Wonder of the seas -Downgraded w/out compensation

[Another_Critic]

I rec'd the same [CDC spacing] email last Thursday, for my late March Enchantment cruise.  So far my reservation is still showing me in my original cabin.

[thecanimal]

Thanks for the support. I did not know principles could be overly hyperbolic. I think I will post on Royal Caribbean’s Facebook page and take the other advice and send a letter to Michael Bailey, but it’s a little late now. I leave for Florida day after tomorrow, maybe I will have my lawyer send Michael Bailey a letter. I had a contract. I have in writing I would receive a like for like room. I paid for a certain room category and they downgraded me, they owe me something. It’s hard to cancel a cruise three days before when you have airfare hotels, vacation scheduled, and friends and relatives to include 10 people total. And it was my idea for everyone to go, I can Not cancel now. Up until last Friday I had been very excited and happy to be on the inaugural cruise, now I’m just plain pissed off. Well my quest to go from my current diamond plus to become a pinnacle member has definitely lost its luster. In total I was on the phone 11 hours yesterday and spoke with three or four different customer resolution people. They all acknowledged that the room category I had bought and paid for was a higher room category, and were  very apologetic, and supposedly spoke to management. Evidently management believes the rooms to be like for like even though they charge a lot more money for the large balcony over the regular balcony…

[TennisCruiser62]

9 hours ago, thecanimal said:

Just received word nothing can be done , no compensation. I paid extra for large balcony , moved to reg . Ocean view, I paid $120 extra per person for Large balcony , and 4 days before cruise downgraded, no compensation… spent all day on phone … thought Judy in Loyality resolutions was going to bat for me.. she says she spoke with management, rooms similar enough, no compensation 

that is just wrong! They need to compensate, give you the price difference at the very least. 

[Cel_cruise]

We have 4 rooms on deck 6 just off the back elevator- I will be LIVID if this happened to us.   
 

im so sorry that this happened to you - definitely ruins the pre-cruise experience!  You should be packing and dreaming of sunshine and new ship smell right now! 

[thecanimal]

43 minutes ago, Cel_cruise said:

We have 4 rooms on deck 6 just off the back elevator- I will be LIVID if this happened to us.   
 

im so sorry that this happened to you - definitely ruins the pre-cruise experience!  You should be packing and dreaming of sunshine and new ship smell right now! 

I was until last Friday, I was nervous all weekend that this would happen, then it did happen at 11 o’clock in the morning yesterday four days before embarkation. Customer resolutions kept trying to say that large balcony cabin is the same as a regular balcony cabin, but I pointed out at times the large balcony cabin Can cost as much as $500 more per person(Christmas 2022cruise) on this inaugural sailing it was it was at least $120 more per person for the large balcony cabin that I paid for, and no longer will be sailing in . They have cabin categories for a reason, so they can differentiate how much they can charge. I paid extra for a large balcony and I am not being compensated whatsoever, that is my problem. I did take the advice and I did write Michael Bailey an email, maybe he’s reading it right now! I will make further attempts to speak with resolutions, because sometimes one resolution person can get something done that others cannot.

[Sunshine3601]

4 hours ago, thecanimal said:

Thanks for the support. I did not know principles could be overly hyperbolic. I think I will post on Royal Caribbean’s Facebook page and take the other advice and send a letter to Michael Bailey, but it’s a little late now. I leave for Florida day after tomorrow, maybe I will have my lawyer send Michael Bailey a letter. I had a contract. I have in writing I would receive a like for like room. I paid for a certain room category and they downgraded me, they owe me something. It’s hard to cancel a cruise three days before when you have airfare hotels, vacation scheduled, and friends and relatives to include 10 people total. And it was my idea for everyone to go, I can Not cancel now. Up until last Friday I had been very excited and happy to be on the inaugural cruise, now I’m just plain pissed off. Well my quest to go from my current diamond plus to become a pinnacle member has definitely lost its luster. In total I was on the phone 11 hours yesterday and spoke with three or four different customer resolution people. They all acknowledged that the room category I had bought and paid for was a higher room category, and were  very apologetic, and supposedly spoke to management. Evidently management believes the rooms to be like for like even though they charge a lot more money for the large balcony over the regular balcony…

It really stinks they have not yet compensated you.  Email Bayley and other executives and hopefully you get some resolution.

I hope you and your family can enjoy the inaugural cruise.  I'm sure there will be lots of great events and activities to attend for the inaugural that you probably wont be in your cabin for long.

