New to Royal Caribbean and not happy

Just a vent

So I called Royal today to change my booking and the first thing I asked the representative was if I could just swap my deposit from my current booking. She told me I could so I continued. So she canceled my current cruise and registered me for the other one. We went through all my information again, which I felt was odd as it should be on file but so be it.

After about 25 mins on the phone she asks me how I would like to pay for the deposit. This was odd as it was the first thing we talked about. She then explains she has cancelled my first deposit and it should be back onto my Visa within 7 business days. this is a problem as a Canadian who paid from my Canadian Account in American funds I lost money on this transaction, $144.26 to be exact.

So she apologizes and tells me she is sorry, then again asks me how I would like to make my payment. I said I was unhappy with this and then she informed me I was free to cancel my booking if I am unhappy with Royal. So I did.

Good for you! Seriously.

Wow that's rough. Did you get her name? Did you follow up?

That shouldn't have happened...I've never had a problem with just changing the date of a cruise. I've done it several times, and it usually only takes a couple minutes.

They are supposed to hold the new cruise and then transfer the deposit over from the old one, which cancels that one out. They should not have cancelled the original booking first. You got someone that didn't really know how to do it. I don't blame you for cancelling, I would have done the same.

Wow that's rough. Did you get her name? Did you follow up?

I did, I spoke to a manager. She apologized for the employee and said that she was a newer member to the team. The manager looked into it and said this happened because my original booking was in American and the new booking was in Canadian that's why it did not transfer. I should mentioned I never asked the new booking to be in Canadian. She then explained that the newer member made a mistake and she is sorry it cost me time and that it was an inconvenience. At no point did she offer any solutions just said I should expect a refund in 5 to 7 business days.

Bravo, these kinds of stories where it seems like Royal simply doesn't care about the customer or what's right are getting far to common lately. More people have to be like you and stand up to them.

That shouldn't have happened...I've never had a problem with just changing the date of a cruise. I've done it several times, and it usually only takes a couple minutes.

I've done it several times and never had a problem either. I would be SO mad! :mad:

email CEO Adam Goldstein's office at agoldstein@rccl.com. Someone from his office should contact you (leave a phone #). You may still not get a resolution but someone at the top should know about customer service problems that are causing them to lose customers. I would definitely let them know that this employee's mistake cost you money.

Marianne

email CEO Adam Goldstein's office at agoldstein@rccl.com. Someone from his office should contact you (leave a phone #). You may still not get a resolution but someone at the top should know about customer service problems that are causing them to lose customers. I would definitely let them know that this employee's mistake cost you money.

 

Marianne

Adam Goldstein was promoted and is now President and COO of RCCL (the parent company)

Michael Bayley is now President and CEO of RCI. His e mail is mbayley@rccl.com

doesn't help you now and I am truly sorry this has happened but have you thought of getting a u.s. credit card? i'm Canadian as well and would never be without simply for this exact reason.

having said that, I have just booked our first cruise with rcl and I am loving the fact that I can book in Canadian funds. the exchange rate is way to volatile, the ups and downs are horrific as you would know.

just a thought for future.

Just a vent

 

So I called Royal today to change my booking and the first thing I asked the representative was if I could just swap my deposit from my current booking. She told me I could so I continued. So she canceled my current cruise and registered me for the other one. We went through all my information again, which I felt was odd as it should be on file but so be it.

 

After about 25 mins on the phone she asks me how I would like to pay for the deposit. This was odd as it was the first thing we talked about. She then explains she has cancelled my first deposit and it should be back onto my Visa within 7 business days. this is a problem as a Canadian who paid from my Canadian Account in American funds I lost money on this transaction, $144.26 to be exact.

 

So she apologizes and tells me she is sorry, then again asks me how I would like to make my payment. I said I was unhappy with this and then she informed me I was free to cancel my booking if I am unhappy with Royal. So I did.

The sad part is that it does not get better with Royal. Their service continues to go down .

doesn't help you now and I am truly sorry this has happened but have you thought of getting a u.s. credit card? i'm Canadian as well and would never be without simply for this exact reason.

having said that, I have just booked our first cruise with rcl and I am loving the fact that I can book in Canadian funds. the exchange rate is way to volatile, the ups and downs are horrific as you would know.

just a thought for future.

Actually I do have an American Account, just at the time of booking it was locked out/ on hold for being compromised. So at the time of booking I just used my Canadian account knowing I would take a one time hit. The problem is the 2nd hit when they transferred the money back. This was not something I wanted, so it was the reason I asked before the transaction started.

