Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice

[nate91]

Just now, AshleyDillo said:

Unfortunately even when there are official releases from Royal Caribbean the agents that you speak with aren't "in the know" about them.  They aren't been apprised of all the changes to Terms & Conditions in a timely fashion.  There are releases that go out to the Travel Agencies that outline the specifics when they make offers.  I believe in the blog post about this, it's showing the letter that was sent out to Travel Agents that have customers impacted by this change.  Your TA may not have gotten this email for a myriad of reasons (most of them the fault of Royal's poor IT and communications) so they didn't know about it.  

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/06/12/royal-caribbean-expands-options-guests-affected-cancelled-allure-of-the-seas-sailings

This wasn't originally an option,  but they listened to the feedback/complaints they received and some folks have reported success in escalating to get moved to a cruise that works for them.  They've posted in Facebook pages and that's trickled over into messageboard posts so if you're reading the messageboards you will see the changes happen in real time.  

I know @Matt tries really hard to put out accurate information through the blog and not post based on rumors without substantiation or official word from Royal Caribbean.

 

Oh, I'm very thankful for Matt's accurate reporting on everything. I'm sure it is correct, as it always has been in the past, however when I get on the phone with my travel agent and they call Royal and no one knows about it, my challenge is that Royal Caribbean Blog isn't actually affiliated with RC, so they often won't honor things without an official confirmation from Royal. This results in escalation to supervisors, so on and so forth. I just wish there were a faster way to get to the point, so to speak.

[AshleyDillo]

6 minutes ago, nate91 said:

Oh, I'm very thankful for Matt's accurate reporting on everything. I'm sure it is correct, as it always has been in the past, however when I get on the phone with my travel agent and they call Royal and no one knows about it, my challenge is that Royal Caribbean Blog isn't actually affiliated with RC, so they often won't honor things without an official confirmation from Royal. This results in escalation to supervisors, so on and so forth. I just wish there were a faster way to get to the point, so to speak.

My advice is try to track down the source of the information so you can tell your TA where to find it!  Then they have something they can reference that's in writing and see where it is coming from.  Since this is an email in this case, unless you or the TA end up getting it they haven't made an official announcement that I'm aware of that's on their site.

[Zambia-Zaire]

9 hours ago, twangster said:

The other things that bothers me in this NRD conversation is why should that be a factor when Royal is cancelling the cruise?

They cancelled the cruise.  I didn't. 

I still want to sail Allure even if it isn't AMPED on that date.  I'd even fly to Florida to do it.  Change home ports, just let me sail.  Nope. Royal won't let me.

So given this is all on Royal, why should I have to book refundable?  

This what gets me...they have been offering reasonable options when they have cancelled dates...what's the difference when they cancel a ship itinerary.....then autonomously "lift & shit" a booking. Thinking there may have been some confusion or misunderstanding by their customer service rep. Not defending Royal, just surprise they would act so autonomously w/o the customer say & disappointed, if intentionally, before any public out cry....especially in this moment of time. Surely Royal is not that short-sighted. Will be interesting to see how thing ultimately turn out.

[Andrew72681]

2 minutes ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

This what gets me...they have been offering reasonable options when they have cancelled dates...what's the difference when they cancel a ship itinerary.....then autonomously "lift & shit" a booking. Thinking there may have been some confusion or misunderstanding by their customer service rep. Not defending Royal, just surprise they would act so autonomously w/o the customer say & disappointed, if intentionally, before any public out cry....especially in this moment of time. Surely Royal is not that short-sighted. Will be interesting to see how thing ultimately turn out.

I just have a hard time imagine any group of yes-people that would sit on a zoom call and say “sure boss I’m sure there won’t be any backlash if we toss people from Allure to Liberty”

[VACruiser]

I imagine their driving factor in any of these decisions is about preserving as much money as possible. The thing that will change that is the backlash their decisions get; the blowback factor. And, this got one so they modified their rules to accommodate these changes. In the end of the day they still need to preserve the company as well as some thread of customer satisfaction.
 

