‘Balance Due Phantom’ Strikes Again!

[Dad2Cue]

7 hours ago, DanR said:

I ended up paying it, and will talk to guest relations on the ship and try for onboard credit maybe this is only me second cruise so idk 

Sorry this happened to you on your second cruise. If it is any consolation it is one of the things I like about Royal.  The way things are done never ceases to amaze me. I went through this last year during the Black Friday Sale.  Everything worked out eventually.  You probably missed out on Covid cancellations and FCC's (Future Cruise Credits).  It helps to have a sense of humor.   Don't let anything spoil your cruise ... as long as they don't cancel it.

[Pattycruise]

11 hours ago, DanR said:

I ended up paying it, and will talk to guest relations on the ship and try for onboard credit maybe this is only me second cruise so idk 

It’s highly unlikely guest relations onboard will be able to help you,  perhaps email the CEO mbayley@rccl.com and state your case. Include reservation # and ship and sale date along with the issue and steps you’ve taken to resolve it. 
 

[Mike.s]

Great, so I'm now stressing as I cancelled and rebooked the internet on our transatlantic cruise due to leave in 10 days. How quickly does the "outstanding balance" show up?

[Dad2Cue]

2 hours ago, Mike.s said:

How quickly does the "outstanding balance" show up?

I received my FIRST NOTICE of balance due 2 days after my Black Friday cruise planner swaps. I received my SECOND NOTICE this morning 2 days after the first notice.  I guess I won't ignore the second notice and call Royal today.

The thing that bugs me is all my purchases have been processed and show up on my credit card.  I have yet to see my refunds.  If it is like last year ... the refunds might not show up for weeks.  Royal actually owes me some money!  I haven't sent Royal any notices of balance due.

[bobbydx]

I just received refund back to the card I used to purchase the cruise and not the card I bought the excursions on. I think this is validation that they have some sort of mix up when refunding and actually are refunding what you paid for your cruise instead of what you paid for planner items. That is why it turns around and says you owe money for the cruise. This is a complete mess as I am still owed money.

[Dad2Cue]

27 minutes ago, bobbydx said:

I just received refund back to the card I used to purchase the cruise and not the card I bought the excursions on. I think this is validation that they have some sort of mix up when refunding and actually are refunding what you paid for your cruise instead of what you paid for planner items. That is why it turns around and says you owe money for the cruise. This is a complete mess as I am still owed money.

This is exactly what happens.  I just called Royal and said that I was getting balance due notifications.  The customer service rep knew exactly what the problem was and he explained it to me.  I was assured the problem was corrected after he put me on hold for a few minutes.  Hopefully the problem is fixed and now I can go back to checking every morning for my refunds to materialize on my credit card account.

The exact same thing happened last year during Black Friday Sales.  It has only taken them a year to realize there is a glitch but they don't seem to know how to prevent the glitch from recurring.

[KevinJ]

RCL math continues to amaze me. Since I booked/cancelled/rebooked CP items for three of my upcoming cruises I'm playing the accounting game trying to keep track of everything. I just spent about an hour going through my records trying to figure out two CC credits I got yesterday. 38.99 and 36.99, at first I thought they had cancelled my cooler bag with Truly as that was 38.99 but then what was the 36.99. I finally figured out that they totaled 75.98 which was a North Star that I cancelled. I'm always irked that they break up refunds buy dividing the total to each guest as if you actually pay it individually. But how they manage to divide 75.98 and come up with two different values instead of just 37.99. I've added keeping track of how I paid for things CC or OBC and then tracking when I cancel and when I get the actual refund. Oh and to help with the confusion two of my purchases I never received email confirmations.

Well it keeps me entertained some of the time 

[Dad2Cue]

9 minutes ago, KevinJ said:

Well it keeps me entertained some of the time 

I'm retired so it gives me something to do.  It isn't that entertaining though.  I pity Royal's accountants.  Royal math amazes me too.  I'm more amazed that I always get my pre-paid cruise planner purchases.  That seems miraculous to me.

