Cruise nightmare! Need help!

[sail7seas]

:rolleyes: Have a great cruise. Hope it is the 'trip of a lifetime.' :)

 

Other than giving you the Captain's cabin, I think they were more than generous.

 

 

[/b]

[cruisin'tex]

If you have a Travel Agent, recommend you have them get immediately involved...if u do

not have a TA, try emailing the NCL CEO for his assist; KSheehan@NCL.com or

Adam Goldstein, CEO or RCCL, AGoldstein@RCCL.com good luck.

 

Good advice.

[hubofhockey]

I cannot believe they are paying you to cruise with them & you are still complaining:eek:

 

You were lucky to even get a cabin on any ship at this late date

 

It's funny that OP wanted a free cruise. I am sure OP already got full refund from NCL and 50% cruise credit. After all is said and done, I don't think this OP will be happy until Princess gives her a free cruise too (in a minisuite). :rolleyes:

[momofmeg]

This is a joke, right??! You were going on the Dawn(of all ships :-( and now you're in a balcony on the largest, newest ship with all the bells & whistles and you're complaining??

Some people wouldn't know a good thing if it slapped them in the face! Go, have a wonderful time and consider yourself and family extremely fortunate!

 

I would not go on the Oasis. I am sorry. I am not interested in being on a ship with 6000 other PAX. I think the OP is simply thinking he should get some on board credit. He may not like this ship either becuase it is so huge, but is willing to make the best of it. He simply feels he deserves more compensation.

 

Yes this is a brand new ship-but-that is the problem-the bugs have not yet been worked out-who knows how this 6000 plus people embarkation and debarkation will go? It may be a nightmare.

[momofmeg]

I would like to thank everyone for their input. Here is the final disposition after 7 hours of negotiating with RCCL yesterday. We are going on the Oasis today in balcony cabins. They reduced the price originally paid for the Navigator from 328 pp taxes included to 291 pp taxes included. Also, we received an $800 shipboard credit.

 

We have spent over 15 hours on the phone between NCL and RCCL. I wish they would have been up front from the begining to save the time and stress. I know everyone will be saying you should be happy because you are going on the Oasis, and I understand your logic. Point of the matter is that we booked 4 cabins on the Navigator and they decided we could go in two. We had 4 guaranteed outside cabins which turned into 2 family outside cabins, no separate bedrooms, no freaky freaky! I still believe the right thing would have been for RCCL to offer us this cruise for free up front. We all hate the airlines, but if this happened on the airlines, they would have put us on the next flight and given us a free ticket.

 

This is my first cruise with RCCL and I am going to be fair with them as everyone I know raves about them, but I must say it has started with a bad taste in by mouth. We have taken over 20 cruises and never had to deal with anything like this. Once again, thanks for the responses.

 

I think they have treated you fairly. Yes you had to gripe to get compensation. But isn't that the way it works with negotiations? You were made an offer, and you refused, until it was improved, but are you really surprised they started low? Negotiators always start low.

 

I don't think it is fair for you to expect a free cruise though. RCI treated you fairly in the end. Perhaps you need to remember you were frustrated with NCL to begin with, when they canceled your cruise. RCI's goof of giving you 2 cabins instead of 4, just made that worse, but that is 2 companies that goofed, not one, so you shouldn't expect RCI to give you compensation for NCL's goof.

 

One thing you need to remember-both the NCL Dawn and RCI navigator of the Seas are older ships, and so are much more affordable than the newer ships-and you have ended up on a brand new ship.

 

It does make me wonder though. Oasis is already not sailing full? I think that because they were able to move you to 4 staterooms on the Oasis last minute. That does not bode well for the Oasis does it? I thought that ship would be oversold for sure, since many are wanting to try it out.

[room010]

I'm not sure why OP is mad at RCCL for NCL's screwup either. And I think RCCL has been more than generous and fair in offering what looks like a much better deal overall. I guess no good deed goes unpunished :rolleyes:

[RetireeWannabee]

It does make me wonder though. Oasis is already not sailing full? I think that because they were able to move you to 4 staterooms on the Oasis last minute. That does not bode well for the Oasis does it? I thought that ship would be oversold for sure, since many are wanting to try it out.

Yes, interesting, but the economy really does suck. People are still losing their jobs. While one would assume that most of those backed out before final payment, hard to say what would cause others to cancel since insurance can cover a lot of things. 4 cabins surprises me, also, but, that's a small percentage of cabins on that ship!

