TempoGL

Even with the drink package, I tip $1 per drink on top of it.  I personally think the right thing to do is to take care of the people who are working long hours, away from home, for months (or years!) on end.  As a side bonus, I notice that they will serve me the moment they see me.

3 hours ago, Pooch said:

Ok so OP, what did you say in your email & what exactly was their response?

Here is what I said in my email:

Quote

Hello Mr. Bayley,

 

I was on the Enchantment of the Seas that left on 12/30/2022.  My booking ID is xxxxxxxx.  We had cabin 4010.

 

I got the attached email today, 11 days after my initial email to Royal Caribbean.  Here is my initial issue as to why I have been trying to get a hold of someone in customer service at Royal Caribbean.

We had an issue on the cruise that I needed to bring to the attention of guest relations.  For three nights of the cruise, the air conditioning in our room was not working.  I am someone who can definitely sleep in a warm room, but it was way beyond that.  We tried keeping the door open all night, and my girlfriend even tried sleeping in the Centrum because it was so hot.  The heat was truly stifling and we got terrible sleep for those three nights.  I checked with customer service while on the cruise and they said that they could not do anything about the heat.  They said they would try and send a fan (and I later learned that they added a note that a fan was sent to our room), but we never got one. I think that we should be compensated for this because not only did we sleep very poorly for three nights, being tired and drained throughout the day detracted from our enjoyment of activities in the daytime, and we also had no place to rest and recuperate.

 

On top of that frustration, dealing with customer service has been ridiculous.  It took 11 days for them to respond to my email, and it's with this generic response that is paired with trifling compensation for our bad experience with sleeping conditions, to say nothing of the time and effort I have since spent trying to get Royal Caribbean to do right by me, which has now been at least a few hours.  I also called customer service (I tried several times because I was frequently quoted wait times of up to 90 minutes) and finally spoke to someone, who after a lot of back-and-forth said that the best that could be done was a 30% Future Cruise Credit.  I was still not pleased with that as I should be given a refund, or at the very least, an onboard credit (we have already paid for another cruise on Grandeur of the Seas that leaves on April 2nd, so onboard credit would have value for us).  I should not have to spend more money to recoup any value from the AC issue.  

 

Also, the figure of 30% is unreasonable as 42% (or 3/7ths) of our trip was significantly negatively impacted so Royal Caribbean should provide a sum of at least that percentage of what was paid.  It's also silly that the 30% was only the "cruise fare" when we paid taxes/fees as well, to say nothing of the drink package and internet (we also tipped everyone extra but I would not expect Royal Caribbean to address that as that was our discretion since the staff was so nice).  None of the amenities can be properly enjoyed when you are completely exhausted.  I was told that a manager/supervisor would call me in "two or three days" last Thursday (1/12) and I still haven't heard back.  The fact that they emailed me an offer of less than what they told me over the phone is almost comical.

 

Several (many?) other people on the 4th deck had AC issues as well. I avoided having a tantrum on board like I saw some other people doing who also had malfunctioning AC. That said, I am sure that they were better taken care of than I was because it's hard to imagine Royal Caribbean coming up with a worse response than this.

 

I would like to add that the staff on board were universally great, and other than the temperature debacle (and the resulting hassle in getting proper resolution), we enjoyed our trip. 

 

Thank you for your time and attention,

TempoGL

Here is what I got in reply:

Quote

Thank you for contacting the Executive Office of Royal Caribbean International.

We appreciate the time you have taken to make us aware of your experience onboard. It is disheartening to hear of the poor experience you’ve had with our staff and customer service. I can ensure you that this was never our intention as we strive in excellent customer service.

Our goal is to provide the best possible cruise vacation and I regret your experience reflects poorly on our commitment to meet your goal.

I have fully reviewed your reservation and while I understand your dissatisfaction with the resolution, we must respectfully decline your request for any additionally compensation.

We hoped to have offered you a more positive experience and the feedback we receive from our customers is one of the best methods of measuring our performance.

We apologize for any disappointment this may have caused.

Mr. TempoGL, thank you for contacting the Executive Office of Royal Caribbean International.

6 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I think OP didn't get what they wanted, therefore they felt that way. 

You're talking as though I am asking for the moon.  If you go out to eat in a restaurant and your entree is inedible, would you be OK with the restaurant saying "pay the entire bill this time AND come back to eat another time, and we will comp your dessert on your return visit?"  I highly doubt it.  That's basically what happened here - have things messed up quite a bit, and do nothing about it except say "come back and spend more money with us, and in return, we will graciously give you a small discount." 

