Never Again on RCCL! Poor Customer Service!

[smplybcause]

42 minutes ago, dznypal said:

just by thought did the CC used for the deposit have travel insurance with it

 

ours does and we had to cancel a trip a few years ago--and the CC I used has the travel insurance as one of the perks

 

so when I had to cancel we got every cent back from the trip

 

this perk is free with the card

 

sorry if someone else already mentioned it--I didn't read all the pages

 

good luck

 

 

 

They would be canceling due to work and I'm not sure any credit card covers that. A lot of travel insurance policies don't even cover work as a reason so you have to look for a plan that includes it. 

[brillohead]

14 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

IN OTHER NEWS, jump on that balcony!! Lower than outside and just a handful of change over interior! Woot woot!

Central Park balconies are often cheaper than interior and ocean view.  

Supply and demand....

[Ocean Boy]

10 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Central Park balconies are often cheaper than interior and ocean view.  

Supply and demand....

I've noticed that almost every time that I have booked an Oasis class ship. I initially see the balcony pricing and it looks really good until I find that it is not ocean view balcony pricing.

[mayleeman]

19 years as a judge. In a credibility situation (referred to as "he said/she said"), you have to look at surrounding circumstances. Were I deciding who is telling the truth, I would be bothered by RC not producing the tape (but I had authority to issue subpoenas) but also by the OP's repeated claims of "nowhere was the NRD disclosed" on the website or the documents.

 

The latter one bothers me more because the OP has retreated to "down at the bottom where your eyes do not go" about the NRD disclosure in the mock booking, and to "tiny print" about the NRD in the booking confirm. 

 

OP should initiate an arbitration or small claims court case and subpoena the tape. 

 

Considering the OP's claims of nondisclosure in the website and in the documents have been thoroughly disproven, I would not be surprised if the tape reveals that any mention of NRD in the booking may have been overlooked.

 

Had the OP simply admitted being wrong about the docs and the website, I would feel the story is more credible. But that attempt to shift the story to one where RC deviously hid the disclosures loses me.

[Iamcruzin]

35 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

IN OTHER NEWS, jump on that balcony!! Lower than outside and just a handful of change over interior! Woot woot!

We usually book ocean views on other lines but  I noticed that Royal prices the OV higher than the balcony quite often. We booked a balcony for this reason and as it turned out they sold all of the lower priced balconies pretty quickly and close to the itinerary launch. In the end the ocean view rooms were priced substantially more than what I paid for  a balcony. I received 3 royal up offers. They probably sold a lot of guarantee balconies for a lot more than what I paid and tried to get me to move.  I didn't even bite. I would book the room I chose again. 

Edited July 12, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[JasonMason]

....Anyone else need Advil? 

 

😇

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, mayleeman said:

19 years as a judge. In a credibility situation (referred to as "he said/she said"), you have to look at surrounding circumstances. Were I deciding who is telling the truth, I would be bothered by RC not producing the tape (but I had authority to issue subpoenas) but also by the OP's repeated claims of "nowhere was the NRD disclosed" on the website or the documents.

 

The latter one bothers me more because the OP has retreated to "down at the bottom where your eyes do not go" about the NRD disclosure in the mock booking, and to "tiny print" about the NRD in the booking confirm. 

 

OP should initiate an arbitration or small claims court case and subpoena the tape. 

 

Considering the OP's claims of nondisclosure in the website and in the documents have been thoroughly disproven, I would not be surprised if the tape reveals that any mention of NRD in the booking may have been overlooked.

 

Had the OP simply admitted being wrong about the docs and the website, I would feel the story is more credible. But that attempt to shift the story to one where RC deviously hid the disclosures loses me.

 

Your honor. 

 

May I submit the following evidence into the record?

 

The Plaintiff states that nowhere on the website does it say that the booking she wanted to make had a nonrefundable deposit.  She said that she only called when she had checked the pricing on the website.

 

This is a screen shot of the cruise that she booked last year, if she were booking today:

 

 

[MisterBill99]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I've noticed that almost every time that I have booked an Oasis class ship. I initially see the balcony pricing and it looks really good until I find that it is not ocean view balcony pricing.

 

Plus you get the C&A discount on balconies so it gets even cheaper.

