Royal Kicked Us Off!!!

[bbbearden]

RCI had so many opportunities to do just that, and failed miserably.

 

 

You are right, but I am holding out hope. They have such a good product, but often seem slow to correct issues in a timely way until it bites them in the back side. They really should be more proactive in addressing these issues. It seems like ultimately they often do the right thing after they have endured lots of negative publicity, seems like it would be better to fix the issue before they received a public black eye.

[waterbug123]

Hi

 

I just wanted to let you know I just called RCI and here was I was told regarding my situation.

 

Since I am the parent of two of the children and I am taking two children who aren't my children I will be fine. If I were taking one more child with me that wasn't mine.. then we'd have a problem. So in my case I'm fine.

 

 

You are aware, aren't you, that people are frequently told one thing by a RC phone rep, only to be told something different at the time of the cruise?

[pabrett46]

I am aware.. but there isn't much I can do about it other than take her at her word.

 

:(

[slyster]

I wonder if you can get something in writing. If it's policy, it should be written somewhere. I have also experienced problems with customer service (not just RCCL but any kind), where they tell me something, I follow up with another agent, and they have no record of any discussion. It's like repeating myself over and over again. Now, I request that the agent put the notes in while I'm on the phone and if I'm really ticked off, I ask them to repeat what they put in the notes. I can't tell you how many times a customer service agent tells me "the agent is supposed to document the call". yeesh...

 

Also, document the name of the person you spoke with. Even if there isn't anything RC can do with a specific booking, at least you have documentation on your side and can ask for more compensation, otherwise, it's your word versus their word.

[bbbearden]

I wonder if you can get something in writing. If it's policy, it should be written somewhere. I have also experienced problems with customer service (not just RCCL but any kind), where they tell me something, I follow up with another agent, and they have no record of any discussion. It's like repeating myself over and over again. Now, I request that the agent put the notes in while I'm on the phone and if I'm really ticked off, I ask them to repeat what they put in the notes. I can't tell you how many times a customer service agent tells me "the agent is supposed to document the call". yeesh...

 

Also, document the name of the person you spoke with. Even if there isn't anything RC can do with a specific booking, at least you have documentation on your side and can ask for more compensation, otherwise, it's your word versus their word.

 

I have never had a service issue with the cruise lines, but recently had a major issue with a well known home appliance company and recorded the calls. Those came in handy when I finally called thier executive offices.

[pabrett46]

I wrote an email to them.. so hopefully they will reply in writing. It would make me feel much better as well.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[marci22]

You are aware, aren't you, that people are frequently told one thing by a RC phone rep, only to be told something different at the time of the cruise?

 

That's the problem, and it's scary. There is no reason why anything has to be 'confusing', even sometimes! They should write it down, clearly, and post it where it can easily be found. What is so difficult about this? :confused:

[marci22]

She did tell me they were closely monitoring this thread. I said.. well it worrisome. I don't want to be denied boarding. She said yes.. the minority policy is confusing sometimes.

 

Monitor this: why aren't things written down where people can read them?

 

Why can't we search 'travelling with minors' on the website, and see: adults travelling with minors who are not related to them are limited to 2 minors per adult 21 or over, per cabin!

 

It's not rocket science.

 

Why do we have to call 12 people, get 13 different answers, and then hope for the best?

[pabrett46]

Monitor this: why aren't things written down where people can read them?

 

Why can't we search 'travelling with minors' on the website, and see: adults travelling with minors who are not related to them are limited to 2 minors per adult 21 or over, per cabin!

 

It's not rocket science.

 

Why do we have to call 12 people, get 13 different answers, and then hope for the best?

 

I agree... it should be clearly posted somewhere. She said the minority policy is quite confusing. Well yes.. more confusing for those of us that can't read it anywhere. Anyway I just hope they respond.

 

Debbie

[wreckem2013]

....

[musik07]

My daughter and boyfriend (both 21) had tried to book a cruise. We were told by the travel agent the majority of cruise lines will not allow someone under the age of 25 to be alone in a room. So in order for the two of them to go on a cruise, they would have to someone over the age of 25 to room with them. I wonder if this came into play. Since it sounds like the girls are in their own room.

 

The should be able to go on Carnival. I just sailed the Glory (I am 23) with my best friend (21) last week and there were no questions asked. I have pretty much cruised Royal, and my parents have settled into cruising only Royal for the last 6 or so years so this was a change for me. But it was the right price, location and times! Reading all of this I would have been a bit wary about Royal! Although according to the policy since we are both 21 it shouldn't have been an issue!

