Overpaid and RCCL says tough luck, you paid too soon.

[alfaeric]

51 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Prices go down after final payment when people and agencies return held cabins. Often there are great cabin choices available then also.

Sometimes they do, not always. But compared to booking as soon as the cabins come out, the price change has not been better for us. 
 

If you are sure they will, we normally book a class lower and then upgrade for the fee we were already happy with. 

[RedIguana]

1 hour ago, teddie said:

(Last time I looked, there were no chickens and goats roaming the offices of RCI).

RCL has Miami offices. Never say never to chickens and goats roaming their offices 🤪

[dunrobbin]

"This is our 39th year of sailing with RCCL. In 39 years we've NEVER had an upgrade even once."

 

In the days before "Royal Up" there was always the chance of an Upgrade. Not so much anymore.

We could not get to our Xmas cruise last December, due to the storm of the century.  They just said , "Sorry about your luck"    and that's fine.

I would have loved the Crown and Anchor points,  but nope,  sorry, no points even though you paid for the cruise, and that is also fine.

On our cruise in 3 weeks, we have a junior suite, and prices have dropped $600,  and that's fine.

In 18 months we retire. Hoping to live full time in a RV  and drive round the coast, picking up cruise bargains all the way around the continent!  I'm gonna get all the cheapy cruises then! LOL

This time, we paid what we decided was acceptable, in a cabin we deemed acceptable.

Royal owes us nothing more, than what we paid for.

 

[Tree_skier]

I'm not sure if you some of you haven't noticed but the OP has given up on the this thread and posting on CC.  Nothing since last Saturday, the day of the original post.  They didn't get the response they wanted so they are gone. 

Edited April 18, 2023 by Tree_skier

[alfaeric]

11 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I'm not sure if you some of you haven't noticed but the OP has given up on the this thread and posting on CC.  Nothing since last Saturday, the day of the original post.  They didn't get the response they wanted so they are gone. 

Hopefully it also means they cancel all RCI cruises, too. To lower the demand and cost to the rest of us. 

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

We never pay until final payment day.  Once they have your money.....you have no recourse.  Rules are rules.  BTW, we book way in advance, we've never lost any money doing it that way.  I've checked all our cruises on final payment day and there haven't been any that were cheaper than what we booked 1 to 2 yrs out.  All our reductions and there have been many were done before that date.  That's my method and I won't be changing it.  Have found some real steals last minute but that's the exception.

 

Not entirely true. Regardless of when you paid, final booking rules still apply.

 

We paid UWC early for a 10% discount, but we still have until June to cancel, less the deposit

[pcur]

On 4/16/2023 at 7:44 PM, topnole said:

Why?   So other folks with legitimate needs can wait on hold longer

while folks like this make irrational complaints and demands.  

Perhaps letting the business owner in the dispute make the decision.  I gave the OP the contact information only.

[topnole]

26 minutes ago, pcur said:

Perhaps letting the business owner in the dispute make the decision.  I gave the OP the contact information only.

They’ve been loyal customers for 39 years.  They must know how to contact them.  😂😂

 

But to me this is like feeding the birds.  Sure, you can toss up a piece of bread and let the bird decide. But be careful of what you start.  Suggesting folks complain when they are complaining about something they agreed to will just cause others to do the same.  This creates a lot of expense for royal and frustration for others who wait forever on hold due to folks with nonsense complaints.   So like at the beach, others suffer when the birds swarm for the bread.   
 

 

[baldilocks]

On 4/16/2023 at 12:50 PM, vjmatty said:

 

That shouldn't happen..... you can do a room change if it is the exact same category without repricing.  Are you sure you didn't change categories?

Absolutely not. Same category. We were told that moving the location would constitute cancelling one reservation and getting a brand new reservation at the current price.

[Ourusualbeach]

10 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Prices go down after final payment when people and agencies return held cabins. Often there are great cabin choices available then also.

Agencies do not return space after final payment.  Any group space being held by agencies is either recalled at the 180 DTS review or at 120 days to sailing.

[vjmatty]

6 hours ago, baldilocks said:

Absolutely not. Same category. We were told that moving the location would constitute cancelling one reservation and getting a brand new reservation at the current price.

You must have had someone new or inexperienced with cabin changes. Even price changes and upgrades can be done without canceling and rebooking, and room changes are even simpler. I’m not sure if there is anything you can do now, but it might be worth calling since the reps keep track of what’s been done by entering notes on the reservation. Also, your old reservation may still exist in the system which might be accessible to another rep or their supervisor. That being said, given the error made by the rep in canceling your reservation I’m not very confident that a good paper trail was maintained. It’s a long shot but might be worth trying. 
 

ETA: I just realized this happened to you years ago making this advice useless …sorry, I blame it on senior brain. 🙄

 

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by vjmatty
ETA

[BecciBoo]

21 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Prices go down after final payment when people and agencies return held cabins. Often there are great cabin choices available then also.

I have never found any lower than when I book early and I assure you I check it out often.  Still do.  We have taken 2 last minute cruises that were great deals, no more out of 30.

John, I believe I said "Rules are rules".  But I'd a whole lot rather them keep 500 than let them keep the whole thing.  So we pay on final day.

Edited April 19, 2023 by BecciBoo

[Starry Eyes]

21 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Prices go down after final payment when people and agencies return held cabins. Often there are great cabin choices available then also.

