Frustrated with final payment...

[ma23peas]

We’ve cruised over six times but this is our first with RCI. I stayed booked directly with RCI getting several price reductions and decided to transfer my booking once I was at a price point I was happy with. Had several errors/misinformation given by RCI along the way and planning to cruise more often wanted to find an agent we could stick with for future sailings to avoid the hassles I had dealing with multiple agents who all have different information.

Our final payment is due Monday, the 17th. I called in on Friday (we were waiting on a new card to be mailed to us that will give us bonus points for travel) only to find out my agent was ‘out of the office until the 25th). No problem, I’ll hit Operator. Get a rep who I tell my payment must be processed before the 17th. She said no problem I can process that payment today. All is good, right? No. My husband keeps checking and no charge is showing and I do not have a confirmation email. I call back this morning and a different rep said payments are processed within 48 hours. I explained I was told it would be processed yesterday and my reservation would drop if payment was not received in full by Monday. She said the agent yesterday told me the wrong thing. She was a bit abrupt and when I said I wanted it in writing that my payment would be processed before the 17th, she said she could not do that. I pressed further until she said she would ask a supervisor. She comes back and says there was an ‘issue’...that the agent yesterday forwarded my payment info to the original agent...meaning she would not get it until the 25th!! Original agent said on her message she could not check emails or messages until her return. Had I not pressed, would we have lost our cruise??? I am not happy!

Is there any way to transfer my reservation back to Royal Caribbean? I explained to the agent today that she wanted me to wait 48 hours and call back...but had I done that-I risked losing my booking! She said it WOULD be processed today, but they close at 6pm and I’ll need to call back if it’s not. The other cruise line we sailed never gave us wrong information so I felt comfortable booking direct. I even checked out 3-4 agencies before choosing her..I really like her and bet she would have processed my payment had she been in town. I received no notice she was going out of the office over 2 weeks. Recommendations???

[Clarea]

You can contact RC directly and plead your case to transfer the booking back. It's rare, but they have done it before, usually in cases where the agent is not-responsive.

[ma23peas]

You can contact RC directly and plead your case to transfer the booking back. It's rare, but they have done it before, usually in cases where the agent is not-responsive.

Thanks!! I’ll try that now!!

[ma23peas]

Nice rep at RCI, but he says it takes 5-7 business days to transfer it back to RC. Beyond my final payment date, I asked what were my options if this agency fails to process my final payment. They just state, "You must ask your agency that question." My confidence in this agency is nil. I'm 80% sure this will all be handled and I need not worry, and I will never use this agency again, but knowing if I had listened to them several times already ("It'll be processed today (Friday)" and "Nope, you must wait 48 hours for it to process," and of course, "We'll process it today (Saturday).") and so far, no payment has been processed...I'm a little annoyed.

[champagne123]

I am NOT judging, but waiting for the last minute before final payment would freak me out. I also like being in control of my cruises (and enjoy it also) and would never leave my bookings in the hands of a TA. I know a lot of folks here swear by their TA's, but I have also read horror stories about them. Sorry you had to go through this mess. I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[billsgal]

I am an agent at a brick and mortar agency and when I make a payment it takes about 1/2 a second to post. Within a minute I have an invoice from Royal showing balance due zero.

I have no idea why it should take someone 48 hours for a payment to show up, unless they are a huge agency and have to forward the payment to their accounting department or some other place.

[Tree_skier]

What is the biggest advantages to booking through a TA. I'm not an experienced cruiser but I have always planned and booked all of my own vacations. It's part of the fun for me. My cruise on Liberty next month was booked through a TA but all of the next ones after that I have booked directly through RCI. I see no advantage to booking through this TA. She took down my information and collected my payment. That's all she did. Should I have expected her to do more? There was no price difference booking with a TA. There was no additional OBC booking with a TA. I haven't had any upgrade offers booking through a TA. There were no offers of price reductions through the TA. I have other cruises booked which I booked directly. The advantage is when I call in with a question or wanting to make a cabin change or whatever there is someone there to take my call and respond and react immediately. With the TA, she work 5 days a week and I have to call during office hours. Even then when I called asking about changing cabins I had to leave a message, which she returned about 90 minutes later. What exactly do people get booking with a TA?

