Royal Upcharging on paid in full cruise?

[RedJessi]

OK, so they've fixed the booking now and it's showing up with our names....but the online check in only seems to be to enter names? Does RC not allow for people to upload travel documents like passports, driver's license, etc?

[ruready]

Interesting that you are trying them again since you stated you had a bad experience previously.  Just curious why you came back? 
 

I have not sailed on Royal since 2011, but just booked a cruise for next month on them (just to get my mom out the house).  I have no real reason why I have not sailed on them other than I prefer the cruise lines that more all inclusive vs ala crate mainlines.  

[Tree_skier]

3 minutes ago, RedJessi said:

OK, so they've fixed the booking now and it's showing up with our names....but the online check in only seems to be to enter names? Does RC not allow for people to upload travel documents like passports, driver's license, etc?

Try checking in with the app...  That seems to be the way that Royal is transitioning.

[smokeybandit]

7 minutes ago, RedJessi said:

OK, so they've fixed the booking now and it's showing up with our names....but the online check in only seems to be to enter names? Does RC not allow for people to upload travel documents like passports, driver's license, etc?

Log out and back into the website

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, RedJessi said:

 I did call. I was told I had to wait until Oct 3 to check in. They were able to link my account and my husband's account on that phone call but stated they couldn't do anything about the booking due to system upgrades being performed IIRC (it was several months ago).

And again I wouldnt have believed that answer. Makes no sense. I would hang up and call again. 

 

 

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, RedJessi said:

 They continued to imply it was my fault throughout. Even when I stated I had called when I made the booking and was told I had to wait and that their system didn't allow for me to edit the booking until check in, they just keep stating "yes, but since you didn't put in their names and the fare changed, you have a balance due". 

Eh, whatever the company line, I am not being charged the extra $, so thats good. Just leave a bad taste. Regardless, I am sure my kiddo will have a good time. Going to contact the other family traveling with us though and give them a heads up because I'm pretty sure theirs also had TBA, TBA on their booking. 

Glad to hear they fixed it. Customer service just makes up answers when they dont know. 

 

Many call until they get a answer that makes sense. Has happened to me, like being told a excursion price didnt go down, its tax. There is no tax on excursions.  They make up answers too often.

[nelblu]

3 hours ago, RedJessi said:

Up until now, all the system has shown is my name and guests TBA, TBA. When I tried to add their names to the booking, it said that it wouldn't be available until October 3. So, I logged in Oct 3 to get it done and lo and behold I get an error message that the updated info changed my balance and I need to call. Since I work 2 jobs and have a 10 year old, today was the first day I had any time free to call and it's been....unpleasant thus far. I feel like I am not trying to be difficult, but I don't understand why I am being penalized for their technology not being operational? They just keep saying that the cruise fare has gone up since I booked and I'm like....but I paid IN FULL the day I booked. Why would the system allow that? 

Feels very scammy and making me regret trying to come back to RC as our worst cruise to date was with RC (caveat, even a bad cruise is better than a normal day at work, but still).

Happened to me.  Booked 2 reservations at the same for my daughter and family via the Casino desk.  One of the reservations did not have a C&A # and did not generate the D balcony discount.  I had the fare amounts all confirmed, however, I did not examine the invoice until the next day.  Well, when I examined noticed that the discount of $226 wasn't there.  Called CS and they wanted to charge me some $300 more because the fare had changed.  I told them that I don't understand because the agent screwed up.  Anyway, they told me that I need to speak to some higher individual.  After going back and forth, at the end, it cost a difference of $63 in total.   

 

Lesson learned, since that episode, I do not hang up until I get an invoice that has all of the correct data and agreed $ amounts.  By the way, first time this has happened to me.  I blame it on the after effect of Covid.

[reallyitsmema]

10 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Happened to me.  Booked 2 reservations at the same for my daughter and family via the Casino desk.  One of the reservations did not have a C&A # and did not generate the D balcony discount.  I had the fare amounts all confirmed, however, I did not examine the invoice until the next day.  Well, when I examined noticed that the discount of $226 wasn't there.  Called CS and they wanted to charge me some $300 more because the fare had changed.  I told them that I don't understand because the agent screwed up.  Anyway, they told me that I need to speak to some higher individual.  After going back and forth, at the end, it cost a difference of $63 in total.   

