Customer Service after Empress cancellation

[lb0336]

Has anybody managed to get anything "better" than what they offer in the email?

 

Looks like we're either going on the 4-night Enchantment or the 5-night Carnival cruise, both the same departure date. Never cruised Carnival before, but there's always a time to start I guess. 

 

I'm currently fighting tooth-and-nail to keep our OBC so we can just go on Enchantment, since I love RC. But any luck anyone's had would be appreciated! 

[lb0336]

Then they lost my Enchantment reservation and it sold out. So now I'm SOL, and can't even get the money to recoup my airfare. I was okay taking the Enchantment, but now I'm SO appalled at the level of customer service. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

I don't know what's going on.  I thought we were getting a guaranteed rate on the Enchantment (or Majesty) for the same room category PLUS a certificate valued at 100% of our Empress fare but I can't get any confirmation on that.  ....and even if they give me a certificate worth the value of my Empress fare, how will they let me use it ?  Must I book a new cruise or can I apply the value to an existing reservation ?

 

Honestly, I'm just sick of all of this right now.  I want to give it a rest but I'm afraid that if I wait until tomorrow, all of the good Enchantment rooms will be gone !  I am already pretty unhappy that they are making me switch a 5 night cruise for a 4 night cruise...and now I'm not sure what this "other" money is going to be eligible for. 

 

They already owe me reimbursement for airfare rebooking fees from the FIRST cancellation.  Now they will owe me even more.  UGH.  This whole thing is just sickening.

[PRC]

Wow.  Just Wow.

 

This has been a PR nightmare of their own making.  I don't know how they could have handled it worse.

 

Good luck to all affected.  :(

[WAAAYTOOO]

Wow.  Just Wow.

 

This has been a PR nightmare of their own making.  I don't know how they could have handled it worse.

 

Good luck to all affected.  :(

Truer words have never been spoken !

[klc317]

Just heard the news....I guess one of the mods can go ahead and delete my topic about seeing the pics of the Empress.....unbelievable.....thanks a lot RC.  Thanks for the 10 yrs, we are done.

[lb0336]

Just heard the news....I guess one of the mods can go ahead and delete my topic about seeing the pics of the Empress.....unbelievable.....thanks a lot RC.  Thanks for the 10 yrs, we are done.

 

 

When I was on the phone with Customer Service, I explained (calmly at that point) that I have been cruising RC for 12 years now and that they were not leaving me any choice other than to go on the Carnival cruise that leaves same day same port, and that as a loyal customer I didn't want to have to do that (in the hopes that they'd put me on the 4-night Enchantment). 

 

Response: "I am sorry for repeating myself for a third time, but we will gladly give you a refund." 

 

So clearly RC Customer Service is done with all of us anyway, they'd rather just give us our money back and be done than actually try to please long-time customers.

[michelle]

Hi

Make sure if you have issues with this that you call back and ask for a
supervisor - and call resolutions or the redeployment line

888-281-9344.  These 2 departments are responsible for handling these

issues and questions more that the regular res. line.

 

Hoping it works out for you lb0336. 

It truly is disappointing to see this all happening

[Todd]

Hi

Make sure if you have issues with this that you call back and ask for a

supervisor - and call resolutions or the redeployment line

888-281-9344.  These 2 departments are responsible for handling these

issues and questions more that the regular res. line.

 

Hoping it works out for you lb0336. 

It truly is disappointing to see this all happening

 

If I was booked on one of these cruises I would bypass customer service and contact the Corporate legal department directly. Customer Service really has very little power they are told what to say. No question over the cruise refund but the other cost also should be covered by Royal. This is not a act of God or anything Royal should not have seen. I truly believe that for Royal to keep taking bookings and wait so long to cancel is fraud. The last thing legal wants is long term customers claiming fraud or talking to the press. They know how much damage these valued clients can do and will work to make them happy.

 

I do feel sorry for all those who have been "worked" over, I will use "worked" as we have many ladies here and I was always taught to respect woman but worked is not my first choice for what happen.

[RCVoyager]

This does not affect me as I am not booked on that ship, but man what a bad deal.  RCCL is in the business of over-delivering to make it so we can't wait to come back.  What they are doing to some of their best customers is the opposite of that.

