Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Royal Caribbean Complaint - Seeking Resolution

tgunth

By tgunth,
in Royal Caribbean International

 Share

Recommended Posts

tgunth

tgunth

Posted
Posted (edited)

Need some advice...On Jan 26, 2004, I got married on the beach while in port in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Let me say it turned out beautiful, and I will never forget that day. We sailed on the Enchantment of the Seas along with 20 friends and family......now for the not so good RCCL PR part. We booked our wedding through Royal Romance Weddings (RCCL wedding Dept) 8 months prior to departure and paid our $995 deposit for the wedding. We were told that we would be contacted about four weeks prior to departure to finalize plans and get our preferences on options they offered. Let me add that we had originally planned to get married on the ship (not the beach....as port stops were not guaranteed) and our wedding invitations reflect this onboard location. We were in full wedding planning mode as months later 20 reservations were secured and balances paid. In the months leading up to departure I had been in communication with their wedding Dept to ask general questions, then one day, about two months prior to departure I called their Dept again, but this time it was specific to my reservation. They could not find my reservation! On top of this, they didn't think they could accommodate my wedding as other weddings were now booked (after mine btw).....seriously....are you kidding me! They actually asked me to prove that I had paid my deposit! You could only imagine my stress....we and 20 other guests were expecting a wedding in only a matter of weeks! After escalating this situation, they said they could accommodate me, but the attitude I was given was that I should be thankful instead of upset! After many sleepless nights, I called them back and demanded my deposit back.....and yet again, unbelievably they gave me a hard time saying it was too late to cancel. I just about lost it. After escalating the situation again, they refunded my money. I booked with "A Wedding For You" who quickly took care of all the details to situate a wedding in Jamaica. My only worry was if we would be diverted from that port, but it was January, so I took the risk.....I didn't really have much of a choice. When I escalated the situation, I asked if they could give me anything for the chaos and stress that I was put through....they gave me a $100 voucher for a FUTURE sailing.....not my wedding cruise. Really, was this the best you could do? Now, fast forward to today....I just booked a 5-day western on Liberty and this will be our first cruise since our wedding as we have two little ones, ages 3 and 6....so all these years, I felt my kids were a bit young for a cruise. We are now ready, but I still feel a bit of resentment towards RCCL, but this ship had so much to offer for the little ones, that I just had to book this ship. I realize this was many years ago, (and the small voucher expired long ago), but I feel they owe me something....money off, shipboard credit, or preferrably a considerable upgrade (we booked an OV as I'm not holding my breath). This could have been a complete disaster.....at least I lost a ton of weight because of the stress.....a bride's dream. Interestingly enough, our upcoming cruise is to Ocho Rios....so I am so excited to show our kids where we got married! Any advice on who to contact for some resolution to this? Our cruise is April 9, 2012 so we are less than 90 days out. We are only on deck 2, and paying out the nose for that, but I will be happy with this anyway if I can't get anything better....it is a bit late in the game. If they can't recognize their mistake, I may just stick with Disney CL! Thanks, and sorry so long! Regardless of all this, we are still very happily married (8 yrs), have two beautiful children and are so blessed.

 

-Tammy

Edited by tgunth
Link to comment
Share on other sites
kruzerci

kruzerci

Posted
Posted

I'm really sorry for all the headache the loss of your reservation caused. Definitely not a dream wedding like you expected!

 

However, I've got to say, if you were going to pursue it further, you should have done it years ago. This was all 8 years ago! I feel you you probably did deserve more than $100 off a future cruise, but I just can't see them doing anything about it now. I'm sure you probably could have gotten a better compensation had you stayed on their backs until you got what you wanted seven or eight years ago, but that is a long time to have passed.

 

I'm not saying don't try, but I highly doubt that they are going to do anything at this point. My suggestion- go on your cruise and have an amazing cruise, show your kids where you were married. I wouldn't expect them to do anything this long down the road.

 

Good luck. Don't cancel, you picked an amazing ship and will have a great vacation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
crisndeefromde

crisndeefromde

Posted
Posted

I sure can't go along with giving you any hope as this should have been resolved years ago. As you didn't do this and go further with compensation your time is long over for a claim. You could try but how angry are you going to get? Rehash this all over again. You did get your money back didn't you?