[HicksRA]

Problems like this are why I choose to forego any potential added perks from a TA and do all my bookings myself. No one else involved and no one else to mess things up.

I’m sure you’ll get it sorted and hope you have an enjoyable cruise.

[katiel53]

I use a large agency and when I talk to my agent, or if he/she is out of the office, someone else will take my payment. While I am speaking with the agent, I get a confirmation showing the payment is made.

 

The agent contacts Royal Caribbean with me on hold and let's me know all is ok, etc. Also, the agency requires payment a week before the actual date due to Royal Caribbean, so if there should be a problem, there is time to fix it.

 

I agree with you about using the agency you have chosen as it seems they don't handle things as they should. In all my cruises, I have only once had to have a booking returned to the cruise line and that was soon after it was booked. The agent lied to me about what OBC I would get as well as other perks offered.

 

Once the booking was transferred, my confirmation did not show what he told me and when I talked to him about it, he said he couldn't do what he told me. I told him he outright lied to me and I wanted to transfer the booking back to Royal Caribbean and I did get it transferred back.

 

Good luck and I hope your payment goes through as it should.

[matj2000]

I use an online TA and have never had any issues.

 

The person who books the cruise does not have to the one who makes changes or takes payments.

 

I can call and make payments anytime with anyone who takes the call.

 

They give me a confirmation number and an email.

 

You need to pick a better TA next time....

[ma23peas]

I am NOT judging, but waiting for the last minute before final payment would freak me out. I also like being in control of my cruises (and enjoy it also) and would never leave my bookings in the hands of a TA. I know a lot of folks here swear by their TA's, but I have also read horror stories about them. Sorry you had to go through this mess. I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

I'm the same way!! Long story, but we moved to TX 2 years ago and loved our credit union in AL, until they erroneously (error on their 'updated' system) sent $2410 to my water company instead of $24.10. I fought viciously to return the funds with the credit union saying it was their mistake but they don't run the third party biller (even though it was their clerical error on their website) and I had to fight the water company to get the money back. All that caused us to change banks. With the new bank, came a new credit card that gives us great travel perks..but we have to spend 6k on it the first three months..no problem, we'll use it to pay off the cruise. But, it took longer for it to come in than they said. That is the ONLY reason I waited so long to pay it. I had actually given another credit card to the agent when I first transferred it, and explained I'd like to use the other card when it came in...she's the one who told me, "No problem, just call me when you get the card and it will be processed immediately."

 

RCI has been a hassle with all the misinformation, but the price is 2/3 of what we usually pay on our other line. But, the old 'you get what you pay for' keeps haunting me.

[ma23peas]

I use an online TA and have never had any issues.

 

The person who books the cruise does not have to the one who makes changes or takes payments.

 

I can call and make payments anytime with anyone who takes the call.

 

They give me a confirmation number and an email.

 

You need to pick a better TA next time....

 

 

And how do I do that? No one here will recommend one, I interviewed 3-4 different agents..not including the ones who came to me over ************* (all of which I discounted because of their responses to my questions...they knew less about the cruise than I did)..I thought I had found a 'better' TA...I truly wish people could share their favorite TAs here....

[champagne123]

And how do I do that? No one here will recommend one, I interviewed 3-4 different agents..not including the ones who came to me over ************* (all of which I discounted because of their responses to my questions...they knew less about the cruise than I did)..I thought I had found a 'better' TA...I truly wish people could share their favorite TAs here....

It's against CC rules. We are not allowed to.

[matj2000]

And how do I do that? No one here will recommend one, I interviewed 3-4 different agents..not including the ones who came to me over ************* (all of which I discounted because of their responses to my questions...they knew less about the cruise than I did)..I thought I had found a 'better' TA...I truly wish people could share their favorite TAs here....

 

Interview travel agents? Why?

