Oasis eliminated our booked room?

[Roxyhurley]

We have a cruise booked in Nov 2015 on the Oasis in the Presidential Family Suite (8 adults) plus the 2 grand suites beside it all on the same floor. The Oasis has been revamped and they have removed the room we booked a year and a half in advance. They offered us $2500 back and booked us in 2 separate 2 bedroom family suites. I'm mad!!! We are going with 12 adults we wanted this room so we could all play games and just hang out together inside and out because we would have the huge balcony and big great room. Now we have nothing that we wanted we have 2 small balconies and no great room. I asked if they have any 2 bedroom rooms on the entire boat with at least a big balcony or great room and they said just the aqua suites but we will have to pay $2400 more to switch to them, terrible service!! I want to just cancel but our firefighters that we are going with already booked their holidays for 2015 so we are stuck with this week off now. Has this happened to anyone else and what is a reasonable thing for RC to do to make us whole again? I"m really looking for any advice on what is reasonable for RC to do. Thanks

[Essiesmom]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. With a subject specific to Royal Caribbean, you should repost this on the board for that cruise line, under CruiseLines P-Z. EM

[spookwife]

what they offered to you IS reasonable.

[paul929207]

It sounds like what you want does not exist anymore, so just demanding what you booked is not going to work.

 

So you have two choices:

 

First you can cancel

 

second work with them to see what they can do for you and what compensation they will give you for the inconvenience

[OVgirl]

Does Allure have the cabins you want? They leave on the Sunday.

[sail7seas]

Does Allure have the cabins you want? They leave on the Sunday.

 

This is what I was going to suggest.

The ship/RCI has the right to reconfigure their cabins in any way they want. If they chose to break it apart and make different style cabins, it is unfortunate for those who have booked it but you now have to accept the disappointment. Life is full of them. I hope this is the worst disappointment you suffer.

 

I understand your disappointment but my advice is to try and get the cabin you like on Allure if they have it and if not, accept you have to 'settle' for something different. If you don't act soon, you will have little choice as the alternative cabins offered you could be booked by others while you deliberate.

 

I note this cruise is a year away. You certainly were given ample notice of the change made to the cabin. You say there are 12 adults and they want to charge you $2,400. Divided 12 ways, is it worth all the angst? Why not just divide up the difference seeing you have a full year to save up, if necessary? See if you can negotiate that $2,400 down a bit. Be extra nice and agreeable on the phone with a rep and see if you can't get a little break in the price.

 

Good luck.

Please let us know what you decide.

Edited November 21, 2014 by sail7seas

[The Sunset Glow]

Does Allure have the cabins you want? They leave on the Sunday.

 

Allure will be going in for drydock next year and may get the same changes as Oasis did so I wouldn't count on it being available.

 

OP, Call RCI back and ask to speak with someone in the resolutions department not just the regular customer service rep. Be calm and pleasant and try to get them to work with you on an arrangement and price that's satisfactory. If you call them while in a hissy fit you will get no where usually. You be reasonable and they should be. If not, cancel and book something else that works.

 

Would love the opportunity to stay in an aqua suite:D

[Roxyhurley]

Thank you I reposted to RC forum. We are easy we said we would more to allure any date same room and were told it is revamping as well.

[ducklite]

I would walk. Take your money and book a nice house on the beach with a private pool someplace in the Caribbean. Have a cleaning lady come in daily, and have a chef come in the evenings to prepare your meals. You won't have to deal with lines and bad service. The food will be better and there won't be any restrictions on alcohol. The cost should be the same if not even lower.

[6rugrats]

I would walk. Take your money and book a nice house on the beach with a private pool someplace in the Caribbean. Have a cleaning lady come in daily, and have a chef come in the evenings to prepare your meals. You won't have to deal with lines and bad service. The food will be better and there won't be any restrictions on alcohol. The cost should be the same if not even lower.

 

This. Easy to do and makes a great vacation.

[Calgon1]

Have you considered booking a block of adjacent and/or connecting Loft Suites? Open the modesty panels between the balconies and . . . viola' . . . you have your Presidential Suite!

[ducklite]

Have you considered booking a block of adjacent and/or connecting Loft Suites? Open the modesty panels between the balconies and . . . viola' . . . you have your Presidential Suite!

 

 

Until it rains rendering the balcony unusable. It is not the same and the OP is 100% right in being upset. The line knew back when she hooked that room would be going away. Deck plan changes during upgrades and dry docks are figured years in advance. It's not a spur of the moment thing. She is owed the space and amenities she booked, and if they won't provide it she needs to take her money elsewhere. Why anyone would keep their money with a line that was deceitful and tried a bait and switch is beyond me.

[buckeye rob]

Until it rains rendering the balcony unusable. It is not the same and the OP is 100% right in being upset. The line knew back when she hooked that room would be going away. Deck plan changes during upgrades and dry docks are figured years in advance. It's not a spur of the moment thing. She is owed the space and amenities she booked, and if they won't provide it she needs to take her money elsewhere. Why anyone would keep their money with a line that was deceitful and tried a bait and switch is beyond me.

