Emerald River Cruises Rip Off

I booked a Emerald River Cruise for June next year under the sale puff that this was a special book early deal never to be repeated. Now they are offering an even better deal and its still 11 months before the cruise. I have asked for this better deal to be applied to my booking and they have refused. This is not a last minute bargain deal to fill the boat but 11 months in advance. So if you want to get the best deal do not book early with Emerald. They will only ever catch me once and I will never use them again

Welcome to Cruise Critic and what a first post [emoji15]

I booked a Emerald River Cruise for June next year under the sale puff that this was a special book early deal never to be repeated. Now they are offering an even better deal and its still 11 months before the cruise. I have asked for this better deal to be applied to my booking and they have refused. This is not a last minute bargain deal to fill the boat but 11 months in advance. So if you want to get the best deal do not book early with Emerald. They will only ever catch me once and I will never use them again

So sorry to read of your bad experience with Emerald as I would of thought that with being a brand new company and all that they would be just about willing to bend over backwards as to help establish a new market. If I was you I would get their corporate offices involved in solving your issue. Did you book directly though them or a TA? Can't hurt as to try and I think that you may be surprised in seeing what a phone call and or an email to the right person can do. Emerald is a part of Scenic and if you don't get any satisfaction I would go to the Corporate offices of Scenic in Australia.

Hoping that this may help .

Gary

Welcome to CC. I suggest you consider canceling your current booking and rebook using the new special rate, that is presuming your deposit would be covered by the savings of the lower sale price.

1) It is better to do the research on CC first instead of booking then coming here to complain;

2) Why does everyone assume the small print in contracts shouldn't apply to them? Presumably you booked a rate you were happy with. The rate changed. That happens -with cruises, with flights, with hotels, with milk.

It is unfortunate but you have two options (well, three). Leave your booking as is. Cancel your current booking and rebook at the better rate. Or cancel your booking and seek a different company with which to conduct your business.

I don't think Emerald did anything wrong in this scenario.

If you used a TA - have them call. I know that my TA has ALWAYS been able to get Avalon to give us a price adjustment every time the price drops after we have booked. Granted, this could be because my TA does a fair amount of business with Avalon, but that is also part of the reason I use a TA and am a repeat Avalon customer. I have always been taken care of and made to feel that they value my business.

OP is from UK, so canceling would forfeit the deposit. That may also affect the cruise line's willingness to allow the change -- in the US they know you can just cancel and rebook, so they may be more flexible to avoid losing the booking altogether.

OP is from UK, so canceling would forfeit the deposit. That may also affect the cruise line's willingness to allow the change -- in the US they know you can just cancel and rebook, so they may be more flexible to avoid losing the booking altogether.

OP needs to add location to their profile!

OP needs to add location to their profile!

They have.

Location UK

BillericayUK: Pricing changes regularly as you have found out. Hopefully the price you booked at was acceptable at the time you booked. The price now listed will most likely change several more times. And somewhere around 3 months from sail date the cruise line will drop prices to an extremely low price (for river cruises) and you will be kicking yourself for not waiting. But the reality is that if you wait until the absolutely lowest price, the date you want or the cabin you want or the boat you want or the trip you want may not be available My current river cruise booking called for me to be very flexible. I ended up having to pick a less than desirable date going in the wrong direction but at a very good price. When I booked there were only 2 cabins in the category I wanted over a 2 month period covering about 12 boats. So I gave up a lot to get the price. Another day of waiting and I would not have gotten anything close to what I desired. Just be happy that you are able to go cruising and start watching prices so that you know what is a good buy and what is not.

First check all the inclusions air fare etc, then if your originally booked cabin and date are still available if it still works out as a better deal then write or email the ceo of Emerald UK and Australia. You may get some result but companies can change what they charge and you bought at the early booking rate it would seem they now have a different offer. Also check the very small print.

CA

When they said the offer was "never to be repeated," it sounded like a lowest-fare guarantee -- but in fact that offer wasn't repeated, they just switched to a better one! "The devil is in the details."

Contacted the MD and he immediately gave instructions for me to receive the better package having been refused by their staff earlier.

Confirmation now received and hopefully they will amend their systems to maintain the advantages to early bookers

Great news, always worth going to the top may not always work but it's got to be tried. Have a fantastic cruise.

CA

OP is from UK, so canceling would forfeit the deposit. That may also affect the cruise line's willingness to allow the change -- in the US they know you can just cancel and rebook, so they may be more flexible to avoid losing the booking altogether.

Not sure you could cancel without losing your deposit. If you read the fine print in most brochures, the deposit is rarely (if ever) refundable.

I have inquired about an Emerald cruise for 2016. I haven't yet booked (waiting for DD to let me know if she is coming home next year...) - but my TA was told that there is a deposit of $500/pp required - that is non-refundable and non-transferable.

