Price Guarantee or Bad Luck

[CtinaontheSea]

Hello, 

 

Just booked a cruise a week ago (July 26) and yesterday (July 31) booked a GTY suite and the price dropped substantially just this morning. The cost is still pending on my credit card. We are 500-60 days before sailing but we never put a deposit but just paid in full. We have the new receipt from yesterday. I feel so stupid I just did this suite booking yesterday.

 

New to Royal Caribbean, does anyone have any guidance on this situation? Thank you in advance!

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, CtinaontheSea said:

New to Royal Caribbean, does anyone have any guidance on this situation?

Welcome to CC.

The price on your booking should adjust to the prevailing rate until final payment due date if you call - which should be 90 days out. Inside final payment, the price should adjust if you call them within 24 hours of booking. After that, the penalties are outlined in your booking invoice.

Pro tip - don't pay your cruise off until required.

Edited August 1, 2023 by Biker19

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, CtinaontheSea said:

Hello, 

 

Just booked a cruise a week ago (July 26) and yesterday (July 31) booked a GTY suite and the price dropped substantially just this morning. The cost is still pending on my credit card. We are 500-60 days before sailing but we never put a deposit but just paid in full. We have the new receipt from yesterday. I feel so stupid I just did this suite booking yesterday.

 

New to Royal Caribbean, does anyone have any guidance on this situation? Thank you in advance!

You are before final payment.  You can call and get the price adjusted.  Since you have paid in full they will issue you a refund.  Make sure to request that they manually issue the refund otherwise it could sit there until after your cruise sails until it gets refunded

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, CtinaontheSea said:

Just booked a cruise a week ago (July 26) and yesterday (July 31) booked a GTY suite

 

We are 500-60 days before sailing

 

What are the sailing dates of each cruise?

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Another_Critic

[Biker19]

33 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

What are the sailing dates of each cruise?

 

Pretty sure it's only one sailing though how far out they are seems in doubt.

[allyfree]

RCI pricing drives me insane! I get that there can be alterations to things like cabins and excursions based on demand and availability but the drinks package is my nemesis. The fact that they can't just deduct the difference and you need to immediately pay the new price whilst having to wait around a month to have the first lot refunded is nothing more than extortion 🤬

[gumshoe958]

25 minutes ago, allyfree said:

RCI pricing drives me insane! I get that there can be alterations to things like cabins and excursions based on demand and availability but the drinks package is my nemesis. The fact that they can't just deduct the difference and you need to immediately pay the new price whilst having to wait around a month to have the first lot refunded is nothing more than extortion 🤬

I just got a Voom refund through in 3 days.

 

And we should probably be grateful that Royal hasn’t made cruise planner purchases non-refundable.

[papaflamingo]

2 hours ago, allyfree said:

RCI pricing drives me insane! I get that there can be alterations to things like cabins and excursions based on demand and availability but the drinks package is my nemesis. The fact that they can't just deduct the difference and you need to immediately pay the new price whilst having to wait around a month to have the first lot refunded is nothing more than extortion 🤬

Umm... so you think that after you CHOOSE to book a cruise for a specific price, pay the money, take the cabin out of inventory, etc. and they lower the price but STILL allow you to cancel and rebook at the lower rate that taking some time to refund your original booking in full is "extortions?"  Clearly you don't understand the definition of "extortion." 😏

Try that next time you buy a car and a week later the car dealer offers a discount.  See how much they refund you. 

Edited August 2, 2023 by papaflamingo

[stag]

20 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Pro tip - don't pay your cruise off until required.

Excellent tip! 

Decades ago we booked a cruise directly with another cruise line. At that time, deposits were always refundable. In order not to forget the final payment, we paid in full 2 weeks before the deadline. A day later, something came up that we would cancel the cruise. We called the cruise line to find out if we could cancel the cruise even though we were prepared to lose the deposit. The answer was no, we only could get 50% back. Lesson learned. Nowadays, many travel agents requested the final payment a few weeks before the deadline. I assume that once the final payment is made, the cancellation schedule would be applied.

 

[Another_Critic]

37 minutes ago, stag said:

Nowadays, many travel agents requested the final payment a few weeks before the deadline. I assume that once the final payment is made, the cancellation schedule would be applied.

 

The cancellation schedule is based on the final payment due date, not the date that you made the final payment.

[allyfree]

10 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Umm... so you think that after you CHOOSE to book a cruise for a specific price, pay the money, take the cabin out of inventory, etc. and they lower the price but STILL allow you to cancel and rebook at the lower rate that taking some time to refund your original booking in full is "extortions?"  Clearly you don't understand the definition of "extortion." 😏

Try that next time you buy a car and a week later the car dealer offers a discount.  See how much they refund you. 

