Royal Romance NIGHTMARE!! LONG but VERY IMPORTANT!

:(

hi all,

I wanted to share my recent experience with you in hopes that anyone else may avoid the problems I've had.

My fiance and I decided in January to take a cruise and get married. We called and booked our cruise through RCI and then began the wedding planning process with Royal Romance/The Wedding Experience. My future mother in law called and booked us the duet package, and at that time, the coordinator emailed her all the wedding info, reception packages, etc.

I began calling to add the "perks" I wanted, and after three coordinators that acted as though they could not have cared less, I finally found Vivian, who seemed to have it together and was very helpful. On 3/2/06, I booked the hot/cold appetizer reception and told Vivian I'd let her know about a DJ. I asked her for my total and if I needed to put down a deposit. She said no money was needed upfront, and just to be sure I paid in full no later than 6/14/06. Simple enough.

So last night I call and ask for Vivian. I am told by yet another coordinator, who just doesn't seem to care, that Vivian is no longer in that department. So I hang up and call back hoping to get someone a little more enthusiastic about his/her job. (I've learned this is how you have to handle it to get somebody knowledgeable.) I find Giselle who is really nice and tries to be helpful. I tell her I want to pay off my reception and she says ok and gives me a total. It's higher than the total Vivian had given me though, so I question it. I am then told that the hot/cold appetizer reception is actually $29/person, and not $26 as Vivian had told me AND as is in ALL their wedding literature.

To make a long story short, I went through a team leader and a supervisor and they are telling me "sorry - prices subject to change". *****???!! The team leader tells me that the prices changed in November '05, and then the supervisor tells me that actually the prices changed in August '05. So why then does ALL my paperwork say $26/person and why did my first coordinator quote me that price??? Since my FI and I are paying for almost everything ourselves, and there are lots of people coming with us, this makes it SO much more expensive!!

So now I've left 2 messages for Barbara Whitehall, who is apparently the president of RR/TWE. She has not returned my calls. I also tried going through RCI, and they are not helpful either. They just say that they have no control over RR's pricing.

I'm SOOOO mad and don't know what to do at this point. What they are doing is unethical and illegal, and no one seems to want to help me.:mad: :mad:

I just got married last week through RR and everything went off without a hitch.

Though I will agree that the people in the FL office dont really seem to know whats going on. A lot of people have said that and based on my own few experiences with them over the phone, I can definitely see where thats coming from.

My sister (who also got married through RR) and I did all of our specific-planning with the St. Thomas RR people and they got everything done for us with absolutely no problems what-so-ever.

I'm assuming you're getting married in FL? If not maybe you should get the number for the RR branch in the place you're getting married.

I suggest you write a letter to Royal Caribbean and fax it to their Customer Relations Department. I was having trouble with The Wedding Experience (same company as RR) when I first started booking my Princess wedding. I did just that, suggesting Princess rethink their contract with TWE next time it came up for renewal (these are all contracts that expire and get put out for bid periodically). Well, within 3 days the head person at TWE sent me an e mail offering telling me Princess contacted her about my troubles and she was there to help me plan my wedding. She answered ALL my questions and assigned me to their best planner. From there on out it was nothing but smooth sailing. In fact, our planner at TWE who we were assigned too was the sweetest and I still chat with her on e mail sometimes over a year after the wedding. You need to make sure the cruise line has your concerns about RR documented because if they ever want to issue the contract to another company they would need the documentation showing the disatisfaction customers have had with RR. Remember, Royal Caribbean is RR's customer. If you can get Royal Caribbean to address your issue with RR, RR will do what they need to to keep Royal Caribbean happy. You just have to get your issues to the right person at both companies for this to happen. I was able to successfully do so through the cruiseline's customer relations department, but you may have to ask for their contracting department, the section that manages the contracts Royal Caribbean has with vendors.

Good Luck!

Royal Romance (also known as "The Wedding Experience") really SUCKS!

I empathize with you that they are screwing you on the price - because what CAN you do about it? Your "locked in" and they know it! You already have people sailing who have paid in full.

Maybe call the better business bureau in Florida to find out what your legal rights are...?

I agree with the previous poster who suggested you send an email to Royal Caribbean ASAP detailing your experience with Royal Romance. In fact, I would go ahead and CC the supervisor at the wedding experience so they KNOW that you are complaining and reporting them.

I did exactly that after my wedding, sending in a list of complaints about RR/TWE's lack of customer service and less than professional services and recieved prompt attention AND a refund on some services that were not up to par during the wedding, from RR/TWE.

Royal romance/The Wedding Experience SUCKS and they really give all the cruiselines a BAD name by their continued lack of interest in their services.

Email RCCL, cc RR/TWE

Good Luck!

From reading these boards I can also say that, if you are getting married in St. Thomas you will have a wonderful RR experience.

Otherwise Caveat Emptor!

I thought that Terry was no longer with them in St Thomas? She was supposed to be the one that made things right when the FL office got it screwed up. Without her, not sure what its like now???