In normal times that is hard, but under these circumstances, almost impossible. Their customer service was spotty to begin with and this situation it has shown how poor it truly is. I’m still waiting for my money back on a cancelled cruise - I think I’m in the 40 day mark now - that is a bad company practice and it leaves a terrible taste in my mouth and there are thousands of people just like me. 

[Jill]

I’d like to think this blog may help drive some decisions made by RC. You know there are RC people that read this blog. (Well if they were smart they would! )

I mean this blog is really the heartbeat of the line.

[Zambia-Zaire]

14 hours ago, Andrew72681 said:

I just have a hard time imagine any group of yes-people that would sit on a zoom call and say “sure boss I’m sure there won’t be any backlash if we toss people from Allure to Liberty”

??? This unclear & make very little sense as related to my post & appear to contradict itself....

 

Anyway...i found that in many cases, after reading many explanation and/or occurence here, Royal customer service does not appear, at times, to be well informed of the policy, and make numerous mistakes, that are essentially brought to their attention, proven to be unclear on the policy, causing an unfortunate mishap, again, that is brought to their attention. That's not to defend Royal or convey they don't exercise shrewd business practices...it seem like many of these circumstances, the customers services rep are not well versed in the policy until someone clearly bring it to their attention & things are eventually & exhaustedly resolved.

This unfortunate for twangster & others that may have faced the same situation; but, many times on this blog, twangster patiently explain to other here, the befuddlement of some of these reps. Now is a good time for Royal & frankly, all cruiselines to start refresher & updated classes on their policy & customer services.

[Andrew72681]

2 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

??? This unclear & make very little sense as related to my post & appear to contradict itself....

 

Anyway...i found that in many cases, after reading many explanation and/or occurence here, Royal customer service does not appear, at times, to be well informed of the policy, and make numerous mistakes, that are essentially brought to their attention, proven to be unclear on the policy, causing an unfortunate mishap, again, that is brought to their attention. That's not to defend Royal or convey they don't exercise shrewd business practices...it seem like many of these circumstances, the customers services rep are not well versed in the policy until someone clearly bring it to their attention & things are eventually & exhaustedly resolved.

This unfortunate for twangster & others that may have faced the same situation; but, many times on this blog, twangster patiently explain to other here, the befuddlement of some of these reps. Now is a good time for Royal & frankly, all cruiselines to start refresher & updated classes on their policy & customer services.

That was precisely my point in reaction to your original post. They’ve normally been close to doing the right thing, how did the meeting to determine what to do with the Allure passengers go so wrong? They’re had to have been someone who spoke up and said “this is stupid and won’t work.”

The customer service reps aren’t the ones who tried to downgrade @twangster, that message came from above. I refuse to blame the phone agent who was going by what they and others were told at the beginning. If their original plan was to let everyone refund or move to another ship then they would have gone with that before remapping everyone to new rooms. This blew up in their face and clearly caught them off guard.  

[AshleyDillo]

1 hour ago, Andrew72681 said:

I refuse to blame the phone agent who was going by what they and others were told at the beginning.

Exactly.  The blame really relies in not disseminating the information to those front-line phone reps so they can provide good customer service.  They get asked questions all the time that they don't know the answers to and I'm not sure they have ever been trained on how to respond if they don't know.  Sometimes they tend to offer their best guess and sometimes they will just go by what they can uncover through Royal's website, which often isn't updated to reflect the latest information in a timely fashion.  Some customer reps don't even recognize Royal's separate Travel Agent website as being an official Royal Caribbean website.

When @twangster was first posting his exasperation about the issue, the policy was one thing and because of the backlash they back-pedaled and are now offering what they should have in the first place.  It was a pretty quick whiplash change, so it's no surprise that someone could call up now and get a misinformed rep. 

[Ampurp85]

Hmmm, I am not saying I blame the phone rep, but I wonder if they literally just assumed. Under current CWC and L&S, what the rep originally told pax, would be applicable. We all know that reps are some of the last to get information. I seriously doubt RCCI didn't know people would be p*ssed. Given the refund fiasco and other gripes from not being able to book FCC without a deposit....you would think being able to get a refund and cancel would have always been on the docket. I am not trying to take up fro RCCI but come on, they are a huge international business. There is no way they couldn't see the fallout and backlash from being shady like that.