[thecanimal]

1 minute ago, thecanimal said:

I was until last Friday, I was nervous all weekend that this would happen, then it did happen at 11 o’clock in the morning yesterday four days before embarkation. Customer resolutions kept trying to say that large balcony cabin is the same as a regular balcony cabin, but I pointed out at times the large balcony cabin Can cost as much as $500 more per person(Christmas 2022cruise) on this inaugural sailing it was it was at least $120 more per person for the large balcony cabin that I paid for, and no longer will be sailing in . They have cabin categories for a reason, so they can differentiate how much they can charge. I paid extra for a large balcony and I am not being compensated whatsoever, that is my problem. I did take the advice and I did write Michael Bailey an email, maybe he’s reading it right now! I will make further attempts to speak with resolutions, because sometimes one resolution person can get something done that others cannot.

I usually do enjoy the pre cruise  experience, But I am mostly concerned that I will not Enjoy my actual Cruise 🚢 experience . When I walk out on my small regular size balcony, knowing that I paid for a large balcony, and the yanked it out from under me three days before the cruise….

without compensation!

[thecanimal]

3 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

It really stinks they have not yet compensated you.  Email Bayley and other executives and hopefully you get some resolution.

I hope you and your family can enjoy the inaugural cruise.  I'm sure there will be lots of great events and activities to attend for the inaugural that you probably wont be in your cabin for long.

Thanks you are correct, last cruise in December I was on my balcony five minutes total the whole trip. But my wife likes to sit on the balcony and have me bring her coffee in the morning , And it just makes the cabin seem larger when you have a larger balcony.

[Sunshine3601]

21 minutes ago, thecanimal said:

Thanks you are correct, last cruise in December I was on my balcony five minutes total the whole trip. But my wife likes to sit on the balcony and have me bring her coffee in the morning , And it just makes the cabin seem larger when you have a larger balcony.

Hopefully you get a response from M Bayley to get some OBC that you can use onboard or cash it out.   

I have had some larger balconies in the past and some really arent that much larger.  Some that are deeper, not wider, feel like tunnels to us.  

To be on a brand new ship enjoying morning coffee or an evening cocktail will be just as nice no matter the size of the balcony.   

Hopefully the sourness will leave once you Look out at the beautiful sea and enjoy to the fullest.🍹🤩🌴🧜‍♀️

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by Sunshine3601

[thecanimal]

1 minute ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Hopefully you get a response from M Bayley to get some OBC that you can use onboard or cash it out.   

I have had some larger balconies in the past and some really arent that much larger.  Some that are deeper, not wider, feel like tunnels to us.  

To be on a brand new ship enjoying morning coffee or an evening cocktail will be just as nice no matter the size of the balcony.   

Hopefully the sourness will leave once you Look out at the beautiful and enjoy to the fullest.🍹🤩🌴🧜‍♀️

 

Just checked, only one cruise for Wonder is avail r in March 25th sailing and large balcony cabin is $239.00 more expensive per person/ I purchased 3 cabins with 7 passangers total.

[thecanimal]

16 hours ago, Missusdubbya said:

Sorry this happened to you OP, it sucks

 

I think you should prepare yourself for disappointment 

 

Thanks I think you are right

[thecanimal]

18 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Hopefully you get a response from M Bayley to get some OBC that you can use onboard or cash it out.   

I have had some larger balconies in the past and some really arent that much larger.  Some that are deeper, not wider, feel like tunnels to us.  

To be on a brand new ship enjoying morning coffee or an evening cocktail will be just as nice no matter the size of the balcony.   

Hopefully the sourness will leave once you Look out at the beautiful sea and enjoy to the fullest.🍹🤩🌴🧜‍♀️

 

Thanks sunshine, I will

[sford75]

38 minutes ago, thecanimal said:

Thanks you are correct, last cruise in December I was on my balcony five minutes total the whole trip. But my wife likes to sit on the balcony and have me bring her coffee in the morning , And it just makes the cabin seem larger when you have a larger balcony.

I would bring any original documentation you have with your original category, stateroom etc. and go straight to Guest Services. The same thing happened to a friend recently, they went to guest services. They had to wait until that evening, but they upgraded them to a Jr. Suite. Now this was on Independence and wasn't the inaugural sailing, so you may be out of luck. But I think it's worth a try. At the very least, they may be able to give you some onboard credit.  Also, Michael Bayley will likely be on that sailing, so I think emailing his office was a good move.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

9 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

I rec'd the same [CDC spacing] email last Thursday, for my late March Enchantment cruise.  So far my reservation is still showing me in my original cabin.

Oh No!  We are on this cruise, too.  Good luck.

 

We did not get an email.  I checked my spam folder.  . . . but now I am getting worried.  

[thecanimal]

25 minutes ago, sford75 said:

I would bring any original documentation you have with your original category, stateroom etc. and go straight to Guest Services. The same thing happened to a friend recently, they went to guest services. They had to wait until that evening, but they upgraded them to a Jr. Suite. Now this was on Independence and wasn't the inaugural sailing, so you may be out of luck. But I think it's worth a try. At the very least, they may be able to give you some onboard credit.  Also, Michael Bayley will likely be on that sailing, so I think emailing his office was a good move.

