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Total disappointment and waste of my time and money.


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I had the worst experience of my life on my latest cruise.  Short and sweet...My friend and I got into a heated argument as we were checking in.  It immediately escalated from there.  

I was on a 5 day/4 night cruise on Allure of the Seas.  Lets just say my friend of almost 20 years are no longer friends.  Long story short...I went to security three times.  Immediately after boarding, again on the second day, and then was escorted out of my room with all my belongings into a cabin in the middle of the ship.  On the third day, I went to customer relations and again asked to be put in a room of comparable value of what I paid.  I also mentioned that the lady they left in the cabin with the balcony was suicidal, which she was.  Long story.  Anyhow...I was asked to meet with the head of security because of this accusation.  I told them everything that had happened the day prior could be proven, and that they just needed to watch the CCTV footage for our section of the ship, which will prove my story.  Again I asked for a balcony cabin.  And again I was told that there are no cabins with balconies available.  I told the head of security that I had spoke with a cabin steward earlier, and he informed me that the ship is only at 60% capacity, and there are plenty of balcony cabins available.  Finally on day three, they suddenly had a balcony cabin.  One of our shore excursions was changed to something similar, but not what I had paid for.   I have sent four letters trying to speak with Customer Relations.  When they finally did contact me, it was a minimal effort response, they were sorry for my experience, and they will look into it.  We have been going back and forth. That is not a reasonable resolution for me. Their response is always, we have reviewed your complaints, and it is going up the chain so that others do not have to endure what I had to endure.  I keep repeating that that resolution does nothing for my waste of 3500.00, my loss in pay, not to mention that I am no longer friends with the individual that I went on the cruise with.  Also RCC states that there is no one else to report to, that it has escalated to the" highest level possible", and all they can do, is to do better moving forward.  I'm sorry, but this is not acceptable with me, and the woman I have been corresponding with does have to answer to someone else, and that is who I would like to speak with.  Any ideas on how I can get past this woman and speak with someone that understands that 85% of my onboard experience was not a happy and memorable trip, and nor was there any "quality service"?  I was told by customer relations basically that 'at least I did have some good moments to reflect back on.   All correspondence has been through the "executive office" and apparently there is no one above that level to deal with these issues that they have already reviewed.  Any help is appreciated.  Thank you for taking the time to read this.

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Wow, we saw something similar happen on our last Norwegian cruise. Two friends had to be separated and a second room found. What they did in that situation was move the second guest, not the primary. (The Haven is a bastion of gossip, but i did wind up chatting with the evictee later who spilled the info).

Interesting story, and i can't help wonder why they moved you and not your former friend. 🤔 

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39 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

This is a Royal Caribbean fan site, not an official site. The issue is you are complaining about something that happened on a ship once you have already disembarked. It's really difficult to get any traction on a satisfactory solution once you have left the ship. 

 

I think original poster understands this is just a fan site, but out of desperation for help is looking to see if anyone has any advice or help, or has had success with a certain contact a royal to help.

 

Very unfortunate situation and hope it all gets resolved. Obviously nothing will erase those memories and loss of friend ship. Sorry for that.

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Like @AshleyDillo stated before we are a fan site but I promise we are not Royal apologists. When they get it wrong we do opine here. I read your complaint a few times and what keeps jumping out at me and it was your very first statement, your friend of 20+ years & yourself participated in a heated exchange at check in. Honestly I am surprised Royal allowed you to board.

When we are angry we have much difficulty controlling our emotions which as an outsider (Royal representatives in this case) may be ill prepared to deal with/mediate. Royal is a company providing a vacation experience, they are not crisis counselors. I am sad that your sailing was not what you had imagined, but the company can only do so much. I'm sure as much as you articulated the problems so did your cabin mate ex-friend. Royal reps/security really has no idea who to believe, they ultimately just wish peace and no escalation.

Yes, the cabins may have been unoccupied but they leave some cabins empty for deep cleaning and such during some sailings, at least one became available eventually for you. I had to deal with Royal security once when my 16 year old didn't show up at the cabin at the pre scheduled time and after an exhaustive search and not hearing from her (we always text) we did ask for security to help, they were amazing. Could not have been more compassionate. She heard the announcements of her name and came bouncing up to the guest services desk like what did you do mom, I'm so embarrassed. She did text, we did text but the internet was down, no one realized this so no texts were going through; she did everything right explaining where and what time should would return, she was in the teen club via the text.  They cared, they were compassionate, I also maintained my composure while articulating my issue and that was hard. I promise you that was HARD.

It breaks my heart that you and someone you hold so dear have gone your separate ways, I am so sorry for that. Honestly though, I don't know what else you would want from Royal they are not arbitrators in disputes, they provide a sailing for the monies. If you choose to not take advantage of all of the offerings and have a bad experience due to things beyond their control I think they have abided by the terms of the agreement. 

Do you want your money back because the fight made you not enjoy your sailing? That is not really a resolution that would be available or entertained. I whole heartedly wish you peace and joy, I wish for you to heal from your hurting as well. It seems a piece of you is lost when the friendship ended, looking to Royal for some healing is looking in the wrong place. Please book another cruise, just you! I bet this experience can be turned around, prayers up Maria 💙

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Wow. Just wow.

