Increased charge for lift and shift

[cruise-aholicRN]

For those of you who have done LIFT and SHIFT .... my understanding is that price is locked. After an hour on hold I am told I have to pay an extra almost $300 compared to my receipt in my Cruise Planner. The agent says says it is for increased taxes and fees. This doesn’t sound right to me. When I asked for a supervisor or manager... silence.... then hang up. Can anyone shed light on this?  I am not asking for anything other than what is fair and right.  

Original sailing: Ovation August 14, 2020 to Ovation August 13, 2021 same Alaska route same 4D oceanview balcony.

Any information to help me would be very appreciated.

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, cruise-aholicRN said:

This doesn’t sound right to me.

You, or anyone doing a L&S, should look that (the taxes/fees on the new sailing) up before calling - then you know what the diff should be. There have been plenty of reports of the CSR getting that part of the transaction wrong.

[ryano]

8 minutes ago, cruise-aholicRN said:

For those of you who have done LIFT and SHIFT .... my understanding is that price is locked. After an hour on hold I am told I have to pay an extra almost $300 compared to my receipt in my Cruise Planner. The agent says says it is for increased taxes and fees. This doesn’t sound right to me. When I asked for a supervisor or manager... silence.... then hang up. Can anyone shed light on this?  I am not asking for anything other than what is fair and right.  

Original sailing: Ovation August 14, 2020 to Ovation August 13, 2021 same Alaska route same 4D oceanview balcony.

Any information to help me would be very appreciated.

 

I moved my August 21, 2020 Ovation Alaska cruise to September 10, 2021 using the lift and shift and there was nothing else due $$$ wise,  if that helps any.  I too stayed with the same category cabin.  

Edited June 3, 2020 by ryano

[Ourusualbeach]

12 minutes ago, cruise-aholicRN said:

For those of you who have done LIFT and SHIFT .... my understanding is that price is locked. After an hour on hold I am told I have to pay an extra almost $300 compared to my receipt in my Cruise Planner. The agent says says it is for increased taxes and fees. This doesn’t sound right to me. When I asked for a supervisor or manager... silence.... then hang up. Can anyone shed light on this?  I am not asking for anything other than what is fair and right.  

Original sailing: Ovation August 14, 2020 to Ovation August 13, 2021 same Alaska route same 4D oceanview balcony.

Any information to help me would be very appreciated.

Taxes and fees are not protected.  I had one that went down, the rest went up.

 

40. Are taxes & fees protected under Lift & Shift?

 

When leveraging Lift & Shift to move your client's booking to a future sail date, taxes & fees will be adjusted to reflect the charges associated with the new sailing. Taxes & fees from the original sail date will not be protected

[mkh103]

 I was told by my TA  it's a new policy that Royal implemented this weekend and are not giving an explanation for. You now have to pay the taxes and port charge fees upfront per person.  So, they have my deposit of $ 250.00 per person from a canceled cruise, a total of $ 2,750.00 and now they want an additional $ 653.00 for two of the rooms and $ 364.88 for the 3rd room, an additional $ 1,670.88 ( approx ) for a total of $ 4,420.88 to hold a reservation for next year.  Not sure I will be booking now without knowing what is even happening next year. That a lot of my money they will be holding.   

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, mkh103 said:

 I was told by my TA  it's a new policy that Royal implemented this weekend and are not giving an explanation for. You now have to pay the taxes and port charge fees upfront per person.  So, they have my deposit of $ 250.00 per person from a canceled cruise, a total of $ 2,750.00 and now they want an additional $ 653.00 for two of the rooms and $ 364.88 for the 3rd room, an additional $ 1,670.88 ( approx ) for a total of $ 4,420.88 to hold a reservation for next year.  Not sure I will be booking now without knowing what is even happening next year. That a lot of my money they will be holding.   

You only have to pay the deposit up front or if you have your FCC in hand when you book you can pay the port fees and taxes if your FCC will cover the balance of the cruise.  There were no changes to policies made recently, it has been like this since the end of March

[mkh103]

They are using our FCC and

making us pay the taxes and port fees when booking.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, mkh103 said:

They are using our FCC and

making us pay the taxes and port fees when booking.

That has been policy since the end of March.

 

Since port fees and taxes were refunded from your cancelled cruise you have to pay for them in cash.

 

You could also have just paid the deposit then at final payment paid whatever else was necessary to cover the port fees and taxes then applied your FCC

 

Either way you have to pay the port fees and taxes

Edited June 3, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[cruise-aholicRN]

 

Here is direct from the letter I received from Royal Caribbean- it doesn’t say a darn thing about charging MORE  (or less). It doesn’t say anything about taxes/ fees:

 

Lift and Shift: If you prefer to move your existing booking to a 2021 sailing – we’re happy to move you! We will price protect the original pricing and/or promotion on the same itinerary, length, product, and stateroom category as your original sailing within 4 weeks (before or after) of the original sail date in 2021. 

[mkh103]

12 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That has been policy since the end of March.

 

Since port fees and taxes were refunded from your cancelled cruise you have to pay for them in cash.

 

You could also have just paid the deposit then at final payment paid whatever else was necessary to cover the port fees and taxes then applied your FCC

 

Either way you have to pay the port fees and taxes

Thank you 

 

[mkh103]

2 minutes ago, cruise-aholicRN said:

 

Here is direct from the letter I received from Royal Caribbean- it doesn’t say a darn thing about charging MORE  (or less). It doesn’t say anything about taxes/ fees:

 

Lift and Shift: If you prefer to move your existing booking to a 2021 sailing – we’re happy to move you! We will price protect the original pricing and/or promotion on the same itinerary, length, product, and stateroom category as your original sailing within 4 weeks (before or after) of the original sail date in 2021. 

