Royal Caribbean customer service non existent

[buddylover]

2 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

Royal could have offered to put the OP on a waitlist for the desired Ocean view balcony at the original price agreed upon. This wouldn't have cost them a dime and perhaps created some good will. We all know the passenger cancelation rate so this would probably had worked out being it was 2yrs out. They could have also offered the OP the cruise they rebooked at the same rate. Maybe if they were bringing an emotional support animal to defecate all over the ship (see Dog peeing on Anthem thread) they would have been treated better. Royal Caribbean is riding on a high right now because they are the top flavor so they can get away with poor customer service at land level. I hope the OP keeps their word and books another line. 

EXACTLY!!  That is the only point.....Royal could price protect their fare on the same ship at a different sailing date.  Thank you!!  This is exactly what happened to us, the cruise was cancelled due to a charter, but Royal only offered us one identical cruise (ship + itinerary) to "price protect", but 1. it was 2 months earlier - date didn't work  2.  any other sailing Royal would not "price protect" - since we had booked well over a year earlier, guess what?  Prices were appreciably higher for same cabin (no center hump cabins even available) and Royal wanted us to PAY THE DIFFERENCE!!    I was flamed pretty well by the folks on these boards who probably have never had this happen to them and could not understand why we were upset??  Bottom line, we have jumped cruise lines and found a competitor's cruise.....which fit our original price point and dates.  Totally agree, Royal has very poor to no "customer service"...like others have said, "it is a big business" and humanity is taken out of the equation on their end....only the greenback is considered at that moment.  OP, I am sorry for what you are going through, we  and others have been there as well.  I totally understand what you are saying, we all understand cancellations, charters happening etc, what we DO NOT understand is lack of empathy and help on Royal's end when their greed boots us out!  It costs them NOTHING to transfer your booking at the same rate you contracted with them for....just bottom line greed covered and touted as a "business decision" which makes it OK???

[Waycoolrob]

This happened to us for the March 31st Oasis cruise and Royal would not budge. We did book allure eventually which was a long day with hours spent in hold, however it is done and we are leaving in Sunday. As for the OP, I understand your frustration, I was there and is does suck however I do feel you will not find any difference in this situation with any other cruise line. I can say when we got our letter informing of of cancellation they did offer to reimburse for lost Hotel rooms and flights we just had to show them the proof of them and If I remember right there was a cap as to the amount they would refund. I did not pay much attention to that part as we had not booked hotel or plane tix at that time. I would say if you enjoy Royal stay with Royal this one situation while crappy can happen anywhere you go. Ignore the jerks with nothing of value to say, most are just trying to pad the post numbers.

[cruisegal2013]

13 hours ago, springfire said:

Royal Caribbean really needs to step up.  I had an issue with Royal cancelling one of our cruise reservations.  My travel agent and I received terrible customer service from Royal but things got much better when I reached corporate but it should have never gotten that far.   I have a cruise in September with Royal but we will be booking with another cruise line after.  Yes-It is all about the dollar.

  So how did you reach corporate?  I was on the same ship as the OP that got chartered.  I went on there website but I haven't heard back.  On their Facebook page, all I got was a sorry and hope you have a dream vacation on your next cruise.  

Edited March 28, 2019 by cruisegal2013

[RDC1]

14 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

There is always a chance of a cancellation due to a charter especially if booking 2yrs out.  But from what I have been reading it seems that Royal Caribbean doesn't accommodate the booked passenger very well as compared to other cruise lines. At the very least they should honor the price you paid for the same category room on whatever sailing you pick. Pick another cruise line. You may find that you like it better and you may get a better price. The only thing I'm loyal to is my wallet. My experience with Royal Caribbean's marketing and pricing hasn't been favorable. I think I will be headed back to Celebrity or Princess after this trip.

Celebrity also has a track record for converting cruises to charters.  Princess seems to far less often.

[Cruiser_1977]

16 hours ago, acsimon said:

Our options were to rebook on several cruises in Jan or Feb on Symphony, Oasis or Allure. 

We only wanted to go on Symphony and the only date that worked didn't have any ocean view balcony rooms. We were offered a boardwalk room which we didn't want.

I'm curious what dates? I just searched the Jan 4, 11 and 25 as well as Feb 8, 15, 22, and 29 2020 and all have balcony's available. If you were told there aren't I would call back....

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by JennyB1977

[Iamcruzin]

4 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Exactly my thoughts as well. But, as long as the ships are sailing at capacity, they have no reason to change.

