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Ridiculous hold times for customer support


Katie B

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I have been on hold for over 90 minutes with Royal Caribbean.  I purchased a cruise which sales in 10 days, and I needed to make an update to my reservation.  There are zero options to manage your actual reservation on line.  Everyone must call their customer support line which is so antiquated.  They don't offer an option to have a rep call you back, they don't tell you how much longer, they put you in the queue from the initial call and probably hope you hang up.  I can't believe such a large Brand has an outdated and unacceptable support option for customers who have already give them money.  If I wanted to spend more, by adding to my reservation or booking another cruise, I could easily do that online.  But once they get your money, zero support.  This is pathetic for a global Brand in 2022!

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Right now Royal Caribbean is updating their servers. I too have also called in several times before they launched their Black Friday Sales and had excellent service. That being said I have been on hold or actually on the phone with Royal Caribbean for over 9 hours and counting this weekend and am getting very frustrated. It has not been world class service this weekend, but the call operators are doing their best. The site keeps glitching and prices are changing when they shouldn't. Also some of the reservations show the correct price but try to charge you the wrong price in the cart. Be careful if you book shore excursions this weekend!

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4 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

It still blows my mind that in 2022 going on 2023 Royal Caribbean does NOT have a chat feature. That is such a freaking joke. You should be able to chat with customer service, C&A and IT too. Its honestly sad and comical at the same time.

The reality of Royal is that they embrace technology in their entertainment and for some on board experiences but they absolutely suck at technology for their land based pre-cruise resources.  I'm pretty sure Royal is one of those companies that only views technology in IT as a waste of money, a cost center that can't possibly generate revenue and the concept of leveraging technology to make more money is lost on them. 

Their original accounting office was in a trailer in a parking lot behind the corporate office.  In many ways not much has changed except for the ships.  

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11 hours ago, TiffanyMann08 said:

Also some of the reservations show the correct price but try to charge you the wrong price in the cart. Be careful if you book shore excursions this weekend!

I posted a whole other start to a thread before I saw your post here.  I just ran into this exact problem.  Tried to rebook a shore excursion because the website showed a new discounted sales price on an excursion I previously booked...And, after canceling my original booking and re-booking at the current sales price, a much higher price showed up in my "cart"...After several hours on "hold" on the RCCL phone and getting disconnected twice, I finally got a "Resolutions"rep who claimed there is NOTHING they can do!

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11 hours ago, AJL said:

Going on 3 hours on hold…. Understand volume is high but this is pretty crazy and this is my first Cruise experience…. Making airlines look like gold Star customer service companies lol

That's completely unacceptable. How can it be that bad? A chat feature would alleviate some of this mess. 

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6 hours ago, twangster said:

Chat feature requires human agents waiting to chat.  If they had more agents the phone wait times wouldn't be horrendous.  Catch 22. 

They need a chat feature because it's 2022 and every other business on Earth has it. It's the easiest, fastest way to get answers. I sent an email a week ago that I'm still waiting for a response. Might as well do smoke signals at this point. 

 

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11 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

They need a chat feature because it's 2022 and every other business on Earth has it. It's the easiest, fastest way to get answers. I sent an email a week ago that I'm still waiting for a response. Might as well do smoke signals at this point. 

 

The estimated wait time for your chat agent is... 243 minutes.  🤣

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/19/2022 at 11:57 AM, Katie B said:

I have been on hold for over 90 minutes with Royal Caribbean.  I purchased a cruise which sales in 10 days, and I needed to make an update to my reservation.  There are zero options to manage your actual reservation on line.  Everyone must call their customer support line which is so antiquated.  They don't offer an option to have a rep call you back, they don't tell you how much longer, they put you in the queue from the initial call and probably hope you hang up.  I can't believe such a large Brand has an outdated and unacceptable support option for customers who have already give them money.  If I wanted to spend more, by adding to my reservation or booking another cruise, I could easily do that online.  But once they get your money, zero support.  This is pathetic for a global Brand in 2022!

