Non refundable deposit when only changing staterooms

[luvs2travel50]

We booked a cruise on Freedom of the seas for April 2020.  We booked two junior suites for a total of three people in each suite, and paid the deposit.  We then changed to a two bedroom suite. 

So we technically cancelled one room.  Royal is charging us $600 because we "cancelled".  Is this right??

TIA 

[bowler15547]

I was always told that as long as you don't change the Ship or the Sail Date you do not incur a change fee. It depends on how you did this. If you cancelled and rebooked, then I can see this happening. If you called and had them upgrade your room and pay the difference, I don't think you should incur the fee. 

 

Edit: I just reread this. I need a cup of coffee. Since you cancelled one of the rooms, you would lose the deposit for that room. 

Edited April 30, 2019 by bowler15547
read the original post again

[luvs2travel50]

Thanks

 

[fred30]

Did you do this through the system, TA or over the phone?   Technically even on an upgrade you still cancelled 1 cabin but maybe you could of gotten it waived if by phone since you went to a 2 bedroom suite.

Edited April 30, 2019 by fred30

[molly361]

Like the others said technically you cancelled one room.  Would not hurt to try to call again and see if they would waive it though, ask for a supervisor or the resolutions dept

[luvs2travel50]

We booked through a TA and she called and they said we cancelled the one room and upgraded the other, they did state that the 5th & 6th passengers were booked at a lower rate so we still saved money.  I just don't think it was fair because we really booked a more expensive cabin.  Oh well, live and learn.

[Ashland]

You're not (any of the 6 of you) changing ship or sail date it should not seem to warrant a change fee as you're (all 6 of you) are simply "upgrading category"....I would press this issue further.

If your TA did this...how did she approach the change in categories with RCI...did she just (use the word) cancel ?...Sounds like a possibility that a mistake may have been made....Get to the bottom of this with a supervisor or resolutions. You should have keep the two same booking reservation numbers...Was this done?

Edited April 30, 2019 by Ashland

[SciFiGuy1960]

I may be mistaken but isn't the deposit for a two bedroom suite more that a JS? 

[Ashland]

5 minutes ago, SciFiGuy1960 said:

I may be mistaken but isn't the deposit for a two bedroom suite more that a JS? 

OP was specifically told by her TA that RCI was charging an additional $600.00 "change fee"...key word here I believe...but with a 3rd party involved you just never know.

[Peeker28]

I called once to change rooms and I also had the non refundable deposit - they said since I was only changing rooms I would not lose it.  I decided to keep my room because I would have lost all my OBC and it wasn't worth it to me.  I had booked direct with Royal and did not go through a TA

[Ashland]

2 minutes ago, Peeker28 said:

I called once to change rooms and I also had the non refundable deposit - they said since I was only changing rooms I would not lose it.  I decided to keep my room because I would have lost all my OBC and it wasn't worth it to me.  I had booked direct with Royal and did not go through a TA

I do this all the time if a better cabin/location same category becomes available....and have never lost my OBC.

[SciFiGuy1960]

20 minutes ago, Ashland said:

OP was specifically told by her TA that RCI was charging an additional $600.00 "change fee"...key word here I believe...but with a 3rd party involved you just never know.

Rereading the OP's post's and I'm not seeing anywhere where they stated that they were specifically told by the TA that they were being charged a "change fee" just that they were being charged an additional $600.00.

[pcutrone]

I am traveling with the OP.  I originally booked two JS's with 3 people in each. I l always wanted the two bedroom, because that is what we are used to traveling in, but I had seen too many reviews that mentioned what bad shape those staterooms were in, I decided against it.  After seeing evidence that the staterooms are being refurbished when the ships are "AMPED", I decided to book the two bedroom suite.  Never did my TA say that it would be a problem or that I would lose any of my original deposit.  In the end, I did lose $300 for the one cabin (my parents cabin), but my cabin was the one that the TA upgraded. They are crediting us back $450 out of the $750 deposit that was originally made.  I also paid another deposit when switching to the 2 bedroom, as those suites require more money per person as deposit.  I'm annoyed that I lost the $300 without being told about it first.  I probably would have made the decision anyway to move, but I would have preferred it to my choice and not the choice of my TA or RCCL. 

