Is RC trying to save on fuel costs?  Or do they just want to keep you at their resort, Coco Cay, so you spend your money there, and not some other place, at another destination?  Its a really disturbing trend.  I was so concerned about the passanger on our cruise, praying they were ok.  And now its seems a lot more prayers are needed for the emense amount of medical emergencies occurring on RC cruise lines.  In years past, the Coast Guard would respond and assist, or a chopper would fly out to the ship.  Doesn't seem like that happens anymore, which is a concern, if there is a true medical emergency.  Get it together, RC. 

Becky 

[Emrys]

Hey @LittleSisBeck, thanks so much for posting! It's never a good situation when a medical emergency happens. often, the passenger would just get further attention at the nearest port. It really does depend. I do think it's just one of those things regarding the recent emergencies, especially as the ships have been so close to port. There have been plenty of chopper situations over the last few months too. To be honest, I would never be angry at the cruise line for this, if it was me needing the medical attention, I would be very grateful. Were you on one of the impacted Royal Caribbean vessels? 

[LittleSisBeck]

Thank you so much for your feedback!  I was on an impacted cruise.  And if a medical emergency happened to me or a loved one, I'd appreciate the help.  Sorry if my message came across ungrateful.  It was just extremely frustrating.  

[DeanneB]

We had an emergency situation on RCL, a passenger got a heart attack and had to be lifted by helicopter to the nearest hospital.  These things happen.  I am just glad the helicopter was available when it happened.  I wasn't even sure if the helicopter came from the islands or if was it on the ship on standby.  Then on another ship, someone slipped and broke her elbow, luckily we were at the port and she was brought by ambulance.

[teedie]

I was on a RCL cruise 7 or 8 years ago, where the first stop was Coco Cay. There was an imployee of Coco Cay, who died, I believe while we were there. Anyway the person was brought to our ship, and the ship was diverted to Puerto Rico. We were allowed to tour for a while, but then St. Martin was illuminated. Why couldn't a helicopter or some other means be made for the deceased person, instead of disrupting everyone's itinerary?

[3Sisters]

@teedie That is such an unfortunate circumstance! I haven't heard of such an instance where the cruise ship was responsible for pivoting the cruise itinerary due to a medical circumstance. This must have been a very unique occurrence. I completely agree that in majority of circumstances, the cruise line could have configured other means of transportation. I wonder if this particular employee was from Puerto Rico. Was your ship scheduled to visit Puerto Rico initially? It is a pretty nice place to stop. At least you were able to visit a nice port of call and make the best of it! 

[cathy r.]

I understand medical emergencys but when youre given a contact to get a refund for your charges incurred due to it (such as extra night at hotel and extra day of car rental) and its been 2 months and youve been in contact and have sent the appropriate receipts and they just blow you off and not answer your inquiries into it then that is just poor customer service! For as large as Royals business is they should be more than accommodating when emergencies happen! Very very disappointed in them!

[3Sisters]

@cathy r. Yes, if you are offered a refund you might as well receive it. I would say you will only receive a refund if it was surely justifiable.

It seems like you were not treated appropriately in this instance. Royal Caribbean usually has pretty good customer service. Did you cruise with the line and a similar circumstance occurred to you? Would you be able to expand on your experience? I hope that the cruise line makes this situation right for you, so you can regain some trust in them. 

[jrwtampa]

On 12/2/2022 at 12:09 PM, LittleSisBeck said:

It seems lately, Royal Caribbean has a growing trend of either cutting cruises short or taking passangers on a different route, due to some sort of medical emergency on board.  By all means, I understand things happen.  However, a medical emergency has occured on multiple cruises, to me, a close friend of mine and other people I've talked to.  We all reside near port Canaveral, Florida, which is the port we all departed from for our Royal Caribbean cruises.  Just yesterday, I see in the news, that a RC cruise had to go back to port Canaveral due to a medical emergency, causing traffic issues in the area and the passangers never got to sail to the destination they paid for.  Same thing happened to me.  On my RC cruise, we couldn't go to Haiti as planned, due to a medical emergency on board, we had to port in Miami, and then circled around in the water near Miami for 3 days.  But, RC said, don't worry, we'll give you 2 days at Coco Cay.  What a joke.  Is RC trying to save on fuel costs?  Or do they just want to keep you at their resort, Coco Cay, so you spend your money there, and not some other place, at another destination?  Its a really disturbing trend.  I was so concerned about the passanger on our cruise, praying they were ok.  And now its seems a lot more prayers are needed for the emense amount of medical emergencies occurring on RC cruise lines.  In years past, the Coast Guard would respond and assist, or a chopper would fly out to the ship.  Doesn't seem like that happens anymore, which is a concern, if there is a true medical emergency.  Get it together, RC. 

Becky 

We had a true medical emergency two days ago on Serenade of the Seas and made an unscheduled stop in Miami enroute to Tampa.  Would you rather RC just throw them overboard?  You may be inconvenienced, but someone else had to be taken to a hospital or worse.  This is NOT a usual event.  Get it together, Ms. Cruiser. 

[3Sisters]

@jrwtampa Wow that's such a shock to hear! I hope the cruise guest is alright. I'm sure all of the other cruise guests onboard were very alarmed. Medical emergencies do happen and can be very scary. I think being understanding and caring for others is a kind approach to take. Although it happened to change your cruise itinerary, it sounds like you looked at the positives and made the most of your vacation regardless of the unexpected change of plans. If I was having a medical emergency, I would be hopeful the cruise crew and its guests would take the same approach for me. Thanks for sharing your perspective here.

[3Sisters]

@jrwtampa Also, what did you think of Serenade of the Seas? I haven't been on it yet, but it looks like a very fun ship. Honestly, you can't go wrong cruising with Royal Caribbean!

[PaulB]

What would happen if a cruise had to make an unscheduled stop at a location? Once it got going again, would it make its way back to its previous course or would it skip ahead to the next planned location?

[Kendall James-Vargas]

That's a great question! When unexpected changes happen to a cruise itinerary, the cruise crew has to decide the best course of action while accommodating the necessary stop. Depending on the reasoning for the change, such as a weather or medical emergency, this would dictate the desired course of action. For example, if a cruise ship makes an unschedule stop at a port due to unstable weather patterns, the cruise ship needs to assess lots of factors, like if there is space at the unplanned port for them to tender or dock.

The cruise lines also want to give guests the best possible cruise vacation! This means the cruise crew makes decisions that would appeal to guests based on accessibility, timing, availability, and convenience. Depending on how out of the way the unexpected stop may be, would dictate whether a cruise could continue on its schedule or skip a port of call in accommodating the unfortunate situation. Usually, cruise lines try to stick to the planned itinerary if possible. That's what would likely please guests the most.

Edited February 21, 2023 by Kendall James-Vargas