I have the same problem and for 3 days I have called early in the morning and the first time I waited for 4 1/2 hours and finally hung up.  The next two times I used the "we will call you back".  One was a supposed 248 minutes, no call back.  The next was 170 minutes, no call back.  Called for a 4th time this morning with a supposedly 60 to 90 minute call back.  I am not at 4 hours and 27 minutes with no call back.  I also called with a different reservation number for a couple that is traveling with us, from a different phone and number and have waited for just over 2 hours with no call back.  I would like to know if anyone has ever gotten through by waiting on hold or with a call back.  There is no way to see, at least that I have found, as to anything about your purchased items like water or alcohol for the cabin.  I placed an order for some bottled water and rum for the cabin, but it hasn't registered on my credit card and I can't get ahold of a person and can't find anyplace online that lets me know if the order has been received.  

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On 11/19/2022 at 2:54 PM, King of Wales said:

Great first post. In the future a Travel Agent would save you from this issue.

Maybe try calling off hours, like early in the morning or late at night.  It may also be worth trying to connect with them through social media. I find being nice helps 😉

I have and there is no difference.  Leased amount of hold time it 60 to 90 minutes and I have held for over 2 1/2 hours with that "hold time" and over 4 1/2 hours another time.  I realize that many companies have trouble finding employees and I am sure it takes a bit of time for new employees to get up to speed.  But that would apply to all cruse companies.  I sail on Carnival as well and just talked with them Tuesday this week and only waited about 5 minutes.

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I called twice last week - got through in 2 minutes the first time but the system was down for the thing that I needed. Called back a few hours later and was on hold less than 5 minutes & problem resolved quickly. Had my AirPods on and stuff to do while waiting, but I guess it was my lucky day! I would not want to wait on hold that long  for sure and sorry it has happened to you - myself, I would hang up and try again in an hour or two.

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2 hours ago, Roger L said:

  There is no way to see, at least that I have found, as to anything about your purchased items like water or alcohol for the cabin.  I placed an order for some bottled water and rum for the cabin, but it hasn't registered on my credit card and I can't get ahold of a person and can't find anyplace online that lets me know if the order has been received.  

You would receive an email receipt for orders that went through. You can also find them in your Cruise Planner under your orders for that cruise. They generally go right through with an email coming within a minute or two to confirm.

RE: bottled water and rum for the cabin, - I don't believe you can order rum for the cabin, so not sure where that's coming from. 

@Ampurp85 posted a nice little graphic earlier on how to find your orders in the cruise planner if you're not sure: 

 

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On 12/3/2022 at 3:46 PM, FloatyBoaty said:

RE: bottled water and rum for the cabin, - I don't believe you can order rum for the cabin, so not sure where that's coming from. 

 

 

You can order Rum and other alcohol for your cabin using "Royal Gifts" under your profile, not in the online cruise planner directly.  Perhaps that is what they are referencing.

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29 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

You can order Rum and other alcohol for your cabin using "Royal Gifts" under your profile, not in the online cruise planner directly.  Perhaps that is what they are referencing.

I (obviously) had no idea! - I've always just looked at the Royal Gifts tab. Strange that they are so different, but looking now and yay, another place to potentially spend money 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!

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On 11/20/2022 at 7:42 PM, twangster said:

The reality of Royal is that they embrace technology in their entertainment and for some on board experiences but they absolutely suck at technology for their land based pre-cruise resources.  I'm pretty sure Royal is one of those companies that only views technology in IT as a waste of money, a cost center that can't possibly generate revenue and the concept of leveraging technology to make more money is lost on them. 

Their original accounting office was in a trailer in a parking lot behind the corporate office.  In many ways not much has changed except for the ships.  

This is a Royal Caribbean Group IT culture issue.  Celebrity hold times are no better. 