[Andrew72681]

25 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Hmmm, I am not saying I blame the phone rep, but I wonder if they literally just assumed. Under current CWC and L&S, what the rep originally told pax, would be applicable. We all know that reps are some of the last to get information. I seriously doubt RCCI didn't know people would be p*ssed. Given the refund fiasco and other gripes from not being able to book FCC without a deposit....you would think being able to get a refund and cancel would have always been on the docket. I am not trying to take up fro RCCI but come on, they are a huge international business. There is no way they couldn't see the fallout and backlash from being shady like that.

Based on people getting reassigned to liberty before ever being asked we can be reasonably sure that the consumer un-friendly decision is what was done. I’ve also noticed  a similar situation to what American Airlines did with their computer systems a few years back, before it was a more manual system, but now it’s literally just going screen to screen with only being able to do what the system says you can. Anything else needs a manager.
@twangster did you get the feeling with the rep that perhaps when they loaded the room on Liberty that it was coded as a L&S and that’s why there was no recourse to move as something had already been done in the system? That would certainly have complicated the agents life’s and made it more difficult to try anything. 

[Ampurp85]

@Andrew72681 I don't know, Liberty is the only 7nighter in Galveston, so I can see an automatic switch occurring.  Precisely why those in Star class got the shaft. Computers aren't really consumer-friendly. They use algorithms and coding to achieve results. I guess my point is I find it unfathomable that RCCI bigwigs wouldn't see that just switching those rooms to a completely different class of ship would be an issue. Like I have to remind myself that with so much information available so quickly, often times reactions happen before actions. Case in point: the Allure announcement happened and mere hours later the transfer to Liberty fiasco occurred. People called before many reps could be educated and they probably treated it like an everyday call.

[Zambia-Zaire]

2 hours ago, Andrew72681 said:

The customer service reps aren’t the ones who tried to downgrade @twangster, that message came from above. I refuse to blame the phone agent who was going by what they and others were told at the beginning. If their original plan was to let everyone refund or move to another ship then they would have gone with that before remapping everyone to new rooms. This blew up in their face and clearly caught them off guard.  

I don't think anyone can make the statement underline, unequivocally. I have seen a number of times on this blog, people explain how Royal's system algorithms "automatically default" to the closest category, which may very well be the case here. The customer service rep, I suspect, was basing things off what's they see on their monitor & trying to make sense of it, as they deal with the customer...in this case twangster's agent. The Rep can only assist as far as what they can do themselves, base on what they see & have to refer issues to the next level of customer services when needed...they are just following the info in front of them...and couple that with how verse they are outside of that, is where some mishaps occur that need to be address. Again, not defending any shrewdness on Royal behalf...just stating other factors that could very easily be at play. 

[Andrew72681]

25 minutes ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

I don't think anyone can make the statement underline, unequivocally. I have seen a number of times on this blog, people explain how Royal's system algorithms "automatically default" to the closest category, which may very well be the case here. The customer service rep, I suspect, was basing things off what's they see on their monitor & trying to make sense of it, as they deal with the customer...in this case twangster's agent. The Rep can only assist as far as what they can do themselves, base on what they see & have to refer issues to the next level of customer services when needed...they are just following the info in front of them...and couple that with how verse they are outside of that, is where some mishaps occur that need to be address. Again, not defending any shrewdness on Royal behalf...just stating other factors that could very easily be at play. 

I will unequivocally state that the customer service agents weren’t in charge of the decision of moving a years worth of customers from one ship to another. That decision most likely originated with Nick Desrochers and other members of the revenue management team. While not an easy decision these days when holding onto whatever revenue you can makes Wall Street happy, it was an easy one. 

Just as when a plane is taken out of service and replaced with a smaller one seats get moved and customers get assigned based on status and anticipated revenue. This was clearly done in a suboptimal way as if not already there @twangster is approaching Pinnacle. 