 

There are other cruise lines.  I guess it's always good to have options.

 

Good luck to each of you.

 

Sad

[lb0336]

Hi

Make sure if you have issues with this that you call back and ask for a

supervisor - and call resolutions or the redeployment line

888-281-9344.  These 2 departments are responsible for handling these

issues and questions more that the regular res. line.

 

Hoping it works out for you lb0336. 

It truly is disappointing to see this all happening

 

Thanks Michelle and Todd. Unfortunately for them, they're dealing with a law student who was supposed to take this cruise to celebrate being done with finals. I'm persistent with Customer Service, that's for sure! 

[klc317]

My wife sat on hold for a little over an hour and finally got through to what I assume is a foreign call center person with canned answers. We were offered a 4 night Bahamas cruise on another ship (enchantment I believe?) but we declined and opted to receive option B which was a full refund which they stated would take 4-6 weeks. She was not rude but really kinda drilled the guy with questions but really didn't get anywhere.

 

Unfortunately since our dates are not flexible for vacation time this year we called up Carnival (who we have never used before) and got a nice ocean view room comparable to what we would have had on the Empress for almost the same price, minus our RC next cruise credit of $200. Took all of 30 seconds to get ahold of someone there. Cruise is 5 nights and the exact same dates so we didn't have to go through the hassle of getting our airfare changed. We kinda had to jump on something since it's only a month away. Also had good luck with our travel insurance who gladly accomodated our rescheduling for no extra

[WAAAYTOOO]

First of all, congratulations to Ib0336 on completing your finals !  WOOHOO !  I hope you get to do something even BETTER than cruise on that rust bucket.

 

klc317, I can sympathize...and quite honestly, RCI is LUCKY that I have Michelle Cunningham working this for me b/c if they were dealing with me, they would be getting an ear full.  I DO understand that those that answer the phones have no power...and that this is not a problem of their making.  They are just the punching bags that have to deal with those of us who are TRULY PISSED OFF...so from that aspect, I am glad I am not having to deal with this issue directly.  I AM sorry for Michelle, b/c she IS having to deal with my misery but she is a lady and a real professional so I am not worried...except that I will give her so much grief that she won't take any more of my bookings....

 

:huh: :huh:

 

So.  What am I going to do about this mess ?  Not sure.  I have 2 plans in the works.  1 puts us on the Enchantment in an OS but that one will mean trading a 5 day cruise for a 4 day cruise and that just doesn't sit right with me.  I have pushed this option to the backup plan position.  My new Plan A is to move everything (full refund + 100% future cruise credit) to the Freedom for a 7 night western Caribbean cruise in an E3 balcony on the bump-out.  Even though this is trading an OS for a balcony room, I am better with this trade than I was with the trade of 5 nights for 4 nights.  After all, on the Freedom, all the OS gives me is a bigger room and a gold card.  B/c I am D+ I can still get into the CL on the Freedom so the gold card has very little value to me.  Bigger room ?  Ho-hum.  7 nights vs 4 nights ?  OH YEAH !

 

So I am hoping it turns into a win-win.  I am a glass half full kinda gal so I'm thinking I'm coming out ahead on this deal if my Plan A gets executed.  I can change my hotel reservations and excursions - no problem.  Airfare ?  Another $400 change fee of which RCI will rebate $200.  Not happy about that but it is what it is.

 

Bottom line - am  I goin' on a cruise ?  Hell yeah !

[klc317]

Glad you can still go on another and have a backup plan or two. Fortunately as I said before we were able to make some moves last night and can still go on a cruise during the time period we have available albeit on Carnival. Sure we missed out on some on board credits and a few hundred on a future cruise credit we were going to use for Empress but those will still be around to use on a later date.

 

We would have lost our butts changing our airfare and if we had accepted the 4 night option they offered we would still be stuck with the cost of a hotel room, rental car, and food for the day so it worked out in our case. Not an ideal situation at all and we aren't happy about RC handling this whole thing but.....it is what it is. I will miss the few crown and anchor perks of quicker boarding and a few other things but oh well.