[FionaMG]

36 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

 It has only taken them a year to realize there is a glitch but they don't seem to know how to prevent the glitch from recurring.

Nope. Cases were reported from the year before last too, so at least two years.

[Southern Dan]

I got my issue straightened out.  I will no longer be repricing anything during Black Friday sales, I will just wait to purchase everything then as I only am able to cruise 2-3 times a year max for the foreseeable future… 

[ropeadope13]

My travel agent just called and said the same thing just happened to me. Sounded like he had everything under control, so I’m not going to work myself up too bad!

[PRMLVM]

35 minutes ago, ropeadope13 said:

My travel agent just called and said the same thing just happened to me. Sounded like he had everything under control, so I’m not going to work myself up too bad!

Just watch your emails for CP cancellations.  Our TA was told everything was taken care of, and 6 weeks later we lost our cruise, boarding time, reservations.....  Took days to straighten out, and we still have not rec'd a SIGNIFICANT refund.  So stay on top of it. 

[ropeadope13]

42 minutes ago, PRMLVM said:

Just watch your emails for CP cancellations.  Our TA was told everything was taken care of, and 6 weeks later we lost our cruise, boarding time, reservations.....  Took days to straighten out, and we still have not rec'd a SIGNIFICANT refund.  So stay on top of it. 

Sounds like a nightmare. WTF

[Pattycruise]

Mine was the cancellation of a cruise planner purchase made in July and was cancelled on this past Friday, they owed me.  My balance due is the exact amount of the cancellation. My “need to pay email shows they owe me-87.99.

 When I inquired of this yesterday I I had 2 agents tell me they owed me $ 87.98 and my account did not show I owed anything.  Today i received the “we’ll cancel your cruise” email again-2 days after the first email- and lo and behold there is now a balance due on my account, $87.99.  I paid it.  I guess we’ll see what happens when the credit card statement comes.

 Last time they reimbursed out of cruise fare instead of excursion, so they needed the payment so they could apply it to the cruise fare, then they issued the reimbursement out of the proper account. Some such nonsense. 
 

i checked all my sailings and the rest are good but a friend linked to mine shows a $800+ balance due on a casino comp and there’s no way. She sent me her booking confirmation and it looks like they applied the credit for the cruise fare for that exact amount  but somehow they have her as owing it.  glad this thread was started so I checked all my stuff and found this error. 

[Skeet100]

I’m caught in this mess now.  I canceled and rebooked a few things through cruise planner when the early Black Friday sales came up.  As each of those refunds post to my credit card, they are also being subtracted by Royal from my booking.  So suddenly my paid in full booking now shows hundreds due.   I booked through Costco and they have not yet been able to get Royal to resolve the issue.   
The refunds should have been for the cruise planner purchases that I had already paid for.  Now I don’t have those as they were cancelled and it says I owe money for the cruise - which is paid in full and past final due date.

 I’m really concerned.  This is ridiculous.

[Lovetocruise2002]

On 11/14/2024 at 11:41 AM, Southern Dan said:

I got my issue straightened out.  I will no longer be repricing anything during Black Friday sales, I will just wait to purchase everything then as I only am able to cruise 2-3 times a year max for the foreseeable future… 

^^^THIS^^^

I learned my lesson after last year's BF sale. I cannot believe (well, actually, I sort of can seeing how awful Royal IT is) that this is happening again to people a year later.

[KevinJ]

Ahh on board Odyssey having that first drink in the solarium, no problem at all so all is the anxiety for nothing 

[PRMLVM]

On 11/14/2024 at 4:37 PM, PRMLVM said:

Just watch your emails for CP cancellations.  Our TA was told everything was taken care of, and 6 weeks later we lost our cruise, boarding time, reservations.....  Took days to straighten out, and we still have not rec'd a SIGNIFICANT refund.  So stay on top of it. 

