Feeling bamboozled by Royal Caribbean

We are sailing on rcc this coming July 2017 for our honeymoon. We booked through a travel agent about a month ago now. Of course we are super excited. I've been researching everything like crazy. To my amazement today I came to find out the discrepancies between the photos they have for our room categories & to say the least I'm kinda p'od. Apparently someone really screwed up with the pictures added to the site for room previews. The room we thought we were getting is infact a picture of a junior suite! The pictures are super misleading and of course I already paid my deposit with the ta. What am I to do? We honestly thought we were getting something really special and turns out, it's a regular room with a balcony they call "superior "😒 Whoppie!

We are sailing on rcc this coming July 2017 for our honeymoon. We booked through a travel agent about a month ago now. Of course we are super excited. I've been researching everything like crazy. To my amazement today I came to find out the discrepancies between the photos they have for our room categories & to say the least I'm kinda p'od. Apparently someone really screwed up with the pictures added to the site for room previews. The room we thought we were getting is infact a picture of a junior suite! The pictures are super misleading and of course I already paid my deposit with the ta. What am I to do? We honestly thought we were getting something really special and turns out, it's a regular room with a balcony they call "superior "😒 Whoppie!

What pictures were you looking at? What ship are you sailing?

Superior Ocean View with balcony are usually nice cabins. They are a bit larger than regular ocean view balcony cabins. (Differences depend on the ship class.) But you are far enough out that you should be able to cancel without penalty.

What pictures were you looking at? What ship are you sailing?

 

 

 

Superior Ocean View with balcony are usually nice cabins. They are a bit larger than regular ocean view balcony cabins. (Differences depend on the ship class.) But you are far enough out that you should be able to cancel without penalty.

It was for oasis of the seas that picture is what they have for balconies/superior ocean view this one is what we're really getting, big difference.

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We are sailing on rcc this coming July 2017 for our honeymoon. We booked through a travel agent about a month ago now. Of course we are super excited. I've been researching everything like crazy. To my amazement today I came to find out the discrepancies between the photos they have for our room categories & to say the least I'm kinda p'od. Apparently someone really screwed up with the pictures added to the site for room previews. The room we thought we were getting is infact a picture of a junior suite! The pictures are super misleading and of course I already paid my deposit with the ta. What am I to do? We honestly thought we were getting something really special and turns out, it's a regular room with a balcony they call "superior " Whoppie!

you have until final payment date, which i think is now 90 days before your cruise, to cancel for your full deposit back. (i'm pretty sure it's 90 days - royal just changed the amount of time - but i'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong.) in any case, you are well before "final payment date", which is when you start to lose money for cancelling. so, if you are not happy with your room, you can cancel and get all of your money back.

depending on your TA, they may charge a fee for the cancellation. that would go to the travel agency, though, and not from royal.

i checked the royal website just now and you're absolutely right - the picture is wrong. i guess i shouldn't be surprised, as royal's IT department is the absolute worst. i can see why you are upset, though. fwiw, the balcony rooms on oasis, though a little smaller, are very nice. if you do keep the reservation, make sure your TA notes in the reservation that it's your honeymoon. sometimes you may get a little something extra, like a special dessert.

congrats on your upcoming wedding!

I would put that on the travel agent. They should have known better and let you know that was not the room you were getting. Royal should definitely change the photos though.

I wouldn't let that ruin your trip, it's really a very small deal, and a bad way to start a marriage by being upset about a small size difference for a room. Be happy that you're getting married and that you're going on a great honeymoon trip; if you focus on that, you won't even care about the room, and if you do, I can only imagine how disappointed you're going to be when things that matter don't work out. You can easily cancel the room and get the one you want, it's not as if you just got on the ship and found this out.

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you have until final payment date, which i think is now 90 days before your cruise, to cancel for your full deposit back. (i'm pretty sure it's 90 days - royal just changed the amount of time - but i'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong.) in any case, you are well before "final payment date", which is when you start to lose money for cancelling. so, if you are not happy with your room, you can cancel and get all of your money back.

 

depending on your TA, they may charge a fee for the cancellation. that would go to the travel agency, though, and not from royal.

