Lunarclipse

Am I correct in assuming that you are a RCI customer service rep. (Individual Reservations agent)?

I have worked in every department at RCI. I started in individual reservations.

Hi does anyone know if there is an email address for the resolution dept.

Thank you

The answer is no. If anyone has email addresses/phone numbers for Resolution Reservation Specialists or simply Resolutions you should not share them. Attempting to contact them directly actually hurts hold times for others. When you call RCI you will generally be connected to an Individual Reservations agent. Calling and demanding a supervisor or resolutions from an agents perspective is rude and a waste of our time. If you have an issue call and explain what the situation is and allow the agent to research your issue. If they cannot resolve your issue they will contact that very same department for you. There are about 20+ agents per 1 resolutions agents. If resolutions is constantly tied up with everyone thinking that's the only way to get results you will feel it with 10, 20, 30+ minutes of hold time just to get them connected.

Everything that happens on a reservation is automatically documented in what we call the service history and its intimidating to sort through sometimes. Imagine a 1980's computer screen with tons of information thrown in it and you have the service history on a good day. Be patient and courteous to agents who want to assist you and more often than not they can find the solution with out having to get resolutions involved.

Food for thought. Imagine how agents feel when we have to say no to uphold policy only to have someone else say yes. Now that expectation has been set that each time you have an issue resolutions can and will make an exception for you. Then you share it here on cruisecritic and now a swarm of people wanting exceptions to similar but different situations want want want and want.

I'm curious, have you considered purchasing travel insurance from a reputable 3rd party, rather than thru the cruise line? RCCL's prices are astronomical.

RCI has ZERO influence on the price of CruiseCare. If you have an issue with the price, contact Berkely Care =]. CruiseCare may seem expensive; however, the benifit greatly outweighs the cost. It's heartbreaking to hear so many stories of guest misfortune and compensation was denied. CruiseCare is priced based on the Cruise Fare. More expensive the room, more CruiseCare costs.

Now that we are past the 30 mark (sail date 9/28/14), can we change/update the credit card used for our on-board charges online or do we need to wait until embarkation?

 

TIA

You can update your Onboard Expense account in the online check-in section and reprint your Set Sail pass up until 4 days to sailing. So yes you can make this change ahead of time.

I tried very hard to get an opportunity to book my cruise while onboard this weekend but the wait was hours long and they flat out told us they might not get to everyone. The oasis was a CLUSTER this weekend and I would have really liked to have gotten my $200 credit. Anyone have success getting them to do it after the cruise?

Working in Crown and Anchor the answer is Yes it can be done. BUT this is on a case by case basis and only happens rarely. Call Crown and Anchor explain the situation and see if they can set you up with a Next-Cruise Reservation but no promises.

The reservation would be repriced if you had an Emerald discount applied and called to have it updated after changing tiers. If the original price code is available no worries; however, if it is not it will reprice to prevailing rates. The system is designed this way. I would special fare this reservation to give you the extra discount and most others would as well.

I am sorry to hear you are having these issues.

Please keep in mind as others have stated that this is not RCI's issue. This is a third party vendor issue and it is a courtesy that anyone at RCI is attempting to assist.

Contact the photo company.

Price Protection 101

If the reservation is before final payment date and the price has dropped you can: (Final payment date is not always when you pay final payment check your RCI guest invoices for your exact final payment date)

1. Have an onboard credit issued in the difference of the price drop. (ex price is 1000.00 and it drops to 900.00 you can get 100.00 obc)

2. You can request an upgrade. You can only get an upgrade if the higher category is the same price you have paid or lower. (ex you paid 1000.00 for a D3 and the D3 dropped to 800.00 but a D2 is now 1000.00 you can upgrade to it)

3. Refund! You can request the reservations price code be updated to current pricing and the difference refunded. (ex price is 1000.00 and it drops to 900.00 you can get that updated and 100.00 will be refunded)

If the reservation is PAST final payment you can ONLY

1. You can request an upgrade. You can only get an upgrade if the higher category is the same price you have paid or lower. (ex you paid 1000.00 for a D3 and the D3 dropped to 800.00 but a D2 is now 1000.00 you can upgrade to it)

This is one that a lot of people get frustrated with. Granted people can post they have gotten around this policy but it's not easy.

This is general information and for more specific information you can contact RCI customer service for more info.

An RCI group is 8 or more reservations.

You can receive a Tour Conductor credit which by default uses this ratio..

1 free berth for every 16 full fare paying guests 1:16. Or 1 free berth per 8 double occupancy reservations. The credit is based on the category most booked at the lowest price in that category. The taxes, fees, and port expenses are NOT included.