The only thing I see RCCL did that is questionable was to let you board in the first place.  

They gave you a second cabin.  You only paid for one.

RCCL is not responsible for your relationship.

Of all the ridiculous complaints I've seen from first time posters, this one takes the cake.

Suck it up buttercup.  You and your friend ruined your vacation... not RCCL.

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Unfortunately, I'm a bit more blunt than Neesa.

What is your endgame?  Whether you mean to or not, you are coming across like you are expecting resolution in the form of a complete refund.

I'm sorry you and a 20 year friend are enemies now, but that's on the two of you not Royal Caribbean.  You and your former friend handed the staff on the ship a xxxx sandwich and they did the best they could. 

How good of friends were you if an argument while you were checking in for a cruise caused an irreparable rift?  

 

 

 

 

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21 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

The biggest concern that I see here is that Royal may not have good plans in place for someone having a mental break while on board. Perhaps security should have alerted medical? I don't know, but if someone is reported as being suicidal, I'd think that someone on the ship would want to check that out. 

They might have.  We will never know what happened with the former friend.  Privacy laws would prevent anyone from knowing, especially the person she was in a fight with.

 

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1 hour ago, RCVoyager said:

Wow. Just wow.

The only thing I see RCCL did that is questionable was to let you board in the first place.  

They gave you a second cabin.  You only paid for one.

RCCL is not responsible for your relationship.

Of all the ridiculous complaints I've seen from first time posters, this one takes the cake.

Suck it up buttercup.  You and your friend ruined your vacation... not RCCL.

I was going to reply, but given you said exactly what I was going to say.... ^^^ THIS! ^^^

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I had to read this a few times to understand.

OP feels like Royal owes them for personal problems. First heated argument they had at check-in meant OP was accepting of the former friend's behavior and agreed to share space. 

I'm also wondering if OP was the instigator, if friend is suicidal and whatnot. I don't know, these posters who gripe here seem to be just looking to stir things up. 

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2 hours ago, teddy said:

 

How good of friends were you if an argument while you were checking in for a cruise caused an irreparable rift?  

 

 

 

 

I'm scratching my head what type of argument somebody could have during checkin to end a 20 year friendship. Usually people are quite happy at time as their getting the ship

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I'd be more concerned with a friend of twenty years that is suicidal.  Heck, forget about twenty years, someone is suicidal.  That becomes a priority.  

Once that reality was upon me, my cabin doesn't matter.  The only thing that's important would be that person.  Nothing else matters.

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1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

I had to read this a few times to understand.

OP feels like Royal owes them for personal problems. First heated argument they had at check-in meant OP was accepting of the former friend's behavior and agreed to share space. 

I'm also wondering if OP was the instigator, if friend is suicidal and whatnot. I don't know, these posters who gripe here seem to be just looking to stir things up. 

This sounds like the people you ran into on Oasis last week.

I was on Allure last week and it was a 7 day cruise and very peaceful. 

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After reading the one long paragraph 🕵️‍I'm taking it that OG poster is looking for some kind of refund or Fcc due to the fact she had an argument with her ex best friend before even boarding and it ruined her cruise! 

Unbelievable 😄 

At least she didn't say she was pinnacle  🤣 

 

 

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13 hours ago, tjcruisers said:

After reading this, if true, I have a whole new level of respect for Royal customer service having to deal with this. Only thing I could fault Royal with is letting you and your friend on the ship in the first place

LOL, same.  If I had to deal with this as a RCL employee, they'd have to put me on suicide watch.

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19 hours ago, Maria Drakes said:

Any help is appreciated.  Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

Here's my two pennies.  Royal doesn't owe you anything, and I'm surprised they just didn't take both of you off the ship at the next port.

 

As many said, this was a personal problem.  A cruise ship is not a magical area where everyone gets everything they want.  It's a luxury item, and honestly, I'm surprised they let you board if it was really as serious as you're making it out to be.

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Save the drama for your momma. If the post is “real” I feel bad for the OP because they are clearly in need of help.  Not help resolving the issue on the cruise but real life help.

If it’s not, and is like several posts that show up here every week or so that smell of trolling…you’re not going to impact this groups love for Royal or cruising. Your wasting your time.

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I once took a cruise where Celebrity gave us a DIFFERENT cabin--with alleged upgrade (balcony to Aqua, after 3 days of "no cabins available" on a 12 night cruise)...as well as rebating us $700 in the form of future cruise credit.  Of course the reason was MAJOR construction directly below our cabin--starting one morning at 6:00 am!  We were on Deck 6 (Reflection) and below that space, in the public area of Deck 5, they were converting the space to a new use.  Of course, THAT was the cruise line's fault--not ours.  That is the sort of situation where they WILL compensate you.  

We ALSO "Got" a second cabin on the Vision OTS this past August.  Why?  My wife tested positive for Covid during the cruise.  They moved her down to a Deck 3 OV (from the high end midship balcony we had).  In the current state of things, they still hold a lot of cabins for that eventuality.  Now, THAT wasn't RCI's fault..but that is something they will do to protect EVERYONE onboard.