 

My seriously uneducated guess is that it will be some time before O sails full every week.

[Arwenmark]

To the OP,

I hope you get the cruise you Deserve!

[Cozzette2]

:confused: Ok, I am confussed. Why are you blaming RCI when they are trying to get you on a cruise at the very last minute when your ship had to cancel ? It sure seems like they have bent over backward to help your family take a cruise as you had only this window of opportunity to cruise with your family. There probably weren't many options this close to the sail date. I am just not sure why you are mad at the company trying to help you:confused:

[beachchick]

Cruise nightmare? Far from it. RCI bailed out OP at last minute after OP's cruise on NCL was canceled. For same price, OP gets on a new ship in a balcony when had an oceanview on a ship several years old. If the one less day is a dealbreaker, get the refund . I guess my family would love to have the opportunity for a nightmare on an Oasis cruise.

 

No doubt that's partially true, especially if RCI worked with NCL to accomodate passengers. But consider that the only reason RCI was able to "bail out" anyone was that they had empty cabins this close to the cruise date. The NCL passengers, in a sense, bailed out RCI too by filling those cabins, even if at a discount. No doubt those passengers will spend money onboard and on excursions, so RCI isn't exactly acting as a charitable organization. (Note: RCI is one of our favorite cruise lines, so this is not a dig at either them or NCL.)

 

$800 obc is not enuf after getting you on a cruise ship for an issue that was not their problem to start with?!?

:eek:

 

My first reaction was :eek: too. Wow--$800 OBC and four balcony cabins is a sweet deal, even if the cruise is one day shorter. We always buy travel insurance, so would have covered our bet either way. For anyone who didn't purchase insurance, this is a great result.

 

OTOH, as RCI arbitrarily took four oceanview cabins (gty, true, but four nevertheless) and put the group into two family oceanview, which have only one bathroom each and a kid's sleeping area with bunks, they do bear some responsibility for that part of the problem. It doesn't matter at all that the bobo29 was switching from Dawn. We and RCI should be considering it exactly like any other booking: Four cabins booked and paid for; cruise line overbooks ship; cruise line switches the four cabins to two, which is not acceptable to the group cruising. It certainly wouldn't be acceptable to us. Now, with that and only that as the issue, isn't it reasonable to say that RCI does have some responsibility? Of course, bobo29 needs to realize that RCI really went above and beyond in resolving the issue. The final offer from RCI is amazing, IMO.

 

I would like to thank everyone for their input. Here is the final disposition after 7 hours of negotiating with RCCL yesterday. We are going on the Oasis today in balcony cabins. They reduced the price originally paid for the Navigator from 328 pp taxes included to 291 pp taxes included. Also, we received an $800 shipboard credit.

 

We have spent over 15 hours on the phone between NCL and RCCL. I wish they would have been up front from the begining to save the time and stress. I know everyone will be saying you should be happy because you are going on the Oasis, and I understand your logic. Point of the matter is that we booked 4 cabins on the Navigator and they decided we could go in two. We had 4 guaranteed outside cabins which turned into 2 family outside cabins, no separate bedrooms, no freaky freaky! I still believe the right thing would have been for RCCL to offer us this cruise for free up front. We all hate the airlines, but if this happened on the airlines, they would have put us on the next flight and given us a free ticket.

This is my first cruise with RCCL and I am going to be fair with them as everyone I know raves about them, but I must say it has started with a bad taste in by mouth. We have taken over 20 cruises and never had to deal with anything like this. Once again, thanks for the responses.

 

You're obviously not kidding or I would say, "Are you kidding?" RCI shouldn't have just switched you to two cabins when you booked and paid for four. No question. But they obviously tried to not only make it right, but make it better and try to make sure you have a wonderful time. In point of fact, airlines don't automatically put you on the next flight. They also don't necessarily give you a free ticket if they overbook. And you can't compare an air ticket to a cruise. A flight is transportation, period. A cruise is transportation, lodging, food, entertainment, etc. They are not in the same category of travel and shouldn't be compared as such.

 

RCI should have offered you a free cruise? No way. RCI should have done everything possible to make things right? Yes, and they did...even though it took some time to get there. In fact, the outcome seems very generous. You want eight people to have a free cruise? I wonder if you'll be satisfied with anything RCI does for you.

 

Although we have zero interest in cruising on Oasis, we'd take that offer in a second and have a great time.

 

beachchick

[euro cruiser]

I think I finally get it - I had a hard time following what was going on in this thread.