[Big_G]

This thread lasted four times longer than the OP's cruise and there's not much difference between the first and last page.:eek::D

[BonTXNY]

This thread lasted four times longer than the OP's cruise and there's not much difference between the first and last page.:eek::D

 

Post #362 makes it even longer :rolleyes:

[Ocean Boy]

This thread lasted four times longer than the OP's cruise and there's not much difference between the first and last page.:eek::D

 

That just means that we who post at C.C. and much more consistant than RCI's customer service reps are.;)

[Cruisin Kay D]

Yes, this thread has GONE ON FOR A WHILE (and I am grateful for the support from so many of the posters.) The REASON this thread has gone on + on (with over 360 replies and over 50,000 views) is that the TOPIC is of GREAT INTEREST to all of us cruisers, who want to share the experience with our children, friends, grandchildren, etc. AND also an upsetting episode for all of you who have future booked cruises involving minors -- not one of you wants to experience what I experienced 5 days before boarding nor being turned away at embarkation!!!!

 

Cruising is such a good vacation and such a good value!!! Cruise lines should be putting out the "welcome mat" for new cruisers AND do good things to "keep the old". As my son stated earlier on this thread, my husband + I were bringing 5 young ladies, 4 of whom PLUS their entire families had NEVER been on Royal Caribbean (although all of them had been on other cruise lines)!!! I know those girls' families have a VERY "bad taste" concerning RC after this episode, and most are unlikely to book a Royal Carib cruise in the future!!!!

 

ANOTHER INTERESTING POINT: I told the Exec Office that my husband + I have paid for 34 bookings on total of 4 RC cruises & 2 Celeb cruises, taking adult children & grandchildren -- 1 cruise 16 family members + 1 cruise 8 family members + 1 cruise 6 family members + 3 cruises for just the 2 of us.

Those 34 bookings equate to 17 cruises for just 2 people, which on RC would make us rather high status (On Princess our 18 cruises for just the 2 of us makes us Elite, their top status)!!!

I don't think my limited cruise history with RC Corp is anything to be treated the way I have been treated. Still nothing beyond full refund -- only a possible undefined amount of onboard credit if we should book a future RC cruise if we contact the Exec Office of RC.... Guess they figure I am not likely to book in future, and frankly I may not....

 

You say, why would we not take grandkids on Princess -- we would but their balcony cabin size+layout are just not designed well for groups of 3 or 4, and they have so few connecting cabins!!!

[Aquahound]

That just means that we who post at C.C. and much more consistant than RCI's customer service reps are.;)

 

LOL....True! :D

[bajathree]

Yes, this thread has GONE ON FOR A WHILE (and I am grateful for the support from so many of the posters.) The REASON this thread has gone on + on (with over 360 replies and over 50,000 views) is that the TOPIC is of GREAT INTEREST to all of us cruisers, who want to share the experience with our children, friends, grandchildren, etc. AND also an upsetting episode for all of you who have future booked cruises involving minors -- not one of you wants to experience what I experienced 5 days before boarding nor being turned away at embarkation!!!!

 

Cruising is such a good vacation and such a good value!!! Cruise lines should be putting out the "welcome mat" for new cruisers AND do good things to "keep the old". As my son stated earlier on this thread, my husband + I were bringing 5 young ladies, 4 of whom PLUS their entire families had NEVER been on Royal Caribbean (although all of them had been on other cruise lines)!!! I know those girls' families have a VERY "bad taste" concerning RC after this episode, and most are unlikely to book a Royal Carib cruise in the future!!!!

 

ANOTHER INTERESTING POINT: I told the Exec Office that my husband + I have paid for 34 bookings on total of 4 RC cruises & 2 Celeb cruises, taking adult children & grandchildren -- 1 cruise 16 family members + 1 cruise 8 family members + 1 cruise 6 family members + 3 cruises for just the 2 of us.

Those 34 bookings equate to 17 cruises for just 2 people, which on RC would make us rather high status (On Princess our 18 cruises for just the 2 of us makes us Elite, their top status)!!!

I don't think my limited cruise history with RC Corp is anything to be treated the way I have been treated. Still nothing beyond full refund -- only a possible undefined amount of onboard credit if we should book a future RC cruise if we contact the Exec Office of RC.... Guess they figure I am not likely to book in future, and frankly I may not....

 

You say, why would we not take grandkids on Princess -- we would but their balcony cabin size+layout are just not designed well for groups of 3 or 4, and they have so few connecting cabins!!!

 

 

The reason this thread goes on and on is because you wouldn't let it die....you keep bringing back up as soon as it disappears.