You are trying way to hard.

 

Just do a web search, Not hard to find.

 

They make great search engines to compare all the different cruise lines and voyages.

[Tahina cruising]

I have only used a TA for our last 2 cruises because we get a specific discount through them. Otherwise I book it directly through the cruise line. I definitely prefer to plan my own vacation unless I can save a decent amount of money using a TA.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

[dswallow]

Even back in the 1980's when I went to a travel agent to pay for a cruise, they would call the cruise line and give them my credit card number. No one wants to take possession of the costs of accepting the credit card on multi-thousand-dollar purchases; they just want to pass it to someone else who will. So why would I want to deal with a travel agent who foists all these sorts of details onto the cruise line. I can do that myself. And then I have one less layer of people involved who might make a mistake. And few people are going to treat things I care about with the care that I will. Now back in the 1980's your travel agent was also a clearinghouse if information which wasn't easily and readily available otherwise. And I daresay there was also personal experience you got from the agent having themselves been on many cruises/different lines, too.

 

Fast forward to this modern era where we live in an on-line connected world. You'd think travel agents would have at least connected their forwarding of the credit card information to the cruise line in some online manner so as to eliminate potential bottlenecks wherever possible such that I could go to the travel agents web site to enter a payment as easily as I can go to the cruise line's web site to do so (continuing IT issues on Royal Caribbean's part notwithstanding, of course).

 

Now, I know there are good travel agents out there; I've dealt with some over the years. There's one the group I cruise with has used repeatedly who does a great job dealing with group things (though I'll still say their ability to let me do things directly online is minimal, it's more a gateway to a human than it is a way to, for instance, submit a payment). But for what it is, I'm happy with it. I generally won't choose to use an agent myself otherwise for a cruise, but have occasionally for whatever reason. On the other hand, there seem to be quite a few agents who haven't a clue. Agencies, too, I suppose.

 

I certainly understand a cruise line not being willing to provide customer-facing interactions if they're essentially paying an agent to do that. But really, considering what most agents really do to transmit a payment to the cruise line, it doesn't really seem out of line to at least be able to do that oneself, directly, even for a travel agent booking. Though frankly from what I generally see, the cruise line makes out if a booking goes unpaid at final payment since, even ignoring non-refundable parts, they usually can get more for the cabin pretty easily than what it had been sold for.

 

So maybe the only correct thing to do here is to let bad travel agents give customers bad experiences to keep the herd thinned out. A shame, because it does somewhat reflect on the entire industry when things are made a mess.

 

People in this forum cannot recommend a travel agent to you in this forum because this forum considers travel agents a competitor. You need to communicate with people outside of forums like this which restrict how you can communicate with each other. Almost every sailing also has a Facebook group, which doesn't have such unnecessary restrictions. But once you're onboard the cruise (you're trying for), I do hope you ask folks in person who they may recommend.

 

I'm single, and am pretty well versed in the ins and outs of travel, so my needs are easily handled on my own. Someone who has more complicated needs probably can be better served at least sometimes by a travel agent who is working on their behalf. But do consider if your needs really are that complex that you couldn't do it (better) yourself. You always have places to ask for help about what to do. :)

[sparks1093]

Good luck, OP. Your story gives me chills and I would be so freaked out.

[ma23peas]

Such great comments! I have booked all my cruises on my own except one prior to this one. The only reason I used one was due to all the misinformation I was given every time I called in, I had to educate 4 reps on their ships. I realize my other cruise line only had 4 ships, so not too hard to mess up. RCI has dozens, so since I’ve seen how inaccurate their reps are, I searched for a TA with great reviews. Searching further today (they had a 4.6/5 with over 600 reviews)...but looking further- those reviews are ‘linked’ to their site which means they are probably removing bad reviews. A deeper dig and I found horrible BBB complaints and yelp reviews that give them below a 2/5 review...nightmare stuff. I’ll just know what I’m getting into expecting correct info from RCI and if we ever sail them again, I’ll just rely on what information I can confirm outside of their claims.

