Mysterious Charge?

[EllieinNJ]

Sailed on Anthem 1/9/22.  Missed St. Kitts so was given OBC of $157 plus $90 for shore excursion.

 

Then went to casino and cashed in $100 x 2 nights of this OBC. ($200 total).

 

On last evening of cruise settled everything with service desk and had a zero balance.

 

Two days after returning saw a $200 charge on my credit card.  Called Royal and was told this was the casino charge.  We explained it was already deducted from our OBC.  They said they will check on it.

 

Several days passed and we called again.  This time they said it was for a Next Cruise booking.  We only inquired about a cruise but did not book anything.  They said it was iny another name but our cabin #.  They said they will check on it.

 

Called again a few days later and now they said it was a hold charge.  Shouldn't that have dropped off.  They said they will check on it.

 

Finally gave up and called my credit card company.  They told us not to pay it and they will put the query to Royal.  Hope they checked on it.

[Thesandman12]

Try changing getting a charge for towels you turned in. When you turn in a towel, you do not get a receipt to prove turning it in, they just tell you that they put in your room number. Found another way to correct the error but not from CS shore side. I will do towels differently in the future.

[lovesthebeach2]

2 minutes ago, Thesandman12 said:

Try changing getting a charge for towels you turned in. When you turn in a towel, you do not get a receipt to prove turning it in, they just tell you that they put in your room number. Found another way to correct the error but not from CS shore side. I will do towels differently in the future.

that happened on Odyssey. They didn’t scan our card when we took towels, they just wrote our cabin number 8n a book,  so when we dropped them off they never removed them!

The towel charges don’t come on account until the morning of disembarking so it was very annoying. 

[Coochuck]

2 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

that happened on Odyssey. They didn’t scan our card when we took towels, they just wrote our cabin number 8n a book,  so when we dropped them off they never removed them!

The towel charges don’t come on account until the morning of disembarking so it was very annoying. 

Same thing happened to us on the Anthem...was on the phone for close to an hour trying to get charge removed.  Took a few days, but the charge was reversed.  Royal has to find a better way of doing their TOWEL ACCOUNTING.....very annoying!!

[klfrodo]

12 minutes ago, Thesandman12 said:

Try changing getting a charge for towels you turned in. When you turn in a towel, you do not get a receipt to prove turning it in, they just tell you that they put in your room number. Found another way to correct the error but not from CS shore side. I will do towels differently in the future.

Hijack a thread often and make the story about you?

 

To the OP. Sorry to hear this happened. Hope it gets straightened out soon.

[Sunshine3601]

34 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

Sailed on Anthem 1/9/22.  Missed St. Kitts so was given OBC of $157 plus $90 for shore excursion.

 

Then went to casino and cashed in $100 x 2 nights of this OBC. ($200 total).

 

On last evening of cruise settled everything with service desk and had a zero balance.

 

Two days after returning saw a $200 charge on my credit card.  Called Royal and was told this was the casino charge.  We explained it was already deducted from our OBC.  They said they will check on it.

 

Several days passed and we called again.  This time they said it was for a Next Cruise booking.  We only inquired about a cruise but did not book anything.  They said it was iny another name but our cabin #.  They said they will check on it.

 

Called again a few days later and now they said it was a hold charge.  Shouldn't that have dropped off.  They said they will check on it.

 

Finally gave up and called my credit card company.  They told us not to pay it and they will put the query to Royal.  Hope they checked on it.

Hi,   I was on your sailing too!     Sorry you having to deal with this.     

We used our amex card and for almost a week after returning home there were several pending charges as well as the charge for our final bill due at check out.     I noticed the final billing went thru immediately but the pending charges took approx a week to disappear from the amex website.     Hopefully yours get resolved too. 

 

Re:   Towels I didn't care for how they just took down room numbers when we got towels outside the ship for beach excursions so I went to the towel counter the last sea day and asked the girl to confirm we had no outstanding towels against our room.      I have done this on past cruises too as I sure don't want to pay $25 for a towel, especially if I don't have it.

[micruiser2002]

If the charge is just pending on your CC then ignore it.  I only worry when it actually posts.  For some reason RCL puts a few pending charges on CC before actual final.

 

[nelblu]

58 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Hi,   I was on your sailing too!     Sorry you having to deal with this.     

We used our amex card and for almost a week after returning home there were several pending charges as well as the charge for our final bill due at check out.     I noticed the final billing went thru immediately but the pending charges took approx a week to disappear from the amex website.     Hopefully yours get resolved too. 

 

Re:   Towels I didn't care for how they just took down room numbers when we got towels outside the ship for beach excursions so I went to the towel counter the last sea day and asked the girl to confirm we had no outstanding towels against our room.      I have done this on past cruises too as I sure don't want to pay $25 for a towel, especially if I don't have it.

I do this towards the last 2 days of cruise.  Ask them to confirm that all of my towels are turned in.

 

I also check my account via the interactive tv every night as in years past some charges that weren't mine appeared.  Gives me a chance to clear with guest service before end of cruise.

[nelblu]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

 I noticed the final billing went thru immediately but the pending charges took approx a week to disappear from the amex website.     

Same experience with my Chase card.  You should see when you are due a credit, you will get all sorts of minor credits.  One time I got a credit of 30 cents.😜

[EllieinNJ]

1 hour ago, micruiser2002 said:

If the charge is just pending on your CC then ignore it.  I only worry when it actually posts.  For some reason RCL puts a few pending charges on CC before actual final.

