$0 balance due email

[Starrynight0154]

I got this email for a cruise that’s been paid in full. Searching the internet, looks like this is a long standing issue that’s unresolved, with some people having cruises cancelled due to an “IT glitch”.

11/8 I cancelled and rebooked 8 items on the cruise planner when the Black Friday sales started. None of those have been charged to my CC, despite showing reserved in the cruise planner.

3 days ago I cancelled and rebooked Hideaway Beach. The refund I was supposed to receive instead went to my cruise balance, which I paid just to be safe and not have the entire cruise cancelled. 

Looks like this is getting complicated, now I need to call about the balance due that was paid in full already, getting a refund for Hideaway Beach that was added to cruise fare, plus find out why my 11/8 cruise planner purchases didn’t charge my CC. 

[Vlad]

10 minutes ago, Starrynight0154 said:

I got this email for a cruise that’s been paid in full. Searching the internet, looks like this is a long standing issue that’s unresolved, with some people having cruises cancelled due to an “IT glitch”.

11/8 I cancelled and rebooked 8 items on the cruise planner when the Black Friday sales started. None of those have been charged to my CC, despite showing reserved in the cruise planner.

3 days ago I cancelled and rebooked Hideaway Beach. The refund I was supposed to receive instead went to my cruise balance, which I paid just to be safe and not have the entire cruise cancelled. 

Looks like this is getting complicated, now I need to call about the balance due that was paid in full already, getting a refund for Hideaway Beach that was added to cruise fare, plus find out why my 11/8 cruise planner purchases didn’t charge my CC. 

Sounds like a big mess... 

Waiting to hear what they tell you and do about 11.08 purchases... 

Looks like there's various responses from Royal Caribbean, but so far haven't heard anyone, that those missing charges actually been resolved. 

[BrianB]

You don’t want to deal with the typical agent on the phone with something like this. Many are just booking agents and not versed in dealing with complicated issues. Most will recognize that and transfer you, sometimes to a supervisor who may eventually transfer you to Resolutions, but why go through it over and over.

When you call…ask to be transferred to the Resolutions Department.

This is one of those times when booking through a good travel agent really pays off. A good travel agent is experienced in handling these issues for you. I say ‘good’ travel agent, because there are some that don’t follow up very well or are hard to reach.

Also, if you booked through the casino, then you will be transferred to them. Only they can service your booking.

[HeWhoWaits]

Rule of thumb from experience - don't cancel and rebook ANY Cruise Planner purchases after final payment. New Cruise Planner purchases after that event are fine, but we've seen too many times that changes after payment in full have had this exact same issue (not just Black Friday).

[Vlad]

3 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

Rule of thumb from experience - don't cancel and rebook ANY Cruise Planner purchases after final payment. New Cruise Planner purchases after that event are fine, but we've seen too many times that changes after payment in full have had this exact same issue (not just Black Friday).

Thanks, my problem, and I'm sure many others are sort of different if you've seen another thread. 

Booked a bunch of NEW stuff as soon as they came out, on the 8th. 

Credit card was charged, charges pending, received confirmation emails, separate cruises, in like 5 min or less. 

Then around 3-4 day mark, pending charges disappeared from the card. 

Order history and everything, still showed, booked and paid for cruise planner purchases. But still no charges on my card that went through. 

Purchases another item, about 3 days later after initial. All went without any problems, was processed and on the card in 3 days. 

Now me, and many other don't know what to do. Royal says all good. Card, chase in my case saying it's the merchant that must collect the transaction and so far didn't, that's why it disappeared, that was authorized and pending on the card... 

[Starrynight0154]

I called, and asked for the resolutions department. The person on the phone wanted to know why. After explaining what happened, she sent me a new invoice showing nothing is due. Assured me everything is okay on their end. I said none of my purchases from 11/8 have charged my credit card. Again, she assured me everything shows it’s been paid, and is okay. Told me to contact the credit card company. 
 