That is exactly what we did and within the time frame.

[Ourusualbeach]

5 minutes ago, cruise-aholicRN said:

 

Here is direct from the letter I received from Royal Caribbean- it doesn’t say a darn thing about charging MORE  (or less). It doesn’t say anything about taxes/ fees:

 

Lift and Shift: If you prefer to move your existing booking to a 2021 sailing – we’re happy to move you! We will price protect the original pricing and/or promotion on the same itinerary, length, product, and stateroom category as your original sailing within 4 weeks (before or after) of the original sail date in 2021. 

Unfortunately their letters don't always include the fine print.  What I posted was from the FAQ's issued to travel agents

[cruise-aholicRN]

....and did they charge you more?

 

I was told Taxas and fees are $225.03

Another in our group was told  on Lift and Shift -that information isn’t yet available.

Another re- booked in a balcony and their taxes and fees show on the receipt as $872.

Something doesn’t seem right.... we are all on same cruise, all in balconies.

[wenzelh]

Lift and Shift comes under the Terms and Conditions of Cruise With Confidence on their website:

Guest will remain responsible for paying the applicable deposit amounts, taxes/fees, port expenses and gratuities (if applicable) for the new booking. RCI’s “Cruise with Confidence” program does not apply to bookings made by residents of mainland China, and Hong Kong. Program does not apply to chartered sailings or contracted group bookings. RCI reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions at any time without prior notice or liability. Offer can be withdrawn at any time without notice.

 

You are not paying "extra" for government taxes and fees.  You are the prevailing rate for them.  Ask if you are being refunded the original cost for taxes and fees or if you can just pay the difference.

[Meekomist]

When I did my Lift and Shift (which FYI, it was quick and easy, I did two transfers in 18 minutes) the guy told me the Taxes and Fess could go up, they could go down, they could stay the same. But that the amount would be similar. I still have not received my updated documentation (did L&S yesterday) so I don't know what changed yet; he said I may first receive an incorrect statement, but I would then receive a corrected one within 48 hours. 

 

 

He even shifted us to rooms that were just one off from original booking (although I would have preferred to have them moved closer together, but I didn't push it, I figure I can all back some other time to do a room change)

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, Meekomist said:

but I would then receive a corrected one within 48 hours

The quickest that I have received any back was 5 days

[Akina13]

51 minutes ago, cruise-aholicRN said:

....and did they charge you more?

 

I was told Taxas and fees are $225.03

Another in our group was told  on Lift and Shift -that information isn’t yet available.

Another re- booked in a balcony and their taxes and fees show on the receipt as $872.

Something doesn’t seem right.... we are all on same cruise, all in balconies.

I had to call twice - they charged each person in my party double taxes - on another thread someone helped me explain it to them when I called - It appears they didn't remove the fees and taxes from my first booking and when I did the L&S they charged me the new taxes. Taxes had only went up $2 in the end. Please make sure they aren't charging you double taxes

[orla56]

I was told I would have to pay £64 taxes and fees.

The t&f on my old sailing where £132 and £152 on the new sailing 😕

See what it says when I eventually get my updated invoice.

[Akina13]

I also found out L&S you can get OBC/reduced fare when the cruise price goes down. Since I had already paid my cruise off I ended up getting $600 OBC. The first time I called they told me I couldn't do this, but the 2nd time they said I could.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Akina13
wording

[Jimbo]

11 minutes ago, Akina13 said:

I also found out L&S you can get OBC/reduced fare when the cruise price goes down. Since I had already paid my cruise off I ended up getting $600 OBC. The first time I called they told me I couldn't do this, but the 2nd time they said I could.

My price was so low when doing the L& S for our OS cabin...............no way would I ever think I would see the price lower then what we paid :)

[Akina13]

3 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

My price was so low when doing the L& S for our OS cabin...............no way would I ever think I would see the price lower then what we paid 🙂

 

Congrats 🙂 I didn't think we would see a lower price for our Alaskan cruise - it was a pleasant surprise 🙂

[Jimbo]

1 minute ago, Akina13 said:

 

Congrats 🙂 I didn't think we would see a lower price for our Alaskan cruise - it was a pleasant surprise 🙂

Ours was $3750 for a $12,000 Cabin

[molly361]

1 minute ago, Jimbo said:

Ours was $3750 for a $12,000 Cabin

What ship??

[Jimbo]

11 minutes ago, molly361 said:

What ship??

Went from Explorer August 2020 to Harmony September 2021

 

Also got $525 OBC from booking original Cruise on the travel agency web site, which also happily carried over to new cruise.

Edited June 3, 2020 by Jimbo

[cured]

2 hours ago, cruise-aholicRN said:

For those of you who have done LIFT and SHIFT .... my understanding is that price is locked. After an hour on hold I am told I have to pay an extra almost $300 compared to my receipt in my Cruise Planner. The agent says says it is for increased taxes and fees. This doesn’t sound right to me. When I asked for a supervisor or manager... silence.... then hang up. Can anyone shed light on this?  I am not asking for anything other than what is fair and right.  

Original sailing: Ovation August 14, 2020 to Ovation August 13, 2021 same Alaska route same 4D oceanview balcony.

Any information to help me would be very appreciated.

It works both ways. My taxes went down $80, so my invoice is $80 less than my original cruise that I lifted and shifted. I only had my deposit paid, so no taxes to refund and repay.

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by cured