Guaranty downgrade on Liberty of the Seas

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

It never hurts to ask!!!..;)

[molly361]

JS  and a full refund but they will probably find someone who will take an offer and you won't hear back from them again

[chrisb74]

Just keep saying no until you get everything you want. You're not the only one in a Grand Suite or higher and you're not the only one they're talking to. They will make you feel like this is your problem but it is not. It's theirs. 

 

 

[John&LaLa]

4 hours ago, LAVCruiser said:

 

It is a Grand Suite Guaranty - GS or better.  I did not accept the offer.  In fact, I called back and said that I would NOT accept it.  So now the Revenue person says she is calling others and trying to resolve this for me.  I just have a bad feeling that the "resolution" is going to be "take it or leave it." 

 

I wonder how many others booked a GS guarantee. I'm assuming those that booked the actual GS category get priority 

Edited January 7, 2020 by John&LaLa

[smplybcause]

1 hour ago, LAVCruiser said:

They could comp my room 100% and they will still make money off of me on this cruise (drinks, excursions, food, coffee, etc.).  So I'll see how they handle it, and make my future cruise decisions based on how I'm treated.

 

That's just not right. Unless you're spending thousands of dollars on those extras I don't see anyway the profit margin on those would not equal the operating costs on the cabin. 

[chrisb74]

16 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

Unless you're spending thousands of dollars on those extras I don't see anyway the profit margin on those would not equal the operating costs on the cabin. 

 

You need to look at the bigger picture. They over sell it order to make more money and normally they do. Occasionally it doesn't and its a cost of doing business that they might make a loss on certain cabins. 

 

 

[LAVCruiser]

22 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

That's just not right. Unless you're spending thousands of dollars on those extras I don't see anyway the profit margin on those would not equal the operating costs on the cabin. 

Ok, economics was never my best subject, so feel free to correct me.  But here's how I'm thinking.  Let's assume that the GS cabins are overbooked, but there are one or more empty JS cabins.  If I don't go on the cruise at all, then they don't make any money off of me, nor do they make any money from the empty JS cabin that they tried to put me into.  On the other hand, if they give me a JS for free, they make a profit from all my on-board spending, excursions, etc.  And sailing with that JS empty or with me in it, doesn't really affect the cost of sailing.  All the fixed costs remain the same.  I suppose they will wash slightly fewer towels, make slightly fewer meals, and that kind of thing.  But they won't really save anything by sailing with an empty room.  That's why I say they will make money even if they comp my room.  Because the operating costs of the room are almost the same whether I'm in it or its empty.

[LAVCruiser]

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

JS  and a full refund but they will probably find someone who will take an offer and you won't hear back from them again

I'm hoping the next thing I hear back is my GS cabin number :).  I don't think I will ever do this guaranty thing again.  Lesson learned.

[LAVCruiser]

42 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I wonder how many others booked a GS guarantee. I'm assuming those that booked the actual GS category get priority 

Yes, anyone who booked an actual GS cabin with a cabin number gets priority.  I only did the GS guaranty because that's all the was available.  I don't think I will do this again.  One thing that irritates me is how last minute all this is.  I mean, way back when final payments were due, RCI should have realized there was an issue.  Unless they were anticipating cancellations after final payments.  But does that really happen all that often?

[smplybcause]

6 minutes ago, LAVCruiser said:

Ok, economics was never my best subject, so feel free to correct me.  But here's how I'm thinking.  Let's assume that the GS cabins are overbooked, but there are one or more empty JS cabins.  If I don't go on the cruise at all, then they don't make any money off of me, nor do they make any money from the empty JS cabin that they tried to put me into.  On the other hand, if they give me a JS for free, they make a profit from all my on-board spending, excursions, etc.  And sailing with that JS empty or with me in it, doesn't really affect the cost of sailing.  All the fixed costs remain the same.  I suppose they will wash slightly fewer towels, make slightly fewer meals, and that kind of thing.  But they won't really save anything by sailing with an empty room.  That's why I say they will make money even if they comp my room.  Because the operating costs of the room are almost the same whether I'm in it or its empty.

 

Except royal has a program for bidding upgrades. If you don't sale they can pick a bidder, which opens up a balcony to get bid money on, which opens an oceanview to get bid money on. And maybe that empty inside room can get more easily sold or works out better to have that one sitting empty. There's a lot more working pieces than just giving it to you free vs sailing empty. 

[reallyitsmema]

5 minutes ago, LAVCruiser said:

I'm hoping the next thing I hear back is my GS cabin number :).  I don't think I will ever do this guaranty thing again.  Lesson learned.

 

Have you done your setsail pass in the app?  If you have, put it in your apple wallet if you have an iphone.  Look at it in the wallet and see if you have a cabin number, it will be the last numbers in the number below the barcode.  If you have no assignment, it will say GTY.

 

Don't give up on the guarantee thing.  We just did a suite guarantee on Anthem and knew we would probably get a JS.  We were assigned a two bedroom grand suite the week before the sailing. 😄 

[smplybcause]

21 minutes ago, chrisb74 said:

 

You need to look at the bigger picture. They over sell it order to make more money and normally they do. Occasionally it doesn't and its a cost of doing business that they might make a loss on certain cabins. 