9 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

If this had happened at a land hotel, what would you do? Would you attribute the issues to that hotel or the chain? We have had had less than perfect hotel rooms due to bad AC or noisy guests, but we don't blame all hotels or even a single chain. Clearly, you had an unpleasant experience, but a rare one from my experience. I hope your next trip, however you choose to travel, meets your expectations. Also, there is an art to connecting with staff so they seek to help you. I do better when I don't complain and simply say I need help with something.

My problem is not that the AC went out, it's the atrocious way in which customer service handled it after the fact.  With all due respect, it seems like you missed a lot of what I said.  I explicitly mentioned already that I remained calm with the staff on board, even though I witnessed multiple people with the same problem yelling at (dare I say "berating?") staff.  The staff on board the ship were all very nice and I think they did the best they could.

And if I were at a land hotel, I would inform them that I'd find another room elsewhere and ask (again, politely) that they cancel my reservation.

17 hours ago, fireclan said:

It's mbayley...

Yes, I got it correct but typed it incorrectly, thanks.

Mbayley's team told me to go fly a kite.  Facebook did the same.  I know this is a forum likely dedicated to RC fans, but I would say to proceed with caution with this company.  The lesson they are trying to teach here is "be a horrible jerk to poorly paid people from third world countries (the people who work the desk on the ships) because if you wait, we will waste hours of your time and do nothing to help you when you've received a poor product from us."  I say that's the lesson because the people who were losing it while on board were at least regarded seriously, whereas my correspondence after the fact was treated as a joke.

I don't know if any cruise lines would be better, but certainly nobody could have handled this worse. 

Response via the BBB was essentially "here's 1/7th FCC, you can go (bleep) yourself."  I emailed mdayley last night, so maybe one of his people will get back to me with something resembling an appropriate response.  RC is very close to being on my list of businesses that are officially dead to me.

1 hour ago, Riley said:

If you have not paid the full amount of your next cruise you should be able to apply the FCC. Online in the pay area there is a "have a future cruise credit?" tab where you enter the FCC number.  Good luck!

The final payment date was actually while we were on this one, so I already have paid in full

2 hours ago, Geoff P said:

Are you able to apply the FCC to the balance on your cruise you have booked?  If there is a balance I should say….not saying it’s better than the actual refund or OBC, just asking if that’s even an option 

I tried that and was told no.

1 hour ago, Matt said:

Sorry you had to deal with this. You didn't mention in your post what happened onboard, only what you tried to do after the cruise.

I'm sure you alerted your stateroom attendant, but can you describe what happened onboard to remedy the issue? 

I've had maintenance issues on my cruises, but every time I've had not only the fix happen onboard, but FCC issued while still onboard from the onboard crew.

I went to the front desk/customer service/whatever and told them about it.  Their response was "we are trying."  I asked for another room and they said none were available.  I asked for a fan and they said they'd try.  We never got one. 

8 hours ago, Xaa said:

Curious why you would prefer OBC to FCC.  In either case, you have to be on another cruise to use it.

I hate that this happened to you and certainly wish you luck in resolution.  I sort of think the 30% is a fairly good offer.  As you say 3/7=43%.  But not 100% of all three days were a wash, they were diminished.

Don't take that the wrong way, I'm rooting for you and hope you get more.  Good luck!

The OBC is much better for me since we did already have another cruise booked for April.  The FCC expires in a year and I didn't plan on booking another cruise before then - it's essentially forcing us to book a cruise with them when I had other vacation plans.

16 minutes ago, Neesa said:

He has a team of people who do in fact respond on his behalf. Sorry this happened to you, may I ask what ship? I'm truly curious, we had no hot water for days on the Serenade, a great many of us on deck 7. Maintenance responded numerous times before it was sorted. We were treated to dinner at a specialty restaurant. It was a very nice gesture, but the hot water was priceless. 

It was on Enchantment of the Seas.  Several (many?) other people on deck 4 where we were had the same issue.  Some of them were having legit tantrums at customer service on board but I kept my cool...sadly I am sure the people that freaked out got taken better care of than I did.

19 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Mbayley@rccl.com

Does the CEO actually respond to emails like this?  If so, that's wild and VERY at odds with the rest of their customer service experience!

21 minutes ago, Linda R said:

On a recent cruise, the other couple we were traveling with did not have AC in their cabin.  They informed cabin stewart and maintenance came right away and fixed it.  

