Promised a guaranteed balcony with 0% obstruction but given a obstructed view. Sailing in less than 25 days (Any tips)?

[Rmar2023]

Edited May 9, 2023 by Rmar2023

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, Rmar2023 said:

Thanks everyone, will go ahead close out this thread.

You'll have to request that from the mods/admin via the three dots in the upper right - otherwise, folks will keep providing "feedback" for some time.

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, Rmar2023 said:

Hi All- I booked a Euro cruise almost 10 months ago. We are really excited. However much to my dismay, Royal Caribbean didn't honor their 0% obstruction guarantee. I got a room assigned this week and a bit upset. My group was split up to different ends of the ship. Not great, but part of the nuisance of booking a guarantee. However, the thing I am upset about is that I booked a balcony guarantee with 0% obstruction and I was given an  obstructed view. Seeing as I paid $5k for this cruise, I find this very upsetting. No one knows anything at Royal Caribbean and can't do anything for me. Evidently booking a balcony guarantee with 0% obstruction means nothing. I paid extra to make sure I was given 0% obstruction. Am I pretty much screwed at this point? Sailing is less than 25 days out. I have called, emailed, tweeted, everything you can think of.

To reinforce what others have stated, there is no such thing as a guaranteed balcony with 0% obstruction. One of the main reasons behind guaranteed cabins is it provides RCI a way to sell less desirable cabins while allowing passengers to get a certain cabin type at a reduced rate. When booking a guaranteed balcony cabin, odds are very good of getting a cabin with an obstructed view, depending on the ship. I know this doesn’t help your current situation, but at least you will know this for future cruises. 

[Rmar2023]

1 minute ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

To reinforce what others have stated, there is no such thing as a guaranteed balcony with 0% obstruction. One of the main reasons behind guaranteed cabins is it provides RCI a way to sell less desirable cabins while allowing passengers to get a certain cabin type at a reduced rate. When booking a guaranteed balcony cabin, odds are very good of getting a cabin with an obstructed view, depending on the ship. I know this doesn’t help your current situation, but at least you will know this for future cruises. 

Thanks and agree. Lesson learned for the future, wish these things were more clear. 

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

To reinforce what others have stated, there is no such thing as a guaranteed balcony with 0% obstruction.

While rare when booking in the US, in other markets, specific category balcony GTY are fairly common. It was not obvious until the OP posted their invoice, that they didn't book something like that especially given that it's a European sailing. BTW, this (obstructed balcony) is mainly a Q class thing as other ships don't usually have this issue.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Biker19

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, Rmar2023 said:

It seems like I had really bad luck booking this:

Your room assignment was the norm, those that received unobstructed balconies had good luck. 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Until you got this invoice (which I agree gives one the impression they're getting a 0% obstructed view), why did you think your view would be unobstructed?  

[Biker19]

13 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Until you got this invoice (which I agree gives one the impression they're getting a 0% obstructed view), why did you think your view would be unobstructed?  

Most folks get their invoice as soon as they book, and like the OP, some folks actually read it.

[Rmar2023]

26 minutes ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Until you got this invoice (which I agree gives one the impression they're getting a 0% obstructed view), why did you think your view would be unobstructed?  

From the rep from RC that I spoke with while booking. I had no reason to doubt the cruise rep as my invoiced showed 0% obstruction.  Against my better judgment, I booked this directly. I was invited by my brother to join him and his spouse on this cruise, I normally use a TA. Its been disaster after disaster. My wife and I were split up on our Air 2 sea flights, they wanted me to pay an additional $2k to fix. It took emailing, calling, and complaining to get them honor our flights to remain together. Who would accept you and your spouse being separated on different flights flying internationally from Rome to Miami for 14+ Hours. I admit I was a bit naïve in expecting anything, but I have been cruising semi-annually for 14 years with Royal and just expected better and never had an issue. I offered to pay for an upgrade (they want an additional $1.8k! to get me in a different balcony, one floor above where I am at.) I tried to do Royal Bid, but my bids keep getting cancelled due to "changes in my reservation." My brother did Royal Bid as well, his bids are still intact at a much lesser bid. I hate to be the guy complaining and I get how it looks but I just feel this has been handled terribly. When you reach out to Royal Caribbean, they act like you are trying to swindle them rather than help you. 

Edited May 9, 2023 by Rmar2023

[Kathscof]

13 minutes ago, Rmar2023 said:

 I offered to pay for an upgrade (they want an additional $1.8k! to get me in a different balcony, one floor above where I am at.)

