Misled by Royal Caribbean

[Hazeljtwo]

I was misled by RC. My party of six was given (as advertised) a 450 dollar onboard credit for our £12,000+ cruise. I chose a balcony cabin and the picture was an outdoor sea view balcony.

When I got my documents it was an indoor balcony cabin. However, I accepted that in the small print (although the picture was a sea view) it said there was no guarantee of a sea view.

 

So I called to upgrade my cabin and pay extra for a sea view cabin for an extra cost.
 

Couple of days later I noticed my onboard credit was taken from me and my party without consultation!! Costing us 450 dollars.
 

I would not have upgraded if I knew this would happen.

 

After asking for the call to be listened where I am 100% sure I was not advised of this and emailing 4 times - it has been 2 weeks now and no resolution.

 I am seriously disappointed with RC - I usually go with Cunard or Princess and this has taken the shine off my upcoming cruise for my whole party. 

[flamingos]

I don't have an answer to your question, but I thought it odd that a post added 14 minutes ago has 8.9k views.  I think there is a glitch somewhere.

[nelblu]

19 minutes ago, Hazeljtwo said:

I was misled by RC. My party of six was given (as advertised) a 450 dollar onboard credit for our £12,000+ cruise. I chose a balcony cabin and the picture was an outdoor sea view balcony.

When I got my documents it was an indoor balcony cabin. However, I accepted that in the small print (although the picture was a sea view) it said there was no guarantee of a sea view.

 

So I called to upgrade my cabin and pay extra for a sea view cabin for an extra cost.
 

Couple of days later I noticed my onboard credit was taken from me and my party without consultation!! Costing us 450 dollars.
 

I would not have upgraded if I knew this would happen.

 

After asking for the call to be listened where I am 100% sure I was not advised of this and emailing 4 times - it has been 2 weeks now and no resolution.

 I am seriously disappointed with RC - I usually go with Cunard or Princess and this has taken the shine off my upcoming cruise for my whole party. 

In the UK, do you have any consumer protection agency that you can elevate your issues.

[ONECRUISER]

10 minutes ago, flamingos said:

I don't have an answer to your question, but I thought it odd that a post added 14 minutes ago has 8.9k views.  I think there is a glitch somewhere.

Noticed that, weird...

[BND]

14 minutes ago, flamingos said:

I don't have an answer to your question, but I thought it odd that a post added 14 minutes ago has 8.9k views.  I think there is a glitch somewhere.

Site went down for me for a few minutes so that's probably what caused it.  It should correct itself at some point lol.

[Oceansaway17]

well RCI reshuffles the deck when making changes of any kind.  so I think you lost when you made a change to the room type.

This annoys me a lot that they giveth and taketh so quickly and quietly too.

[firefly333]

Whenever you do a price match to another category you pay the current rate. The obc promo with your previous rate is part of the rate. Sounds like maybe it was a gty? 

 

@Ourusualbeachcan probably explain it better but I've found any promo obc associated with a rate is always part of the rate and lost if you change to a different rate. Carnival .. any cruiseline this is how it works. Sorry the agent didnt mention this. A good ta can be invaluable if you dont understand basics like pricing. 

 

Maybe keep a eye on the rates for a better price or one with obc again to match before you sail...

Edited February 15, 2022 by firefly333

[binro01]

This has been the case with any cruise line I ever cruised with. If I have OBC provided by the cruise line, any reprice/change to the booking can cause me to lose that OBC, and I always take that into consideration when choosing to have my booking modified. It's part of the repricing/booking modification game and if you play it long enough you learn.

Sometimes I get a phone rep that is on the ball and will let me know that the change will alter my promos on my current booking, some are not as on the ball and just trying to meet their call quota for the day and their only wish is to get your request processed as fast as possible and off the phone, doing the bear minimum. No matter what we feel, they are not travel agents, and are not our advocate. When booking directly the in's and out's of the game fall squarely on our shoulders.

[Sunshine3601]

Did you book a guarantee rate or did you get to actually select the cabin number you wanted?    Sounds like you booked an guarantee rate then when you called to get a balcony cabin you lost your offer and therefore lost your OBC with the initial offer.     

This is standard process for other cruise lines too whenever a reprice or upgrade is done.         

 

Not sure what ship you are sailing but there are interior balconies in Central Park on Oasis class ships that are considered interior.    And there are Boardwalk balconies on Oasis class ships where you just may get a view of the sea as well as the aqua theater.     

 

Did you check out the deck plan of the ship?

 

[mugtech]

3 hours ago, Hazeljtwo said:

I was misled by RC. My party of six was given (as advertised) a 450 dollar onboard credit for our £12,000+ cruise. I chose a balcony cabin and the picture was an outdoor sea view balcony.

When I got my documents it was an indoor balcony cabin. However, I accepted that in the small print (although the picture was a sea view) it said there was no guarantee of a sea view.

 

So I called to upgrade my cabin and pay extra for a sea view cabin for an extra cost.
 

Couple of days later I noticed my onboard credit was taken from me and my party without consultation!! Costing us 450 dollars.
 

I would not have upgraded if I knew this would happen.

 

After asking for the call to be listened where I am 100% sure I was not advised of this and emailing 4 times - it has been 2 weeks now and no resolution.

 I am seriously disappointed with RC - I usually go with Cunard or Princess and this has taken the shine off my upcoming cruise for my whole party. 

Welcome to Cruise Critic

[not-enough-cruising]

The OBC that was given was most likely to promote booking an inside facing balcony, which many consider to be less desirable than ocean view.  When one switches to the more desirable location, the incentive payment goes away.

