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Nothing but Frustration


PhantomWolf

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I thought going through RC would turn out to be a great decision, however I've been met with nothing but incompetence and frustration.

My sailing was unfortunately during the time Hurricane Dorian was around.  My 4 night sailing was trimmed to 2, a decision I have issues with, but ultimately I was able to cancel and got some of my money back because of the weather.  **It took me THREE tries to get the trip completely cancelled because the people on the phone didn't do their jobs** They told me that I would receive a travel voucher for the remaining amount and it would be generated in 7-10 days. Fine, no problem.  That was at the end of AUGUST  

Today NOVEMBER 16th when I booked my trip and tried using the money that should have been there...well you guessed it, NO VOUCHER WAS CREATED!!  The people on the line said it would be done in about 7-10 days...*sigh*...after this I'm done with Royal.  

During this entire process no two people had the same information.  Things that were said to be completed were not at several turns.  A complete failure at customer service, I'll take my business elsewhere once I spend this voucher money.

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54 minutes ago, PhantomWolf said:

My sailing was unfortunately during the time Hurricane Dorian was around.  My 4 night sailing was trimmed to 2, a decision I have issues with

Cancellations, changed itineraries, and shortened or extended cruises are all part of the risk of sailing during hurricane season.  Do you really expect Royal to sail their ships into a storm and risk their property and the lives of their customers?

54 minutes ago, PhantomWolf said:

They told me that I would receive a travel voucher for the remaining amount and it would be generated in 7-10 days. Fine, no problem.  That was at the end of AUGUST  

Today NOVEMBER 16th when I booked my trip and tried using the money that should have been there...well you guessed it, NO VOUCHER WAS CREATED!!

So you tried to use a voucher you hadn't received?  I agree your customer service experience was horrible but I think you should have followed up on that voucher after the 10 days.

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10 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Cancellations, changed itineraries, and shortened or extended cruises are all part of the risk of sailing during hurricane season.  Do you really expect Royal to sail their ships into a storm and risk their property and the lives of their customers?

So you tried to use a voucher you hadn't received?  I agree your customer service experience was horrible but I think you should have followed up on that voucher after the 10 days.

My issue was that they shortened the trip instead of canceling or rerouting.  Not paying full price airfare for half a trip that I may not even be able to get to.

I was also told that when I would book another trip that it would be waiting for me/connected to my account.  Assumed the person knew what they were talking about.

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My FCC came by email as promised.  

The home ports the ships sail from were closed.  They couldn't keep the same length because they had to put their ships to sea away from the closed departure ports.  They don't own the ports, like an airline doesn't own an airport.  When it's closed by the authorities they have to change the length of cruises.   

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5 hours ago, twangster said:

My FCC came by email as promised.  

The home ports the ships sail from were closed.  They couldn't keep the same length because they had to put their ships to sea away from the closed departure ports.  They don't own the ports, like an airline doesn't own an airport.  When it's closed by the authorities they have to change the length of cruises.   

That's great for you.  Mine didn't after hours of being on the phone and getting bounced around (insert travel agent plug here) and again it took their customer service team three different tries to finally cancel my trip.  The details are lengthy but I found it to be unacceptable and the fact that my FCC didn't get generated was the cherry on top.

I like this community here.  I really liked Royal and wanted them to be the company I took my trips with.  I'll give them a shot...But I'm going to need to be blown away if I'm going to ever consider traveling through them after the FCC gets used. **I've softened a little. I wrote the original post the day of getting the news that they dropped the ball again**

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Sorry you had so much trouble.  I had to unfortunately cancel a cruise do to health reasons.  RCCL was great to work with.  I received my refund when promised and my cruise credit within the 5-7 business days as discussed.  Was able to rebook a later cruise with out any problems.  RCCL customer service was top notch for me.  

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19 hours ago, PhantomWolf said:

My issue was that they shortened the trip instead of canceling or rerouting.  Not paying full price airfare for half a trip that I may not even be able to get to.

 

All the cruise lines had the same issue with the ports being closed, and having to modify their itineraries for the hurricane.   They all do their best but when Mother Nature decides she doesn't want anyone cruising, she makes her feelings known.  So what did you expect Royal to do?  Move your 4-day over a couple days, then move the cruise after yours by those same two days, and so on so no one has to shorten their cruise?  So if that's the case we'd be making up those two days for the rest of the released itineraries.  You can't re-route when you can't get to the port. If this is truly an issue for you, then you need to consider cruising during the calmer times of the year.  

Things happen at ports all the time.  We were delayed returning to Tampa in February because of fog.  Couldn't get to the port, and thus the next sailing couldn't get on.  When the port says you can't come in, you can't come in.  That's it. 

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1 hour ago, KathyC said:

So what did you expect Royal to do?  Move your 4-day over a couple days, then move the cruise after yours by those same two days, and so on so no one has to shorten their cruise?  So if that's the case we'd be making up those two days for the rest of the released itineraries.   

I mean if a multi-billion dollar company with its billion dollar ship wants to change its entire year around my two days... come on..I'm not that big of a narcissist.  

I booked my trip for the only time of year that it was available for me.  I don't have the ability to take trips whenever I want.  Thought my first cruise as an adult would be fun.  Thought that if something like a major hurricane would occur that Royal would have been able to handle it well.  Maybe they did for a lot of people but every time I tried to get something handled it was a mess. 

I expect lots of people here to defend Royal and that's great, but they have probably lost me for a long time and that makes me sad.

Anything to say on RC not coming through with the FCC? Failing to cancel when I asked them the first two times? 

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17 minutes ago, PhantomWolf said:

I mean if a multi-billion dollar company with its billion dollar ship wants to change its entire year around my two days... come on..I'm not that big of a narcissist.  

I booked my trip for the only time of year that it was available for me.  I don't have the ability to take trips whenever I want.  Thought my first cruise as an adult would be fun.  Thought that if something like a major hurricane would occur that Royal would have been able to handle it well.  Maybe they did for a lot of people but every time I tried to get something handled it was a mess. 

I expect lots of people here to defend Royal and that's great, but they have probably lost me for a long time and that makes me sad.

Anything to say on RC not coming through with the FCC? Failing to cancel when I asked them the first two times? 

Sorry for your frustrations.  I am new to Royal and hope they make this right for you and correct their mistake.  Whether you used a TA or not it seems Royal did not come through as they told you they would.  

Hope you get this corrected and have a wonderful cruise to win you back.

Thanks for sharing your experience as we can all learn from each other.

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Sorry for your troubles, vacations that don't work out are a drag, so I feel for you there for sure. RCC has their policies that affect everyone on the cruise when unexpected events happen to the current passengers and the next ones that are coming on board. Looks like  an issue with your follow-up and RCC's failure to do what they said they would do for you. If someone else out there was left whole after this ordeal, then you should be too. Keep at it to see if there is resolution for you, but don't expect to be an exception as they are dealing with up to 5000 guests, but defiantly get what is coming to you that is similar to what other folks on your booked cruise received. By all means find a cruise line that fits your needs so if this happens again you will feel you are being treated fairly. Good vibes for the next cruise for you...take care!

 

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