Involuntary Downgrade Nightmare-Please Advise

[lovesthebeach2]

You will get a response from M. Baley but it may not be before the cruise. I had to send an email to him once and I did get a response -not from him but someone else- and it did get resolved in my favor. Good luck and regardless of the outcome, have a wonderful cruise!

[seaandsea]

I hope this is taken care of and you enjoy your cruise!

[truffles2]

If comparing prices, you would have to check the exact last week of February in 2019 to get a fair judgment in prices compared to yours now.....Prices greatly differ by month.

If this is your Mother's first time on a cruise ship you might be greatful for being toward the back more, we find that more forward cabins past the midway point really feel more of the swaying. As far as the cabin and balcony, cabin is exactly the same, the balcony is just a tad larger, really not that much.

 

 

 

 

You are exactly right, I sure as heck would be knocking on that door a FEW times during the week to just see what is going on in there..........If I see other passengers in there be sure to go to the Customer Service desk asap.........This way they can make a note of it, get names and times to so when you get back home, that is if they don't fully compensate you MORE for moving you, you have something to fall back on for when you get back home. YOU will be compensated MORE I'm sure.

 

You could also just call the cabin and if it is occupied the occupant's name should appear on the phone:evilsmile:

[Biker19]

Why let it go, they aren’t being refunded the difference in cabin price to the lower category.

No one, including the OP, knows that for sure.

[Biker19]

Here is an idea, send your original booking and new booking info to your credit card company and dispute the charge / difference in price.

No one knows what the price diff is - it could be less than the $200 OBC they already got.

[robtulipe]

If you call the cabin the name of the occupant shows up on your phone. If the cabin is vacant, there will not be a name.

 

I'd go the phone route (or speak with that area's cabin attendant "so what's wrong with the cabin?") rather than knocking on doors.

 

 

I would go to that cabin mid-morning on the first sea day as you will likely find the cabin attendant nearby making up the cabins in that section to do the above. He might even be in that cabin if it is occupied which will answer if it was given to another passenger.

[robtulipe]

Second, could there be also an issue of moving 2 people from a 4 people capacity cabin? That has happened to a friend before and they discovered it on embarkation day. They came out very happy. Everything was done on board to make their cruise very memorable. No over and above OBC was given, but the crew on board did everything within their power to make up for it and she was not even complaining!

 

Cabin 6592 on Oasis is a two occupants cabin.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Wouldn't it be "interesting" if the OP boarded the ship on cruise day and settled into their newly assigned cabin, then later on, walked up to their originally-assigned cabin (6592), knocked on the door, and discovered that there was another family in there? And then even if "empty", found on subsequent visits during the week that there was no evidence or presence of any workman, maintenance, or repairs being performed by anyone in that cabin. Hmmm??

 

I already had the same thoughts after dealing with a somewhat similar situation with them in the past.

 

Bill

[pingpong1]

Robtulipe/SSOceanlover - +1. Best Regards.

Edited February 19, 2018 by pingpong1
Clarification

[S.S.Oceanlover]

You will get a response from M. Baley but it may not be before the cruise. I had to send an email to him once and I did get a response -not from him but someone else- and it did get resolved in my favor. Good luck and regardless of the outcome, have a wonderful cruise!

 

Maybe post on social media. That's what people from CC recommended that I do and RCI called me within a day or 2 after there were enough negative post about RCI.

 

This was a couple years ago. Not sure if that how it works today.

 

 

Bill

[h20luv]

No one knows what the price diff is - it could be less than the $200 OBC they already got.

It was a lot more than $200 for sure. I still have the research done at time of booking in a folder somewhere. I paid a lot more for the cabin than other cabins around and more than lower advertised prices because it was near the family and had a bigger balcony. I was explained to then even the smallest change in room location or size made a difference in price. Thank you for taking the time to try to help/ advise.

[kevinyork]

Maybe post on social media. That's what people from CC recommended that I do and RCI called me within a day or 2 after there were enough negative post about RCI.

 

 

 

This was a couple years ago. Not sure if that how it works today.

 

 

 

 

 

Bill

 

 

 

No social media has worked a treat on our last two cruises on RCI. On one, I got a call in the cabin 25 minutes after my post.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Starry Eyes]

Food for thought: To me, a nightmare would be cruising with your mom in an truly unsafe cabin (imagine living with an active sewage leak; that is a nightmare to me).Next worse might be learning immediately before sailing that your cabin was uninhabitable, and there was no available cabin at all anywhere on the sold-out cruise (suddenly oversold since your cabin was taken out of service).

Perhaps next worse might be same as above, but they manage to find an inside cabin somewhere on ship (possibly by cancellation or by making entertainers share a cabin just so you will have a slot).

