Unexpected balance due on upcoming cruise.

[JoelinSedona]

Hi all,

I have an upcoming cruise on Symphony departing Dec 18th 2021. Total was $1020.38. Paid the deposit of $200 on November 7th when I booked the cruise. The balance due "FINAL PAYMENT DUE" according to Royal was for $820.38 which I paid on November 15th (due date was November 18th).  Just got an email saying I have a balance due of $187.98 and it says it was due November 18th(???).  Tried calling Royal but the office is closed.  A little freaked out as I don't want my cruise cancelled.  Is this an error or a legit charge for gratuities or something else?  Thanks to anyone who might have some insight to what this is for!

[ScubaCat3]

Something similar happened to me recently. I had canceled a cruise planner item to repurchase at a lower cost. When I canceled there was a computer glitch that caused the refund to post twice. Their system took the extra refund and classified it as payment due. The representative I spoke to figured it out and was able to fix it with no problem.

 

By the way, I still have not received a refund on my credit card for the cruise planner cancelation (4 weeks ago now) even though other more recent cancelations have been refunded in a few days.

[PiperHolliday]

This happened to one of my clients' bookings just last week. I called and they reverted the final price. They're able to see the booking history and what triggered the price change, so you shouldn't have to fight for it. In our case, it was an invalid promo code that had been applied and the system got confused - it added the promo value as a debt instead of a discount. 

[dwayneb236]

I purchased a gift card many years back to add to my account as OBC. The system for some reason saw it as I owed that amount after I redeemed it to add to my account. Showed I had now owed $200 after the final due date. I panicked a little but ended up emailing Bailey's office. They assigned a person to my issue and it was taken care of within a couple of days. They even gave me an extra couple hundred bucks for my troubles. I was pretty nervous as I thought they might cancel my cruise. But it worked out. Their computer system is crap. Also I never buy gift cards anymore.

[Maitaivegas]

It has happened to me 2 times.

I repriced my cruise and instead of refunding me what they owe me, they billed me in error.

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

happened to me as well, but just outside of the final payment day and for $393 - for no reason at all (no repricing or requests of any sorts). FB messaged them (because they don't respond to emails until like 2-3 weeks later at best) and it took 2 days to correct, but it was done and I was happy. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Ferry_Watcher]

If you arrive at the terminal with a balance owing on your account, be prepared for a possible longer check=in experience.

Chances are you will first see the check-in agent using the hand-held device, who will receive a prompt to sent you to the counter agent.  The counter agent will try to embark you using their lap top, but will probably receive a prompt saying you need to see the Pier Coordinator, who will tell you you owe $187.98. 

You will say, "for what", the Pier Coordinator will say, "I don't know, there is no notes attached."  I think you may be asked to take a seat while the PC calls over to the ship for additional info.  Or, you could be allowed to board, but asked to go to Guest Services.

If you truly owe this money, you will be asked to sign a form agreeing to have the owed amount added to your shipboard account.

 

Moral of the story, try to resolve it before you go, or have patience once you get to the pier.  Good luck!

[taglovestocruise]

Similar thing happened to us.  Have a cruise in January, paid in full 5 months ago using FCC.  Received a Email last month saying we owed $197.50. Called Royal and was told the FCC could not be applied to port fees or taxes and a new FCC would be issued after the cruise. Last week we received a FCC, our cruise is in January,  with a use by date of April and sail date of DEC.2022. Can't figure out Royals math as the new FCC is for $353.00. Also had a Quantum sailing from Hawaii in April canceled and rebooked Ovation from Hawaii a day earlier. Ovation was was cancelled and we took the 125%, rebooked Quantum Vancouver to Hawaii in Oct. 2022, Used Fcc's for that cruise and we now have a $790 overpayment that has fallen into limbo, Royal says it may be a reissued FCC or a refund or a combo..... Covid is a PITA for everyone.  

[JoelinSedona]

Thanks everyone.  Called this morning and waited on hold for an hour while the rep checked with accounting. They said they will get back to me in 7-10 days.  That's cutting it a bit close!

Anyway, this mystery balance due just happens to add up to 2 perfect day waterpark tickets I cancelled and rebooked at a lower price.  I mentioned that to the rep and he pooh-pooh that idea at first by saying how "Royal doesn't mix cruise planner charges with the regular booking charges". After an hour he said maybe that's what happened after all.  Um, sure looks like it. Why in the heck would they rebill me for cancelled cruise planner items and suddenly say I have a past due balance on the cruise itself for that exact amount? Weird.

[wolfcathorse]

7 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

If you arrive at the terminal with a balance owing on your account, be prepared for a possible longer check=in experience.

Chances are you will first see the check-in agent using the hand-held device, who will receive a prompt to sent you to the counter agent.  The counter agent will try to embark you using their lap top, but will probably receive a prompt saying you need to see the Pier Coordinator, who will tell you you owe $187.98. 

You will say, "for what", the Pier Coordinator will say, "I don't know, there is no notes attached."  I think you may be asked to take a seat while the PC calls over to the ship for additional info.  Or, you could be allowed to board, but asked to go to Guest Services.

If you truly owe this money, you will be asked to sign a form agreeing to have the owed amount added to your shipboard account.

 

Moral of the story, try to resolve it before you go, or have patience once you get to the pier.  Good luck!

this is exactly (word for word) what happened to me Oct 31st while trying to embark Harmony. Went to Guest Services, they didn't know and told me they had to email Miami and they (Guest Services) would contact me. Next day I went back and asked about it and Guest Services said Miami told them it was an error, the extra $100 was no longer showing on my account. They also lost a 3 night dining package we had purchased using OBC. Told me I had to buy it and I told them to cancel my package, I even showed them the purchase confirmation and charge on my credit card. So I had that added as OBC and they lost possible gratuity. Way to go IT department.

[ABAviation]

I had the same thing happen yesterday. They said I owed ~$750 which matched up with the things that I cancelled and re-bought last week during black Friday. I was on hold for an hour while the rep "investigated it" and found that their system hung up the refund and pulled it from the cruise fare. He said that it had been fixed in the accounting department but wouldn't show for 48 hours. He did modify my booking to have a later final payment date so the system wouldn't cancel the reservation.

[Biker19]

9 hours ago, ABAviation said:

He said that it had been fixed in the accounting department but wouldn't show for 48 hours. He did modify my booking to have a later final payment date so the system wouldn't cancel the reservation.

Welcome to CC.

 

If you don't already know, as Reagan said "trust, but verify" - call back in a couple of days to confirm.