Royal Caribbean call centre hours...

I have just posted on the Royal Caribbean area about our frustration at the 9am to 6pm Mon to Fri hours we are restricted to in Australia. We get put through to an overseas call centre most of the time, so why not give us some decent hours that we can ring?

I would much prefer to be on the phone sorting out our issues (again) now instead of here complaining. These Future Cruise Certificates can only be used by ringing up, and then it seems to go wrong. Last time we called 4 lunch hours in a row, and this time we called 4 times yesterday (day off), and we are now waiting for a resolution. Why can't the invoice just be the same as what they have said on the phone? And what we could see on the internet when we put the hold on the room. :confused:

I know others here on CC have said hold on the phone until you can check the email, but we always think that what they say is what we will get. *sigh*

They actually did announce an extension of their hours, but still underserved imo. I agree with you that given they've gone for a cheaper overseas option, they should be at least substantially improving the availability of the service.

It's a disgrace. I refuse to rip any further strands of hair from my head.

Is this a ploy to have us use US TAs? For me it is working. They have failed to train their "uncruised" personnel which is offensive to those of us who do know what we want and know what we are talking about -v- them who have absolutely Jack you know what, what they are talking about or what they are doing - eg. Can you just hold a moment while I check with my Mangler????

Most unhappy with the fools of Guatemala.

Cheers

Di

Good one Di! Mangler. Yep, it always seems to come back more mangled than the 1st mistake. I have a suspicion that they don't talk to anyone, they just put you on hold until hopefully your handset goes flat. A very clever cunning plan! Maybe they are more trained than we give them credit for :D

We will be going with booking online in future, and no more FCCs. The enticement of the OBC got us. We are so easily bought!

Recently had a problem with a phone booking with RCI - ? US office. Checked on pricing on RCI Internet first, 50% discount for 2nd person special. Rang 4.30 in afternoon, not much delay. Quoted price as per Internet, booked with FCC. On later checking cruise personaliser and also next morning when booking confirmation was emailed - price was several thousand dearer - no 50% discount. Rang RCI again - US sounding girl - told her of the problem and where the error was. Curtly told that I would have to wait a few days for a supervisor to adjudicate on my situation and seek info from original booking person. In other words, felt she did not believe a word I was saying. It was a great price on Grand suites being cheaper than balconies and as they were disappearing, the price was also rising on those that were left. Not happy, refused to accept her decision and asked, firmly but politely to speak to someone more senior. Waited on hold a few minutes, got our suite ultimately for $200 cheaper again. Happy ending but should not be happening. I also used ipad for taking copies/photo of bookings, prices as per RCI site at the time of booking, just in case something like this happens as a backup.

Recently had a problem with a phone booking with RCI - ? US office. Checked on pricing on RCI Internet first, 50% discount for 2nd person special. Rang 4.30 in afternoon, not much delay. Quoted price as per Internet, booked with FCC. On later checking cruise personaliser and also next morning when booking confirmation was emailed - price was several thousand dearer - no 50% discount. Rang RCI again - US sounding girl - told her of the problem and where the error was. Curtly told that I would have to wait a few days for a supervisor to adjudicate on my situation and seek info from original booking person. In other words, felt she did not believe a word I was saying. It was a great price on Grand suites being cheaper than balconies and as they were disappearing, the price was also rising on those that were left. Not happy, refused to accept her decision and asked, firmly but politely to speak to someone more senior. Waited on hold a few minutes, got our suite ultimately for $200 cheaper again. Happy ending but should not be happening. I also used ipad for taking copies/photo of bookings, prices as per RCI site at the time of booking, just in case something like this happens as a backup.

Great back-up plan. Good work on getting what you had booked, I just cannot believe why it is so hard to do with the online booking systems nowadays.:(

Yep, we should be able to enter the future cruise cert number when booking online, and then it would save all the phone calls. I don't know why the email confirmation can be different from what you just confirmed on the phone, which was what you just saw on the internet. I am glad you got it sorted Megsie. I wonder if there is a large number of people that don't check the emails and presume the invoice will be correct? Maybe the time they waste with call backs is more than covered by the revenue they get from the mistakes on the invoices? Not once has a mistake been in my favor. On a positive note, I am happy with some of the sale deals we have gotten this year. 😀

I read complaints with other cruiselines having problems with administration also.

Don't the cruiselines understand that they must back up their extensive marketing campaigns with efficient administration to grow their business?

I well remember the first time I phoned an American TA and received such friendly efficient customer service that I decided I would book all overseas cruises with US TA in future.

Guess I was lucky, that this was before foreign call centres.

My question is this...

Call Centres seem to be put in place to make local cruise staff redundant and save the company money in lower wages, so if this is the case.....

Why dont we see this reflected in lower cruising and on board costs?

It seems to be the same everywhere . Computers and call centres are replacing people as they are supposedly more cost efficient , but I dont see my outgoings or taxes coming down, so where are all the savings going?

