DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: While my husband and I were on a recent Windstar cruise, we made reservations with the onboard cruise coordinator for a seven-night cruise to Costa Rica and Panama in the next year.
Christopher Elliott, the Travel Troubleshooter
As an incentive to sign up for a future cruise, the coordinator promised an additional shipboard credit of $100 per person and — at no extra cost — an all-inclusive package that includes drinks, Wi-Fi and staff gratuities.
On the itinerary confirmation, the onboard cruise coordinator wrote that these extras were “pending.” She advised us to follow up when we returned home to make sure that the arrangements were reflected on our record. But I’ve been back and forth with Windstar for the past few months.
Finally, a representative informed me that the $100-per-person credit had been approved, but the all-inclusive package had been denied because it was missing a signature from the onboard cruise consultant.
I want Windstar to either honor its promises or return my $400 deposit immediately.
— Tracy Joselson, Baltimore
ANSWER: Windstar should have given you what it promised. But there’s some good news: You can get your deposit back right now, minus a $50 cancellation fee. At least, this is what Windstar’s terms and conditions say. (See the section on cancellations for details.)
But wait — wouldn’t you like to take that Central American cruise next year? It looks like a lot of fun. And as I review the paper trail between you and Windstar, it appears you have written proof that a cruise line employee offered you an all-inclusive package. So, why not try?
First, a note about onboard cruise consultants: These specialists are trained to sell you on a future cruise, and the cruise line gives them a lot of tools to accomplish their job. They can offer you discounts, cruise credits and other incentives while you are onboard to put down a deposit.
There’s a reason cruise lines have these consultants on the ship: They cut out the middleman (aka your travel advisor), which means that the cruise line gets to keep more of your money.
Onboard cruise consultants can also be aggressive when they try to close a deal. Not “timeshare aggressive” or “used-car-salesman aggressive,” but certainly insistent. You were absolutely correct to get your saleswoman’s note in writing, but I would have insisted on a written confirmation. You shouldn’t have to call Windstar to get it to honor an offer that it already made.
So, what happened? It looks like you were patient, polite and persistent with Windstar. But you were also dealing with people who apparently were not authorized to make good on your consultant’s offer. A brief appeal to one of Windstar’s executives might have helped. I list their names, numbers and email addresses on my consumer advocacy site.
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I contacted Windstar on your behalf. A cruise line representative reviewed your reservation and found that it had indeed overlooked something.
“We’ve added the complimentary All-In package and $100-per-person shipboard credits to the future cruise booking, as promised,” a representative told me. “As an apology, Windstar is adding an additional $150-per-person shipboard credit. This issue highlighted areas of improvement for us regarding the onboard booking process.”
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.
(c) 2024 Christopher Elliott
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