Issues booking annual cruise club royale prime

[kiska]

I am prime (so qualify for an inside) and called to book my annual cruise offer with a paid upgrade to balcony, since that was the only thing that was left on Oasis out of Europe in August. The agent said because there are no inside cabins left they can't price it out for me, and therefore I can't use my annual prime offer, because they can't find out how much my upgrade would cost. Did anyone ever run into this issue, were you able to resolve it? Is it just a matter of calling back and seeing if another agent can do more leg work, or is this a done deal, no go on this cruise. Either way, painful lesson learned.

[cruisegirl1]

 Call back until you get someone in the Oregon call center. 

 

 Good luck and let us know the resolution. 

M

Edited May 28, 2019 by cruisegirl1

[kiska]

Small update! Got a much more helpful agent the second time around, who explained that they need to get in touch with the revenue department who can reopen the closed inside category for her to get the price. Unfortunately they're closed for the day, so I'll have to call back tomorrow, hopefully I'll get another knowledgeable agent!

[djh]

15 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

 Call back until you get someone in the Oregon call center. 

 

 Good luck and let us know the resolution. 

M

Yes, my cruise agent always deals with Club Royale for me  (I just love her for that!) and she refuses to talk with anybody in the Jamaica call center. She just keeps calling back until she gets another call center. She also says that you will get a different answer every time you call so just keep calling until you get somebody that will work with you.

Edited May 29, 2019 by djh

[kiska]

Update #2!! This morning I noticed there's a guarantee that popped up for the Oasis sailing a few days prior out of Barcelona on the same ship. Called around 9:30 am EST, halfway through the conversation realized I got Jamaica. She kept claiming she couldn't see the guarantee, so I politely thanked her and hug up. Called back around 11:45 EST, and got very excited to hear that I'm talking to not Jamaica or Guatemala, so presumably Oregon. He saw the guarantee and booked it for me! Surprised that there were also a couple oceanview cabins that became available, and this would be around the 60 days before sailing mark, so I wonder if some people are cancelling to lose less money. Now I'm waiting to see if the original sailing on August 1 will get an inside available tomorrow or Saturday, which would be around the same timeframe of 60 days before sailing. Either way, this issue is resolved to my satisfaction, changing up to August 1 would just be icing on the cake!

 

So definitely seconding the comment above - if you don't like what you hear, keep calling back to see if you get another answer!

[rt1092]

I had booked a refundable deposit inside cabin for our July 12 Alaska cruise. The final payment date had arrived and Casino Royale hadn't offered the Prime free cruises for 2019. After calling they extended my final payment a week. And the casino had the Prime list ready in 5 days. Was able to upgrade to a balcony for $700. 

Worked out well but a lot of nail biting.

[Robinhill]

13 hours ago, rt1092 said:

I had booked a refundable deposit inside cabin for our July 12 Alaska cruise. The final payment date had arrived and Casino Royale hadn't offered the Prime free cruises for 2019. After calling they extended my final payment a week. And the casino had the Prime list ready in 5 days. Was able to upgrade to a balcony for $700. 

Worked out well but a lot of nail biting.

rt1092 can you tell me where you found the refundable deposit?  Everytime i pull up a cruise the options are we book the room or you book the room but both are non-refundable.

[Clarea]

13 minutes ago, Robinhill said:

rt1092 can you tell me where you found the refundable deposit?  Everytime i pull up a cruise the options are we book the room or you book the room but both are non-refundable.

 

You have to virtually complete the booking, including entering passenger names, in order to see the option for refundable booking.  Royal wants to make it as difficult as possible.

[Robinhill]

thanks so much!

[rt1092]

22 hours ago, Robinhill said:

rt1092 can you tell me where you found the refundable deposit?  Everytime i pull up a cruise the options are we book the room or you book the room but both are non-refundable.

Also you can do over the phone.

[1992cruiser]

On 5/30/2019 at 8:39 PM, rt1092 said:

I had booked a refundable deposit inside cabin for our July 12 Alaska cruise. The final payment date had arrived and Casino Royale hadn't offered the Prime free cruises for 2019. After calling they extended my final payment a week. And the casino had the Prime list ready in 5 days. Was able to upgrade to a balcony for $700. 

Worked out well but a lot of nail biting.

This is the same thing I’m trying to do next summer. We really wanted to do early July, but I’m very nervous the free cruise won’t be offered until mid April. It looks like the Alaska cruises are the best value for the prime cruise. 

Glad it worked out for you.  I tried calling 5 different times and all the agents said there was no way around it once final payment hits, this at least gives an extra week if necessary. 

[rt1092]

On 6/1/2019 at 8:56 AM, 1992cruiser said:

This is the same thing I’m trying to do next summer. We really wanted to do early July, but I’m very nervous the free cruise won’t be offered until mid April. It looks like the Alaska cruises are the best value for the prime cruise. 

Glad it worked out for you.  I tried calling 5 different times and all the agents said there was no way around it once final payment hits, this at least gives an extra week if necessary. 

Our booking is July 12. So I wouldn't chance booking one any earlier.

The irony is is since April 1 we have sailed twice with Royal and both my wife and I are already Prime for Apr 1, 2020