Problem on RCCL - What type of Compensation do I expect? (merged)

[Loucat]

Demand to see the Hotel Director. Your story is unbelievable!

Tell the Director what has happened and ask if he/she thinks this is up to RCC standards. There is also an issue with infection control. You have been in a cabin with wet carpet-what was the source of the wetness?

Leaking pipe? From where? What is in the water leaking on the rug? Was there mold? YIKES!!!! I do not know how you stood for this for so long.:D

[beachlovergirl]

Finally on Day 6 they replaced the carpet so that means more than half of your cruise was not satisfactory (ruined!!). You should ask for at least 50% of your total cruise fare returned PLUS a 20% discount on a future cruise.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

Dee

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

All I can offer is my sympathies to you for such a stressful "vacation." I would add further that mold and mildew are health hazards. Covering them up with a perfumed chemical in no way reduces the danger. It may add to the danger because it adds another layer of odor.

 

If either of you are asthmatic as I am, the situation would not only have been inconvenient, it would have been dangerous. Anyone with respiratory conditions would have been at risk in this situation.

 

I hope you can work things out to your satisfaction. I am really, really sorry your vacation was spoiled by this situation. I also wonder why your room steward did not notice the wet rug and say something to his supervisor before you were even allowed to enter your room. he fell down on his job too, IMO.

[rvrgirl]

BTW, I am not looking for anyone to lose their job over this. I am just looking for some type of satisfaction.

 

I must say, you have alot more patience then I have.

[LynnAB]

The only part I don't understand is WHY you didn't move to the inside stateroom offered? I don't get why you would rather have the balcony if the living conditions were unbearable. I'm talking from having had a similar condition (not water, the bed) on a Carnival cruise years ago (first and last Carnival cruise for many reasons). Anyway, we moved in a heartbeat when finally offered another cabin.

 

I'm confused as to why you stayed in a room that was so bad.

 

Just curious ...

[myz350]

The only part I don't understand is WHY you didn't move to the inside stateroom offered? I don't get why you would rather have the balcony if the living conditions were unbearable. I'm talking from having had a similar condition (not water, the bed) on a Carnival cruise years ago (first and last Carnival cruise for many reasons). Anyway, we moved in a heartbeat when finally offered another cabin.

 

I'm confused as to why you stayed in a room that was so bad.

 

Just curious ...

 

Obviously the condition was habitable, not confortable, and I think that's why he stuck with it, because it's a balcony. My wife will only cruise if we have a balcony(fresh air from the outside). That's why I think the $500 compensation is a reasonable offer, anything more they simply will not do, and anything less is not reasonable for the trouble you went through.

[jrk23]

Well, it turns out there is no way to print from the internet cafe on the boat. So I could either give them this URL (maybe in a ***** form) or I could write down everything from this post (my take on the situation).

 

I dont really want to take the laptop to the meeting, but I suppose I could copy everything into MS word, so I would have it offilne.

 

I will look at the timeline/bulletpoint from my post & take some minor notes too.

 

I think I will let the HD & Brian know that I am planning on emailing the Pres & VP of the company. I will go to the meeting first.

 

I am not writing off RCC, I am hoping they will come through but I have my doubts.

 

So, are we for or against letting them know about this posting?

 

Thanks for all the support! I hope this keeps going.

 

BTW, I get a bit seasick if I cant see outside, especially when the boat is rocking (like right now).

[uksimonusa]

We had a problem on the Grandeur last Christmas, no where near as serious as yours, we booked an oceanview for me, DW and DD, we booked this direct with a "Certified Vacation Specialist".

 

When we got to the cabin, there was no pullman bed or sofa bed. The pursers desk, said there was no other cabins available except an inside, that would sleep 3. DD is only 10 so we decided that we would all share the queen bed. They would not allow us to do this, so we moved to the inside. The difference in price was only $100 and they gave us a credit on our seapass card.

 

When we got home I wrote a letter to CS saying how disappointed I was not having an oceanview for our Xmas cruise.

 

I received a very nice letter back, saying that they were sorry for our inconvenience, and in future we should book with a "certified vacation Specialist" as they know which cabins sleep 3 and 4 people (obviously the one we booked with didn't) but they enclosed future cruise certificates to the value of $300.00, more that 25% of our cruise cost.

 

I would take whatever you can onboard, and then complain again when you get home

 

Good Luck.