 

I do agree with that statement. My thread started about "cabins that don't exist'' when one day I was doing a mock booking to check possible fare decreases when I saw suites available, (I.e. 11330-11730, 12330-12720-14330-14730) that weren't on the deck plans. I had a deck 11 GS and immediately called RCL in Oregon and they said (for my 8-15 cruise) they were available, but she didn't know a thing about them. RCL certainly knew the months if not a year or so ahead of Oasis' Rotterdam drydock those cabins were going in and which ones were being taken away. Try to book a cruise several months after Allure's drydock now and you will see the new cabins are not showing, but more importantly they are repeating what they did to the OP by making others available that they know will not be there post drydock. I think someone at RCL needs to be in charge of such things.

Edited November 23, 2014 by buckeye rob

[Roxyhurley]

I do agree with that statement. My thread started about "cabins that don't exist'' when one day I was doing a mock booking to check possible fare decreases when I saw suites available, (I.e. 11330-11730, 12330-12720-14330-14730) that weren't on the deck plans. I had a deck 11 GS and immediately called RCL in Oregon and they said (for my 8-15 cruise) they were available, but she didn't know a thing about them. RCL certainly knew the months if not a year or so ahead of Oasis' Rotterdam drydock those cabins were going in and which ones were being taken away. Try to book a cruise several months after Allure's drydock now and you will see the new cabins are not showing, but more importantly they are repeating what they did to the OP by making others available that they know will not be there post drydock. I think someone at RCL needs to be in charge of such things.

 

It's true the resolution specialist told me that we could still book the presidential suite for nov 2015 on the Allure but by the time it got here the room would have been removed. So silly!!!! I just want a room with a big balcony and/or big great room, I don't think its to much to ask. I had a 4 bedroom 4 bathroom over 1000 sq ft suite with an over 500 sq ft balcony. (we paid $22 000.00 for it so I don't think I should have to pay anymore) Thats what I mean by being made whole, we all still want our own bedrooms and our own bathrooms BUT still have a big area that 12 adults can hang out together. (remember we have 4 people in the grand suites beside us, we only have 8 in our suite) I was hoping that people would have suggestions or have experienced the same thing.

[ducklite]

Again, my suggestion is to cancel and the your money someplace where they will be respectful, not play games, and honor your booking. The best option is a beautiful estate right in the beach with plenty of bedrooms, bathrooms, seating areas, a private pool, a housekeeper and chef to come in nightly and prepare your meals exactly as you wish and what you wish with the freshest of ingredients. There are any number of beautiful estates in the Caribbean which would meet your needs and cost less than the cruise.

[Monalis]

Have you looked at Norwegian's Garden Villa's... they sleep 8 and on average are 4000 sq ft. It might work out well for you, but I have no idea the cost difference.

[sail7seas]

This all comes down to money. They cannot put you in a cabin that no longer exists. Your only option is to take your money and leave or try negotiating further with them to be more forthcoming in helping defray the additional cost to which they are subjecting you. At some point, you either cancel or pay. Those are the choices.

 

[mapsmith]

Take your $22,000. and charter a Yacht from St. Thomas for a week. That would give you an entire boat for your Great Room, and enough Bedrooms and Baths for the entire group. Plus you would be the people deciding where to go.

[ducklite]

Take your $22,000. and charter a Yacht from St. Thomas for a week. That would give you an entire boat for your Great Room, and enough Bedrooms and Baths for the entire group. Plus you would be the people deciding where to go.

 

 

Fantastic idea!

[mysaddlebred000]

Take your $22,000. and charter a Yacht from St. Thomas for a week. That would give you an entire boat for your Great Room, and enough Bedrooms and Baths for the entire group. Plus you would be the people deciding where to go.

 

Please tell me where I can find a week yacht charter with four staterooms for $22,000.

[alexspepa]

Please tell me where I can find a week yacht charter with four staterooms for $22,000.

 

I just googled and found a 4 bedroom catamaran for about $12k plus tips and dockage fees...I think motor yachts would be more; but still a pretty good value.

[mysaddlebred000]

I don't consider a catamaran a yacht. We have chartered many 50' sailboats in the Caribbean but I do not think of them as yachts. There are many definitions for "yacht".

 

Mapsmith said "That would give you an entire boat for your Great Room, and enough Bedrooms and Baths for the entire group." Well, even a 65 foot motorboat would not give eight people much room in the salon. Do you know how small those cabins are - and the bathrooms!!!! And who will do the cooking? And you need to know how to sail or pay more for a captain.

 

When I think of chartering a yacht, I think of 130ft or more and I have checked those prices. NO where near $22,000. Not even for a day. That is why I asked where I could find one.

[6rugrats]

Please tell me where I can find a week yacht charter with four staterooms for $22,000.

 

There are many fully crewed yachts in the Caribbean. Call Sheri Yates at Yates Yachts. If she doesn't have what you want, she can help you find it:

http://Http://www.yatesyachts.com

Edited November 26, 2014 by 6rugrats

[mapsmith]

Just a cursory Google Search for "crewed charter yachts USVI" returned many such companies with yachts in the range from $10K to over $100K per week.

 

As an example, this is nice.

 

http://www.carefreecharters.com/display_results.php?id=3992&ynm=xenia&page=home

[sail7seas]

Please tell me where I can find a week yacht charter with four staterooms for $22,000.

 

Maybe Tortola? Some beautiful marinas there. :)