 

We will go and have fun with our daughter and make the best of it.

[RCVoyager]

If I were Carnival, I would come up with a clever marketing strategy to incentivize disgruntled RCCL Empress passengers.  Maybe with proof of a cancelled booking some extra perks there.  They can say, "if they don't love you, we do".

[klc317]

RCvoyager.....I agree!

 

I'm just glad we were able to snag a decent room for a similar price last minute on the carnival ship on the same dates. I sure won't be surprised to see quite a few people onboard who are in a similar situation, RC faithful who were forced to make the switch.

 

Been reading off and on all morning trying to familiarize myself with carnivals world and to get some idea what the ship is like. I don't see any reason why we won't enjoy it.

[PRC]

I fear (for RCCL), that this will be something that comes back to haunt them.  

 

If you push first timers to another line, you risk that they will like it and never come back to you.

 

If you push customers who never felt the need to try anyone else to do so, you risk that they too will prefer another line.

 

If you burn your faithful frequent floaters twice like this, they will be much less apt to jump into anything new you offer.  Initial bookings will lag what they could have been because you now have a record of promising more than you can deliver.  

 

RCCL really shot themselves in the foot on this one, but I don't think Goldstien or Bayley will loose any sleep over it.

[RCVoyager]

I've been on Carnival several times.  I think you will find it just fine.  I'm close to 50/50 on the two cruise lines.  The thing that tips the scale to RCCL for me is the Voyager Class ships.  To me, they are the perfect balance of size and intimacy.  Beyond that, there is no reason to choose one over the other... to me.  Carnival's menus are really good.  There ships are nice.  PRC is correct in my mind.  RCCL may just have made some loyal CCL customers.  That's too bad.

[Todd]

If the cruise lines really operated as true business you would see lines going after the others best clients. Carnival could pull off a major marketing hit by going after these high value clients. I would go as far to say offer free cabins (Inside base) to any Diamond Plus Member who was cancelled by RCCL. Must would not take the inside base and would pay a upgrade fee. But the real great thing would be to take away Royals customers.  I see this as a worst PR hit than all the other problems in the last few years.  

[firegal2539]

First of all Todd do you have a telephone number or email address or street address and who to talk to for the Corporate Legal Department.

 

Next, my TA and I spent 90 minutes on the telephone with Tracy the rep. This is what I was told, I can book any cruise on the Enchantment of the Seas or Majesty of the Seas from now until June 27, 2016. Both of these ships only have 3 or 4 day cruises. My full money in will move over to that cruise, that is the cruise fare, taxes/fees, gratuities, shore excursions, beverage package, specialty dining, and insurance and no more will be charged to me. If I want to book an Empress cruise I can book any cruise until July 16, 2016. Empress has the same exact cruises in June as was cancelled, again all money will move over to that cruise. I will get a $200 refund check, no matter what I choose, for the cancellation of the air. Whoopee!! I then asked could I move all of this money to one of my three other RCCL cruises I have booked? Tracy said no, I asked for a supervisor, Tracy said let me check. She came back and could move only the cruise fare and taxes/fees. The rest would be a refund. No I want all of it moved, off Tracy goes to talk to her supervisor and she came back and said we will move it all to your Alaskan cruise in May 2017. Tracy tells my TA that the commission will be a buy back, whatever that means, and I lose $84.80. WHAT??? I lose money because it is my TA's commission, back to the supervisor, no Tracy was wrong, I will get a refund of $84.80. Can you put that on the Alaskan cruise, no it is commission we can't. Why am I included in something that is between my TA and RCCL? Tracy couldn't explain that. I then ask for $100 OBC for my Alaska cruise, we can't do that. My TA said I want a supervisor, this isn't going well and I believe for everything you have put people through she should get OBC. Supervisor came on phone and said no. I am now writing my emails and trying to get names and numbers.

 

Any passenger that had their first Empress cruise cancelled and just had their second cancelled is being handled differently. They can choose another cruise, same dates as above on any of the three ships, full airfare refund, and a certificate for a 100% free cruise. Since I didn't qualify for this she wouldn't answer questions about it. I wanted to know if it could be any cruise that RCCL offered but she wouldn't answer.

