on hold again-argghh

[RCCLNYMETS41]

contacting Loyalty/Rewards department. (Need to move some cruise rewards from a cancelled booking to new booking.)

called & waited literally over an hour to talk with a person.

1st thing I asked them to do was take down my phone # in case we get disconnected.

Started the process, not going to be a problem, they see my reward points on hold in the system from my cancelled cruise.

After a total of 3 hours, got disconnected!

On hold again now. In the grand scheme of life, not a problem, but still frustrating.

[Tlbecker1]

Things have definitely become much more difficult.  I was on hold with them for 3 hours yesterday too.  I am really sorry, you would think that they would be hiring more qualified people now, but they must be hard to find.

[crzndeb]

I was trying to get my first time Diamond + amenity gift  today for my upcoming cruise and gave up after an hour. It is just not that important.

[KB Cruisin]

I feel your pain!!!  While being on hold to transfer a booking, my price went up $400.  Essentially, I paid to be on hold.   This past week, I have spent over five hours (for just two phone calls) to try to get help.  Each rep says "No problem" again and again.  I keep thinking, "if it were not a problem, I would not be willing to wait two hours to talk to you!"  Each rep also promises to "make notes" but won't email confirmation directly to me.  The "notes" don't seem to clear up the issues.  And, don't get me started on the invoice mess ups.  I am very Loyal to Royal but, this last week, has been SO frustrating!!

[JamesEM]

I called and gave up after an hour on hold, I'm switching to a more responsive cruise line.

[LilBlackDress]

1 hour ago, JamesEM said:

I called and gave up after an hour on hold, I'm switching to a more responsive cruise line.

Good Luck!! Most travel companies are having issues with hold times.

 

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and Cruises) 

[cruisetorelax44]

I think the biggest issue is their system. The average rep can't solve problems.  I've waited 90 minutes for someone to pick up, and then once I speak to someone, they often have to talk to the resolutions team. The rep puts me on hold and gives me updates every 10-15 minutes. Often it's 45 minutes before someone from resolutions picks up. The calls are usually solved quickly then. But in the meantime, my rep isn't doing anything but waiting for someone to answer. They should have a separate resolutions line. So people who are just booking or buying cruise planner stuff could go to one area, and people with issues could go to another.  

[DirtyDawg]

12 hours ago, RCCLNYMETS41 said:

contacting Loyalty/Rewards department. (Need to move some cruise rewards from a cancelled booking to new booking.)

called & waited literally over an hour to talk with a person.

1st thing I asked them to do was take down my phone # in case we get disconnected.

Started the process, not going to be a problem, they see my reward points on hold in the system from my cancelled cruise.

After a total of 3 hours, got disconnected!

On hold again now. In the grand scheme of life, not a problem, but still frustrating.

Hey, things could be worse.

You could have been on the phone for 3 hours setting up you root canal. 😁

[shof515]

44 minutes ago, cruisetorelax44 said:

I think the biggest issue is their system. The average rep can't solve problems.  I've waited 90 minutes for someone to pick up, and then once I speak to someone, they often have to talk to the resolutions team. The rep puts me on hold and gives me updates every 10-15 minutes. Often it's 45 minutes before someone from resolutions picks up. The calls are usually solved quickly then. But in the meantime, my rep isn't doing anything but waiting for someone to answer. They should have a separate resolutions line. So people who are just booking or buying cruise planner stuff could go to one area, and people with issues could go to another.  

 

i noticed the same thing on another cruise line. its very annoying waiting for like 30 minutes to get someone who then tells me they cant do it and needs to forward to another department.

[TexasRon]

I noticed the need to talk to someone else while trying to book a casino offer and upgrade it.  The agent found several options but kept having to talk to someone else to make sure they could offer what they found.  A call that could have been done in 15 minutes or less with proper procedures took an hour.
 

The good thing about the casino line is that it does not usually take long to get a person on the line…

[hannibal54]

This is the reason that I use a TA, I can't stand being left on hold for hours.

[cruisetorelax44]

31 minutes ago, TexasRon said:

I noticed the need to talk to someone else while trying to book a casino offer and upgrade it.  The agent found several options but kept having to talk to someone else to make sure they could offer what they found.  A call that could have been done in 15 minutes or less with proper procedures took an hour.
 

The good thing about the casino line is that it does not usually take long to get a person on the line…

i only have casino cruises... usually wait 60-90 minutes before someone picks up. the only way around it is to call exactly when they open in the morning.

[TexasRon]

10 minutes ago, cruisetorelax44 said:

i only have casino cruises... usually wait 60-90 minutes before someone picks up. the only way around it is to call exactly when they open in the morning.

Interesting difference in experiences.  I have only waited more than 10 minutes once.  I have called 10-15 times checking on various things (price drops, better offers, new cruises, booking mistakes, etc.) in the past six months.

 

The latest call was when my wife decided she wanted to go on a cruise for her birthday.  I made that call at 6:50 pm on Wednesday.  No wait for an agent; just the states “I have to ask someone else” stuff…

 

 

 

 

 

[hun]

I’ve actually had much better luck with messaging them via Facebook and have had responsive and helpful reps.  Very long hold times when I’ve tried on the phone. 

Edited April 23, 2022 by hun

[newistcruiseaddict]

Yeah I called tonight and waited on hold for over 70 minutes. Thankfully my requests were taken care of in less than 10 minutes. 

[RCCLNYMETS41]

To piggy back on above, it seems like the 1st person to finally answer the phone can rarely take care of everything themselves...usually has to get other departments/resolution team involved as stated.  Also, I just experienced that the RCI agents outside the US do not have access to certain portals/software that the US RCI agents can access, and that is sometimes why they can't take care of some issues directly. When I ask them to just put me in touch with whomever they keep relaying info to, they say they can not do that. Oh well.

 

[Omax4]

I use a TA for 90% of my issues. For when I do have general questions, I just ignore the prompts altogether and just hit the options like I want to book a new cruise. I always get the friendlier reps who speak better English. I have never been turned away because I’m not booking a cruise at that moment. I’m not sure you can get away with that for everything, but I would try that. 

[chmusar]

I just rang this morning took 10 minutes to answer and agent resolved my issue with my time dining straightaway 😄as when I rang my TA I was number 52 in  a queue.

[molly361]

deleted

Edited April 27, 2022 by molly361

[Cruise a holic]

I called royal a few days ago and waited about an hour then just hung up.  Called the next day exactly at 8:00 AM and they picked up the phone- after just a few minutes.   I called the captains club number.  Terrible phone service.  No way to encourage bookings or purchasing of packages.

 

Perhaps people see this lack of phone service responsiveness as an example of poor service overall from the cruise line. Wonder if may people book other cruise lines with more attentive service after being frustrated.

 

 What some airlines do is they have a recording that states they will call you back within a period of time at a specified phone number.  And you will not loose your place in line.  Our time is also important.