Unfair treatment from RCCL and On Line Agency - AOS 10/28/07

My friend and I booked our first cruise ever with Royal Caribbean (RCCL) through an online agency on 7/26/07 for sailing date of 10/28/2007 to celebrate my 40th birthday. We specifically chose this cruise due to its itinerary to Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten and St. Thomas departing from San Juan aboard Adventure of the Seas. We booked via the on line agency because they offered bonus prepaid gratuities for the same price as shown on RCCL website. We paid $949 (base price) each for Cabin Category E2.

On Tuesday 9/25/07, I checked RCCL website and found that for the same trip RCCL was having sales event that offered $749 for cabins Category D2 and D1; which were 3 and 4 categories respectively above our E2 cabin. We were very upset because for total $400 less we could get much better cabin.

We called RCCL and expressed our disappointment. RCCL agent told us because we booked via the on line agency, we had to contact the agency directly. So we called the agency and spoke with Phil. We told Phil about our findings and disappointment and asked if he could do any adjustments. Initially, Phil told us that cabins category D2 and D1 are downgrades from our E2; which was completely untrue. We were not sure what his intent was but we thought it was an insult. We argued and he later put us on hold and told us that he would get RCCL agent on the phone. So, we waited and waited for 20 minutes. Eventually, he came back and told us that RCCL would not do any adjustments at all. After a couple minutes of more arguments, Phil finally gave us RCCL number for Customer Relations 888-307-8414.

We called that number and spoke to Jeff at RCCL. Again, we explained the situation to Jeff. He was more attentive and tried to book us a new cabin category D2 and would give us credit of $100 per person. Even though it was still $100 per person less than what we had expected, we decided to accept the offer. Jeff asked for our original Confirmation #6xxxxxx, gave us a new #9xxxxxx and said he would call back to confirm the change.

40 minutes later, an agent from RCCL called and told us that Jeff made a mistake and should have not offered the new booking. She said there was nothing RCCL would do in this situation. We asked to speak to a supervisor or manager but she said she was the authority. To compensate us for all the troubles and dissatisfaction, she later offered to give us credit of $100 total for both of us. We are not sure how we will receive the credit.

We don’t think that this is a fair business practice. It appears that we got penalized for booking 90 days in advance and the passengers who book later get much better deals. Why would not RCCL pass the savings to their existing reservations? It does not make any sense at all. Interestingly, there are discussions on Cruise Critic’s Message Board regarding how RCCL usually increases fares as it gets closer to sailing dates. In our case, it was totally the opposite.

As someone has already posted on this same thread you posted on the RCL forum, the Tuesday sales are for new bookings only. They offer this sales to fill the ship.

that sounds so unfair.:mad:

I would print out the page on the internet where it says the lower fares,

and fax it to RCCL....

I did this before when we were booked on carnival through orbitz and the price changed,, orbitz was trying not to change it , but once i faxed that over they did...

Good luck with all of it , I hope they can do something ..

how bad is the penalty if you cancel and rebook ?

that sounds so unfair.:mad:

 

I would print out the page on the internet where it says the lower fares,

and fax it to RCCL....

The lower fares specifically say for New Bookings Only so he is not being treated unfairly.

Hi JCPL,

Was the lower price for "New bookings only" ? If it was then RCI did more for you than you were entitled by offering you the 100 dol credit.

I have no intention to 'defend' RCI if they are wrong but as someone else already posted - that the lower price was only for new bookings.

I booked a cruise with RCI back in March and the price was lowered about a week later for seniors ( which I am) - RCI made the adjustment for us when our TA called them and requested the new 'fare' for us. So they do 'honor' the lower prices if one is entitled to them.

I can also agree with their policy about not wanting to respond directly to you if you did book through a travel agency - the TA is your agent, and your booking even that it is your booking - belongs to the TA , and the TA is responsible for it.

I am curious if the price that you did see was for "New booking only" - please let 'us' know.

Wes

I am going on the AOS two weeks before the OP. Not long ago, they lowered the prices and I was able to upgrade from a D1 to a JS for free. I am also booked through a TA, so they had to do the change for me. We had no problems at all.

However, like the others have said, "New bookings" means "New Bookings." If you were outside of the time frame for cancellation fees, they could have cancelled and re-booked for you.

Thank you all for all the constructive response and suggestions. Since we are completely new to this cruise world, we had no idea if that was for new bookings only. All it said was Sales Event rate: $749 for D1 and D2. There was Residency Rate: about $911 for D1 and D2 which we would definitely have been qualified. It was not offered though when we paid $949 for E2 around late July. From what we gathered, RCCL or TA should have offered to upgrade us to either D1 or D2 plus give us credit for the difference.

Ironically, we first booked Crown Princess for 10/27/07 sailing to similar islands. But we didn't really care about Grenada & St Kitts and would rather visit St. Maarten. So we canceled and booked RCCL instead. Princess has completely different pricing strategy which is what I would expect. Book early, you'll save. Guarantee cabin is lower, book a specific cabin pay the premium. Book later, either be wait-listed or pay more. That I can live with because it is fair. RCCL pricing strategy is completely unfair in my opinion.