[Zambia-Zaire]

1 hour ago, Andrew72681 said:

I will unequivocally state that the customer service agents weren’t in charge of the decision of moving a years worth of customers from one ship to another. That decision most likely originated with Nick Desrochers and other members of the revenue management team. While not an easy decision these days when holding onto whatever revenue you can makes Wall Street happy, it was an easy one. 

Just as when a plane is taken out of service and replaced with a smaller one seats get moved and customers get assigned based on status and anticipated revenue. This was clearly done in a suboptimal way as if not already there @twangster is approaching Pinnacle. 

Yeah, I get it...no one is blaming the customer service rep for the essential "lift & shift" afar from bad customer service. I don't know Royal's system algorithms; so, I'm oblivious if it actually automatically defaults to closest category or not, other than hearsay. I suppose a case can be made that the brass ultimately is responsible; they oversee their component of the company….yeah sure. Just don't think anyone can unequivocally say one way or the other. Royal customer service reps has unequivocally have a history of being ill informed in a number of areas of their job, at times. I suspect that more of the case than Royal pulling a hawkish move at this time, when public opinion is very precious if they want to entice the public back, anywhere near 70% of what they where pre-virus...given the number of blocks stacked against the industry & pure reputation.

I must say...the airline analogy is not the same, imo. I've been flying 1st class every chance we get(if 1st class not sold out), for a few decades now, since my wife & I was bumped up to 1st class at no added cost, back in 98....a lucky draw. When you book 1st class and there's a change in flight to a different model aircraft...we are still moved to 1st class on the new aircraft(which admittedly only happened a very few times to us). However, in conversation with other flyers, that experienced such a change, in every case, they where offered frequent flyers miles and/or credited discounts on next flight, if they flew coach because they couldn't take a later flight, with available 1st class. Flights are immediate & only last mere hours unless you flying cross country like we frequently have to do...one is not living on an aircraft. Booking a cabin for duration of a number of days is completely different...you living their for that period of time & paying for a specific set of comfort & perks. I readily compare it to hotel resort room personally than an airline.

[twangster]

For what it's worth lets play the timeline out.  

The morning of June 10 I saw that someone on another site had posted they received an email explaining the terminal delay and offering that Allure bookings would move to Liberty.  I checked my future cruises on the website my booking was still showing Allure in 9330 with 543 days to go.  My screen shot is June 10 @ 10:42 am MT  (12:42 pm ET).  It was just a rumor at this point, let's stay cool and calm.  I contacted my travel agent.  

As June 10 progressed other sites had lively discussions about the situation with people posting their experiences.  My travel agent had received nothing from Royal, I received nothing from Royal.

I recall at that time thinking that Royal must be dealing with the masses that map more logically, interior to interior, ocean view to ocean to view, balcony to balcony, etc.  Since there had been no communication for my Star Class booking and since my reservation was still showing Allure in 9330, I figured Royal must plan to handle mappings that don't make sense such as a Star Class elimination on a case by case basis. 

I gave Royal the benefit of the doubt.  

Stories began appearing on June 10 of guests being moved from Star Class to a Junior Suite.  WTF?  Seriously?  I checked Liberty and there were no 2 bedroom suites available.  My booking still showed Allure.  I decided to play it cool, not to force the issue, hoping that other Star Class guests might be mapped before me so I might have more options offered.   Stay cool, keep calm.

On the morning of June 11 I checked again and low and behold my booking now showed Liberty in a 2 bedroom GS.   Allure had disappeared like it had never been booked.  My TA was off shift so I patiently waited for her to come on shift.  I could have engaged the general customer service department for my agency but I've booked over 50 cruises with my agent and she has vast experience beyond their general CS department.  While the vast majority of those cruises have executed normally for those that didn't she has been very good and has always been able to negotiate the madness of Royal's systems when it was required.  She has always worked out something I can live with.

She made at least three attempts to work with different departments over several hours on June 11.  At this point it grew later in the day.  No official offers to change ships had been posted by others yet but there were a few reports that people had success moving to Florida based Oasis class ships.  

