JoelinSedona

Also, if there is a line, it's a good idea to "announce" to everyone playing or in line that you play one game to 11 or 15 minutes, then back to the end of the line. Nothing worse than 4 people (usually inexperienced with court etiquette) monopolizing a court for an hour or more. The sports staff will sometimes announce this but they never monitor it.

The only problem is that many of the new people who play are not familiar with court etiquette. They will often stay on for an hour or more. So it's best to get "regular" players announcing to people on the courts and in line to play one game (or 10-15 minutes), then get off and go to the back of the line. The staff announces this on a rare occasion but never monitors it. It really keeps the waiting down and the line moving.

Currently on Oasis of the Seas. Just heard our stop in Labadee has been canceled due to safety reasons for tomorrow 03/14. 

I bought 3 (one for each room) and now have 3 $100 OBC's.

Is there any way to get the current lower sale price on an excursion that's sold out? We purchased a few things for Labadee weeks ago and now the prices are much lower but everything we purchased is sold out. I'm worried that if I cancel something it won't immediately show up again so that I could book it at the lower price.

Was about $350 for an hour with no lesson or instruction back in December on Symphony.  I think an extra $150~200 with instruction.

9 minutes ago, cruisers77 said:

I feel for the guy who posted. we paid a ton for a suite on a 12-26 cruise (OA) and 3 days ago decided to move it until at least march as I expected a less than ideal experience. I would be very upset if no shows or entertainment especially on symphony (or any oasis class ship). I have high expectations of RCI and would expect a portion of my $ back if they can't deliver on the promoted experience (regardless of the fine print). period. the focus should be on the customer. as someone who also works for a company and has a lot of love for the hospitality industry, I think if they put the customer first in all of their decisions, they will always come out better off in the short run and long run.

Coming from someone who just got off Symphony a few days ago, you made a wise choice. Not worth paying big bucks right now unless you're into reading a book on deck or getting drunk.

13 minutes ago, topnole said:

You said entertainment was slashed due to understaffing.  They only ever have one guy play in the pub.  One in schooner.  One cast in shows.  Etc.  

 

They may be understaffed in other areas, but I seriously doubt they were understaffed on entertainment crew.  Sounds like Covid kept some from being able to work. It sucks, but that doesn’t mean understaffed.  

Here's a few that were reduced or eliminated in no particular order....

Abyss slide

Water slides

Flow Rider

On Air Karaoke

Bingo

Rock Climbing wall

No Laser tag

No Escape room

No Ice skating

Adventure Ocean 

Zipline

Organized Sports Court Activities

Greatly reduced seating at shows resulting in many people not being able to secure a reservation

All of the above resulted in massively overcrowded hot tubs and pools (or shooting baskets with 50 of your closest new friends).

9 minutes ago, topnole said:

Understaffed?   How so. Are the supposed to have an entire backup crew for major shows?   That isn’t even possible even if you wanted to spend the money.

 

Also, Royal isn’t making money.  They are losing money.  Just less now as they ramp up capacity.  

Having gotten off Symphony a few days ago and being told by various staff members that they are understaffed....that's "how so".  And that's why many activities were eliminated or slashed. And when they did open up something for a short period, people would line up cheek to cheek.

Royal has slashed entertainment and activities on a number of recent cruises because they were understaffed and unprepared. This is not a "busy holiday issue".  This is a "we increased passenger counts too fast so we could make more money" issue. They gambled, we lost.  The argument that you should be grateful to pay thousands to sit on deck and read a book or get blitzed at the bar is nonsense.

I was fully aware that we were going on a cruise just before Christmas (during a pandemic) and things would be crowded. It's just that the crew said there was about 4300 passengers on board which is way below full capacity. I have been on full capacity Oasis class cruises before yet this one felt every bit as crowded because so many things were not running.  We spoke with a few crew members and asked them why so many activities were not running and every single one said they were understaffed.  Now I get that some staff were suddenly "out of service" but Royal should have stepped up and offered at least some token compensation. They were ramping up the passenger count in a cash grab for weeks ahead of time and gambled wrong. I will cruise them again (have 2 more cruises coming up) but I'm holding off on booking more until the "value" of what I'm paying for improves. Not cool to bill yourself as an activities intensive cruise line and then expect people to be satisfied when you can't deliver because you planned badly on the crew to passenger ratio. When IRROPS happen, a company with good customer service will at least try to make things right.

26 minutes ago, Laurie997 said:

We leave on HOTS on 1-23 we saw all the shows less than 4 weeks ago but still that is the majority of money we spend is for entertainment. Questioning if we should just reschedule or stay on board. We are completely vaccinated with our boosters. Poor cruise lines honestly.

You'll probably be OK as long as the passenger count goes back down. Our problem this past week is that Royal boosted the capacity as Christmas approached but was understaffed and thus had limited hours for activities and entertainment. This resulted in people lining up cheek to cheek whenever something did open up.