 

I am happy with my resolution but not with no OBC. OBC is not a loss for them, you give it right back to them, why not give some to us that have been affected by RCCL's handling of this situation?

 

Candie Terribly Upset in Texas

[WAAAYTOOO]

Candie, I can answer your questions about the double cancellation folks - b/c I am one of them.
 

We have the option of a "price guarantee" sailing on Empress, Enchantment or Majesty in the same cabin category through June 26 (or in the case of Empress, through some time in July...forget the date).  $-0-.  These are the only ships for which the price guarantee was offered.  If you do not want the price guarantee, you can get a full refund of everything that you have paid into the cancelled cruise.  They will not give you any of the OBC that they awarded you from the original cancellation.  In addition to the price guarantee or refund, we get a future cruise credit (FCC) valued at the cost of the CRUISE FARE only...so no taxes, no port fees, no gratuities, no OBC...just the cruise fare.  Up to $200 in airline change fees.  No OBC.  Nothing else.

 

I do not want to exchange a 5 night cruise for a 4 night cruise (Enchantment and Majesty options) and I will NEVER cruise on the Empress...so the price guarantee option is not going to work for me.  I will say that I considered doing a 4 day Enchantment cruise in an Owner's Suite, since this is the cabin category that I had on the Empress, and the cost of the Enchantment OS vs Empress OS was significant.  So while I would have exchanged a 5 night for a 4 night, the switch would have cost them a lot of money with the price guarantee....but I realized that I just don't want to take a 4 night cruise.  It's more work than it's worth.

 

So...I am [hopefully] going with the 100% refund + cruise fare value FCC towards an entirely new cruise on Freedom.  Michelle is working hard on this for me.  Let's see what she's going to be able to pull off !

[firegal2539]

My TA sent me a copy of the email from RCCL to all TAs. It differs from the one I received. It says you have 1 (one) year to book and take your 100% free cruise, it is one year from when they email or snail mail you the certificate. If you would like to see the email let me know. There is some personal information about me in it and I will have to figure out had to delete it out of the email.

 

Candie

[WAAAYTOOO]

Candie, you are correct about the 1 year thing.  The FCC is good for one year.  The shorter time limit was only for the price guarantee transfers to Enchantment, Majesty or Empress

[bcarney]

I suspect all this is going to be documented and part of a future MBA course on "what not to do in this situation"...

 

I am so, so very glad I didn't follow through with my plans to surprise my wife with a cruise over Memorial Day weekend.  I'd be freaking out right now.  Heck, I'm already concerned about my November cruise on Adventure - it's only 5 days or so after it comes out of refurbishment!

[firegal2539]

I have been told by my TA several D+ and Pinnacle members, never book the first cruise on a brand new or newly refurbished ship. Way too many problems. But one of the Pinnacle members brought up that you can usually earn a free cruise or at least a half price cruise when this happens.

[Todd]

First of all Todd do you have a telephone number or email address or street address and who to talk to for the Corporate Legal Department.

 

Candie Terribly Upset in Texas

 

Candie 

 

I sent you a PM with the requested information. But for everyone here, I really believe if you were affected you need to go past Customer Service. Contact people in upper management and express your true feelings and highlight if you are C & A, and that you are very active on Social media, these two guys know the power of PR and want to keep a good image. 

 

Richard D. Fain is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and his email is  rfain@rccl.com.

 

Michael Bayley  is the President and CEO Royal Caribbean International  I do not have his RCCL email but you can use the celebrity email contact  [email protected].

 

Both of these gentleman can be found on Linkedin and contacting them through those accounts is also good. The main phone number for corporate is 305-539-6000 and they can connect you to the legal department. But also if I was someone on one of these cancelled cruises I would call and request to speak to Richard and Michael. I do not believe they would answer but you will get a to VM or a secretary and leave messages for them. If these guys got a 100 different guest contacting them today they would take notice.

 

I would recommend even that past Royal guest send a email and or phone call to express your displeasure with Royal and the handling of guest. One person has limited power, and going to Customer Service really will only get you the standards offer. But as a group of long time clients, with many cruises book we have great power over Royal if the right people know it.