 

i checked the royal website just now and you're absolutely right - the picture is wrong. i guess i shouldn't be surprised, as royal's IT department is the absolute worst. i can see why you are upset, though. fwiw, the balcony rooms on oasis, though a little smaller, are very nice. if you do keep the reservation, make sure your TA notes in the reservation that it's your honeymoon. sometimes you may get a little something extra, like a special dessert.

 

congrats on your upcoming wedding!

I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me! Yea I'll call my travel agent in the morning. To see what's going on. Thanks for taking a look too.

Thank you ! Yea we did let them know it's our honeymoon, will see what transpires of this lol.

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We are sailing on rcc this coming July 2017 for our honeymoon. We booked through a travel agent about a month ago now. Of course we are super excited. I've been researching everything like crazy. To my amazement today I came to find out the discrepancies between the photos they have for our room categories & to say the least I'm kinda p'od. Apparently someone really screwed up with the pictures added to the site for room previews. The room we thought we were getting is infact a picture of a junior suite! The pictures are super misleading and of course I already paid my deposit with the ta. What am I to do? We honestly thought we were getting something really special and turns out, it's a regular room with a balcony they call "superior "😒 Whoppie!

That should not be a problem for the TA to rectify. If they hesitate, time to change TA at this early stage. Don't let a TA spoil your honeymoon!!!

The RCI web site has different picture of a Superior Ocean View Balcony.

Sure looks bigger than I remember on Allure (sister ship to Oasis).

The web site does show approximate square footage for each room. Even if the picture was misleading, the area is not.

You might use https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/contactUsOnline.do to let Royal Caribbean know of your confusion. But given how far out the cruise is, I suspect your options are a refund, live with it, pay for an upgrade.

The RCI web site has different picture of a Superior Ocean View Balcony.

 

Sure looks bigger than I remember on Allure (sister ship to Oasis).

 

 

 

The web site does show approximate square footage for each room. Even if the picture was misleading, the area is not.

 

 

 

You might use https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/contactUsOnline.do to let Royal Caribbean know of your confusion. But given how far out the cruise is, I suspect your options are a refund, live with it, pay for an upgrade.

I've never been on any cruise ship, let alone rcc were first time cruisers. So we don't know what to expect. But I expect the same options. But we shall see what happens. Nothing but problems with this ta from the beginning. If we cxl, we're out 500$. No refund [emoji24], which was told to us from the start. So we might be stuck like chuck.

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I've never been on any cruise ship, let alone rcc were first time cruisers. So we don't know what to expect. But I expect the same options. But we shall see what happens. Nothing but problems with this ta from the beginning. If we cxl, we're out 500$. No refund [emoji24], which was told to us from the start. So we might be stuck like chuck.

 

 

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Well if the TA supplied the picture, they might (probably should) make things right.

I am not familiar with non-refundable deposits booking Royal Caribbean. Is this something you paid TA? Do you know if the TA actually passed the deposit on to Royal Caribbean?

Well if the TA supplied the picture, they might (probably should) make things right.

 

 

 

I am not familiar with non-refundable deposits booking Royal Caribbean. Is this something you paid TA? Do you know if the TA actually passed the deposit on to Royal Caribbean?

So we paid a small deposit to them (24$for 2 ppl)and the ta paid the 500$ deposit to rcc. We have to pay the ta back plus the additional monies by march. We're not sailing till July. So they said if we cxl we have to pay them their 500$ they paid to rcc because it was used with a company card to hold our cruise.

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So we paid a small deposit to them (24$for 2 ppl)and the ta paid the 500$ deposit to rcc. We have to pay the ta back plus the additional monies by march. We're not sailing till July. So they said if we cxl we have to pay them their 500$ they paid to rcc because it was used with a company card to hold our cruise.

 

 

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But they will get that back from RCCL, all (US) deposits are refundable up to 90 days before the cruise. If it's actually a cancellation fee they need to state that clearly because it's the TA choosing to impose that, nothing to do with RCCL.