A full fare paying guest is the first and second guest in a reservation, 3rd and 4th guests are paying a reduced rate and do not count towards it. Singles can count. (ex 7 doubles and 1 single, no promotions on the single would count the single as a double for this calculation)

Example you have 8 double occupancy H oceanviews with a Cruise Fare PER PERSON of 300.00 and taxes, fees, and port expenses at 50.00. You would receive a 300.00 Tour Conductor credit.

I do not know anything about how direct guest groups work but my best guess it would be applied the same way. You would pay a single reservation or any number of reservations LESS the tour conductor amount totaling 300.00.

A key note is the part about the category most booked at the lowest price in that category. Using the cat H example above... if someone in that group had a promotion that lowered the Cruise Fare to 150.00, that more often than not will lower the Tour Conductor value to 150.00 from 300.00.

Price Protection 101

If the reservation is before final payment date and the price has dropped you can: (Final payment date is not always when you pay final payment check your RCI guest invoices for your exact final payment date)

1. Have an onboard credit issued in the difference of the price drop. (ex price is 1000.00 and it drops to 900.00 you can get 100.00 obc)

2. You can request an upgrade. You can only get an upgrade if the higher category is the same price you have paid or lower. (ex you paid 1000.00 for a D3 and the D3 dropped to 800.00 but a D2 is now 1000.00 you can upgrade to it)

3. Refund! You can request the reservations price code be updated to current pricing and the difference refunded. (ex price is 1000.00 and it drops to 900.00 you can get that updated and 100.00 will be refunded)

If the reservation is PAST final payment you can ONLY

1. You can request an upgrade. You can only get an upgrade if the higher category is the same price you have paid or lower. (ex you paid 1000.00 for a D3 and the D3 dropped to 800.00 but a D2 is now 1000.00 you can upgrade to it)

This is one that a lot of people get frustrated with. Granted people can post they have gotten around this policy but it's not easy.

This is general information and for more specific information you can contact RCI customer service for more info.

1) Book a cabin that can hold 4, but just pay for 2 now, can we add them later????

 

2) Book for all 4 of us now (but a lot held up for the deposit on our visa), can we drop them from the reservation later?

Here is some info from an RCI agents experience.

RCI is moving to quads are for quads doubles are for doubles etc. If you have 2 people you will be restricted from booking a quad. Re-categorization is moving to this policy. Some sailings have this restriction lifted.

It is easier to remove people from the reservation then add them closer to sailing so book the quad. 3rd and 4th passengers on a reservation CAN be cancelled with out penalty as long as the reservation is NOT in 100% cancellation penalty (usually 14-1 days to sailing).

If you book a double room and decide later you want to add more passengers there is a risk there will be no more staterooms that can accommodate 4 passengers or the sailing will have an occupancy cap placed on it where triples and quads can no longer be booked.

Hope that helps you in your decision.

When you call RCI and are connected with an agent, request that you speak with the Resolutions Department.

Do not do this. Because they won't (shouldn't) transfer to what you refer to as the Resolutions Department. If you believe anything is in error review all your documentation and call in as informed as possible and explain the situation. The Individual Reservations agents HAVE to investigate the issue PRIOR to even reaching out to "Resolutions" or a supervisor. With promotions and other offers errors can happen and I have not seen a problem that cannot be fixed.

TL:DR Don't call in and ask for escalation. Explain what's going on so the agents can determine the best course of action on how to fix your issue. If they don't off hand know they will find the answer or someone who does.

Just booked a 4 night on the Enchantment and the price dropped to half that I paid today. RCCL won't honor the reduction after final payment is made!!

Duh? After final payment the only option is an upgrade if available. Best price guaranty applies up to 48 hours after booking (found on the bottom of Rccl.com). However if the price goes down before final there are obc and refund options.

Asa general rule bookings outside the US/Canada do not get price drops. This includes both Australia and the UK.

 

To the OP - if you are able to, start booking through a US based travel agent. Myself and DH started doing this and have been able to take advantage of price drops, as well as no-penalty cancellation. We would not have been ale to do either in Australia.

If you are not a us or can citizen or do not reside in the us or canada you are not suppose to book through a us or can agency. They won't deny your booking however it is against their policy and it drives me nuts when people do everything they can to get around rules. Just ask about the cross border booking policy.

They should also have provided a OBC or some other bonus for the people who cannot make a different cruise that was listed. To just refund the money with no other "sweetener" is bad customer service!

[sarcasm=on] I agree lets take them for everything they have because of a mechanical issue on a machine! Poor customer service for not fixing it while the motor was running! I have only three months to plan another activity to use my time! UNACCEPTABLE! [sarcasm=off]

Point is really dude? Nothing lost why should you have something gained?

that incorrect.....they sell those Z's , Y's etc a lot prior to the 75 day payoff time (in the 30-60 day timeframe is when they generally start selling the "new bookings only" cabins)

 

Edited it to say......maybe "a lot" is a strong word.....I should say "sometimes" they do sell those "letters" before final......so I know it's more than .1% like you say

I don't quite understand what you are saying here. Z x y w gty's can be sold years in advance.... 99.99% they are sold at some promotional rate. C sale, Tuesday sale, r sale, etc. Of course that is a made up statistic but your opinion of how you think it works is inaccurate. My posts are backed with the personal experience of being that person you get transferred to that tells you no unfortunately those categories are for new bookings only. 1/10 times do I see people go into one of these cats on an existing reservation. It happens but it's more rare than it being new bookings only.

