But Wait, There's More! (kinda longish)

[Sharkb8]

Fair warning, I've been a lurker for a few years because I was learning and didn't have much to add, but I have had a long afternoon and wanted to vent a bit (I'm fine, really).

 

Two weeks ago I called to arrange custom air, since we'll be spending the night before our cruise in San Diego. The leg home was awful and the coordinator wasn't much help, so I booked Southwest, believing that I could cancel if it couldn't be "fixed". We got our air reservations this week, and a call to custom air verified that they couldn't get us home before 10:00 PM (FLL to IAD).

 

I was then transferred to Dawn in reservations so that I could cancel my flight and pay the penalty (gladly). She kept insisting that they were already reserved, etc. but I did ask her if I could cancel, and she said I'd have to pay penalty, yadda, yadda. I questioned the credit amount since it was a bit higher than the air add-on, but she insisted that the insurance had changed, etc. (which wasn't true).

 

I immediately got an email from RC saying that because of my "cancelled" status in my reservation, all my cruise enhancements had been cancelled as well. :eek: Another call (to Wendy) confirmed that Dawn had canceled my reservation, apparently to get the air reservation out of there (she confirmed that it wasn't normally cancellable). She sent me an updated invoice.

 

Yeesh, now I have to call to get my OBC reinstated, since the cabin is $200.00/pp higher (insurance is the same). Diane gladly listens to my tale of woe (short version, I promise), and asks if I would hold. Apparently, *one* of us is over 55 and she was able to give us a senior discount, so our cabin rate actually went down $600.00 from the original price. Of course, I still have to check the math. :cool:

 

So many of you have been more than helpful in the past few years that I've been lurking, I thought I'd share a bit too. I've only had great experiences (with minor annoyances at others traveling with me) cruising with RC and this speed bump doesn't sway that. And I did research the cruise air advice and tried to find the 60-day out information, but was unable to find it, so I guess I did luck out!