Wouldn't it have been easier just to provide service to the customer?

[publicpersona]

Before I continue, I want to make it clear that overall RC provides a consistently good product and outstanding value. My disappointments with them have been few and far between, so that's why we just completed our 30th cruise with them and will do many more. So, when RC fails completely at customer service, I find it newsworthy and worth posting.

 

Prior to our cruise, I ordered a bottle of wine from the Gifts and Gear to be delivered to the dining room. I am well aware of the corkage fee should it be delivered to the stateroom and brought to dinner, so I specifically requested delivery to MDR. I ordered wine for two cruises in the same phone call, and the first was handled exactly as I requested.

 

But when we arrived for this cruise, there sat a bottle of wine in the stateroom. I immediately let the room steward know that RC had made a mistake and asked if he could send it to the dining room. "Oh, nooooooo, we can't do that. You have to go to Guest Services." Oh, all right. So I went to Guest Services and explained that the Gift and Gear folks had delivered it incorrectly, and could we have it sent to the dining room, or better yet .. we were eating at Chops that night, so we'd like it sent there. Guest Services at this point got all stupid and started telling me about the corkage fee. "Why, yes .. that's just the trouble" I said. Since RC delivered it to the wrong place, we just need to correct that some way. Just have the people that deliver it to the stateroom (if not the room steward as I would have imagined) come and get it and take it up to Chops. Either that, or I bring it myself, and they waive the corkage fee since it was RC's error. So Guest Services called the Chops manager, and got a robotic answer about how I should have had it delivered to the MDR.

 

OK, so now I'm beginning to get perturbed. The Guest Services person then sent me to the MDR. So I get there and explained the error to the person that turned out to be our head waiter and asked if they could, under the circumstances, just transfer the bottle or waive the fee. "Oh, nooooo. We can't do that. You should have had it delivered here in the first place."

 

So there you have it. Four RC people that were supposed to be serving the customer, and not a single one could come up with any solution to the situation. How hard could it be? I wasn't asking RC to change the weather or dock in my favorite port of call for me or get them to shut off the annoying bingo announcements. I just wanted them to correct the error that they made.

[EVALUATOR]

Before I continue, I want to make it clear that overall RC provides a consistently good product and outstanding value. My disappointments with them have been few and far between, so that's why we just completed our 30th cruise with them and will do many more. So, when RC fails completely at customer service, I find it newsworthy and worth posting.

 

Prior to our cruise, I ordered a bottle of wine from the Gifts and Gear to be delivered to the dining room. I am well aware of the corkage fee should it be delivered to the stateroom and brought to dinner, so I specifically requested delivery to MDR. I ordered wine for two cruises in the same phone call, and the first was handled exactly as I requested.

 

But when we arrived for this cruise, there sat a bottle of wine in the stateroom. I immediately let the room steward know that RC had made a mistake and asked if he could send it to the dining room. "Oh, nooooooo, we can't do that. You have to go to Guest Services." Oh, all right. So I went to Guest Services and explained that the Gift and Gear folks had delivered it incorrectly, and could we have it sent to the dining room, or better yet .. we were eating at Chops that night, so we'd like it sent there. Guest Services at this point got all stupid and started telling me about the corkage fee. "Why, yes .. that's just the trouble" I said. Since RC delivered it to the wrong place, we just need to correct that some way. Just have the people that deliver it to the stateroom (if not the room steward as I would have imagined) come and get it and take it up to Chops. Either that, or I bring it myself, and they waive the corkage fee since it was RC's error. So Guest Services called the Chops manager, and got a robotic answer about how I should have had it delivered to the MDR.

 

OK, so now I'm beginning to get perturbed. The Guest Services person then sent me to the MDR. So I get there and explained the error to the person that turned out to be our head waiter and asked if they could, under the circumstances, just transfer the bottle or waive the fee. "Oh, nooooo. We can't do that. You should have had it delivered here in the first place."