 

 

 

To me "still make money off me" doesn't equate to taking a loss. My point was that comping the room would be a loss unless they spent thousands of dollars on board. Made no judgement on whether royal should or should not do that. 

[KB Cruisin]

I would be fighting mad. It is their overbooking and their problem. You should not have to settle for their business risk.  They can afford to make it up to you and should. Tell them you got a JS at that price before.  Hold tight. I hope you get your suite.  That is the GUARANTEE part of GS GTY. There was no gamble here on your part, only theirs. They lose. 

[Biker19]

20 minutes ago, LAVCruiser said:

One thing that irritates me is how last minute all this is.  I mean, way back when final payments were due, RCI should have realized there was an issue.

You have no idea why they don't have a GS, it may not be due to overbooking but something wrong with the cabin they were going to give you and they have to take it out of inventory.

[RosieRoo]

Similar situation happened to us a year ago. We had a JS (can’t remember if it was a guarantee or not) and they called the week of sailing and asked us to downgrade to a balcony cabin. I would have said no except they offered a full refund so we basically sailed for free. Not sure if you could negotiate something similar, but you could try. 

Edited January 7, 2020 by RosieRoo

[itsmeagain]

Just for reference, I just checked a site that gives you past pricing history and it appears that the lowest a JS got to was 1,239.00 each.  That was March of 2018.

[LAVCruiser]

19 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

You have no idea why they don't have a GS, it may not be due to overbooking but something wrong with the cabin they were going to give you and they have to take it out of inventory.

The person who called said they had overbooked the Grand Suites.  But you do make a good point - for our next cruise later this year, I have a definite cabin number.  But something could always go wrong with that cabin and so, while it's less likely, I could run into this problem even if I don't do the Guaranty program. 

[LAVCruiser]

16 minutes ago, RosieRoo said:

Similar situation happened to us a year ago. We had a JS (can’t remember if it was a guarantee or not) and they called the week of sailing and asked us to downgrade to a balcony cabin. I would have said no except they offered a full refund so we basically sailed for free. Not sure if you could negotiate something similar, but you could try. 

For a full refund, I'd take the JS!  But based on what I paid for a JS a year ago (and some other numbers someone just posted), they are pretty much offering me a 15% discount off the typical price for a JS.  They're going to have to do better than that.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, LAVCruiser said:

They're going to have to do better than that.

Here's an idea for counter proposal, full refund + some OBC and they put you in a regular balcony.

[LAVCruiser]

Well, I was all set to negotiate if/when they called back.  But I just got an email with our GS cabin number.  So someone else must have taken an offer and/or got upgraded, freeing up a GS.

 

I started to wonder if I over-reacted to all this, but then I went back and listened to the original voicemail from the Revenue department (interesting that it's Revenue and not Customer Service who calls) and the person made it sound very urgent.  She really emphasized the overbooking situation and when I called Customer Service, another woman told me there was "nothing else" available.  Then when I said I really did not want to accept the offer, she said she would "try" to resolve this for me.  The entire phone call with Customer Service took over 20 minutes, with me being put on hold several times while various people were supposedly consulted.  I'm now thinking that there is a script being followed, and whoever calls makes it sound a bit more dire than it really is.  And simply saying no or not even returning the call would have been the way to handle it. 

 

Still don't know if I'll ever go with a Guaranty rate again.  But I'll know better if I ever get another call from the Revenue department.  Just say no (unless they offer a pretty sweet deal :)).

[LMaxwell]

21 hours ago, LAVCruiser said:

Wow, you drive a hard bargain - do you want to negotiate this for me 🙂

 

 

In negotiation it is always possible to work your way down.  Much harder to work your way up.  Ask for everything you can dream of recognizing the first response is likely to be no.  RCI's initial offer wasn't the most they could give, it was the least they thought it would take and you, rightly, said no. 

[LMaxwell]

32 minutes ago, LAVCruiser said:

Well, I was all set to negotiate if/when they called back.  But I just got an email with our GS cabin number.  So someone else must have taken an offer and/or got upgraded, freeing up a GS.

 

I started to wonder if I over-reacted to all this, but then I went back and listened to the original voicemail from the Revenue department (interesting that it's Revenue and not Customer Service who calls) and the person made it sound very urgent.  She really emphasized the overbooking situation and when I called Customer Service, another woman told me there was "nothing else" available.  Then when I said I really did not want to accept the offer, she said she would "try" to resolve this for me.  The entire phone call with Customer Service took over 20 minutes, with me being put on hold several times while various people were supposedly consulted.  I'm now thinking that there is a script being followed, and whoever calls makes it sound a bit more dire than it really is.  And simply saying no or not even returning the call would have been the way to handle it. 

 

Still don't know if I'll ever go with a Guaranty rate again.  But I'll know better if I ever get another call from the Revenue department.  Just say no (unless they offer a pretty sweet deal :)).

 

Everything you say sounds spot on to me, and I am glad it was resolved so you at least are getting what you had paid for.  Hopefully RCI are aware that when they think they are creating "opportunity" for a guest they may just be creating "anxiety" 

[Tulsacoker]

Take the JS for 50% refund and require you still get a Gold Card for access to Suite lounge 

[SRF]

Most of the posters are easy. 🙂

 

I would ask for, Full Refund, 50% FCC, Free Drink package, and full Suite Privileges.   Make them come up to me. 😄