It is always best to address any problems while still on the cruise.  Even if you need to contact several  departments or  bring it up more than once.    Guest services should have contacted maintenance.  But if things are not taken care of right away, or you are told they cannot do anything, be sure to escalate your concerns.  Ask for supervisor.  Not having AC is a big thing!   Sorry this happened to you.

I did that, as I mentioned.  Their answer was "we are trying."  They did fix it after a few days (I think nights 3,4,5 were the really hot ones, and 6 and 7 were fine after that).  I didn't want to waste time on board and I erroneously thought that RC would have a customer service department that rivaled most other giant corporations, meaning bad...but not atrocious.  I do have another cruise booked with them (this last one was my second) but honestly if they don't properly address this, I will probably take my business elsewhere in the future.

when people say "no copies," they mean like a photocopy, correct?  My girlfriend did not listen to my advice about getting a passport and is planning on using her birth certificate.  We leave in five days, so no time to get a passport.  She is bringing the "Certification of Birth" (that's what Illinois calls it) paper with raised/embossed seals on it.  It's on that special paper with little fibers in it (not sure what you call it). in some definitions of the term, it would be a "copy" because it was issued in 2013 and she was born in 1990, hence it is not original.  Are we good to go?

I'm heading out of Baltimore on Dec 30th on Enchantment of the Seas.  I see from the deck plan that it has indoor hot tubs and outdoor hot tubs.  Will the outdoor hot tubs be open?  I'm wondering if they'll be closed due to cold weather.

4 hours ago, wordell1 said:

I was on Wonder of the Seas this summer for her Jubilee celebration and really enjoyed singing "God Save The Queen" along with the British passengers onboard.  

The Sex Pistols version?  That would have been my preference

1 hour ago, Va4fam said:

try each site....here is the Staybridge Suites link.....looks like Candlewood has stopped the shuttle due to COVID

https://www.ihg.com/staybridge/hotels/us/en/baltimore/balih/hoteldetail?cm_mmc=GoogleMaps-_-SB-_-US-_-BALIH

there's a tab below that says park and cruise.   I had to refresh to get that option.

Thanks, but their amazing website crashes every time I try to select a date.  Maybe I can try again later!

so how do you book the park and cruise deals?  I couldn't find that option on Expedia nor the actual hotel site

1 hour ago, Qeyton Dude said:

In April we drove down from NH, and stayed at the Best Western Plus Hotel & Conference Center on O'Donnell St.  Paid for the pkg that had parking and port transfer. They covered all 12 nights.  Nothing fancy, its a bit dated, but we were only sleeping there one night.  The hotel is fairly close to port, we could see the ship from our room.  I also believe they is another BW with park and sail on the west side of town if that is where you are coming from. From the accounts I have read, that one is a little less dated.

I'm coming from the west (not used to calling Illinois that but it is factually correct in this case lol), but I think I like as close to the port as possible, since I am planning to do a Cannonball Run the day we get off and drive back to Chicago in one shot.

Hello,

Looking for one of those "stay and park" deals near the Baltimore RC port.  Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

On 7/29/2022 at 9:55 PM, WhoCruiser said:

I don't know if it's the same fleet-wide, but on all of the half-dozen or so Royal Caribbean ships I've sailed on over the years they do not use the same iced tea in the main dining room as that horrible swill they have up in the Windjammer machines.  It is not excellent, but it does appear to be brewed there in the kitchen, and is much superior to the crappy stuff upstairs.  Mind you, I get it unsweetened and add Sweet and Low, if you asked for it sweet with sugar I don't know if they would brew it properly with the sugar added while still hot, but it is certainly worth a try.

so are you saying they brew a little pot of tea to order if you ask for iced tea?

7 hours ago, IzzyB said:

Oh man, I was hoping for brewed in MDR, ugh.  I may be brewing my own with tea bags and then ice lol

I didn't try it in the MDR, although I'd be a little surprised if they used something different there.  If you try it in the MDR, please report back

12 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

It's some form of liquid tea concentrate. I actually don't mind it, though I usually have to cut it with water or let the ice melt.

The other alternative is to brew your own with the available tea bags and hot water and let it cool down a bit and pour over ice.

Definitely liquid concentrate.  That's unilaterally worse than brewed, but at most places that use the concentrate (many fast/quick service restaurants), the iced tea is drinkable.  This stuff was...something else.

1 hour ago, jabberwk said:

It is NEVER inappropriate to be excited about a cruise. Lol. Welcome aboard!

I don't disagree.  It's pretty charming how excited she is, though.  I just told her what eating in the main dining room is like and her mind was blown!