Royal Caribbean International is adjusting part of the itineraries of Rhapsody of the Seas’ 2023-24 season in the Southern Caribbean and the Panama Canal.
According to a statement sent to booked guests, the company is “enhancing” a series of cruises that were scheduled to sail between late February and mid-April 2024.
Previously scheduled to sail to the Panama Canal and Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, the Rhapsody is now set to offer Southern Caribbean itineraries.
The new seven-night cruises sail roundtrip from Panama’s Colon Cruise Terminal and include visits to ports like Cartagena de Indias, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
The original itineraries, meanwhile, were scheduled to sail between Colon and Panama City, featuring a full Panama Canal transit, in addition to visits to Puntarenas and Puerto Quepos, in Costa Rica, and Cartagena, in Colombia.
“The time and effort you took to plan your cruise is important to us, and we apologize for the inconvenience,” Royal Caribbean said in the letter sent to affected passengers.
“Every aspect of your time with us should be enjoyable, so we’ve put together some alternate options that we hope will work for you and those in your party,” the company added.
Passengers will be able to choose between keeping their reservations for the new itineraries, rebooking any other Royal Caribbean sailing, or cancelling their bookings.
If they decide to stay on the new itineraries, passengers will be moved to a like-for-like stateroom and may be eligible to receive partial refunds if the fare of the current cruise decreases.
Guests will also be able to rebook another Royal Caribbean cruise but will be responsible for any difference in pricing of the cruise fare, taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.
In both cases, the company is also covering non-refundable, pre-purchased transportation change fees incurred up to $200 USD per guest for domestic changes, or up to $400 USD per guest for international changes.
Alternatively, the passengers may also request a full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare, including non-refundable deposits.