Just called to check on the status of the "expedited refund" that the resolutions team promised.  Tonight's team cannot find the refund (even though the last person I spoke to said "tell them to go to my notes from this day"...and I did...).   Now they have promised me a call back within 48 hrs.  To tell me where the money is....for the CP purchases THEY CANCELED ON A FULLY PAID $0 BALANCE DUE cruise.  One that our TA addressed in Sept and was assured it was ok, and that we handled on Halloween after they ended up canceling everything. 

[ropeadope13]

5 minutes ago, PRMLVM said:

Just called to check on the status of the "expedited refund" that the resolutions team promised.  Tonight's team cannot find the refund (even though the last person I spoke to said "tell them to go to my notes from this day"...and I did...).   Now they have promised me a call back within 48 hrs.  To tell me where the money is....for the CP purchases THEY CANCELED ON A FULLY PAID $0 BALANCE DUE cruise.  One that our TA addressed in Sept and was assured it was ok, and that we handled on Halloween after they ended up canceling everything. 

What a nightmare. Sorry you’re going through this 

[Dad2Cue]

11 hours ago, PRMLVM said:

Just called to check on the status of the "expedited refund" that the resolutions team promised.

I checked on my expedited refund after waiting  the number of business days they said it would take for the expedited refund. They reassured me that my refund had already been expedited but they would expedite it again.  They said the date for the expedited refund should be tomorrow November 19th.  It was unclear if that was when the refund will show up on my credit card or if the was when their expedited process would be completed.  This refund was for a refundable cruise that I canceled before the final payment date.

The balance due for another fully paid  cruise shows it has been paid in full again.  They issued a refund of my Black Friday cruise planner swaps to my credit card instead of the what I paid for my cruise.  The refund went to a different credit card and not to the original form of payment.  At least there was a refund and my cruise seems to be fully paid again.  I think they refunded the refund. I'm not sure what they did but all is well ... I think.

[BrianB]

My recommendation;

Even though your cruise is paid in full…and whatever purchases you made in the Cruise Planner are paid in full…AND you see on the pending cruises page that you do not have a balance due. Even if you get an email advising you have a balance due and yet the email itself shows the cruise has a zero balance…

ESPECIALLY if you have made Cruise Planner purchases and cancellations and re-pricings.

Go to Manage My Cruise and then the payment page. That will bring up your payment history and any balance due. That’s where it shows up for me. Even though I know it’s a glitch…I still pay it. A few days later I get a refund. It’s worth it to me to have the peace of mind that there will be no last minute cancellation for non-payment. You can choose any other pending reservation numbers from the drop down menu.

The last time this happened… I eventually sent an email to the Contact Us link at the bottom of the website page, or across the top. Shortly after, I received an email confirming that my cruise was paid in full and to ignore any future payment due notices. I printed that out and brought it to the terminal just in case, but it wasn’t needed.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

I ended up calling today since I also have not received the credits for my cancelled items from Nov. 8.  I spoke to two different reps and the last one was very helpful.  She found that my refunds had not been processed so she completed the transactions and told me the refunds will appear in 3-5 days.  So…we…shall…see!!  Countdown begins……..

[PRMLVM]

1 hour ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

I ended up calling today since I also have not received the credits for my cancelled items from Nov. 8.  I spoke to two different reps and the last one was very helpful.  She found that my refunds had not been processed so she completed the transactions and told me the refunds will appear in 3-5 days.  So…we…shall…see!!  Countdown begins……..

3-5 days?  How did you rate?     I rec'd my promised call ( my tale is told above) and they said that the refund WAS CANCELLED AGAIN (or lost, or somesuch), but NOW was approved and pending and should show up in 7 - 10 days.   And was, of course, a different amount than they promised the second time they promised a refund. 

So that saga ^^  was due to a false "balance due" and subsequently imposed cancellation of CP items.   My husband, my son, and I have 6 different upcoming cruises (together, separately, etc) for which we have cancelled and re-bought CP items. EVERY  SINGLE  ONE  OF  THEM is now facing issues re: refunds/over charging.  ALL OF THEM.    What the actual heck?  I thought this was a strategy encouraged by @Matt???  buy and then "just" re-price?   We are in a nightmare world right now with all of our upcoming cruises.  "wait 7....10....20....30 days....we dont' show that refund.....we don't show that charge THAT YOUR CREDIT CARD  is showing....."   We used a TA for some of the cruises and she is trying to help us with all of them, and even she says this current situation is disgraceful.   We have a good history with RC but honest to god we are considering bailing.

