Our experience with GOOD Customer Service (after patiently waiting)

[dollymomma]

My good friend and I cruised on Jewel this past May, through the Panama Canal. Had a great time, lots of relaxing sea days, so when we had port days, we tried to make the most of them. We chose to do the ship excursions, mainly because we hadn't been to most of the ports, and felt for safety, and distance from the port to any of the major spots, we wanted the extra insurance. In Guatemala (a new port for RCI), we chose an excursion specifically NOT to visit the Jade factory, which there aren't many that avoid that stop in Antigua. Imagine our surprise and frustration when we were taken there! We wasted 60-90 minutes of precious time there instead of exploring the city of Antigua (which was really crowded that day due to a political candidate in the city at the same time).

 

Another of our complaints was that our tour guide started out the trip by volunteering to us that she didn't know English very well, and proved that by sitting silent in the bus 3/4 of the time (90 minutes each way). She was super friendly, and would answer any questions we had, but we've been on many tours, and they this is the first time we hardly got any information from our guide.

 

Once we got back to the ship and freshened up (super humid and hot there), we tried talking to the ship excursions staff there to voice our frustration. Actually, my friend didn't want to bring it up on the ship, but I knew we should let them know of our disappointment and frustration. The conversation with the staff was interesting, she stated that this was a new port for RCI, and they were trying to get feedback on their excursions, and was glad to have our comments. My reply to her was "so we are the guinea pigs for your company?" And she said YES! I was stunned to say the least, and honestly didn't know what to say (plus it was really noisy at the time). I told her I didn't think that was acceptable, but she didn't seem to know what to do, so I left it, and decided I would write a letter to the company when we got home.

 

I did just that, and waited... and waited... and then actually phoned and was on hold, when I heard that any email correspondence should be given three weeks to be responded to, so I hung up, to give them the benefit of the doubt... Doubting that they would really care.

 

I waited a couple more days, and lo and behold, I got an email back from their Corporate Guest Relations! Here was their reply (with personal details removed):

 

We appreciate the time you have taken to share your cruise experience on the May 2, 2015 sailing of the Jewel of the Seas. I understand that your time is valuable, and I want to thank you for taking the time to send in your correspondence. As a member of our Crown & Anchor Society your feedback is very important to us. On behalf of Royal Caribbean International, please accept my apologies for not responding sooner.

 

I regret to learn of your disappointment with your shore excursion in Guatemala. These comments are of great concern because our goal is to offer our guests the best excursions available in each port. Please note our shore excursions are provided by independent tour companies and we rely on them to carry out all the services they advertise. We regularly evaluate guest feedback to ensure that we offer only the highest quality excursions.

 

As a gesture of goodwill, I have requested a partial refund of 50% of the price paid. Again, I appreciate the time you have taken to make us aware of your experience.

 

We believe listening to our customers is the most effective way to create the best possible cruise experience. I appreciate you bringing these matters to our attention. Your comments were shared with our shore excursion team for their internal review. I assure you that we do our best to make improvements in the areas where our guests feel they are most needed.

 

Mrs. XXX, we realize we must earn your business by providing the best possible service both on and off our ships. It is my pleasure to be your personal contact. Please feel free to direct any additional questions or concerns to me and I will be happy to help. We look forward to welcoming you back onboard one of our ship again in the future.

 

I was so pleasantly shocked at the response I got, especially after the way I felt dismissed on board. I know this was a small gesture (although, not really, as the cost for each person was $114 USD), but I appreciated having my concerns heard and validated.

[Langley Cruisers]

Nice! :)

[Royal2464]

It is nice to see some positive feedback occasionally. It shows they care and do respond to your needs and concerns. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

[SPacificbound]

Thank you for sharing your good experiance. :)

[ColoradoGurl]

Despite the majority of my phone calls to a royal being a pain in the A, I have had one great experience with their customer service recently as well. Michael Everson in the resolutions dept. handled a problem for me that several other people in resolutions told me couldn't be fixed. It did take several weeks (2 months about) but he would email me on his own every few days just to let me know he hadn't forgotten about me and that he was still working on a solution to my problem. He always made sure to reassure me that I wasn't forgotten and in the end he resolved my problem. I was really pleased, especially after being told it couldn't be fixed so many times prior to speaking with him. Another example of "just call back and speak to someone else." 😀

[tinkertwo]

that's great and really good to hear. I had written off their customer service but maybe I shouldn't judge them so quickly.

I wrote a letter of concern to them a few weeks ago and the response I got back told me that they didn't even bother to read what I had written. it was ridiculous.....and the return email to them told them so. lol.

but back to you, that is wonderful. glad they heard you.

[Paulxyz2004]

It is always to hear some good and great stories about customer Service.

Unfortunately People mostly post about their bad experience which will always result in a negative perception of customer Service.

 

Reports like this - thanks to the OP - will give all of us a better Feeling about how customer Service performs.

[CrusieToy]

That is good to hear.

Hopefully Guest Services will move in a positive direction.

My experience on our last cruise with FOS was not a good experience

at all and I let RC know about it.

Hopefully they are working on improving GS.