 

[Vlad]

1 minute ago, Starrynight0154 said:

I called, and asked for the resolutions department. The person on the phone wanted to know why. After explaining what happened, she sent me a new invoice showing nothing is due. Assured me everything is okay on their end. I said none of my purchases from 11/8 have charged my credit card. Again, she assured me everything shows it’s been paid, and is okay. Told me to contact the credit card company. 
 

 

Thanks for another update 

Glad no hear all is good with cruise itself... 

Very interesting, what's going on with 11.8

Royal keep saying all is good and paid 

And of course credit card can't really do anything about it, since charges were approved and not canceled for any reason by the credit card company. 

[Starrynight0154]

11 minutes ago, Vlad said:

Thanks for another update 

Glad no hear all is good with cruise itself... 

Very interesting, what's going on with 11.8

Royal keep saying all is good and paid 

And of course credit card can't really do anything about it, since charges were approved and not canceled for any reason by the credit card company. 

I’m going to wait another week before calling again, to see if credit card is charged for 11/8 purchases. 
 

The zero balance due email issue is resolved at least temporarily while I wait on a cruise planner Hideaway Beach refund. It’ll be interesting to see if I keep getting the emails like some people have reported. 

[Dad2Cue]

6 minutes ago, Starrynight0154 said:

The zero balance due email issue is resolved at least temporarily while I wait on a cruise planner Hideaway Beach refund. It’ll be interesting to see if I keep getting the emails like some people have reported. 

Did you ask for the email stating a zero balance due?  Now I'm worried my cruise planner purchases may migrate to a balance due for the cruise itself.  I just checked to see if I had a balance due for my cruise.  I don't seem to owe anything for the cruise but maybe I need to confirm that directly with Royal.

[Dad2Cue]

1 minute ago, teddy said:

We’ve experienced this on the rare times we have a balance at the end of our cruise that gets charged to our card on file.

We see the pending transaction when we look at our credit card account online, then it completely disappears for up to three days, then it shows up again as a charge  

 

Yes ... I have seen that too.

[Starrynight0154]

23 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

Did you ask for the email stating a zero balance due?  Now I'm worried my cruise planner purchases may migrate to a balance due for the cruise itself.  I just checked to see if I had a balance due for my cruise.  I don't seem to owe anything for the cruise but maybe I need to confirm that directly with Royal.

I was sent the email already. Logged into the website and it said I had zero balance due, in the “upcoming cruises” page. The actual way to see if you have a balance due is at the bottom of the website where it says “make a payment”. That showed I did owe $129.76 for my cruise that was paid in full previously. $129.76 was the amount I was supposed to be refunded for Hideaway Beach. Due to a glitch it was added as a balance due. 
 

Lesson learned: never cancel and rebook cruise planner reservations after final cruise payment is made. Their software system can’t handle it. And customer service reps seem to not understand this.

 

 

[HeWhoWaits]

2 hours ago, Starrynight0154 said:

I called, and asked for the resolutions department. The person on the phone wanted to know why. After explaining what happened, she sent me a new invoice showing nothing is due. Assured me everything is okay on their end. I said none of my purchases from 11/8 have charged my credit card. Again, she assured me everything shows it’s been paid, and is okay. Told me to contact the credit card company. 

Been there, done that. Got another notice that there was a balance due on the cruise.

Rinse, repeat. Same thing again. Having an invoice showing that nothing is due does not guarantee that the system knows you're paid in full.

[Xaa]

This is what I was trying to warn about in the missing charges thread.  Never happened to me, but I recall it from the forum.  I wish you the best of luck and hate that you are going through this.

 

[SpeedNoodles]

I do hope that you booked with a TA. In the event that you DO get canceled, they would save you a multitude of hours getting everything back.

[benc42793]

I'm confused here. My cruise is leaving December 24th, already made final payment. I cancelled cruise planner purchases for this cruise last week and rebooked and I get a refund to my credit card on the purchase. Am I missing something here or should be concerned? Or is this something that happens to some people but not others?

