Anniversary ruined by Royal error

[EVALUATOR]

you expected them to hold it until you released it?

 

Did you even read the start of this thread?

[smoosh21]

The cruise price will be the same, but many TA’s offer other “perks or gifts ” such as on board credits ( can be as much as several hundred dollars) prepaid gratuities, spa treatments, specialty dining etc. Much of the time, these “gifts” are in addition to any other RCCL OBC that is allowable ( next cruise booking – savings certificate - stock ) or price reductions RCCL might offer ( C&A balcony discount). I get OBC based on a formula using the cruise price.

 

M

 

Agreed. I am getting several hundred dollars in OBC from a TA for my next cruise. I don't have a dedicated TA, though.

[skibyrd]

I wish you could name TAs as I would love to find one that gives a 25% OBC for a sailing! I have never seen that. With that kind of OBC, I may consider a TA.

[grand isle joe]

I wish you could name TAs as I would love to find one that gives a 25% OBC for a sailing! I have never seen that. With that kind of OBC, I may consider a TA.

 

 

 

 

....".ONE MILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLION DOLLARS.".......is standard fare for OBC these days isn't it?.....well at least in the stories told on these boards sometimes....;).

[KathyPet]

Forget all the upgrade stuff I am trying to understand the original reservation. You booked a reservation for this upcoming cruise while on another cruise. You were assigned a JS cabin #. I am assuming that you told the agent when you booked that their would be three people in the cabin and provided names and that your booking documentation gives the information on three people. Now you are being told that the cabin # you booked won't hold three people? Am I missing part of this puzzle?

[cruisnseas]

Ouch. Here is how I've seen this happen.

 

OP books onboard with just one name to snag the $100 deposit.

 

OP transfers booking to TA

 

TA adds two other names, never provides actual birthdates or adds the third person as an infant (cribs can fit in any room, just about)

 

Royal discovers the issue just before sailing

 

OP blames Royal. :rolleyes:

 

Royal's system will not allow three people in a room that doesn't hold three. Their system is old and jenky but this is a physical stop point. You hit enter, enter, enter and it does nothing. Someone, somewhere fudged on the ages to get that third person in there.

[KathyPet]

I do use a travel agent and I get pretty good perks. However there are professional travel agents that are associated with agencies and then there are "do it yourself" TA's that work out of their homes. I woukld never use a T/A that was not associated with a agency that provided back up assistance. I have had one occasion to need to contact my agent when she was not available and her voice mail gave me the name and # of another agent handling my agent's bookings while she was away. You should have contacted the agency and had another agent handle your upgrade purchase immediately.

[cruisnseas]

Just received email confirmation this morning that my courtesy hold has expired at 2:02 am this morning. What is the deal Royal. You make it feel like you took the cabin from my hold to give to your Pinnacle member. What a buchj of BS.

 

Oh yea, I've seen that. Revenue is infamous for "stealing" cabins from courtesy holds. Their thought is if it this close to sailing, you are already booked in another cabin, and you haven't paid for this one....they will take it if they need it. I've seen it many, many times.

[critterchick]

Just received email confirmation this morning that my courtesy hold has expired at 2:02 am this morning. What is the deal Royal. You make it feel like you took the cabin from my hold to give to your Pinnacle member. What a buchj of BS.

 

Trust me, that didn't happen. Revenue may have grabbed it, but not to give to a Pinnacle member. Those upgrades only happen 3-4 days out now, if at all.

[ahecht]

Trust me, that didn't happen. Revenue may have grabbed it, but not to give to a Pinnacle member. Those upgrades only happen 3-4 days out now, if at all.

 

Revenue doesn't do status-based upgrades, those are done by a different department. Revenue upgrades are status-agnostic

[Merion_Mom]

Revenue doesn't do status-based upgrades, those are done by a different department. Revenue upgrades are status-agnostic

 

That is basically what critterchick said. She said that it WASN'T to give it to a Pinnacle member.

[abhb]

Glad you get to go on your cruise!

[Villagemdu]

I was told by the resolutions manager that the cabin was GIVEN to a pinnacle member who was in a GS and could not be reversed as their vacated GS was given in an upgrade to someone else.

[Villagemdu]

Forget all the upgrade stuff I am trying to understand the original reservation. You booked a reservation for this upcoming cruise while on another cruise. You were assigned a JS cabin #. I am assuming that you told the agent when you booked that their would be three people in the cabin and provided names and that your booking documentation gives the information on three people. Now you are being told that the cabin # you booked won't hold three people? Am I missing part of this puzzle?

We were all setting at the loyalty desk when we booked it onboard. The agent pulled our information(C&A numbers) from the sailing we were on and populated the booking.

[oneputt18]

To answer your question, on my next b2b cruise, the OBC given to me by my TA was about 25% of the cruise price. So yes, I think a 25% reduction in price is well worth using a TA. If I initially book my room at a price I'm happy with, then that should be the last I ever talk to the TA, the day I book it. I HAVE had some price reductions show up and I did call back to get them with no issues. I have never had an issue that the TA can't take care of, but then again, I'm fairly laid back and don't have many issues with my cruises in the first place.

 

Assuming a 25% reduction in price is not a big deal to someone, I assume they wouldn't go out of their way to call RC the minute they see a price reduction. If one did, and somehow things got messed up and they weren't able to end up receiving the refund and/or upgrade, then can I also assume that they would not be upset by this?

 

TA must be inflating the rates to begin with, there isn't 25% commission on a cruise booking.

 

 

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[Villagemdu]

Glad you get to go on your cruise!

Yes, Thank you!! We are glad we are going, just do not care for all of the politics and BS we were put through due to their errors and denial of any responsibility.