[Robinhill]

Background -- DH + I have been on 31 cruises on various lines since 1991 -- we have taken our older group of 4 grandchildren on a cruise without their parents, and we have taken the whole group of 6 grandchildren again without parents on 3 cruises (1 RC, 1 Carnival, 1 Holland, 1 Celebrity). We find that young people like being treated like adults, eating 4 course meals, dressing for dinner, going to shows. So when granddaughter & 4 girl friends graduating from HS wanted a special graduation trip, we decided to take them on a 4 nt Monarch starting 5/21 (less than a week away!) But today sadly it all fell apart, and I am NOT happy with RC and their whole handling of this!!

 

Today I call into RC for my "weekly" question (today it had to do with parents depositing money with ship for their daughter's onboard account) -- and after I get my answer, the guy says "hold on I have to talk to someone about something in your reservation". So I sit & sit wondering what's the problem -- he comes back and says still working on it and I am put back on hold.

Then finally a woman comes on -- she is titled a "reservation resolution specialist"-- (hmmm do we have a problem here?) she says we will not be allowed to board -- what, I say; why, I say!! She says we don't meet their policy for bringing minors -- I say, now 6 days before the cruise you tell me this? -- I ask angrily why the original booking repr even tok my booking if it didn't meet policy, because I told the booking repr in specific terms that DH + I are taking granddaughter & 4 girl friends and gave their birthdates. The "specialist" now says, "no, you did not speak to RC -- it says here you made the booking online and didn't use a repr". I say even angrier, NO I definitely did not book "online" -- I called in and in fact tried to give it to my TA but the booking repr wouldn't let me do that -- I had a "booking hold" for 1 day + made it official next day. The booking man that day I gave the credit card # even said I had to have DH+me in the middle room, cause our walls had to physically adjoin both the girls' rooms. He also told me to get permission slips made out by parents giving us temporary guardianship, signed + notarized concerning all 5 18+19 yr old ladies! I have that but "specialist" says "no, that's no good, you would have to be court-ordered legal guardians forever of these young women!" I ask, can the parents call in and give you verbal permission that we are responsible for these young women?? She says, "no, that's no good either!" So she says, you can to the pier on Monday, but they will deny you boarding -- so I ask, if this is the case, when were you going to call me about this -- well she said, they weren't...

In 31 cruises, of which 4 were where we took 4-6 grandkids and 1 of those on RC, I have never experienced anything like today. Well folks I was in tears, and "specialist" says "we can refund your money" like she was doing me a big fat favor giving me my money back for a cruise they let me book and now are kicking us off of....

What is going on with RC I asked -- this was not the policy in past -- yes she says it is a somewhat recent policy change -- I ask, is it because of the recent "Inside Edition" expose of horrible drinking over spring break on Freedom??? The response was "Oh that has nothing to do with it" but I am SURE it does. So do you want your money back, she asks me at least 3 times. Never did she offer any solution...like adding another adult or 2, getting another cabin, etc.....

So I ask for detailed explanation for this denial of boarding in an email and the policy she sent is alot of double talk. Had to call back to get the specific amount of money being returned to me because I dont want to have to wait til the credit card bill comes through to see if they really gave it all back to me!!!

Tonight I sent an email to my friend and favorite TA that I have used for over 10 years (who RC said I could not use) and I am going to inform her of RC's whole attitude -- she knew from the beginning too what I was trying to book...

Can you just imagine what DH + I + 5 young ladies would have said if we had driven all the way from Tennessee to Port Canavaral only to be denied boarding????

Needless to say, this has been a tremendously upsetting afternoon & evening -- now we are scrambling to find a 2 or 3 bedroom condo/house somewhere in FLA on a beach that we can take these girls to for 5 nights and doesn't cost an arm+leg!

What gets me is that there have been ample opportunities for RC to call me about this booking -- I really think noone cared -- I think their booking people are so incompetant -- I think someone booked it just to get his commission -- I think it will be a long long time before I book RC again!!

So I have posted this here to and see what you all, the RC experts, have to say about this.

 

I take my grandson all of the time with just me and a letter from my daughter and son-in-law giving permission. Also- i have a friend who works at the Baltimore port checking people in and she said that all you need is the letter from the parents, notarized and his birth certificate.

[Cruisin Kay D]

bajathree -- nobody is making you read this thread!!!!

[Esmerelda]

I for one am very interested in this thread as it DOES pertain to my particular cruise group. I have HAD problems at the pier at check in because RC does not utilize their own rules at times. As I stated before it took me 5 cruises before anyone ever questioned my situation with my own children. Next year, I will have one possibly two 18 year old's that aren't mine. Yes, this thread does interest me.

 

Nuff said...

[kaykels]

This thread lasted four times longer than the OP's cruise and there's not much difference between the first and last page.:eek::D

 

There was a lot between the first page and the last page if you followed instead of criticized. The OP kept us up to date on the status of her back and forth with RCCL and we were all interested. If we weren't we wouldn't have responded and had 50,000 views!