[Xaa]

It's only some.  I was also past Final for many that I cancelled and rebooked.  What you are looking for are the the charges for the things you booked not appearing on your CC.  You'll still have the times booked but they won't be paid for and that seems to throw RCI's systems to a place that results in many headaches for the guest.

If the things you rebooked are charged on your CC, you will be ok.

[SpeedNoodles]

1 minute ago, Xaa said:

It's only some.  I was also past Final for many that I cancelled and rebooked.  What you are looking for are the the charges for the things you booked not appearing on your CC.  You'll still have the times booked but they won't be paid for and that seems to throw RCI's systems to a place that results in many headaches for the guest.

If the things you rebooked are charged on your CC, you will be ok.

Maybe these days.  This was not the case when it happened to me.  I did get the "zero balance" email, which I thought was weird.  And then I got notice that all of my cruise planner purchases were canceled and refunded, and my cruise was just non-existent.  My TA spent most of Mother's Day weekend getting my stateroom and cruise planner purchases back.

This is RARE.  Most cruises go off without a hitch.

[Vlad]

2 minutes ago, Xaa said:

It's only some.  I was also past Final for many that I cancelled and rebooked.  What you are looking for are the the charges for the things you booked not appearing on your CC.  You'll still have the times booked but they won't be paid for and that seems to throw RCI's systems to a place that results in many headaches for the guest.

If the things you rebooked are charged on your CC, you will be ok.

I'm also sort of confused with what you've saying. We're dealing with different things here. Cruise payments and excursions/planner purchases. 

They aren't together, especially if you're booked through travel agency. Your cruise fare /payments aren't of Royal concern. I'm for example making payments through my travel agency. Then I get invoice through travel agency, but it's official Royal Caribbean invoice. So how can some say, that zero balance on invoice isn't really prove that it's paid off? 

But on the other hand, my cruise planner purchases from 11/08 were, disappeared, and as of now not been collected from the credit card. 

But Royal Caribbean see them in the system as booked and paid. 

So what you guys suggesting? 

Force Royal to charge me for the 2nd time of its already showing paid on full? 

Or cancel my purchases and forget about all of them? 

[Vlad]

5 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Maybe these days.  This was not the case when it happened to me.  I did get the "zero balance" email, which I thought was weird.  And then I got notice that all of my cruise planner purchases were canceled and refunded, and my cruise was just non-existent.  My TA spent most of Mother's Day weekend getting my stateroom and cruise planner purchases back.

This is RARE.  Most cruises go off without a hitch.

When this happened to you, what was the deal with cruise planner purchases? 

Not charged to your card completely? 

Or charged, pending, then drop off? 

Or something else? 

If you can share /explain 

Thx

[Starrynight0154]

November 8th, specifically that date, when cruise planner Black Friday sales started, people including myself report canceling items and rebooking them at lower prices. Nothing is charged to credit cards. Logging into the website or app shows everything looks good and is reserved. The concern is what SpeedNoodles mentioned, where unpaid purchases are added to a cruise balance, making it overdue and the system automatically cancels the entire cruise due to this glitch.

That leads to weird emails about a balance due, pay now or risk cancellation. The email states $0.00 is due, adding to the confusion. This happened to me on the Wonder cruise that’s paid in full. The most accurate and updated balance due is at the bottom of their website, not the upcoming cruises tab where all your cruises are listed. That’s where I noticed my canceled Hideaway Beach purchase was added to the overall cruise balance making it appear overdue. I paid it to ensure that hopefully the cruise isn’t cancelled. 

Calling customer service did not help. Partially due to a language barrier. I asked for the resolutions department and was denied. After explaining my situation, she asked if I want to sleep with beds separate or together? I was told everything is ok, and she said stay on the line for a survey. 7 purchases, totaling over $1,000 for the Odyssey cruise that’s not paid in full have not been charged on my credit card. Not sure if I should keep calling, or just give it more time? 

