Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas encounter with nasty weather earlier this month initially got rave reviews from guests and critics alike. Initial reports indicated the line did everything by the book and when out of its way to accommodate all on board. As time went on though, the story got a bit ugly.
The line was quick to issue $200 onboard credit and a full refund for those on board even though the cruise was almost over when the incident occurred. Initial reports were highly in favor of the cruise line doing the right thing.
But it did not take long for critics to smell a bigger story in the water causing cruise industry expert Stewart Chiron CEO of CruiseGuy.com to tweet “Did @RoyalCaribbean panic by refunding #cruise passengers on Brilliance of the Seas on 8th day of 12-night sailing? Must B more 2 story!” shortly after the event.
Indeed, it was a developing story and Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez told AOL Travel News. “As the cruise progressed, additional guests presented to the medical facility with symptoms and/or injuries” and the cruise line posted this video:
Adding to increasingly mixed reviews on how Royal Caribbean handled the situation, Maritime attorney Jim Walker had sharp criticism saying “RCCL has pulled this stunt time and time again, quickly issuing misleading statements in the hope that the media will quote its carefully crafted misinformation and then the story will quickly blow over”
Passengers who were actually onthe ship tell a bit different story though. Industry insider cruisecritic.com reports one typical passenger saying Royal Caribbean “went overboard” with the compensation.
Flickr photo by Rennett Stowe