Price drop and RC not offering anything

We are cruising with a large group in December and have our cruise entirely paid off (minus pre paid gratuities). The price of our interior balcony guarantee just went down by a few hundred dollars and an OV balcony is also currently nearly as cheep. Our TA (we prefer to have full reservation control but due to the large group we went with the TA everyone else did) said when he called, RC considered the OV balcony guarantee an upgrade and wants to charge $280 for it.....meanwhile the OV balcony guarantee is a few hundred less than our current paid amount for an interior balcony. Why would we paid money to upgrade to a room thats currently cheaper!?

Has anyone had success in getting some kind of switch out, OBC, something?

Our TA suggested we call ourselves and try but they RC agents won't tell you ANYTHING when you're booked thru a TA. So I couldn't even attempt it.

It's possible the current sale is part of a GGG or some other "new bookings only" promotion, and the full cost of the OV balcony when not on the new booking only special is in fact $280 more.

As a general rule, after final payment due date do not expect anything. You definitely won't get a partial refund on your room or OBC. You can upgrade to a higher category room at the current price, excluding any "new bookings only" sales.

Oh, also I missed at first that it's an OV balcony guarantee. I think that's the main reason; you won't be upgrading to a guarantee but to an actual OV Balcony where you pick the room, so the guarantee might be cheaper but the "choose your own room" option is $280 more.

We are cruising with a large group in December and have our cruise entirely paid off (minus pre paid gratuities). The price of our interior balcony guarantee just went down by a few hundred dollars and an OV balcony is also currently nearly as cheep. Our TA (we prefer to have full reservation control but due to the large group we went with the TA everyone else did) said when he called, RC considered the OV balcony guarantee an upgrade and wants to charge $280 for it.....meanwhile the OV balcony guarantee is a few hundred less than our current paid amount for an interior balcony. Why would we paid money to upgrade to a room thats currently cheaper!?

 

Has anyone had success in getting some kind of switch out, OBC, something?

Our TA suggested we call ourselves and try but they RC agents won't tell you ANYTHING when you're booked thru a TA. So I couldn't even attempt it.

You should definitely be able to upgrade. Keep after that TA to call again

Several years ago after final payment JS on the Jewel for a Baltic cruise was less than what we paid for our bslcony. Contacted our TA who was able to move us. Then RCI upgraded us to a GS just before the cruise! I know things have changed, but you can hope and try again. The difference might be that the JS was actually cheaper than our balcony. Not sure why it eorked.

Another possibility is your current category cabin is that much less than the OV GTY category you are wanting to move to.

Are you past the final payment date?

From my experience last year they don't let you go from a specific room to a gty booking after final payment. You could only upgrade to another you pick room. (No idea what would happen if you booked gty and wanted to upgrade to a better gty but already had your room assigned.)

Also, depending on if you got a group rate changing your room might get rid of any benefits you had from that. Not sure though as I haven't tried upgraded on a royal group bookings, I know on NCL upgrading after final payment can void your group benefits depending on circumstances.

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Another possibility is your current category cabin is that much less than the OV GTY category you are wanting to move to.

It doesn’t matter about the current cost of their cabin, the only thing they look at is what they initially paid and what the current price of the cabin is that they want to upgrade to.

Any sailing in dec is past the 90 day final payment date.

Are you past the final payment date?

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Any sailing in dec is past the 90 day final payment date.

 

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Some 3 and 4 night cruises in December are still before the final payment date.

Ok I just went through an upgrade after final payment for our November cruise, so here's what advice I can offer you.

I called RCCL to inquire directly about getting OBC for the difference in price for our room in the same category (price dropped about $100). He actually went through and checked for me, indicating that he would have done it, but we were booked through a TA so he could not do it.

We also noticed that a balcony cabin was only about $90 in price difference from our interior and asked if we could upgrade, our TA did this for us with no issue whatsoever. We went from an interior room to a Neighborhood Guarantee.

If a balcony guarantee is less than the price you paid they probably won't give you back any money (OBC or a refund), but your TA is full of it if he/she is telling you that they cannot process the upgrade.

Sailings 4 days or less final payment is 75 days out. If it is a holiday cruise it is 90 days irregardless of length of cruise.

75 days takes us out to dec 23.

Some 3 and 4 night cruises in December are still before the final payment date.

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Sailings 4 days or less final payment is 75 days out. If it is a holiday cruise it is 90 days irregardless of length of cruise.

 

 

75 days takes us out to dec 23.

 

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Not all short cruises after December 23 are considered Holiday cruises.

I know you said you have a guarantee rate but you also said large group so were you part of a group rate? If so the rules are different.

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Its beginning of december so we're only about 55 days out i believe.

Since we're in an interior balcony GTY I had high hopes for at least getting switched out to a OV balcony GTY.

Because we booked alot later than everyone else in the group we won't be risking the loss of any "perks", they all have about $300 OBC that we don't have. At this point I would feel awful ditching out TA just to be able to call and make changes ourselves, especially since hes a family friend. But that being said, I hate that if I call RC they won't allow me to anything about our reservation.

He was able to upgrade another cabin in our group but it was a while ago so I assume it was before the 90 days.

I should also add, we didn't book through that TA, we booked separately because we had giftcards to use for a portion of it and we couldn't use them via a TA. So once the giftcards were applied we switched to the TA. Really, just peer pressure because of the group but we're not getting any "perks" they are.

I checked on our room, the same room went down by $900, called our online TA and RCC and neither one said they could do anything, no OBC, nothing...…! I understand if it was $100 or $200 but the same room for $900 less.

First and last time on RCC

I checked on our room, the same room went down by $900, called our online TA and RCC and neither one said they could do anything, no OBC, nothing...…! I understand if it was $100 or $200 but the same room for $900 less.

First and last time on RCC

Wow thats a huge drop!!

I just tried to call RC again and I explained that I knew because of our TA they wouldn't make any changes but I asked them to check our reservation and what they could do for if our TA called back. The super nice rep confirmed that we could get an upgraded room for no cost if the prices were the same, just no money back. Fair enough....hopefully our TA can get the same answer when he calls them back :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I checked on our room, the same room went down by $900, called our online TA and RCC and neither one said they could do anything, no OBC, nothing...…! I understand if it was $100 or $200 but the same room for $900 less.

First and last time on RCC

That's the same for all cruise lines. After final payment you can upgrade, but you can't get a refund, credit, etc. If it's early enough you may be able to cancel and re-book and just eat the cancellation fee, but as a general rule it's recommended you don't check prices after final payment date.

Wow thats a huge drop!!

 

I just tried to call RC again and I explained that I knew because of our TA they wouldn't make any changes but I asked them to check our reservation and what they could do for if our TA called back. The super nice rep confirmed that we could get an upgraded room for no cost if the prices were the same, just no money back. Fair enough....hopefully our TA can get the same answer when he calls them back :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Did you specify that the upgrade was for a guarantee category? I think that's the issue your TA is running into.

Did you specify that the upgrade was for a guarantee category? I think that's the issue your TA is running into.

Yeah, screencaps included. LOL

Yeah, screencaps included. LOL

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The other thing I would make sure you T/A says is that you dont want any money back, just an upgrade. Maybe they think you want an upgrade and money back.

if your TA says again they can't do it ask to be on a 3 way call between you, the TA, and the cruise line.

Bill