themillennialcruiser Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Hi, A little bit of a rant here sorry in advance, I just booked my honeymoon on Sunday to go to Europe on Symphony of the Seas. As of yesterday, Royal Caribbean had an additional promo code which took $300+ off the original price I paid on Sunday. I just called them to try to adjust the price and they say they cannot do that because it is only for new bookings however we are talking about 48 hours here for my honeymoon. What I don't understand is this is not a new promotion, it is a promo code on top of the same promotion I used Sunday. I booked and trusted Royal Caribbean for my honeymoon because of the exceptional customer service and they could not have been ruder on the phone. It honestly but me in such a bad mood that I wanted to cancel the whole thing all together. Just to give some details I booked a balcony room and a non-refundable deposit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetsTryThisPlace Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 I can't remember how long their penalty-free period is 24 or 48 hours (call to confirm). But you could technically just cancel and repurchase at the new price. The other option is to find a good TA who can get you that price and just transfer it to them. That's why many here recommend going with TA's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Man, sorry to hear about the bad experience you're having! I'd definitely go with what @LetsTryThisTech recommended and find out the no-penalty cancellation window in case you do need to cancel, as otherwise that non-refundable deposit will more or less lock you in to that booking. That said, I don't think I'd go with such a drastic action as that; see if you can get in touch with a travel agent today who can help you out and maybe clarify the issue with RC around this promo code you mentioned. I have to say I'm a little confused with what you mean by "promo code on top of the existing promotion". I have watched the site for over a year now to keep an eye out on price changes for my own bookings, and in all that time I've never seen a separate promotion code that I could enter separately / in addition to whatever promotion was being marketed on the site at the time. Usually, promotions end at midnight on Sunday or Monday, and the new promotion kicks in on Monday or Tuesday as a full replacement (always with completely new baseline pricing underlaying the promo rate in effect, so the new rates may or may not be less than what was quoted in the previous promo). Are you 100% sure this new promo is not a replacement of the promo that was in effect on Sunday? For sure, a travel agent could help with this kind of situation; either clarifying that this is a new promotion (in which case the rep at Royal was wrong and you should just be able to do a cancel and rebook to get the new rate), or that this is some rare additional code that would truly only apply to a booking made today and that can't be retroactively applied to and old booking (in which case, I'd argue you should still be able to cancel and rebook at the new adjusted rate with this code added on). One thing to keep in mind -- while you booked with a non-refundable deposit, this does not mean that you cannot follow the standard cancel-and-rebook strategy to take advantage of new promos and price changes. As long as you stay in the same room, on the same ship, on the same sailing date, you can cancel and rebook as many times as you'd like without penalties or change fees applied. The only time the change fee comes into play is if you change the room on the ship, or change to an different ship and/or sail date. I hope this helps you out. I remember how stressful honeymoon planning can be, and that was almost 20 years ago for me! Do your best not to get too flustered with all this, It will all work out in the end and you and your new bride will have a great time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetsTryThisPlace Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 One more thing to add to @JLMoran is you could even try a mockup of the new promo to actually get numbers you can share with RCL or your agent. If you get to the checkout and have a lower price then you have proof to send them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 The policy is midnight the following day. So for example, if I booked right now, Tuesday @ 10:35am then I have until Wednesday at 11:59pm to cancel without penalty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themillennialcruiser Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 32 minutes ago, JLMoran said: Man, sorry to hear about the bad experience you're having! I'd definitely go with what @LetsTryThisTech recommended and find out the no-penalty cancellation window in case you do need to cancel, as otherwise that non-refundable deposit will more or less lock you in to that booking. That said, I don't think I'd go with such a drastic action as that; see if you can get in touch with a travel agent today who can help you out and maybe clarify the issue with RC around this promo code you mentioned. I have to say I'm a little confused with what you mean by "promo code on top of the existing promotion". I have watched the site for over a year now to keep an eye out on price changes for my own bookings, and in all that time I've never seen a separate promotion code that I could enter separately / in addition to whatever promotion was being marketed on the site at the time. Usually, promotions end at midnight on Sunday or Monday, and the new promotion kicks in on Monday or Tuesday as a full replacement (always with completely new baseline pricing underlaying the promo rate in effect, so the new rates may or may not be less than what was quoted in the previous promo). Are you 100% sure this new promo is not a replacement of the promo that was in effect on Sunday? For sure, a travel agent could help with this kind of situation; either clarifying that this is a new promotion (in which case the rep at Royal was wrong and you should just be able to do a cancel and rebook to get the new rate), or that this is some rare additional code that would truly only apply to a booking made today and that can't be retroactively applied to and old booking (in which case, I'd argue you should