 

Go have a great time. If you feel you don't want to give Royal another chance stick with Disney. What ever you do tho, have a wonderful vacation and congratulations on your great family.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TahoeBob

TahoeBob

Posted
Posted
I asked if they could give me anything for the chaos and stress that I was put through....they gave me a $100 voucher for a FUTURE sailing.....

 

(and the small voucher expired long ago), but I feel they owe me something....money off, shipboard credit, or preferrably a considerable upgrade (we booked an OV as I'm not holding my breath).

 

They did give you something, you chose not to use what they gave you. just whos fault is it that you did not use it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JMG680

JMG680

Posted
Posted
I'm confused! If they didn't have your reservation, then booked you then you called and demanded your deposit back, how did you get on the ship? BTW-paragraphs are our friends!

 

I think the OP was talking about the reservation and deposit for the wedding party, not the cruise sailing. They are two diffrent fees and reservations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tgunth

tgunth

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I'm confused! If they didn't have your reservation, then booked you then you called and demanded your deposit back, how did you get on the ship? BTW-paragraphs are our friends!

I'm confused at your confusion. The wedding was a separate reservation. I had to prove I had a reservation by showing proof of payment....and once they acknowledged my payment, I wanted my money back. I had rebooked with an outside planner.

 

Yeah, sorry about the no paragraphs.....I didn't realize how much I wrote. The years went by so fast and I did try to seek a resolution, but they wanted a booked cruise to help me out. They told me to call back when I booked again.

 

Tammy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ryano

ryano

Posted
Posted
Wow, that's unnecessary....but thanks for taking more time to respond!

 

I wasnt trying to be a smart elic. I was just asking for a cliff note version. Its late and all that runs together to me. I take it from the responses that you are looking for a resolution for something that happened years ago

 

Best of luck to you with that. Seriously :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Maryscooking

Maryscooking

Posted
Posted

I understand that it was stressful for you at the time, but the bottom line as I understand it is that after initially stating they didn't have your wedding reservation, they were going to be able to accomodate you? And you were the one who cancelled in the end.

 

So, and I'm not trying to be witchy about this, I don't see why RCL would owe you anything else at this point.

 

Now if they really had said "Sorry, you are out of luck, we can't do your wedding, and here is your money back!" then I'd agree that back then in 2004 you would have been owed some compensation.

 

But given that RCL was holding up their end of the contract, no, I don't think you should pursue this any further, especially at this (very) late date.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LittleMissMagic "Live from...." Rare

LittleMissMagic

Posted
Posted
The years went by so fast and I did try to seek a resolution, but they wanted a booked cruise to help me out. They told me to call back when I booked again.

 

Tammy

 

Well if that's the case, call back! I don't think you should expect any more than the initial $100 OBC they attempted to compensate you with, but it couldn't hurt to ask. Just don't get too upset if they can no longer do anything.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
tgunth

tgunth

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I don't expect anything from RCCL at this point, but I do think I deserve more than the $100 they offered. Yes, it has been a long time, no doubt, but I haven't sailed since. I would be going to them with a bit of humble pie.

 

All 20 people had fully paid and this came to light after their trips were non-refundable. They were coming for my wedding, which almost didn't happen. The paid reservation was made 8 months prior to sailing and it was only several weeks before the wedding when I found out they didn't even schedule it! It wasn't a 24 hr wait to hear they could accommodate me.....this took over a week after they had my "proof".

 

I canceled not solely because of they lost my reservation, but because they were incredibly rude to me even after this incredible situation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LittleMissMagic "Live from...." Rare

LittleMissMagic

Posted
Posted

For those of you who need paragraphs.... :D

 

Need some advice...

 

On Jan 26, 2004, I got married on the beach while in port in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Let me say it turned out beautiful, and I will never forget that day. We sailed on the Enchantment of the Seas along with 20 friends and family......now for the not so good RCCL PR part.

