Disappointment with how RCCL managed cruise booking

[direptor]

Few months back, I attempted to purchase a cruise based on the CAS discounted fare i saw on RCI website by calling the local RCI office to use my open booking reservation ID but I was told that they could not offer me the discounted price and I had to pay the published non-discounted rate if I wanted to use my open booking id. Disappointed with their answer, i went on to just make a reservation online.

 

Not giving up, i attempted to email RCI to ask if there was any way they could change my booking to the 1 using my open booking so that I could get the onboard credits. There was no reply from RCI so i gave up and just accepted that I would just have to keep my open booking for another future cruise.

 

However, a few weeks ago i happened to login to my cruise reservation and noticed that the room i booked has been changed. A call to RCI informed me that the room i booked was transferred to my open booking already so now i had 2 reservations active on the same cruise, 1 that i booked online and 1 for my open booking. After a long time sorting out the situation with the customer care officer, they managed to transfer my deposit to my open booking reservation and cancel my original reservation.

 

I'm extremely disappointed that RCI just moved my room over to my open booking reservation without informing me of the change. Furthermore, they used my open booking while leaving my existing booking with the deposit paid active with a random room allocated. If i did not happen to check my room allocation in my reservation, i might have end up boarding the cruise with the random room and not realizing my open booking reservation was used for the same cruise.

 

I've emailed RCI for an explanation and the only reply i received was that they receive my email request so they transferred the room over to my open booking. I replied seeking an explanation why i was not informed of this change and the issue of having 2 active reservations but RCI has chosen to ignore my email and did not offer any further replies for over 2 weeks.

 

Anyone has similar issues with RCI and using their open booking reservations? The recent reduction in OBC given for open bookings and the issues I've faced using my open booking reservations the past 1 year has made me lost faith in purchasing anymore future open booking with RCI. This is also making me reconsider my future with RCI....

[cruisinfanatic]

wouldn't be all that upset. Don't know why you are. The request got done. You would have noticed the 2nd booking eventually

[COCKYMARK]

Oh well....RCL is still the best.

[papaflamingo]

Personally, I always use a Travel Agent, a very good one that I've used for many years. These irritating issues are part of the reason. I, so far, have had zero problem with any cruise, and we are leaving next week on number 27. But, I do keep an eye on all my bookings to make sure nothing gets dropped. Sometimes I see something and email my TA and it's explained or handled.

Opinion only, RCCL along with other cruiselines, has gotten so big, and relies so much on computers, that "stuff happens." It's not unlike any other large company. Think about it. They have 22 ships and likely carry somewhere around 90,000 passengers a week and have cruises booked out over a year. So if 90,000 per week times 52 weeks per year, 4,680,000 reservations at any one time. So...."stuff happens." People really have to keep an eye on their bookings to catch any potential glitch. Bet this is the same for all cruise lines.

[mollyeilis]

Can we hope you've checked your Spam folders thoroughly?

[setsail]

Did you get the OBC?

 

I have an older ncc and hope to use it soon and get the full 100obc

Edited February 12, 2015 by setsail

[ColoradoGurl]

Few months back, I attempted to purchase a cruise based on the CAS discounted fare i saw on RCI website by calling the local RCI office to use my open booking reservation ID but I was told that they could not offer me the discounted price and I had to pay the published non-discounted rate if I wanted to use my open booking id. Disappointed with their answer, i went on to just make a reservation online.

 

Not giving up, i attempted to email RCI to ask if there was any way they could change my booking to the 1 using my open booking so that I could get the onboard credits. There was no reply from RCI so i gave up and just accepted that I would just have to keep my open booking for another future cruise.

 

However, a few weeks ago i happened to login to my cruise reservation and noticed that the room i booked has been changed. A call to RCI informed me that the room i booked was transferred to my open booking already so now i had 2 reservations active on the same cruise, 1 that i booked online and 1 for my open booking. After a long time sorting out the situation with the customer care officer, they managed to transfer my deposit to my open booking reservation and cancel my original reservation.

 

I'm extremely disappointed that RCI just moved my room over to my open booking reservation without informing me of the change. Furthermore, they used my open booking while leaving my existing booking with the deposit paid active with a random room allocated. If i did not happen to check my room allocation in my reservation, i might have end up boarding the cruise with the random room and not realizing my open booking reservation was used for the same cruise.

 

I've emailed RCI for an explanation and the only reply i received was that they receive my email request so they transferred the room over to my open booking. I replied seeking an explanation why i was not informed of this change and the issue of having 2 active reservations but RCI has chosen to ignore my email and did not offer any further replies for over 2 weeks.

 

Anyone has similar issues with RCI and using their open booking reservations? The recent reduction in OBC given for open bookings and the issues I've faced using my open booking reservations the past 1 year has made me lost faith in purchasing anymore future open booking with RCI. This is also making me reconsider my future with RCI....

 

I understand your frustration. It's simply bad customer service when there is lack of communication, especially when you've made attempts at connecting with people in the first place and never received a response. Sure, it's nice to know in the end that they actually got your email and acted upon it. But they failed to notify you and you certainly could have risked losing money by having both bookings open without knowing. That is frustrating and aggravating. Sorry that happened to you, but I'm glad it got worked out.

