Itinerary change with no notice, Cruise Line KNEW the itinerary would be changed

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

My husband and I scheduled a cruise, a few weeks ago for a cruise that leaves Sunday because we wanted to get away for a quick trip! Now we find out days before we are to leave that the itinerary has changed not to our liking! Originally, we were supposed to cruise to St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Nassau and Royal Caribbean's Coco Cay! Now the cruise goes to St. Kitts, Puerto Rico and Nassau! We are NOT happy! We scheduled this last minute cruise SPECIFICALLY for the itinerary! 😠

 

What I found out right here in Cruise Critic but NOT until yesterday after reading a thread, is that the RCI Cruise Line KNEW this itinerary would NOT be available due to a propulsion issue with their ship, the Allure! They have been redirecting the itineraries for at least a month or MORE, but failed to let our TA know that this itinerary was not going to happen when we booked just a couple weeks ago. We booked late, so we are in the non-refundable window! BUT Royal Caribbean KNEW for several months that the ship would not be doing that itinerary, due to not being able to get into particular ports because of a propulsion issue with the ship and never let our TA or us know!!! We are very angry, needless to say! 😠

 

The cruise leaves on Sunday and we will NOT be on it, nor will we be on any Royal Caribbean cruise EVER AGAIN!!! Their policy of KNOWING an itinerary is NOT going to happen, and not letting TA's or customers know in advance, thus allowing people to PAY for a cruise in a non-refundable window is extremely nasty and simply a money grabbing ploy!. They get to keep your money and you either go on a cruise you don't want to, or they keep your money and you stay home! This is outrageous and should NOT be allowed!

 

We have NEVER had this problem in over 50 cruises with other Cruise Lines! The only other problem we had with a cruise was a long while back when we first started cruising and guess what? It was was with RCI also. My husband was hesitant to book this cruise because of that, but it was the only cruise that offered what we wanted in a short window! So......we got screwed again! THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!!!! We will NEVER book with this clown cruise line again!!!! 😠 We'll stick to cruise lines that are responsible and care about their passengers! 👍👍

 

I would NEVER recommend this cruise line to anyone!!!! 👎👎

[molly361]

Welcome to Cruise Critic

[Jarmo]

Your TA didn't know about this issue?  Sad!

[suesnake2002]

If you want a reaction ftom rccl, post on social media, Twitter,facebook etc. 

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

Thanks! I have been on Cruise Critic for awhile! We have a different account. I just set this one up! I read the threads from time to time but was looking for info about the Allure specifically when I found that thread about the propulsion issue/port change yrsterday!

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

Just now, suesnake2002 said:

If you want a reaction ftom rccl, post on social media, Twitter,facebook etc. 

I will, thanks for the tip!!!! That is GREAT advice!!!! 👍👍

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, MermaidPrincessSusi said:

Thanks! I have been on Cruise Critic for awhile! We have a different account. I just set this one up! I read the threads from time to time but was looking for info about the Allure specifically when I found that thread about the propulsion issue/port change yrsterday!

 

Why would you create a new account just to rant?

 

Something is fishy?

[gerif]

2 minutes ago, MermaidPrincessSusi said:

Thanks! I have been on Cruise Critic for awhile! We have a different account. I just set this one up! I read the threads from time to time but was looking for info about the Allure specifically when I found that thread about the propulsion issue/port change yrsterday!

Why would you set up a new account just to complain about this issue?

[Merion_Mom]

You booked a cruise last minute. I would conclude that you are happy just to get away.

 

Be happy.

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

2 minutes ago, Jarmo said:

Your TA didn't know about this issue?  Sad!

Nope! She told us what the itinerary was, and we booked the cruise accordingly! If we had know the uitinerary before, we would NEVER have booked it! Like I said, we booked BECAUSE of the itinerary!

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

2 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Why would you create a new account just to rant?

 

Something is fishy?

Sorry, not fishy! I have not used that account in a couple years and I cannot find the password! I wanted an account just for me as well! The other account was the account for the family! This will MY account!!!

[mickeygirl78]

I’m sorry to hear about this, you are correct, the minute Royal knew they were going to change itineraries they should have updated the bookings so you would have booked knowing what you were getting.

 

i was looking at the allure for October but ended up booking Harmony when I heard about the issues. 

 

I also recommend posting this on social media. Even if Royal does nothing at least you may help warn someone else who doesn’t follow boards.

[loveheart]

If you aren't going to be refunded I would go anyway and enjoy being away.

Didn't the new itinerary show up in any emails?

[Beav1279]

Not that this helps, but the Allure has had propulsion issues since May... I'm surprised that your TA didn't know about that. I assume most TA's would warn their customers about sailing on a "broken" ship. In any case, a day on a cruise is better than any day on land - I know it's not going to the exact ports you want to see but you can still go and enjoy yourself on a beautiful ship! Maybe you can complain enough to customer service to score some OBC or a night in Chops. Good luck!

