Oh baby! Cruise takes a pregnant pause

by Anita Dunham-Potter on May 15, 2009

Rene and Amy Rydberg were looking forward to their Royal Caribbean spring cruise to Bermuda. The New Jersey couple was excited and ready to celebrate, since hey were expecting their first child that summer.

Rene had booked the voyage through Travelocity and everything seemed perfect until eight days later when he received the cruise line’s final documents. There in bold print was a clause about pregnancy, which stated a woman pregnant by 24 weeks or more may not travel. Amy would be 27 weeks into her pregnancy at the time of the cruise. The couple was confused and heartbroken.

Lost in translation
The Rydbergs immediately called Royal Caribbean and the company confirmed that Amy was unable to sail and that they would have to contact their booking agent, Travelocity to make changes. Travelocity informed the couple that they would be receiving a refund of the $1,756 purchase price, less $200 (cancellation fee) and $120 for the travel insurance.

Rene Rydberg thought this was unreasonable, since there was no information regarding pregnancy during the time he utilized Travelocity’s booking engine. Travelocity stated the pregnancy restriction was written into the ‘Terms and Conditions’ that the Web site displays before a transaction is completed. Rydberg disagrees. “I read those terms and conditions myself and found no such restriction.”

Rydberg was incensed and felt that burying a restriction in fine print before the transaction and then displaying it prominently in large bold print after the transaction was completed is a predatory selling practice. After getting nowhere with Travelocity Rydberg contacted Tripso for help.

Travelocity responds
I contacted Travelocity on the Rydberg’s behalf. “Cruise lines do not permit women who are 24 weeks pregnant or more to board — even with permission from a physician,” said Joel Frey, spokesperson for Travelocity. “We have recently updated our terms and conditions to note the number of weeks specifically and we refunded the penalty, travel insurance and booking in full for the Rydbergs because they will be unable to enjoy their trip as planned.”

I commend Travelocity for doing right by the Rydbergs and for updating their terms and conditions to be more upfront with specific information regarding pregnancy.

Baby on board
In the world of cruising, pregnancy is regarded as a medical condition, and the cruise line may require a medical certificate establishing the passenger’s due date and fitness to travel. Many cruise lines will not permit passengers who are more than 24 weeks into pregnancy to sail, so try to schedule your cruise sometime between the morning sickness and the midway mark.

The Internet can be a powerful tool for researching travel, but be aware that online travel sites usually make you pay the full amount on a credit card at the time you book, and you may face a cancellation fee or not be able to get a refund at all if you cancel at the last minute. Always read the travel operator’s fine print and the Web site’s policies before deciding to book.

As for the Rydbergs, they are happy with Travelocity doing right by them and they are hopeful to get on a Royal Caribbean cruise someday – maybe with the new baby in tow.

Print Friendly

Tagged as: baby, Bermuda, cruise travel, cruising pregnant, Internet travel, maternity travel, online booking, Pregnancy and cruising, Royal Caribbean, too pregnant to cruise, Travelocity

  • DCTA

    Another reason to use a real Travel Agent – I’ve been advising clients going on “Pregnancy Celebrations” since 1996! The rules haven’t changed since then…. my clients don’t hae to wait for hteir documents to arrive to find out about this.

  • Wrona

    Anita one noteL: Most cruiselines’ policies are you can’t sail if you will enter the 24th week at any point during the cruise. That’s slightly different than the more than 24 weeks you’ve stated.

  • Jennifer (the other one)

    A premature baby born at 27 weeks on land, in a hospital, has a good chance of survival. A baby born at 27 weeks on a cruise ship with no delivery or neonatal facilities in the middle of the ocean is most likely going to die before the medivac chopper gets there. Sounds like the cruise line should have been more transparent about its policies, but honestly, it’s sad that they need to spell out what should be common sense.

    24 weeks is typically considered the cut-off for viability, and I imagine that’s why the line is drawn where it is. The cruise lines do not want to be responsible for a baby dying that could have been saved if its mother had the sense to stay on land at that point in her pregnancy.

  • Wrona

    DCTA, actually the rules have changed in the last year. For most cruiselines, the rule used to be if you were entering the 27th week of pregnancy at any time during the cruise. Last spring is when it changed to the 24th week, at least for Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity.

  • Jennifer

    Place some on the balme on the couple as well as on Travelocity. They should have done their homework & confirmed with the cruise line or their doctor BEFORE making cruise reservations. I mean really people if you use the internet to buy the cruise you can also use it to search the cruise line’s policies. Common sense people.

  • http://n/a Tony Azpeitia

    Some cruise lines recommend booking through a CLIA certified travel agent for a number of reasons including this one. It’s all in the details. Looking forward, I hope they consider a CLIA certified travel agent on their next cruise with their new infant. There are minimum ages for cruising with infants. This varies with each cruise line. By the way, there should be no additional cost using a travel agent. The delivered value and your experience should be one of precious memories not a nightmare. Happy launch and future sailing.

  • Skip

    I don’t think the couple was having a dispute about whether or not they could travel while in the third trimester. From what I could see, they had a problem with not being informed of the policy until after they had already bought the tickets.

    Yes, the clause was in the terms, but something important to be a factor in whether or not to buy the cruise should not be buried so deep. Liabilities for certain valuables I can understand burying that. But not something like this.

    I’m glad you were able to help, Anita. Too bad Travelocity wasn’t, but it all worked out in the end.

  • Carlo

    Travelocity may have buried the information, but this is something that was widely discussed last year. A simple Google search would have resulted in a lot of questions which might have prompted the couple to ask further – before they got past the deposit refund deadline or started doing the doc dance. People who are taking cruises ought to do more research, especially when something like a medical condition or a pregnancy is involved. Even so…I agree Travelocity shouldn’t bury the information and a real-live travel agent is a much better resource for this type of vacation. In general, and especially for such special circumstances. They’ve learned a hard lesson.

  • Pingback: Sailing & Yachting

Previous post:

Next post: