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Never Again on RCCL! Poor Customer Service!


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45 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

If you are in the US it is not rare. See many previous posts that outline how to do it... it's pretty simple. 

 

I honestly don't understand people spending hundreds/thousands of dollars without fully knowing what they are getting into. Maybe people have that kind of money to throw around, but it would seem anyone that would complain about it.. does not. 

Apparently the OP did.  They were willing flush $2000 down the commode when all they need to lose was $600.  

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On 7/12/2019 at 9:32 PM, MisterBill99 said:

 

I generally am opposed to NRD cruise fares. However, my TA messed up and booked me an NRD reservation for next year. However, she somehow managed to do it during Celebrity's $25 deposit special and I ended up with a better price than I should have so I decided that I could live with $50 of NRD deposits. I'm not sure how she managed to do it since the $25 deposit was supposed to have been on refundable fares (since $25 isn't much of a disincentive to book and cancel at the last minute).

 

I will say that hotels do a much better job of showing refundable and non-refundable options when booking. Royal's website doesn't give you that choice and hides the non-refundable fact until the very end of the reservation process.

 

If the OP were to take the $100PP hit and rebook for another cruise, could she then book a refundable fare and cancel and get the rest of the money back? Or do they require you to book a NRD fare again?

Did she book you on Celebrity with any perks?  When searching cruises on Celebrity they have a new lower fare with no perks but the deposit is non refundable.

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On 7/14/2019 at 1:07 AM, Merion_Mom said:

 

As has been stated several  times on this thread,  the refundable deposit IS visible when booking online.  After you fill out the names for the reservation and go to the next page, there are options for dining time and insurance.  Another option is for making the deposit refundable.

 

This is all before you submit credit card information.

A new cruiser, or one who hasn't cruised with Royal in a long time wouldn't know that and it's ridiculous to have to jump through hoops to get a price. If the Royal Caribbean rep can't answer the question then it's just shady business.

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43 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

A new cruiser, or one who hasn't cruised with Royal in a long time wouldn't know that and it's ridiculous to have to jump through hoops to get a price. If the Royal Caribbean rep can't answer the question then it's just shady business.

 

Agreed. 14 pages into this thread and I think people have lost sight of the fact the the OP was not told over the phone that the deposit was Non-Refundable.  Everything else discussed (use a TA, double-check the invoice, etc) is just tangent issues deflecting from this fact.

 

Every time I've purchased a product and had to give a deposit - no matter how big or small - the person taking the deposit informs me if its non-nonrefundable or not.

 

How people can defend Royal is beyond me.  Unless they think the OP is not being entirely truthful.

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4 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

How people can defend Royal is beyond me.  Unless they think the OP is not being entirely truthful.

When you reach a certain level in the loyalty program it seems that you sacrifice free drinks and a lounge for common sense.

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9 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

Agreed. 14 pages into this thread and I think people have lost sight of the fact the the OP was not told over the phone that the deposit was Non-Refundable.  Everything else discussed (use a TA, double-check the invoice, etc) is just tangent issues deflecting from this fact.

Then again...they didn't ask either....

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Thru the advice of a person who commented on this thread wherein the same thing happened to him, I wrote Mr. Fain and Mr. Bayley explaining the situation with an attachment of comments from this thread and what has happened to others.   I got a call from a team leader from Resolutions yesterday by the name of Jacquelyn.  Jacquelyn did explain to me that while 90% of calls are recorded, mine was not.  Just my luck.  However, Jacquelyn  was very concerned about what had happened and offered some nice options which we will be taking.

 

Regarding this situation and WHY I never even asked about refundable and nonrefundable again, I got back on Cruise Critic after a couple of years being away.  I wanted to let people know what had transpired with me.  Again, having no clue that deposits now default to NRD was new to me.  However, I have learned alot from this board. 

 

While this board is a wealth of information, it is also a very cruel board.  I think that most of you, had you been in MY shoes would have been furious finding out that what you THOUGHT was a refundable booking was not!  Some are quick to blame me in this situation, while other's were empathetic, and some had even gone thru the same thing.  I thank those for your help!

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i sure hope royal will train staff to be totally upfront with booking and explain this. i do love cruising with them, but they sure seem shady by "leaving" this key info out of booking on phone, or waiting til the very last part of booking online to be able to change price to refundable. their "sales" and how they do math seem pretty shady as well to those that aren't familiar with how they do things. 

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14 minutes ago, gooselover said:

Thru the advice of a person who commented on this thread wherein the same thing happened to him, I wrote Mr. Fain and Mr. Bayley explaining the situation with an attachment of comments from this thread and what has happened to others.   I got a call from a team leader from Resolutions yesterday by the name of Jacquelyn.  Jacquelyn did explain to me that while 90% of calls are recorded, mine was not.  Just my luck.  However, Jacquelyn  was very concerned about what had happened and offered some nice options which we will be taking.