She had received nothing from Royal, I had received nothing from Royal.  I had an idea of what was happening based on internet reports but my only true indication that I was involved was looking at my future cruises.

Late afternoon MT (early evening ET) she called me again.  Royal was absolutely refusing to move me to another ship that week or any week .  I already knew the only ship that had Star Class availability for my week was Anthem.  The rate for the cheapest Star Class cabin was three times what my fare was on Allure.  I didn't want to sail on Anthem in the dead of winter for my siblings first ever cruise so that wasn't really an option I wanted.  The very best she could offer was a refund of my NRD deposit.  

She had never seen anything like it.  They were steadfast.  She had escalated to resolutions and to supervisors but nothing.  They would not extend any dining, voom, beverage or gratuity on Liberty.  They would not move the booking to another ship.  

Right around this time people began posting emails from Royal that gave the option to move ships and dates.  She called me within minutes of those first appearing to give me the news that Royal was unwilling to do anything.  Liberty is it, like it or not.  The only compromise Royal had conceded was a full refund but it would be months before I saw it.  

I jumped at the refund.  Since I paid for all deposits I knew how messed up FCC would be should it ever go into FCC.  My other guests have never sailed before.  One has medical conditions that would have required a doctor's note under previous policy.  They were still in based on my sales skills, but hesitant.  If we could have put it out into 2022 we could probably get past all that but all Royal was offering was a downgrade to a GS losing all Star Class benefits. 

No thanks, refund it is.  

So a couple of things...

This is unprecedented that I know of.  I can't think of another situation where another ship, 60% of the size of the original has been swapped into the fulfil a cruise booking.

This played out over 48 hours.  Royal took that long to appreciate the scope of their mistake and to change their position.  Despite that they had not communicated the latest version of options internally, not even to resolutions or supervisors.  I think if I waited until the 72 hour mark perhaps we could have negotiated a price protected change to ship and sail date, but I also knew many other guests who were able to, were snatching up the few Star Class cabins that were available here and there.

FCC wasn't an option I would consider.  I have way more FCC experience than I like from past Royal cancellations and it has always been a cluster.  Since I paid the deposit for my other guests there was no way I wanted to go down the FCC path even if they did something crazy like offer 200% let alone 125% that wasn't even an option they presented at any time.  FCC?  No thanks and good riddance.

No price adjustment was offered to stay on Liberty.  Pay for Star Class but get a completely lesser product at the same price.

I am Pinnacle.  Status didn't matter.  I got the Royal treatment just like my pre-gold Star Class siblings did. 

Could you imagine how a new to Royal cruiser booked in Star Class would have gone through this?  There may be some of those out there, looking forward to their now Liberty Star Class cruise oblivious that she doesn't have Star Class.  

My agent and I have yet to receive an email from Royal about any of this.  The low cost, outdated and poor performing IT platforms that are in place because that is exactly what senior leadership desire them to be have come full circle to bite them in the back side.  

[Ozzycruiser]

I wonder out of curiosity wether Allure will reposition at all then? Or stay in spain after her refurb? If the dock in her proposed "home port" isnt ready, where else would she go? 

[twangster]

52 minutes ago, Ozzycruiser said:

I wonder out of curiosity wether Allure will reposition at all then? Or stay in spain after her refurb? If the dock in her proposed "home port" isnt ready, where else would she go? 

The Med isn’t very enticing to cruise in the winter.  Florida on the other hand...

Florida home ports that can accommodate her are Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and the Port of Miami.  

[TXcruzer]

On 6/11/2020 at 5:14 PM, Andrew72681 said:

Unfortunately I think more of us should have taken the disputed charge tactic at the beginning when they started playing the long game with refunds. 

I have disputed 3 cancelled sailings with AMEX, it’s a very simple process and I have all my money back within 72 hours of calling them. 
I gave Royal 45 days on the first but after that one I just call within a couple days of cancelling. AMEX gives a provisional credit immediately, then 48-72 hours later, after confirming a refund is due, my balance is in the negative. 