 

I've enjoyed every cruise I've taken so should this ever happen to me, I'd don't know if I would switch lines so quickly. But it seems the OP has had a few bad experiences already and this was the last straw.

If I was committed  to a particular time frame and got the response the OP got I wouldn’t sit around waiting. I would book another line that would offer me the itinerary and date that works for me. I don’t understand all of this loyalty. Is the cruise line working for the the passenger or is the passenger working for the cruise line? I’m not about to sell my soul for a few loalty points. All of these mainstream cruise lines are more alike than different.

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, RDC1 said:

Celebrity also has a track record for converting cruises to charters.  Princess seems to far less often.

I have never had a cruise canceled due to a charter. Probably because I usually only book 9 to 6 months out. This up coming cruise was the first time I booked 14 months out but I did research the popular lifestyle and theme cruise charters to see if they booked. I would have never thought of the Super Bowl being an issue. 

Edited March 28, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[RDC1]

2 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I have never had a cruise canceled due to a charter. Probably because I usually only book 9 to 6 months out. This up coming cruise was the first time I booked 14 months out but I did research the popular lifestyle and theme cruise characters to see if they booked. I would have never thought of the Super Bowl being an issue. 

Check back through old CC posts for cruise canceled.  The Celebrity and Royal have done it a few times a year.  bit, HAL has as well from the CCL owned lines.  Princess pretty rarely.

 

Most often they tend to get canceled around a year out.  So usually at 6-9 months one is pretty safe.

Edited March 28, 2019 by RDC1

[ZandZ]

I was in a similar situation a few years back and the cruise that was chartered included a holiday date.  RCI was not able to offer anything compatible within the same time frame and their overall response can only be described as "lame".  Too bad that at the time I was hung up on being loyal and didn't just book with someone else.   

[acsimon]

January 11 and when I checked online yesterday the only balconies were overlooking the boardwalk or Central Park. She offered a Boardwalk Balcony. I responded that I was taking an OCEAN cruise not a Boardwalk cruise

 

[HBE4]

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

If I was committed  to a particular time frame and got the response the OP got I wouldn’t sit around waiting. I would book another line that would offer me the itinerary and date that works for me. I don’t understand all of this loyalty. Is the cruise line working for the the passenger or is the passenger working for the cruise line? I’m not about to sell my soul for a few loalty points. All of these mainstream cruise lines are more alike than different.

 

Agreed. If I can only cruise during a particular time frame and found a balcony on another cruise line on a similar itinerary, I wouldn't hesitate to book it.

 

I meant I would give up Royal forever if that was my one and only major negative experience.

 

As you said earlier, I'm loyal to my wallet.

 

 

[2ManyCruises]

18 hours ago, Retired LEO said:

Charters are where the money is. Get over it. 

Edit 

Edited March 28, 2019 by 2ManyCruises

[travelplus]

I usually book my cruises 1 year to 7 months in advance and have found out that none of my cruises have been cancelled due to a charter. If you book a flight 330 days in advance a lot can happen from schedule changes to the airline going bankrupt.  In my opinion if you are willing to commit to two years in advance then don't be disappointed for any cancellations or changes.

[CruisingNole]

I’ve never been booted from a hotel due to a special event. In fact, I believe that’s illegal. But hey, cruise ships, international waters, no regulation, cheerleaders to defend it. Sorry, you’re out of luck.

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, travelplus said:

I usually book my cruises 1 year to 7 months in advance and have found out that none of my cruises have been cancelled due to a charter. If you book a flight 330 days in advance a lot can happen from schedule changes to the airline going bankrupt.  In my opinion if you are willing to commit to two years in advance then don't be disappointed for any cancellations or changes.

I'm on the same page as you. If I booked two years out I would probably cancel a year later just because something better came along. But the cruise lines need these people to start booking as soon as the itinerary is released so the ship will start to fill up and there will be less discounting or offers of OBC to sell rooms. Simple supply and demand. If they continue to be unsupportive and unsympathetic to the situation that they created these passengers will become just like us and then they will have to offer real incentives, unlike the fake sales they offer now.

[Paulette3028]

13 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

So, the OP got their money back. Big deal, Royal has to give their money back.  Royal could have met them half-way on the price difference between a balcony and JS. That would be good customer service and compensation for the inconvenience. 

 

 

You make the assumption that the OP would have been satisfied with your suggestion that "Royal could have met them half-way on the price difference between a balcony and JS."   I sense that the OP would have wanted to upgrade at no additional cost to them at all.  JMO.

