Disappointed with RCCL

[m*u*g*]

Should have read pull out chair bed. We had a JS with a sofa bed and it WAS a sofa bed. Nice I might add. But not in an accesible room.

Edited May 13, 2013 by m*u*g*

[ryano]

I hope this works.

 

Here should be a picture of what we were told was a full size sofa bed by RCCL rep. On deck plans this is described as a pull out SOFA bed

 

 

 

That is HORRIBLE! :eek: That piece of junk shouldnt have even been on the Monarch! MUCH LESS one of their newest and most expensive ships!

 

I agree with Merion Mom. I hight doubt that could be given away on Craigslist!

[Ourusualbeach]

So very sorry that this happened to you. I am now a bit concerned as our family of 4 always travels in one room. Just wondering what other ships these chairs might be on.

[Aquahound]

I have nothing of value to add to this thread other than to say, op, your complaint has a lot of merit. For as long as I can remember, RCI has always seemed to use general descriptions that, in many cases, aren't ship specific. They can't even get photographs right. I can't tell you how many times I've seen post cards or brochure photos that say one ship but show another.

 

That chair bed doesn't look comfortable at all.

[Cruising89143]

I would have to ask Adam Goldstein or Richard Fain if they would sleep on that piece of garbage for seven nights. Totally ridiculous that they would place something like that in a stateroom.

[UCF_Knight]

That chair bed somehow looks even worse than the one I slept on for 3 nights each time in the hospital after the birth of my kids. And I wouldn't wish that thing on my worst enemy.

Edited May 13, 2013 by UCF_Knight

[Desert Cruizers]

I have never seen a chair like that, it looks horrible to sleep on.

[Paul65]

Well...I don't quite share the horror of some at seeing that picture. I've slept on much worse than that in my day (and I'm 6"3" tall).

 

Still, your complaint is valid. If that's what is available in the accessible cabins, they should communicate it as something different than a true sofa bed. Sorry that you had this trouble.

[ryano]

I've slept on much worse than that in my day (and I'm 6"3" tall).

 

 

So have I but not on one of the worlds largest and most expensive cruise ships :p

[Paul65]

So have I but not on one of the worlds largest and most expensive cruise ships :p

 

Well, the pull-out sofas look very similar, when they're pulled out, but no bedding has been put on them. But they are considerably wider, and our son is the one who has to sleep on it. ;)

[TrikeRider]

This is sad. I am in this exact room in two weeks. I am disabled but my full grown son will be sleeping on that, or if there is a pullman, maybe that would better. Very disappointing to pay for someone to sleep on that chair.

[funfamilyof6]

This is sad. I am in this exact room in two weeks. I am disabled but my full grown son will be sleeping on that, or if there is a pullman, maybe that would better. Very disappointing to pay for someone to sleep on that chair.

 

If you have the same exact room, there should be a pullman. I will tell you that none of my kids (17, 16, 14, 10) will sleep in a sofabed, but they ALL love the pullmans and tell me that they feel like regular beds!!

[broberts]

May I ask how would the RCI rep know that there was no sofa bed in that particular cabin that the OP wanted, when the planning guide she had in front of her said that there was one??:eek: The rep was in an office not on the ship.

 

If not the RCI rep then who? One can hardly expect a consumer to know more than a company representative. The company provides no other more accurate investigative resources for consumers.

 

Describing what was pictured above as a "pull out sofa" is wrong and misleading. What makes it worse is that the consumer only discovers this misrepresentation upon boarding. It has been my personal experience that the ship staff are incapable or unwilling to do anything to ameliorate the situation. Apparently ships do not carry spare pull out sofas and I've never known a ship that did not claim full occupancy upon sailing.

 

While my experience was not in an accessible cabin I too encountered one of these "pull out sofa" chairs. I wish I could remember the ship, it was many years ago. I do remember that it was as uncomfortable as it looks.

[Donut23]

These single chair sleepers are all the rage at the new suites and DVC at Walt Disney World. You can read some if the Kool Aid drinkers RAVE about them. Oh yea, these are the same people who justify a $90 p/day park admission as ....... Poor little Disney has to make $$$$$. Don't get me started because I am momentarily blinded by my DH's good healthcare as an ABC employee. I can snap back to reality with Disney mighty fast.

 

Back to the chair bed.......

 

We had one in our 2 bR DVC at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Curious, I opened it one evening. The way I sleep, I would give myself 30 minutes max before I landed on the floor. Unsatisfactory.