[SpeedNoodles]

30 minutes ago, Vlad said:

When this happened to you, what was the deal with cruise planner purchases? 

Not charged to your card completely? 

Or charged, pending, then drop off? 

Or something else? 

If you can share /explain 

Thx

All I was told is that there was some glitch with the cruise planner.  I don't recall having booked/canceled anything before it happened, so unfortunately I can't speak to that.

[Starrynight0154]

46 minutes ago, benc42793 said:

I'm confused here. My cruise is leaving December 24th, already made final payment. I cancelled cruise planner purchases for this cruise last week and rebooked and I get a refund to my credit card on the purchase. Am I missing something here or should be concerned? Or is this something that happens to some people but not others?

It’s only an issue if you’re getting emails about a $0.00 balance due. 

[Vlad]

7 minutes ago, Starrynight0154 said:

November 8th, specifically that date, when cruise planner Black Friday sales started, people including myself report canceling items and rebooking them at lower prices. Nothing is charged to credit cards. Logging into the website or app shows everything looks good and is reserved. The concern is what SpeedNoodles mentioned, where unpaid purchases are added to a cruise balance, making it overdue and the system automatically cancels the entire cruise due to this glitch.

That leads to weird emails about a balance due, pay now or risk cancellation. The email states $0.00 is due, adding to the confusion. This happened to me on the Wonder cruise that’s paid in full. The most accurate and updated balance due is at the bottom of their website, not the upcoming cruises tab where all your cruises are listed. That’s where I noticed my canceled Hideaway Beach purchase was added to the overall cruise balance making it appear overdue. I paid it to ensure that hopefully the cruise isn’t cancelled. 

Calling customer service did not help. Partially due to a language barrier. I asked for the resolutions department and was denied. After explaining my situation, she asked if I want to sleep separate or together? I was told everything is ok, and she said stay on the line for a survey. 7 purchases, totaling over $1,000 for the Odyssey cruise that’s not paid in full have not been charged on my credit card.  It sure if I should keep calling, or just give it more time? 

Nicely said, I don't see much or any of language problems. 

Maybe keep calling? 

But it's almost impossible, as I see it, to explain to them what seems to be the problem, since they are saying, probably from same screen, that it's booked and paid. 

[Vlad]

9 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

All I was told is that there was some glitch with the cruise planner.  I don't recall having booked/canceled anything before it happened, so unfortunately I can't speak to that.

I hear you, just not sure what to do in our cases. Maybe a glitch... Maybe not. 

Besides credit card charges... Everything else showing booked and paid, no balance for any purchases. 

[benc42793]

So I just looked at my credit card statement and saw that the Chop's lunch reservation I made on the cruise planner on the 8th isn't showing up. However on the Royal website it still shows the reservation. I didn't get any emails though that said I have $0.00 balance due. I just called Royal to to make sure there was no funny business and that my cruise was paid in full and they confirmed it was and that there was no balance due. I guess I'll just accept the free Chops!

[Vlad]

4 minutes ago, benc42793 said:

So I just looked at my credit card statement and saw that the Chop's lunch reservation I made on the cruise planner on the 8th isn't showing up. However on the Royal website it still shows the reservation. I didn't get any emails though that said I have $0.00 balance due. I just called Royal to to make sure there was no funny business and that my cruise was paid in full and they confirmed it was and that there was no balance due. I guess I'll just accept the free Chops!

When is your cruise? 

No one is against free excursions or purchases. We just afraid that somehow the system will update just before the cruise and hell happens... 

Or will update in like a month, then we'll loose all the discounts on purchases 

[Vlad]

11 minutes ago, benc42793 said:

So I just looked at my credit card statement and saw that the Chop's lunch reservation I made on the cruise planner on the 8th isn't showing up. However on the Royal website it still shows the reservation. I didn't get any emails though that said I have $0.00 balance due. I just called Royal to to make sure there was no funny business and that my cruise was paid in full and they confirmed it was and that there was no balance due. I guess I'll just accept the free Chops!

