Mock Booking Warning

[LuCruise]

Just thought I'd share my experience so others keep an eye out too.  Yesterday I noticed that I had a price drop on one of our cruises.  When doing the mock booking, I did notice that it was odd as we had 2 rooms and although the total cost or each room was the same, the "view pricing by guest" had different items and costs between the two rooms (and room 2 numbers didn't add up correctly).  No problem...I thought....as the total of each room made sense.

 

I called in for the price drop and explicitly mentioned a couple times that our booking was refundable and I wanted to keep it that way.  The agent acknowledged, but when she sent me the invoice, I noticed that the cruise fare items were marked as NRD (non-refundable).  The agent selected refundable but there was some glitch that changed it to non-refundable.  (I do believe her on this as I saw the odd thing mentioned above on the mock booking).

 

So what should have been a 5 minute call turned into a 1hr call.  She escalated and they were going to cancel the booking and rebook (which I didn't want as taxes and fees had gone up from my booking), but then they came back and said that they are modifying it to be the refundable rate, but the invoice still looks like it is non-refundable with a comment about a penalty of cancelling.  They said all they can do is mark on the booking itself with a supervisor's note of the override that it is in fact refundable.  This cruise is 50/50 for us that we will be on it (and that's even if cruises are sailing).  I just hope there are no issues if in fact we do end up cancelling this cruise, or if there is a subsequent price drop and the system still thinks our booking is non-refundable.

 

Just mentioning to those that book to double check your invoice after any changes.  The agent said this happens sometimes.  Another great Royal IT scenario.  Not sure if anyone else has experienced a similar issue.

Edited May 1, 2021 by LuCruise

[Iamcruzin]

Thanks for the warning. I hope the savings was worth your time. I hope you don't have an issue with the deposit if you have to cancel.

[molly361]

That has happened to me as well.  I always had them cancel and re book figuring if I did have to cancel in the future there would be problems.  I was told that their system automatically reverts to non refundable and that they have to change it to refundable

[smokeybandit]

So for clarity this isn't a mock booking warning but a reprice warning.

 

I'd also caution those who booked a cruise with FCCs and later get  a price drop to keep an eye on your balance due.

 

I lost about $400 in FCC  after a reprice between the time I got the new invoice and the time I went to make final payment.

 

RC put in to restore that FCC and extended my final payment date 3 weeks while I waited for that FCC to be reapplied. 

It's been 1 week so far.

[LuCruise]

4 minutes ago, molly361 said:

That has happened to me as well.  I always had them cancel and re book figuring if I did have to cancel in the future there would be problems.  I was told that their system automatically reverts to non refundable and that they have to change it to refundable

Yeah, maybe I should have just had them cancel on the spot and then rebook and take the hit on the higher taxes and fees.  

[LuCruise]

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

So for clarity this isn't a mock booking warning but a reprice warning.

 

I'd also caution those who booked a cruise with FCCs and later get  a price drop to keep an eye on your balance due.

 

I lost about $400 in FCC  after a reprice between the time I got the new invoice and the time I went to make final payment.

 

RC put in to restore that FCC and extended my final payment date 3 weeks while I waited for that FCC to be reapplied. 

It's been 1 week so far.

True...it started as a mock booking issue, but real issue is my current booking.  And all I have to go by is their word that this "supervisor note" that is supposed to pop up will in fact keep it as refundable.  With Royal, they couldn't send me anything as proof.

 

Am really sorry you lost $400 in FCC.  Hope they resolve that!

[nelblu]

11 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

So for clarity this isn't a mock booking warning but a reprice warning.

 

I'd also caution those who booked a cruise with FCCs and later get  a price drop to keep an eye on your balance due.

 

I lost about $400 in FCC  after a reprice between the time I got the new invoice and the time I went to make final payment.

 

RC put in to restore that FCC and extended my final payment date 3 weeks while I waited for that FCC to be reapplied. 

It's been 1 week so far.

I'm still waiting for proper reconciliation of my FCCs and deposits with my TA.  We did a L&S from Anthem Easter '21 to Anthem Easter '22.  

 

Having an accounting background helps as I've got spreadsheets laying the costs and related FCCs/deposits for 4 cabins.😀

 

PS.  My FCCs are from an Easter '20 Allure cruise.

Edited May 1, 2021 by nelblu

[Ourusualbeach]

38 minutes ago, LuCruise said:

Just thought I'd share my experience so others keep an eye out too.  Yesterday I noticed that I had a price drop on one of our cruises.  When doing the mock booking, I did notice that it was odd as we had 2 rooms and although the total cost or each room was the same, the "view pricing by guest" had different items and costs between the two rooms (and room 2 numbers didn't add up correctly).  No problem...I thought....as the total of each room made sense.