 

So there you have it. Four RC people that were supposed to be serving the customer, and not a single one could come up with any solution to the situation. How hard could it be? I wasn't asking RC to change the weather or dock in my favorite port of call for me or get them to shut off the annoying bingo announcements. I just wanted them to correct the error that they made.

 

Been there. Done that.:mad:

 

Gold Anchor Service says own the problem. More often than not they pass the buck.

 

After a similar experience, I learned that the loyalty ambassador is given a list of all those D+ cruisers and their desired amenities.

 

MDR and guest services, etc. should have checked the issue out and resolved it without further involvement on your part.

 

Not a big issue. But handling these small items quickly, and without troubling the guest is the difference between Gold Anchor service, and showing the customer that their business is appreciated.

[Merion_Mom]

Before I continue, I want to make it clear that overall RC provides a consistently good product and outstanding value. My disappointments with them have been few and far between, so that's why we just completed our 30th cruise with them and will do many more. So, when RC fails completely at customer service, I find it newsworthy and worth posting.

 

Prior to our cruise, I ordered a bottle of wine from the Gifts and Gear to be delivered to the dining room. I am well aware of the corkage fee should it be delivered to the stateroom and brought to dinner, so I specifically requested delivery to MDR. I ordered wine for two cruises in the same phone call, and the first was handled exactly as I requested.

 

But when we arrived for this cruise, there sat a bottle of wine in the stateroom. I immediately let the room steward know that RC had made a mistake and asked if he could send it to the dining room. "Oh, nooooooo, we can't do that. You have to go to Guest Services." Oh, all right. So I went to Guest Services and explained that the Gift and Gear folks had delivered it incorrectly, and could we have it sent to the dining room, or better yet .. we were eating at Chops that night, so we'd like it sent there. Guest Services at this point got all stupid and started telling me about the corkage fee. "Why, yes .. that's just the trouble" I said. Since RC delivered it to the wrong place, we just need to correct that some way. Just have the people that deliver it to the stateroom (if not the room steward as I would have imagined) come and get it and take it up to Chops. Either that, or I bring it myself, and they waive the corkage fee since it was RC's error. So Guest Services called the Chops manager, and got a robotic answer about how I should have had it delivered to the MDR.

 

OK, so now I'm beginning to get perturbed. The Guest Services person then sent me to the MDR. So I get there and explained the error to the person that turned out to be our head waiter and asked if they could, under the circumstances, just transfer the bottle or waive the fee. "Oh, nooooo. We can't do that. You should have had it delivered here in the first place."

 

So there you have it. Four RC people that were supposed to be serving the customer, and not a single one could come up with any solution to the situation. How hard could it be? I wasn't asking RC to change the weather or dock in my favorite port of call for me or get them to shut off the annoying bingo announcements. I just wanted them to correct the error that they made.

 

I am sorry to report that I encountered the same mindlessness over a very similar issue on the Majesty last weekend.

 

I ordered wine as my D+ amenity. Having had it the last few times, I ordered the Robert Mondavi Solaire Cabernet Sauvignon. There is absolutely no question or doubt in my mind that this is what I ordered. Not a single possibility in a billion that I asked the D+ desk person for anything else.

 

At dinner on the first night, my roommate, who had ordered the same thing, asked for her bottle to be brought to the table.

 

I said, why don't you bring mine, too? It will be so easy, since we ordered the same thing.

 

The waiter returned with one bottle of Solaire. He came to me with a bottle of Caliterra and put it down in front of me.

 

I said, "that's not what I ordered." He apologized, and said, "that's what the list says."

 

Our headwaiter returns, bearing a sheaf of photocopied pages.

 

He comes to me, points to my name, runs his finger across the page, and says, "See? It says Caliterra."

 

I said, (and this is verbatim), "That's lovely, and it certainly does say that, but I ordered the Solaire."

 

He looked very distressed. He left. Some other person arrived - perhaps the Maitre D', but he never introduced himself.

 

He, too, was carrying these photocopied pages.