The funny thing about this is, if she would have told me that they could not have transferred my deposit at the beginning I was just going to keep my Oasis booking and then book Anthem as well.

Actually I do have an American Account, just at the time of booking it was locked out/ on hold for being compromised. So at the time of booking I just used my Canadian account knowing I would take a one time hit. The problem is the 2nd hit when they transferred the money back. This was not something I wanted, so it was the reason I asked before the transaction started.

 

The funny thing about this is, if she would have told me that they could not have transferred my deposit at the beginning I was just going to keep my Oasis booking and then book Anthem as well.

FWIW, I understand why you are upset, and sympathize. Once the transactions are underway, there is little that can be done.

Generally, I have had pretty good interactions with RCCL when these interactions are for pretty standard items. It is when they are complex, unusual or uncommon (such as moving a reservation) when I have had issues.

This is just inexcusable. I'll concede the 'new member of the team' excuse, but not the supervisor. Royal screwed up and they should eat the loss not you. It seems the employees on the ship (servers, waiters, stewards, etc) know more about customer service then the people in corporate. Perhaps we should have the crew members teach these corporate employees a thing or two about customer service. God help Royal if the crew members start treating us like that.

Craig

What if you book a new cruise in USD? Wouldn't the money refunded be the same as the money that you would be charged for the new booking?

Just thinking here.

I never book directly through RCCL, my TA gives me perks for booking, and would make up for any mistakes. Instead of saying "you can cancel" like RCCL in this case. That's horrible customer service.

I'm not sure how this happened. I have changed cruises as recently as a week ago. I changed my Navigator dates from Feb to Jan and they did so. Prior to that I changed an Indy to a Navigator and they changed the ship and just added the extra $50 deposit (that was less than a month ago).

I am not sure what this person was doing, but this was not supposed to happen.. I am so sorry it did :(.

how much was your deposit the first time? At the time of the initial booking , you canadian dollar was different, of course its going to cost you more, or possible less if the canadian dollar is valued more..

First of all that is not how that works. I booked in American so I paid the initial conversion which is the exchange rate and a fee. So once they have it, it is now American. She made the mistake of transferring the money back to my account, which caused me to pay yet another conversion.

She should have just transferred the now USD deposit to the other USD deposit. She made the determination on her own to refund my money then try to book me in Canadian. The exchange rate should never have come back into play.

First of all that is not how that works. I booked in American so I paid the initial conversion which is the exchange rate and a fee. So once they have it, it is now American. She made the mistake of transferring the money back to my account, which caused me to pay yet another conversion.

 

She should have just transferred the now USD deposit to the other USD deposit. She made the determination on her own to refund my money then try to book me in Canadian. The exchange rate should never have come back into play.

I get it.

Anytime a refund is done in US$ the conversion is not good for us. She should have asked you or assumed as it was a US$ booking to move it to another ship date in the same US$.

RCL should make it right....give you some OBC for the currency exchange charge.

We have been very happy dealing directly with RCL, so I am sorry to hear of this mess up.

Generally, I have had pretty good interactions with RCCL when these interactions are for pretty standard items. It is when they are complex, unusual or uncommon (such as moving a reservation) when I have had issues.

Moving a reservation is not complex, unusual or uncommon! I have done it many times and my TA has never had any difficulties. It's also reported frequently on these boards so its not just me doing it :)

I modify bookings with Royal Caribbean every day. There is almost no circumstance that should have required them to cancel the original booking and create a new one. I've even converted Royal bookings to Celebrity or Azamara bookings without any change in reservation number. Sadly, my experience with RCCL and their resolutions department has shown that they do not routinely make things right for the consumer.

In this case the original deposit was in USD and the refund is for the same amount of USD, so in their eyes there has been no loss to you as a consumer. The one thing I can consider is that when the agent discovered you were an non US citizen they priced they cancelled the booking in USD and rebooked you in CAD as they technically only sell in USD to US residents. All bookings for non US citizens are supposed to be booked through their regional sales channels. All bookings for Canadians are technically supposed to be priced in CAD. It's a fine line and often one that is ignored. The agent you dealt with may have been drilled that policy in training, and was merely following what she had been taught, much to your detriment.

Royal Caribbeans shoreside customer service is notoriously bad and inconsistent. I deeply regret you took a financial loss because of it. I hope you can find a replacement cruise with another line that suits your time and interests.

When I originally booked I was asked if I wanted USD or CAD, also their site lists that anyone can book in USD but it can not be changed to another currency once it is booked.