Disgusted with RCL and Rhapsody Cabin changes!

[Aquahound]

What about the poster who said this just a few days ago:

 

"Yes, I too choose my cabin location carefully, and I would be bummed if it was changed without notifying me... but, still... I'm still cruising, so I would just roll with it.

 

You know what? I envy that guy. I wish I had the ability to just roll with it in a situation like this. However, knowing myself quite well, I think I would go postal if this happened to me, because this isn't an accident that was out of RCI's control.

[bigeagle12]

There was a similar thread on here a couple weeks ago and both affected parties were on cruise critic. If memory serves me correctly .. the cabin ended up going back to the one who booked it first.

[travelin_nat]

There was a similar thread on here a couple weeks ago and both affected parties were on cruise critic. If memory serves me correctly .. the cabin ended up going back to the one who booked it first.

 

The person who started one of those threads is on our cruise and I don't believe they have been corrected or compensated yet.

[akcruz]

There was a similar thread on here a couple weeks ago and both affected parties were on cruise critic. If memory serves me correctly .. the cabin ended up going back to the one who booked it first.

 

Yes, but only after the second one gave it up willingly. RC asked them to move and if they had said no, the first one with the reservation would have been out of luck.

 

I think RC blundered big time on this one, but am guessing as rubrrick said, it is a revenue thing. Even with the OBC they have to give out, are probably getting more with the new booking than they did for the original. Sad, sad situation.:(

 

To all those impacted keep fighting, you are in the right!

[libertybelle41]

Being that it is a fairly easy fix makes it that much more disheartening that RC isn't doing that ASAP...and to the guy that says "just roll with it" that's all fine and dandy, but when you do your homework, know what you want and do it well in advance it should be corrected (whenever possible) and this situation is very "fixable".

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

[alexkrn46]

I am so sorry, you should get your cabin back.

[CaroleSS]

I do think that the power of the internet (blogs, etc) is on the side of the OP. He began with the right venue - CC - but needs to branch out. Post something on RCI's Facebook page....tell all the readers how totally AWFUL RCI is! Then I'd get on Twitter and tell them all about how RCI has screwed them.

 

One of those will certainly get someone's attention. If it is a revenue question, RCI will go into containment mode really quickly as lots of RCI customers/potential customers will see what RCI did and how they handle the problem. It would certainly make ME re-think a booking.

 

Use the social media to your advantage!!!

[wwcruisers]

I totally agree! We love our aft cabins to the point that we always have them put "do not upgrade" in the notes field of our reservations -- not that it would have made any difference in this case.

I'm sure that when RC opened this cruise for reservations, they already knew that the scheduled dry-dock would change the numbering for some cabins. So, why didn't RC warn customers of this at the time of their booking? :confused:

OP -- I hope RC steps up and does something to make this right for you, and all the other folks who lost their precious aft cabins!

[desertpilot]

To anyone who did not already know, RCI has what would seem to be an "official" response to the folks affected by this. The response is:

 

- Explain the situation to the party that booked after the layout changes (the person that shouldn't have been able to book there). Offer them $200 OBC to move to another cabin.

- If they move, great, everybody's happy.

- If they don't move (which is very likely given the low amount of compensation), they are not forced to move, and the $200 OBC is instead given to the party that got bumped without any additional recourse.

 

Almost no one is moving from the more premium cabins, which pretty much validates that the paltry $200 OBC is not enough to make folks feel whole about this (makes sense considering the cabins are $4k-6k...the credit should have been at least 10-20% of the booking!). And there are no incentives offered for a future cruise either, no reason for us to ever sail with RCI again. They don't seem to care, basically they just want us to go away.

 

So:

 

- we need to keep fighting this for public exposure, as has been said numerous times

- if you haven't been offered the $200 OBC, you can email me at fly4aday AT yahoo and I'll get you the contact info for the lady at RCI customer service that "helped" me, she is familiar with the situation and should be able to get you your cruddy compensation. Or I can just post it here, not sure if that's allowed.

[marci22]

I think that what it comes down to is that there are relatively too few people affected to be able to put any pressure on RC. It's much easier for them to ignore those affected.

[seaofwonder]

What about all the cabins that were originally 3 person cabins and are now 2 person? We had a 3 person with the intent of possibly adding someone at a later date. The person asked and now our cabin is a 2 person :-( We're hoping maybe something will open up after final payment....but we booked this particular side of the ship and location over a year ago!

[orville99]

Just out of curiosity, what happened to those passengers whose cabin numbers (originally all JS) became SOV balcony cabin numbers after the re-fit? Were they involuntarily downgraded or were they moved to available JS? It would seem that the answer to this would be very useful to those who lost their afts in the same shift. If RCI knew enough to preserve the JS for those whose cabin numbers were downgraded, then they have no legitimate excuse for not recognizing the impact on the remaining JS cabins.

[desertpilot]

I think that what it comes down to is that there are relatively too few people affected to be able to put any pressure on RC. It's much easier for them to ignore those affected.

