Involuntary Downgrade

[Susie51]

Hopefully someone in a JS will take the $800 and $200 obc and down grade to a balcony so that you can get what you were guaranteed.

[Ltgfrk]

I did get a call from a gal at the RCI corporate office. She did mention this thread. She said to give her a little time to work on the situation. Hopefully I will hear back this afternoon and we'll see what happens.

[molly361]

I did get a call from a gal at the RCI corporate office. She did mention this thread. She said to give her a little time to work on the situation. Hopefully I will hear back this afternoon and we'll see what happens.

 

 

Sounds promising- Good luck!!!

[NorbertsNiece]

I did get a call from a gal at the RCI corporate office. She did mention this thread. She said to give her a little time to work on the situation. Hopefully I will hear back this afternoon and we'll see what happens.

 

A little time.

Right.

Looking forward to the only result that is acceptable. After all what does 'Guarantee' mean?

[TravelerThom]

I did get a call from a gal at the RCI corporate office. She did mention this thread. She said to give her a little time to work on the situation. Hopefully I will hear back this afternoon and we'll see what happens.

Looks like Cruise Critic has helped this get more visibility.

 

Thom

Edited June 7, 2014 by TravelerThom

[dudaze11]

I did get a call from a gal at the RCI corporate office. She did mention this thread. She said to give her a little time to work on the situation. Hopefully I will hear back this afternoon and we'll see what happens.

 

Wow. That is amazing that they are that quick on cruise critic. They will have a black eye for sure if they do not rectify the situation.

[dudaze11]

By the way, I am glad you posted this thread because I have done guarantee staterooms in the past and this will make me think twice about doing them again in the future.

Edited June 7, 2014 by dudaze11

[Starry Eyes]

I did get a call from a gal at the RCI corporate office. She did mention this thread. She said to give her a little time to work on the situation. Hopefully I will hear back this afternoon and we'll see what happens.

 

That corporate called you is a probably a very good sign.

To honor the promise made when you booked the "W," they need to give you a JS or better at check in time at the pier tomorrow. Of course, it would be nice if you heard back today (you want to know and so do the rest of us), but tomorrow is the deadline, not today.

 

They may be working the phones right now seeking somebody in a JS (or better) who will voluntarily take a downgrade deal or one with flexible plans (who might change departure date or ship). Many people may be hard to reach the day before the cruise, but hopefully somebody will get a phone call offering a deal that will please them.

[marci22]

Thanks for letting us know what happened. I hope they work this out to your satisfaction.

[rrraydon]

Also waiting to see how RCI handles this situation... so far, not good business practices.

[LMaxwell]

I'm having a hard time believing not a single suite, JS or better, is NOT open on the ship and they can't either upgrade OP or upgrade another guest onboard and give OP that JS room.

[packedandready]

If they can do this, why have guarantee categories at all. Just pay a price and RCI sticks you where they want you. OP, please keep us posted.

[Debitoo]

Glad you are staying strong on this one. I'm hoping for a positive outcome for you. It would be nice to have this resolved before you show up at the port.

[reney313]

I am also very curious. I often book a guarantee if I'm booking with short notice as typically the prime locations are gone already. I've never not received what I was guaranteed so this is concerning. I guess on one hand, I can understand the occasional miscalculation with available rooms. But if that happens, they need to have something better than a $200 OBC available as compensation. And a plan to call others for "move over" offers if it is declined by the person who reserved the guarantee.

[Starry Eyes]

I'm having a hard time believing not a single suite, JS or better, is NOT open on the ship and they can't either upgrade OP or upgrade another guest onboard and give OP that JS room.

 

This seems to have come to a head two days before the cruise. At that point, I would not be surprised if JS or better were sold out. Heck I would not be surprised if the entire ship was sold out, or very nearly so.

 

No direct help to the OP who needs to go this week, but there do seem to be JS's available in upcoming weeks. If the company can't monitarily induce somebody to voluntarily downgrade this week, they might be able to persuade somebody to postpone their trip to an upcoming week. However they do it, I hope they come through with a JS or better for the OP.

[Beachin2]

Guarantee means GUARANTEE! Not so hard to comprehend. I have hopes they will make it right.

 

At this point certainly the OP is entitled to a JS, but because of the complete BS and hassle involved I think some OBC is due too - and I'm not a fan of compensation for every little thing.

 

This certainly isn't a "little" thing and the rep flat out lying on the phone is not at all acceptable.

[CVU]

If they can do this, why have guarantee categories at all. Just pay a price and RCI sticks you where they want you. OP, please keep us posted.