I just hope I would enjoy this first cruise ever otherwise I will just go the conventional way: flights and hotels. With the rate I am going now, I may reach 1 million miles in Feb 2008 (40 times around the globe: 1 round per year for me). :D

All cruiselines offer promos for new bookings only, mainly to sell a soft selling sailing . Though I may not agree with the pricing strategy, you were not treated unfairly in this situation.

It is not uncommon for any cruise line to make offers for new bookings, that is common in all travel industries. Even the phone companies offer deals for "new" customers.

Once you elect to book with a TA online or otherwise that TA owns your booking. Some TA's have a fee they charge to change or cancel a booking. That charge takes away a little piece of the fare drop if one is offered. We always book online direct with RCI. It is more common for the price to increase then decrease especially in season. Off season the price may drop if bookings are soft. Our booking with RCI in Feb dropped the price $250 pp. One phone call and 10 minutes later our cruise was $500 less. The savings is the cost of our airfare to SJ. As you read the RCI threads you will see Price Drops do occur but you will also see that sometimes they disappear over a weekend and you can't reach your TA on the weekend to take advantage. Not trying ti convince anyone to stop using a TA just be aware sometimes with the perks of OBC offered by a TA comes the other edge of the sword that can cut as well.

I don't think RCI was unfair the Rep probably extending you a change they are not authorized to do if the booking is thru a TA.

I understand your disappointment and your frustration at the situation; but as others have mentioned, this is rather standard within the cruise industry based on timing. You purchased about 90 days out, before final payment. And the lower price was found about 30 days out, which is after cancellation penalties kick in. It was in all likelihood a sale which does not apply to prior bookings. Perhaps this was not known to you, as this is your first cruise, but they are not treating you any differently than anyone else, and again, is a very standard practice.

I do suggest you get over to the RCCL website and read the rest of the fine print contract details ASAP, as you will probably find a few more unexpected limitations and exclusions that are also very standard and very much a huge surprise to first-time cruisers who may not have read this in detail prior to the cruise. Things like port changes or missing the ship.

Somebody once wrote that Happiness = Reality/Expectations. You will want to do your best to adjust that ratio by knowing the possible pitfalls before you encounter them. Read through the boards here at CC as well. There is a wealth of knowledge on them.

It sounds like your cruise was not completely sold out and they are having a last minute sale, for new bookings only. That you found the sale price is turning out to be your disadvantage, since you were happy with the price you agreed to in July.

This is not always what happens on all cruises. Sometimes cruises are sold out and there is little available, the opposite would be happening. Your cabin category would sell for hundreds more than what you are paying.

Sometimes RCI will credit people who call when they find a lower price, sometimes not. I don't know all the reasons for why they do what they do. They may have only a handful of cabins to sell, so do you think they should credit every one a lower price?

Hopefully you agreed to the lower credit, under the circumstances it sounds like you were not eligible for anything, you are beyond final payment and you are within the penalty phase if you should cancel.

I think you should put this behind you and enjoy your cruise. There are sometimes things in life we cannot fix and we just have to accept and move on.

I'll bet Jeff got himself into a lot of hot water with this :o

Hello,

Using website TAs is for very experienced travelers who really understand the world of cruise travel. This is one of the reasons why first timers should use a TA so that if problems occur, you have someone to help you.

My suggestion is that you write a letter to RCCL, to the attention of no lower than a senior vice president and ask for his or her help. Be polite and non argumentive in your letter. Using the telephone (to me) hardly ever resolves problems. A well written letter to someone with the authority to help you, is your best course of action.

Remember also that pricing is controlled by the cruise lines and at the same time they want satisfied customers. Purchasing a cruise is not always a win win situation as I'm sure that many CCers even the most experienced have not always gotten the very best price for a cruise.

Hope that this helps.

Fred

To the original poster - since you have flown quite often, you may be better off trying to understand the cruise pricing as an airline ticket. How often do you get your airfare reduced if you find a lower price??? :confused:

Often airlines and cruiselines will reduce prices or have "last-minute deals" in order to fill the ship/airplane. The airplane is going to fly either way so they might as well fill up seats. Same with a cruise.

You asked why RCCI wouldn't pass savings on to their customers - well, understanding the basics of business, do you really think they would call up all their bookings and say hey guess what - we decided to give you back some money??? I can't think of one business - travel or other industry - that is going to call up all their customes who have already agreed upon a price and tell them they can pay less.

that sounds so unfair.:mad:

 

I would print out the page on the internet where it says the lower fares,

and fax it to RCCL.... I did this before when we were booked on carnival through orbitz and the price changed,, orbitz was trying not to change it , but once i faxed that over they did...

How unfair would it be if the prices were raised because demand was up for that particular cruise. Would the OP be willing to pay the additional increase. :confused: Can't have it both ways.

One way to also consider it is those folks getting the reduced price are going to be paying a premium for their last minute airplane tickets. ;)

Good point. I always thinkg that when one books a cruise, the price was right at the time. If there are promo's after the fact, one should not expect receiving the lower price. If that's the case, one should also expect to pay a higher price if costs go up.