Dispute charge with credit card

[spintowin]

Has anyone ever disputed a cruise charge? I booked a GTY room on Serenade and they gave me a solo cabin. I paid 200% for an interior stateroom, not a 100 sq ft studio. I was just wondering if this has happened to anyone

[Clarea]

Has anyone ever disputed a cruise charge? I booked a GTY room on Serenade and they gave me a solo cabin. I paid 200% for an interior stateroom, not a 100 sq ft studio. I was just wondering if this has happened to anyone

Are you before final payment date and can you cancel without penalty?

 

I you do dispute the charge, Royal will never accept a charge from that card again.

[Merion_Mom]

Has anyone ever disputed a cruise charge? I booked a GTY room on Serenade and they gave me a solo cabin. I paid 200% for an interior stateroom, not a 100 sq ft studio. I was just wondering if this has happened to anyone

 

When you book a guarantee, you agree to take any cabin in that category.

 

That being said, you can ask to be thrown back into the guarantee pool.

[SamTimeDining]

Serenade has studio cabins?

[spintowin]

Sail date is April 29, 2016 so I have paid in full. Ship is sold out. There are 3 studios. I would have never booked if they had included this category in the inside stateroom GTY.

[Clarea]

Serenade has studio cabins?

Yes, they put some in during the last dry dock.

[spintowin]

I had no idea there were studios.

[readytolose]

Did you call to see if there are any insides to switch to?

[spintowin]

Yes, I was on the phone for over an hour with supervisor. Ship sold out. I was offered a bottle of wine, a robe, 50 obc, then 100obc. Hilarious.

[Clarea]

Did you call to see if there are any insides to switch to?

Like Carol said, the only option would be to go back into the giarantee pool, if they allow it. Once you've been assigned a stateroom, you can only switch to the same exact category, which would be another studio.

Edited April 14, 2016 by clarea

[Merion_Mom]

Yes, I was on the phone for over an hour with supervisor. Ship sold out. I was offered a bottle of wine, a robe, 50 obc, then 100obc. Hilarious.

 

I repeat: When you book a guarantee, you agree to take any cabin in that category. You have no "dispute". You are merely unhappy. (I am not blaming you for being unhappy, just stating the facts)

 

They didn't have to offer you anything.

 

Take the cabin, the wine, the robe and the 100 and have a nice cruise.

 

Consider it a learning experience.

 

When you book a guarantee, you agree to take any cabin in that category.

[katydyd]

Aren't the studios a different category than the insides? Are they considered a "higher category" than the insides? I know that it's been reported that studios are often more pricey than an inside even at double occupancy. But, yeah, I'd be irritated too.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I guess I'd pass on the guaranty as a single in the future.

[spintowin]

Merion Mom, they don't say anything about studio cabins on the RCI wesite. When you choose a GTY, they describe the room as 165 square feet, two beds, anywhere on ship. The studio is a downgrade to 100 sq feet and one bed. Plus, when is a studio priced at 200% anywhere in the cruise industry? I feel like I am not getting what I paid for. I am also claustrophobic and experience motion sickness, So, positioning my body forward and aft on a double bed helps. Cannot do that in a studio.

[Merion_Mom]

Merion Mom, they don't say anything about studio cabins on the RCI wesite. When you choose a GTY, they describe the room as 165 square feet, two beds, anywhere on ship. The studio is a downgrade to 100 sq feet and one bed. Plus, when is a studio priced at 200% anywhere in the cruise industry? I feel like I am not getting what I paid for. I am also claustrophobic and experience motion sickness, So, positioning my body forward and aft on a double bed helps. Cannot do that in a studio.

 

It's an interior cabin. You booked an interior guarantee.

 

I am sorry that you were unaware of the existence of the interior studio cabins.

 

But.....................

[Clarea]

Merion Mom, they don't say anything about studio cabins on the RCI wesite. When you choose a GTY, they describe the room as 165 square feet, two beds, anywhere on ship. The studio is a downgrade to 100 sq feet and one bed. Plus, when is a studio priced at 200% anywhere in the cruise industry? I feel like I am not getting what I paid for. I am also claustrophobic and experience motion sickness, So, positioning my body forward and aft on a double bed helps. Cannot do that in a studio.