• The OP originally booked four cabins on NCL
  
• NCL canceled the cruise
  
• The OP booked four outside cabins on the Navigator
  
• RCI changed the booking from four outside cabins to two family outside cabins
  
• The OP complained about the change and RCI offered two balcony cabins on a newer, presumably better ship, cut the price by about $30 per person and gave $800 in on-board-credit
  

So, yes, the OP and family get to go on vacation together, but it's a tad more together than they wanted with mom in the same bedroom with them.

 

I understand the aggravation in the dilemma - circumstances outside of the OP's control forced them to have to choose between their own needs and desires (having alone time together on their cruise) and the needs and desires of the rest of their family. In order to have what they want (a cabin to themselves without Mom), they would have had to cancel everything and start over (which would likely have been costly for the family members who already took their vacation time from work, flew to Florida, etc.).

 

Ah, the joys of family travel. When it all works the way you planned, it's great. When something goes wrong, someone often winds up getting less than they want in order to serve the greater good.

 

I also understand how easy it is to get caught up in your own disappointment and anger over the situation and lose sight of what's really important to you.

 

If alone time was at least equally important with saving the family vacation, I might have sucked up a little extra cost, or given up the price reduction and/or OBC and paid for a separate cabin and made that my sacrifice toward saving the family vacation, vs. suffering through it with Mom in the room. But that's me - privacy and a little "somethin' somethin'" would be more important to me ... or at least it would be once I calmed down and really thought about it.

 

I hope they are off enjoying their cruise now.

[momofmeg]

I think I finally get it - I had a hard time following what was going on in this thread.

• The OP originally booked four cabins on NCL
  
• NCL canceled the cruise
  
• The OP booked four outside cabins on the Navigator
  
• RCI changed the booking from four outside cabins to two family outside cabins
  
• The OP complained about the change and RCI offered two balcony cabins on a newer, presumably better ship, cut the price by about $30 per person and gave $800 in on-board-credit
  

So, yes, the OP and family get to go on vacation together, but it's a tad more together than they wanted with mom in the same bedroom with them.

 

I understand the aggravation in the dilemma - circumstances outside of the OP's control forced them to have to choose between their own needs and desires (having alone time together on their cruise) and the needs and desires of the rest of their family. In order to have what they want (a cabin to themselves without Mom), they would have had to cancel everything and start over (which would likely have been costly for the family members who already took their vacation time from work, flew to Florida, etc.).

 

Ah, the joys of family travel. When it all works the way you planned, it's great. When something goes wrong, someone often winds up getting less than they want in order to serve the greater good.

 

I also understand how easy it is to get caught up in your own disappointment and anger over the situation and lose sight of what's really important to you.

 

If alone time was at least equally important with saving the family vacation, I might have sucked up a little extra cost, or given up the price reduction and/or OBC and paid for a separate cabin and made that my sacrifice toward saving the family vacation, vs. suffering through it with Mom in the room. But that's me - privacy and a little "somethin' somethin'" would be more important to me ... or at least it would be once I calmed down and really thought about it.

 

I hope they are off enjoying their cruise now.

 

No, he was moved to the Oasis becuase he could have 4 cabins. His gripe was the cruise was 4 days instead of 5 days. RCI told him he was upgraded to balconies and a brand new ship-and so he should be happy with one less day. He wasn't, so they also gave him $800 on board credit. I think he was treated very well, especially since he lives in FL and so probably did not need to pay for hotel rooms. (as others have mentioned this extra expense) I am not sure about flights-what he said was his daughter had this week for vacation and could not change her vacation week, but some of his family may have flown in for the cruise.

[boulders]

Sorry euro , I have to correct you on a couple of points

 

I think I finally get it - I had a hard time following what was going on in this thread.

The OP originally booked four cabins on NCL

NCL canceled the cruise

The OP booked four outside cabins on the Navigator

RCI changed the booking from four outside cabins to two family outside cabins

 

 

You've got it right up until here. A very good price for an FOV would have been $400 pp for a 5 night cruise (I take FOV's whenever I can). RCI offered it for $328 pp which is unheard of. When the OP made a stink about that, , RCI offered 4 balcony cabins on the 4 night first sailing of Oasis. These cabins were going for over $1000 pp - I had been watching this sailing. Even interiors were going for about $700 pp. And the OP got the balconies for under $300 pp plus a $100 pp OBC. And is still complaining. :confused:

[momofmeg]

Long story short, I had four cabins on the the NCL Dawn which was supposed to leave yesterday. The cruise was cancelled and we were lucky enough to rebook on RCCL Navigator of the Seas, leaving today. Lucky we thought, last night we found out that RCCL placed our four cabins into two because they accidentally overbooked. This will not work for us and after hours on the phone the only thing they would offer is to put us on the Oasis leaving tomorrow. We are not too excited by this as the cruise is a day shorter, but their stance is we are upgrading ships and giving us a balcony instead of an oceanview.

