Final Bill different from credit card statement

[KevinKruzer]

Pretty sure "these sainted service providers" that the prepaid tips go to have absolutely NOTHING to do the mini bar. The bar staff takes care of that.

 

I do often wonder how much RCI makes a year off erroneous charges though from people that dont pay attention or just figure its not worth it to fight the charges.

 

While it may be condoned, even encouraged by RCI corp...it is the low-level field service providers that are executing the "billing errors" and they are part of the tipping pool.

[helen haywood]

If you have teenagers or young children in your cabin, surely you can ask the contents from the minibar to be removed totally from your cabin? Its not going to help if they put them on a shelf or under the bed!

[CVU]

Last time we asked for the mini bar fridge to be emptied.Not sure if they will still do that .

Does anyone who has cruised recently asked for this to be done ?

We have it totally emptied on every cruise.

 

We want the space and are done with being charged after we get home. Also, a waste of time calling RCL to have it reversed.

Even been charged when it was emptied!:eek: Wrong cabin was charged they say..........:rolleyes:

[robanddiane]

We were charged an extra 50$ which we were told was for 2 towels. Removed after a phone call but lost out slightly due to exchange rate. The really annoying thing is the final bill was produced in the early hours of the morning and this was added later. Happened to lots of others around the same time aswell making it seem like a planned rip off

[Tucker in Texas]

 

I'm not usually cynical, but this seems to be quite the revenue stream for RC. It happens so often, and I would bet that for every person who checks their statement carefully and calls to dispute the charge, there is another who does not. $10 here or there doesn't sound like much, but multiplied by thousands of passengers...

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

I'm afraid I have to agree with the poster. It happens too often to be "mistakes." If it is noticed at all, how many people would chase a refund if it is a minor amount like under $10. Multiply $5-$10 by 5% of the passengers and that is a fair amount of change.

 

One "reasonable" explanation I can think of for the late billing is that the cabin doors are left open on disembarkation day. They get every live body they can to help turn the cabins. One crew member's job might be to strip the beds. Another's might be to clean the bathroom. In other words, multiple crew members are in and out of the room so it would be hard to pin any missing things on one person like your room steward. Anyone could duck in there and get a cold drink be it a crew member or even a passenger leaving the ship and seeing no one around. A passenger leaving the ship makes me nervous my bathrobe might disappear so I make it a point to leave it on the bed the last night before turn down with a note that I am done with it.

 

We always asked to have the contents removed. Sometimes they took the stuff to wherever they were going, other times chucked them wherever they wanted in the cabin, and once or twice said "they weren't allowed to empty it." I chalked that answer up to laziness after checking with friends to see if their mini-bar was emptied on request and found it was (lol).

 

However, on the past couple of cruises, a F&B person has come by the check the mini-bar. The first time that happened, I hadn't yet asked the room steward to do it. Around noon the first full day, there was a tap tap on the door and she told me that she was there to check the mini-bar. Rather than asking her to empty it, I said something along the lines that "As far as I'm concerned, you can take it all with you because we are not going to avail ourselves of it." She gave me no argument and did so. It had to make her job easier because that was one less cabin to check every day. The second time, I left a note on the mini-bar door asking that it be emptied and it was.

 

Tucker in Texas

[maureencruiser]

Has anyone ever been undercharged?

Has anyone ever actually used the mini bar?

Yes, I used 1 bottle of water on my HAL cruise and was not charged. When I heard my neighbor complaining that he was charged, I told steward to charge me for 2 bottles of water.

[Desert Cruizers]

First thing we do is ask our room steward to empy the mini bar. My husbands saves all the receipts and 1/2 way thru the cruise he begins checking all charges against our receipts and again the final evening.

[snownyet]

if the cruiseline was to give a hard time about removing the charges, why not just dispute it with the credit card company?

[wwcruisers]

A few years ago on Radiance, we had our steward empty the mini-bar on day one, since we never use any of the items in it. We also always carefully check ALL the charges on our final statement. Sure enough, we got home and received a credit card charge for a bottle of Perrier from the mini-bar! Since we didn't drink it, the only possibility is that someone took it, before or after our steward emptied the fridge. And yes, we were able to have the charge removed, when we called about it. But, just because they empty the mini-bar doesn't necessarily mean you won't be charged for something in it. :mad:

[parrotfeathers]

I was charged an extra $10 also and never used the mini bar. Just let it go for some reason.

[JetlaggedTraveler]

if the cruiseline was to give a hard time about removing the charges, why not just dispute it with the credit card company?

 

I've always just disputed the amounts with my credit card company, never even thought of contacting Royal Caribbean. There is usually an online form to fill out and most have never asked for a copy of the final bill.

[ChristianDecker]

We always do not put a credit card on file for this and other reasons. You get an initial credit (I think 200 or 500 ?). Meanwhile we cash in. On a daily basis we check our balance, as it happend that we go charged for someone else's bar bill (was kind of a pain and they only accepted to remove it once we asked them to show us my signature on the bill which they were not able to).

 

When leaving the ship we then balance by cash and/or get the remaining in cash.

We had 2-3 times upon leaving the hazzle that something was not correct and we were able to clarify while still being on board with the staff itself.