[Ashland]

14 minutes ago, SciFiGuy1960 said:

Rereading the OP's post's and I'm not seeing anywhere where they stated that they were specifically told by the TA that they were being charged a "change fee" just that they were being charged an additional $600.00.

I read it as "cancelled" aka "change fee" since they were booked with a NRD. That seems to be the OP's question in that why are they being charged "a fee" ...

No where did OP say it was the cost to upgrade to a full suite...that's the confusion I believe or why would the OP title her thread and speak to this concern and question it as a "fee" associated with a NRD ? Of course there's going to be a change in pricing moving from a JS to a 2 bdrm suite...but then no need for the post questioning it...right??

[Illbcruzn4life]

seems like you should have only been charged $300 not $600. You upgraded one room and canceled one.

 

Unless of course I'm confused which has happened many times before. lol

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

I do this all the time if a better cabin/location same category becomes available....and have never lost my OBC.

You can change within the same category and not lose your OBC. If your new cabin is in a different category you do lose the OBC unless there is a promotion with OBC at the time of the switch. That might have been what happened with the person that you quoted. They didn't mention if the new cabin was in a different category or not. This has happened to me in the past. I went from an ocean view to a balcony for the same price. I was happy to let the OBC go.

[nelblu]

21 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

seems like you should have only been charged $300 not $600. You upgraded one room and canceled one.

 

Unless of course I'm confused which has happened many times before. lol

Based on the Ops post #13, it looks as though only lost $300, unless I'm not reading it right.

[Ashland]

Yes...a new poster (post #13) that's sailing with the OP popped in to try and clear this up......a bit of confusion was originally created in the OP. title and post content.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Ashland

[pcutrone]

Yes, we lost $300, not $600.  I was unaware that I could only upgrade one room and that the other room would be considered "cancelled" and that we would lose $100 of the deposit for each person in that room.  Lesson learned :)

[fred30]

2 minutes ago, pcutrone said:

Yes, we lost $300, not $600.  I was unaware that I could only upgrade one room and that the other room would be considered "cancelled" and that we would lose $100 of the deposit for each person in that room.  Lesson learned 🙂

Your TA should of mentioned this when you spoke to them about the changes.  I think this is part of their job to make sure you are aware of this prior to making the change.   Did you think about getting back to them to discuss why you weren't informed?

[Merion_Mom]

One cabin was not "technically" cancelled.  (as many of  you wrote)

 

It WAS cancelled.  Period.

 

The other cabin was upgraded to the (formerly called) RFS, i.e., two bedroom grand suite.

 

This isn't some "gotcha"  fine print in the NRD agreement.  It's a feature, not a bug.

 

The problem lies with the terms of the NRD, regardless of how you work your cabins.

 

 

[pcutrone]

6 minutes ago, fred30 said:

Your TA should of mentioned this when you spoke to them about the changes.  I think this is part of their job to make sure you are aware of this prior to making the change.   Did you think about getting back to them to discuss why you weren't informed? 

Yes, it would have been nice if my TA had informed me that I would be canceling one cabin and upgrading the other.  But she didn't and when I asked her about it this morning, she called RCCL and they told her that they could only upgrade one cabin, so the other one was considered cancelled.  Which I understand.  This is the first time I have booked with an NRD, so my fault as well for not knowing what I was getting into.  I should have just booked the 2 bedroom grand suite in the beginning and I wouldn't have had any of these issues. 

[pcutrone]

2 hours ago, SciFiGuy1960 said:

I may be mistaken but isn't the deposit for a two bedroom suite more that a JS? 

It is and we paid the upgrade difference when we changed rooms. 

[fred30]

19 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

19 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

One cabin was not "technically" cancelled.  (as many of  you wrote)

 

It WAS cancelled.  Period.

 

 

 

 

I believe this means the same thing.

 

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by fred30

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, pcutrone said:

This is the first time I have booked with an NRD, so my fault as well for not knowing what I was getting into.  

What is the point of having an agent if you are supposed to know on your own all the ins and outs of what you are getting into? Your agent should have explained the possible consequences of an NRD when you booked. Your agent also should have explained what that NRD was going to cost you when you proposed your changes.