If you booked onboard..check your reservation!

[emen822]

I booked two rooms when I was onboard the Mariner during the week of April 12-19. This was not a nextcruise. We picked out the ship, sailing date, cabins, etc. I was told my the LA that the charge would go directly to the credit card I had on file and not show up on my seapass. I received two confirmations for both rooms which showed the price paid and the deposit put down for each person. So on Friday, I went online to put my reservation numbers on the website so I could have them listed under My Cruises. The reservation numbers were ok but I noticed that it said a payment was due. I didn't pay attention too much attention to that because that happened once before. Today, I tried logging into my reservations and got the message that they could not be accessed. :eek: I called C&A who told me that both reservations were cancelled yesterday. When I explained the whole story, he put me on hold to talk to resolutions and came back and was able to restore my actual booking numbers. Luckily the same rooms were still available and the price was still the same.

When I booked onboard, they gave me 4 certificates to give out to friends/family if they booked the same exact cruise (same week, same ship), they could get $100 OBC. So I was glad to keep the same numbers since they are written on my certificates and we have others joining us on this cruise. :D

Just thought I would pass the information on to check your reservations.

Happy Sailing!

 

Mary

[bluecookies]

I booked two rooms when I was onboard the Mariner during the week of April 12-19. This was not a nextcruise. We picked out the ship, sailing date, cabins, etc.

 

Is there any different in benefit booking this way compared to a next cruise certificate?

[rccl724]

When I booked onboard, they gave me 4 certificates to give out to friends/family if they booked the same exact cruise (same week, same ship), they could get $100 OBC. So I was glad to keep the same numbers since they are written on my certificates and we have others joining us on this cruise. :D

 

Hello Mary,

 

Just wanted to share an experience I am having with those certificates. Your friends need to book within 30 days of you or the certificates will not be valid.

 

The $100 OBC is a nice way to get the party started!

 

Derrel

[emen822]

Is there any different in benefit booking this way compared to a next cruise certificate?

 

The best benefit for me is that I have a cruise booked! :D Last year I did the next cruise and that worked out fine since I didn't know where I wanted to go. Since this year I had an idea of where we wanted to leave from, I booked because the prices were high and I didn't want them to go higher before booking. Now that you can't combine discounts, next cruise is not worth much (IMO).

 

When I booked onboard, they gave me 4 certificates to give out to friends/family if they booked the same exact cruise (same week, same ship), they could get $100 OBC. So I was glad to keep the same numbers since they are written on my certificates and we have others joining us on this cruise. :D

 

Hello Mary,

 

Just wanted to share an experience I am having with those certificates. Your friends need to book within 30 days of you or the certificates will not be valid.

 

The $100 OBC is a nice way to get the party started!

 

Derrel

 

That's right! Maybe I should've wrote that in my rant. :D

Definitely a nice way to get more people onboard (pun intended). ;)

[packedandready]

Hi Mary, Just want to say a similar thing happened to us on the Voyager a couple of weeks ago (in April also). We booked on board...date, cabin, everything. We also go confirmation letters and told it was going to be charged directly to the credit card etc, ect.

 

When we returned home we had a message from a RCI vacation planner asking us to call them (this was 5 or 6 days after the reservation was made). When I called. the agent asked me what we had decided to do about the "reservation "hold" we made onboard"? I explained that it wasn't suppose to be a "hold", that the deposit was suppose to have been applied. The planner placed me on hold while he checked with different areas of the accounting dept. Came back and said they could find nothing. ANYWAY....finally got it all worked out and we're set to go.

 

I ALMOST didn't return the call thinking it was just a sales pitch.

[dixie54]

We booked 3 Next cruise certificates onboard the Voyager in March. the certificates were delivered to my room. anyway, when we got home and tried to use one, none were recognized. It was a huge hassell to get it worked out!

[Ginnylou]

From your experiences it sounds like the LA is not doing their jobs inputting the correct information. Just got off the Mariner and I was present when the LA was snippy in reply to questions asked. Another time I went up to turn in a RSVP for galley and bridge tour and again met with a snippy attitude. Not what I have experienced in the past with other LA's. :(

[emen822]

Hi Mary, Just want to say a similar thing happened to us on the Voyager a couple of weeks ago (in April also)....

I ALMOST didn't return the call thinking it was just a sales pitch.

 

We booked 3 Next cruise certificates onboard the Voyager in March. the certificates were delivered to my room. anyway, when we got home and tried to use one, none were recognized. It was a huge hassell to get it worked out!

That's why I like booking everything myself. ;) If only I could find a way to book it online and give myself OBC. :D I was glad that I kept the papers with the reservation numbers on it showing that we made a deposit. The prices were still the same but if they had gone up, I'd fight them tooth and nail for them to honor it. :p

 

From your experiences it sounds like the LA is not doing their jobs inputting the correct information. Just got off the Mariner and I was present when the LA was snippy in reply to questions asked. Another time I went up to turn in a RSVP for galley and bridge tour and again met with a snippy attitude. Not what I have experienced in the past with other LA's. :(

 

I thought the LA was ok but then again I was an easy customer. ;) I had searched online before coming to see her so I knew the ship, sailing date, types of rooms we wanted. She just had to find us two cabins near each other. I was present when she had to deal with some rude passengers. She just didn't seem to *love* her job. That's the impression that I got but maybe was just having a bad day. :o

[Desert Cruizers]

We have never booked on board, but reading some of your experiences, alerts me to calling immediately upon getting home to make sure everything was in place if we ever do book on board.

