Royal will not allow rebooking of Prime cruise

[Robinhill]

So after being on hold with Club Royale for 2+ hours- and speaking to a supervisor-  they will not allow me to move my free Prime cruise (which THEY cancelled) to a May cruise date.  They said i just get the port fees back and lose the cruise benefit.  I think this is very unfair.  I earned it and they should extend the ability to rebook this cruise within the next couple of months anyway  since they needed to cancel the cruises.  What is your opinion.  Of course i understand they needed to shut down but i still theink they need to honor this.

[Lady Hudson]

Since it is the yearly benefit for spending ALOT of time in the casino, I agree.  Same boat here, pun intended.  But this is a unique situation.  I am not going to make a big deal of it.  Just hoping everyone comes out of this situation healthy.

[rich_cathybrock]

We are Prime too, and just made "the grade" again after they reworked their policy a few years ago into the current one, which has become far more restrictive.  We had been at Prime (or whatever their 1st tier was called back then) for years before the change, and have been predominantly sailing Royal since we became Casino Royale guests.  

 

After our October 2019 sailing on the Jewel, and I completely forgot about my $400 certificate after getting slammed with work and the Holidays.  When I finally remembered just after Christmas, they refused to honor it, and I escalated to a Supervisor too.  

 

We returned from Anthem last week with our free Prime cruise certificate, and I was told on March 8th (before the world turned completely upside down) that the certificate would be available after April 1st.  They restrict when the certificate can redeemed to 30 days, and cruise has to be completed within 1 year.  If there are limited sailings, and they do not make some reasonable exception, I will be moving back to Princess who has clearly stepped up in the past month. 

 

How all cruise lines react to this disaster will no doubt redefine the industry as a whole.  I, for one, will choose a brand who demonstrably backs its customers and who has gone "above and beyond" in the face of this adversity over a cruise line one cares only for their bottom line.   

[seabeew]

Sorry, Robinhill, that doesn’t seem fair. Is it because you had to use the prime certificate before the end of March? Whether or not, they should allow you to reschedule. Ordinarily I would suggest escalating your request to shoreside executives, but they probably would not be sympathetic at this time. Maybe wait until this all calms down and approach them about it saying you didn’t want to burden them with your request while they were dealing with the immediate situation. The supervisor you dealt with probably didn’t have the authority or ability to override any system programming blocks. I hope you can eventually get your cruise reinstated. 

[Robinhill]

3 minutes ago, seabeew said:

Sorry, Robinhill, that doesn’t seem fair. Is it because you had to use the prime certificate before the end of March? Whether or not, they should allow you to reschedule. Ordinarily I would suggest escalating your request to shoreside executives, but they probably would not be sympathetic at this time. Maybe wait until this all calms down and approach them about it saying you didn’t want to burden them with your request while they were dealing with the immediate situation. The supervisor you dealt with probably didn’t have the authority or ability to override any system programming blocks. I hope you can eventually get your cruise reinstated. 

Thanks so much- this sounds like excellent advice.

[Foosguy]

52 minutes ago, Robinhill said:

So after being on hold with Club Royale for 2+ hours- and speaking to a supervisor-  they will not allow me to move my free Prime cruise (which THEY cancelled) to a May cruise date.  They said i just get the port fees back and lose the cruise benefit.  I think this is very unfair.  I earned it and they should extend the ability to rebook this cruise within the next couple of months anyway  since they needed to cancel the cruises.  What is your opinion.  Of course i understand they needed to shut down but i still theink they need to honor this.

We are in the exact same situation, believe it or not the last time this occurred to us (100% free cruise and Royal cancelled and refund / FCC was given) we received a FCC equal to the value of the cruise fare rate, not what was paid to them. So I will be waiting to see if that occurs again before requesting my refund. Luckily we had already both earned of prime status for April 2020 on prior cruises otherwise I would be upset.

 

My suggestion to you is to wait and see how much FCC they offer before requesting a refund.