The OP's situation is completely their own doing.  No fault of RCI's whatsoever.  They shouldn't have let you board.  Or they should have kicked both off the ship at the first port.  Do they have a "brig" on board?

And, picture if they routinely gave away cabins to everyone who had an argument with their partner.  There are probably some folks out there who woold book four friends in a quad, then, day one, go down to guest services and claim to not be getting along and get reassigned to four different cabins!  Every time some husband and wife got into an argument over some little thing, voila, two cabins.  And on and on.

BTW, this is not the worst complaint I've seen.  A few years ago, on another message board, some poster (and it really appeared to be serious--not a joke) claimed Royal Caribbean owed him EVERY CENT refunded.  Why?  He claimed he was defrauded.  False advertising.  Royal advertised his cabin to be 185 square feet...and HE brought a tape measure and measured it himself (like any unqualified person really knows how to accurately measure rental space.  I wouldn't trust myself doing it and I spent 40 years in the real estate industry.  There are various different measurement standards depending on situation).  Anyway, after HE measured and calculated, his calculation came out to ONLY 178 square feet.  He thinks Royal shorted him by SEVEN SQUARE FEET...and, he figured that he should deserve to get every cent back.  SERIOUSLY!

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I was looking at the celebrity website and looking at the edge class ships. They look gorgeous with lots of cool looking dining venues and then I thought to myself, man that’d require me to bring a lot more formal clothes than I do for a Royal cruise  and have to routinely dress up more than a polo and slacks for said dining venues. Seems like too much work. Royal hits the sweet spot for me, which is why I’m loyal to Royal! 

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1 hour ago, GatorCruiser said:

I was looking at the celebrity website and looking at the edge class ships. They look gorgeous with lots of cool looking dining venues and then I thought to myself, man that’d require me to bring a lot more formal clothes than I do for a Royal cruise  and have to routinely dress up more than a polo and slacks for said dining venues. Seems like too much work. Royal hits the sweet spot for me, which is why I’m loyal to Royal! 

Not sure you are on the right thread with this...

...but, you don't need ANY formal clothes on Celebrity.  Zero formal nights.  They replaced them with "Evening Chic" nights...and it's all optional.  I don't necessarily bring a coat and never bring a tie.  I wear my same Merrill Mocs on my feet and just do black Dockers and a shirt with buttons and a collar--even a black or gray golf shirt.  NO venues onboard require more than slacks and a polo. EASY.  

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1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

Not sure you are on the right thread with this...

...but, you don't need ANY formal clothes on Celebrity.  Zero formal nights.  Thjey replaced them with "Evening Chic" nights...and it's all optional.  I don't necessarily bring a coat and never bring a tie.  I wear my same Merrill Mocs on my feet and just do black Dockers and a shirt with buttons and a collar--even a black or gray golf shirt.  NO venues onboard require more than slacks and a polo. EASY.  

Well good to know. Appreciate the info 

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So, I haven't even gone on my first cruise (booked for our first in July! Can't wait!) BUT I do travel fairly regularly, and OP, this entire situation seems to be strictly your own doing and that of your friend. The staff seemed to be exceedingly accommodating. From what I can see, the only fault on the part of the cruise staff would be to not have a terribly good plan in place for those who experience an unexpected mental health crisis while on board. Although with your vague and selfish focus, it could also just be that you're more focused on poor you instead of the potential health and safety of another human being.

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13 hours ago, TimeRacer said:

Although with your vague and selfish focus, it could also just be that you're more focused on poor you instead of the potential health and safety of another human being.

Reading the OG post it was all about how unfair it was that she wasn't in a balcony cabin! OG poster probably lied to staff about her ex friend being suicidal just to get her removed from cabin and she got back into it. OG poster says that even after discussing with security she then again asked for a balcony cabin! So the cabin was more important than her ex friends health. 

 

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2 hours ago, MarcBerger said:

I think the FRIEND owes her money....certainly NOT Royal....WOW

I would also assume that if security got involved and the OP was the primary guest and still removed her, most likely in a domestic onland they try to move the problem not the victim, but not always. We are only getting one of the 3 versions of what happened.

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You selfish jerk!  To blame RCCI for YOUR & your friend's bad Behaviour is reprehensible!  Shame on you!  It is people like you - demanding things you are not entitled to AND GETTING THEM - that raise the prices of cruises.  Stop whining and put on your big girl panties!  If I were your "friend" or your parent, i would be absolutely MORTIFIED at your Behaviour, both with the argument and more importantly, with DEMANDING that Royal Caribbean REWARD you for your assinine and embarrassing behaviour.  Get some help with your personality you narcissistic jerk.  I feel sorry for the people at Guest Services/security, etc that had to deal with the likes of YOU! Talk about first world problems!

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People. and friends too, getting in such an intense argument that it went this far on a cruise? What a waste of a vacation. If only they knew how to just chill, find the time to have a few drinks and a good laugh, like they did when friendship was developing and stable and stop arguing. Bon Voyage and enjoy life. It's not going to last forever.

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