But they will get that back from RCCL, all (US) deposits are refundable up to 90 days before the cruise. If it's actually a cancellation fee they need to state that clearly because it's the TA choosing to impose that, nothing to do with RCCL.

I agree they should receive there money back. We're way to far for them to not get a refund.

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So we paid a small deposit to them (24$for 2 ppl)and the ta paid the 500$ deposit to rcc. We have to pay the ta back plus the additional monies by march. We're not sailing till July. So they said if we cxl we have to pay them their 500$ they paid to rcc because it was used with a company card to hold our cruise.

That is absolutely ridiculous. That's NOT a Royal policy; not for US customers at least. But you did say you knew it from the beginning; in the future, don't agree to such a policy. There are a million TAs out there and most don't have such a policy.

Yikes.

Cruiseship rooms are small. Always pay attention to the square footage. Often you can get info by googling the ship name and the room number.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding and honeymoon. The superior rooms are nice and I am sure that you will really enjoy your cruise. Forget about the wrong pictures you saw of the room, it will only make you upset. Continue reading CC and you will learn a lot for your next cruise after this one. You will like it so much you will get hooked like the rest of us.

I have learned a lot of things from reading CC.

1. Try to book your next cruise while on the ship. You usually get the best deal and on board credit.

2. You can transfer your cruise to a TA after you have booked it with Royal Caribbean up to 60 days. The TA will also give you perks, just make sure that your booking will transfer over exactly as it is with no loss of perks that you received from initially booking.

3. Look for a good TA. One that does not have a booking fee, lets you cancel the cruise for any reason with a full refund as long as it is before the 90 day cut off which the cruise line requires. After that you will start losing your deposit.

It is also a good idea to buy cruise travel insurance. Usually cheaper getting it else where than the cruise company. Read CC for lots of info regarding the ins and outs of the insurance. They are not all the same and there are many good reasons to buy it but others will disagree. Read, read, read like you have been doing.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding and honeymoon. The superior rooms are nice and I am sure that you will really enjoy your cruise. Forget about the wrong pictures you saw of the room, it will only make you upset. Continue reading CC and you will learn a lot for your next cruise after this one. You will like it so much you will get hooked like the rest of us.

 

I have learned a lot of things from reading CC.

1. Try to book your next cruise while on the ship. You usually get the best deal and on board credit.

 

2. You can transfer your cruise to a TA after you have booked it with Royal Caribbean up to 60 days. The TA will also give you perks, just make sure that your booking will transfer over exactly as it is with no loss of perks that you received from initially booking.

 

3. Look for a good TA. One that does not have a booking fee, lets you cancel the cruise for any reason with a full refund as long as it is before the 90 day cut off which the cruise line requires. After that you will start losing your deposit.

 

It is also a good idea to buy cruise travel insurance. Usually cheaper getting it else where than the cruise company. Read CC for lots of info regarding the ins and outs of the insurance. They are not all the same and there are many good reasons to buy it but others will disagree. Read, read, read like you have been doing.

Good advise, time to hit the reset button.

While not a suite, the room you have booked is still a lovely room, with a nice feel. And still better than the many, many rooms onboard that are inside rooms, outside rooms w/o balcony, etc.

Personally, the cabin you have booked is the cabin that DH and I shoot for on any given sailing. Sometimes the deals are good and we can get something a little fancier, sometimes the sailing is an expensive one and we need to get something a step lower.

Overall, cruise ship cabins at any level are smaller than their land hotel counterparts, so most people don't choose to cruise because they were hoping to have a big room.

I hope it all works out, and you have an enjoyable honeymoon.

We are sailing on rcc this coming July 2017 for our honeymoon. We booked through a travel agent about a month ago now. Of course we are super excited. I've been researching everything like crazy. To my amazement today I came to find out the discrepancies between the photos they have for our room categories & to say the least I'm kinda p'od. Apparently someone really screwed up with the pictures added to the site for room previews. The room we thought we were getting is infact a picture of a junior suite! The pictures are super misleading and of course I already paid my deposit with the ta. What am I to do? We honestly thought we were getting something really special and turns out, it's a regular room with a balcony they call "superior "😒 Whoppie!