 

I think this sort of mentality will lose us the battle. The internet is a powerful thing; on the consumerist.com I've seen cases where single person wronged by a company won their battle because the wrongful doing threatened the reputation of the company.

 

And sure, there's a small number of folks affected, but that's all the more reason that RCI should pony up and fix this.

[travelin_nat]

I think that what it comes down to is that there are relatively too few people affected to be able to put any pressure on RC. It's much easier for them to ignore those affected.

 

Completely agree. In the grand scheme of things, it's only a "few" people, and even fewer who follow these threads. Very unfortunate because I think it shows a lack of integrity on their part. It's a little disappointing since I thought they did a much better job (at least for us) of taking care of people caught up in the fiasco (storm) of the 10/9 sailing of the Freedom last year. Can't tell you how many people I have told about how fair they were with their customers. This will make me not want to recommend them any more. Like many have said, it all boils down to money.

 

Keeping my fingers crossed for all impacted.

[marci22]

I think this sort of mentality will lose us the battle. The internet is a powerful thing; on the consumerist.com I've seen cases where single person wronged by a company won their battle because the wrongful doing threatened the reputation of the company.

 

And sure, there's a small number of folks affected, but that's all the more reason that RCI should pony up and fix this.

 

Well I didn't say you shouldn't try. Logistically, you're dealing with people on one ship, who booked aft cabins, who got them wrongly changed, who are on cruise critic. What is that, like 5 people?

[johneeo]

This is so incredibly stupid it makes no sense.

 

I am curious as to why they would change room numbers.

 

Did they also change the deck numbers, deck one is now top?

[desertpilot]

Well I didn't say you shouldn't try. Logistically, you're dealing with people on one ship, who booked aft cabins, who got them wrongly changed, who are on cruise critic. What is that, like 5 people?

 

I think across 3-4 threads we've seen at least a dozen folks hit by this that haven't gotten their cabins back. And that's just on CC...I honestly think that there are tons of similar battles going on directly with RCI with folks that aren't on CC.

 

I think there are at least 7 aft cabins including the corners...multiply that by all the sailings for the year and I'd say the number affected is in the hundreds. So I guess when I said what I did, I wasn't thinking about just the CC folks, but rather anyone that didn't get treated fairly.

[critterchick]

I think across 3-4 threads we've seen at least a dozen folks hit by this that haven't gotten their cabins back. And that's just on CC...I honestly think that there are tons of similar battles going on directly with RCI with folks that aren't on CC.

 

I think there are at least 7 aft cabins including the corners...multiply that by all the sailings for the year and I'd say the number affected is in the hundreds. So I guess when I said what I did, I wasn't thinking about just the CC folks, but rather anyone that didn't get treated fairly.

 

And I wonder how many passengers don't know that they've been relocated and won't discover it until they board?

[loubetti]

Welcome to "corporate America". MBA graduates who have not a clue and could probably not care less about the customer. It's all about the money.

 

Let's see how they resolve this.

[nyyhoneybee]

This makes me not want to book any ship that is scheduled for a dry dock either between the time I book and a sailing.

 

Sad.

[travelin_nat]

I don't think this is limited to one ship, either. I thought one of the posters had the same problem on another ship (maybe Serenade or Splendor?), and I believe RCI has other ships scheduled for revitalization. So any ship that has rooms added as part of the process will encounter the same problems. This may be just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. ;)

[marci22]

I think across 3-4 threads we've seen at least a dozen folks hit by this that haven't gotten their cabins back. And that's just on CC...I honestly think that there are tons of similar battles going on directly with RCI with folks that aren't on CC.

 

I think there are at least 7 aft cabins including the corners...multiply that by all the sailings for the year and I'd say the number affected is in the hundreds. So I guess when I said what I did, I wasn't thinking about just the CC folks, but rather anyone that didn't get treated fairly.

 

Best thing to do is keep your complaint thread on page 1 and hope other people (who are unaware) notice. Royal seems to (reluctantly) take action when it appears a complaint isn't going away.

[CaroleSS]

I will say it one more time (with emphasis) then I will be quiet.

 

CC is NOT the only place to complain. Many roll calls are moving over to the cruiseline's facebook page! Complaining on facebook and twitter will reach more people than you think!!!

 

I've not heard too many stories about a cruiseline calling someone because of a complaint on CC, but I know for a fact that they will call almost immediately after having a negative post on twitter (I know of this personally!!)

 

Businesses don't want their name smeared in public....and it doesn't get any more public than facebook and twitter!!!

[marci22]

Businesses don't want their name smeared in public....and it doesn't get any more public than facebook and twitter!!!

 

That's true; I don't post on either so I don't think of them first. I have also heard of complaints being deleted on FB. At least here, they won't delete your complaints.

[Hunwolf]

I have to say...if I was in the position of feeling as if I took someone's cabin (or cabin position) I would relocate and take the compensation. The person who booked it first (even if the number changed) deserves to have it.

 

Again, just my humble opinion