 

Lesson learned, since that episode, I do not hang up until I get an invoice that has all of the correct data and agreed $ amounts.  By the way, first time this has happened to me.  I blame it on the after effect of Covid.

 

Your booking ended up with TBD for the passengers too or was it just a dropped C&A number?

[nelblu]

3 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Your booking ended up with TBD for the passengers too or was it just a dropped C&A number?

Both names were on the invoice.  The funny thing was that since my granddaughters needed to be with an adult in each cabin, my SIL C&A number was incorrect but at the same time his daughter in the cabin C&A was correct.  My assumption, the calculation of the C&A balcony discount looked at the adult in cabin --SIL. 

 

 

[reallyitsmema]

3 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Both names were on the invoice.  The funny thing was that since my granddaughters needed to be with an adult in each cabin, my SIL C&A number was incorrect but at the same time his daughter in the cabin C&A was correct.  My assumption, the calculation of the C&A balcony discount looked at the adult in cabin --SIL. 

 

 

 

The rep must have fat fingered the C&A number.  We had an issue with a booking due to a C&A number but it was because, somehow, my DH ended up with two numbers.  Must have been way back in the beginning of us cruising because I always used a specific number on all our bookings.  During the shutdown, the cruise line did a clean up of the C&A database and got rid of duplicates and his number fell off our reservation as they kept the original.  Not an issue with the fare as I have more points then him, so I am always the first name on the reservation.  I noticed his number was gone when we got the cruise documents and he had no status, so our luggage tags showed no status.  Took a phone call to C&A to find out what had happened.  Too bad they didn't add numbers to bookings that were changed because of the clean up.  Got docs reissued with right information and now have a note with both numbers just incase something happens in the future.

[nelblu]

3 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

The rep must have fat fingered the C&A number.  We had an issue with a booking due to a C&A number but it was because, somehow, my DH ended up with two numbers.  Must have been way back in the beginning of us cruising because I always used a specific number on all our bookings.  During the shutdown, the cruise line did a clean up of the C&A database and got rid of duplicates and his number fell off our reservation as they kept the original.  Not an issue with the fare as I have more points then him, so I am always the first name on the reservation.  I noticed his number was gone when we got the cruise documents and he had no status, so our luggage tags showed no status.  Took a phone call to C&A to find out what had happened.  Too bad they didn't add numbers to bookings that were changed because of the clean up.  Got docs reissued with right information and now have a note with both numbers just incase something happens in the future.

During the processing of the reservations, the agent was having a problem with my SIL C&A number, but when he confirmed that both reservations pricing, I assumed that everything was all right--which it wasn't.  It was unusual as IMO consider the Casino Desk folks to be far above all the others in the servicing and knowledge process.

[rockon391]

9 hours ago, HicksRA said:

Sounds like about 3 hours on the phone to me. 
Good luck!

 

(I know.. The next post will be “That’s why you need to use a travel agent.)

TA aka middle man. Don’t waste your time and just handle it with RC. 

[RedJessi]

9 hours ago, ruready said:

Interesting that you are trying them again since you stated you had a bad experience previously.  Just curious why you came back? 
 

I have not sailed on Royal since 2011, but just booked a cruise for next month on them (just to get my mom out the house).  I have no real reason why I have not sailed on them other than I prefer the cruise lines that more all inclusive vs ala crate mainlines.  

A few reasons:

 

I am totally open to the idea that maybe on our Oasis sailing there was a lot of burnt out crew members just biding time until they were done with their contract. I have no illusions about how hard they work or the fact that they have very little down time and if a significant portion are completing their contracts, it could potentially impact the quality of interaction and service. I get it and I don't blame them for being burnt out. They work their butts off in largely thankless positions. 

 

I've had 2 RC cruises - Allure was *AWESOME*. Oasis was....bad. That's a 50/50 ratio, though! So I've always been willing to give them another shot. My husband has had several more experiences with RC....he was disappointed enough in Oasis that he was not super interested in booking another cruise with them. So our next cruise was with Carnival because we had been lucky to get a free opportunity through his job and enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to forgo the more costly RC for Carnival on our next cruise. 