 

It was not pending but an actual charge.

[EllieinNJ]

Unfortunately this was not about towels but the different scenarios mentioned in my first post.  No one had a positive answer to give me.  Only that they will check on it.

[pcur]

2 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

Sailed on Anthem 1/9/22.  Missed St. Kitts so was given OBC of $157 plus $90 for shore excursion.

 

Then went to casino and cashed in $100 x 2 nights of this OBC. ($200 total).

 

On last evening of cruise settled everything with service desk and had a zero balance.

 

Two days after returning saw a $200 charge on my credit card.  Called Royal and was told this was the casino charge.  We explained it was already deducted from our OBC.  They said they will check on it.

 

Several days passed and we called again.  This time they said it was for a Next Cruise booking.  We only inquired about a cruise but did not book anything.  They said it was iny another name but our cabin #.  They said they will check on it.

 

Called again a few days later and now they said it was a hold charge.  Shouldn't that have dropped off.  They said they will check on it.

 

Finally gave up and called my credit card company.  They told us not to pay it and they will put the query to Royal.  Hope they checked on it.

Your ending is exactly the right way to handle this. 

 

I had a charge of over $2,400 with Airbnb once, and the landlord agreed to give me a refund, but Airbnb kept giving me a raft of excuses (this was at the beginning of COVID).  I finally disputed the charge with my bank, giving them all the emails and chats as documentation.

 

When the bank goes after the money, the vendor pays attention.  Then, the vendor does their research properly, because those reverse charges get the attention of a bean-counter somewhere in the vendor organization.

[orville99]

47 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

Unfortunately this was not about towels but the different scenarios mentioned in my first post.  No one had a positive answer to give me.  Only that they will check on it.

At the end of the cruise did you have any balance due on the statement delivered to your stateroom? Just for future reference, the OBC for missing the port and the shore excursion are fully refundable. Did you get any money credited back to your cc post cruise?

It is possible that the refunds and casino charges crossed paths with the casino being debited before the OBC was credited.

[CPT Trips]

7:30 a.m. is a good time to find towels up on the pool deck. That’s not long after the empty lounges get stocked/restocked.

[LB_NJ]

4 hours ago, Thesandman12 said:

Try changing getting a charge for towels you turned in. When you turn in a towel, you do not get a receipt to prove turning it in, they just tell you that they put in your room number. Found another way to correct the error but not from CS shore side. I will do towels differently in the future.

Personally, I prefer the cruise lines that don't charge for towels.

 

Anyway, what would be your recommendation on how to avoid the problem?

[wolfcathorse]

1 hour ago, LB_NJ said:

Personally, I prefer the cruise lines that don't charge for towels.

 

Anyway, what would be your recommendation on how to avoid the problem?

this is why we always do a cash account

[ONECRUISER]

Just now, wolfcathorse said:

this is why we always do a cash account

Doing that last 10yrs myself...

[pcur]

I just realized that in over 48 years I have never noticed being overcharge by RCCL post-cruise for anything.  Either that, or I was blissfully unaware of it.  😉

[nancy2vues]

We are in the middle of an after-the-fact towel issue.  Got off the Brilliance on 1/27, having returned out towels on 1/24. The charges for the towels did not show up on the app, nor the statement delivered to the cabin the night before we disembarked.  I have called twice now, and as the OP and another commented, they cannot reverse this charge without the ship doing something on their end. Goofy that customer service can't actually fix the problems.  They were super polite, but not able to refund the $$. 

Edited February 6, 2022 by nancy2vues
spacing

[brillohead]

Regarding towel charges, I always confirm when I turn in the towels that my towel account is at zero.

I also don't check towels in and out during the course of the week -- I just check them out once at the beginning of the week and then exchange wet towels for dry towels throughout the week, then check them back in at the end of the week.  Limiting the times my account is scanned in and out also limits the chances of a mistake being made.

[SRF]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

Regarding towel charges, I always confirm when I turn in the towels that my towel account is at zero.

I also don't check towels in and out during the course of the week -- I just check them out once at the beginning of the week and then exchange wet towels for dry towels throughout the week, then check them back in at the end of the week.  Limiting the times my account is scanned in and out also limits the chances of a mistake being made.

 

Agreed and that is how we do it also.

 

[Thesandman12]

On 2/5/2022 at 3:55 PM, LB_NJ said:

Personally, I prefer the cruise lines that don't charge for towels.

 

Anyway, what would be your recommendation on how to avoid the problem?

Certainly check with Customer service the day before getting off.Get a printed bill. Get a customer service card, Go back to the ship and your contact on the ship not shore side, ship customer service can help better than shore side. Take towels to Customer service desk instead of pool desk. Get a supervisor at pool desk to get some kind of receipt. certainly a cash account would do it. One has to be innovative now days.

[brillohead]

24 minutes ago, Thesandman12 said:

Take towels to Customer service desk instead of pool desk.

What on earth are the Guest Services employees supposed to do with pool towels?  🙄

[Thesandman12]

On 2/7/2022 at 9:13 AM, brillohead said:

What on earth are the Guest Services employees supposed to do with pool towels?  🙄

Give you a receipt that is proof you returned them.  Pool deck only gives you their word that they put your room number in. You want to change that policy, give them a reason to change it, guest services does not want them.

[Akkers]

To the OP - if they keep messing you about, you can go to your credit card company. Show them all emails and ask for a chargeback. They will refund your money.