Oh, and we have the foreign language thing going on too.  So, false balance due, CP re-pricing issues, and foreign language app/site.  What other IT issue is going on, so we can be prepared?  WE JUST WANT A VACATION.  I guess the all-inclusive resort is looking better and better.  

[DoomSlayer]

59 minutes ago, PRMLVM said:

... What the actual heck?  I thought this was a strategy encouraged by @Matt???  buy and then "just" re-price? ...

I don't think we can fault Matt for Royal IT's incompetence.  Matt is just the head "Fan Boy" and is not employed by or tied to Royal Caribbean.  Repricing cruises and cruise planner items is common within the cruising community and somewhat promoted by Royal.  If it wasn't, they would not include a way to cancel in their cruise planner app or website and provide information on how to cancel on their website (Cancel Pre-Cruise Order | Cruise Planner | Royal Caribbean Intl).  I understand you are frustrated with the cancelation process not working (and rightfully so), but dragging Matt into this is just not right and unfair to him.

I do hope you get your issues sorted and you are able to enjoy the cruise.

[benc42793]

I just received a refund for my cruise planner purchase this morning. On the upcoming cruise page under where it says View boarding Pass/Edit check-in, it says pay remaining balance (my cruise is December 22 this year). I booked with a TA so there's no way to see if I have an outstanding balance due. I'm going to call my TA this morning to make sure she never got an email but should I be concerned? When would she get an outstanding payment email if it does come?

[Steve T]

This is happening to us. We cancelled and rebought internet package. I called (prime club Royale number) and was assured it was zero balance. Anyone have an email address to forward the errant email to?

[benc42793]

My TA just saw that there is a balance due  

Just what I need right now...

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

AND……Credits have posted on AMEX!  One day!    

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

@PRMLVM I hope your issues work out for you quickly!  
I checked with my TA just to be sure all is well with this cruise…since it is only 11 days away.  Perfect! 

[Dad2Cue]

20 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

She found that my refunds had not been processed so she completed the transactions and told me the refunds will appear in 3-5 days.

Wow!  I was told my refund would be "expedited" in 7-10 days.  Maybe I should have agreed to a regular refund.

[Dad2Cue]

6 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

AND……Credits have posted on AMEX!  One day!    

Was the refund a small or large amount.  One rep told me large refunds take longer to process!  Funny how purchases are processed instantaneously.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

7 hours ago, Dad2Cue said:

Was the refund a small or large amount.  One rep told me large refunds take longer to process!  Funny how purchases are processed instantaneously.

There were 2 refunds one for $198 and the other for $685

[Pattycruise]

I now have 2 cruises showing make a payment in the “manage my cruises”. One, I had already paid last week -money I did not owe- and no additional money shows due.  The other, shows no balance due.  Geez.  

[LuvsCruising]

I have sailed 12 Royal Caribbean cruises and have three more already bought and paid for.  I recently canceled some extras for all three bookings and rebook them for a lower price for their black Friday sale.  Ever since then, I have received multiple invoices saying I have a balanced due on my actual cruise booking on all three sailings. I have spent over 7 hours on the phone with various representatives trying to get this resolved. They actually charged my credit card over $1,000 without my permission to try to fix their mistakes. I'm extremely frustrated with this issue and it is still not resolved. Has anybody else experienced this recently in the last week to 10 days?