still be able to cancel and rebook at the new adjusted rate with this code added on). One thing to keep in mind -- while you booked with a non-refundable deposit, this does not mean that you cannot follow the standard cancel-and-rebook strategy to take advantage of new promos and price changes. As long as you stay in the same room, on the same ship, on the same sailing date, you can cancel and rebook as many times as you'd like without penalties or change fees applied. The only time the change fee comes into play is if you change the room on the ship, or change to an different ship and/or sail date. I hope this helps you out. I remember how stressful honeymoon planning can be, and that was almost 20 years ago for me! Do your best not to get too flustered with all this, It will all work out in the end and you and your new bride will have a great time. 32 minutes ago, JLMoran said: Man, sorry to hear about the bad experience you're having! I'd definitely go with what @LetsTryThisTech recommended and find out the no-penalty cancellation window in case you do need to cancel, as otherwise that non-refundable deposit will more or less lock you in to that booking. That said, I don't think I'd go with such a drastic action as that; see if you can get in touch with a travel agent today who can help you out and maybe clarify the issue with RC around this promo code you mentioned. I have to say I'm a little confused with what you mean by "promo code on top of the existing promotion". I have watched the site for over a year now to keep an eye out on price changes for my own bookings, and in all that time I've never seen a separate promotion code that I could enter separately / in addition to whatever promotion was being marketed on the site at the time. Usually, promotions end at midnight on Sunday or Monday, and the new promotion kicks in on Monday or Tuesday as a full replacement (always with completely new baseline pricing underlaying the promo rate in effect, so the new rates may or may not be less than what was quoted in the previous promo). Are you 100% sure this new promo is not a replacement of the promo that was in effect on Sunday? For sure, a travel agent could help with this kind of situation; either clarifying that this is a new promotion (in which case the rep at Royal was wrong and you should just be able to do a cancel and rebook to get the new rate), or that this is some rare additional code that would truly only apply to a booking made today and that can't be retroactively applied to and old booking (in which case, I'd argue you should still be able to cancel and rebook at the new adjusted rate with this code added on). One thing to keep in mind -- while you booked with a non-refundable deposit, this does not mean that you cannot follow the standard cancel-and-rebook strategy to take advantage of new promos and price changes. As long as you stay in the same room, on the same ship, on the same sailing date, you can cancel and rebook as many times as you'd like without penalties or change fees applied. The only time the change fee comes into play is if you change the room on the ship, or change to an different ship and/or sail date. I hope this helps you out. I remember how stressful honeymoon planning can be, and that was almost 20 years ago for me! Do your best not to get too flustered with all this, It will all work out in the end and you and your new bride will have a great time. the promo code on their site right now is SAVEMORE. I think Promo Codes are a fairly new thing. Do you have a suggested travel agent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 I agree with LetsTryThisTech. Unless you are past final payment date you should simply cancel your booking and rebook using the new promo. The fact that it's so easy to do that is why they usually will not give you a hard time about applying a new promo to an existing booking. They know you can simply cancel and rebook so they just do it straight away. Be careful, however. Make SURE that the new promo is actually a better deal that what you have now. They will usually check it for you and tell you whether it's to your advantage to do it or not. You may possibly lose OBC that you have with your original booking or paid gratuities or something like that. If it's a better deal to rebook, just do that. If you are within the final payment period then the rules change completely and it would almost certainly not be to your advantage to cancel your original booking....but it never hurts to check it out anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themillennialcruiser Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 If I cancel with a nonrefundable room won't I get a $200 penalty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Agree with @WAAAYTOOO , and everyone else that has provided input, also, if you have the time call in multiple times, it seems like every phone agent is different, after you have talked to 2-3 different agent, maybe then ask for a Supervisor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 1 minute ago, l9dance said: If I cancel with a nonrefundable room won't I get a $200 penalty? You shouldn't. The only time you would be assessed a deposit penalty is if you change the ship or sail date. As long as you rebook on the same cruise you should not incur a deposit penalty. I have no direct experience with these ridiculous non refundable deposits but this is how I BELIEVE it is supposed to work. Anyone else ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themillennialcruiser Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, tiny260 said: Agree with @WAAAYTOOO , and everyone else that has provided input, also, if you have the time call in multiple times, it seems like every phone agent is different, after you have talked to 2-3 different agent, maybe then ask for a Supervisor. I did try to talk to a supervisor and no help :( If any one has a suggested travel agent that would be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themillennialcruiser Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 1 minute ago, WAAAYTOOO said: You shouldn't. The only time you would be assessed a deposit penalty is if you change the ship or sail date. As long as you rebook on the same cruise you should not incur a deposit penalty. I have no direct experience with these ridiculous non refundable deposits but this is how I BELIEVE it is supposed to work. Anyone else ? This would be amazing if it is true! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themillennialcruiser Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, l9dance said: This would be amazing if it is true! I just tried to click cancel & it said the penalty would be $500, is there another way to do this? Where would I cancel in my cruise planner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetsTryThisPlace Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 I haven't found a good one that accepts people from out of North America but the site sponsor is https://mei-travel.com/home?apid=RCL 1 minute ago, l9dance said: I just tried to click cancel & it said the penalty would be $500, is there another way to do this? Where would I cancel in my cruise planner? You would be best to call to do it. But double check making a mock reservation before you proceed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themillennialcruiser Posted February 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 1 minute ago, LetsTryThisTech said: I haven't found a good one that accepts people from out of North America but the site sponsor is https://mei-travel.com/home?apid=RCL You would be best to call to do it. But double check making a mock reservation before you proceed. Ok I will give them another call. I live in North America we just wanted to go to Europe for our honeymoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Not to be the bearer of bad news..but at this point I would say you are screwed. Since Royal has brought in the non-refundable deposit, you have very limited to options. They were VERY smart from a profit standpoint to bring in these new deposit options. I am sure they have made ALOT of extra money since then. Now I haven't heard or ever seen "savings codes" you can enter when booking with Royal, but I am sure they do not supersede the deposit rules. Royal has made it pretty similar to booking an airline ticket...once its done, its done. To undo it requires a lot of work and costs in the end and most people wont bother. Exceptions to everything of course but... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 I can recommend my agent Heather, from site sponsor MEI Travel. She's good about returning calls emails quickly. Private message me here and I can give you her contact info. You don't want to just cancel the cruise, that will incur the penalty. You need to call and speak directly, or ideally let Heather or whichever agent you choose take care of that headache for you. In the conversation with RCI, the goal is get a cancel with immediate rebook so the penalty doesn't apply. I don't how that really works under the hood or if there's a special set of words you have to use to make it work that way.Yet another reason to let the TA make those calls and deal with those hassles. Matt, firebuck and LetsTryThisPlace 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutcherl Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 I use Michelle Cunningham at Mei. Great to work with and provides quick responses. Very knowledgeable! Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 I agree with @monctonguy on this one. Sorry. I have never seen that promo code ever but assuming it is legit, I think the key word here is "new booking". When you re-price, they are in a sense cancelling and re-booking without a fee but you still retain the same reservation number. It sounds like that promo might be only used on a brand new booking (new booking number?) which means you would have to cancel completely thus incurring the $200 penalty. I'm just speculating but I suspect maybe that is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 If you are within 60 days of booking the cruise, you can still roll your reservation to a travel agent. Our site's travel agent sponsor is MEI Travel. At that point, they can handle this for you. If you are not past final payment, you should be able to take advantage of the new price by rebooking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 1 hour ago, Matt said: If you are within 60 days of booking the cruise, you can still roll your reservation to a travel agent. Our site's travel agent sponsor is MEI Travel. At that point, they can handle this for you. If you are not past final payment, you should be able to take advantage of the new price by rebooking. So you can essentially cancel your original booking, and rebook at a cheaper price with more incentives and not cost anything with the "non-refundable" deposit option? That seems way too easy and a better option that the way it was before? I am sure there have been long threads on this site and others about the hoops and costs to change to a better cabin or package or sale even before the non-refundable option came along?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 @monctonguy, I've cancelled and re-booked with NRD more times than I can remember. But with OP, I wonder if the problem is the extra "promo code" they are trying to apply. I would be interested to see what the fine print is on that. It doesn't sound like it's their usual instant savings or OBC offers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 @Sabrinaklai....could be the code. Never heard or seen that before, but that doesn't mean they don't exist!..lol Has anyone else seen anywhere on the site where that code might be? But really...at the end of the day its the same thing...you booked, you see/find a better price......if it works one way it should the other. Or not either way. I still am confused about these NRD's I guess.......seems to easy too change them if this is all true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 3 minutes ago, monctonguy said: @Sabrinaklai....could be the code. Never heard or seen that before, but that doesn't mean they don't exist!..lol Has anyone else seen anywhere on the site where that code might be? But really...at the end of the day its the same thing...you booked, you see/find a better price......if it works one way it should the other. Or not either way. I still am confused about these NRD's I guess.......seems to easy too change them if this is all true. I'll admit, I tried to google the promo code earlier but no luck finding anything. The NRD is not