I will look him up! I am certain he will be interested in my current situation. 

[thecanimal]

21 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Oh No!  We are on this cruise, too.  Good luck.

 

We did not get an email.  I checked my spam folder.  . . . but now I am getting worried.  

 

[Starry Eyes]

2 hours ago, Cel_cruise said:

We have 4 rooms on deck 6 just off the back elevator- I will be LIVID if this happened to us.   
 

im so sorry that this happened to you - definitely ruins the pre-cruise experience!  You should be packing and dreaming of sunshine and new ship smell right now! 

On Harmony last week, deck six by aft elevators was open to guests with the corridor closed mid ship; doors to deck 6 by forward elevators was closed and marked “crew only”. So, if (and that is a big if) Wonder is handled the same way as Harmony last week, your cabin, Cel_cruise, by the deck 6 aft elevators is less likely to be impacted than if you had selected one further forward.  I am sorry this has impacted anybody.

Edited March 1, 2022 by Starry Eyes

[Love2cruise77]

I also got an email about CDC rules changing my room, but I was upgraded instead of being downgraded.  Sorry this happened to you and hope for positive outcome.

[thecanimal]

18 minutes ago, Love2cruise77 said:

I also got an email about CDC rules changing my room, but I was upgraded instead of being downgraded.  Sorry this happened to you and hope for positive outcome.

[thecanimal]

Just now, thecanimal said:

19 minutes ago, Love2cruise77 said:

I also got an email about CDC rules changing my room, but I was upgraded instead of being downgraded.  Sorry this happened to you and hope for positive outcome.

Are you on Wonder 3/4/2022?

[Love2cruise77]

17 minutes ago, thecanimal said:

Are you on Wonder 3/4/2022?

 

No, on the next sailing.

[thecanimal]

Progress! Fifth time is the charm. As I earlier mentioned I had been on the phone for 11 hours yesterday and after three hours on the phone today I Finally found a customer resolution person who actually tried to help me. Unfortunately the best she could do is offer me $100 per cabin, not the $120 per passenger difference I paid for my better cabin. Because the ship is totally sold out she could not do a muck booking, to give me the difference between the two categories. Each resolution person I spoke with at first thought I had a large balcony even though I really didn’t. I had to make them look at the deck plans each time. I really believe they thought they gave me an equal room but they didn’t and we’re not interested in looking into it further. I am happy for the person sailing next week who reviewed an upgrade. So now I have $200 per room credit and to use it, I canceled excursions and rebook them even though the new excursions cost more at least I’m getting money back on my credit card instead of my daughters and friends having  onboard credit, that they do not need to have. Of course there’s no way to give me the credit even though I’m the one that paid for all three cabins. Still waiting for Michael Bailey to respond to my letter! There will be stories in the diamond lounge about my experience, and if I meet him in person he will hear about it also. Eventually everyone acknowledged  that this was their problem they created and they were very sorry that there was nothing they can do. But $300 credit is better than no dollars credit, back to the phone and see what I get next!

[thecanimal]

18 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

I’m sorry this is happening to you (though the comparison of your decrease balcony size to GS to interior cabin is overly hyperbolic).  I think you deserve some compensation or, if you really feels it will ruin your experience, the right to cancel.

 

They have closed off entire sections on some ships. For example, we just disembarked Harmony…..much of deck 6 port and starboard forward/mid were closed to passengers.  It is possible they need to do similar on Wonder, impacting your former cabins

Principles can not be overly hyperbolic, but yes my exaggeration was intentional. They should know before 4 days before embarkation that the needed my room, and yes I deserve comp. Because I paid for a more expensive cabin catagory, which I thought I made clear with my overly hyperbolic comparison!

[Starry Eyes]

19 minutes ago, thecanimal said:

Principles can not be overly hyperbolic, but yes my exaggeration was intentional. They should know before 4 days before embarkation that the needed my room, and yes I deserve comp. Because I paid for a more expensive cabin catagory, which I thought I made clear with my overly hyperbolic comparison!

I’m glad you finally got somebody to look at the deck plan and issue some compensation.  As you know, I agreed the principle that it was unfair to move and downgrade you, especially without acknowledging and compensating for the downgrade.  Though you may not wish to hear it, I find that being very hyperbolic can often counterproductive in such circumstances, but you do you….even if it takes 14 hours on the phone.

[Saab4444]

49 minutes ago, thecanimal said:

Principles can not be overly hyperbolic, but yes my exaggeration was intentional. They should know before 4 days before embarkation that the needed my room, and yes I deserve comp. Because I paid for a more expensive cabin catagory, which I thought I made clear with my overly hyperbolic comparison!

Whcih category (in numbers) were your original cabins and which are your new cabins?