We also wanted to know about the refund and some of us have similar situations and the outcome is important to us.

And we feel bad for the all parties involved. I'm still waiting to hear if RCCL will offer an apology or a compensation of some sort since it was clearly their fault.

BTW, if you don't like the thread, stop checking in.

 

I loved my RCCL cruises, but I am disgusted at some of the things they have done recently. They got the cruise ships right but certainly dropped the ball on decisions and customer service.

[kimber0504]

Yes, this thread has GONE ON FOR A WHILE (and I am grateful for the support from so many of the posters.) The REASON this thread has gone on + on (with over 360 replies and over 50,000 views) is that the TOPIC is of GREAT INTEREST to all of us cruisers, who want to share the experience with our children, friends, grandchildren, etc. AND also an upsetting episode for all of you who have future booked cruises involving minors -- not one of you wants to experience what I experienced 5 days before boarding nor being turned away at embarkation!!!!

 

Cruising is such a good vacation and such a good value!!! Cruise lines should be putting out the "welcome mat" for new cruisers AND do good things to "keep the old". As my son stated earlier on this thread, my husband + I were bringing 5 young ladies, 4 of whom PLUS their entire families had NEVER been on Royal Caribbean (although all of them had been on other cruise lines)!!! I know those girls' families have a VERY "bad taste" concerning RC after this episode, and most are unlikely to book a Royal Carib cruise in the future!!!!

 

ANOTHER INTERESTING POINT: I told the Exec Office that my husband + I have paid for 34 bookings on total of 4 RC cruises & 2 Celeb cruises, taking adult children & grandchildren -- 1 cruise 16 family members + 1 cruise 8 family members + 1 cruise 6 family members + 3 cruises for just the 2 of us.

Those 34 bookings equate to 17 cruises for just 2 people, which on RC would make us rather high status (On Princess our 18 cruises for just the 2 of us makes us Elite, their top status)!!!

I don't think my limited cruise history with RC Corp is anything to be treated the way I have been treated. Still nothing beyond full refund -- only a possible undefined amount of onboard credit if we should book a future RC cruise if we contact the Exec Office of RC.... Guess they figure I am not likely to book in future, and frankly I may not....

 

You say, why would we not take grandkids on Princess -- we would but their balcony cabin size+layout are just not designed well for groups of 3 or 4, and they have so few connecting cabins!!!

 

I am so sorry that you had to go through this whole fiasco from the Cruise Line for a graduation adventure! I am also extremely happy you got your entire refund! You deserved it!!! I just booked a RC cruise and now I am unsure whether or not I should go on it...I think I might switch back to Disney. I pay a little more, but they do say, "You get what you pay for" and on Disney you get quality and great experiences :D

 

You are an amazing grandmother who is willing to put up with numerous graduating seniors (I thought 1 was a lot last year :) and you are taking more than that)! Also, you stayed positive in every thread you posted which is amazing too! I would have been livid and calling Action 9 news and issuing a consumer complaint; followed of course by the BBB and Clark Howard :cool:

 

Best of luck on ALL your future travels! And just ignore the idiots who are complaining about the posts...they are not worth it! If they were not interested, they did not have to read the entire thread!

 

Kim

[crcossel]

My biggest confusion here is how and why are legal adults bring called minors??? That doesn't make any sense. This is just one more reason why the drinking age should be lowered. Adults are adults. If they can die for our country or vote in elections they should be able to make their own choices about drinking. Honestly the fact that it's illegal is THE reason they get in so much trouble with it.

[bajathree]

This thread lasted four times longer than the OP's cruise and there's not much difference between the first and last page.:eek::D

 

Seriously....not to mention that she took time away from her and her granddaughters vacation together to update this thread.....that's not Royal's fault any more....that is the OP now herself letting this continue to interfere with her personal time....time to stop blaming Royal. It's obvious that the OP has a gripe with Royal over this and just wants to keep this thread going for as long as possible to try to get back.

[rubrrick]

A couple of quick observations.....and first, Steve, are you OK? You have been a constant support of what is going on, what is right and what is not, and have been a very loyal CC member, with incredible imput, and a ton of knowledge!

 

I don't know what happened on this thread that has turned you a bit sour, or maybe it's something from outside of CC, but I worry about you....old buddy!!

 

This thread has gone on, because everyone has an interesting story of why, once they board a ship, hate the night before disembarking......love unpacking, hate packing......says something about this style of a vacation.

 

So, I said my peace pages ago........and it still stands, and I'm happy for more positives on this thread than negatives. But it's both that make Cruise Critic stand alone!

 

Rick