When you book with a travel agent and call rci here is a list of what you can be told. It happens where more gets leaked but per rci policy you can be told:

Your stateroom number, special services and needs(birthdays, dietary needs), bed configuration, and a couple other very general pieces of info.

Never ever should they discuss any financial information including on board credits. Don't trust your ta? Book directly with rci and ask all the questions you want.

Financial information shouldn't be available online when you book with a travel agent and should only show up if you booked online with rci.

Easiest solution... Get a guest copy of the invoice rci sends out to your travel agent. That has a lot of info on it.

We have changed to guarantees on 3 cruises in the past and they have not been for new bookings.

Were they category gty or super category gty? I stare at this all day so I know you didn't. Like I said 99.99% of the times you cannot. The only exception and possibility you took an existing reservation and changed staterooms into x z w y, is that .01% of the time a super category gty aka z x y w is not linked with a promotion. You either got extremely lucky there was no promotion or you went into a category gty. Spouting out well we did this three times! Let's everyone think they can when in reality there could be huge differences in situations.

I booked interior guarantee and was requesting OV guarantee or Balcony guarantee. They explain I am not eligible because I am not a new booking. Does anyone know if they reduce prices for other reasons (as in not part of a sale that contains the "new bookings only" clause)?

 

The policy is clear, I am in the "after final payment" category, and the prices had dropped making both OV and balcony rooms less than what I paid. I did not request anything outside of what the policy explicitly states.

Cat z y x w are 99.99% new bookings only and if you have a z (interior gty) and a y (ov gty) is less you can't get it because that y is for new bookings only. So to make it easier... Guarantee staterooms(in z x y and w) are 99.99% for new bookings only and in the booking system they will not allow an existing reservation to switch into a guarantee. Period. That means you who are booked in that z gty can't move to that y gty because that category is for new bookings only. Now if you were in a z category and the I category (lowest ov) became equal or less to what you paid i would see no problem getting that upgraded after final.

Per RCI policy here is how rate adjustments are handled if the rate changes:

Before final payment date:

You can get the difference in fare as an OBC.

You can be upgraded to a category if the base rate of the new cat is equal to or less than what you have currently paid.

You can get a refund.

After final payment date:

You can be upgraded to a category if the base rate of the new cat is equal to or less than what you have currently paid.

-------------------------------------------

With that being said yes there are exceptions unfortunatly. When rude people that don't care about policy and have horrible sense of entitlement call in demanding policy be broken for them, it happens. Rates that go down like this right before sailings are as someone said, to sell the stateroom. Deal with it and don't make a huge deal.

There are several articles on the subject this is a recent one. Simply calling NCF port charges is incorrect.

 

http://www.talkgaytravel.com/what-are-non-comm-or-non-commissionable-fees/

 

This is an older article

http://www.travelindustrytoday.com/web/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=10779:non-commissionable-fee-it-is-what-it-is&Itemid=14

This information is not correct. The cruiseline's are charged fee's for rent and having their ship even scheduled to enter the port and those fee's are turned into what is known as 'Port Charges'. Because these are charged to the cruise line even if the ship doesn't show up you will not get these back when you cancel.

NCF stands for Non-Commissionable Cruise Fare (aka port charges). This is a fee that is included in the Cruise Fare price. These are not set by RCI but are set by the Ports. When you book online or over the phone with RCI you are given the Cruise Fare that includes a base cruise fare and then the nccf's. It is only broken down to travel agents because when guests see the words non-commissionable they freak out and go ahhh I booked with out a travel agent, who gets commission what is this?!?!?

Balcony and Suite discounts are based off of the date of creation. Unless you use a Next Cruise booking and then the discount is based off of the date of conversion. This has not changed and that is policy.

Yes I did. I know that port charges stay the same but the actual cruise fare usually is priced at that days rate but this time it did not do that, it priced at the original booking date price. Weird!!:rolleyes:

Sometimes RCI will go the extra mile for guests and won't reprice to the prevailing rate. =]

This does not involve our balcony discount but involves pricing. We changed a reservation for the Allure end of next year today and instead of getting todays price on a OV balcony cabin we got the price that is was on the date of our original reservation which was $50 less per person:eek:

 

I know that because I checked the price history on a site I can't name here

Did you use a Next Cruise booking? If so taxes and/or 'port charges' can remain at the price they were when you made the Next Cruise booking thus causing a lower rate.