 

He said, "I understand that you insist that you asked for the Solaire, but it says "Caliterra" here on the page. This is the print out that Miami sends us. We can only do what the print out says. If we do what the print out says, the bottle of wine is expensed to Miami. If we make any change, it is expensed to our bar account. Now, the Solaire that you want is actually a couple of dollars less expensive than the Caliterra. But it doesn't cost us anything to provide you with the Caliterra. If we give you the Solaire, we have to pay for it. So I regret that I cannot give you the Solaire. Do you want the Caliterra?"

 

At that point, I looked at him and said, (and again, this is virtually verbatim what I said), "Are you telling me that if I had reserved and paid for a JS, but some functionary in Miami had written it down as an interior cabin, when I arrived on the ship, you would have put me in an interior cabin and refused to give me the Junior Suite?"

 

He just stared at me and apologized and offered me the Caliterra again.

 

I escalated this up to the Loyalty Ambassador, who looked into it and basically told me that there was nothing she could do.

 

Bottom line: I took and drank the Caliterra the next night.

 

But I still cannot believe that Royal Caribbean would not give me the *%#%@%+^ bottle of Solaire that I had ordered! A cheaper bottle!!!!!!!!!

 

(btw, since we had the two bottles, we all did a taste test, and agreed that the Solaire was the nicer-drinking bottle)

[EVALUATOR]

It's really good when dinner service is so bad that the "chef" offers a free bottle of wine for the table.

 

Then they bring out a bottle of La Terre for a table of 8 and run out of wine after pouring 7 glasses, and say they were only given one bottle for the table.:eek:

 

That didn't even take into consideration what the people were eating and trying to pair the wine with the meal.

[Merion_Mom]

It's really good when dinner service is so bad that the "chef" offers a free bottle of wine for the table.

 

Then they bring out a bottle of La Terre for a table of 8 and run out of wine after pouring 7 glasses, and say they were only given one bottle for the table.:eek:

 

That didn't even take into consideration what the people were eating and trying to pair the wine with the meal.

 

LaTerre pairs perfectly with that feeling of dust in your mouth after a bad experience.

 

:D

[EVALUATOR]

LaTerre pairs perfectly with that feeling of dust in your mouth after a bad experience.

 

:D

 

I wonder if the person that didn't get the glass of LaTerre was actually the lucky one.

 

Good luck with the Navigator getting your D+ wine order correct. They are 0 for 2 on getting ours right.

 

A couple of weeks ago, they said we never ordered wine. Then they said we ordered it for the room. Eventually, I convinced them that it would be in their best interest to bring the wine to the table. Then the Caliterra they brought to the table was the Riserva and not the Tributo.

 

When we finished eating, we went back to the cabin just in time to catch someone leaving a bottle in the cabin to make it look like it was there all along. Basically trying to make us look like liars, that the wine was already in the room. It was the third night of the cruise, so the bottle would have/ should have been delivered earlier if that is where it was supposed to go. We just didn't go to the MDR until the 3rd night of the cruise.

 

Well at least they told you they were sorry. I still have not received a reply about the problems from the Oasis cruise in September.

[lovesublime]

What I find beyond ridiculous- is that RCI would charge a corkage fee for a bottle of wine they sold you :rolleyes: I've never heard of anything more stupid.

[tattoocruise]

more examples of the extinction of gold anchor service. I worry about my upcoming jewel of the seas cruise. if the best crewmembers were supposed to be transferred to oasis/allure, why is the service so poor? are they overwhelmed by the ship size and number of passengers? now that the supposed best have been moved from the rest of the fleet, are the remaining crew struggling to live up to the standards the best provided before being banished to the big ships? R.I.P. gold anchor service....

[marci22]

LaTerre pairs perfectly with that feeling of dust in your mouth after a bad experience.

 

:D

 

lol

[melbur]

LaTerre pairs perfectly with that feeling of dust in your mouth after a bad experience.

 

:D

 

Hilarious:D . . and true!

[Papa T]

What I find beyond ridiculous- is that RCI would charge a corkage fee for a bottle of wine they sold you :rolleyes: I've never heard of anything more stupid.

