Angie2045

32 minutes ago, NateUpNorth said:

Thank you for your comments! That was super helpful. I was wondering how the kids club managed capacity so how you described it makes sense. I will be sure to head straight to the kids club upon boarding. My kiddos are younger (3 & 6) so I am hoping the clubs will be quieter in the evenings, but I can imagine how crazy they likely will be. I have heard breakfast can be a nightmare with crowds. We are up pretty early and are likely to be eating around 7:30am. Did you find the windjammer to be busy at that time? Or is it more crazy closer to 9am? 

I wonder if the RCC will be prepared for the amount of children onboard the Icon. Since they is the first ship geared towards young families, I would imagine it will have more children onboard then any other ship. I hope this doesn't negatively impact bookings at the kids club and crowds for kid related activities. Do you think RCC would have anticipated this issue and are designing the Icon accordingly? 

y'all are so fast and helpful! 

While I have you here...I heard there are additional club activities you can sign up for (i.e. science, imagination etc.), can you sign up before boarding, or is that something that needs to be booked when on board? Just wondering what I need to run and book right away and what can be done beforehand. I am booked on the Icon and am a little nervous about whether or not RCC will be prepared for the additional amount of kids that will likely be on this sailing. Given its the first ship geared towards small kids and families, I would imagine the amount of kids will be more than on any other sailing. I wonder how that will impact kid related activities such as the kids club bookings. 

For kiddos in the 3-6 age group, does the kids club provide blankets in the kids clubs? My daughter will be 3 when we head off on our cruise and will likely want to sleep around 7pm when the club opens. Is there a space and blankets for her to nod off? 

Also, for the shows, what time does the early show start at? 

Thanks! 

Angie 

Thanks so much for such a thorough review @dwHokie. One question, did you have to pre-book your spots in the kids club, or could your kiddos just show up whenever? 

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

When I book a cabin using the Royal Caribbean phone answerers (which is about 50% of the time) we never hang up until the phone answerer sends us an invoice through email, it's never been a problem and they are more than willing to do so.  Then we go through it together and I ask what all the codes on the invoice are.  If the answers aren't acceptable to me, I ask to speak to a supervisor or manager.  

 

However, trying to make a long story short and to answer your question directly, YES, we've received OBCs/FCC for mistakes and/or services not rendered.  Last May we took an Alaska cruise out of Seattle (big mistake) on the Ovation.  We were Star Class.  On day two, our Genie came down with a injured ankle (I actually believe he had COVID), then the day after that our next Genie came down with an injured knee or ankle (again, I believe it was COVID).  So, for the remainder of the cruise we had to share the last remaining Genie with all the other Star Class cabins and it was her first cruise as a full fledged Genie.  She did well though.  There was a myriad of other issues.  We brought it up, several of the issues, to our cabin steward and within a few hours we got a call from the Customer Service Manager and had a meeting set up with her.   We made it perfectly clear that we weren't looking for any benefit other than advising her of what went on.  She apologized and said that she was going to send something to our cabin as a token of their apology, I actually thought it was going to be a fruit basked or something like that.  We told her that we didn't want it as that wasn't the reason for expressing our concerns.  However, on the last full day of the cruise we got a letter that was very nicely written and it included a 5% Future Cruise Credit.  That was significant as we paid a lot of money for that Star cruise, that 5% paid for all but about $100.00 of our last Balcony cruise on the Independence a few weeks ago.  

Thanks for sharing @Ret MP I wonder if part of the reason for such a generous offer was because you were Star Class? I am not expecting much (or anything at all), but I wondered if they even made an effort to make people happy when issues like this come up. Ill see what happens and provide an update for everyone! 

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

This is why you always confirm what was booked before you hang up the first time

Yeah I guess that's the learning. I was more concerned on proper spelling of names and information. The agent had gotten my daughters name wrong and my husbands birthday wrong so I was focused on those details. I thought my cabin selected was very clear because we even talked about how excited I was for the bunk beds. I guess next time I will go over the email extremely carefully before hanging up. 

8 hours ago, LilBlackDress said:

When you booked the room for 4 people, did they ask/get the names and ages of all 4 people? How can they put you in a room that only accomadates three if you gave them the info for all four? 
Was the deposit for 3 or 4 people? You should be able to tell by the amount. 
If they only charged for 3, then yes, you would have to pay more for the 4th... So I would start with the receipt/deposit 
Do you have a receipt? They should have emailed it to you. 

 

I am confused too 

I specifically asked for the family balcony cabin and was following along with the agent online so I knew exactly how much it should cost (which is what I was charged). They included all guests travelling so they could see we had a party of four. The agent must have accidently put me in the wrong room category (even though we even picked my stateroom number together). So I paid the correct amount for the family balcony. When I called back to get it corrected, they told me the price had increased (within the week) and I would need to pay more. I am not sure what happened, but at the moment they changed my room to what it was supposed to be, but charged me the additional cost of "todays price". If they can confirm I had asked for that room and was quoted for that room when they review the phone recording, they will change it back to my original pricing. 

9 hours ago, Ashland said:

Do you have the email confirmation when you booked the cruise? That will confirm that you booked a cabin for four. Sorry I don't understand how a cabin for four has become one that will only accommodate three. Perhaps I'm missing something about your post.

They sent me my email confirmation with all four guests included (wrong birthday on one) and with the incorrect room category, but the price was still the same price they had quoted when I booked. The room was for a 3 person ocean balcony, instead of the family balcony that could accommodate 5+. 

Booked the Icon for 2024 and specifically asked for the Infinite Family Balcony since I was travelling as a family of four. The agent booked me an ocean balcony that can accommodate 3 people. I had to call back to get it sorted - waiting on hold for an hour only for RCC to tell me they wouldn't change the room category unless I paid more. They are not going back through their call log to verify that I actually requested that room and was quoted my rate for that room category. That process will take weeks. 

In the end, it will take a few weeks and a lot of hold time to get exactly what I asked for and paid for. In your experience, does RCC give our on-board credit or other options in situations where they have had a mistake? Or do you just get  "sorry"?  

@Lagranger36That's great to hear! The cruise app I have currently says reservations are required and lists the daily time slots but maybe that will change closer to the sailing date. 

@Biker19 Valid point! Thanks for your input. I think I will take your advice and just request an early check-in time and run straight there! 

@kayguz Thank you for the update! I just downloaded the cruise app for the Icon and it's telling me I have to make a reservation for the kids club. They won't tell me if the reservations need to be made daily, or if you can reserve all the spots you want on embarkment day. I was wondering buying the Key benefit to get me on the ship early so I can book in advance. The Key benefit is very expensive for a family of four so not something I want to purchase unless I know that's the structure. 

@icpagejr Thank you as well for the update. Glad to hear it's not been an issue. The kids club is a make or break for our cruise. I still have lots of time before my cruise so hopefully things will only improve as staffing levels and restrictions continue to improve. Given the Icon is a family oriented ship, I wonder if demand will be higher....

Does anyone have an update on this? Wondering if the reservation system has changed and if they allow for more time slots? For the first come first serve rule, how early did parents need to stand in line to book their slots? Or is it done via app?