 

FYI: When Royal tells people you must wait 6 weeks for a refund do not agree to that tell them refund with 24 hours or contact your credit card and dispute the amounts you paid. The credit card rules will get you a refund within a few days.

 

Once again sorry to all those affected.

 

 

[lb0336]

Waaayyytooo, Freedom is so great--not envious of the AWFUL experience you've had, but I am envious that you get to enjoy Freedom--have fun! 

 

Todd, thanks for the info. I am drafting an email now. I haven't asked for my money back yet (still "in limbo"), but am planning to book a replacement cruise on NCL, so it'll be good not to have to wait the 6 weeks.

 

Speaking of, anyone here have any advice on NCL? Now we'll probably do the 4-night Bahamas on Norwegian Sky. I'm a little nervous, mostly because I've only cruised on Royal and Holland America before, which both have much different reputations than NCL. Looked into the 5-night Carnival in the Caribbean, but it was going to cost more than our Empress fare and I just couldn't bring myself to do that. NCL is costing about $500 less for a better room, so we'll just use that money on specialty dining and our extra night in Miami. It seems to cater to a younger crowd generally (?) which is okay because we are young, but my biggest concern is that unlike Royal, there won't be as much to do besides drink (drinks are included in the cruise fare), and we're very into food and entertainment. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

I actually love NCL.  I know that there are some that don't...but I do.

 

I was on the Sky way back when it was new...probably 2002.  It was really great.  We had a big group and we had a blast.  Of course, back then, I had only been on 1 other cruise before that one so it was still very new and very exotic.

 

I am guessing here...but I believe that the Sky will be a much better ship than the Empress would have been.  It's bigger, newer and hasn't had the sordid history of Empress.

 

AND I am really looking forward to Freedom.  We were on her, in the Royal Family Suite, in May of 2015 and I'm looing forward to being on her again.  I have another "tribute" posting to do for Michelle on her heroic efforts and the outstanding deal she got for us, but I will do that elsewhere.  Just know that I made a VERY good decision to exchange the 5 day Empress for the 7 day Freedom.  Airfare was a different story.  That wasn't so wonderful, but I did what I had to do.

 

Whatever you decide to do...enjoy yourself.

 

 ...and this, too, shall pass.... 

[jticarruthers]

Just off NCL Escape, generally found it very comparable to Royal. Seemed to us to have a little more focus on pushing people into the bars and the pay restaurants where Royal seems to have more of what we would call "quiet lounge" spaces.

 

That might be that we never found said lounges, might be just the cruise we were on or could be a true statement, hard to say.

 

For example we enjoy sitting at the pub on the Freedom/Voyager class ships, maybe playing some cards or just chatting and people watching. The similar environment on Escape was the District (I think that was the name) which was a great bar with a lot of beer options, but it had fairly loud music piped in all the time.

 

Similarly we enjoy Schooner lounge on RCI, sit enjoy the water, play some trivia, people watch, etc. Closest comparison on Escape was the main atrium. Except again, it was non stop activity so it was loud for a half hour, then quiet, then loud, etc.

 

Thought we found a great place to hang out in the on board Margaritaville until our poor waiter came by to tell us they had closed and we needed to leave so he could clean up and go to his next job .... it was 4.30 in the afternoon ... why the heck is the bar/restaurant on the top deck closed at 4 o clock ??

 

Would definitely consider NCL again and it was a good cruise, but not so good that we wont still look at Royal options. Price/Value leans NCL's way though, especially with the free drink package that they consistently offer.

[aelpern]

I actually love NCL.  I know that there are some that don't...but I do.

 

I was on the Sky way back when it was new...probably 2002.  It was really great.  We had a big group and we had a blast.  Of course, back then, I had only been on 1 other cruise before that one so it was still very new and very exotic.

 

I am guessing here...but I believe that the Sky will be a much better ship than the Empress would have been.  It's bigger, newer and hasn't had the sordid history of Empress.