[CarlaB]

19 hours ago, TXcruzer said:

I have disputed 3 cancelled sailings with AMEX, it’s a very simple process and I have all my money back within 72 hours of calling them. 
I gave Royal 45 days on the first but after that one I just call within a couple days of cancelling. AMEX gives a provisional credit immediately, then 48-72 hours later, after confirming a refund is due, my balance is in the negative. 

This is what I did too. Royal told me they would issue my refund within 30-45 business days. That was well over two months ago and times up. This weekend I called Discover and a very nice rep was able to dispute the charge and hopefully I'll have the few thousand back that Royal has been so dearly hanging on to for months now. 

I have been following this blog for over a year now and really enjoyed the live blogs and info from the veteran cruisers. Sadly I never made it on a Royal ship as our Anthem got canceled last year and then Oasis canceled back in May. Not Royal's fault but the way they have handled customer service leaves so much to be desired. At this point I'll be happy to have my money back and not sure if I'll ever set foot on their ships even in the future. This latest fiasco with changing ships without notice just adds to my hesitance. 

I will say it's interesting (and a bit sad) to see the shift in attitudes here from the long time cruisers, from Royal enthusiasts to now disillusioned with the whole company. I've quietly lurked these boards and witnessed a lot of disputes between the Royal enthusiasts and anyone else who would speak something negative about Royal in the past. Some veteran cruisers here ardently stood up for Royal time and time again, even in instances where I didn't think it was justified. Now it looks like everyone is finally fed up with the company and have seen for themselves the kind of selfish tactics Royal uses. 

[TXcruzer]

44 minutes ago, CarlaB said:

This is what I did too. Royal told me they would issue my refund within 30-45 business days. That was well over two months ago and times up. This weekend I called Discover and a very nice rep was able to dispute the charge and hopefully I'll have the few thousand back that Royal has been so dearly hanging on to for months now. 

I have been following this blog for over a year now and really enjoyed the live blogs and info from the veteran cruisers. Sadly I never made it on a Royal ship as our Anthem got canceled last year and then Oasis canceled back in May. Not Royal's fault but the way they have handled customer service leaves so much to be desired. At this point I'll be happy to have my money back and not sure if I'll ever set foot on their ships even in the future. This latest fiasco with changing ships without notice just adds to my hesitance. 

I will say it's interesting (and a bit sad) to see the shift in attitudes here from the long time cruisers, from Royal enthusiasts to now disillusioned with the whole company. I've quietly lurked these boards and witnessed a lot of disputes between the Royal enthusiasts and anyone else who would speak something negative about Royal in the past. Some veteran cruisers here ardently stood up for Royal time and time again, even in instances where I didn't think it was justified. Now it looks like everyone is finally fed up with the company and have seen for themselves the kind of selfish tactics Royal uses. 

While I have been a dyed in the wool Royal fan for over 20 years, the handling of the refunds, and now the latest issue with unilaterally transferring reservations to the Liberty has definitely caused me to step back and look at the company in a different way.  I am still a fan and will continue to cruise them,  but the way in which I conduct my business transactions with them will most certainly be changing.

[twangster]

I have called out Royal before when they make a mistake and that is what I've done here in the thread.  However don't confuse that an overall or new found disdain for the company.    

No company is perfect, not before the pandemic and not during the pandemic.  

I still have double digit cruises booked with Royal and I eagerly look forward to the day when we can cruise with some resemblance of normalcy.  

When I see someone wrongly claim something like bait and switch or when someone didn't understand established policy then tries to throw the company under the bus because they didn't understand or take the time to research I'll continue to challenge that. 

Royal has always done right for me in the end.  In this case I am whole in that I was fully refunded.  That's better than other companies that have been seriously impacted by the pandemic have done for me.  Even if it wasn't the ideal solution, at least I am whole.  

As this pandemic continues to impact this industry ships are way out of position for all the right reasons (getting crew home no matter what it takes) and that may lead to other ship swaps once things begin to recover.  For some that may be a good thing, for others not so much.  The warning remains, just keep an eye on your booked cruises and learn from this thread if it happens to you.