 

I called in for the price drop and explicitly mentioned a couple times that our booking was refundable and I wanted to keep it that way.  The agent acknowledged, but when she sent me the invoice, I noticed that the cruise fare items were marked as NRD (non-refundable).  The agent selected refundable but there was some glitch that changed it to non-refundable.  (I do believe her on this as I saw the odd thing mentioned above on the mock booking).

 

So what should have been a 5 minute call turned into a 1hr call.  She escalated and they were going to cancel the booking and rebook (which I didn't want as taxes and fees had gone up from my booking), but then they came back and said that they are modifying it to be the refundable rate, but the invoice still looks like it is non-refundable with a comment about a penalty of cancelling.  They said all they can do is mark on the booking itself with a supervisor's note of the override that it is in fact refundable.  This cruise is 50/50 for us that we will be on it (and that's even if cruises are sailing).  I just hope there are no issues if in fact we do end up cancelling this cruise, or if there is a subsequent price drop and the system still thinks our booking is non-refundable.

 

Just mentioning to those that book to double check your invoice after any changes.  The agent said this happens sometimes.  Another great Royal IT scenario.  Not sure if anyone else has experienced a similar issue.

I’ve had this happen many times in the past where they have notated the booking that it is actually refundable and never had an issue when having to cancel at a later date. 

[Ourusualbeach]

29 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

RC put in to restore that FCC and extended my final payment date 3 weeks while I waited for that FCC to be reapplied. 

It's been 1 week so far.

The good news up is they are great about extending the option dates while you wait for FCC to be reissued....the bad news is you will likely have to get your option date extended beyond the 3 weeks.  I just extended 3 reservations last night until June 7, these had already been extended at least a month previously. 

[smokeybandit]

11 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The good news up is they are great about extending the option dates while you wait for FCC to be reissued....the bad news is you will likely have to get your option date extended beyond the 3 weeks.  I just extended 3 reservations last night until June 7, these had already been extended at least a month previously. 

 

They said to call them up a few days before the new payment date if the FCCs weren't re-credited.  Oh most certainly I will be calling.

[LuCruise]

40 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I’ve had this happen many times in the past where they have notated the booking that it is actually refundable and never had an issue when having to cancel at a later date. 

Thanks so much for letting me know.  That makes me feel much better.

[Ashland]

There seems to be a lot of "glitch" mistakes in their IT system. I changed around a couple of cabins and even though it clearly said vacation protection plan (declined) it added it anyway. 

[pcur]

Between RCCL's computer glitches and my TA's, I had to book 2 cruises on RCCL's web site and put a transfer form to transfer to my TA, because the TA's system couldn't even see availability.  When they get my reservations they will check the pricing, and tell my what my store cash card amount is.

 

I guess if you truly want money back for a cancellation, then it's worth the grief and extra expense for a refundable deposit.  However, if I've put the money toward a cruise, it's "cruise money", and I'll take the FCC. If one is willing to accept the FCC, then up until the end of this month there's no such thing as non-refundable deposit (assuming you consider the FCC as "refundable").

 

The last time I called my TA the agent was telling me they are waiting to see what RCCL does, based on so many cruise lines are offering the drinks/wifi/gratuities included at a discounted rate from paying individually.  She said RCCL's business model of offering "more fun" isn't going to be as attractive when people want to book cruises with the all-inclusive package.

[waterfever]

On 5/1/2021 at 8:11 AM, LuCruise said:

Just thought I'd share my experience so others keep an eye out too.  Yesterday I noticed that I had a price drop on one of our cruises.  When doing the mock booking, I did notice that it was odd as we had 2 rooms and although the total cost or each room was the same, the "view pricing by guest" had different items and costs between the two rooms (and room 2 numbers didn't add up correctly).  No problem...I thought....as the total of each room made sense.

 

I called in for the price drop and explicitly mentioned a couple times that our booking was refundable and I wanted to keep it that way.  The agent acknowledged, but when she sent me the invoice, I noticed that the cruise fare items were marked as NRD (non-refundable).  The agent selected refundable but there was some glitch that changed it to non-refundable.  (I do believe her on this as I saw the odd thing mentioned above on the mock booking).

 

So what should have been a 5 minute call turned into a 1hr call.  She escalated and they were going to cancel the booking and rebook (which I didn't want as taxes and fees had gone up from my booking), but then they came back and said that they are modifying it to be the refundable rate, but the invoice still looks like it is non-refundable with a comment about a penalty of cancelling.  They said all they can do is mark on the booking itself with a supervisor's note of the override that it is in fact refundable.  This cruise is 50/50 for us that we will be on it (and that's even if cruises are sailing).  I just hope there are no issues if in fact we do end up cancelling this cruise, or if there is a subsequent price drop and the system still thinks our booking is non-refundable.

 

Just mentioning to those that book to double check your invoice after any changes.  The agent said this happens sometimes.  Another great Royal IT scenario.  Not sure if anyone else has experienced a similar issue.

Must have been a Dominion computer that they used!