Years ago when nearly all deposits were refundable I recall seeing some cabins (including nice choices) reappear near final payment date and sometimes price drops shortly after final payment date.  Now that so many people select nonrefundable deposits, both those seem less prevalent to me.

[Morecruisesplz]

2 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

I have never found any lower than when I book early and I assure you I check it out often.  Still do.  We have taken 2 last minute cruises that were great deals, no more out of 30.

John, I believe I said "Rules are rules".  But I'd a whole lot rather them keep 500 than let them keep the whole thing.  So we pay on final day.

"Never have found." You must be checking the wrong place. Last month saved over $300 over same cabin category + some OBC, over newly released prices. 

[mjkacmom]

10 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

"Never have found." You must be checking the wrong place. Last month saved over $300 over same cabin category + some OBC, over newly released prices. 

Sometimes they go down sometimes up. I’ve booked years out and never saw a price drop, but we get connecting balcony cabins for 7 of us.

[Morecruisesplz]

50 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Sometimes they go down sometimes up. I’ve booked years out and never saw a price drop, but we get connecting balcony cabins for 7 of us.

Yes, either can happen. Enjoy your cruise.

[BecciBoo]

3 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

"Never have found." You must be checking the wrong place. Last month saved over $300 over same cabin category + some OBC, over newly released prices. 

Yes, I have had them make adjustments several times and saved $$.  I'm talking about the initial booking.  Generally, the earlier the better.  And I have apps that check for me as well.  Maybe never was the wrong word. And that IS relative to cabin type and location too.

[cindyscruise]

On 4/15/2023 at 7:08 PM, bentl1 said:

Actually, RCCL did have a policy a few years ago of increasing prices even after you were paid in full citing excessive fuel costs. 

Yes that was for the additional fuel costs only and I believe they still have that policy

Edited April 19, 2023 by cindyscruise

[S.A.M.J.R.]

18 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

Yes, I have had them make adjustments several times and saved $$.  I'm talking about the initial booking.  Generally, the earlier the better.  And I have apps that check for me as well.  Maybe never was the wrong word. And that IS relative to cabin type and location too.

Can you let us know what apps you're using?

[Morecruisesplz]

55 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

Yes, I have had them make adjustments several times and saved $$.  I'm talking about the initial booking.  Generally, the earlier the better.  And I have apps that check for me as well.  Maybe never was the wrong word. And that IS relative to cabin type and location too.

I wasn't quoting an adjusted price. Booked rate less than the intial cruise rate. I do not know of any app that will do the checking for you. 

[Morecruisesplz]

56 minutes ago, cindyscruise said:

Yes that was for the additional fuel costs only and I believe they still have that policy

I do not believe there are apps or websites any longer that will do that research for you. Unless Bec knows something no one else knows about. Starfish was popular years ago, until it stopped working properly. My guess is that cruise lines were blocking it. 

[pcur]

On 4/18/2023 at 5:35 PM, topnole said:

They’ve been loyal customers for 39 years.  They must know how to contact them.  😂😂

 

 

I believe Loyalty Resolutions is fairly new.  Resolutions is another staff.

[Homosassa]

22 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

Years ago when nearly all deposits were refundable I recall seeing some cabins (including nice choices) reappear near final payment date and sometimes price drops shortly after final payment date.  Now that so many people select nonrefundable deposits, both those seem less prevalent to me.

Years ago, many people played a fare game where when itineraries were announced, they would book and pay a deposit on multiple cruises across different cruiselines for a time period they were interested in.

 

During the time period before final payment, the deposited cruises would be checked and the fare churning for price drops or other perks would be done.

 

As final payment approached (thirty days in "olden" days), a decision would be made on which cruise and cabin would be the one for the trip.  All the others would be canceled.

 

As a result, the cruise lines would be left with unsold cabins that they needed to discount to fill the ship.

 

Cruise lines adapted to the gaming and changed the deposit and final payment rule. 

 

Deposits became non refundable for some cabin classes and final payment was pushed back to the time period that are now used.

 

Some travel agents also changed their booking procedure.  

 

I have been using one agent a t a large agency for a number of years.  During one of our more chatty sessions we got onto the topic of fare churning and booking multiple cruises for the same time period.  

 

He told me that his agency now will show all booking made by a client when they call to make a reservation.  If it shows that the new reservation overlaps a  cruise that is reserved, they will not accept the booking. 

[BecciBoo]

Yes, things have changed.  Guess my apps have quit reporting much. There are still a couple but they haven't responded to any of our cruises lately.  But as an example, when we booked ICON back in October $1197 pp...today, $1962 pp and I can't even book an inside accessible which we have.  Sold out for our date Sept. 14th 24.  I don't expect that pricing to go back to what we booked, at all, if any.  As the hype plays out, I'm sure it will go up.  We'll see.  I am my own best barometer, I check all the time and for good deals out there.  I stumble across some neat stuff sometimes, we did Legend to Hawaii from Ensenada for interior $629 for two people a few years ago.  Ya just gotta be online a lot to see them.  In that case, about 1 month before cruise, nobody probably wanted to be bussed from San Diego to Ensenada so they had to lower the price.  My good! What an adventure, the Mexican bus leaked into my lap as it rained..too funny.  But that was a great cruise. They loaded our luggage in SD and we got on the busses and met Legend in Mexico.

[luvintravel]

They will give you the new price as long as you haven't made final payment. That's why I don't pay till final payment is due. I keep checking for a better price. They have always honored that policy. It used to be (years ago) that they would give you a reduced price if you saw it somewhere else. Now only when they reduce the price.