It is for this reason that I am not booking at this time.

Fran

Host Jazz, isn't there a way to amend the title to this thread. Seems unfair to Emerald when they resolved the issue but all any one can see is "rip off"!

IMHO

Host Jazz, isn't there a way to amend the title to this thread. Seems unfair to Emerald when they resolved the issue but all any one can see is "rip off"!

IMHO

OP has to request it.

Host Jazz, isn't there a way to amend the title to this thread. Seems unfair to Emerald when they resolved the issue but all any one can see is "rip off"!

IMHO

Blimey,after all the comments given here about you get what you get at the time of booking etc,leave the thread as it is,as it was at the time of writing!!People can read the thread and will learn how to hopefully resolve it...

I am pleased for the op.I too, noticed a good deal with Emerald and booked immediately,telling me we had £1000 off,14 months in advance,only to see the deal continue and even continue today.£1000 off what.?But they had me hooked and had my money.

I wonder if those of you not in the Uk,know that there is an all inclusive free package at the moment until end August.

Janecambridge, I have no issue with posters reporting the good and bad of dealing with various companies. I do have a problem with a poster making outrageous thread titles and first time posters joining just to post their complaint and run. The OP at least had the curtesy to report his happy results which is out of the ordinary for these types of "one post wonders".

I do not believe what happened ever was a Rip Off and when a thread is posted like that, the very least CC can do is to add the word "resolved" at the end of the title.

Any policy will have instances where people feel it doesn't work well. The policy here is that hosts do not edit posts or threads. Otherwise there would be complaints about censorship. If a post or thread violates the guidelines, I remove it. I can only edit if the poster him/herself requests it. Otherwise, this is a free forum and people can post whatever they like. When a poster makes an outrageous claim this is usually pointed out very clearly by the community, so the overall thread will reflect a balance.

The OP joined CC for the sole purpose of posting a thread with an Outrages (and unfair) title. They resolved their issue reported that with their second post. This poster is now gone! How in heavens name would a 2 post (wonder) even know to ask. Please do the FAIR this and just put "resolved" in the title.

I do not consider the title to be unfair.

For the OP, it was valid at the time of the message being posted.

The material fact is that at the time of the first message, Emerald's response was one of refusal to apply beneficial terms.

It subsequently required a communication to, and the intervention of, Emerald's MD to overturn the initial decision.

Are titles of threads to be retrospectively amended to reflect final outcomes?

There was no Rip Off just a poster peeved because he wanted a lower fare....and he got his way! Good grief...

Any policy will have instances where people feel it doesn't work well. The policy here is that hosts do not edit posts or threads. Otherwise there would be complaints about censorship. If a post or thread violates the guidelines, I remove it. I can only edit if the poster him/herself requests it. Otherwise, this is a free forum and people can post whatever they like. When a poster makes an outrageous claim this is usually pointed out very clearly by the community, so the overall thread will reflect a balance.

Thank you for the confirmation and your explanation. This policy does seem to be consistent with the guidelines for online forms. I think that the River Cruise boards have been well moderated and much more enjoyable to read then some of the others.

How on earth can a person living in another country know anything about the way holiday trading takes place in the UK. Once you make a booking in the UK you will lose your substantial deposit if you make a cancellation and a change of tour is also considered a cancellation. Holiday packages are released in the UK around 18 months ahead and the price remains constant right up to a few weeks before departure when price reductions are given to fill spare capacity. The sweetener to early bookers is free parking, upgraded accommodation, 'all inclusive', free insurance, money off in this case £1000 etc. As time passes the sweeteners reduce. I booked 15 months in advance and 11 months in advance they were offering more incentives than I received as an early booker. In the UK consumers must be treated fairly and we have more laws to protect our interests than any other country. I contacted Emerald and the Customer Services Representative said I had an equal value package and I told them I would post reviews. When I placed market values against my package and the new offering they were making they acknowledged I was correct.

They subsequently came back to me at the direction of the MD and amended my package. They further stated that they had become confused with all the packages they had released and had failed to pick this up. I will not be uncharitable and I will accept what they say.

Companies that rip off people should be brought to task in the public arena after they have been given a reasonable opportunity to privately resolve the issue.

Finally your 'one hit wonder' is a seasoned traveller having visited over 60 countries, have Elite status on Princess and similar status on other providers. I also understood the rules of this forum prevented personal attacks being made.

My post will remain unchanged, Emerald were wrong, they have accepted they were wrong and they have put it right and all the facts are available for everyone read

My post will remain unchanged, Emerald were wrong, they have accepted they were wrong and they have put it right and all the facts are available for everyone read

Totally agree, it is better to see things as they happen at the time.

And can we be a bit nicer to each other ?