Disappointed with RCCL

I gave great thought about rather or not to post this. I have spent a great deal of time on Cruise Critic and have become aware that criticism of RCCL is not always a popular thing. Having said that I will explain my disappointment with our April 20TH sailing on Oasis Of The Seas.

First let me say that this was our 7TH cruise 5TH with RCCL. We truly have been very happy with RCCL. Prior to this trip we were on Freedom Of The Seas, so we are pretty familiar with RCCL.

In making our reservations I contacted RCCL directly. I spoke with a rep and explained what we were looking for. It would be me, my DH and our DS traveling. We would need an accessible ocean view balcony cabin. We needed a room that had a full size pull out sofa bed, for my son who is in a wheelchair.I explained this cabin worked perfect for us on "Freedom Of The Seas" last time. After looking at the deck plans and researching she told me there were only two accessible rooms left with the pull out sofa bed we needed. after debating which one would be best and looking at the deck plans we chose cabin 12166. The next day I found out through CC that sometimes you can get pretty good perks for booking with a travel agent. So I decided to look into that. I found one that would give us a large amount of OBC so I cancelled with RCCL and rebooked the EXACT same cabin 12166 with theTA. Done deal! Now I'm beyond excited because this trip was three years in the making, and a wish come true for my son, with the Oasis being on his bucket list. now my addiction to Cruise Critic began, and I started the planning.

Fast forward to embarkation day. Show up at cabin 12166 walk in and immediately think we're in the wrong Cabin. Our Cabin steward followed us into the room and I said where is our pull out SOFA bed? He points to this CHAIR in the corner. I said that is a chair, not a full size sofa! He proceeds to pull out a less than twin size bed with cushions that velcro on.(like you find in a hospital room). I do not know how anyone could sleep on that for 7 days. let alone my 6 foot, 18 yr old son that has tremors so bad they can knock him out of his wheelchair. We were told that none of the accessible cabins had sofas in them. Needless to say I was very upset and concerned about what we were going to do.

My husband went immediately to Guest relations and explained the situation. He was told that that was the cabin we paid for. He asked her to look up and read to him the description of our cabin. She said that it said there is a sofa bed, but not what size it was. He said that we had a chair not a SOFA in our cabin and that we were told by their rep that it was a full size sofa bed. She explained that she understood OUR confusion, but there was nothing they could do, because they were booked. After arguing for a while, they said they would try to move us, and would let us know. 2 1/2 days later and unpacked we received a note saying sorry we couldn't help. How about a free dinner instead.

Thank goodness for our amazing cabin steward, he tried his best to make a bed that my son could sleep on by bringing in mattresses and bedding, and building a bed the problem with that is our accessible cabin was no longer easily maneuverable for my son, as it could not be put away everyday.

I later went to Crown and Anchor to fill out the open next sail paperwork, and explained that there was a good chance that we would not be sailing with RCCL again. I explained what happened and she said its because we had a connecting cabin. I said no we did not. she was very confused and said that there was something wrong and we should of had a full size sofa. After looking she said oops no there is not ANY cabins that fit our needs on Oasis class. She also said that RCCL must assume that the handicap person in the cabin will be sleeping in the regular bed, and that she could see how the rep could have been confused, as the website can be hard to understand.

After returning I received a call from customer service asking why my survey stated a poor overall experience. I explained this and other things that took place on our cruise that made it a poor experience and she said she was sorry and would get back with me. She did two days later and gave us a small discount on a future cruise. I appreciate that they were concerned enough to contact me, but after the expense of the Oasis and saving for three years to go on her, I don't think RCCL did enough to fix their mistake.

Sorry for the VERY long post, It's just that I have read on here recently about all the confusion about the way RCCL website and reps are misleading cruisers about cabin size and such. I just want to ensure future cruisers are getting what they are paying for!! I will only be posting here and on the disabled cruiser page, because disabled cruisers really don't need any surprises, its hard enough already! Thanks for your time.

Wow, that stinks :(

I've never even heard of a pull out chair :confused: I REALLY wish the RCI reps actually knew what they were talking about. I must have read 50 posts on CC over the years complaining about misinformation given by the RCI reps and how people get better info on CC :rolleyes:

I wonder if it's just the oceanview cabins that have this issue on Oasis, or if any balcony cabins would have met your needs (at a premium price, of course). :confused: Hopefully you can go on another Freedom cruise and forget about the Oasis experience after a while.