 

I feel like I am bent over a barrel because I have family that flew in to cruise and my daughter only gets one week off and this is the week. We are supposed to talk to someone today in higher management, but I am not too optimistic. Customer service seems to be a thing of the past. Does anyone know what I can do?

 

Okay, family did fly into cruise. I still imagine he put them up at his home.

[LHT28]

On the other hand

When NCL cancelled he could have just got his money back from them & had to stay home with his family!!! :rolleyes:

 

Other people bumped from NCL may have had to stay in a hotel in Florida with no other options.

 

What is that saying

"you cannot please all of the people.....;)

 

 

Maybe the op will post on his RCL cruise when he returns

[sail7seas]

Other people bumped from NCL may have had to stay in a hotel in Florida with no other options.

 

What is that saying

"you cannot please all of the people.....;)

 

 

That's exactly what I have been thinking:

 

 

You please some of the people some of the time. ;)

 

 

Some of the people, you'll never please.

[LHT28]

Just read on another site that they has some rough seas on the Oasis I guess the OP will not be happy about that either :cool:

[critterchick]

Oh, OP, you had me on your side until you opined that RCI should have given you a free cruise. Yes, RCI screwed up by putting you in two family OV staterooms instead of the 4 you had booked. But since you had no flexibility in your schedule, they put you on the first available ship, which happened to be Oasis, gave it to you for less than you were paying for Navigator AND gave you an OBC opf $800. That's more than fair for the inconvenience.

 

Hope you're enjoying your cruise.

[luvmyfirefly]

Wow. We could all use this kind of bad luck. I'd be ecstatic with a deal like that! With the money the OP saved he could have stayed in a nice hotel and done some on land sightseeing to make up for the extra day.

[cuyahoga11]

Oh, OP, you had me on your side until you opined that RCI should have given you a free cruise. Yes, RCI screwed up by putting you in two family OV staterooms instead of the 4 you had booked. But since you had no flexibility in your schedule, they put you on the first available ship, which happened to be Oasis, gave it to you for less than you were paying for Navigator AND gave you an OBC opf $800. That's more than fair for the inconvenience.

 

Hope you're enjoying your cruise.

 

And dont forget the full refund from NCL plus 50% off their next cruise

[beachchick]

And dont forget the full refund from NCL plus 50% off their next cruise

 

IMO, that's still unrelated to the cabin issues with RCI. It's not as if RCI had anything to do with what NCL offered their passengers. It's not an additional "benefit" related to the RCI cruise.

 

What NCL offered was fair for what happened with NCL. However, all passengers booked on that cruise got the refund (of course, considering that the cruise didn't happen) and a 50% discount on their next NCL cruise for the inconvenience. It doesn't matter whether someone simply took the refund plus future discount and stayed home or changed to a land vacation or booked an alternate cruise. The NCL refund and future discount apply to all and are separate issues from RCI's moving a party of eight who booked and paid for four cabins into two cabins.

 

I still think that bobo29 was out of line for expecting a free cruise and I'm boggled that anyone would think that balcony cabins (instead of discounted oceanviews) plus a generous OBC isn't enough to make up for RCI overbooking the original ship.

 

beachchick

[hubofhockey]

IMO, that's still unrelated to the cabin issues with RCI. It's not as if RCI had anything to do with what NCL offered their passengers. It's not an additional "benefit" related to the RCI cruise.

 

What NCL offered was fair for what happened with NCL. However, all passengers booked on that cruise got the refund (of course, considering that the cruise didn't happen) and a 50% discount on their next NCL cruise for the inconvenience. It doesn't matter whether someone simply took the refund plus future discount and stayed home or changed to a land vacation or booked an alternate cruise. The NCL refund and future discount apply to all and are separate issues from RCI's moving a party of eight who booked and paid for four cabins into two cabins.