While there are disclaimers online about the pictures and other data on the specific cabins on cruises (for all cruise lines)...it's important to note that there are numerous cabin types on ships, especially on the larger vessels.

It's fair to understand how you may feel a bit "misled" as to what your actual cabin will look like on your cruise.

That said...rest assured that a Superior Balcony cabin is a very nice class of cabin - in fact one that we usually book ourselves. It is anything but "ordinary" - that descriptions generally defines an inside cabin, Ocean View cabin (portal window only), or small balcony cabin.

There are typically as many as 1-3 cabin grades/levels below a Superior Balcony, and 4 above (all suites) depending on the ship size. The cost of a junior suite, in contrast, is often 1 1/2 times the price of this cabin level, while the other 2-3 suite levels are substantially higher in price.

Put simply, the Superior Ocean View Balcony cabin is a fine place to reside on a cruise. Unless there is some sort of non-typical discounted price, we have never found the value in paying the cost difference for any suite cabin.

Your views, values, or needs may vary.

I agree that it's horrible that their website doesn't reflect the actual room.

However, ALL cruise ship rooms are tiny compared to hotel rooms...and for two people on a honeymoon, the one you have booked is perfect!

Although they are small, the layout is nice and there is ample storage, and you'll love the balcony.

I wouldn't cancel...go for it and have fun!

You've only paid the deposite change the room your sweeting the small stuff be thankful your going and enjoy

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First of all, Congrats on your upcoming wedding and honeymoon. You will have a wonderful time.

What Royal has done was take a picture of the "Family Superior Balcony Cabin." What alerted me was the curtain between the sofa and the bed. Those cabins have them for privacy reasons. I remember reading some of the reviews from people in this type of cabin. So what RC did was post the largest cabin within the Superior balcony category. They are within their rights, but it is very misleading.

We are cruising next Sunday on the Allure, and the same picture is posted. We have boardwalk balconies, but our friends have the Superior balcony. She is going to be PO'd also. Now, I have to decide whether to get her all worked up all week, or leave it alone. The location she has is nice, but I know she is going to freak out. She was also told by her travel agent that these were larger cabins. Oh my!

Here is a utube video of that Family Superior balcony cabin

EDITING TO MAKE A CORRECTION: I don't see that chair by the sofa in the video, so maybe it is not a family cabin. If that is the case, you are 100% correct. That is an error on RC site that needs to be corrected.

I agree about feeling disappointed about the size of the cabin. Now reset in your mind now knowing the actual size of the rooms. On Oasis class the balcony rooms aren't big but they have all you need and are comfortable. If you check prices on Jr suites I think you may find you would have booked the same balcony cabin anyway. Unless money is not an issue, stick with the superior balcony. You will be so busy enjoying the ship it won't matter. Either way congratulations and enjoy your honeymoon.

You mentioned you are a first time cruiser. In case you are tempted to upgrade to a Jr Suite it is merely a deluxe oceanview balcony slightly larger than a balcony stateroom with a tall tub you have to climb into, larger closet, and does NOT come with any suite benefits. Another play on words by RCI this cabin should not even have the word suite in it because many first timers think they are going to get suite benefits and will NOT. IMO not worth the extra money. Balcony stateroom is a good value for what you get.

broberts, the rooms on Oasis class are quite a bit smaller than Freedom or Voyager class ships, your eyes are not deceiving you.

Also, since you've never cruised before.

The superior ocean view room is the standard room on a cruise (there are cheaper room with no balcony and no window and more expensive rooms with some extra floor space or bigger balconies but at least in my opinion the majority of the rooms are the size you booked). The larger room you have a picture of is much less common, that amount of space is a rarity and costs a good amount more. You are not booked in the cheapo discount room that a few people are in. You will NOT be viewed as having cheaped out on your wedding night by staying in that room.

If you have extra money and WANT to spend more for the bigger room you have time to. BUT you have a perfectly great room booked and will likely be perfectly happy in it. Cruise ships are limited on space and the rooms are much smaller than a standard hotel. BUT you don't need more space in your room to enjoy the amenities of the ship and the honeymoon perks (the bed) so no worries!!