Have you researched if there is a more amenable balcony in your category to the one you are in available at the moment? It might not be completely unobstructed, but possibly better location or a different view?  Unless there is a rule against doing this for European sailings, US departures have had people do that before.....

[Rmar2023]

Just now, Kathscof said:

Have you researched if there is a more amenable balcony in your category to the one you are in available at the moment? It might not be completely unobstructed, but possibly better location or a different view?  Unless there is a rule against doing this for European sailings, US departures have had people do that before.....

Thanks, I've tried but they won't budge. In fact, I detected a high level of annoyance and unwillingness from the reps when you broach this topic. This trip has become a second job chasing down issues with RC. I really love RC and very disappointed to encounter this experience.  

[Kathscof]

Just now, Rmar2023 said:

Thanks, I've tried but they won't budge. In fact, I detected a high level of annoyance and unwillingness from the reps when you broach this topic. This trip has become a second job chasing down issues with RC. I really love RC and very disappointed to encounter this experience.  

 oh goodness, sorry about that, many people have had luck changing to the same number/letter category of rooms, but we know you will have a great cruise!

 

(the trick is to not tell them you are a guarantee, just ask to change from a specific number/letter category to a different one of the same number/letter)

[Starry Eyes]

15 minutes ago, Rmar2023 said:

From the rep from RC that I spoke with while booking. Against my better judgment, I booked this directly. I was invited by my brother to join him and his spouse on this cruise, I normally use a TA. Its been disaster after disaster. My wife and I were split up on our Air 2 sea flights, they wanted me to pay an additional $2k to fix. It took emailing, calling, and complaining to get them honor our flights to remain together. Who would accept you and your spouse being separated on different flights flying internationally from Rome to Miami for 14+ Hours. I admit I was a bit naïve in expecting anything, but I have been cruising semi-annually for 14 years with Royal and just expected better and never had an issue. I offered to pay for an upgrade (they want an additional $1.8k! to get me in a different balcony, one floor above where I am at.) I tried to do Royal Bid, but my bids keep getting cancelled due to "changes in my reservation." My brother did Royal Bid as well, his bids are still intact at a much lesser bid. I hate to be the guy complaining and I get how it looks but I just feel this has been handled terribly. When you reach out to Royal Caribbean, they act like you are trying to swindle them rather than help you. 

I am sorry for all those issues.  I don’t know how to help with most.

 

 The changes to your reservation that caused your bid cancellation may be the gty assignment process.  Sometimes that happens to me when I have gty and bid; it can be frustrating.  Still, if your assignment is now set, shrug it off and re-submit your bids.  There seem to be multiple cabins with large, unobstructed balconies available on your cruise; if your bid is in you might win.🤞

[Rmar2023]

1 minute ago, Starry Eyes said:

I am sorry for all those issues.  I don’t know how to help with most.

 

 The changes to your reservation that caused your bid cancellation may be the gty assignment process.  Sometimes that happens to me when I have gty and bid; it can be frustrating.  Still, if your assignment is now set, shrug it off and re-submit your bids.  There seem to be multiple cabins with large, unobstructed balconies available on your cruise; if your bid is in you might win.🤞

Thank you 🙂 Any easy way to see which cabins are available?

[Rmar2023]

2 minutes ago, Kathscof said:

 oh goodness, sorry about that, many people have had luck changing to the same number/letter category of rooms, but we know you will have a great cruise!

 

(the trick is to not tell them you are a guarantee, just ask to change from a specific number/letter category to a different one of the same number/letter)

Thank You I will give it a shot today and see what happens!

[Kathscof]

1 minute ago, Rmar2023 said:

Thank you 🙂 Any easy way to see which cabins are available?

go through the process of booking a cruise and when you get to the "balcony" section, go to "pick your room" and see what is showing up.....

 

For the switching room attempt......go to a deck plans site and find your cabin number and see what letter/number category it is (on the deck plans its normally a color too) and see what others might show up on the royal site to book (they have their number/letter designations on that booking page too, so you can match them up)

 

there are some random ones.....my friend is in one of the ONLY 3 rooms on one side of our ship of her category....I got excited about being able to get a better room for myself and have her switch to my old room, but it was $300 more because it would be switching categories....