 

We booked our wedding through Royal Romance Weddings (RCCL wedding Dept) 8 months prior to departure and paid our $995 deposit for the wedding. We were told that we would be contacted about four weeks prior to departure to finalize plans and get our preferences on options they offered. Let me add that we had originally planned to get married on the ship (not the beach....as port stops were not guaranteed) and our wedding invitations reflect this onboard location.

 

We were in full wedding planning mode as months later 20 reservations were secured and balances paid. In the months leading up to departure I had been in communication with their wedding Dept to ask general questions, then one day, about two months prior to departure I called their Dept again, but this time it was specific to my reservation. They could not find my reservation! On top of this, they didn't think they could accommodate my wedding as other weddings were now booked (after mine btw).....seriously....are you kidding me! They actually asked me to prove that I had paid my deposit!

 

You could only imagine my stress....we and 20 other guests were expecting a wedding in only a matter of weeks! After escalating this situation, they said they could accommodate me, but the attitude I was given was that I should be thankful instead of upset! After many sleepless nights, I called them back and demanded my deposit back.....and yet again, unbelievably they gave me a hard time saying it was too late to cancel. I just about lost it. After escalating the situation again, they refunded my money.

 

I booked with "A Wedding For You" who quickly took care of all the details to situate a wedding in Jamaica. My only worry was if we would be diverted from that port, but it was January, so I took the risk.....I didn't really have much of a choice.

 

When I escalated the situation, I asked if they could give me anything for the chaos and stress that I was put through....they gave me a $100 voucher for a FUTURE sailing.....not my wedding cruise. Really, was this the best you could do?

 

Now, fast forward to today....I just booked a 5-day western on Liberty and this will be our first cruise since our wedding as we have two little ones, ages 3 and 6....so all these years, I felt my kids were a bit young for a cruise. We are now ready, but I still feel a bit of resentment towards RCCL, but this ship had so much to offer for the little ones, that I just had to book this ship.

 

I realize this was many years ago, (and the small voucher expired long ago), but I feel they owe me something....money off, shipboard credit, or preferrably a considerable upgrade (we booked an OV as I'm not holding my breath). This could have been a complete disaster.....at least I lost a ton of weight because of the stress.....a bride's dream.

 

Interestingly enough, our upcoming cruise is to Ocho Rios....so I am so excited to show our kids where we got married!

 

Any advice on who to contact for some resolution to this? Our cruise is April 9, 2012 so we are less than 90 days out. We are only on deck 2, and paying out the nose for that, but I will be happy with this anyway if I can't get anything better....it is a bit late in the game. If they can't recognize their mistake, I may just stick with Disney CL!

 

Thanks, and sorry so long! Regardless of all this, we are still very happily married (8 yrs), have two beautiful children and are so blessed.

 

-Tammy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LittleMissMagic "Live from...." Rare

LittleMissMagic

Posted
Posted
I don't expect anything from RCCL at this point, but I do think I deserve more than the $100 they offered. Yes, it has been a long time, no doubt, but I haven't sailed since. I would be going to them with a bit of humble pie.

 

All 20 people had fully paid and this came to light after their trips were non-refundable. They were coming for my wedding, which almost didn't happen. The paid reservation was made 8 months prior to sailing and it was only several weeks before the wedding when I found out they didn't even schedule it! It wasn't a 24 hr wait to hear they could accommodate me.....this took over a week after they had my "proof".

 

I canceled not solely because of they lost my reservation, but because they were incredibly rude to me even after this incredible situation.

 

If you had a problem with the way they attempted to compensate you, you should have brought it up, then. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid the best you can do now is write a letter to Royal Caribbean explaining your frustrations and hope that they give you the OBC that expired. :(

 

Btw, if you think this Liberty sailing is expensive - have you looked at the prices of DCL? Love Disney, but why do they have to be so expensive? :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ghulett "Live from...." Rare

ghulett

Posted
Posted

I'm surprised that you even considered booking on RCI with all this residual anger. Seems like an extremely long time to hold on to it. If it was (and is still) so upsetting to you, why on earth didn't you book your upcoming cruise with Disney instead? Just saying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...