Cruise Traveler Rights Detailed In New Bill

by Chris Owen on

Travelers’ rights are often difficult to define. We know about the so-called Airline Passenger Bill of Rights, designed to give air travelers some relief in a deregulated airline industry when things go wrong. When held on the tarmac for too long, passengers now have the right to get off the aircraft. Bumped against your will? You might be entitled to denied boarding compensation in the form of a check or cash. But what about cruise travelers? What rights do they have when things go wrong? The new Cruise Industry Passenger Bill Of Rights has answers.

Released this week by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the cruise industry organization that includes cruise lines, industry suppliers and travel agencies, the Cruise Industry Passenger Bill Of Rights details what should happen when things go wrong on a cruise ship. Unlike the airline version though, the cruise passenger bill of rights is more of an explanation of what cruise lines normally and customarily have been doing, as opposed to a set of laws for which fines can be levied against a cruise line that breaks them.

Still, there is value to cruise travelers in what the bill holds, if for no other reason than to educate buyers about what to expect. Experts agree.

“CLIA’s Passenger Bill of Rights is a very good policy for passengers and the cruise industry as it crystallizes rights and responsibilities in a consistent manner across all member cruise lines,” cruise expert Stewart Chiron, CEO of CruiseGuy told Gadling.
“The Cruise Industry Passenger Bill of Rights codifies many longstanding practices of CLIA members and goes beyond those to further inform cruise guests of the industry’s commitment to their comfort and care,” said Christine Duffy, president and CEO of CLIA in a press release this week.

Indeed, the full text of CLIA’s Bill addresses issues that may have kept first-time cruise travelers, concerned about recent headlines ranging from the grounding of Costa Concordia to the sensationalized Carnival Triumph “poop cruise” event, from booking their first cruise vacation. The bill covers 10 rights that passengers now have when sailing a CLIA-member cruise line, and it does a good job of easing the concerns of travelers new to the world of cruise vacations.

“By formally adopting industry practices into a ‘Passenger Bill of Rights,’ CLIA is further demonstrating consistent practices and transparency across CLIA member lines. The cruise industry is committed to continuing to deliver against the high standards we set for ourselves in all areas of shipboard operations,” said Duffy.

Passenger rights include the ability to disembark a ship if essential provisions can not be provided, sailing with a crew trained in emergency procedures and insuring that ships have an emergency power source in the case of a main generator failure.

Further validation of CLIA’s Passenger Bill of Rights may be gained by its possible adoption by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), United Nations specialized agency charged with improving maritime safety and preventing pollution from ships.

The Cruise Passenger Bill of Rights is the latest effort by CLIA to focus on passenger safety, comfort and care. Previous, recent efforts include an industry-wide Operational Safety Review in 2012 and a Preparedness Risk Assessment in 2013 along with a complex multi-agency cruise disaster drill, called Operation Black Swan, held last month.

“Despite the fact that most major cruise lines exceed these provisions, it lays the foundation for consistency, peace of mind and continued evolution of a maturing industry,” concludes Chiron.

Here is the text of the International Cruise Line Passenger Bill of Rights:

The Members of the Cruise Lines International Association are dedicated to the comfort and care of all passengers on oceangoing cruises throughout the world. To fulfill this commitment, our Members have agreed to adopt the following set of passenger rights:

  1. The right to disembark a docked ship if essential provisions such as food, water, restroom facilities and access to medical care cannot adequately be provided onboard, subject only to the Master’s concern for passenger safety and security and customs and immigration requirements of the port.
  2. The right to a full refund for a trip that is canceled due to mechanical failures, or a partial refund for voyages that are terminated early due to those failures.
  3. The right to have available on board ships operating beyond rivers or coastal waters full-time, professional emergency medical attention, as needed until shore side medical care becomes available.
  4. The right to timely information updates as to any adjustments in the itinerary of the ship in the event of a mechanical failure or emergency, as well as timely updates of the status of efforts to address mechanical failures.
  5. The right to a ship crew that is properly trained in emergency and evacuation procedures.
  6. The right to an emergency power source in the case of a main generator failure.
  7. The right to transportation to the ship’s scheduled port of disembarkation or the passenger’s home city in the event a cruise is terminated early due to mechanical failures.
  8. The right to lodging if disembarkation and an overnight stay in an unscheduled port are required when a cruise is terminated early due to mechanical failures.
  9. The right to have included on each cruise line’s website a toll-free phone line that can be used for questions or information concerning any aspect of shipboard operations.
  10. The right to have this Cruise Line Passenger Bill of Rights published on each line’s website.

Airlines expected to appeal Passenger Bill of Rights today

by Jeffrey White on

I’ll say this about the airline industry: There seems to be very few instances when it will take a knock or two in the interest of its passengers. It’s as if the suits in the boardrooms just don’t understand who is keeping the perennially cash-strapped industry afloat (oh wait, it’s the government, right?)