[PRMLVM]

On 11/19/2024 at 8:58 PM, DoomSlayer said:

I don't think we can fault Matt for Royal IT's incompetence.  Matt is just the head "Fan Boy" and is not employed by or tied to Royal Caribbean.  Repricing cruises and cruise planner items is common within the cruising community and somewhat promoted by Royal.  If it wasn't, they would not include a way to cancel in their cruise planner app or website and provide information on how to cancel on their website (Cancel Pre-Cruise Order | Cruise Planner | Royal Caribbean Intl).  I understand you are frustrated with the cancelation process not working (and rightfully so), but dragging Matt into this is just not right and unfair to him.

I do hope you get your issues sorted and you are able to enjoy the cruise.

HUGE apologies.  I was not intending to besmirch Matt or his advice.  I was bemoaning that we get this legitimate advice and yet Royal is royally messing it up!  My mention of Matt was to give credence to the plan of rebooking, not to slam him for it - but upon re-reading, I can definitely see your take on it.  Thank you for mentioning it, so I could clarify.   We all should be able to cancel plans we don't want any more, and buy/re-buy the ones we do!   And, even with no CP purchasing....why did Royal start this mess by saying we had a balance due?  We re-purchased BECAUSE they canceled us.  

[JustinandBrooke]

My balance due error was gone and the screen back to normal this morning fwiw. 

[Dad2Cue]

10 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

I now have 2 cruises showing make a payment in the “manage my cruises”. One, I had already paid last week -money I did not owe- and no additional money shows due.  The other, shows no balance due.  Geez.  

Mine is like this too.  Now I probably will owe them money because they refunded my CP purchases twice.  However, I can't make the payment due for my cruise because my payment status is "completed."  As long as it stays this way I won't complain!

I wonder if I cancel another CP purchase now what would happen?  My other CP swabs were on the the first day of the BF sale. 

Is it safe to just cancel something now and not repurchase anything?  I wouldn't want to blow up Royal's computer by confusing it even more.  I'm willing to give something back if they won't send me another notice of balance due.

[BrianB]

I have multiple cruises pending.

Over the last two days I received four small refunds to my Amex from Royal. All are between $38 and $48 and none of them match up to any Cruise Planner purchases I made and then cancelled. I did cancel quite a few Hideaway Beach purchases when I grabbed the Beach Club with the very reasonable Black Friday offers…but these had already been refunded…or so I thought.

I’ve been checking each cruise where I had paid in full and so far the payment page on each show zero balance.

So I’m hoping these refunds are coming from cruises that have yet been paid in full.

I read @Matt posted the story on FB and hopefully somebody in corporate notices and can start asking questions of the IT personnel…they can also ask “Que pasa?” regarding the language changing on the web site.

[Dad2Cue]

On 11/21/2024 at 8:20 AM, Dad2Cue said:

Now I probably will owe them money because they refunded my CP purchases twice.

I called Royal to reprice a cruise.  I asked whether or not my cruise in January was still paid in full.  The rep was happy to check for me but started to tell me all about the problems that were happening with Black Friday CP purchases.  He said some people were receiving double refunds so I confessed that maybe I was refunded twice but I just wanted to verify that my cruise was still paid in full.  He put me on a brief hold and verified that  I received a double refund. 

I agreed to repay one of the refunds and received an updated invoice.  When I reviewed the invoice, it actually showed an overpayment on my cruise but at least I didn't owe anything.  Now I'm worried that Royal might refund the overpayment!

[Pattycruise]

11 hours ago, Dad2Cue said:

I called Royal to reprice a cruise.  I asked whether or not my cruise in January was still paid in full.  The rep was happy to check for me but started to tell me all about the problems that were happening with Black Friday CP purchases.  He said some people were receiving double refunds so I confessed that maybe I was refunded twice but I just wanted to verify that my cruise was still paid in full.  He put me on a brief hold and verified that  I received a double refund. 

I agreed to repay one of the refunds and received an updated invoice.  When I reviewed the invoice, it actually showed an overpayment on my cruise but at least I didn't owe anything.  Now I'm worried that Royal might refund the overpayment!

Sorry that’s happened.

 I’m now up to 3 cruises with “pay balance due”. Not one shows a balance due. I think I’m going to have to pull out the credit card statements this weekend and go over everything.