It seems to be the same everywhere . Computers and call centres are replacing people as they are supposedly more cost efficient , but I dont see my outgoings or taxes coming down, so where are all the savings going?

 

 

Profits to shareholders.

The share price is about double in the past year, and dividends are also up. And they haven't added any new ships the last year.

Chasing the almighty dollar to the detriment of their product and service.:(

I have just posted on the Royal Caribbean area about our frustration at the 9am to 6pm Mon to Fri hours we are restricted to in Australia. We get put through to an overseas call centre most of the time, so why not give us some decent hours that we can ring?

 

I would much prefer to be on the phone sorting out our issues (again) now instead of here complaining. These Future Cruise Certificates can only be used by ringing up, and then it seems to go wrong. Last time we called 4 lunch hours in a row, and this time we called 4 times yesterday (day off), and we are now waiting for a resolution. Why can't the invoice just be the same as what they have said on the phone? And what we could see on the internet when we put the hold on the room. :confused:

 

I know others here on CC have said hold on the phone until you can check the email, but we always think that what they say is what we will get. *sigh*

Whenever I have called Royal/Celebrity line recently I get the impression they have absolutely no idea what is going on, you use the prompts then one person picks up and puts you onto someone else who puts you onto another section who puts you onto someone else who has no idea how to help you :p

Also you call the line press 2 for Celebrity cruises and the person picks up the phone "This is xxx from Royal Caribbean" :p Alright for me because I know they're the same company but I could see some people getting confused as they are unaware they are the same business.

They used to be helpful, I'm sure the call centre used to be local a few years ago, it's definitely offshore now, you can even hear it in their limited English.

Carnival/P&O/Princess have really helpful local centre still though :)

Carnival/P&O/Princess have really helpful local centre still though :)

As far as I know Carnival is local, but P&O offshored their call centre last year, and that was extended to some other areas.

As far as I know Carnival is local, but P&O offshored their call centre last year, and that was extended to some other areas.

Oh thanks for the correction, seems like it is the way that they are all going now then :eek: Wonder if the P&O one is along the lines of the Royal/X one now which is clueless.

I wouldn't mind if they were offshore too much if the people you spoke to were actually helpful and had a clue what was going on!:rolleyes:

I don't know why when it is escalated to the revenue department it takes 5 days to get back to us...3 days so far and each day just gets more annoying.

I just don't understand how when we put a hold on a cabin and then ring up to use the FCC that they can change the price, the cabin, miss out the OBC, there wasn't much that didn't get put on wrong. I better get the cabin I want that I did so much research on!

So the general opinion seems to be that we have nobody that answers these calls in Australia now for RCI? I thought it might just be overflow calls that were diverted. At least the hold time isn't 45 minutes like it was earlier this year.

Had similar issue with Celebrity and waiting for them to apply a future cruise credit to a booking. Took an online Australia TA nearly three days to get it done. Of calling them and following up. They did a really good job but you could tell they were frustrated with the call centre located in Guatemala.

The thing was you had to pay a deposit non refundable and I wouldn't do that until they had applied the certificate as it was the reason why I was booking the cruise. Got there in the end and it all got sorted yesterday. I started the booking process on Friday last week.

I really wanted to do the cruise as the pricing for solo in an inside cabin on Celebrity Century is really reasonable at the moment.

Had reason to call RC Australian 1800 number today & got a very helpful guy in Guatemala. Issue was unusual one with trying to reserve times for our MTD & getting error message on-line. Took a little while to explain exactly the issue & then was passed onto another agent, who logged in and was able to make the reservations for us & our linked travelling companions for 2 cruises, one at a time, which is not how it should work, but clearly a glitch that the software writer had missed ie 4 people x 11N was too many dining reservations:eek:

Anyway, took maybe 45', most of which was on hold on speaker whilst they did the work. Very professional. I thanked the guy & he said I didn't need to thank him - he was doing his job.

Happy cruising.

It can be very frustrating with some of the foreign call centers. Often they don't know what you are talking about and it is sometimes hard for me to understand the ones with a heavy accent. I am also tired of hearing "Thank you, that is a very good question. Let me check on that for you." I am sure they have been asked the same question many times.

Hopefully they will improve the hours.

Had similar issue with Celebrity and waiting for them to apply a future cruise credit to a booking. Took an online Australia TA nearly three days to get it done. Of calling them and following up. They did a really good job but you could tell they were frustrated with the call centre located in Guatemala.

 

The thing was you had to pay a deposit non refundable and I wouldn't do that until they had applied the certificate as it was the reason why I was booking the cruise. Got there in the end and it all got sorted yesterday. I started the booking process on Friday last week.

 

I really wanted to do the cruise as the pricing for solo in an inside cabin on Celebrity Century is really reasonable at the moment.