 

We book a JS Guarantee sometimes too.......so maybe not anymore!

 

Stick with what we know we are paying for and not have this kind of hassle.:eek:

 

Good Luck!!!

[megr1125]

You'll have to keep us posted...and let us know what happens at check in...once you board the ship of course..

 

No fair keeping us in suspense...:D

[Guest maddycat]

I'm glad that someone from RCI corporate contacted you. I'll be even happier when they get you in to the JS that you were originally promised.

 

I've learned 3 things from your experience:

 

1. CC is read by RCI corporate.

2. Never book a guarantee.

3. CC members can be very supportive.

[jmrothermel]

Im glad that corporate contacted you, and that CC is helping your cause. Good to know they read these threads and know how bad this looks on their part. Let us know when you hear something.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[KS Sunflower]

Hope Royal makes this right. This kind of hassle is not what people want when cruising and gives the cruise line a bad name. They spend millions of dollars trying to get people to cruise and then allow some low grade employee to call the shots.

 

Whoever, made the decision to give the OP less then what he paid for, is not the type of employee I would want working for me.

 

Did I read that the OP paid $300. more to book a guarantee cabin at the same time he booked a J.S.? I don't understand why he didn't just book two J.S. at that time. Maybe, I missed something. :)

[rubrrick]

We booked a last minute cruise a few days ago on the Freedom with one cabin a JS and one cabin a W gty. I've checked for the past couple of days and no state room assignment, just said JS gty. I logged on this afternoon to find our cabin had been assigned but it was a deluxe ocean view. So I called RCI and the first girl I spoke with tried to tell me the new cabin was part of the W gty. I said no way so she got a supervisor. Long story short, they suck. They want to refund us $800 which brings the ocean view down to $100 pp less than the JS that we paid for. Essentially the same price! But they're willing to throw in $200 obc. We only booked the cruise because we wanted two suites, nothing less. Can we get a refund, nope. It was pretty much a take it or leave it. We can, according to the last supervisor we spoke with, call back on Monday but that does us no good since the cruise leaves Sunday. Absolutely horrible of RCI.

 

To the OP. First, as many have been very busy trying to help you, they may not have noticed you are a newcomer, and I want to welcome you to Cruise Critic. It appears that you may have lurked, but with your existing situation, chose to join us.

 

And, I want to say, that there are many old and new timers here as well, that have come forward to give you moral support, and support of their knowledge of phone numbers and whom to contact at Royal Caribbean.

 

To me, this is what Cruise Critic is all about. Members helping other members when in need. Ltgfrk, you only have 4 posts to your name, but they have all been informative, and, along with others here, can only hope that Royal Caribbean steps to the plate and does the right thing, to honor their commitment.

 

Otherwise, why would anyone want to try any kind of a guarantee with Royal Caribbean. I believe that if they don't honor their guarantee.......there will be other CC members on the phone to Royal Caribbean, questioning whether they will keep commitments.

 

When you know the final outcome, please come back and let us know of their decision.

 

To date, what they have been telling you is nothing more than corporate garbage, and so far, if they cannot keep their commitment, they better be offering you something far greater than they already have, because, frankly, what you asked for is extremely reasonable, and they didn't take it. What I'm referring to is the drink package being thrown in, and staying in a balcony, with $800.00 being returned, and a $200.00 OBC.

 

Since they have turned you down......their mistake, IMHO, they need to be much more generous. Here it is, only 24 hours or less before you sail, and you still don't have an answer.

 

Hang in there, we are all praying for you, that this will turn out to be something that you will be happy with, and the Royal Caribbean will come through with either a JS or better, or something like offering you a free cruise in the future, if you will take a balcony cabin.

 

Best of luck, and we will wait to hear the outcome.;)

 

Rick

Edited June 7, 2014 by rubrrick

[ged1967]

Interested to find out what happens.

 

Good luck to the OP

[rajacks]

Very curious to hear the outcome of this! I have only booked a guarantee one time in the past, and received an appropriate cabin. I've thought I would try it again if the circumstances were right, but now I'm not so sure.

 

OP - I truly hope your situation receives appropriate attention and that you receive an acceptable resolution. It is somewhat disheartening the extent you've had to go to, though.... :(

 

Please do let us know how this turns out!

[UFMOM]

We have booked many last minute guarantees. We are standing with you on this one. So sorry for all the hassle & stress before your cruise. You should get something for that too, besides the suite you were promised.

 

Mary Ann