[OCruisers]

Direptor .... Noticed this was your first post. Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

Hopefully, you've received some helpful information.

Like "papaflamingo" in the post below, we use a very good travel agent who deals with this sort of thing for us.

Personally, I always use a Travel Agent, a very good one that I've used for many years. These irritating issues are part of the reason. I, so far, have had zero problem with any cruise, and we are leaving next week on number 27. But, I do keep an eye on all my bookings to make sure nothing gets dropped. Sometimes I see something and email my TA and it's explained or handled.

[wannasail4ever]

Did you get the OBC?

 

I have an older ncc and hope to use it soon and get the full 100obc

 

Setsail, I too had one of the very old next cruise certs. I did use a TA to book and it took awhile to apply. RCCL said that the old numbers had to be changed to new numbers. I did get the full $100. OBC amount.

 

macy

[setsail]

Setsail, I too had one of the very old next cruise certs. I did use a TA to book and it took awhile to apply. RCCL said that the old numbers had to be changed to new numbers. I did get the full $100. OBC amount.

 

macy

 

Thanks

[backsbanny]

i booked my first rcl cruise this year after having been a lot of times to ncl. Whenever i needed sth on my reservation or needed to have an answer on a question i emailed them sometimes never got an answer sometimes it took them 2 weeks for a reply.On the other hand whenever i sent an email to ncl about my reservation etc i always had an answer the same day!!I am really thinking maybe cancelling the rcl reservation..their customer service is really slow i hope its not like that on the ship..I really wanted to try rcl but now i wonder if i need to cancel and book another cruise with ncl since i dont feel comfortable with all that hassle.its like they dont even care if you want to cruise with them or not...

[direptor]

Hi all,

 

Appreciate the responses. Being in Asia, quite a number of cruise agents are not that familiar with the cruises and their various perks and promotions etc for CAS members. Had prior bad experiences when I booked with a TA, we almost lost $200 worth of OBC because the TA didn't know that the bring-a-friend promotion cannot be used with group bookings despite us informing them about it.

 

It was quite a bad experience for my party of 20+ to arrive on the ship and discover we didn't get any OBC since RCI will not provide much information on bookings done through TA. I ended up knowing the future cruise manager on board very well since i literally when to see her on a daily basis regarding this issue but sadly it was not solved while on board though RCI did provide me the missing OBC on my next cruise after a number of calls and emails to CAS.

 

After that, i generally just book through RCI directly since they are able to provide me clearer information and I am able to check on the perks i should be getting.

[cruisinmom1]

i booked my first rcl cruise this year after having been a lot of times to ncl. Whenever i needed sth on my reservation or needed to have an answer on a question i emailed them sometimes never got an answer sometimes it took them 2 weeks for a reply.On the other hand whenever i sent an email to ncl about my reservation etc i always had an answer the same day!!I am really thinking maybe cancelling the rcl reservation..their customer service is really slow i hope its not like that on the ship..I really wanted to try rcl but now i wonder if i need to cancel and book another cruise with ncl since i dont feel comfortable with all that hassle.its like they dont even care if you want to cruise with them or not...

 

I echo you well!! I'm a D+ and had lots of issues with RCCL customer service-

NCL was so much more efficient. RCCL's problem is that there are too many "cooks in the kitchen" - RCCL is slow and then to tell you that they will get back with you and never do!! I'm ready to move on at this point. I will soon post more details of our experience!!

[Thoie]

I am really thinking maybe cancelling the rcl reservation..their customer service is really slow i hope its not like that on the ship..I really wanted to try rcl but now i wonder if i need to cancel and book another cruise with ncl since i dont feel comfortable with all that hassle.its like they dont even care if you want to cruise with them or not...

The only thing I can say is that customer service on board is a whole lot better. The ships' crews really do go above and beyond to make your trip enjoyable.

 

I agree that their land based customer care leaves a lot to be desired. I work in IT, and sending an automatic email whenever something changes on your booking is trivial to implement, but it seems they can't manage that. Too often people are left to "discover" things by accident when they happen to check their reservation online. That might be OK closer to the sail date when people are in there more often, but it's bloody irritating if it's 6 or 12 months out.

 

I'm based in Ireland, and as well as the more expensive prices than our European cousins, and lack of "benefits" (I've never once received any perks like OBC. I once got a complimentary bottle of wine, but that was only after I kicked up a ginormous fuss about something), it's nearly impossible to actually talk to someone.

 

Any time in the last 12 months that I've called the Irish free phone number, I get a message saying that number is not available from my region. There's no online chat. Reporting it to them on Twitter led to the fascinating conversation where they kept sending me the same free phone number over and over. I looked up UK numbers, but they're free phone as well, and genuinely not available from my region.

 

I once managed to find a number to call them on from Ireland, and stupidly lost it - so annoyed with myself. But it shouldn't be that difficult. Oceanview balconies for my transatlantic have been cheaper than I'm paying for my inside cabin for the last week. Final payment date is approaching next week. I'd love to call and see if I can switch... but I can't.

 

Despite the advance headaches though, I know I'll have a great time once I'm on board. I just wish they made life easier for people who aren't at sea.