[Starry Eyes]

23 minutes ago, Kathscof said:

Have you researched if there is a more amenable balcony in your category to the one you are in available at the moment? It might not be completely unobstructed, but possibly better location or a different view?  Unless there is a rule against doing this for European sailings, US departures have had people do that before.....

His voyage date is on the invoice pic.  When I do a mock booking today, no obstructed balconies showed available, so we seem to have struck out with a swap at the moment
 

 

14 minutes ago, Rmar2023 said:

Thank you 🙂 Any easy way to see which cabins are available?

Do a “mock booking” on Royal’s site or an online TA’s.  In the process you should see what cabins are available for your cruise.

 

You mentioned Miami.  Can we assume this is a US booking?  Or elsewhere?  Why: Frustratingly for those of us trying to help one another, booking rules are different for different countries, and, oddly, that even including cabin swaps mentioned above (people in some countries can, others can’t…crazy).  

Edited May 9, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[Rmar2023]

1 minute ago, Starry Eyes said:

His voyage date us on the invoice pic.  When I do a mock booking today, no obstructed balconies showed available, so we seem to have struck out with a swap at the moment
 

 

Do a “mock booking” on Royal’s site or an online TA’s.  In the process you should see what cabins are available for your cruise.

 

You mentioned Miami.  Can we assume this is a US booking?  Or elsewhere?  Why: Frustratingly for those of us trying to help one another, booking rules are different for different countries, and, oddly, that even including cabin swaps mentioned above (people in some countries can, others can’t…crazy).  

Thank you will give it a shot. I live in Miami but my cruise is in Europe. We are sailing out of Rome on the Oddyssey of the Seas (Quantum Class). It seems things are organized a bit different than my routine Caribbean cruises. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, Kathscof said:

Not much experience for me, but could the 0% obstructed be because the room didn't exist yet?

I wondered about that as well but the OP said she paid extra to get a 0% obstruction GTY.  I've never heard of such a thing but I don't book GTY because I like to pick my exact room so not a familiar with this category.

[Kathscof]

3 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

His voyage date is on the invoice pic.  When I do a mock booking today, no obstructed balconies showed available, so we seem to have struck out with a swap at the moment
 

 

Not to mention that when you go to "pick your room" they still give you the option to do a "more expensive" guarantee? hahaha

 

But really, its anybody's guess as to what categories show up at any given moment....maybe it will show up again soon! 

 

Wait, I just looked again and the obstructed oceanview balcony guarantees are more expensive than the normal! SO WEIRD

 

But as I hope with cruise line math, they have booked their allotted amount of guarantees (and probably given the assignments out) so they have no other options to show.....

 

alas....

[Rmar2023]

2 minutes ago, Kathscof said:

Not to mention that when you go to "pick your room" they still give you the option to do a "more expensive" guarantee? hahaha

 

But really, its anybody's guess as to what categories show up at any given moment....maybe it will show up again soon! 

 

Wait, I just looked again and the obstructed oceanview balcony guarantees are more expensive than the normal! SO WEIRD

 

But as I hope with cruise line math, they have booked their allotted amount of guarantees (and probably given the assignments out) so they have no other options to show.....

 

alas....

This whole thing has gotten weird. I should have used a TA and saved myself alot of the aggravation. Happy to be on the cruise overall but wish this entire ordeal was clearer. 

[Starry Eyes]

Just now, Rmar2023 said:

Thank you will give it a shot. I live in Miami but my cruise is in Europe. We are sailing out of Rome on the Oddyssey of the Seas (Quantum Class). It seems things are organized a bit different than my routine Caribbean cruises. 

As a Floridian, you should be booked under US rules.  If a better stateroom in your exact same category comes available, they will likely let you swap as you are booked under US rules….but none are when I looked at few minutes ago, so no point calling.

 

The obstructed cabins vary a bit.  We were quite satisfied with the one we were assigned; we’d be happy to sail in it again. If you are comfortable posting your cabin number, cruise critic members may be able to help predict your obstruction.  Some here are pretty adept at it.

[twangster]

My upcoming GTY balcony invoice:

 

[NeepierRoad]

Have you tried Googling your room #?  Usually you can find pictures of the room online.  If you can live with the obstruction, that would be one less worry before your trip.  Best of luck!

[Starry Eyes]

18 minutes ago, twangster said:

My upcoming GTY balcony invoice:

 

I think Royal has recently made improvements in their gty invoicing.  Twangster’s example is an improvement over the ones I received a year ago.