The cruise industry has been slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the virus, Joe Asch and his wife, avid cruisers, are still big fans.
Asch, 83, says they have sailed with Princess Cruise Lines more than 50 times, and they’ve gone with Royal Caribbean another 20 times.
So when the couple wanted to give a special birthday present to their 13-year-old granddaughter, they booked a Royal Caribbean cruise. The Adventure of the Seas vacation was set to depart for Bermuda, Cozumel, the Bahamas and Grand Cayman on July 1.
Then the coronavirus pandemic happened.
Asch, of Long Branch, booked the trip through his travel agent back in December 2019 with a $750 charge to his credit card. The balance of the trip, $3,064, was charged to his card on March 31 or April 1, he said.
Right around the same time, Asch said, his granddaughter’s father decided he was uncomfortable about exposure to the coronavirus on a ship. They decided to cancel the cruise.
Asch asked for a refund.
On April 26, two credits — $19.02 and $470.85 — appeared on Asch’s credit card. But the remaining cost of $3,064 wasn’t refunded.
“Royal Caribbean refused to talk to me because I had a travel agent,” he said. “My travel agent could get no further information.”
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He next filed a dispute with his credit card company.
On May 20, Royal Caribbean said in a press release it would “extend the suspension of most sailings through July 31, 2020, with the exception of sailings from China, which will be suspended through the end of June.”
It said it was “working with” travelers to “address this disruption to their vacations,” but it didn’t say whether people would get refunds or credits for future trips.
That meant the cruise Asch booked wouldn’t be sailing, so he believed even more strongly that he deserved a refund.
He asked Bamboozled for help.
GETTING MONEY BACK
We reached out to Royal Caribbean to ask it to take a closer look. With the cruise not setting sail, it seemed a refund would be the right thing.
The company agreed to review the case, and a few days later, Asch got a phone call.
“The woman I spoke to said it was based on The Star-Ledger’s call to them,” Asch said. “She gave me her phone number and indicated the $3,064 would be returned in 45 days.”
That’s a long wait for a refund.
“It’s a delaying tactic on the part of Royal Caribbean and I wish they would take care of this,” he said. “They should do it immediately.”
It will also mean another call to his credit card company to make sure it doesn’t pay the pending money to Royal Caribbean.
And, he said, Royal Caribbean said it would be keeping his $750 deposit, he said.
“I think it was wrong due to the virus,” Asch said.
We reached out to the company again to see why it plans to keep the $750 deposit, but it didn’t respond in time for publication.
Asch said he’s not worried about going on another cruise.
“We had just gotten off a Princess trip on March 11 when this started to break out. They didn’t have coronavirus, but norovirus,” he said. “We had no fear about getting any virus.”
Asch said he wears his mask all the time, even when he goes out to get the mail.
“We are well-aware of the problems. People are dying. It’s a real tragedy, but we’re fine,” he said. “Even though my wife will be 78 in a couple of days and I’m 83, we have absolutely no fear of this virus.”
“We have four back-to-back 10-day cruises starting Feb. 28," he said. "We will be on that ship.”
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at bamboozled@njadvancemedia.com.
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