Calling Royal

[smarcbie]

I read about l-o-n-g wait times to call Royal, but I never experienced it. Well, that changed today. I called three times and had to disconnect after one hour. I called at different times, late afternoon, dinnertime and evening, all without success. Does Royal have only one person handling these lines (sarcasm)?  Is there a optimal time to call? A optimal day?

 

Just curious, what was your longest call-in wait before connecting with a Royal agent?

[Sunshine3601]

Weekends are always busy and a lot of times their reps are in various countries.

I usually call first thing in the morning on weekdays or early afternoon when some people are at work.

Good luck!

[MightyMike]

The most frustrating part is when you wait a long time for your turn and they disconnect. I had that happen three times on Monday. If someone is just going to hang up on me, at least have the decency to do it right away so you aren't wasting my time.

[chellebell91987]

I called yesterday around noon and surprised I wasn't on hold like 2 minutes before connecting but man booking the cruise took forever like almost 1 hr! I tried for 2 days to book online and it wouldn't go thru.  I was dreading calling in. I always use the crown and anchor phone number not sure if that really helps or not.

[shippmates]

If you could find a good travel agent would not have to encounter the long hold times calling Royal as your travel agent would take care of all that.

[crzndeb]

1 hour ago, chellebell91987 said:

I always use the crown and anchor phone number not sure if that really helps or not.

You were lucky. I think that number has gotten worse. I had a price drop on my Wonder TA in Oct. and I wanted to upgrade, but I’m dreading calling. I think during the week is probably better than a weekend, but after sitting on hold to order my amenity gift, I gave up after an hour on the C&A number. Maybe the main number is better.

Edited May 1, 2022 by crzndeb

[neverbeenhere]

Interestingly Royal recently moved the call center to the moon. Living quarters are quite parse, so they have only a couple CSRs in residence. 

[ladysail2]

I must buy a lottery ticket. I experienced a miracle today. Phoned the C&A number because I’m a C&A member and I needed to know some info about my FCC.  Well, the number rang….was given options to press a number regarding my inquiry and voilá…a live person answered…just like that!   The shock nearly made me speechless..but I thought I better talk before he hung up on me..The best part was he was knowledgeable, patient, and helped immensely.  My lousy ex-travel agent jerked me around and never requested the FCC when I cancelled the cruise I had with him, so the wonderful CSA did all that for me.  I should have my FCC ID number next week, and he made sure it was going to be sent to me.  
That call made up for all those 60+ minute holds that I’ve previously experienced.  😊

[smarcbie]

2 hours ago, neverbeenhere said:

Interestingly Royal recently moved the call center to the moon. Living quarters are quite parse, so they have only a couple CSRs in residence. 

That's hysterical. I thought the only CSR working at royal was on a 24-hour smoke break.

 

It's good to know I am not alone. Something about misery loves company, but I would love to get thro even more. What is the C&A #? Maybe I will have better luck with that one.

[MightyMike]

13 hours ago, ladysail2 said:

My lousy ex-travel agent jerked me around and never requested the FCC when I cancelled the cruise I had with him, so the wonderful CSA did all that for me.  

 

I also prefer dealing directly with Royal Caribbean instead of a travel agent. I once saw a room open up that I wanted two days before a holiday weekend. I was able to leave messages with the travel agent, but it became obvious she had checked out early. I called the cruise line and eventually got through, but they weren't allowed to touch the reservation since it was owned by the travel agent. She eventually called back the middle of the next week apologizing for how busy things were. In the meantime, someone else snapped up the room I wanted.

[ladysail2]

4 hours ago, MightyMike said:

 

I also prefer dealing directly with Royal Caribbean instead of a travel agent. I once saw a room open up that I wanted two days before a holiday weekend. I was able to leave messages with the travel agent, but it became obvious she had checked out early. I called the cruise line and eventually got through, but they weren't allowed to touch the reservation since it was owned by the travel agent. She eventually called back the middle of the next week apologizing for how busy things were. In the meantime, someone else snapped up the room I wanted.

I understand your frustration…I don’t transfer a booking until it’s exactly what I want. All I would have to do is phone in a drop in price.  In my case the lousy TA lied to me on 3 occasions so I simply made a new booking, knowing that when he cancelled my booking with him, my chosen cabin would free up…and I’d grab it again. It was Karma because it all worked out.  There are pros and cons to handing over a booking, for sure.

[ONECRUISER]

21 hours ago, chellebell91987 said:

I called yesterday around noon and surprised I wasn't on hold like 2 minutes before connecting but man booking the cruise took forever like almost 1 hr! I tried for 2 days to book online and it wouldn't go thru.  I was dreading calling in. I always use the crown and anchor phone number not sure if that really helps or not.

Agree, I'll never wait long. If long wait then call ltr. I call back, off hrs and will for 20min Max... Though when important have waited

[shippmates]

I have waited a long time during the week during prime hours.  I just feel the reps speak better English and a little more knowledge than on weekends.

[chellebell91987]

I jinxed myself today was on hold an hour trying to change my dining.  Guess they get you thru quicker whwn you're trying to book a new reservation. 

[smarcbie]

Follow up: Saturday I called at 3p (45m), 6p (1.5h), 8p (1.2h) and 11p (45m), all to no avail. I took the advise here and called early am and surprisingly got through in 5 minutes on Sunday. The whole conversation lasted 5 minutes and I was able to make my cabin location change.

 

Why-oh-why doesn't RCCL have a call-back system? 

[crzndeb]

I called this morning at 0615 PT,  for a cabin change, and waited 22 mins. The recording said hold time may be 30 mins. I was willing to wait 30.

[Montanagirlalways]

Its not just Royal. Just have to pray for a miracle when you call that you don't have to wait long. I'm having a bad experience with NCL and their gift cards. Very frustrating. Can't speak to a human on the gift card aspect. I guess a new sign of the times

[doppelganger2621]

I feel like part of the issue is that Royal has certain things that apparently can ONLY be done via phone. I'm just trying to link my group dining and there's no way to do this online, according to the website. This is a task that should be accomplished in a matter of minutes online, but instead you have to call. I'm at a half hour of wait time and this thread does not make me optimistic.

[vjmatty]

27 minutes ago, doppelganger2621 said:

I feel like part of the issue is that Royal has certain things that apparently can ONLY be done via phone. I'm just trying to link my group dining and there's no way to do this online, according to the website. This is a task that should be accomplished in a matter of minutes online, but instead you have to call. I'm at a half hour of wait time and this thread does not make me optimistic.

 

And more of those certain things than any other cruise line....for example I can purchase OBC online everywhere, including Celebrity, owned by RCCL! But not on RC, I have to call them. WHY??