too bad to figure out once you have your head wrapped around it. Basically, you just can't the change the ship, sail date, or take out a passenger. Anything that involves a cancellation is subject to $100pp. But you can re-price, change cabins (as long as all passengers are intact) as many times as you like prior to final payment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 35 minutes ago, Sabrinaklai said: The NRD is not too bad to figure out once you have your head wrapped around it. Basically, you just can't the change the ship, sail date, or take out a passenger. Anything that involves a cancellation is subject to $100pp. But you can re-price, change cabins (as long as all passengers are intact) as many times as you like prior to final payment. Just to throw a couple examples in there to make it concrete. Using a booking for 2 rooms, both Balcony NRD... No problem, no fee Re-price the rooms based on latest promo Upgrade both rooms to JS, or just upgrade one and leave other room Balcony Change fee assessed Move passengers around (A & B in Room 1, C & D in room 2; now you decide you want A & C in Room 1) Change from the original sailing date to a later / earlier date, same ship and itinerary Change to a completely different itinerary Change from two Balconies to a 2BR Grand Suite -- change fee assessed on whichever cabin was fully canceled; deposit money should be untouched since you still have all four people on the sailing (@Sabrinaklai did this or something pretty close IIRC) Change fee assessed and deposit is forfeited / converted to future cruise credit Remove a passenger from one of the rooms, or fully cancel a room -- only affects deposit on the removed passenger(s) One other note: You can easily start off with a Refundable deposit and then convert it to NRD if you find a promo that makes switching worth it and/or you're at a point that you're confident that there's no chance of canceling or missing the date. I did this with my Anthem booking in October: I started off with a refundable rate Balcony Then I upgraded to a JS, still on the Refundable rate, when a 60% off 2nd passenger promo came along that made the upgrade cost much more reasonable than at original booking time But then another promo came along, where if I converted to the NRD rate I'd end up keeping the same base rate (because prices had been creeping upward by that point), but I'd get $150 in OBC that was not available on the Refundable rate and was better than any other OBC offer to date. I decided to switch to NRD at that point, since the OBC would mean no or low out of pocket for any specialty dining or other onboard stuff we decided to do on this short cruise, putting my final expected cost back a bit closer to when I booked the Balcony room Haven't seen anything better since, and I've found on all promos I've dug into since then that the NRD bookings get better OBC offers than the Refundable rooms, so I think I made the right call! Hope all of this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Great summary @JLMoran! The only one I'm not sure of is that 3rd point. If you are still outside of final payment and cancel a passenger(s) completely or fully cancel a room then I think you might lose your $100pp change fee but get the remainder of your deposit back as a FCC to be used within 1 year. But someone chime in if I have that wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 @l9dance...did you by any chance get that promo code through an email after booking? I just read a huge thread on another board about this and is sounds like one of RC's sale but not really a sale. Did not sound like many were able to use it and as I suspected, the fine print eliminates most of your options. But still wouldn't hurt to have a TA investigate further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themillennialcruiser Posted February 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 19 hours ago, Matt said: If you are within 60 days of booking the cruise, you can still roll your reservation to a travel agent. Our site's travel agent sponsor is MEI Travel. At that point, they can handle this for you. If you are not past final payment, you should be able to take advantage of the new price by rebooking. Thanks Matt, I passed over to MEI yesterday and they are seriously AMAZING! LIVE SAVERS! Changed this whole experience into a positive, thank you! Matt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Just now, l9dance said: Thanks Matt, I passed over to MEI yesterday and they are seriously AMAZING! LIVE SAVERS! Changed this whole experience into a positive, thank you! So glad to hear that! Thank you for your support of our sponsor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themillennialcruiser Posted February 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 I am happy to report that I transferred over to MEI travel yesterday and they were able to apply the PROMO CODE! All is not lost! MEI also let me know that I booked an obstructed view and got that corrected for me. Thank you all for your help! JLMoran, Matt and Lovetocruise2002 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 13 minutes ago, l9dance said: I am happy to report that I transferred over to MEI travel yesterday and they were able to apply the PROMO CODE! All is not lost! MEI also let me know that I booked an obstructed view and got that corrected for me. Thank you all for your help! Awesome news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 1 hour ago, l9dance said: I am happy to report that I transferred over to MEI travel yesterday and they were able to apply the PROMO CODE! All is not lost! MEI also let me know that I booked an obstructed view and got that corrected for me. Thank you all for your help! Well, talk about a great ending ! So happy. I agree. MEI is awesome. Congratulations ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 2 hours ago, l9dance said: I am happy to report that I transferred over to MEI travel yesterday and they were able to apply the PROMO CODE! All is not lost! MEI also let me know that I booked an obstructed view and got that corrected for me. Thank you all for your help! Fantastic news! Glad that you got a happy ending after such a terrible start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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