I am very sorry to hear that you were disappointed in your 5th cruise on Royal Caribbean. Your cabin is actually designated on RC's website as having BOTH a sofabed AND a pullman bed. I would have been exceedingly unhappy to be greeted by a weird fold-out chair.

May I ask: Did you consider, for the comfort of your son, having one of you sleep on the fold-out chair and letting him have the regular bed? While not ideal, it might have made it possible for everyone to sleep.

The problems are multiple: 1. Oasis sails full. In general there are no empty cabins, and if they are, they are not going to be larger than yours with larger bedding. 2. Anyone looking at those deck plans would assume that 12166 has a sofabed, because the website says that IT HAS A SOFABED.

There was nothing that they could do to fix the bedding situation while you were onboard. It was nice that they gave you a credit for a future cruise.

I would suggest that you take another cruise and enjoy yourselves. Go back to the Freedom if that worked well for you.

Good wishes for whatever you decide to do.

:)

Wow, that stinks :(

 

I've never even heard of a pull out chair :confused: I REALLY wish the RCI reps actually knew what they were talking about. I must have read 50 posts on CC over the years complaining about misinformation given by the RCI reps and how people get better info on CC :rolleyes:

 

I wonder if it's just the oceanview cabins that have this issue on Oasis, or if any balcony cabins would have met your needs (at a premium price, of course). :confused: Hopefully you can go on another Freedom cruise and forget about the Oasis experience after a while.

I do not see this as a CVP problem this time. The CVP gives advice based on the deck plans. The deck plans say that the cabin has a sofabed.

I have cruised The Big Girls several times, and I couldn't tell you what kind of bedding is in 12166. I, too, would rely on the website's deckplans.

So sorry you had a rough time. :(

I agree that the reps need to be better trained as to what exactly each ship and each cabin has. We booked a cruise for our family a while back (when I was still new to the whole planning thing) and asked for connecting rooms. Later on closer to the cruise I went to look at where our rooms were on the deck plans... Not only did the rooms not connect, they were in opposite hallways! Luckily, we were able to correct the problem before we left though. :rolleyes:

I'm sorry you had this experience.

One thing I would like to let you know about in case you decide to try Royal Caribbean again, is the Special Needs department. They are far more knowledgable about the various accommodations ( and accommodations :D) for people with special needs. They will work with passengers to make arrangement s for their very specific situations. I have not worked with them, but have referred people who were vey pleased with the level of knowledge and service for all kinds of needs.

Unfortunately, as you have learned the " sales reps" who book your cruise vary widely in quality and training. I would not rely on one for information for something so critical -that's not a criticism of you; one should expect that the sales reps would know their product, but just an idea should you try again!

Good luck!

Wow, that stinks :(

 

I've never even heard of a pull out chair :confused: I REALLY wish the RCI reps actually knew what they were talking about. I must have read 50 posts on CC over the years complaining about misinformation given by the RCI reps and how people get better info on CC :rolleyes:

 

I wonder if it's just the oceanview cabins that have this issue on Oasis, or if any balcony cabins would have met your needs (at a premium price, of course). :confused: Hopefully you can go on another Freedom cruise and forget about the Oasis experience after a while.

I was told by C&A that there were some Board Walk or Central Park balconies that had a pull out sofa, But we really want an ocean view because my son fatigues easily and unlike others we spend a lot of time in our cabin and its the only way to see the beautiful water.

I do not see this as a CVP problem this time. The CVP gives advice based on the deck plans. The deck plans say that the cabin has a sofabed.

 

I have cruised The Big Girls several times, and I couldn't tell you what kind of bedding is in 12166. I, too, would rely on the website's deckplans.

True, you have a point :o

I was told by C&A that there were some Board Walk or Central Park balconies that had a pull out sofa, But we really want an ocean view because my son fatigues easily and unlike others we spend a lot of time in our cabin and its the only way to see the beautiful water.

I wonder if any of the Boardwalk balconies that would work, are close to the aft because you can see the ocean from there :confused: I'd say check the deck plans but we know how reliable those are :D

I agree that the reps need to be better trained as to what exactly each ship and each cabin has.