 

AND I am really looking forward to Freedom.  We were on her, in the Royal Family Suite, in May of 2015 and I'm looing forward to being on her again.  I have another "tribute" posting to do for Michelle on her heroic efforts and the outstanding deal she got for us, but I will do that elsewhere.  Just know that I made a VERY good decision to exchange the 5 day Empress for the 7 day Freedom.  Airfare was a different story.  That wasn't so wonderful, but I did what I had to do.

 

Whatever you decide to do...enjoy yourself.

 

 ...and this, too, shall pass.... 

You mentioned that you exchanged the 5 day Empress for a 7 day Freedom, I assume you had to pay the difference?  RCL refused to do anything for me in that regard other than move my money over and let me pay the difference.

[DocLC]

Waaayyytooo, Freedom is so great--not envious of the AWFUL experience you've had, but I am envious that you get to enjoy Freedom--have fun!

 

Todd, thanks for the info. I am drafting an email now. I haven't asked for my money back yet (still "in limbo"), but am planning to book a replacement cruise on NCL, so it'll be good not to have to wait the 6 weeks.

 

Speaking of, anyone here have any advice on NCL? Now we'll probably do the 4-night Bahamas on Norwegian Sky. I'm a little nervous, mostly because I've only cruised on Royal and Holland America before, which both have much different reputations than NCL. Looked into the 5-night Carnival in the Caribbean, but it was going to cost more than our Empress fare and I just couldn't bring myself to do that. NCL is costing about $500 less for a better room, so we'll just use that money on specialty dining and our extra night in Miami. It seems to cater to a younger crowd generally (?) which is okay because we are young, but my biggest concern is that unlike Royal, there won't be as much to do besides drink (drinks are included in the cruise fare), and we're very into food and entertainment.

NCL is fine. It actually was once of my wife's favorite cruise lines because of the more casual flexibility they offered before the other lines followed. If you're into good food, I would highly recommend budgeting for the specialty restaurants as I didn't find the MDR food to be very good. However, I really enjoyed their steak house and French restaurant.

 

I would also like to add on how very sorry I am for everyone that this happened and really hope Royal gets it together. It seems like something is amiss. As some of you know, I started the year boarding the Liberty being told I owed money even though I had a confirmation that I was paid in full. Add to that the water slide problems that Raye raised in a previous post, the fact they're selling Voom on ships without Voom in the cruise planner, and now what you guys are going through, it really makes you wonder what's going on.

[Todd]

All the problems are being reflected in the stock price RCCL is under $73.00 now it closed 2015 at $102.73. That is almost a 30% loss in value. I hold stock for the long term but a 30% lost on my investment in 4 months is a red flag for me.

 

Royal needs to get their act together.

[WAAAYTOOO]

aelpern - Yes, I ended up paying $288 out of my pocket to transfer from the Empress (5 night) to the Freedom (7 night), but I got SO much for that little bit of money.

 

I was able to get into a Jr. Suite for the cancelled cruise refund + 100% future cruise credit that they gave me (+ $288 of my own money).

 

To be fair, I will say that I was in an Owner's Suite on the Empress but truly, the OS on the Empress is equivalent to the average Jr. Suite on any of the other ships, so I feel like, as far as accommodations are concerned, it was an even trade.  I will not have a gold card on the Freedom, but honestly, what was a gold card going to get me on the Empress ?  NOTHING !  There's no DL, CL, or SL on that rust bucket so where was I going to go and enjoy the "gold card" perks ?  I will still enjoy all of the lounges on Freedom (as a D+ I can still get into the CL on the Freedom - I think !).

 

Anyway, between the awesome job that Michelle did and the Club Royale agent on the other end, it ended up that we received a 65% discount off the full, retail price of this room. Even with the BOGOHO promo, it was still a 53% discount off of that, which is more, by far, than any Club Royale discount I have ever gotten on my own.  Amazing !

 

In the beginning, I had hoped to be able to make a switcheroo from my OS on the Empress to a balcony on the Freedom, but with all the work that the 2 of them did, I was able to go up to the JR Suite for very little out-of-pocket, so I was very pleased.

 

So the cruise part of this was awesome.  Unfortunately, I did not make out so well with the airfare upcharges.  Those were over $1000 !!!!  ...of which I will get $200 back from RCI....presumably.  They still owe me $200 from the LAST airline change fee charges.