Meanwhile...final payment still has not processed.

Edited September 15, 2018 by ma23peas
Update

[dswallow]

BTW, what's your source of final payment date for your cruise? There's been some notable misquotes of final payment dates by travel agents reported here recently. :)

 

You don't mention your sail date, only that 9/17/2018 is your final payment date.

 

I have a sailing on 12/10/2018 that had a final payment date of 9/11/2018, so does that seem consistent with yours? Is your sailing date on 12/16/2018 or do you have something from Royal Caribbean identifying your final payment date to be sure it's actually 9/17/2018 for your sailing?

[DHLuCruise]

BTW, what's your source of final payment date for your cruise? There's been some notable misquotes of final payment dates by travel agents reported here recently. :)

 

You don't mention your sail date, only that 9/17/2018 is your final payment date.

 

I have a sailing on 12/10/2018 that had a final payment date of 9/11/2018, so does that seem consistent with yours? Is your sailing date on 12/16/2018 or do you have something from Royal Caribbean identifying your final payment date to be sure it's actually 9/17/2018 for your sailing?

 

Just to add for reference. I have a cruise with DW on 12/6/2018 -- and I quote from the 'deposit and final payment schedule' on my invoice: "Your deposit has been posted to your reservation. The minimum deposit for this reservation is non-refundable. Final Payment is due by 22 SEP 2018, 5:00 PM EST. A changefee of $100 CAD per guest will apply for ship or sail date changes."

[ma23peas]

BTW, what's your source of final payment date for your cruise? There's been some notable misquotes of final payment dates by travel agents reported here recently. :)

 

You don't mention your sail date, only that 9/17/2018 is your final payment date.

 

I have a sailing on 12/10/2018 that had a final payment date of 9/11/2018, so does that seem consistent with yours? Is your sailing date on 12/16/2018 or do you have something from Royal Caribbean identifying your final payment date to be sure it's actually 9/17/2018 for your sailing?

 

Sure, I originally booked directly with RC over the phone, they gave me the final payment date of 9/17. Yes, my cruise is December 16th...RC said they have had 3 way phone calls with agency/customer, so I phoned my TA company back and asked if they would do this today. More frustrating is I was told to contact a certain extension tomorrow if my payment did not post. I figured I’d call her today and her message says she doesn’t work on Sundays. I got a receptionist and asked to speak with that manager and was told they don’t do three way calls and they only process payments an hour before close, and that the manager was dealing with another crisis whose cruise is immediate...after more pressing, I was told they would do a 3 way but not until they fix this other problem. So, I wait.

[dswallow]

Just to add for reference. I have a cruise with DW on 12/6/2018 -- and I quote from the 'deposit and final payment schedule' on my invoice: "Your deposit has been posted to your reservation. The minimum deposit for this reservation is non-refundable. Final Payment is due by 22 SEP 2018, 5:00 PM EST. A changefee of $100 CAD per guest will apply for ship or sail date changes."

Comes out to exactly 75 days, which sounds likely to be right. So a 4-night or shorter cruise?

[dswallow]

Sure, I originally booked directly with RC over the phone, they gave me the final payment date of 9/17. Yes, my cruise is December 16th...RC said they have had 3 way phone calls with agency/customer, so I phoned my TA company back and asked if they would do this today. More frustrating is I was told to contact a certain extension tomorrow if my payment did not post. I figured I’d call her today and her message says she doesn’t work on Sundays. I got a receptionist and asked to speak with that manager and was told they don’t do three way calls and they only process payments an hour before close, and that the manager was dealing with another crisis whose cruise is immediate...after more pressing, I was told they would do a 3 way but not until they fix this other problem. So, I wait.

And yours is exactly 90 days, so sounds right. 5-night or longer cruise I'd expect.

[DHLuCruise]

Comes out to exactly 75 days, which sounds likely to be right. So a 4-night or shorter cruise?

 

Yes.. Ours is a 4 nighter.

[ma23peas]

Yes, ours is a 7 nighter. Still waiting, they close in one hour.