Perhaps next worse, they manage to find a balcony cabin, but it is way at end of hall and 7 decks away from your family.

 

 

I am truly sorry that your carefully laid plans have been disrupted and that you have spent time and energy trying to get it sorted out. I would feel the same in your shoes. Even so, please try remember a balcony cabin down the hall is not bad at all; as nightmares go, it could have been oh so much worse.

 

 

Have a wonderful time and give your mom an extra kiss.

[Husky1987]

I wouldn’t waste one second playing detective on vacation with the room. Just keep going after the company to compensate you fairly for the downgrade. Keep ALL correspondence with you. I can’t believe the company suggested you hash it out with guest services onboard, they will do nothing for you except refer you to call corporate. I wouldn’t want someone knocking my door or calling me to gather info about my room to bolster their fight, I’d be creeped out

 

Here is an idea, send your original booking and new booking info to your credit card company and dispute the charge / difference in price.

 

This x1000.

 

You don't know how anyone in that room is going to react. With the wrong (right) kind of person in there, now you've given them heartburn on what is supposed to be a vacation...taking your anxiety and giving it to other passengers unnecessarily. Or worse yet, you get the angry, yelling "it's none of your GD business!!" response and now you've made for an even more tense cruise for you and your family.

 

My $.02: Hash it out with RC and don't bother the other passengers.

[Turtles06]

OP: I am glad you are doing well, healthwise. That is of course the most important thing. And what a wonderful gift to your Mom.

 

All that said, I agree that RCI should be refunding to you any difference in the cost (at the time you booked) between your D2 and the D4 into which they are moving you. It would seem to me your TA should have access to that pricing information. Also, your TA should be on the phone relentlessly to RCI over this. I don't even understand what requires "escalation" here -- you paid for a higher category cabin, and they are moving you to a less expensive cabin. What does your TA say was the price difference at the time of booking? What does the TA say is the reason RCI is not refunding this?

 

The price monitoring web site that I use (which we are not allowed to name on here) shows for your sailing a D2 price back in July of $1481 pp. For some reason, the D4 prices only go back to January -- $863 pp; D2 then was $1606, so quite a significant difference as of January (and, I suspect, back when you booked as well).

 

You have a TA; get the pricing data from them, and in any event tell them they need to do more to make sure RCI refunds you any difference. (Plus some OBC for the hassle.) They should be telling RCI: my clients paid $XXpp for their D2, and you have moved them into a D4 that was $ZZ at the time of booking. They are entitled to a refund of the difference. I would not give up dealing with RCI directly (it would help to have the pricing difference), but straightening out problems like this is supposedly one of the reasons people use TAs.

 

Good luck, and, no matter what happens, enjoy your cruise!

[Biker19]

It was a lot more than $200 for sure. I still have the research done at time of booking in a folder somewhere. I paid a lot more for the cabin than other cabins around and more than lower advertised prices because it was near the family and had a bigger balcony. I was explained to then even the smallest change in room location or size made a difference in price.

What someone told may have told you may or may not be true. The diff between a 2D and 4D for the same cruise next year is only $10, 2C only $90. Again, have the exact diff (if you can find it) and approach RCI with that. Of course, ask for a bit more on top of that for the inconvenience.

[ONECRUISER]

Request to be upgraded to a JS. There are several available on the March 25 th sailing on Deck 6, 7, 9, 14 and they can keep your OBC.

 

Also, if it needed to be fixed 7 months ago why do they have a specific date to do it and not anytime sooner? It sounds like you got bumped for someone else

Poster said they booked it 7 months ago, not that it's needed to repaired 7 months ago...

[Nashna]

Congrats on your successful treatment. When an agent is told that a problem has been escalated. It typically means it is moved up to a high level for a solution. This issue is still being worked on. The $200.00 shipboard credit is an easy fix for your problem and customer service reps have the authority to give you that type of credit. Revenue Accounting would be the folks who would be authorized to give you the stateroom price difference. Sometimes, these things take a few days. Allowing for the weekend and the President's Day Holiday, I would expect that you will have an answer in the next day or two. Hang tight. RCCL is not the type of organization that would be out to swindle you. I have had situations where the cruise line needs to have passengers vacate a room for another passenger. In every case, the passenger was given a sweet incentive to vacate the room and our passengers were more than satisfied. There is no reason for RCCL to make false statements about repairs to the room. I truly believe that this situation will be settled to your satisfaction. Kudos to you for rewarding your mom's help!

( I was a Certified Travel Consultant for 30 years. I am now happily retired and sailing whenever I can.)