That would mean that each and every RCI rep would have to board each and every RCI ship and inspect each and every cabin category to be properly informed of their contents.:eek:

The reps go by the planning guide, the same planning guide that Travel Agents and Loyalty Ambassadors use when someone books a cruise on board. If the guide is wrong it certainly isn't the reps fault.

I am very sorry to hear that you were disappointed in your 5th cruise on Royal Caribbean. Your cabin is actually designated on RC's website as having BOTH a sofabed AND a pullman bed. I would have been exceedingly unhappy to be greeted by a weird fold-out chair.

 

May I ask: Did you consider, for the comfort of your son, having one of you sleep on the fold-out chair and letting him have the regular bed? While not ideal, it might have made it possible for everyone to sleep.

 

The problems are multiple: 1. Oasis sails full. In general there are no empty cabins, and if they are, they are not going to be larger than yours with larger bedding. 2. Anyone looking at those deck plans would assume that 12166 has a sofabed, because the website says that IT HAS A SOFABED.

 

There was nothing that they could do to fix the bedding situation while you were onboard. It was nice that they gave you a credit for a future cruise.

 

I would suggest that you take another cruise and enjoy yourselves. Go back to the Freedom if that worked well for you.

 

Good wishes for whatever you decide to do.

 

:)

We gave great thought to our situation and the possibility of our son sleeping in the bed with one of us. However my husband is 6'4 with a bad back for lifting our son all these years, and our son has terrible tremors that cause kicking and moving all night. Non of us would have slept all week.

I would consider this a huge issue with Oasis/Allure deckplans and not the fault of the RCCL rep who helped you. Nowhere in the plans do I see chairbeds referenced, I only see sofabeds! They should have added a different symbol to reference chairbeds.

Out of curiosity I looked at the handicapped accessible features on the RCCL website for the Oasis..... http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ports/accessibilityFeatures.do?pagename=accessible_staterooms_popup_OA and it does mention that your cabin only accomodates 4 people. Since you had the diamond symbol, this would mean that your sofa/chair would only be for 1 since your cabin also had a pullman. You could have had the cabin steward pull down the pullman. In this situation, although I know not ideal, you and your husband could have used the chairbed and pullman and your son could have had the bed all to himself.

I am guessing these chairs are only in the handicapped accessible cabins so that you are able to get the wheelchair around the room and that RCCL probably thinks that the handicapped person would be using the bed.

So sorry you had this experience!!!

I'm sorry you had this experience.

 

One thing I would like to let you know about in case you decide to try Royal Caribbean again, is the Special Needs department. They are far more knowledgable about the various accommodations ( and accommodations :D) for people with special needs. They will work with passengers to make arrangement s for their very specific situations. I have not worked with them, but have referred people who were vey pleased with the level of knowledge and service for all kinds of needs.

 

Unfortunately, as you have learned the " sales reps" who book your cruise vary widely in quality and training. I would not rely on one for information for something so critical -that's not a criticism of you; one should expect that the sales reps would know their product, but just an idea should you try again!

 

Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion, but we worked closely with special needs department. That was another complaint I had. We never discussed the cabin, as I thought we were set. I did however ask for a refrigerator to store medicine in. Thank goodness that I took the suggestion of bringing a cooler because I wasn't sure the refrigerator was cool enough to keep his meds in. I also requested an extension cord, as I was told we could not bring one and needed it to plug in the wheelchair. We did not receive that either.

Thank you so much for your very GRACIOUS post. My heart just breaks to think that your vacation was less-than relaxing, by far.

You have done a great service to those who my be considering the Oasis (and I assume Allure is the same) with a loved one with a special need.

I have already passed this info on to a dear friend who is in the process of scheduling a cruise..she has an adult son with similar issues.

I hope that you have the chance soon to enjoy a real vacation, be it on land or sea.

I agree that this issue was not the fault of the sales rep you talked to. They were just going off the only information available to them. Just like the deck plans you can see for yourself, the information about this cabin says it has a sofa bed.

The issue, of course, is that this is bad information Royal Caribbean has in their system. They should update the cabin description immediately to remove all references to sofa beds in these cabins. They should replace it with wording about a fold-down chair.

I would consider this a huge issue with Oasis/Allure deckplans and not the fault of the RCCL rep who helped you. Nowhere in the plans do I see chairbeds referenced, I only see sofabeds! They should have added a different symbol to reference chairbeds.