Not even close to the point I'm making 🙄 ... if the money can leave my account in 30 seconds FOR A DRINKS PACKAGE, then how can they justify 30 days to return the full amount instead of merely refunding the difference

[BecciBoo]

I think there is a discrepancy here.  Papaflamingo quoted AllyFree.    He wasn't the one who booked the cruise, that was the OP CTinaonthesea.  He was talking about refunds on purchases on the planner.,

[papaflamingo]

10 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

I think there is a discrepancy here.  Papaflamingo quoted AllyFree.    He wasn't the one who booked the cruise, that was the OP CTinaonthesea.  He was talking about refunds on purchases on the planner.,

A was responding to AllyFree's comment that Royal Caribbean was practicing "extortion."  That is a term, along with "Bait and Switch," that people love to use.  But both are illegal and very serious allegations.  

It also amazes me that people can book a cabin, take advantage of price cuts, something that doesn't happen in many business, and then complain that the difference in the price isn't refunded fast enough.  

That's what I was responding to. 

[papaflamingo]

12 hours ago, allyfree said:

Not even close to the point I'm making 🙄 ... if the money can leave my account in 30 seconds FOR A DRINKS PACKAGE, then how can they justify 30 days to return the full amount instead of merely refunding the difference

May point is your use of the term "extortion."  And surely you know that refunds aren't instantaneous in any business.  It takes time for these things to process through the system, especially in a company as large as any cruise line.  The mere fact that they even give a re-pricing refund AFTER you've agreed to a price and paid it, is a HUGE benefit.  You should be happy that policy even exists. 

[BecciBoo]

I have cancelled, for instance, the Beach CLub more than once in a cruise even and the money was instantly refunded like the next day, so I could rebook it at the lower price.  That includes if you purchase any of the packages with drinks or food, you should be getting your refund in a very timely fashion...cruise fares etc are a different matter entirely. 

[Bocker3]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

And surely you know that refunds aren't instantaneous in any business.  It takes time for these things to process through the system, especially in a company as large as any cruise line.  

This is pure hogwash....  It should never take 14-30 days to process a credit card refund.  A week max, generally 3-4 days pretty much anywhere else.  The problem may be in their IT system or they may simply not be prioritizing refunding money (a little more interest earned as it sits in their account).  I could understand it taking longer during the height of the pandemic, with the volume they had, but not any longer.

Prior to the pandemic, I rarely waited more than a week for refunds with Royal -- so SOMETHING has changed.

No - I don't call it extortion, or bait and switch or theft -- but I do call it unacceptable.

BTW - I worked for a credit card company for almost 20 years and I can promise you the hold up is coming from Royal -- not anywhere else in the flow.

 

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

 

 

[papaflamingo]

7 hours ago, Bocker3 said:

This is pure hogwash....  It should never take 14-30 days to process a credit card refund.  A week max, generally 3-4 days pretty much anywhere else.  The problem may be in their IT system or they may simply not be prioritizing refunding money (a little more interest earned as it sits in their account).  I could understand it taking longer during the height of the pandemic, with the volume they had, but not any longer.

Prior to the pandemic, I rarely waited more than a week for refunds with Royal -- so SOMETHING has changed.

No - I don't call it extortion, or bait and switch or theft -- but I do call it unacceptable.

BTW - I worked for a credit card company for almost 20 years and I can promise you the hold up is coming from Royal -- not anywhere else in the flow.

 

 

Oh please.  It's always taken time to get refunds.  Instead of whining about it, just be happy that once you've agreed to a cruise, paid for the cruise, that they'll EVEN HONOR price reductions.  Keep whining and they'll change that too. If you find their policies  "unacceptable," then don't do business with them.  There are lots of other cruise lines out there.  Find one that's more in keeping with your vision of "acceptability."  Give me a break.  😏

Edited August 3, 2023 by papaflamingo

[Bocker3]

3 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

Oh please.  It's always taken time to get refunds.  Instead of whining about it, just be happy that once you've agreed to a cruise, paid for the cruise, that they'll EVEN HONOR price reductions.  Keep whining and they'll change that too.  Give me a break.   

Just because you keep repeating it, doesn't make it true.  Credit Card refunds should not, routinely, take 14-30 days to process.  Though, I have received the last one from Royal in 8 days - so that's one anecdote of improvement

As for the rest of your response -- I'm not talking about price reductions -- I'm talking about refunds, in general.  Nor am I "whining", I am simply providing facts.