[twangster]

I made the mistake of sending an email to Michael Bayley over this issue.   Today I received a response.  

I was booked in a two bedroom aqua theater suite on Allure before Royal moved me to Liberty without any communication. 

Here is the executive explanation why:

"Given the closure of shipyards along with the disruption to the supply chain caused by this pandemic, the amplification of Allure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas has been placed on hold until further notice. This change does mean that the stateroom you were booked in – which we were planning on updating during this process – will no longer be renovated. As a result, your original stateroom’s capacity can no longer accommodate your party, and we’ll need to make a change to your stateroom. We’ve moved you to the best available stateroom, and your amenities will remain the same (as many as can be accommodated)."

Apparently the three of us on my Allure booking could never fit into the two bedroom aqua theatre suite on Allure.  Even had the terminal in Galveston completed on time, we apparently would have had to move because the two bedroom suites on Allure can't accommodate three guests.  

So you see it has nothing to do with construction delays in Galveston.  

The loss of Star Class by being forced onto Liberty in their eyes:  "your amenities will remain the same (as many as can be accommodated)."  This appears to confirm that Royal places no value in the Star Class program.  It's worthless.

It's a shame Michael Bayley knows so little about the ships in the Royal fleet.  

[monctonguy]

That doesn't make sense at all...its all fluff and BS......from him?...It's got to be an intern punching out the responses. If not, it shows a total lack of care and empathy for Royal customers......terrible service.

 

Would have been better to NOT send a response then to send something that is so blatantly cavalier.

[SteveinSC]

2 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

That doesn't make sense at all...its all fluff and BS......from him?...It's got to be an intern punching out the responses. If not, it shows a total lack of care and empathy for Royal customers......terrible service.

 

Would have been better to NOT send a response then to send something that is so blatantly cavalier.

I give it a fraction of a percent chance that he A: reads his emails, or B: is the one answering them....people with money pay people to do these things. 

[twangster]

1 minute ago, SteveinSC said:

I give it a fraction of a percent chance that he A: reads his emails, or B: is the one answering them....people with money pay people to do these things. 

No question in my mind he never saw it, but it's his office and it carries his name.  It does reflect on him.

I appreciate in the era of the current government it may seem acceptable to lie and make stuff up out of thin air but I had higher expectations for Royal Caribbean.    

[BrianH]

This is still happening. In July, we booked a 7-night Greek Isles cruise on RCCL out of Rome on Brilliance in an aft junior suite for next October. (I should note that we're Diamond Plus on RCCL, having cruised with them 21 times in 18 years, and this was our third booking with them since our last cruise before covid.)

Sometime since we booked, they switched the ship to the Enchantment of the Seas. Okay, I get that they change ships, and I can live with that ship, even with its one specialty restaurant and its tiny gym. But - they moved us to a midship junior suite, even though we paid up to get the aft location vs. midship when we booked.

Now, I looked up how many suites in each category are on each ship. Even if they moved the one other aft junior suite from Brilliance to Enchantment, that left 11 on Enchantment. Then, if they moved the people from Grand and Owners' Suites on Brilliance over and above the number available on Enchantment to aft junior suites on Enchantment as accommodation, that still leaves 5 aft junior suites on Enchantment.

So it's apparent that they moved us, pocketed the premium we paid, then left at least five unbooked aft junior suites for other people to book - also at premiums over midship junior suites. When I called them, they tried to tell me they sent a letter. BS. I checked all my email folders, and I received nothing from them. I only found out about the change when I looked at our reservations page.

They refused to move us, and they refused to discount our remaining fare by the premium we paid. They put us on a waitlist and said they'd notify us if an aft junior suite opens up. Yeah, like they notified us when they changed ships and cabins on us.

Yes, I know they can do this per the contract. Yes, we'll still be on a cruise, with a great itinerary, in a nice cabin with a balcony. Yes, we'll enjoy ourselves. But no, I probably won't cruise with them again. Caveat emptor.