[Baseballkurt]

I had almost the same problem on a Carnival cruise. The pipe broke for the pool and flooded a lot of cabins. We came back from a stop and the ship was tipping 15 degrees to try and drain the decks. Our floor was soaked and some cloths got wet. They cleand all the cloths for free and gave us a credit for the "room prortion" of the cruise for every day that the floor was wet. The breakdown was as follows....

 

Cost per day per person was about $130.

 

Room 60 dollars

Food 40 dollars

Entertainment 5 dollars

The whole cruise was broke down like this.

 

We got a credit for about $350 (3 nights) of a 5 day 5K trip..............

[myz350]

Well, it turns out there is no way to print from the internet cafe on the boat. So I could either give them this URL (maybe in a ***** form) or I could write down everything from this post (my take on the situation).

 

I dont really want to take the laptop to the meeting, but I suppose I could copy everything into MS word, so I would have it offilne.

 

I will look at the timeline/bulletpoint from my post & take some minor notes too.

 

I think I will let the HD & Brian know that I am planning on emailing the Pres & VP of the company. I will go to the meeting first.

 

I am not writing off RCC, I am hoping they will come through but I have my doubts.

 

So, are we for or against letting them know about this posting?

 

Thanks for all the support! I hope this keeps going.

 

BTW, I get a bit seasick if I cant see outside, especially when the boat is rocking (like right now).

 

Bring the laptop and show them the pages! I can tell you are a nice guy and don't like confrontations, but if you want them to take you seriously, show them this link, and save the web pages too as a hard copy on your laptop. Some threads get deleted!;)

No one needs to be fired, just do their job and put out the fire. They want to compensate you with the least amount possible, but let them know what is reasonable.($500 in my opinion)

[windjamming]

I agree with the previous posters and have found the "broken record" method of dealing with conflicts to work best. Focus on your strongest 1 or 2 points and repeat them over and over during your meeting. For your situation I'd emphasize the fact that you were given wrong information the first 3 days you reported the problem and that you were misled to believe that it would be resolved right away. Don't bring in too many names and details but be prepared to use them when pressed. Be calm and collected and whatever you do don't say anything irrational.

 

You seem like someone who's able to handle difficult situations well so best of luck to you. I feel deeply for you and your family. We had a similar situation a few years back in London and were able to get compensated well from BA headquarters so have faith that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Try to enjoy the remainder of your cruise and please keep us posted (if you can).

[mrstrod]

Ok, here comes my two cents!

 

It appears from everything that you have told us, that you are pretty much at the end of this road! They won't let you see the Hotel Manager, they've offered you a crappy compensation, and they even try to avoid you. Now, I know that this will now sound like a smart thing to do but honestly, you have no other choice unless you accent their previous offers.

 

Make a scene! You have 2 choices in doing this.

 

1- Go to Brians desk, and stand there for all to see, speaking in the loudest of voices you have just short of a scream. Do not stop this until they get the Hotel Manager. Make a sign saying "RCCL sold me a lemon cruise" and hand it around your neck. If this works at used car dealers it may just work on a cruise ship. Plus, you may just get some witnesses to how horribly you've been treated, since someone is bound to ask you about your sign!

 

2- Find out where the captains table is in the dining room. Wait until some food has been served (so that everyone is comfortable at the table). Then, walk up to the table, and politely ask the captain for a moment of his time. Now, I know that the captain does not run guest relations but, he just might be able to pull a string or two. Exspecially if you do this in front of his dinner guests - he will not want to appears powerless.

 

I am very sure that many of you will dissagree with me on this but, I don't honestly think he has any other options.

[Maryfrei]

You are a saint with your patience. The worst loss is the loss of your peace of mind, which is one of the nicest parts of cruising. I sincerely hope they do something to make this right for you.

[patwell]

WOW...what a terrible way to spend your vacation. I have a serious mold allergy and I can assure you they would have had to do something within the first 5 minutes of me smelling mold or they could have paid my medical bills as well as compensation. Mold is dangerous....I hope you and your wife will not suffer any lingering effects from such lengthly exposure to it.

 

I can't believe the run around you've endured and I highly doubt that "Brian" has no boss!! That would make him in charge of the whole ship? I wouldn't give in were I you and when I got home I'd take this story to Conde Nast and any other travel media I could. When will big companies like this learn that it generally costs less to actually offer good customer service than deal with bad PR. Instead they prattle on in their advertising and brochures about what great service you can expect from them. I doubt that's what you're feeling right now and is certainly a reason why I'm glad I'm not an RCI customer. Good luck!