Just thought about it, I've purchased excursions only, different orders and ships. But looks like it's food as well. Same 11.08

[benc42793]

December 24, 2023. I guess I can’t really do anything now because nothing has happened yet, will just have to wait until something happens

[Vlad]

16 minutes ago, benc42793 said:

December 24, 2023. I guess I can’t really do anything now because nothing has happened yet, will just have to wait until something happens

Did you asked Royal directly about the missing charge? 

[benc42793]

I didn’t. I just care about the cruise balance still being paid in full. As long as that’s fine, I could care less if they end up cancelling my Chops lunch reservation.

whens your next cruise that you are worried that this might affect it?

[Vlad]

3 minutes ago, benc42793 said:

I didn’t. I just care about the cruise balance still being paid in full. As long as that’s fine, I could care less if they end up cancelling my Chops lunch reservation.

whens your next cruise that you are worried that this might affect it?

Cruise is still 6 months 

And I bought it through travel agency, so all payments go through them as well. So THEORETICALLY they can't even add anything to the cruise fare. 

But regardless, I still need all the excursion that I've purchased. 

[benc42793]

I think why I might be different is because my cruise is only 38 days away so I had to pay in full already at the end of September. I can’t make any more payments toward my cruise because it was due on September 27th

[Dad2Cue]

41 minutes ago, Vlad said:

58 minutes ago, benc42793 said:

 

Did you asked Royal directly about the missing charge? 

I just found my cruise planner purchases in the payment history section for my cruise.  My cruise is listed as paid in full.  The charges are listed as pending.  Eventually I will probably owe something for my cruise.

[Vlad]

2 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

I just found my cruise planner purchases in the payment history section for my cruise.  My cruise is listed as paid in full.  The charges are listed as pending.  Eventually I will probably owe something for my cruise.

Listed as pending?

Where? On Royal Caribbean or credit card? 

The only status on Royal Caribbean is booked for any purchases, there's no pending. 

Can you post a screenshot? 

[Dad2Cue]

2 minutes ago, Vlad said:

Listed as pending?

Where? On Royal Caribbean or credit card? 

The only status on Royal Caribbean is booked for any purchases, there's no pending. 

Can you post a screenshot? 

On the app and I log into my cruise under "manage my cruise."

[Vlad]

5 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

On the app and I log into my cruise under "manage my cruise."

OK, I found it, because I've bought through travel agency / agent, my info there is all paid in full. Even though I still have big balance. And there's no other info on purchases in this section. 

If I go into excursions, is shows RESERVED and on website in order history there's more detailed info, says  BOOKED. 

[Dad2Cue]

6 minutes ago, Vlad said:

OK, I found it, because I've bought through travel agency / agent, my info there is all paid in full. Even though I still have big balance. And there's no other info on purchases in this section. 

If I go into excursions, is shows RESERVED and on website in order history there's more detailed info, says  BOOKED. 

Click the payment history button and my charges were listed as pending payments.  I doubt they will submit the payments because I don't owe anything.

[Vlad]

18 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

Click the payment history button and my charges were listed as pending payments.  I doubt they will submit the payments because I don't owe anything.

That's because you probably purchased directly 

I've showed you how it looks when you buy through travel agency 

[Dad2Cue]

1 minute ago, Vlad said:

That's because you probably purchased directly 

I've showed you how it looks when you buy through travel agency 

Correct ... no travel agency involved for my cruise purchase or cruise planner purchases.

[Vlad]

Just now, Dad2Cue said:

Correct ... no travel agency involved for my cruise purchase or cruise planner purchases.

Correct, but Cruise purchases is always direct, can't buy Royal Caribbean excursions or dining else through the 3rd party.