So I get a call from my TA, Royal wants your cabin back.

[Mikew0805]

12 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I live on the beach and hate sand. Go figure.

My point is, we often think the grass is greener elsewhere 

If this is the view from your home... yep grass is def greener. Jealous! 

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

 

I’m back...

 

You were gone?😉😂

[TravisP]

2 hours ago, debitoo said:

 

 

 

 

I tried to counter offer but there were no balcony or suite cabins available. The cruise was completely booked except for a few insides and even fewer OV's. I certainly would have taken the deal if it would have been a balcony. I don't get the opportunity to cruise a lot as I have to fly to get to the ship. I HATE the SoCal itineraries so no cruises from here. 😞 I had to make the decision immediately while I was on the phone and I had no time to think it over. So, I said no. The cruise was amazing and the AFT cabin was wonderful. We sailed to the ABC islands. I'm glad I kept it!

 

As long as you are happy with it, that is all that matters. 🙂 Glad you had a blast. 

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Then...just getting people's hopes up.

Well, it is just a "bid"... there's no guarantee of anything, even if there are rooms available, depending on how many other people bid more than you did.

I don't think there's necessarily anything "devious" about it.

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, debitoo said:

Ah no. If you read the whole sentence, it says " By the way, and not related to this post, Super Mario was on this cruise"... 🙂

He DOES reserve months ahead.

 

Unless his ship gets chartered 😉

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Mikew0805 said:

If this is the view from your home... yep grass is def greener. Jealous! 

 

That was Front door view.  

Much further out when she passes our balcony

 

We also get to see rocket launches. 🚀😎

[island lady]

20 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

That's why I'm holding on to my A2 until final 😇

 

That and the possibility they cancel our TA. 😉

 

So you were not booked on Oasis TA?  

[RFerrington]

On 4/8/2019 at 1:50 PM, vacationlover_mn said:

On our last trip we got the strawberries for free twice, and didn’t eat them.  Not our favorite...

My husband is allergic to strawberries but they just keep coming and coming and coming...

[RFerrington]

21 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

It's the Non Refundable Deposit fault. They wouldn't let me transfer deposit from A2 to A1. At worst I'm out $200 in December. 

They wouldn't let you upgrade from an A2 to A1 (without penalty) ?  That surprises me.

[John&LaLa]

45 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

So you were not booked on Oasis TA?  

 

Almost, went with Serenade for the itinerary 

[cello56]

Back in April of 2012, I got a call from RCI less then a week before our cruise. They had 'suddenly' realized that they had overbooked our cruise, and would we be willing to CHANGE SHIPS? Seriously, they were asking people who lived in Florida and could drive to Fort Lauderdale if they would change from Freedom Eastern to Allure Western. Left the same date and for the same length. The woman on the phone sounded so stressed that I agreed. I was STUPID! The cruise ended up costing us more money, and RCI didn't give us a nickel for our trouble. Extra day of dog sitting was $80 (four Greyhounds), driving an additional three hours plus tolls, wear and tear on our car. To be fair, I should have asked for some OBC for compensation. Ironically the cruise prices for Freedom were higher than Allure that week. We had fun though, so in the end it was all good. Turned out to be over 35 people that were 'relocated' to Allure from Freedom that cruise!

[travelplus]

I would have just responded by saying"The Sea is Calling Answer It Royally"   Followed by "Can you call me on my Sea Shell Phone and get the Upgrade Fairy on the Line then we can do business". If you give me a Full Suite with Double C&A Points and Suite Benefits in a grand location then we have a deal or else sorry no deal! Or at least a larger cabin.  You want my cabin back then its in my ballpark to negotiate what works for me. 

 

"When the downgrade fairy calls then answer it   disgracefully"  "When the Upgrade Fairy Calls then Answer It Royally' Simple as that.

Edited April 9, 2019 by travelplus

[Milwaukee Eight]

3 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

You were gone?😉😂

Yep. For a week. 

[travelplus]

On 4/8/2019 at 7:43 AM, Saturngrl said:

My last RC cruise, they called my TA a few days before sailing to offer the same Jr. Suite on a lower deck plus $200 OBC.  We stupidly took the deal and regretted it from check-in throughout the cruise.  With such a late change, everything I had pre-paid was no longer on record, so I spent a great deal of time with them having to re-print our Sea Pass cards and with Guest Services re-entering our drink packages, our restaurant packages, our excursions.....you get the picture.

 

Needless to say,  even if offered an upgrade to a Royal Loft Suite or higher, I won't take the deal. 

I would have negotiated access to the Suite Lounge and let the Concierge or shoreside take care of the rebooking and pay the  difference for any price increases. Then I would have asked for $200 or more in additional OBC plus a free dinner at Chops for my entire cabin.  

[travelplus]

17 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Glad it worked out

 

Wait a minute if the other people did not cancel the cruise and you were first booked into the room and its an IT issue you would think Royal would sort it out and pay for airfare if its their mistake. This sounds odd to me that they want you to switch ships but pay for airfare at the last minute  to do so would be a breach of some contract. It does not add up.  If the  system cancelled you after Final Payment against your will then they must abide to their end of the contract as you paid off the cruise in full.

 

You simply cannot expect someone to have to foot the bill. Its called Errors and Omissions Insurance for issues such as this. Even if Royal had to pay First Class Tickets via the Air Department to get you to the new ship its not your responsibility to pay up. What would have happened if the passenger agreed to switch ships and already paid to switch their airfare only to have to switch to the original ship and switch airfare again.

 

Were talking about last minute airfare during prime time $800 per person or more at the last minute. And  what about non refundable pre and post hotels etc.  