And then Disney. Whew. I mean, you pay for Disney, NO DOUBT. We saved up our money for 2 years to afford our first DCL experience. But since then, through diligence and effort, I have been extremely lucky to get good deals here and there since we live so close to port....and lucky enough to know that we were blessed with one kiddo and there will only be so many years that she wants to do things with her folks like go on Disney cruises....and those years will pass us by fast. So, I am able to justify the extra DCL surcharge with the fact that we have MAYBE 2-4 more years in which our kid is up for it (sh's turning 11 in November). So I know I've been spoiled and that's made it hard to return to other cruise lines....but I am trying because I want to cruise more, even sans offspring. which means I need to adjust my own expectations.

 

But....at this point, having sailed RC, Carnival, Princess and Disney....DCL is head and shoulders above them. I know it's not for everyone, and I know the cost is eye-bulging, but the food, the attention to detail, the customer service, the entertainment, the cleanliness, the amenities....obviously I plan on doing more DCL experiences. BUT DCL is not perfect for EVERY experience. Which is why we chose Princess for Alaska (thats a whole other story). And why I am looking at ALL cruise lines, because DCL is NOT my husbands favorite (he does;t like the ship layouts, doesn't like the lack of casino, and overall prefers a different vibe).

So, yeah, I've always been totally open to returning to RCL to give them another shot. I'm also really curious about Norwegian, Celebrity and MCS as well as the smaller lines who do river cruises. I chose Liberty to get out of the Oasis class and because it fit our needs for time and length (kiddos b-day is literally the day before the sail date and we will only have to miss 2 days of work). 

I rambled a bit, but I hope that explains a bit? LOL

 

[RedJessi]

9 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Try checking in with the app...  That seems to be the way that Royal is transitioning.

The app totally does seem like where I need to be. I'm out of braincells for the day after a long work day, but I am going to put in the effort tomorrow!

[RedJessi]

7 hours ago, nelblu said:

Happened to me.  Booked 2 reservations at the same for my daughter and family via the Casino desk.  One of the reservations did not have a C&A # and did not generate the D balcony discount.  I had the fare amounts all confirmed, however, I did not examine the invoice until the next day.  Well, when I examined noticed that the discount of $226 wasn't there.  Called CS and they wanted to charge me some $300 more because the fare had changed.  I told them that I don't understand because the agent screwed up.  Anyway, they told me that I need to speak to some higher individual.  After going back and forth, at the end, it cost a difference of $63 in total.   

 

Lesson learned, since that episode, I do not hang up until I get an invoice that has all of the correct data and agreed $ amounts.  By the way, first time this has happened to me.  I blame it on the after effect of Covid.

I do wonder about the covid impact. Not that I think that there is an intentional, malicious intent to do customers wrong....as much as I wonder if they didn't lay off folks and then just choose to keep working understaffed and let the chips fall, you know?

[RedJessi]

7 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

The rep must have fat fingered the C&A number.  We had an issue with a booking due to a C&A number but it was because, somehow, my DH ended up with two numbers.  Must have been way back in the beginning of us cruising because I always used a specific number on all our bookings.  During the shutdown, the cruise line did a clean up of the C&A database and got rid of duplicates and his number fell off our reservation as they kept the original.  Not an issue with the fare as I have more points then him, so I am always the first name on the reservation.  I noticed his number was gone when we got the cruise documents and he had no status, so our luggage tags showed no status.  Took a phone call to C&A to find out what had happened.  Too bad they didn't add numbers to bookings that were changed because of the clean up.  Got docs reissued with right information and now have a note with both numbers just incase something happens in the future.

This is not dissimilar to my most current dilemma ( this is....what - number 3? 4? since I started this thread? sheesh). I called back in June about our C&A situation - which is that I am low-man on the ladder and my husband has like 6-7 more RC sailings than me. I was told that our accounts could be linked and would reflect his higher status. And up until today, that was true.....but this week? Our booking dropped down to MY (gold) status. So I know there's another phone call in my future and I am not looking forward to it. And now I feel the need to triple check the OBC for my shareholder status. 

All this feels like RC is making me go behind them to make sure they are being honest.....which doesn't make me feel great about them as a company. 

[Morecruisesplz]

12 hours ago, HicksRA said:

Sounds like about 3 hours on the phone to me. 
Good luck!

 

(I know.. The next post will be “That’s why you need to use a travel agent.)

That’s why you need to use a travel agent. (Sorry I'm late.)

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

I don't understand how the husband's C&A could be "linked" if his name wasn't on the reservation.