Don't make the same mistake I did

[PCWalton1]

Long story, My wife and I were going to spend December 2023 in the Philippines visiting her family. We decided that while we were there we would take a short cruise on Spectrum out of Singapore so we booked a 4 day cruise. We also book a 2nd cabin for two of my wife's nieces who live in the Philippines

 

Well the whole Philippines trip has fallen through so I called Royal to cancel the two cabins and get back the refundable deposits. When I called Royal they would not let me cancel our nieces' booking unless one of them called Royal which they can't as they have limited minute plans on their phones and can't sit on hold for an hour. 

 

I should have put my name on one cabin and my wife's on the other. $200 lesson learned, 

[easyqueasy]

@PCWalton1 Can you change the reservation online for one passenger to your name so that you can then call to cancel?

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/reservation/lookup

 

[neverbeenhere]

Hello, Yes my name is ___________, I would like to cancel this particular cruise. Thank You!

[livingonthebeach]

Just have your wife call and pretend she's her niece - that's all - easy peasy. 

[PCWalton1]

18 minutes ago, easyqueasy said:

@PCWalton1 Can you change the reservation online for one passenger to your name so that you can then call to cancel?

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/reservation/lookup

 

It allowed me to change the second passenger to me so that should work right?

 

[DaKahuna]

14 minutes ago, PCWalton1 said:

It allowed me to change the second passenger to me so that should work right?

 

 

 Yes, it should. 

 

[cruiseguy1016]

44 minutes ago, PCWalton1 said:

It allowed me to change the second passenger to me so that should work right?

 

 

Maybe. They might require the original passenger still on the reservation to make the cancellation.

 

51 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

Just have your wife call and pretend she's her niece - that's all - easy peasy. 

 

This would be another (maybe better) option.

[Starry Eyes]

56 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

Just have your wife call and pretend she's her niece - that's all - easy peasy. 

She probably should be able to rattle off niece’s details like DOB and spelling of name though it may not be necessary.

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Starry Eyes said:

She probably should be able to rattle off niece’s details like DOB and spelling of name though it may not be necessary.

 

She should have that already since she made the initial reservation. 

[Starry Eyes]

4 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

She should have that already since she made the initial reservation. 

Yes, of course it is available on the paperwork.
I suggested she should be able to rattle it off…as opposed to having to find the line on reservation form and then stiffly reading it😉 

[RandomUser123]

Let's say fine you want to be honest and not have your wife pretend to be your niece. Then the next step could be for your niece to upgrade her plan to an unlimited talk plan for 1 month. That should be much less than $200 so the cost would be the upgrade for 1 month. 

[nelblu]

I know that Royal has a call center in the Philippines as I have spoken to them many times.  Anyway, to call them locally.

 

I had a situation during the pandemic in that FCCs were issued to my kids (even though I paid for entire trip) for a cancelled Harmony trip.  I wanted to have the FCCs transferred to my name and I was told to send Royal a letter signed by my kids authorizing the transfers.  It worked well as I was able to use them accordingly.

 

The frustration was trying to get a clear and concise answer/resolution during that terrible period.

[livingonthebeach]

38 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

Yes, of course it is available on the paperwork.
I suggested she should be able to rattle it off…as opposed to having to find the line on reservation form and then stiffly reading it😉 

 

I see now what you meant. Yes, good advice.

[livingonthebeach]

25 minutes ago, RandomUser123 said:

Let's say fine you want to be honest and not have your wife pretend to be your niece. Then the next step could be for your niece to upgrade her plan to an unlimited talk plan for 1 month. That should be much less than $200 so the cost would be the upgrade for 1 month. 

 

Honest? He and his wife were the ones who made the reservation for the wife's nieces in the first place. How on God's Green Earth would that be DIShonest for them to cancel in whatever way they saw fit? Adding a phone plan in the Philippines for the nieces to pay? Jeez.....nice gift!

[livingonthebeach]

2 hours ago, PCWalton1 said:

Long story, My wife and I were going to spend December 2023 in the Philippines visiting her family. We decided that while we were there we would take a short cruise on Spectrum out of Singapore so we booked a 4 day cruise. We also book a 2nd cabin for two of my wife's nieces who live in the Philippines

 

Well the whole Philippines trip has fallen through so I called Royal to cancel the two cabins and get back the refundable deposits. When I called Royal they would not let me cancel our nieces' booking unless one of them called Royal which they can't as they have limited minute plans on their phones and can't sit on hold for an hour. 

 

I should have put my name on one cabin and my wife's on the other. $200 lesson learned, 

 

Hope you had it all resolved and got your second deposit back. Just seems like you wouldn't have to jump through hoops to get what you reserved and paid for back.

[cruznkate]

I would suggest you call and wait on hold. Then when you get on the line with someone, tell them the situation then call the niece and put her on 3 way. That would minimize her minute usage. My husband did this for my moms cabin change and it worked perfectly. 

[livingonthebeach]

3 minutes ago, cruznkate said:

I would suggest you call and wait on hold. Then when you get on the line with someone, tell them the situation then call the niece and put her on 3 way. That would minimize her minute usage. My husband did this for my moms cabin change and it worked perfectly. 

 

That works great in the US but for the Philippines? When the nieces are not only out of a cruise but now have to pay for a call -- no matter how short or long it is?

[nelblu]

10 minutes ago, cruznkate said:

I would suggest you call and wait on hold. Then when you get on the line with someone, tell them the situation then call the niece and put her on 3 way. That would minimize her minute usage. My husband did this for my moms cabin change and it worked perfectly. 

As others have said, have your spouse call up and identify herself as one of your nieces.   You are not doing this in virtual/zoom mode, so the Royal agent has no clue as whom they are speaking with.

[PCWalton1]

I change one of the names to my name then called and cancelled. I was on hold for just one minute. 😁

[suzk2275a]

Glad to hear it worked out!

 

Susan

 

[mugtech]

Glad to hear you resolved the deposit dilemma.   Hope you get to the Philippines  soon.  NCL has some nice cruises, one starting from Manila and another ending in Manila while stopping in Boracay and Puerto Princessa.