Glad it worked for you in the end.:D

Had reason to call RC Australian 1800 number today & got a very helpful guy in Guatemala. Issue was unusual one with trying to reserve times for our MTD & getting error message on-line. Took a little while to explain exactly the issue & then was passed onto another agent, who logged in and was able to make the reservations for us & our linked travelling companions for 2 cruises, one at a time, which is not how it should work, but clearly a glitch that the software writer had missed ie 4 people x 11N was too many dining reservations:eek:

 

Anyway, took maybe 45', most of which was on hold on speaker whilst they did the work. Very professional. I thanked the guy & he said I didn't need to thank him - he was doing his job.

 

Happy cruising.

A good result for you as well.:D

Unfortunately my story with the overseas RCI call centre had not finished. I received my final invoice by email, quoted price minus deposit, and all correct. Then went online to pay on My Payment RCI page and my balance had jumped up several thousand again. Rang and was told it was sorted and assured my balance was now correct. Went to pay again, no change. Called again, different person at call centre and she then told me I had made a upgrade change and the price was the more expensive!

Never made an upgrade, only wanted agreed price as originally agreed and as corrected previously and as per invoice.

Finally it got through to them what had happened and after much discussion with supervisors, I paid the balance over the phone as per final invoice. But the My Payment page online was still showing the difference of several thousand dollars, owing as a balance. Not happy with that, I explained that I believed if there was still a balance there by due date my booking (and with it my Grand Suite) would be cancelled as being unpaid. Also I would not be able to print Set Sail Pass or luggage tags as the computer would be treating my booking as only partially paid. Eventually after a morning wasted it was sorted. Even though everyone was polite to deal with, never again will I use a FCC - it was a mess from day one. Unfortunately I still have a Celebrity one, so I think we will try to use it to make a booking on our next cruise. And I haven't even mentioned the dodgy phone lines that would regularly seem to be dropping in and out. There was a continually engaged signal on the Aust no., So I rang the 1800 no., was on hold for my specific line for some time, so I pressed another line no. choice and got through with little wait. My advice is to check everything, double check and make copies if dealing with this overseas call centre and don't wait to the last few days to make a final payment in case there is a problem to sort out. ASAP, I printed out Setsail Pass and luggage tags, just in case.

I really am getting infuriated with RCI now. Printed off Setsail, luggage tags received all emails saying no balance and all paid in full, only to find now I still have a balance (wrongly). I would say at the end of day the computers have reverted this. Tried to ring, closed at 6.00pm till now Monday! Furious.

Post on their FB page see if that generates any response.

I don't know why when it is escalated to the revenue department it takes 5 days to get back to us...3 days so far and each day just gets more annoying.

 

I just don't understand how when we put a hold on a cabin and then ring up to use the FCC that they can change the price, the cabin, miss out the OBC, there wasn't much that didn't get put on wrong. I better get the cabin I want that I did so much research on!

 

So the general opinion seems to be that we have nobody that answers these calls in Australia now for RCI? I thought it might just be overflow calls that were diverted. At least the hold time isn't 45 minutes like it was earlier this year.

I actually had one work in my favor:cool:

Last time I put on a hold then called to have my FCC used, first confirmation came back full price without the original sale price and no OBC:eek: called back call centre (took days) who said it had to be altered by accounts, received 2 more emails with the higher price still:( then eventually over a week later I received the e mail booking confirmation with FCC plus OBC but it was actually less than the original sale hold price:)

Still it caused much un necessary stress of me ranting about not getting my good deal and deciding to cancel or not! Stupid system if you ask me.

Yep, the stress and annoyance caused should not have to happen. I am glad you ended up with a better deal fishtaco! Nice to hear.

megsie, I am very disappointed for you. I know it is hard not to be angry (feeling a bit miffed myself while we are waiting for the 5 days for them to get back to us which is bull$%T), but you will really enjoy your grand suite and the concierge lounge! We had one once *sigh* but I am certainly now convinced that their system of any changes in a booking making the price move, and the fact that the FCC is an actual unallocated booking, are just not compatible.

The offer of OBC and reduced deposit seemed like a no brainer. Why wouldn't you get them. My concern is if we cancel this trip, the FCC needs to be allocated to another cruise, as it is not refundable. That is just kicking the can down the road for more frustration sorting out another booking, unless they fix their computer system....hahaha, can't see that unfortunately.

I think the bit I find most insulting is the combination of the limited call hours, and the attitude that we are asking for more than we are entitled to. When I see an offer on the site, I haven't asked for it! I have just gone there and they have put the price and the specials up there. I am not nearly skilled enough to hack their site and put up fake prices! If they don't want to give me the offer, then when I ring up tell me that it was just a bit of a joke and let me know what they really want me to pay and I can drop it right there.

Another idea might be for one price for the whole world, so that one call centre can know exactly what is on offer, and that might make people all around the world feel less like they are paying differently to other countries. Uk people are really getting annoyed as well with the price and condition differences.