 

PS Other reason for us doing cash is, being German, we have foreign currency exchange credit card fees, which we try to avoid. We have a credit card (DKB bank) that allows us to get money from any ATM without any charge and the exchange rate they apply is the 100% accurate medium rate = fair rate. Even it the ATM charges a fee, we can always simply get it back from DKB ...

Plus I like tipping on board in cash vs. via card, because with cash I'm sure the person I tip, really gets it ;-)

[joe6666]

A few years ago on Radiance, we had our steward empty the mini-bar on day one, since we never use any of the items in it. We also always carefully check ALL the charges on our final statement. Sure enough, we got home and received a credit card charge for a bottle of Perrier from the mini-bar! Since we didn't drink it, the only possibility is that someone took it, before or after our steward emptied the fridge. And yes, we were able to have the charge removed, when we called about it. But, just because they empty the mini-bar doesn't necessarily mean you won't be charged for something in it. :mad:

 

You think that's the "only possibility".

 

How about the possibility that your room steward or the guy that checks the mini bar, attempted to defraud you?

 

Yes...The nice little guy who brings towel animals and talks about his home.....is a crook.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Just off the Enchantment on Monday. Still awaiting the charges to appear online (my debit card). I'd almost bet the amount won't be the same. We did not use any of the minibar items.

 

Tom

[cruisenfever]

We have it totally emptied on every cruise.

 

We want the space and are done with being charged after we get home. Also, a waste of time calling RCL to have it reversed.

Even been charged when it was emptied!:eek: Wrong cabin was charged they say..........:rolleyes:

Dayle, we've had this happen on occasion when the final SeaPass bill had a charge in question. Instead of standing in long lines at Guest Relations, I just call the Post Cruise number when we get home, 1-800-256-6649, have my SeaPass card in hand with Folio Number and have had no problem having the erroneous charge removed.

[P&C4/16/67]

I've always just disputed the amounts with my credit card company, never even thought of contacting Royal Caribbean. There is usually an online form to fill out and most have never asked for a copy of the final bill.

 

When a charge is disputed, the merchant is charged a fee. Use to be $25 (AMEX), don't know what it is now. They tell you to try to resolve disputes with the merchant before disputing. As you can see here, when people call, they remove the charges, so why automatically dispute? Yes, we had it happen to us too and got it removed. Phone call either way.

[lyban]

Can someone explain to me because I am going on my first cruise.

 

If I just go into a bar and order a beer, is my seapass just swiped or do I actually get a paper bill and sign something that I can keep.

[cruisenfever]

Can someone explain to me because I am going on my first cruise.

 

If I just go into a bar and order a beer, is my seapass just swiped or do I actually get a paper bill and sign something that I can keep.

Any transaction that occurs while on board where your SeaPass card is swiped will result in you having to sign and then receiving a copy for your records.

[lyban]

Patti and Jim,

 

Thanks for that quick reply.

[cruisenfever]

Patti and Jim,

 

Thanks for that quick reply.

You're welcome.:) Hope this is the start to many more cruises.

[Mom.to.2]

Oh my, I feel like the biggest sucker. I have to admit that although I check my final statement prior to disembarkation, I have never compared it to my credit card bill. I wonder if I've over paid on prior cruises. :confused::mad:

 

I too ask for our mini-bar to be emptied on day 1. A sticky note attached to the frig seems to work just fine.

 

Thank you for the head's up. I will certainly be more aware for our next cruise and compare our final sea pass statement to my credit card bill.

[canadiancruiser13]

It would a lot easier if the mini bar fridge was kept empty, as the cruise line(s) allow the

passenger(s) to bring a bottle aboard.

 

The cruise ship is a ( floating city ), or should I say a floating bar....

[wwcruisers]

You think that's the "only possibility".

 

How about the possibility that your room steward or the guy that checks the mini bar, attempted to defraud you?

 

Yes...The nice little guy who brings towel animals and talks about his home.....is a crook.

 

Don't think so -- I just think something in the minifridge went missing before we boarded, and our cabin steward didn't notice the shortage, when she emptied it. And of course, the next time the mini-bar man checked it was after we left.

[Tucker in Texas]

Don't think so -- I just think something in the minifridge went missing before we boarded, and our cabin steward didn't notice the shortage, when she emptied it. And of course, the next time the mini-bar man checked it was after we left.

 

I inventory the contents of the mini-bar as soon as I can after boarding. I have found things missing but, when brought to the attention of the room steward, have not been charged for it.

 

Once when I asked to empty the mini-bar, the steward just chucked the contents around the refrigerator. Eventually, one of the cans worked its way up to the hinge and when I opened the refrigerator, it punched a hole in the can. After putting the can in the sink to finish squirting, I purposely left it "unopened" to show that I didn't drink it. DH comes in, sees the can in the sink and proceeds to open it and pour the rest of the contents out! However, I didn't have any trouble getting the charge removed when I showed the "evidence" (hole in the can).

 

Tucker in Texas

[joe6666]

Don't think so -- I just think something in the minifridge went missing before we boarded, and our cabin steward didn't notice the shortage, when she emptied it. And of course, the next time the mini-bar man checked it was after we left.

 

And the same thing happened to all the other people on this thread.

 

Look, I'm not saying mistakes can't happen. I'm just saying that your theory is not the only possibility.

 

It is entirely possible that things were added to your bill in order to defraud you.