With these conditions, it's not a good idea to choose a GTY category.

[tomatosauce]

The bed is still the same size bed (I.e. Able to fit 2 people) in the studio cabins. You just lose out on other things like storage and moving about space.

[laurac22]

Well if the description of the interior guarantee is for a cabin with 165 square feet and two beds, isn't that what one should expect it to be? I don't understand.

[bunnyrab]

The deck plan for Radiance class ships has interior stateroom 160 sq. ft. cat. K L M N & Q.

Studio interior stateroom 108 sq. ft. cat. SI is listed alone.

 

I would not want to pay 200% for a single room of 108 sq.ft.

This is still paying double for a single room.

[spintowin]

Thank you bunnyrab for your comment. RCI kept telling me on the phone that I was paying 160% and I kept saying 200%. Not hard to figure out. But, they kept insisting it was 160%. So, after putting me on hold, again, they came back and apologized that it was 200%. But, no refund offered. Just wine, which I don't drink, a robe, which I already have, and 100 obc, which is a joke. If this is how I am treated as a Diamond level, I doubt I will ever make Diamond +

[Thetrail]

Yes, I was on the phone for over an hour with supervisor. Ship sold out. I was offered a bottle of wine, a robe, 50 obc, then 100obc. Hilarious.

Hate to say this but you have no dispute. Your knowledge or lack thereof is the case. Sorry you didn't know the category, now you do for your next cruise, take what they offered you, it could have been zero.:(

[papaflamingo]

I just looked at the pricing and deck plans for Serenade. Amazingly the Studio IS listed as quite a bit more expensive! That's a surprise to me. I always thought the point of a Studio cabin was to allow a solo cruiser to cruise at a lower cost. In fact on NCL's website it specifically says that a Studio is to allow a solo cruiser to cruise without paying a supplement. So one must wonder exactly what the point of a 108 sq ft. studio cabin is? How can it POSSIBLY be considered a "higher category" than a 165 sq ft. inside? I guess what is most important, is what guarantee category did the OP book? If he booked an SI GTY, then he booked a Studio or higher. If he booked an M or K GTY, then he booked an Inside or higher. Then it must be determined if an SI is really an upgrade or not. Don't know how to do that other than prices, and prices are not the indictor. Is there a list anywhere that shows the cabin classes in order? Personally, I wouldn't be happy either. Then again, that is also why I don't book Guarantee. I'd rather pay a bit more and pick the cabin I want.

[dcgrumpy]

I wouldn't have thought studios were included either. Since the room description for the GTY says "sleeps 2-4".

[Clarea]

I just looked at the pricing and deck plans for Serenade. Amazingly the Studio IS listed as quite a bit more expensive! That's a surprise to me. I always thought the point of a Studio cabin was to allow a solo cruiser to cruise at a lower cost .... .

Others have mentioned this pricing issue with the stuidio staterooms on Royal. Plus, the solo cruiser does not get the double C&A points in this stateroom.

[bouhunter]

It does sound a bit unfair, but probably within the rules from what people have said.

 

I've always been curious about guaranteed cabins, we've been sailing RCCL for 11-12 years and pricing them a lot online over that time, and I don't think I've EVER seen a "guaranteed" option.......

[goodycruising]

That is just so sad to hear. They appear to rate these squeeze boxes higher than the rest of the interiors, and they always seem to cost more than cabins much larger. I just had a quick look at a Brilliance one, and on a dummy booking for 1 person the interior was around $1800+, the SI was $2200+, but if I use 2 pax then the price for an interior is around $1900+. That is just crazy.

 

I know all the points about gty category are probably correct, but in no way are they fair. If the minimum size for the gty is the SI category, then they should state that in the gty wording. Or SI should be in a separate category.

 

I also know the financial logic about more spending by two people etc, and the solo just has to decide if they want to pay 200%, but this scenario is just wrong. Morally wrong, and the solo traveller is just getting belted unfairly.

 

I hope something fair and reasonable gets worked out for you, or that you go on the cruise and have a good time. All the best.