[NCMtnBoys]

I thought the LA was ok but then again I was an easy customer. ;) I had searched online before coming to see her so I knew the ship, sailing date, types of rooms we wanted. She just had to find us two cabins near each other. I was present when she had to deal with some rude passengers. She just didn't seem to *love* her job. That's the impression that I got but maybe was just having a bad day. :o

 

I sometimes think the LA has way more to do than they can handle. I know not everyone onboard will visit the LA, but I think to do the job effectively, there needs to be 3 or 4 LAs onboard. I think there were 2 LAs on the Liberty last year, but I felt rushed when I visited her (not rushed by her, really, but I thought there must be people waiting to see her, so I was trying to be quick).

 

IMO, the LA area needs to be at least twice as large and have twice as many LAs. Also, the LA services should be available from like 9am to 9pm, everyday, if they're not already.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

Remember, the $100 OBC is only good if you are not using any other discounts. Now that I'm a platinum member, I lost my $100 OBC because I used my platinum balcony discount. This became effective the first of the year.

[emen822]

I sometimes think the LA has way more to do than they can handle. I know not everyone onboard will visit the LA, but I think to do the job effectively, there needs to be 3 or 4 LAs onboard. I think there were 2 LAs on the Liberty last year, but I felt rushed when I visited her (not rushed by her, really, but I thought there must be people waiting to see her, so I was trying to be quick).

 

IMO, the LA area needs to be at least twice as large and have twice as many LAs. Also, the LA services should be available from like 9am to 9pm, everyday, if they're not already.

I went to see her on Thursday to find out her hours for Friday and she was booked solid. She told me to come around 9:00 a.m. that she was going to have an assistant with her to take walk ins. I came around 9:30 and there was no one helping her. I think she was a little overwhelmed, which seems the case especially towards the end of the week.

 

Remember, the $100 OBC is only good if you are not using any other discounts. Now that I'm a platinum member, I lost my $100 OBC because I used my platinum balcony discount. This became effective the first of the year.

 

I know. :( In fact when she was doing the reservation, I mentioned about the platinum discount and she said we can't do that anymore, which I totally forgot. Last year I got lucky and was able to use a nextcruise, C&A coupon AND platinum discount. :) She said that a lot of people were annoyed with it and that you should voice your concerns. FWIW, I wrote it on my survey at the end of the cruise. :rolleyes:

[Clarkk W Griswald]

 

I know. :( In fact when she was doing the reservation, I mentioned about the platinum discount and she said we can't do that anymore, which I totally forgot. Last year I got lucky and was able to use a nextcruise, C&A coupon AND platinum discount. :) She said that a lot of people were annoyed with it and that you should voice your concerns. FWIW, I wrote it on my survey at the end of the cruise. :rolleyes:

 

I was very annoyed since we just purchased the nextcruise certificate while onboard the Liberty this past October 2009, 3 months before the new rules. You can't tell me that they didn't know that it was changing in 3 months, but nothing was ever mentioned. I'll still book RCI cruises, but now I have no need to purchase the next cruise certificates, since we can't take advantage of the OBC.

[EmpressofPurple]

Double-check... I have heard that nextcruises purchased BEFORE the new rules can still be combined with other discounts (balcony discount, shareholder, etc.) so you MAY be able to do so -- but believe me, I intend to voice my displeasure with this new non-combinability on future bookings!!

[Clarkk W Griswald]

Double-check... I have heard that nextcruises purchased BEFORE the new rules can still be combined with other discounts (balcony discount, shareholder, etc.) so you MAY be able to do so -- but believe me, I intend to voice my displeasure with this new non-combinability on future bookings!!

 

My TA tried this when booking my cruise, they wouldn't honor it. I don't understand what RCI can gain from this. Why would anyone platinum and above purchase a next cruise certificate? There is nothing it it for us.

[bambam2972]

My TA tried this when booking my cruise, they wouldn't honor it. I don't understand what RCI can gain from this. Why would anyone platinum and above purchase a next cruise certificate? There is nothing it it for us.

 

Well unless you don't book a balcony. I tend to sail in inside cabins, so the next cruise would still be worth it to me.

[misty57]

Our first visit to the LA was on Vision. She was very snippy. We didn't book then. On Voyager the LA was terrific. Very professional and helpful. The same on the Liberty. We had one occasion to use the platinum discount, coupons and the OBC. It was well worth it as we booked two cabins at that time. It was nice to have those discounts, but oh well... We book balcony cabins so we don't get the platinum discount if we book on board but we have the RCI Visa and can get a discount with that. I like to book on board as it helps prevent post cruise depression!:)