 

We have had a cruise already booked turned into a charter.  Royal gave us several choices including a full refund. None of the choices were perfect, because all of them used up an extra day of vacation time for us, and we have to carefully use our vacation time.  We also received and very nice OBC for the cruise we took.  Was I annoyed, sure; angry --  life is too too short to get angry over 'a vacation' that has to be moved.  Would it cause me to STOP sailing with Royal -- NO, because all cruise lines do it. 

[Paulette3028]

10 hours ago, cruisegal2013 said:

  So how did you reach corporate?  I was on the same ship as the OP that got chartered.  I went on there website but I haven't heard back.  On their Facebook page, all I got was a sorry and hope you have a dream vacation on your next cruise.  

Michael Bayley, President.....mbayley@rccl.com

Vicki Freed, Sr. VP of Sales and Service......vfreed@rccl.com

General Corporate Communications..... CorporateCommunications@rccl.com

 

You asked for how to reach corporate....here it is.   I don't share these lightly, and you still may not get the satisfaction you want....but you may feel better about it.  

[SRF]

22 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

And that is why it's not good customer service.

 

Quoting a poster in another thread:

 

Many people cannot distinguish between poor customer service and just not getting what they WANT.

 

 

 

[cruisegal2013]

8 hours ago, Paulette3028 said:

Michael Bayley, President.....mbayley@rccl.com

Vicki Freed, Sr. VP of Sales and Service......vfreed@rccl.com

General Corporate Communications..... CorporateCommunications@rccl.com

 

You asked for how to reach corporate....here it is.   I don't share these lightly, and you still may not get the satisfaction you want....but you may feel better about it.  

 

[sparks1093]

10 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

I’ve never been booted from a hotel due to a special event. In fact, I believe that’s illegal. But hey, cruise ships, international waters, no regulation, cheerleaders to defend it. Sorry, you’re out of luck.

I have heard of it happening, but I've never booked a hotel room over a year out. When I do book it's with no money down and may be cancelled without penalty. I'm certainly no cheerleader for Royal since I haven't even set foot on any of their ships yet.

Edited March 29, 2019 by sparks1093

[HBE4]

51 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

Quoting a poster in another thread:

 

Many people cannot distinguish between poor customer service and just not getting what they WANT.

 

 

1) Good Customer Service = happy customer

2) Poor Customer Service = pissed off customer

3) Then there is the barely-there, non-existent, "just doing the job and nothing more" Customer Service.

 

Many people seem to be satisfied with #3.

 

Having said that, yes, I realized there are some people that will never be happy no matter how much you give them.

[sparks1093]

10 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

1) Good Customer Service = happy customer

2) Poor Customer Service = pissed off customer

3) Then there is the barely-there, non-existent, "just doing the job and nothing more" Customer Service.

 

Many people seem to be satisfied with #3.

 

Having said that, yes, I realized there are some people that will never be happy no matter how much you give them.

Yep, you can't please everyone and the ones who are not pleased are not victims of poor customer service.

[blackshirt]

10 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

1) Good Customer Service = happy customer = I got what I wanted

2) Poor Customer Service = pissed off customer = I did not get what I wanted, regardless of whether what I wanted was reasonable or not

3) Then there is the barely-there, non-existent, "just doing the job and nothing more" Customer Service.

 

Many people seem to be satisfied with #3.

 

Having said that, yes, I realized there are some people that will never be happy no matter how much you give them.

I would amend that as annotated above.

[HBE4]

20 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

Yep, you can't please everyone and the ones who are not pleased are not victims of poor customer service.

 

Agreed.

 

In the particular case, I don't think it's a good vs bad customer service scenario. It's #3 (from my post above)...the barely there, just doing the minimum a.k.a non-existent  (the threads title).

 

EDIT:I keep forgetting that the OP did get $200 OBC in addition to a refund. So I guess a reasonable effort was made.   Maybe it's slightly good customer service.

Edited March 29, 2019 by HBE4

[HBE4]

18 minutes ago, blackshirt said:

1) Good Customer Service = happy customer = I got what I wanted

 

Not necessarily.  I think you can provide good customer service as long as you make a reasonable effort to accommodate the customer. Maybe not give them what they want (whether it's realistic or not) but try to give them something.

 

I keep forgetting that the OP did get $200 OBC in addition to a refund. So I guess a reasonable effort was made.

Edited March 29, 2019 by HBE4