Denied Boarding at Port, with PITIFUL Compensation

[GimmeOcean]

11 minutes ago, bretts173 said:

A fellow CC poster on the Australian forum posted a letter after his just completed Brilliance cruise where he didn't have hot water. Asked politely at guest services for a room change which they couldn't accommodate and was told they would let head office know.

 

Received the letter on departure giving a full refund and 100% cruise credit. Way more than he expected. Unfortunately positive stories don't interest many people.

If they were consistently that generous nobody would have reason to complain.

[zanydoc]

WhatheF*! I book GTY all the time and can’t believe Royal actually think this is acceptable business practice.

Edited December 1, 2023 by zanydoc

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, bretts173 said:

A fellow CC poster on the Australian forum posted a letter after his just completed Brilliance cruise where he didn't have hot water. Asked politely at guest services for a room change which they couldn't accommodate and was told they would let head office know.

 

Received the letter on departure giving a full refund and 100% cruise credit. Way more than he expected. Unfortunately positive stories don't interest many people.

Wow, that’s very generous. Especially considering… can’t anyone use the showers in the fitness center/sauna on most ships?  I mean, that’s an inconvenience for sure, but not the end of the world. I would love free cruises if I had to shower in the fitness center lol.

[richstowe]

2 hours ago, bretts173 said:

A fellow CC poster on the Australian forum posted a letter after his just completed Brilliance cruise where he didn't have hot water. Asked politely at guest services for a room change which they couldn't accommodate and was told they would let head office know.

 

Received the letter on departure giving a full refund and 100% cruise credit. Way more than he expected. Unfortunately positive stories don't interest many people.

Any company is the hospitality business is and should be judged on worst case examples . I must say that your Brilliance story is almost too generous. It doesn't excuse RC from their shameful initial response in this topic . And I do agree IF it had been handled like this other Aussie story, we wouldn't be so interested . But they didn't.

[KmomChicago]

9 hours ago, bretts173 said:

What's that got to do with anything?

Like “Australia” explains it! 😂

 

(Whispers aside) I mean, everyone knows about AUSTRALIA! What can you expect? 

 

(Whispers some more) It’s the koalas! 🐨 + 🚢 = 😢

[compman9]

For those saying, "well don't book a gty, then" that is very unhelpful and more than a little obnoxious given that the difference in price between gtys and chosen rooms can run to hundreds these days.

 

Modern-day marketing for these massive billion-dollar corporations live and die by their small print, which is a sad indictment of our times. And it has not always been the case. Pre and post-war years saw incredible bend-over-backwards customer service levels.

 

The word "guarantee" should not be used in any contract (small print or not) unless it is guaranteed. Especially in Royal's case, where the choice is marketed as max flexibility without mention of the risk.

 

 

[KmomChicago]

46 minutes ago, compman9 said:

For those saying, "well don't book a gty, then" that is very unhelpful and more than a little obnoxious given that the difference in price between gtys and chosen rooms can run to hundreds these days.

 

Modern-day marketing for these massive billion-dollar corporations live and die by their small print, which is a sad indictment of our times. And it has not always been the case. Pre and post-war years saw incredible bend-over-backwards customer service levels.

 

The word "guarantee" should not be used in any contract (small print or not) unless it is guaranteed. Especially in Royal's case, where the choice is marketed as max flexibility without mention of the risk.

 

 

Agree, gty is short for guaranteed which means you get a room, not you get the shaft. It’s not a standby category, it’s solely an unassigned location category.

[HappyTexan44]

I wonder if it was truly only GTY people that were bumped?    If it was, then it wouldn't make sense that it was a maintenance issue. Unless it just happened to hit in an undesirable area that no one would select.    

[RedIguana]

7 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Like “Australia” explains it! 😂

"Australia", where even the cute little cruise ships are trying to kill you. 🤪

[duck65]

19 hours ago, SUgwoz said:

Aside from this case has their been any other similar incidents where people were denied boarding at Port and given no reason? 

 

Based on this thread and others one would think booking a guarantee cabin has a 50/50 track record of being able to board. 

 

Some years ago a couple flew from AUS to NZ for a X cruise, got to the pier and was told they double booked the room and ship was denied boarding. X reps stayed behind to find accommodations for the couple and to fly flight back to AUS. Somewhere on X board is the story.

[not-enough-cruising]

32 minutes ago, duck65 said:

Some years ago a couple flew from AUS to NZ for a X cruise, got to the pier and was told they double booked the room and ship was denied boarding. X reps stayed behind to find accommodations for the couple and to fly flight back to AUS. Somewhere on X board is the story.

There are several such stories on the Royal boards as well from the last few years.  Involuntary denied boarding (GTY room or assigned, doesn't make a difference) although not common, is also not unheard of.

[KmomChicago]

2 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

There are several such stories on the Royal boards as well from the last few years.  Involuntary denied boarding (GTY room or assigned, doesn't make a difference) although not common, is also not unheard of.

 

I want to say this is the first time I have heard of such a thing. In my 12 or 15 cruises or whatever it is now I never considered even a remote chance that they just might not let us onboard because they sold our prepaid cabin to someone they like better than us.

[SRF]

On 11/29/2023 at 12:01 PM, sgmn said:

As someone who worked for large international airlines for over 40 years and had to deal with denied boarding at the sharp end, this is not true  at least not for large international airlines. Anyone on a free mileage ticket is a valued frequent flyer. Why would they upset their most valued customers. 