[Villagemdu]

Oh yea, I've seen that. Revenue is infamous for "stealing" cabins from courtesy holds. Their thought is if it this close to sailing, you are already booked in another cabin, and you haven't paid for this one....they will take it if they need it. I've seen it many, many times.

Does the consumer have any options or recourse when something like this occurs? I called and explained the situation to the call center agent who said he could not take my money(credit card Info) due to the TA booking but would extend the hold until my TA returned from vacation. Resolutions manager said there were no notes in the booking about me trying to pay.

My question is why would the agent extend the hold in the first place if not?

[ctcruiser1721]

If wage daughter is young enough to be in a portable crib, a third will be allowed.

 

I'm on my phone right now but please refer to my post earlier this evening under the thread regarding the senior discount.

[Paulxyz2004]

This may need to be a separate thread. But, I've never understood why people use TAs with RCI. I've checked a few times and have NEVER found a better deal with a TA over the RCI website or toll-free number. Plus, the webistes and CSA at the toll-free number never go on vacation.

 

While you are right it´s a different topic and has been discussed in many many threads you might not have looked enough.

 

In all my cruises I´ve never paid the price RCI was asking for with a TA. Amounts of discounts vary, but they are out there.

[Villagemdu]

Forget all the upgrade stuff I am trying to understand the original reservation. You booked a reservation for this upcoming cruise while on another cruise. You were assigned a JS cabin #. I am assuming that you told the agent when you booked that their would be three people in the cabin and provided names and that your booking documentation gives the information on three people. Now you are being told that the cabin # you booked won't hold three people? Am I missing part of this puzzle?

No, that is pretty much it. When we booked this cruise in a JS it was because there were not any GS or OS available at the time of booking. The loyalty agent pulled all of our info from the reservation we were on and populated the info into the new booking, including our crown and anchor numbers. I still have the receipt they delivered to my cabin the next day showing all of our names, cabin number and the 300.00 deposit charged to my credit card. I transferred this reservation to my TA when I got home.

When the upgrade that I tried to purchase went South, I was told by the resolution dept during a conf call with my TA that there was a good chance I would be denied boarding due to occupancy rating of the cabin I was reserved in. This is the same cabin I originally booked in the beginning while on board. Resolutions told me the cabin I tried to purchase the upgrade for was given to a pinnacle member for an upgrade and there were several shuffles of ppl behind it preventing any further changes. We (TA and I) were told that they would contact the ship for permission of a rollaway and contact other guests who were in a cabin that had a higher occupancy rating that they were not fulfilling.

Hours later we were contacted stating they had found a couple in a JS that had a rating of 3 who were willing to switch with us. We accepted and was told all of the changes would be visible online by morning. An hour later the resolution mgr called me back directly and said that the ship had returned the earlier email and had authorized a rollaway in our original cabin, and they would be keeping us where we were. The following morning I received the confirmation email that my courtesy hold had expired, a full day later than when RCCL told us on the phone that it had expired.

That is pretty much it, other than listening to my wife stress out and cry during most of the confusion period.

[cruisegirl1]

To answer your question, on my next b2b cruise, the OBC given to me by my TA was about 25% of the cruise price. So yes, I think a 25% reduction in price is well worth using a TA. If I initially book my room at a price I'm happy with, then that should be the last I ever talk to the TA, the day I book it. I HAVE had some price reductions show up and I did call back to get them with no issues. I have never had an issue that the TA can't take care of, but then again, I'm fairly laid back and don't have many issues with my cruises in the first place.

 

Assuming a 25% reduction in price is not a big deal to someone, I assume they wouldn't go out of their way to call RC the minute they see a price reduction. If one did, and somehow things got messed up and they weren't able to end up receiving the refund and/or upgrade, then can I also assume that they would not be upset by this?

 

TA must be inflating the rates to begin with, there isn't 25% commission on a cruise booking.

 

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The TA is not generally reducing the price, but instead is offering OBC or other “gifts” for the passenger. ( Gratuities, specialty restaurant meals, spa services) The price of the cruise is not reduced, but having the OBC or a service paid in effect reduces what a passenger pays by the time a cruise is completed.

 

25% seems very high to me as it seems most TA who offer some sort of OBC use a much lower % rate.

m

[RoyalDiamond]

When I have a courtesy hold that expires, I never get the e-mail stating that it expired until about a day later. Even though the hold expires in 24-hours, the e-mail doesn't arrive for about 48-hours, strange for sure.

 

Thinking more about the entire situation, once you transferred the booking to your TA, why didn't the TA do their research on the booking and verify that everything was "in order?" A good TA would have noticed the error immediately and made corrections before the situation escalated this far. So, I wouldn't be blaming Royal entirely for the problems...the TA is just as guilty! Also, it seems like Royal saved the vacation, and not the TA. Why didn't the TA get more involved and help you avoid all of this stress?

[CruisinDawn]

Not sure where this thread ends up going since I didn't have time to read it all so sorry if it's been resolved BUT when our TA put us in a cabin we didn't fit in they upgraded us on their dime to a VERY nice suite (Princess Cruise). When Royal let us book the Freedom hump before official plans were out in a cabin we didn't fit in they too upgraded us to a JS after I refused to take the cabin they moved us to which was a very front of the ship balcony when my entire family was already on the hump. Stay calm, getting angry gets you no where! You are using a TA that needs to step up to the plate and do their job.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[Coolcruise02]

That is pretty much it, other than listening to my wife stress out and cry during most of the confusion period.

 

Glad you get to go! Now you really need a vacation! :)

[printingchick]

Royal resolutions mgr just called and said the ship emailed and stated they are adding a bed to the cabin. We get to go afterall! I need a drink I think!

 

GREAT NEWS!!!! Very happy for you! Enjoy your cruise!