 

Kyle

[Robinhill]

11 minutes ago, Foosguy said:

We are in the exact same situation, believe it or not the last time this occurred to us (100% free cruise and Royal cancelled and refund / FCC was given) we received a FCC equal to the value of the cruise fare rate, not what was paid to them. So I will be waiting to see if that occurs again before requesting my refund. Luckily we had already both earned of prime status for April 2020 on prior cruises otherwise I would be upset.

 

My suggestion to you is to wait and see how much FCC they offer before requesting a refund.

 

Kyle

Kyle- thanks so much!  I will keep my fingers crossed for this.  Yes, i already earned my Prime for this year too so this cruise was not critical.

[grneyes]

Have the same problem , not happy to loss a free cruise

[bethco]

This sounds to me like one of those things that when the dust settles will be a whoops.  I am sure they are so overwhelmed right now that the Prime cruise changes are something they just can't handle.  I hope they reverse it and let you all have it later on.  

[JessyCruises]

5 hours ago, rich_cathybrock said:

They restrict when the certificate can redeemed to 30 days, and cruise has to be completed within 1 year.  If there are limited sailings, and they do not make some reasonable exception, I will be moving back to Princess who has clearly stepped up in the past month. 

 

If you are prime for the year, you do not need to book it within 30 days of April 1.  The certificates came out last year around April 15th.  You can book it for any sailing up to March 31 of the following year.  The only restrictions I am aware of are 8 days or less and no holiday sailings.

[6MonthsHere6MonthsThere]

We came off the Allure yesterday with casino certificates for my wife and myself, the certificates were for $500 and $400 but still had the statement “must be booked within 30 days” when I asked the Casino host whether this will be extended was told you must still book within the time stated even with all the issues going on.

[tardy]

I lost my JS  Comp. for March 29th sailing.  It would be great if Casino Royal sent another Offer for future booking 

of a JS .   To 6monthshere6monthsthere. In the past I have booked cruise with casino certificate within the 30 day

window.  if I couldn't keep the reservation I was allowed to change to another booking as long as it was in the allotted 

year.  But in order to do that I had to make sure  that first booking was within 30 days of day it was issued.

[NJ&Ozzie]

Is this your free cruise from last year earning Prime?    C.R. told us we couldn't book our current free cruise till after 2nd week of April for this year so will book ours later - hopefully!

 

Agree, try calling again - talk to someone else.  You might get a different answer.

NJ 

[NJ&Ozzie]

Just thinking - what about Prime members that need to earn the rest of their points to remain Prime.  What if they can't get on a ship by April to do this?  Wonder if C.R. will extend the April deadline to earn points.

NJ 

[6MonthsHere6MonthsThere]

Thanks, perhaps look at doing that

[Retired LEO]

2 hours ago, NJ&Ozzie said:

Just thinking - what about Prime members that need to earn the rest of their points to remain Prime.  What if they can't get on a ship by April to do this?  Wonder if C.R. will extend the April deadline to earn points.

NJ 

The cut off date is March 31st. 

[Sail n Snow]

7 hours ago, bethco said:

This sounds to me like one of those things that when the dust settles will be a whoops.  I am sure they are so overwhelmed right now that the Prime cruise changes are something they just can't handle.  I hope they reverse it and let you all have it later on.  

When this is over they’ll need to attract cruisers again and I would assume one way will be sales and deals. The other will be for Club Royale to put together some incentive programs and specials to entice people to go.  So hopefully once they have time to think about the future and a clear end is in sight of this virus they’ll start planning for the future. 
 

btw still stinks that you lost it but I’m sure they’ll send out offers eventually. 

[suesnake2002]

Let me play the devils advocate. You gamble, you like to gamble. (So do I)  We have a pandemic going on. The future of royal is questionable. People talking bankruptcy. Out of all the places to cut and save with the least impact to paying customers would be the freebies. Free cruises, free drinks. Etc. 

And if everything works out, and the company survives this. Wouldn't it be nice to get your benefits back, or slackened rules?? I believe a wait and see approach. 

I know the casino's around here have been slowly cutting back on perks for years. Why aren't the cruise lines allowed?

[Milwaukee Eight]

Royal has been consistent with this policy regarding Casino Comp cruises. Same thing happens during Hurricane cruises. 