What I find especially bad is Royal Caribbean and Celebrity SHARE the same authorization servers.  I have logins on each cruise website and use the same user name for both.  They must have the same password.  If I change Royal's password I have use that password to login into Celebrity.  Of concern is if someone hacks the Royal Caribbean database and steals sensitive information does that imply a person who has only sailed on Celebrity, never on Royal,  has had their data compromised as well?

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19 minutes ago, Toby said:

This is a Royal Caribbean Group IT culture issue.  Celebrity hold times are no better. 

What I find especially bad is Royal Caribbean and Celebrity SHARE the same authorization servers.  I have logins on each cruise website and use the same user name for both.  They must have the same password.  If I change Royal's password I have use that password to login into Celebrity.  Of concern is if someone hacks the Royal Caribbean database and steals sensitive information does that imply a person who has only sailed on Celebrity, never on Royal,  has had their data compromised as well?

I haven't been able to login to the website since I got my new laptop in October. I can login from my phone, I can login from my Kindle Fire, I can login from my wife's laptop but my new laptop just gives me a strange message that they have my info but can't login, try again later. Well it's over 2 months later and I still can't login. 

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Welcome to the new world. Nobody wants to work. Even if they do, there is no real "work ethic " anymore. They dont care.  Royal, like all other cruise lines and all other businesses around the globe are suffering post Lockdowns.  Lack of employees , lack of products, lack of tech, lack of everything.  Sure you can book a travel agent, ( if there are still any good ones working that is)   .  I book direct through Club Royal, and avoid most of what you experienced.  I would phone as soon as they open or the last hour of close if it were me.   

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4 hours ago, Toby said:

This is a Royal Caribbean Group IT culture issue.  Celebrity hold times are no better. 

What I find especially bad is Royal Caribbean and Celebrity SHARE the same authorization servers.  I have logins on each cruise website and use the same user name for both.  They must have the same password.  If I change Royal's password I have use that password to login into Celebrity.  Of concern is if someone hacks the Royal Caribbean database and steals sensitive information does that imply a person who has only sailed on Celebrity, never on Royal,  has had their data compromised as well?

I sent a message via Facebook yesterday and no response so I'm not sure that's a great way to go either. 

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23 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

As of 5:19 Central Time, I have been waiting 401 hrs for a call back from Royal on a cruise planner issue from the BF CP sale. I don't think I'm gonna get that call back.

I suspect you wont either. 

I've a pretty serious issue with an upcoming booking.  The last time I talked with Casino Royale, they promised a resolution.  It's been two weeks since our last conversation.  And I'm still met with silence.  A previously unresolved issue was resolved only via the concierge in the Diamond Lounge.  I fear that will be my only option now, too. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/19/2022 at 12:57 PM, Katie B said:

I have been on hold for over 90 minutes with Royal Caribbean.  I purchased a cruise which sales in 10 days, and I needed to make an update to my reservation.  There are zero options to manage your actual reservation on line.  Everyone must call their customer support line which is so antiquated.  They don't offer an option to have a rep call you back, they don't tell you how much longer, they put you in the queue from the initial call and probably hope you hang up.  I can't believe such a large Brand has an outdated and unacceptable support option for customers who have already give them money.  If I wanted to spend more, by adding to my reservation or booking another cruise, I could easily do that online.  But once they get your money, zero support.  This is pathetic for a global Brand in 2022!

I think a lot of global brands are going through the same thing. Nothing new, as its a new world if you haven't noticed.  Lack of staff, training , cost cutting measures, etc is happening all over the place. Not just cruise ships.   If people give enough feedback, things might change. Every call I make I can leave an instant review of my call.  To be honest, I dont experience this much, as I book direct through the casino line Club Royale and service is usually immediate.  If I were to use the main phone customer service line, I would call as soon as they open or very late at night. Calling a peak business hours , there is sure to be a wait. And you can always send an email. 

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