Anyone flying on a U.S. airline who experiences a problem can complain to the Transportation Department, which keeps statistics on airline safety and service issues and releases them to the public. The government also tries to help resolve billing disputes.
The same doesn’t go for cruise lines. No government agency has real oversight of consumer issues. A passenger with a problem is largely at the mercy of the cruise line.
Bruce Slocum found that out the hard way. The 78-year-old Grapevine resident booked a trip on Princess Cruises, but 17 days before the launch last month, Princess e-mailed him that he had to board between 2:30 and 3 p.m. That meant a four-hour wait in the terminal. Slocum has low blood sugar and must eat every three hours to maintain his insulin level and avoid health problems.
He asked someone in customer service for permission to board earlier because of his medical problem. The answer was no. Canceling so late meant he wouldn’t get a full refund. But he believed he had no choice and canceled.
He asked The Watchdog, “Is there a federal agency who regulates the cruise industry to whom I could direct a complaint?”
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The answer is yes and no. The Federal Maritime Commission would take his complaint, but any action by a cruise line is purely voluntary. The commission has no legal clout the way government agencies do in other industries.
In the past decade, the number of passengers on North American cruise lines has doubled, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, an industry group. But as cruise ship accidents continue to draw public attention, no one source offers information about accidents and safety records.
Anyone wanting to learn about a ship’s record would have to do an Internet search on the name, said Rene Henry, a travel industry expert.
“Nobody is keeping a database where you can easily find that,” he said. The Coast Guard conducts periodic safety checks.
The reason for the relative lack of oversight is that cruise ships commonly fly foreign flags. Yet the biggest cruise lines — Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. — are based in Miami. Both are publicly traded in the U.S. But by registering offshore, the cruise lines avoid U.S. taxes, regulations and labor laws.
There’s no movement in Congress to create a “passenger bill of rights” similar to one passed for airline passengers. Ross Klein, a Canadian sociologist who has studied the cruise industry, said last month at a U.S. Senate hearing focused on cruise line safety that legislation needs to address passenger and crew member rights.
Cruise tickets contain language that favors company owners. Victims of cruise accidents can file legal claims only in foreign jurisdictions, not in the U.S. That’s one reason the industry pays far fewer claims than others, making it very profitable.
Henry says travelers need an official agency to gather and report information on safety, health, security, environmental and customer service issues.
“Nearly 13 million Americans took a cruise last year, and not all of them had a Love Boat experience,” Henry said.
The public has a right, he said, to learn about ships with a history of engine and mechanical problems, about fires and explosions, about virus outbreaks, about crimes committed, about passengers falling overboard and even about billing disputes.
He’d like to see a Transportation Department website that collects and releases this information.
One problem: Last year, the cruise line association spent more than $3 million on lobbying Congress, Henry said. That excludes campaign contributions.
So all that’s left for American consumers is the maritime commission’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services, an obscure government agency that tries to get cruise lines to voluntarily work out customer disputes, sometimes through mediation, sometimes through informal communication, Commission Deputy Director Jennifer Gartlan said.
The service is free to consumers, but the commission’s website makes no promises, saying it “cannot order a cruise line to reimburse passengers for cruise cancellations, or to pay claims for injuries or fatal accidents. However, to the extent they are able, commission staff will try to assist individual consumers who are having trouble obtaining financial settlements in these areas.”
Slocum’s story has a happy ending. He bought travel insurance through Princess. After he submitted a doctor’s note, he received the rest of his refund. Princess did not comment for this report.
Henry says that without government oversight to provide protections, cruise passengers should always consider travel insurance. He recommends buying it from an outside company, though, since cruise line insurance covers nothing before or after a cruise, such as mishaps on flights and travel to and from the ship’s terminal.
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Learn more about cruises before you sign up for one by visiting these websites: CruiseJunkie.com and CruiseLawNews.com.
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