[Lady Hudson]

18 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Royal has been consistent with this policy regarding Casino Comp cruises. Same thing happens during Hurricane cruises. 

Didn’t happen to me during engine issues on Grandeur last summer.  Received a nice FCC for a comped cruise.  Others on ship told me that had happened to them in the past.   Comped cruisers still are out the same amount of aggravation as other cruisers in time and energy.  Boarding pets, precruise hotel rooms, etc.  Royal treated comped cruisers with the same respect as others.

 

Now — I don’t expect that Royal should be giving FCC’s indefinitely.  But for those who were to cruise this week or next - maybe.  The Casino Royale program brings lots of people into the casino and increases profits. If it didn’t they wouldn’t have it.  It’s in Royals best interest to keep players happy.  IMHO

[Milwaukee Eight]

35 minutes ago, Lady Hudson said:

Didn’t happen to me during engine issues on Grandeur last summer.  Received a nice FCC for a comped cruise.  Others on ship told me that had happened to them in the past.   Comped cruisers still are out the same amount of aggravation as other cruisers in time and energy.  Boarding pets, precruise hotel rooms, etc.  Royal treated comped cruisers with the same respect as others.

 

Now — I don’t expect that Royal should be giving FCC’s indefinitely.  But for those who were to cruise this week or next - maybe.  The Casino Royale program brings lots of people into the casino and increases profits. If it didn’t they wouldn’t have it.  It’s in Royals best interest to keep players happy.  IMHO

I didn’t say I liked the policy. 

[Lady Hudson]

36 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I didn’t say I liked the policy. 

Gotcha!  Guess no one does.  As my previous post earlier in this thread stated — my biggest concern is that we all stay healthy. My county in PA is basically closing down.  Governor only wants grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations to remain open.  All schools are closed.  We will get through this and someday we will cruise again.  Good luck to all.  Katherine 

[Milwaukee Eight]

1 hour ago, Lady Hudson said:

Gotcha!  Guess no one does.  As my previous post earlier in this thread stated — my biggest concern is that we all stay healthy. My county in PA is basically closing down.  Governor only wants grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations to remain open.  All schools are closed.  We will get through this and someday we will cruise again.  Good luck to all.  Katherine 

It’s crazy here. Bikeweek here and Daytona Beach Mayor pulled all vendor permits. Disgusting. He killed vendors on Beach St last year. Compared to the past, it’s like a Ghost Town. Businesses are suffering. Media Hysteria. N1H1 was far worse but no media hype. 

My boss is covering 3 hospitals this weekend. One a trauma center and no big deal. They have plenty of supplies. Some screening to enter but that’s about it. Per protocol, they have a triage tent set up outside the ER if needed. 
 

In My Opinion 

Edited March 15, 2020 by Milwaukee Eight

[Lady Hudson]

2 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

It’s crazy here. Bikeweek here and Daytona Beach Mayor pulled all vendor permits. Disgusting. He killed vendors on Beach St last year. Compared to the past, it’s like a Ghost Town. Businesses are suffering. Media Hysteria. N1H1 was far worse but no media hype. 
 

In My Opinion 

I do hear you.  But to listen to

a public official on tv “No one is sorry after a crisis that they over prepared”.  Hopefully the gov’t will make business owners whole when all is said and done.  I think since this is a new virus no one really knows how it will progress.  Hence the panic, IMHO.

[rich_cathybrock]

On 3/14/2020 at 3:28 PM, Canadian Disney Mom said:

 

If you are prime for the year, you do not need to book it within 30 days of April 1.  The certificates came out last year around April 15th.  You can book it for any sailing up to March 31 of the following year.  The only restrictions I am aware of are 8 days or less and no holiday sailings.

I am aware.   I have 2 certificates right now - one for $400 which has to be booked within 30 days of receipt, so in my case, by April 8th.  Then the Prime certificate which I will receive April 1st (or thereafter, as I am sure they will be behind.  Fingers crossed on both counts that they will both be honored.  Least of our worries - so much in NY shutting down now. 😞