A tale of excellent customer service

[mengcruise]

 

With all of the complaints/issues that people post - I wanted to take a moment to let you know how RCCL helped during an emotional day.

My mom has not been on a real vacation in over 25 years - as kids we always traveled - my mom has always encouraged us to see the world. My step dad just didnt love to travel and even though we always invited them to join us - the answer was always the same - no

After a very long illness my step dad passed away on NYE - (we were as prepared as anyone could be all arraignments had been preplanned)  - Late last night I spoke to my mom and told her that I really wanted her to think about joining us on our March 2019 cruise - she didnt even let me finish the sentence or give her details - before she said Yes

I called RCCL New Year’s Day  - and they were closed so I called first thing yesterday morning 

I told the customer service rep Pedro - that I wanted to book a second room (already checked prior to call that the inside cabin across from ours was available) and move my daughter from our room to the second room and add my mom. Pedro said we would need to give up our room because it was a cabin for three - I explained to Pedro that we could not give up this cabin because my husband is disabled and we needed the accessible room - he put me on hold spoke to a supervisor and came back and said they would let us keep our room but we would need to pay the full fair for our daughter on the second room and not receive any refund from removing her from our room ( so to put her in the room we would have to either pay for her twice or have my mom pay a single rate)-he said the price we paid was for the cabin and not per person - I had done a mock booking prior to the call and the same room ctgy was 1000.00 less when we went from 3 to 2. I asked if I could speak to a supervisor - he put me on hold again and came back and said they were refunding our daughters fare and putting it towards the new room with my mom

I called my mom this afternoon - to let her know she will be joining us in March - she started to cry - this is what I needed she said - I can not wait to share this experience with her and we will be away on my stepdads birthday - so I know she wont be alone and we can get thru it together

[OCruisers]

Thanks for telling  us about your good experience with RCCL customer service.

Happy it all worked out!  

Have a wonderful cruise!  

[voyager70]

Great story, thanks for sharing and have a wonderful cruise.

 

[Missusdubbya]

Thankyou for sharing - nice to hear 

[HBE4]

Rule breaker!!! Didn't you read the term & conditions???

 

lol - just kidding. That is a great story.  It's nice to hear positive feedback, especially after such an emotional day.

 

I have no doubt it will be your best cruise yet!

[zooma]

Sorry for your loss. Very sweet that you are taking along your mother now, and taking such good care of her, and also good to know customer service helped you out at this tough time. Enjoy!

[olemissreb]

So sorry for your loss.  So great that you are able to cruise with your mom.  Savor that time with her. My mom and I are going on a cruise in Sept. Mom will be 81 so not sure how many more trips like this we'll be able to have.  Such a great treat and I'm glad RCI was able to help you out with it all.

[Snit13]

You have my deepest sympathy for your loss and it is so great you will be taking your mother with you.  Sometimes it pays not to take NO for an answer and elevate to a higher level.  Have an awesome family cruise.

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

4 hours ago, mengcruise said:

 

 

 

Sorry for your family's loss and happy that you got the result that you wanted.  I'd  question whether it was good customer service though with the initial agent seemingly unable to resolve anything without placing you on hold twice. It's irritating to me when the first point of contact at a company isn't really empowered to do anything.  This is often not the CSR's fault, but, a result of the company's training and philosophy.

 

Also, unless something has changed drastically since I last booked on Royal, I've never heard of this "he said the price we paid was for the cabin and not per person." That is certainly some dubious information and you were right to question it. 

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Edited January 4, 2019 by Steeler Nation At Sea

[Thorben-Hendrik]

9 hours ago, mengcruise said:

 

With all of the complaints/issues that people post - I wanted to take a moment to let you know how RCCL helped during an emotional day.

My mom has not been on a real vacation in over 25 years - as kids we always traveled - my mom has always encouraged us to see the world. My step dad just didnt love to travel and even though we always invited them to join us - the answer was always the same - no

After a very long illness my step dad passed away on NYE - (we were as prepared as anyone could be all arraignments had been preplanned)  - Late last night I spoke to my mom and told her that I really wanted her to think about joining us on our March 2019 cruise - she didnt even let me finish the sentence or give her details - before she said Yes

I called RCCL New Year’s Day  - and they were closed so I called first thing yesterday morning 

I told the customer service rep Pedro - that I wanted to book a second room (already checked prior to call that the inside cabin across from ours was available) and move my daughter from our room to the second room and add my mom. Pedro said we would need to give up our room because it was a cabin for three - I explained to Pedro that we could not give up this cabin because my husband is disabled and we needed the accessible room - he put me on hold spoke to a supervisor and came back and said they would let us keep our room but we would need to pay the full fair for our daughter on the second room and not receive any refund from removing her from our room ( so to put her in the room we would have to either pay for her twice or have my mom pay a single rate)-he said the price we paid was for the cabin and not per person - I had done a mock booking prior to the call and the same room ctgy was 1000.00 less when we went from 3 to 2. I asked if I could speak to a supervisor - he put me on hold again and came back and said they were refunding our daughters fare and putting it towards the new room with my mom

I called my mom this afternoon - to let her know she will be joining us in March - she started to cry - this is what I needed she said - I can not wait to share this experience with her and we will be away on my stepdads birthday - so I know she wont be alone and we can get thru it together

Well sorry to say.... they did not really do you any favors they just sold you an extra cabin.... nothing to be excited about! 🙄

But I sure like that your mom will have a wonderful vacation! 👍

[mugtech]

44 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Well sorry to say.... they did not really do you any favors they just sold you an extra cabin.... nothing to be excited about! 🙄

But I sure like that your mom will have a wonderful vacation! 👍

It is rather entertaining that someone doing their job properly is deemed excellent customer service.  Are expectations that low?  Glad mom is finally getting out to sea.

[MaiseyM]

I am having your mom gets to travel again.  It sounds like it will be a great distraction during this difficult time and she will love returning to her roots of traveling.  

[MalteseMama2]

I am so sorry for your loss. I lost my dad mid-Nov and left Dec 2 on a prebooked cruise. It was a wonderful way to rest and begin to heal - he also had been ill for a long time.  I hope your family and your mother have a terrific cruise.