[Sue L]

Your profile info does not show where you are from, but here in NY we have reporters who do consumer fraud type stories. Maybe in your area they have the same thing and you can contact them. None of the cruiselines want anymore negative publicity especially in the light of the recent cruise tradgedies.

 

Make sure you document everything, your room stewards name, the head of housekeeping that you dealt with ( and countries), and all the officers you can find the names for.

[demodawn]

Man, what a pain but hold firm and we are all sending good wishes your way!

[madelinerose]

Amen to that!!! No one lower on the totem pole than the Hotel Director.

 

Mold and mildew are two things no one should have to deal with, but, in this case you chose to deal with it because you didn't want to move to an inside. I can't imagine that they wouldn't have offered you a balcony if one was available. I would never book an inside, but under those circumstances, I would have moved, whether it was on a cruise ship or in a hotel. Mold and mildew are major health hazards.

 

Yes, I can guarantee you that you both had more patience then DH and I. We would have been in the Hotel Manager's/Director's face in a NY second.

 

I hope it all works out for you.

 

I can't help you put a $ value on this issue, but if it was me, I'd be talking with no one lower than the Hotel Director.

[alexkrn46]

You are due some compensation, but at some point, you need to assess how much is it worth to deal with this on vacation. I would also take as many towels so I wasn't walking on wet carpet.

 

Personally, I would have taken the inside ( if the room was as bad as you described) cabin, gone down to the front desk the first day or asked for a complete refund and gotten off at the first stop.

 

If you are a C&A member I would also go to the loyalty ambassador.

 

Good Luck.

[Loucat]

Did you ask for the Hotel Director? :D

[teresapink]

I haven't read all the posts so maybe this was already suggested. I would contact my credit card company and dispute the charge if all else fails.

 

 

T

[beachlovergirl]

Well, as per the advice of the board, I called Brian & asked him to setup a meeting with myself, Brian, and the HD (who is Darren). Michelle as it turns out is the chief purser (whatever that means).

 

Brian said that Darren doesnt deal with this sort of problem and that he would kick it back to Brian. So, I wouldnt need to speak with Daren. I asked that he setup the meeting anyway (for some undetermined time tomorrow).

 

Brian said he has been dealing with Miami but at the moment there was no updates, he was pushing hard for me (hmmm).

 

So, I might have a meeting with Daren. Ahh theres the phone.

 

 

Ok, now I have a 12:30 meeting with Brian & Daren tomorrow.

 

 

Good Luck with your meeting!! Let us know what happens.

[PBNJ620]

We had a "small" incident on a cruise--very minimal , but still to us it was an incident. It concerned the dining room and it was taken care of that first night. When we got home , we wrote to C & A AND to Corporate. We did not complain, but we wrote about the good as well as the negatives on the cruise.

 

We received credits for future cruises. I believe it amounted to about 15-17% of what the cruise cost us. Again, it was a minimal problem and we received $1,000 towards a future cruise. We were in an owners suite at the time. What suite /room were you in?

[superjerryw]

I agree with immediately disputing this with your credit card company. The problem was resolved when they changed the carpet on day 6 of your cruise. They clearly could have done this on day 1. They certainly had the means to correct the problem right away and they failed to. If the problem was beyond their control it's one thing but that is not the case here. They were simply negligent in their actions and you should be compensated.

 

When you take your laptop to your meeting you should turn on the voice recorder before you go in to the room and record the entire conversation.

[Cruising89143]

To the OP, I am sorry that this has happened to you. Royal Caribbean should be ashamed of themselves at the way that they have handled this entire situation thus far. It does seem as though you have had to spend your entire vacation on the ship dealing with this issue and that is not right in my book. Sounds like Brian is giving you the song and dance. Please let us know who things turn out with your meeting today. Good luck.

[zotzer]

Wow...I came in on this one really late. How did the meeting go?

 

I'm with Carol (Merion's Mom) about dealing with this in a calm manner. Whatever options they offered, I would say "thank you, I will take them all"...ie: the onboard compensation AND the future cruise discount. But, only if it was compensation that would satisfy me.

 

Let us know what happens. I hope they make this right for you!!!

T