 

I do believe that the saving grace for me was - well, obviously, Michelle - but I think Club Royale really came through for me on this one.  From all of the stories I have heard on this and other sites, the normal "Customer Service" Agents or Crown & Anchor or whatever they happen to be, just don't have any flexibility to do anything except what they are told to do.  On the other hand, I know that the Club Royale agent had to have done some extraordinary manipulation to get the final result that he and Michelle got.  The online price of that JS was $2874 PP and my invoice shows a charge of $869.50 PP.  To be fair, you must add half of the $288 that I paid out of my pocket to that, so we ended up paying $1009.50 PP all said and done.  That's an incredible deal, and quite frankly, I don't think I would have gotten that kind of deal from one of the C&A or normal CS agents.

 

What is even MORE amazing is that, in addition to this incredible room discount, they transferred the $1000 CR OBC that we had been moving around from ship-to-ship from our play on the Allure in Feb. RCI also added another $100 OBC for the cancellation so we ended up with $1100 OBC on top of the great room rate.   So Club Royale really did make an extraordinary effort to help us out here. 

 

As always, Michelle was an incredible advocate.  She told them exactly what we wanted and by jingo, we got it all...plus some I hadn't expected.  I cannot recommend her more highly.  She spent her entire day yesterday working on this.

[firegal2539]

lb0336,

 

I cruise NCL quite a bit, mainly because they give me free cruises. You need to take the time to read the reviews on CC, Trip Advisor and Google. The Sky is rated 3.5 out of 5 stars. The reviews all state that it is a party ship because of the free bar. Average age of Sky cruisers is 25 to 26. I don't tolerate drunk, stupid people very well. A lot of the complaints on the reviews are about passengers being sick in the bathrooms, hallways, bars, etc. Passengers so drunk they can't walk, falling down and injuring themselves. Complaints state passengers are lot and obnoxious.

 

Before you book I would do a lot of research. 

 

Candie

[klc317]

Waaaytooo....I'm glad you managed to get it worked out.  I think you will have a much better time on the Freedom and won't have the worries in the back of your mind about traveling on a pile of crap that just got patched together....lol!   

[DunkelBierJay]

I just looked at RC's P&L and their balance sheet. No wonder their stock price is falling. Their annual revenues are $8.2 billion 'ish with liabilities of $12.8 billion with what? another 2 Quantum ships and another Oasis class ship that haven't hit the books yet...that's another $4-5 billion they are tying up over the next couple of years...it's good their gross profit is historically strong, but their focus seems to be all on new and not so much on what brought them there. The Empress deal is a huge black eye for them.

 

[DunkelBierJay]

Correction..,$8.2 billion in gross rev, not $12

[RCVoyager]

Personally, I put NCL at the bottom of the list of mainstream cruise lines.  The poor food in the MDR forces you into the premium restaurants.  We typically like to treat ourselves to one night of premium... not 7.  The MDR reminds me of eating at Bob Evans 7 nights in a row... not something I want to do.

[firegal2539]

To continue my tale of my TA, myself and the RCCL rep. Tracy, I have now found out that she shorted me about $80 I paid for the Empress cruise. When we were talking to Tracy she kept saying the numbers aren't adding up. No kidding, why would you transfer my money over to my Alaskan cruise when the money isn't adding up? My TA and I have not received an invoice or any communication from Tracy or RCCL saying the money has been transferred to the Alaskan cruise. At the end of our conversation with Tracy she said an email with all the new information and the cancellation of the Empress cruise would be forthcoming by the end of the day, well four days later and nothing. My TA has called them and all RCCL says is they are working on it. I hate that I have nothing, no paperwork, to show what is going on and my Empress cruise has been cancelled. TA said she will try with a supervisor on Monday to get some kind of paperwork and get them to find the missing $80.

 

Teri, my TA, said she can see on RCCL's travel agent area, that some money has been put towards the Alaskan cruise but not even close to all of it.

 

I thought cruising was suppose to be fun :(

[WAAAYTOOO]

Candie, isn't $80 about the amount of you TA's commission ? Maybe they are still f'n around with that.