Edited February 19, 2018 by Nashna
spelling

[Caon74]

I reckon they over booked and there will be people in that cabin as it happened to us last year.

About 2 weeks before our sailing on navigator and my wife gets a call from Royal saying we need your 2 connecting outside cabins and we will put you in a Gs.

She didn’t what to do as she could not contact her cousin who was taking 1 of the cabins with her daughter.She decided to ring back and except the offer but at that stage the suite was gone so she took a family suite along with $1000 obc to be shared by both families as well as $1000 refund on both bookings.

We where delighted but the cousin was not willing to share a cabin so she rang royal telling them they had no right to take her room with permission so they took her out of our suite and gave her a balcony and left all the refunds and credit.

When we got onboard and met up with friends one couple had a similar experience.They where turfed out of there outside and given a balcony with $600 obc.

I don’t know why they where given obc cause they where happy enough with just the upgrade.

[torpeedo]

It was a lot more than $200 for sure. I still have the research done at time of booking in a folder somewhere. I paid a lot more for the cabin than other cabins around and more than lower advertised prices because it was near the family and had a bigger balcony. I was explained to then even the smallest change in room location or size made a difference in price. Thank you for taking the time to try to help/ advise.

 

For whatever it’s worth, I’m on the Oasis now. When we were boarding I noticed several cabins in a row that were being worked on and were missing the balcony railings and the entire glass. I’m pretty sure it was deck 6 as we boarded on deck 5. When I get off the ship I’ll see if they’re working on it if it’s the right side. So you’re probably stuck with that cabin since they seem to be sold out but some nice gifts would be nice for you. Maybe a dinner package? :confused: Or something!

[Arzeena]

Cabin 6592 on Oasis is a two occupants cabin.

 

Then that answers my occupancy question. Thank you.

[Arzeena]

I reckon they over booked and there will be people in that cabin as it happened to us last year.

About 2 weeks before our sailing on navigator and my wife gets a call from Royal saying we need your 2 connecting outside cabins and we will put you in a Gs.

She didn’t what to do as she could not contact her cousin who was taking 1 of the cabins with her daughter.She decided to ring back and except the offer but at that stage the suite was gone so she took a family suite along with $1000 obc to be shared by both families as well as $1000 refund on both bookings.

We where delighted but the cousin was not willing to share a cabin so she rang royal telling them they had no right to take her room with permission so they took her out of our suite and gave her a balcony and left all the refunds and credit.

When we got onboard and met up with friends one couple had a similar experience.They where turfed out of there outside and given a balcony with $600 obc.

I don’t know why they where given obc cause they where happy enough with just the upgrade.

 

Luck of the Irish!:D;)

[h20luv]

Food for thought: To me, a nightmare would be cruising with your mom in an truly unsafe cabin (imagine living with an active sewage leak; that is a nightmare to me).Next worse might be learning immediately before sailing that your cabin was uninhabitable, and there was no available cabin at all anywhere on the sold-out cruise (suddenly oversold since your cabin was taken out of service).

Perhaps next worse might be same as above, but they manage to find an inside cabin somewhere on ship (possibly by cancellation or by making entertainers share a cabin just so you will have a slot).

Perhaps next worse, they manage to find a balcony cabin, but it is way at end of hall and 7 decks away from your family.

 

 

I am truly sorry that your carefully laid plans have been disrupted and that you have spent time and energy trying to get it sorted out. I would feel the same in your shoes. Even so, please try remember a balcony cabin down the hall is not bad at all; as nightmares go, it could have been oh so much worse.

 

 

Have a wonderful time and give your mom an extra kiss.

Those are indeed simply awful nightmares! I can't even imagine. Thank you very much for your kind post.

[h20luv]

For whatever it’s worth, I’m on the Oasis now. When we were boarding I noticed several cabins in a row that were being worked on and were missing the balcony railings and the entire glass. I’m pretty sure it was deck 6 as we boarded on deck 5. When I get off the ship I’ll see if they’re working on it if it’s the right side. So you’re probably stuck with that cabin since they seem to be sold out but some nice gifts would be nice for you. Maybe a dinner package? :confused: Or something!

Thank you! Maybe they will be done with the repair by Sunday. That would be really wonderful.

[h20luv]

First why knock several times and harass someone...it was Royal's fault, not the new passenger (if there is a new passenger).

 

Second, could there be also an issue of moving 2 people from a 4 people capacity cabin? That has happened to a friend before and they discovered it on embarkation day. They came out very happy. Everything was done on board to make their cruise very memorable. No over and above OBC was given, but the crew on board did everything within their power to make up for it and she was not even complaining!

 

 

OP I wish you the best of luck in resolving the problem.

Thank you for your care and time. I will let you know the outcome.