Royal Caribbean Vacation Planners?

[ans678]

Hi Everyone!

 

Long-time lurker, finally decided to join the forum. I have a question about Royal Caribbean, not sure if this is the right place to post it. If it isn’t, please let me know.

 

So in January 2010, husband and I went on our first cruise and we loved it. So we decided to book our next cruise and bring our whole family aboard. We booked 6 cabins online.

 

After several days, Royal still hadn’t charged our cards, so I had to call them and see what was going on. I didn’t get anywhere with their customer service line.

 

A day after I did the reservations, I received an email during this time that said something like this:

 

 

XXXXXX at Royal Caribbean Int has found a great vacation deal for you.

Comments from XXXXX:

I look forward to assisting you. Please keep in mind I have access to all cabins and will be able to place you in the best location possible. Please contact me at 1-800-859-7225 Ext XXXX to reserve your cruise. I look forward to helping you plan the perfect cruise vacation. Thank you

Please email all enquiries to: XXXX@rccl.com

So I called that number (different from Royal’s Number) to see if they could help me.

 

Well this guy says he can’t help me with the credit card issue but tells me there is a special going on right now. He says he needs me to re-book 2 rooms (balcony) that are eligible for the special in order to be able to get it. So I do…. and then lo and behold, after I agree to all of it and it is done, I read on Royal Caribbean’s website that the special is not for the ship we are going on.

 

So I email they guy and he says something like “Sorry, you are right, but there are other specials”. So did he purposefully have me rebook with him so that he would get some sort of commission? He knew what ship we were going on. Now I am starting to wonder if that guy even works for Royal Caribbean after all. : ( I haven't heard from him since.

 

Well, now I am upset at myself for it and upset because I can’t modify the reservations on My Cruises like I can with the others that I booked myself.

Has anyone heard of this Certified Vacation Planners? Do they work for Royal? How did they get my info? Does anyone recognize that number?

 

I got yet another email today very similar to the one I posted from yet another vacation planner.

What’s the deal?

 

Thank you for your help!

[Gonzo70]

Welcome to Cruise Critic :)

 

Royal does have Certified Vacation Planners, but if you book with one of their CVP's you are able to modify your reservation online. Sounds like you may have inadvertently booked with a travel agency rather than direct with the cruise line. When you go to Purchased/Held cruises on RCI's website and select your cruise, does it state the name of a travel agent/agency in the upper right corner (in a green box)?

[efields2]

I ended up booking with a Royal CVP for my last cruise, as I had a next-cruise certificate I needed to redeem and there wasn't an option for that online. You should still be able to access MOST of your information, such as booking speciality restaurants, making payments online etc.

 

When you originally booked the 6 rooms online, did you ever get an email confirmation from documentation@rccl.com with a PDF outlining what was booked, the cruise date, etc? From what it sounds like, something happened where the rooms were never booked (thus no email confirmation) and that's why customer service wasn't able to get anywhere.

 

In the future, as long as you have still booked with Royal and not a travel agent, you can call their regular line (or C&A if you have joined) to get a change on your reservation, should it be a price drop, switching rooms, changing the date of the cruise, etc.

[ans678]

Thanks for the responses. :)

When I go to Purchased Held Cruises, I don't see a green box or the name of a travel agency. But on the cruise documentation, it does say "CVP Agent". For the ones I booked myself, it says "Vacation Planner USA" on the cruise documentation and then my name on it. Is that weird? I booked them through Royal's website!

When I booked the rooms online.,I did not get a confirmation of booking or of payment. I only got it for one of them that was not like the others (I had put all the others on hold first).

So our cards finally got charged! I had to call Royal's number to get the cruise documentation sent to me. I did receive it from documentation@rccl.com.

Does all this sound normal?

Thanks!

[Merion_Mom]

Hi Everyone!

 

Long-time lurker, finally decided to join the forum. I have a question about Royal Caribbean, not sure if this is the right place to post it. If it isn’t, please let me know.

 

So in January 2010, husband and I went on our first cruise and we loved it. So we decided to book our next cruise and bring our whole family aboard. We booked 6 cabins online.

 

After several days, Royal still hadn’t charged our cards, so I had to call them and see what was going on. I didn’t get anywhere with their customer service line.

 

A day after I did the reservations, I received an email during this time that said something like this:

 

 

XXXXXX at Royal Caribbean Int has found a great vacation deal for you.

Comments from XXXXX:

I look forward to assisting you. Please keep in mind I have access to all cabins and will be able to place you in the best location possible. Please contact me at 1-800-859-7225 Ext XXXX to reserve your cruise. I look forward to helping you plan the perfect cruise vacation. Thank you

Please email all enquiries to: XXXX@rccl.com

So I called that number (different from Royal’s Number) to see if they could help me.

 

Well this guy says he can’t help me with the credit card issue but tells me there is a special going on right now. He says he needs me to re-book 2 rooms (balcony) that are eligible for the special in order to be able to get it. So I do…. and then lo and behold, after I agree to all of it and it is done, I read on Royal Caribbean’s website that the special is not for the ship we are going on.

 

So I email they guy and he says something like “Sorry, you are right, but there are other specials”. So did he purposefully have me rebook with him so that he would get some sort of commission? He knew what ship we were going on. Now I am starting to wonder if that guy even works for Royal Caribbean after all. : ( I haven't heard from him since.

 

Well, now I am upset at myself for it and upset because I can’t modify the reservations on My Cruises like I can with the others that I booked myself.

Has anyone heard of this Certified Vacation Planners? Do they work for Royal? How did they get my info? Does anyone recognize that number?

 

I got yet another email today very similar to the one I posted from yet another vacation planner.

What’s the deal?

 

Thank you for your help!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic :)

 

Royal does have Certified Vacation Planners, but if you book with one of their CVP's you are able to modify your reservation online. Sounds like you may have inadvertently booked with a travel agency rather than direct with the cruise line. When you go to Purchased/Held cruises on RCI's website and select your cruise, does it state the name of a travel agent/agency in the upper right corner (in a green box)?

 

That is the correct phone number for Royal Caribbean. No stealthy hijacking of bookings. :)

[rae8836]

In regards to full access of a res online - what you see is the way it works.

 

If you book online and only 'touch' your reservation online you retain 'ownership' of that res and can change anything.

 

If RCI's phone team ("CVP") initiates the res or provides _any_ special pricing or other stuff, they will 'own' the reservation and you will only be able to change certain items online.

 

I prefer to control my own reservations and have lost ownership of reservations I initiated a couple of times when I did not expect to. I made a considerable fuss, but it appears once you loose ownership there is no way to get it back.

 

Lesson learned is to originate all your own reservations online and to specifically ask questions about reservation ownership whenever you request changes over the phone. I _have_ found that simply changing cabins, applying Diamond discounts, or other similar activities over the phone will not change ownership, but let the buyer beware......

 

RAE