 

I still think that bobo29 was out of line for expecting a free cruise and I'm boggled that anyone would think that balcony cabins (instead of discounted oceanviews) plus a generous OBC isn't enough to make up for RCI overbooking the original ship.

 

beachchick

 

Royal Caribbean made a correctable error. Considering this all happened within one day, it's not as if the OP was really put out by RCI. There was no damage done, especially considering the rush to accommodate the OP at such a late hour. I don't see any actual harm caused by Royal Caribbean at the end of the day and the $800 is a good deal.

[momofmeg]

IMO, that's still unrelated to the cabin issues with RCI. It's not as if RCI had anything to do with what NCL offered their passengers. It's not an additional "benefit" related to the RCI cruise.

 

What NCL offered was fair for what happened with NCL. However, all passengers booked on that cruise got the refund (of course, considering that the cruise didn't happen) and a 50% discount on their next NCL cruise for the inconvenience. It doesn't matter whether someone simply took the refund plus future discount and stayed home or changed to a land vacation or booked an alternate cruise. The NCL refund and future discount apply to all and are separate issues from RCI's moving a party of eight who booked and paid for four cabins into two cabins.

 

I still think that bobo29 was out of line for expecting a free cruise and I'm boggled that anyone would think that balcony cabins (instead of discounted oceanviews) plus a generous OBC isn't enough to make up for RCI overbooking the original ship.

 

beachchick

 

So true-the Dawn had power problems and was canceled last minute-first problem-not RCI related. The lines are not affiliated. It is not like Princess and HAL which are owned by the same corporation. RCI tried to step in and accommodate some of Dawn's PAX, as a courtesy. Sure, they profited somewhat, as this filled their empty cabins, but still they were helping out the OP and other Dawn PAX last minute.

 

RCI's only goof was putting 8 people in 2 cabins when they wanted 2 people to a cabin. I am not surprised such a goof happened,since they (RCI) were scrambling to accommodate many of the Dawn former PAX-. Plus, they made that better by putting the OP's group on a newer ship in upgraded staterooms. I think $800 for one lost cruise day was very generous, considering they were accommodating the OP last minute because of another cruiseline's problem.

[bplazo]

Very genourous offer, the OP should be thanking Royal.

[beachchick]

Royal Caribbean made a correctable error. Considering this all happened within one day, it's not as if the OP was really put out by RCI. There was no damage done, especially considering the rush to accommodate the OP at such a late hour. I don't see any actual harm caused by Royal Caribbean at the end of the day and the $800 is a good deal.

 

And I agree(d) that RCI's error was correctable. I also think they did a great job correcting it for bobo29. In case I wasn't clear, I think bobo29's reaction and expectations were quite out of line...Please, a free cruise? I think not, especially not when RCI has made a very generous offer to make up for their error and made things much better all around, IMO.

 

So true-the Dawn had power problems and was canceled last minute-first problem-not RCI related. The lines are not affiliated. It is not like Princess and HAL which are owned by the same corporation. RCI tried to step in and accommodate some of Dawn's PAX, as a courtesy. Sure, they profited somewhat, as this filled their empty cabins, but still they were helping out the OP and other Dawn PAX last minute.

RCI's only goof was putting 8 people in 2 cabins when they wanted 2 people to a cabin. I am not surprised such a goof happened,since they (RCI) were scrambling to accommodate many of the Dawn former PAX-. Plus, they made that better by putting the OP's group on a newer ship in upgraded staterooms. I think $800 for one lost cruise day was very generous, considering they were accommodating the OP last minute because of another cruiseline's problem.

 

I still maintain that it was a mutually beneficial arrangement and that RCI wasn't being charitable. They are a business; they had cabins left to fill last minute; Dawn passengers needed cabins last minute; win-win for everyone.

 

I agree(d) that $800 (and don't forget the upgrade to balcony cabins on a brand new ship!) was very generous to make up for RCI's overbooking error. But I disagree that it should be related in any way to NCL's problem, as in "bobo29 should be happy that RCI was willing to sell them cabins at all." After all, bobo29 or anyone else could have booked last minute with no NCL cruise problem in the interim and without RCI's "help." If I had booked that RCI cruise 2 weeks ago and RCI did the same thing to me due to overbooking, I would expect a similar offer of accomodating us on another ship; upgraded cabins would be nice, but not necessary; and an OBC for the loss of a cruise day and the inconvenience. That's exactly the kind of thing that RCI has done for passengers in similar situations, regardless of whether another cruise line had last minute problems.

 

beachchick