Nonrevs are staff, and even they get looked after if they are confirmed and away from their base station. 

We would offer a sweet deal to pax who would still make their onward connections if they travelled on the next flight. We always got volunteers 

 

Not according to airline people I have discussed this with.  Maybe airline to airline.

 

I was on a flight where due to issues with the aircraft, they had to remove people from the plane.  There were a number of people flying on miles that got removed.

[not-enough-cruising]

5 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

I want to say this is the first time I have heard of such a thing. In my 12 or 15 cruises or whatever it is now I never considered even a remote chance that they just might not let us onboard because they sold our prepaid cabin to someone they like better than us.

No one ever considers it, and I doubt it happens because some is liked more than another, but ............................

[cruisin from florida]

My guess is that people who are satisfied with the compensation don't post as much. If only Royal had considered starting out with satisfactory compensation and/or asked for volunteers, this would have been a non-event.

[little britain]

Update: I'm officially a chicken!   

 

I spotted a balcony with large balcony for $44 more than we had paid for a gty.

Every other balcony was $1400 more... so I grabbed it!

My RoyalUp list starts with a large balcony as the lowest option starting at $290pp.

 

I think I made the right decision!

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

20 hours ago, SRF said:

Not according to airline people I have discussed this with.  Maybe airline to airline.

 

I was on a flight where due to issues with the aircraft, they had to remove people from the plane.  There were a number of people flying on miles that got removed.

Were they bumped BECAUSE they were flying on miles?  

Were they bumped because they checked in late?

Were they bumped because they booked the lowest class of cabin?

Were they bumped because the airline could get them to their destination on a later flight?

Were they bumped because the new aircraft simply didn't have "Seat 23F"? 

[Starry Eyes]

52 minutes ago, little britain said:

Update: I'm officially a chicken!   

 

I spotted a balcony with large balcony for $44 more than we had paid for a gty.

Every other balcony was $1400 more... so I grabbed it!

My RoyalUp list starts with a large balcony as the lowest option starting at $290pp.

 

I think I made the right decision!

If you were able to select a cabin in a location you like plus get a larger balcony for only $44 more than your balcony gty price, you made good decision.  It has nothing to do with being a chicken.  An additional benefit to paying for that upgrade: you should get new RoyalUp offers in a few days that may include different options and new minimum bids.

Edited December 2, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[cruiseboy89130]

2 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Were they bumped because the airline could get them to their destination on a later flight?

Most likely thes could get faster and better to their destination by using another flight - often miles flights don't use the best/ most desirable way to get to your destination....

[ONECRUISER]

On 12/1/2023 at 12:36 PM, not-enough-cruising said:

There are several such stories on the Royal boards as well from the last few years.  Involuntary denied boarding (GTY room or assigned, doesn't make a difference) although not common, is also not unheard of.

Agree, in past it has happened and talked about on here. One I remember the Passengers were last minute and had a Guarantee unassigned Cabin. This one happened couple yrs before Covid Shutdown

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, little britain said:

Update: I'm officially a chicken!   

 

I spotted a balcony with large balcony for $44 more than we had paid for a gty.

Every other balcony was $1400 more... so I grabbed it!

My RoyalUp list starts with a large balcony as the lowest option starting at $290pp.

 

I think I made the right decision!

Booked a couple Cruises where Guarantee was $500 more then a Balcony. Best one was a 2Bd/2BA for cheaper then a Balcony. Last week was looking at a Panama Canal Cruise and the Refundable Rate was $2500 more! That's Royal IT for you

[Ride-The-Waves]

19 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

Were they bumped BECAUSE they were flying on miles?  

Were they bumped because they checked in late?

Were they bumped because they booked the lowest class of cabin?

Were they bumped because the airline could get them to their destination on a later flight?

Were they bumped because the new aircraft simply didn't have "Seat 23F"? 

Once on a flight between TPA and JFK to connect with a trans-Atlantic for a European cruise...  Flight attendant announced the need for four people to disembark due to aircraft (DC-9) being overweight.  Four people eventually accept ed the compensation (flight plus $$).  Flight attendant thanked them and then said the aircraft could fly with the tail wind down the runway!!!  I immediately wanted to disembark...  But we made it to JFK in time to board the trans-Atlantic flight.

Edited December 3, 2023 by Ride-The-Waves

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

4 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Once on a flight between TPA and JFK to connect with a trans-Atlantic for a European cruise...  Flight attendant announced the need for four people to disembark due to aircraft (DC-9) being overweight.  Four people eventually accept ed the compensation (flight plus $$).  Flight attendant thanked them and then said the aircraft could fly with the tail wind down the runway!!!  I immediately wanted to disembark...  But we made it to JFK in time to board the trans-Atlantic flight.

As I understand it, especially at busy airports, it's not easy to change runway directions when the winds change.  I was told that by a flight instructor.  How true it is...?

[RedIguana]

23 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Most likely thes could get faster and better to their destination by using another flight - often miles flights don't use the best/ most desirable way to get to your destination....

I used miles on 2 flights this year, Orlando to Tri-cities area in SE WA state, one stop, best possible flight available. Then direct non-stop from Vancouver to Orlando, also best possible flight available.

[cruiseboy89130]

26 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

I used miles on 2 flights this year, Orlando to Tri-cities area in SE WA state, one stop, best possible flight available. Then direct non-stop from Vancouver to Orlando, also best possible flight available.

Bless your heart!