[cruisenfever]

If not the RCI rep then who? One can hardly expect a consumer to know more than a company representative. The company provides no other more accurate investigative resources for consumers.

 

Describing what was pictured above as a "pull out sofa" is wrong and misleading. What makes it worse is that the consumer only discovers this misrepresentation upon boarding. It has been my personal experience that the ship staff are incapable or unwilling to do anything to ameliorate the situation. Apparently ships do not carry spare pull out sofas and I've never known a ship that did not claim full occupancy upon sailing.

 

While my experience was not in an accessible cabin I too encountered one of these "pull out sofa" chairs. I wish I could remember the ship, it was many years ago. I do remember that it was as uncomfortable as it looks.

Did the RCI rep that handled the OP's resevation personally collect the information about each cabin prior to the planner going to print? I'll bet that Adam Goldstein doesn't even know what is included in each and every cabin category.

 

The Rep only described to the OP what was written in the Agent's Planner....this is her guide, the same guide that is used by Loyalty Ambassadors and Travel Agents when booking cruises for guests/clients.

 

I suppose had the OP gone to a TA and gotten the same information, it would have been the TA's fault for not giving correct information.:rolleyes:

[laurac22]

This is sad. I am in this exact room in two weeks. I am disabled but my full grown son will be sleeping on that, or if there is a pullman, maybe that would better. Very disappointing to pay for someone to sleep on that chair.

Trikerider, I am so excited for you to be getting to go on this cruise. Although you have this cabin, our circumstances I'm sure are different than yours. As funfamily pointed out, You will have a pullman bed and I feel your son will be just fine with that. I am sorry if you were mislead in any way like we were. That is precisely the reason I decided to post our experience, so people like you would know what you were getting and not have the shock upon arrival. PLEASE don't let our situation detour you from going and having an AMAZING time on your vacation with your family.

 

 

Best Wishes and Happy Sailing:)

[broberts]

Did the RCI rep that handled the OP's resevation personally collect the information about each cabin prior to the planner going to print? I'll bet that Adam Goldstein doesn't even know what is included in each and every cabin category.

 

The Rep only described to the OP what was written in the Agent's Planner....this is her guide, the same guide that is used by Loyalty Ambassadors and Travel Agents when booking cruises for guests/clients.

 

I suppose had the OP gone to a TA and gotten the same information, it would have been the TA's fault for not giving correct information.:rolleyes:

 

The fault is clearly that of Royal Caribbean. I simply pointed out that if a consumer cannot rely on a person employed by the cruise line or paid a commission by the cruise line to represent them for the purpose of selling their product then who can the consumer count on for accurate information about the product they are buying.

 

A company cannot escape blame for misrepresenting their product simply because it is an onerous task to collect, maintain, and distribute accurate information. I do not think it at all unreasonable to expect accurate information about a product being sold from the sales representative.

 

If you bought a car from a salesperson and brochure representating that the vehicle had a six cylinder engine would you not blame the salesperson and company if you got a car with a 4 cylinder engine? And yet car companies produce vastly more cars than RCI has cabins.

[ryano]

 

If you bought a car from a salesperson and brochure representating that the vehicle had a six cylinder engine would you not blame the salesperson and company if you got a car with a 4 cylinder engine? And yet car companies produce vastly more cars than RCI has cabins.

 

 

You dont purchase a car "sight unseen" like you purchase a cabin on a cruise ship though.

 

 

As far as expecting accurate information from a RCI customer service rep goes, thats pretty funny. Yeah for sure you can expect it but getting it is totally different. I mean afterall, we are talking about a company that if you call and get one answer from one person, you can call back and get a totally different answer from a totally different person. RCI is a company that is well known for being inconsistent at being consistent.

 

 

I trust the information and answers from the likes of crusenfever, clarea and other very well seasoned RCI cruisers here over most any CVP that Royal Caribbean employees.

Edited May 13, 2013 by ryano

[cruisenfever]

The fault is clearly that of Royal Caribbean. I simply pointed out that if a consumer cannot rely on a person employed by the cruise line or paid a commission by the cruise line to represent them for the purpose of selling their product then who can the consumer count on for accurate information about the product they are buying.

 

A company cannot escape blame for misrepresenting their product simply because it is an onerous task to collect, maintain, and distribute accurate information. I do not think it at all unreasonable to expect accurate information about a product being sold from the sales representative.

 

If you bought a car from a salesperson and brochure representating that the vehicle had a six cylinder engine would you not blame the salesperson and company if you got a car with a 4 cylinder engine? And yet car companies produce vastly more cars than RCI has cabins.