Today the industry is expected to file its formal appeal of New York’s so-called Passenger Bill of Rights, which was signed last August and was to take effect at the beginning of this year. They’ve already challenged the bill in court once. They lost. That wasn’t good enough.

What’s baffling is that the bill could be so much more strict than it is. You would think the industry would just cut and run, or figure out a way to pass on whatever additional costs it accrues to the customer (airlines are really good at that).

According to published reports, under the bill commercial airlines are required to provide a whole host of amenities – food, water, functional restrooms, fresh air – if the flight in question has pushed back and remained on the tarmac for more than three hours.

More than three hours.

So, apparently cooling our jets — sorry for the pun, wrapped in a cliché — on the tarmac without these basics is acceptable for 2hr. 45min, or whatever.

Calls for a Passenger Bill of Rights picked up steam a year ago, following the now-famous Jet Blue debacle, when more than 1,000 people flying the airline sat hostage on the tarmac for hours – one flight for more than 11 hours – during a New York snow storm.

So, given that embarrassment — and it was really an industrywide embarrassment — you would think that airlines would suck it up and swallow what is really a watered-down pill, if for no other reason than to win back passenger loyalty. Nope.

Ok, some airlines have passed their own rules regarding compensating passengers for delays. But the industry as a whole looks set to fight on. This week, according to the Washington Post, the government chimed in on the industry’s side, saying that the Airline Deregulation Act trumps state law.

In reality, passengers deserve an even tougher bill. However this one was probably seen as having the best chance against the industry’s considerable lobby. At least in theory.

Got a tarmac horror story? Which airline? How long? Let us know.

Minor relief for those flying out of New York

by Jerry Guo on

Did I mention the relief will be minor? After months–hell, years–of resistance to a bill of rights for airline passengers, there’s been one small step in the right direction. Now if you’re flying out of JFK or LaGuardia, you have the right to “fresh air, lights, functioning restrooms and adequate food and drinking water” on the tarmac if your flight is delayed more than three hours.

The whole movement got a kick in the pants last Valentine’s Day, when a ice storm caused some passengers to be literally trapped on planes for up to 10 hours, with none of the above mentioned “amenities.”

Unfortunately for customers, the bill of rights trend isn’t sweeping the nation. Though airline employees can be dullards, airlines have made sure their lobbyists in Washington are the best and brightest. And the penalties can barely be called steep. $1,000 a pop–if the violation can be confirmed (read: lots of paperwork).

I’m waiting to see what kind of impact this will have on the two New York airports, which are infamously headaches to go through. Next summer is also gearing up to be one of the busiest seasons on record. So good luck everybody We’ll need it.

Airline Passengers Push Congress to Pass Tarmac-Waiting Limit

by Catherine Bodry on

If you’ve every felt frustrated and powerless while cramped in your seat on the tarmac, you’re not alone. Some passengers are so upset that they’re pushing Congress to to pass a mandatory “Bill of Rights” to limit waiting to three hours. On Tuesday, demonstrators on the National Mall attempted to recreate the cramped jetliner experience on Tuesday by erecting a portable vinyl carport painted to resemble the outside of an airplane. A recording of crying children played while organizers sat in tightly-packed plastic chairs.

Did the message get through? Rep. John Hall, D-New York, (who was recently stuck on La Guardia’s tarmac for three hours), believes delayed takeoffs can be assigned in the order they were originally scheduled. This assignment would allow the plane to return to the gate, and passengers to disembark rather than sitting on the plane, while the flight would not lose its spot in line.

I don’t know if an amendment to our Bill of Rights is necessary, but I do think that airlines need a bit of a push to get some problems solved. Perhaps this is the push that’ll get them moving. Literally.

[via CNN]

NY Air Travelers Have Rights. Well, Some Anyway …

by Martha Edwards on

I’m sure we’ve all heard of, seen or experienced first hand the horrors of flight delays. Aside from long in-airport delays, I’ve been pretty lucky in that I’ve never had to wait inside a plane for hours without food or water. But others haven’t been so fortunate, like the people on this flight or this one.

But don’t think that the powers that be haven’t noticed how much it can suck being a lowly coach passenger. Governor Eliot Spitzer has signed a ‘passenger’s bill of rights’ which is meant to protect air travellers in New York in case of such delays. According to the bill, New York airlines must provide passengers with food, water, fresh air, power and working bathrooms on any flights that have been sitting on the Tarmac for 3 hours.

Wait a second …. 3 hours? That seems like a bit much … I wonder how Eliot Spitzer would feel about waiting 3 hours to go to the bathroom. An hour sitting in the tarmac is enough to warrant fresh water, food and bathrooms if you ask me.