 

Regarding this situation and WHY I never even asked about refundable and nonrefundable again, I got back on Cruise Critic after a couple of years being away.  I wanted to let people know what had transpired with me.  Again, having no clue that deposits now default to NRD was new to me.  However, I have learned alot from this board. 

 

While this board is a wealth of information, it is also a very cruel board.  I think that most of you, had you been in MY shoes would have been furious finding out that what you THOUGHT was a refundable booking was not!  Some are quick to blame me in this situation, while other's were empathetic, and some had even gone thru the same thing.  I thank those for your help!

Cruel? I don't think there was anything cruel being said here.  Maybe you have your own opinion as others do but that is what makes this format work.  Getting input from all sides actually makes me a more informed consumer.  So thank you to everyone who takes the time to post their comments in here whether they are perceived as positive or negative. 

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1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

When you reach a certain level in the loyalty program it seems that you sacrifice free drinks and a lounge for common sense.

What level of C&A are you referring to? I think my common sense is still pretty strong and I get those drinks. Please find a post from me where I defended RCI's practices.

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1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

Agreed. 14 pages into this thread and I think people have lost sight of the fact the the OP was not told over the phone that the deposit was Non-Refundable.  Everything else discussed (use a TA, double-check the invoice, etc) is just tangent issues deflecting from this fact.

 

Every time I've purchased a product and had to give a deposit - no matter how big or small - the person taking the deposit informs me if its non-nonrefundable or not.

 

How people can defend Royal is beyond me.  Unless they think the OP is not being entirely truthful.

 

We don't really know if the rep did not tell them.  They don't remember being told.

 

It was show in the invoice, and they did not pay attention.

 

OP stated they were experienced cruisers who NEVER book non-refundable.  So did they tell the rep that they wanted non-refundable?  And confirm it?  Maybe by looking at the invoice.

 

Sorry, but too many times, here and on other boards, people screw up, then want to blame someone else.

 

All that said, RCI may have screwed up.  They do that. 🙂  

 

But unless the OP takes them to court and subpoenas the tapes, NO ONE will ever really know.

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50 minutes ago, squale2 said:

Cruel? I don't think there was anything cruel being said here.  Maybe you have your own opinion as others do but that is what makes this format work.  Getting input from all sides actually makes me a more informed consumer.  

I think you are correct concerning the use of the word cruel. However, some people have certainly not mastered the art of being tactful when pointing out to someone what they could have, or should have, done differently.

 

I don't really know how many times over the years I have had to deliver the news of lung cancer to patients. It isn't really the time to say it might not have happened if they didn't smoke their damn cigarettes.

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19 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

What level of C&A are you referring to? I think my common sense is still pretty strong and I get those drinks. Please find a post from me where I defended RCI's practices.

There are always exceptions but the die hards just can't come to terms with the fact that Royal can do no wrong. I attribute that to the fact that they committed so much time and money to the cruise line that they just turn a blind eye. I won't comment on the OP's experience  because there are two sides to a story. However I will hold firm that they need to post the refundable and non refundable prices up front without having to do a mock booking. My experience has been that even travel agents can be wrong. When I booked my cruise a told the TA that I wanted to book with a refundable deposit. She quoted me the NRD. Had I not done my homework and jumped through all of the hoops I wouldn't have known the correct price. It just shouldn't be this difficult. 

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On ‎7‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 8:12 PM, Tree_skier said:

When doing a mock booking  this is what I see.  It is fairly small but it is there. commiserations to the OP.  It sucks.  Maybe, try booking a refundable with your FCC.  That will work better for your business and you don't have to waste 1400.

Screen Shot 2019-07-11 at 4.58.34 PM.png

What I find interesting is that the font regarding the NRD is exactly the same style and size as that of the disclosure of "stateroom savings" (and the description of stateroom type and the "from...." which most people seem to recognize and zoom in on right away.  Save for the print being white on a colored background in the stateroom categories AND being black print against white background at the bottom, there is virtually no difference in the font.   So it's hard for me to understand the "fine print" argument.

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6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

It will be real easy in the not too distant future, when RCI eliminates refundable rates.

I agree. This is the writing on the wall. However, you wouldn't get me to book a vacation that way. Too many variables in my life now with work and aging parents.

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1 hour ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Then again...they didn't ask either....

 

True.....but if the last time they booked, there was no such thing as NRD, it wouldn't occur to ask.

 

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1 hour ago, gooselover said:

Yes, we were and RCCL was very generous on that they offered. While we were NOT able to go on the one we booked coming this October, we will be rebooking again.

 

 

Glad it worked out to your satisfaction and that you are not throwing money away.  Thank you for sharing your story as no doubt, new cruisers/infrequent CC members will learn from it.

 

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