You are correct in that we should expect correct information. But, it's not the reps fault. She was just reading from the "copy" that was given to her. I can't imagine that every TA, LA or CVP knows what is available in every single cabin on every ship in the fleet.

 

Let's say you book a hotel in San Diego, California from your home in Canada by calling the toll free number for that particular hotel. When you get to the hotel, the room you booked really doesn't fit the description that was given on the website. Who's fault is that? Certainly not the person that made your booking who was probably located on the East Coast.

[PH8]

WOW!! This is in the category of "you have to be kidding!!"......:eek::eek::eek:

 

I would sincerely and expect RCCL to do more for you than the 25% FCC...

 

Hope you hear soon..

[StarSong]

Sorry - duplicate post.

Edited May 13, 2013 by StarSong

[laurac22]

You are correct in that we should expect correct information. But, it's not the reps fault. She was just reading from the "copy" that was given to her. I can't imagine that every TA, LA or CVP knows what is available in every single cabin on every ship in the fleet.

 

Let's say you book a hotel in San Diego, California from your home in Canada by calling the toll free number for that particular hotel. When you get to the hotel, the room you booked really doesn't fit the description that was given on the website. Who's fault is that? Certainly not the person that made your booking who was probably located on the East Coast.

In our case I solely blame RCCL. Yes it would be nice if every employee knew every detail of every ship and how it all worked. I'm just not sure if that is possible. What I do know is possible is to have accurate information for your employees to work from. I dealt with four people that had access to deck plans three of which were RCCL employees and one TA. All of which stated that the deck plans were confusing some even stating misleading.

 

I am angry because RCCL was well aware that there were problems with their plans dating as far back as 2009, and nothing was done to fix it.

 

Someone mentioned on here that it was only 22 accessible cabins that have this chair. I'm sure most people sail just fine with the setup of this cabin. I have to wonder if it just wasn't worth it to RCCL to correct it for the few it might inconvenience? Please tell me RCCL is not the case. That would be very upsetting.

[StarSong]

As I read this thread one question keeps rolling through my head: Why wouldn't a ship of that size have rollaway beds or similar temporary accommodations available for just this kind of passenger emergency? Most private houses have some sort of emergency beds for guests who unexpectedly need to stay for the night - why wouldn't a cruise ship with 6,000 weekly passengers (plus crew) prepare at least equally well? :confused:

 

As for that couch-bed, I'd sooner sleep on the floor on a bed fashioned out of bedspreads, pillows and comforters (though the OP obviously didn't have that choice given her son's situation).

 

What a bummer, OP. One can only imagine your anger and frustration.

[laurac22]

Sorry - duplicate post.

I just want to make clear, that our wonderful cabin steward did bring in a rollaway and attached it beside the "chair"bed then brought in a mattress and bedding to make like a double bed so my son could not roll off. The rollaway was against the wall and was lower, so he kind of slept in a hole. The problem we had after that was, it took up the entire space where a sofa would be pulled in and out, but was not able to be put away during the day. We then lost room for my son to maneuver around in his chair. We also lost seating and had to sit on the beds to eat or watch Tv, although that was a minor inconvenience, still not what I paid for.

[Paul65]

As I read this thread one question keeps rolling through my head: Why wouldn't a ship of that size have rollaway beds or similar temporary accommodations available for just this kind of passenger emergency? Most private houses have some sort of emergency beds for guests who unexpectedly need to stay for the night - why wouldn't a cruise ship with 6,000 weekly passengers (plus crew) prepare at least equally well? :confused:

 

As for that couch-bed, I'd sooner sleep on the floor on a bed fashioned out of bedspreads, pillows and comforters (though the OP obviously didn't have that choice given her son's situation).

 

What a bummer, OP. One can only imagine your anger and frustration.

 

I don't see how a roll-away would have been any better than the chair-bed. Typical roll-aways are similarly sized and probably less comfortable.

 

What RCI needs to do is come up with a different name for this type of bed to distinguish it from a traditional sofa bed. Even if they called it a mini-sofa bed, that would at least let those who see it on the deck plan know that it is something different.

 

EDIT: Just saw the OP's response. I guess they actually did bring in a roll-away and used the chair-bed as a barrier. So, at least they had something workable, if not ideal. Keep pushing on them to make their description more clear, though, as you shouldn't have had to go through this hassle. You should have known what you were getting, when you booked it.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Paul65