[HBE4]

7 minutes ago, MermaidPrincessSusi said:

Sorry, not fishy! I have not used that account in a couple years and I cannot find the password! I wanted an account just for me as well! The other account was the account for the family! This will MY account!!!

 

Smart move. This thread may receive some negative feedback. Historically speaking, threads that are angry rants generally get flamed.

 

Best to preserve the dignity of the family account.

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

3 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

You booked a cruise last minute. I would conclude that you are happy just to get away.

 

Be happy.

Not really happy "just to get away"! We can do that anytime! We are retired! We are lucky about where we want to go! That's how we cruise! We cruise where we WANT to, not where a ship is going because we have vacation time.  We are very blessed and I do not take it for granted. But I get very angry when a cruise line pulls something like this!!! We selected this itinerary because of the ports! I really wanted to see the Coco Cay resort and we have friends in St. Thomas! So, it is a disappointment, more than a nice getaway! We hesitated to book the Allure in the first place, due to the size of the ship and how many people are in it, BUT the itinerary sold us!!! I am just mad and not happy that RCI KNEW this itinerary would NOT happen BEFORE and didn't let our TA know and us know! We would have have NEVER booked it!!! 

[HBE4]

11 minutes ago, loveheart said:

If you aren't going to be refunded I would go anyway and enjoy being away.

Didn't the new itinerary show up in any emails?

 

100%  Agreed.

 

Plus, she is getting 2 of the 4 ports. I can understand being upset at missing Perfect Day but since there is so much to do on Allure, it won't be that much of a miss.

 

Go on the  cruise. You'll be glad you did.

 

EDIT: I just read your post above mine (post #16). I can see that the itinerary was important to you.  I do agree that Royal should have been more pro-active in changing all of the itineraries until the propulsion issue is fixed.  But I don't know the logistics involved so maybe it takes longer than we think it should to do that???

Edited August 2, 2019 by HBE4

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

6 minutes ago, mickeygirl78 said:

I’m sorry to hear about this, you are correct, the minute Royal knew they were going to change itineraries they should have updated the bookings so you would have booked knowing what you were getting.

 

i was looking at the allure for October but ended up booking Harmony when I heard about the issues. 

 

I also recommend posting this on social media. Even if Royal does nothing at least you may help warn someone else who doesn’t follow boards.

You are absolutely right! I will be posting to social mecia, definitely! No one else should lose money because of RCI's failure to update TAs and passengers!!! 

[broberts]

I believe the RCI website listed the itinerary change. Too bad it slipped by you and the TA.

 

[cruisinfanatic]

7 minutes ago, MermaidPrincessSusi said:

You are absolutely right! I will be posting to social mecia, definitely! No one else should lose money because of RCI's failure to update TAs and passengers!!! 

Your TA certainly knew of the itinerary change. They just didn't pass along. You only lose money if you don't go.

Why are you throwing away the money you spent by not going?

Edited August 2, 2019 by cruisinfanatic

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

9 minutes ago, loveheart said:

If you aren't going to be refunded I would go anyway and enjoy being away.

Didn't the new itinerary show up in any emails?

No emails!!! I can enjoy being at home too! It's quiet here! Like I said, it was a last minute idea! I travel every month by train to caretake my mom! I switch off weeks with my siblings! So, I am going, going, going,  all the time! In fact, I will be going in 3 weeks! So, this was just a quick 7 day getaway for us! I can rest up here at home without 5000 other people! 😕  I am disappointed that we won't be able to see our friends in St. Thomas and get to enjoy Coco Cay, but at this point, we are just going to stay home....I really just wanted people to know RCI is doing this and it is uncool! 😠

[Jarmo]

9 minutes ago, broberts said:

I believe the RCI website listed the itinerary change. Too bad it slipped by you and the TA.

 

THIS!!!!!!!!!

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

5 minutes ago, broberts said:

I believe the RCI website listed the itinerary change. Too bad it slipped by you and the TA.

 

BUT, the REAL question is:  when did they post the change? We booked a couple weeks ago! She looked for a cruise according to our specifications and she found the one with the islands we wanted!!! I don't think it was changed to this new itinerary when she looked it up!!! She would have seen it! We have booked 75+ vacations with her, at least 50 of them cruises and she has never made a mistake, not once! She booked us according to the islands we asked for and she found the cruise!!!! Not these! And our receipt/confirmation that printed that day shows the original itinerary!!! I just looked at it to make sure!!!! RCI messed up!!!! 😠

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, MermaidPrincessSusi said:

 RCI messed up!!!! 😠

And you want RCI to do what?

[MermaidPrincessSusi]

Our receipt/confirmation that printed the day we booked shows the original itinerary! So that is not  our TA's fault for not seeing a change, when THERE WAS NO CHANGE LISTED AT THE TIME SHE BOOKED OUR CRUISE! RCI messed up! Period!!!!

Edited August 2, 2019 by MermaidPrincessSusi
Spelling errors, thanks autocorrect! 😕