I was onboard Symphony last week.  Many activities had reduced operating hours or were cancelled altogether.  I tried to post that here but my post was deleted.  I mention that because some of you are saying everyone reading this board should be aware of what's going on.  Well that won't happen if critical posts get deleted. I expect this post won't last long either. I had a decent time but Royal has been increasing passenger capacity every week despite not seeming to have enough crew to support the higher numbers. I think the Royal defenders on here saying you should have expected things to be busy during holidays completely gloss over the insufficient staffing problem.  As a business owner myself I always compensate customers who don't receive services they paid for because I didn't plan ahead well enough during a high demand period. 

Got off Symphony today and posted some observations about our experience in a separate post but the post has been deleted.  Just mentioned what seemed like a reduction in onboard activities and being told by some crew members it was because they were short staffed.  Is that subject taboo?

Thanks everyone.  Called this morning and waited on hold for an hour while the rep checked with accounting. They said they will get back to me in 7-10 days.  That's cutting it a bit close!

Anyway, this mystery balance due just happens to add up to 2 perfect day waterpark tickets I cancelled and rebooked at a lower price.  I mentioned that to the rep and he pooh-pooh that idea at first by saying how "Royal doesn't mix cruise planner charges with the regular booking charges". After an hour he said maybe that's what happened after all.  Um, sure looks like it. Why in the heck would they rebill me for cancelled cruise planner items and suddenly say I have a past due balance on the cruise itself for that exact amount? Weird.

Hi all,

I have an upcoming cruise on Symphony departing Dec 18th 2021. Total was $1020.38. Paid the deposit of $200 on November 7th when I booked the cruise. The balance due "FINAL PAYMENT DUE" according to Royal was for $820.38 which I paid on November 15th (due date was November 18th).  Just got an email saying I have a balance due of $187.98 and it says it was due November 18th(???).  Tried calling Royal but the office is closed.  A little freaked out as I don't want my cruise cancelled.  Is this an error or a legit charge for gratuities or something else?  Thanks to anyone who might have some insight to what this is for!

20 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

I cancelled 2 weeks ago and was told it would not show up until the end of May, at the earliest.    

 

Who told you it would take a week?  

My big box agent gave me the 1 week timeframe. After that I started calling Royal directly and they gave me the 2 week date. When 2 weeks passed called Royal again and they gave me the 30 day date.

4 hours ago, gatour said:

What breach of contract?  They are refunding money.  It may be taking time, but they are refunding money.

When I cancelled I was told the refund would take a week. After that I was told it would take 2 weeks. After that I was told it would take 30 days.  I'm currently on day 34 and still haven't received it.

Yesterday, my big box travel agent said it may take up to 90 days. They sounded pretty exasperated with Royal. Certainly seems like they're using our money like an easy no cost source of cash flow. 

8 minutes ago, coaster said:

Seems to be a pause in the last two weeks or so for those of us who have cancelled cruises. Any success stories from anyone who has cancelled in the last 2 weeks or more where you actually got a refund and didn't request FCC?

 

 

 

I cancelled 3 weeks ago and have received nothing. My "big box" travel agent told me today they are hearing refunds may be pushed back to 90 days.  Seems Royal is treating us like their private piggy bank.

Just spoke with my "big box" travel agent and they said it could take up to 90 days to get a refund.  They seemed pretty flustered with Royal.  I have my own business and I can tell you that the credit card refunds I have processed back to my customers the last few weeks have hit their accounts in 3-4 days.  Clearly Royal is using us as a source for cash flow.  Gonna give them a few more days but next week I'll start the charge back process and let Royal fight it out with the credit card company.  Past charge backs I've done have been pretty quick to post back to my account.

29 minutes ago, bearette said:

Another thread about credit cards- someone who worked for the card company -I think it was Amex-  said they required 90 days to refund before they could dispute on the card.

Interesting...I wonder if that's correct.  Perhaps they mean the charge back needs to be initiated within 90 days of purchase.  My past experience with charge backs has been way less time and rather easy.  Always had a credit back to my account within a week.  Going to try it soon if Royal keeps dragging their feet.

3 hours ago, bearette said:

I have a cruise cancelled from March so those waiting for refunds in April and May cruises, you are in the back of the line. Regardless, they are allowed to take about 90 days so while we don't like it, there is nothing legally we can do, but wait.

Why are they "allowed to take about 90 days" before they have to provide a refund? Is that in the RC contract? What is this 90 days based on?

2 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

You make a good point. I don’t know what the rules are for how quickly a refund is required to take place. I wonder if there is one. My guess is that there is a rule, and royal Caribbean knows what it is, and that they’re returning money as slowly as allowed. If not, there’ll be a big class action law suit and everyone will be happy. As with many laws, they don’t always end up making sense or being fair, but the law rules over ethics. 
 

If someone doesn’t have enough cash in the bank to sustain them for at least a few months in the event of a job loss, why are they risking that money by spending it on a vacation? I get it that people have lost their jobs and expected to have income they no longer have, but if you don’t have enough money in the bank to cover your bills for 90 days until you get your refund, you probably shouldn’t have booked this trip in the first place.

Why should I have to provide Royal with an interest free loan for 90 days?