So does this mean we should all book with Cruise Air for fear that a confirmed cruise reservation is now subject to cancellation even after Final Payment.  Wouldn't there be a failsafe 24 hour period whereby someone manually checks the reservation to see that Final Payment has been made and that the increase is due to a failure in the system so that the cabin is not released and the reservation is cancelled.  It takes more time to reinstate a reservation and repurchase all onboard dining etc.    

 

I think Royal should hire people like me that are not a 5th grader when it comes to technology. If I were running the IT system an automated e-mail would go out stating that there is an additional charge on your reservation( anything out of Final Payment) that is due on the reservation would not affect the reservation . So if you did not pay for a Shore Excursion or Internet Package only that would be cancelled and you would have to repurchase it at the going rate. 

 

But the letter would say that there is an issue with your reservation and to contact Royal Caribbean without cancelling anything.  I mean its crazy to cancel a cruise because of Money Owed. There must be some manual intervention and it always behooves me why you would rely on automation. Automation can ruin a lot of people's vacations.  I would be really upset if Royal just cancelled a Paid In Full Reservation or with any other vendor and not have any cabins to book on especially flying out from California.

 

Edited April 9, 2019 by travelplus

[John&LaLa]

15 minutes ago, travelplus said:

 

Wait a minute if the other people did not cancel the cruise and you were first booked into the room and its an IT issue you would think Royal would sort it out and pay for airfare if its their mistake. This sounds odd to me that they want you to switch ships but pay for airfare at the last minute  to do so would be a breach of some contract. It does not add up.  If the  system cancelled you after Final Payment against your will then they must abide to their end of the contract as you paid off the cruise in full.

 

You simply cannot expect someone to have to foot the bill. Its called Errors and Omissions Insurance for issues such as this. Even if Royal had to pay First Class Tickets via the Air Department to get you to the new ship its not your responsibility to pay up. What would have happened if the passenger agreed to switch ships and already paid to switch their airfare only to have to switch to the original ship and switch airfare again.

 

Were talking about last minute airfare during prime time $800 per person or more at the last minute. And  what about non refundable pre and post hotels etc.  

So does this mean we should all book with Cruise Air for fear that a confirmed cruise reservation is now subject to cancellation even after Final Payment.  Wouldn't there be a failsafe 24 hour period whereby someone manually checks the reservation to see that Final Payment has been made and that the increase is due to a failure in the system so that the cabin is not released and the reservation is cancelled.  It takes more time to reinstate a reservation and repurchase all onboard dining etc.    

 

I think Royal should hire people like me that are not a 5th grader when it comes to technology. If I were running the IT system an automated e-mail would go out stating that there is an additional charge on your reservation( anything out of Final Payment) that is due on the reservation would not affect the reservation . So if you did not pay for a Shore Excursion or Internet Package only that would be cancelled and you would have to repurchase it at the going rate. 

 

But the letter would say that there is an issue with your reservation and to contact Royal Caribbean without cancelling anything.  I mean its crazy to cancel a cruise because of Money Owed. There must be some manual intervention and it always behooves me why you would rely on automation. Automation can ruin a lot of people's vacations.  I would be really upset if Royal just cancelled a Paid In Full Reservation or with any other vendor and not have any cabins to book on especially flying out from California.

 

 

Like I said, glad it worked out 😉

[travelplus]

Just now, John&LaLa said:

 

Like I said, glad it worked out 😉

And what if it did not work out. I am just playing devils advocate for situations where its tough luck you must switch ships and pay for your own new airline tickets. We need to be prepared.

[John&LaLa]

28 minutes ago, travelplus said:

And what if it did not work out. I am just playing devils advocate for situations where its tough luck you must switch ships and pay for your own new airline tickets. We need to be prepared.

 

May the odds be ever in your favor. 😉

 

Seriously though, ship happens. The initial offer from Royal was the easiest for them. It wasn't the final. 

 

They book millions of passengers a year, statistics will tell you issues will crop up.  How they are handled is the only thing we should worry about.  From what I've read, no one on this thread ended up with a bad experience.  One person negotiated poorly. 

 

I call that utilizing creative solutions. 

Edited April 9, 2019 by John&LaLa

[Ashland]

5 hours ago, cello56 said:

Back in April of 2012, I got a call from RCI less then a week before our cruise. They had 'suddenly' realized that they had overbooked our cruise, and would we be willing to CHANGE SHIPS? Seriously, they were asking people who lived in Florida and could drive to Fort Lauderdale if they would change from Freedom Eastern to Allure Western. Left the same date and for the same length. The woman on the phone sounded so stressed that I agreed. I was STUPID! The cruise ended up costing us more money, and RCI didn't give us a nickel for our trouble. Extra day of dog sitting was $80 (four Greyhounds), driving an additional three hours plus tolls, wear and tear on our car. To be fair, I should have asked for some OBC for compensation. Ironically the cruise prices for Freedom were higher than Allure that week. We had fun though, so in the end it was all good. Turned out to be over 35 people that were 'relocated' to Allure from Freedom that cruise!

Hmmm...They "suddenly" realized this.....really 

[island lady]

22 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Almost, went with Serenade for the itinerary 

 

Good call.  Good friends and neighbors were booked on Oasis TA.  They were disembarking in Barcelona to do the summer in Europe.  Had to scramble to get other transportation over there.  I told them to fly, but they ended up with HAL out of Ft. Lauderdale as replacement TA.  

[FloridaMac]

On 4/6/2019 at 7:39 PM, seadays4me said:

This cruise isn't until 2020 on the Adventure and all the Hump cabins are gone.  But there are plenty of other cabins left. 

It's not March 14 is it?  That ship is really getting full! 

[seadays4me]

On 4/11/2019 at 9:34 PM, FloridaMac said:

It's not March 14 is it?  That ship is really getting full! 

Its in May 2020 out of Cape Liberty.