 

Related to this thread, I recently booked a couple of cabins on Oasis next year and the online TA I used (not the wholesale club) had a group rate on my sailing which was cheaper than any other rate in the CP bacony category and had a refundable deposit.  So it definitely pays to check with TA to avoid having to take a NRD. When I was doing test bookings on Royal's site, I saw no option to only see rates with refundable deposits.

Edited July 12, 2019 by MisterBill99

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, brillohead said:

Central Park balconies are often cheaper than interior and ocean view.  

Supply and demand....

 

That may have had a balcony discount

[neverbeenhere]

No matter what one of those papers on the law says, this is not my area of the law, but...  

 

The OP does not need to file in small claims court, they need to move on in life. Everyone has made bad choices in life that have cost them substantial amounts of green. The courts are not the answer to dealing with frustrations of ill informed savy moves. 

Get over it, leave the legal process for real things. 

 

Peace out. ✌️ 

[The Sunset Glow]

4 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

Well, $333 a person for deposits is a new one for me! Color me confused. 

 

I believe the OP is Canadian and our deposit is around $500 CDN per person

Edited July 12, 2019 by The Sunset Glow

[Bloodgem]

I'm struggling with the fact that the son can not go on the cruise because he started his new job in January. I may be misinterpreting post 1 wrong but if the son did starting his new job in January than his new employers has plenty of time to arrange cover for a cruise in October.  

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, The Sunset Glow said:

 

I believe the OP is Canadian and our deposit is around $500 CDN per person

 

Even under the worst exchange rate, how does $250 US become $500 CDN???

 

And she is in Oklahoma.  (which is not in Canada, the last time I looked)

[Thorben-Hendrik]

3 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Your honor. 

 

May I submit the following evidence into the record?

 

The Plaintiff states that nowhere on the website does it say that the booking she wanted to make had a nonrefundable deposit.  She said that she only called when she had checked the pricing on the website.

 

This is a screen shot of the cruise that she booked last year, if she were booking today:

 

 

This is getting totally ridiculous! 😨🤮

[snaefell]

Don't know if things work differently in the USA to here in the UK but speaking to a TA IME may not solve the problem,rather than make sure people are aware of all the potential banana skins I get the impression that they are all happy to keep quiet until you have paid that non refundable(as it has been here in the UK as long as I've known) deposit.

Things like the premium restaurants,cost of drinks & drink packages,the most hated item being the auto tips which many new cruisers don't find out about until way later,all things that a good TA should be aware of & be prepared to advise the customer about IMO,I've not spoken to one yet who has.

[SRF]

The one thing that strikes me is, the OP is saying that 10 months ago, non-refundable was not mentioned when booking.

 

Could it be possible that they missed it or forgot it?

 

I can see the frustration, but it is up to you to verify all details of a booking or contract.

 

Also, if you are a business where cancellation is likely, trip insurance is a good idea.

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

I just picked a random date for a mock booking to see where the NRD wording was used.  The "fine print" at the bottom of the page that Tree_skier posted does appear, but I need to scroll down to see it.  The browser window only shows the 2 big blocks (pick my own cruise or we pick it for you) unless you scroll down.  No reason to scroll since I would only click on one of the 2 blocks, so I blew by it the first time without realizing it was there.  Same thing with the page where you select between cabin types...only visible if scrolling (when scrolling isn't necessary or obvious).  It's not until I reached the page with the silhouette of the ship when you start to pick a specific cabin that the fine print was on the page without scrolling.  The page that Tree_skier posted had the fine print immediately below the selections on the page.  The cruise that I looked at had a lot of space between the page content and the fine print.  Seems to vary by cruise and by specific page during the booking process.  I could see how an uninformed person could be confused.  How about if we blame Royal's website? 😀

[island lady]

23 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

 

When I read the OPs post, I read it like when she was on Allure last October she booked a cruise for this October. 😜

 

 

Me too...it was a bit confusing.  