 

Out of curiosity I looked at the handicapped accessible features on the RCCL website for the Oasis..... http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ports/accessibilityFeatures.do?pagename=accessible_staterooms_popup_OA and it does mention that your cabin only accomodates 4 people. Since you had the diamond symbol, this would mean that your sofa/chair would only be for 1 since your cabin also had a pullman. You could have had the cabin steward pull down the pullman. In this situation, although I know not ideal, you and your husband could have used the chairbed and pullman and your son could have had the bed all to himself.

 

I am guessing these chairs are only in the handicapped accessible cabins so that you are able to get the wheelchair around the room and that RCCL probably thinks that the handicapped person would be using the bed.

 

So sorry you had this experience!!!

Actually the description I read( after the fact), said sleeps 4 with a sofa bed/ and or pullman. I thought 2 people in queen connected and 2 in the full size sofa bed. By the way the Rep told me it slept 5! I thought oh OK must have a pullman for the 5TH person. My son is impossible to sleep with due to medical condition unfortunately. :)

That would mean that each and every RCI rep would have to board each and every RCI ship and inspect each and every cabin category to be properly informed of their contents.:eek:

Beside being false, it's a rather silly statement.

The reps go by the planning guide, the same planning guide that Travel Agents and Loyalty Ambassadors use when someone books a cruise on board. If the guide is wrong it certainly isn't the reps fault.

If the planning guide were correct it wouldn't be a problem for anyone. The planning guide is prepared by Royal Caribbean. The entire fault of false and misleading information related to information contained therein belongs to Royal Caribbean. No other entity is capable of generating the needed information in an accurate and timely manner.

One might think given that millions of people receive advice and make significant purchase decisions based on this information each year, Royal Caribbean would take reasonable steps to insure its accuracy and completeness. Apparently this is not the case.

Thank you so much for your very GRACIOUS post. My heart just breaks to think that your vacation was less-than relaxing, by far.

 

You have done a great service to those who my be considering the Oasis (and I assume Allure is the same) with a loved one with a special need.

 

I have already passed this info on to a dear friend who is in the process of scheduling a cruise..she has an adult son with similar issues.

 

I hope that you have the chance soon to enjoy a real vacation, be it on land or sea.

Thank you so much for your understanding. It is really important to me to make sure that no one in our situation has this problem to deal with. It is VERY difficult for us to travel as it is. A lot of planning goes into it. It is so upsetting to get where your going and not have what you need.

For your best interest send a copy off to Adam Goldstein CEO. They will contact you by email then then will call and you can talk with the represent them give you. We have done that before and explained every detail to them and hopefully them can correct the problem. It takes time but maybe you will get even more then you think and help others with similar problems. Good luck. Enjoy cruising when you can.

Actually the description I read( after the fact), said sleeps 4 with a sofa bed/ and or pullman. I thought 2 people in queen connected and 2 in the full size sofa bed. By the way the Rep told me it slept 5! I thought oh OK must have a pullman for the 5TH person. My son is impossible to sleep with due to medical condition unfortunately. :)

I'm not sure I understand - can't the bed be separated into two singles? I am sorry for what you had to go through.

The information is clearly incorrect. In getting home I did some research and found reviews and complaints dating back to 2009 about being mislead about chair beds being called sofas. Also if you search specific accessible cabins the pictures all show sofas. In all my research for the cruise I never saw that chair. There was plenty of room in our cabin for a sofa, so I just don't understand. No one could explain to me why there wasn't a sofa.

I'm not sure I understand - can't the bed be separated into two singles? I am sorry for what you had to go through.

We were told that the accessible room could not be set up that way,due to maneuverability and safety.

We were told that the accessible room could not be set up that way,due to maneuverability and safety.

By whom?

By whom?

First by our cabin steward and then by his supervisor that came by the cabin to apologize and see if he could do anything. They really did try their best to help.

I'm sorry for your situation ... I've been on those fold out chairs and they definitely do not offer great bedding. I've run into the same issues booking E1 3-person cabins on Radiance-class ships.

laurac22 we are booked into a different accessible cabin on the Oasis and I too thought we would have a sofa bed like in the video below. Is this what you had or was it different? Thanks