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, Hazeljtwo said:

I am seriously disappointed with RC

Welcome to CC.

 

You need to do a lot of reading here at CC to find all the gotchas RCI has in store for its customers - possibly losing your OBC when changing categories is just one of them.

[Computer Nerd]

6 hours ago, Hazeljtwo said:

I was misled by RC. My party of six was given (as advertised) a 450 dollar onboard credit for our £12,000+ cruise. I chose a balcony cabin and the picture was an outdoor sea view balcony.

When I got my documents it was an indoor balcony cabin. However, I accepted that in the small print (although the picture was a sea view) it said there was no guarantee of a sea view.

 

So I called to upgrade my cabin and pay extra for a sea view cabin for an extra cost.
 

Couple of days later I noticed my onboard credit was taken from me and my party without consultation!! Costing us 450 dollars.
 

I would not have upgraded if I knew this would happen.

 

After asking for the call to be listened where I am 100% sure I was not advised of this and emailing 4 times - it has been 2 weeks now and no resolution.

 I am seriously disappointed with RC - I usually go with Cunard or Princess and this has taken the shine off my upcoming cruise for my whole party. 

I'm gonna bet you didn't ask if you would lose your OBC while upgrading that cabin.

[Computer Nerd]

6 hours ago, BND said:

Site went down for me for a few minutes so that's probably what caused it.  It should correct itself at some point lol.

Yes, it's corrected itself to 9.6k views. 🤣

[twangster]

Party of six in a balcony cabin?  Wow.

[BND]

4 minutes ago, twangster said:

Party of six in a balcony cabin?  Wow.

I want to know which balcony cabin sleeps 6.  Pretty sure no inside or regular balcony sleeps 6 lol.  

Edited February 16, 2022 by BND

[twangster]

An inside balcony only exists on Oasis class in the form of neighborhood balconies.  These are called "Central Park View Balcony" and "Boardwalk View Balcony".  The balcony cabins that face the sea are called "Ocean View Balcony" so it's pretty evident which ones come with a view of the ocean and which do not.

 

When sailing a new cruise line and completely different ship that has no equivalent in Cunard or Princess you probably should have consulted with a travel advisor.  I'm not aware of any Royal Caribbean marketing that shows a sea view with a neighborhood balcony.  This is exactly when a travel professional could have avoided the first mistake (booking the wrong cabin) which would have avoided the second mistake (loss of OBC). 

 

In your situation it sounds like using a travel agent could have avoided this situation and becoming misled by any assumptions made based on your Cunard and Princess experiences.

 

Would love to know which ship and cabin you had booked six guests into a balcony cabin.  There are very few cabins that hold five guests and even fewer that hold six guests, particularly in the neighborhood balcony you originally booked.    

  

[steamboats]

You obviously booked a guarantee balcony cabin on an Oasis Class ship which can be either a Boardwalk Balcony, a Central Park Balcony or an Ocean View Balcony or a promo for Central Park/Boardwalk Balcony cabins. The OBC was a promo for booking this special category. Now you have changed your booking to an Ocean View Balcony and therefore lost the OBC as this change is regarded as a new booking and the former promo is gone and does not apply to this booking.

 

It´s always a good thing to read the fine print and ask when you change a booking whatelse may change.

 

steamboats

[Tin can]

11 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Maybe keep a eye on the rates for a better price or one with obc again to match before you sail...

 

You can't price match when booking in the UK, you would have to cancel and lose your deposit and re book. I'm surprised this wasn't enforced when upgrading the cabin for the original poster.

[Sunshine3601]

14 hours ago, twangster said:

Party of six in a balcony cabin?  Wow.

Based on OP saying they are paying over 12000 pounds I suspect they booked more than one cabin.  

But who knows since the OP has now disappeared from this thread.

[twangster]

15 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Based on OP saying they are paying over 12000 pounds I suspect they booked more than one cabin.  

But who knows since the OP has now disappeared from this thread.

 

There is definitely more to this story or it was a paid negative comment. 

 

There is one cruise company that has been known to hire people in far away lands to write negative reviews on other cruise lines.  

 

Look at the view counter on this post.  It looks like a bot was used to drive the view counter through the roof.  It also just seems off and then the poster disappears.

[beerman2]

59 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

There is definitely more to this story or it was a paid negative comment. 

 

There is one cruise company that has been known to hire people in far away lands to write negative reviews on other cruise lines.  

 

Look at the view counter on this post.  It looks like a bot was used to drive the view counter through the roof.  It also just seems off and then the poster disappears.

And OP’s “first” post on CC.

[kw1816]

12 hours ago, Tin can said:

You can't price match when booking in the UK, you would have to cancel and lose your deposit and re book. I'm surprised this wasn't enforced when upgrading the cabin for the original poster.

Errr.. You can and we have - summer last year sailing on the Anthem, quick chat with RC using the online chat function saved us nearly £600 on a JS.

[Rogueperson]

5 hours ago, twangster said:

 

There is definitely more to this story or it was a paid negative comment. 

 

There is one cruise company that has been known to hire people in far away lands to write negative reviews on other cruise lines.  

 

Look at the view counter on this post.  It looks like a bot was used to drive the view counter through the roof.  It also just seems off and then the poster disappears.

 

Seems kind of odd to pay someone to post here.  There really isn't a benefit to it.

[twangster]

24 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

 

Seems kind of odd to pay someone to post here.  There really isn't a benefit to it.

 

Posting a clickbait headline?  Sure there is.  Lots of new to Royal cruisers can be influenced from internet forums.  Just look at the impact bad reviews have.