Ocean View Guarantee Not Honored by RCCL

[UFMOM]

Glad the OP got lucky and a balcony cabin opened up. Kudos to the on board management. Boos to the on land management. Hope they have a wonderful cruise and enjoy their balcony after all the unnecessary stress they were put through.

 

 

 

Mary Ann

[gerif]

We boarded the Enchantment an hour ago and we're immediately given an invitation to meet with the manager of Guest Services. He informed us that a passenger in a balcony room had cancelled last night and we were being upgraded to a room with a balcony. So RCCL made it (better than) right after all.

 

Thanks to all who responded to this thread. I am sure that someone at RCCL read it and, more than likely, that is why we were taken care of.

 

Congratulations - and, yes, I have no doubt that the over 200 posts condemning them couldn't have hurt your situation. Enjoy your well-deserved balcony.

[reney313]

As someone who occasionally books guarantees, this was depressing to hear....along with the other recent stories of the same.

 

Either RCI should adopt a better model for dealing with overbooking, or they should not offer them at all. While the outcome was good, I agree it was fate and could have easily been a different outcome. This is unacceptable to not offer a different date and/or a refund if they can't hold up their end of a guarantee. And I think they need to hire a new lead for "revenue".

[QE2_Fan]

While I am happy for the OP, I would not be so quick to say "faith restored." Enchantment probably had a list of affected people (or perhaps OP was the only one) who had been involuntarily downgraded and OP got very lucky. Had the other passenger not cancelled, s/he would have been stuck.

 

 

I agree, great outcome for the OP but even though it seems RCI did do 'something' behind the scenes it was only luck that had the positive outcome resulting from a 'cancellation' allowing a better grade cabin to become available. Had it not come through, the OP would have been no better of aside from at least knowing Guest Services had been made aware of the issue.

 

I would still be expecting followup from RCI as to:

1. How a multi million dollar company can go on a long weekend with no ability to contact a 'reasonable' level of management to have sorted this out quickly and efficiently in the first instance.

2. Why a refund was not a valid option - which was I believe a more than reasonable request by the OP, one I would've asked for as well as I would never have considered booking an inside cabin by choice.

3. Apologise for the inefficient and hahazard way this was handled by RCI - likely all due to a rush job for someone to advise the OP prior to leaving for state long weekend.

 

I work in a global service based company that is much smaller than RCI and all holidays, local, regional and international have to be covered - which includes a level of 'decision makers'.

 

RCI, The world doesn't stop spinning for anyone, don't you know :D:D

 

But that's just my rant on my take of things - glad the OP went on their cruise and things worked out in a way that made them happy - thats what counts :p

Edited September 2, 2014 by QE2_Fan

[marci22]

We also have to remember that some people might have jumped at $100 obc and a degraded room choice.

 

If some people are accepting their offers, Royal is going to try to get away with what they can. In the future it may take more complaining/phone calls to get what you were promised originally for a guarantee.

[Folk Singer]

We boarded the Enchantment an hour ago and we're immediately given an invitation to meet with the manager of Guest Services. He informed us that a passenger in a balcony room had cancelled last night and we were being upgraded to a room with a balcony. So RCCL made it (better than) right after all.

 

Thanks to all who responded to this thread. I am sure that someone at RCCL read it and, more than likely, that is why we were taken care of.

 

 

Glad it all worked out for you. Good for RCCL.

[AlexanderBeetle]

We also have to remember that some people might have jumped at $100 obc and a degraded room choice.

 

If some people are accepting their offers, Royal is going to try to get away with what they can. In the future it may take more complaining/phone calls to get what you were promised originally for a guarantee.

 

While that may be true, they should also be prepared to give a simple refund if requested in a case like this. That's more than reasonable, and I think that's why everyone is so surprised by what happened to the OP.

[Starry Eyes]

We also have to remember that some people might have jumped at $100 obc and a degraded room choice.

 

If some people are accepting their offers, Royal is going to try to get away with what they can. In the future it may take more complaining/phone calls to get what you were promised originally for a guarantee.

Yes, perhaps some people might have been pleased to get the $100 OBC offer to move from OV to inside. If the revenue department thought that was a great deal that would appeal to customers, then that revenue employee should have told the OP she needed to work further on the issue. She then should have gotten permission to call other passengesr in an OV cabins to offer the $100 OBC to relocate to an inside, and then kept calling people and/or upping the offer until somebody happily said "yes." That way a willing person was cruing in an inside with OBC and the OP would have had the freshly vacated OV cabin.

 

Of course, by cold calling other passengers, the company would be publizing its error. It also would use some employee time. So, on balance, alternatively, perhaps the company should have given the requested refund if that would have made the customer happy. Selecting between the two options above is a debatable management decision, but involuntary downgrade is not the proper solution.

 

I am very glad it worked out for the OP, and I am glad the management on board rose to the occassion. Yet, I am still troubled that the company would let the revenue department treat a customer that way.

[Eileen2]

I agree, great outcome for the OP but even though it seems RCI did do 'something' behind the scenes it was only luck that had the positive outcome resulting from a 'cancellation' allowing a better grade cabin to become available. Had it not come through, the OP would have been no better of aside from at least knowing Guest Services had been made aware of the issue.

 

I would still be expecting followup from RCI as to:

1. How a multi million dollar company can go on a long weekend with no ability to contact a 'reasonable' level of management to have sorted this out quickly and efficiently in the first instance.

2. Why a refund was not a valid option - which was I believe a more than reasonable request by the OP, one I would've asked for as well as I would never have considered booking an inside cabin by choice.

3. Apologise for the inefficient and hahazard way this was handled by RCI - likely all due to a rush job for someone to advise the OP prior to leaving for state long weekend.

 

I work in a global service based company that is much smaller than RCI and all holidays, local, regional and international have to be covered - which includes a level of 'decision makers'.

 

RCI, The world doesn't stop spinning for anyone, don't you know :D:D

 

But that's just my rant on my take of things - glad the OP went on their cruise and things worked out in a way that made them happy - thats what counts :p

 

Well said. I have been following this thread and in my opinion the matter should have been resolved earlier . The stress of dealing with RCL was unacceptable. I am happy that the issue was resolved in a good way for these cruisers and I hope they have a wonderful time.