[dcgrumpy]

13 hours ago, akcruz said:

 

While I do agree with the OP that the customer service rep was wrong with not stating they had a non refundable deposit, I also place blame on the OP.  If I had not booked with a company in 4 years I would be asking questions and know what I was handing over $2000 for.  In the world today businesses change their terms all the time and we as customers need to look out for ourselves.  Even if I didn't ask when on the phone I would be looking over my confirmation to ensure all was as I expected.  Whenever I call in for anything I ask for a confirmation email and don't hang up until I get it.  My opinion, blame needs to be shared between the CSR and the OP with the majority falling to the OP.

I have to agree. Even when I'm booking a one night stay in a $150 a night hotel I make sure I know the cancellation policy before booking. Then I check the confirmation to make sure it's right. 

 

Like other posters have said the OP would have been able to change it within 24 hours. Last year my sister-in-law accidentally booked the wrong cruise. It was non-refundable but she was able to call and change it within 24 hours. Luckily she posted it on Instagram and my kids saw that she was on the wrong cruise.  

[FLACRUISER99]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

I just picked a random date for a mock booking to see where the NRD wording was used.  The "fine print" at the bottom of the page that Tree_skier posted does appear, but I need to scroll down to see it.  The browser window only shows the 2 big blocks (pick my own cruise or we pick it for you) unless you scroll down.  No reason to scroll since I would only click on one of the 2 blocks, so I blew by it the first time without realizing it was there.  Same thing with the page where you select between cabin types...only visible if scrolling (when scrolling isn't necessary or obvious).  It's not until I reached the page with the silhouette of the ship when you start to pick a specific cabin that the fine print was on the page without scrolling.  The page that Tree_skier posted had the fine print immediately below the selections on the page.  The cruise that I looked at had a lot of space between the page content and the fine print.  Seems to vary by cruise and by specific page during the booking process.  I could see how an uninformed person could be confused.  How about if we blame Royal's website? 😀

Did it happen to occur to you that the RCI web page will look different depending on what device & browser you are using

[The Sunset Glow]

7 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Even under the worst exchange rate, how does $250 US become $500 CDN???

 

And she is in Oklahoma.  (which is not in Canada, the last time I looked)

 

I don't know but the last few cruises we've booked our deposit has been $450 per person. Our current exchange rate is approximately 1.35 so $333 x 1.35 = $450 (someone posted $333 so that's what caught my attention).

 

Also, just before I posted the comment yesterday I just happened to see a post on one of the social media boards with the same details as OP - it was eerily similar circumstances with the deposit, the same tone and "never again" stance. The poster also had dog breeding stuff on their profile which was mentioned here and they were from Canada. It all seemed to add up but it could've been a huge coincidence, of course. The post didn't last very long and is no longer there. 

 

I don't know, this whole thing makes no sense to me and I've invested way more energy in trying to understand it than I should have. I got sucked into the black hole 😏 😂 🙄

[nascarcruiser]

8 hours ago, Bloodgem said:

I'm struggling with the fact that the son can not go on the cruise because he started his new job in January. I may be misinterpreting post 1 wrong but if the son did starting his new job in January than his new employers has plenty of time to arrange cover for a cruise in October.  

Sadly not all companies work that way

[MisterBill99]

18 minutes ago, The Sunset Glow said:

 

I don't know but the last few cruises we've booked our deposit has been $450 per person. Our current exchange rate is approximately 1.35 so $333 x 1.35 = $450 (someone posted $333 so that's what caught my attention).

 

The deposit amount depends on the length of the cruise.

[SuiteLady]

22 hours ago, SRF said:

 

Next Cruise rules are different than other booking rules.

 

And every Next Cruise I booked, I had to sign a document that I understood that the deposit was non-refundable and what that meant.

 

Last cruise, I booked two with Next Cruise and had to sign the document for EACH cruise.

 

Hmm, so you are against non-refundable lower airline or hotel prices?  MANY industries do this.

Not against it at all....we paid $100 per person deposit so I was not going to be hung up on the NRD due to the low amount and having the insurance.  I was just saying that I always look over my invoice to make sure I am satisfied that the info is all correct and that I got what I paid for.  I have booked refundable and NRD....just depends. 

[The Sunset Glow]

3 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

The deposit amount depends on the length of the cruise.

 

Right, and whether it's a suite or not. We've booked either longer cruises or suites in the last 3 years so that's makes sense.

Edited July 12, 2019 by The Sunset Glow