[twangster]

Suites are the most impacted when ship changes occur.  This particular change has been discussed in other threads when it was announced.   Given the difficulty mapping suites between different classes I have typically taken the full refund option when I've been impacted.  

[TXcruzer]

14 hours ago, BrianH said:

This is still happening. In July, we booked a 7-night Greek Isles cruise on RCCL out of Rome on Brilliance in an aft junior suite for next October. (I should note that we're Diamond Plus on RCCL, having cruised with them 21 times in 18 years, and this was our third booking with them since our last cruise before covid.)

Sometime since we booked, they switched the ship to the Enchantment of the Seas. Okay, I get that they change ships, and I can live with that ship, even with its one specialty restaurant and its tiny gym. But - they moved us to a midship junior suite, even though we paid up to get the aft location vs. midship when we booked.

Now, I looked up how many suites in each category are on each ship. Even if they moved the one other aft junior suite from Brilliance to Enchantment, that left 11 on Enchantment. Then, if they moved the people from Grand and Owners' Suites on Brilliance over and above the number available on Enchantment to aft junior suites on Enchantment as accommodation, that still leaves 5 aft junior suites on Enchantment.

So it's apparent that they moved us, pocketed the premium we paid, then left at least five unbooked aft junior suites for other people to book - also at premiums over midship junior suites. When I called them, they tried to tell me they sent a letter. BS. I checked all my email folders, and I received nothing from them. I only found out about the change when I looked at our reservations page.

They refused to move us, and they refused to discount our remaining fare by the premium we paid. They put us on a waitlist and said they'd notify us if an aft junior suite opens up. Yeah, like they notified us when they changed ships and cabins on us.

Yes, I know they can do this per the contract. Yes, we'll still be on a cruise, with a great itinerary, in a nice cabin with a balcony. Yes, we'll enjoy ourselves. But no, I probably won't cruise with them again. Caveat emptor.

Take the refund 

[tjcruisers]

Wouldn't have a issue if the ships were of the same class. Moving me to a smaller class ship I'd take the refund.

[Adriana]

On 6/11/2020 at 11:54 AM, twangster said:

I found out by looking at my future cruises on the website. 

They removed me from Star Class that would have included a Genie, prepaid gratuity, Voom, deluxe beverage package and the dining package among other benefits and now those are all lost since Liberty doesn't offer Star Class.  No change in fare, no compensation, no refund option.  Can't Lift & Shift a fall 2021 cruise and CWC doesn't apply as I've only paid a deposit.   Sail Liberty or walk away from my deposit.  

For my party including family members sailing with me, adding gratuity, Voom, deluxe beverage and the dining package adds nearly $4k to the cruise cost.  

Oh my gosh, that is awful! I can’t believe they are doing that! I really hope they come up with something to offer in compensation, major compensation! 

[BowTieBrigade]

RCCL could really use a good comms department. Little things like advance notice of switching ships could create some real good will. 

[twangster]

8 hours ago, BowTieBrigade said:

RCCL could really use a good comms department. Little things like advance notice of switching ships could create some real good will. 

For Brilliance/Enchantment and Voyager/Adventure they did provide advanced notice.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/07/28/royal-caribbean-redeploys-cruise-ships-2023-2024-cruise-season-due-new-speed

Individual notices went out.  As an impacted cruiser I received the emails and there was immediately many forum posts about the changes so I know I was not alone.

This is quite standard.  I can't think of a time that a ship swap hasn't made the front page of the blog and guests haven't been notified.  If you did not receive notice check your spam folder and make sure Royal has a good email address for your booking.  If booked through a travel agent your beef is with your travel agent for not notifying you.  

 

 

[TeRriii]

My cruise on Spectrum OTS at September, 14th 2023 was cancelled because RC modify September & October schedule. They add new 12N Tokyo/Japan cruise for September 2023 (I found this information from one of cruise blogs out there, not from RC). I booked direct and I have not received any emails from RC regarding solution or compensation for several days now. I found RC cancelled my cruise when I logged in to my account 3 days ago.

I may screw my flight as I booked cheap ticket, the change or cancellation fee will be huge. Will RC cover my flight change fee ?