 

I'm also trying to understand the logic of the corkage fee for their gift wine - regardless of where it is delivered. I will say that we have never experienced a problem bringing wine delivered to the room to the main dining room although I always check with the waiter first. On our recent Adventure TA, I had the first two bottles sent to the MDR (the second a joyous discovery of a new perk for reaching 50 CC) but during the cruise a third bottle showed up in the cabin (I guess from the wine fairy) and we had no trouble taking it to the MDR.

[ehfl]

You should have had it delivered to the MDR instead of your cabin.

 

;)

[Caughrons]

My DW and I are D members..we sailed with Celebrity last Feb and found the level of service we used to have on RCL. the Capt Club Hostess fiexed any little problem and there were no big problems. We are going to try Liberty next month...if its not what we expect we will go back to Celebrity.

 

Caughrons

[BonTXNY]

I never ordered a bottle of wine on a cruise and really do not understand the need for RCI to charge a corkage fee (whatever that is) if the wine is delivered to the room but not to the MDR:confused: Is that correct?

 

As for the OP, the title of this thread says it all. RCI blew it big time on this and Carol's wine situation especially since it was RCI's fault both times. To not make the passenger happy is bad enough but for RCI not to correct their own mistakes is...bad bad public relations for the cruiseline!

 

I hate to have to say this but in the 3 years since my last cruise I've read more and more threads like these :( Does anyone feel service is slipping or that other mistakes are not corrected as they should be?

 

Sorry to go off topic but it's a situation that has me thinking.

[wcook]

Our headwaiter returns, bearing a sheaf of photocopied pages.

 

He comes to me, points to my name, runs his finger across the page, and says, "See? It says Caliterra."

 

I said, (and this is verbatim), "That's lovely, and it certainly does say that, but I ordered the Solaire."

 

He looked very distressed. He left.

Just curious, did you tip the headwaiter that trip?

[johneeo]

Just curious, did you tip the headwaiter that trip?

 

I certainly would have tipped him.

 

Not in cash, but with some sound advice.

[cb at sea]

Next time, pour a HUGE glass of wine and carry it into the dining room...no "corkage" fee for bringing in a glass of wine.

[Ocean Boy]

 

He, too, was carrying these photocopied pages.

 

He said, "I understand that you insist that you asked for the Solaire, but it says "Caliterra" here on the page. This is the print out that Miami sends us. We can only do what the print out says. If we do what the print out says, the bottle of wine is expensed to Miami. If we make any change, it is expensed to our bar account. Now, the Solaire that you want is actually a couple of dollars less expensive than the Caliterra. But it doesn't cost us anything to provide you with the Caliterra. If we give you the Solaire, we have to pay for it. So I regret that I cannot give you the Solaire. Do you want the Caliterra?"

 

So much for RCI's elegant dining experience. I can just picture this guy walking around the dining room with his stack of photocopied printouts. And to provide you with a quick lesson on RCI's bookkeeping methods during dinner just adds to ambiance of the evening.:rolleyes:

[Janet524]

After a similar experience, I learned that the loyalty ambassador is given a list of all those D+ cruisers and their desired amenities. .

 

The thing that annoys me is that if you order wine or champagne as your D+ amenity and it's delivered to your room, you have to pay $20 to have it in the dining room. How does it make sense to charge for what's supposed to be a "gift"?

[Ocean Boy]

The thing that annoys me is that if you order wine or champagne as your D+ amenity and it's delivered to your room, you have to pay $20 to have it in the dining room. How does it make sense to charge for what's supposed to be a "gift"?

 

It makes about as much sense as charging a corkage fee for something that was bought from RCI in the first place.

[SUZCRUZ]

The thing that annoys me is that if you order wine or champagne as your D+ amenity and it's delivered to your room, you have to pay $20 to have it in the dining room. How does it make sense to charge for what's supposed to be a "gift"?

We just sailed on the Navigator. On the last night, we chose to take our bottle of champagne ( Gift as D+ member) to the table to celebrate our fun cruise with the family. I brought the card that was given with the bottle that we recieved in our cabin with us, just incase they wanted to charge us a cork fee. No questions, no charge. Navigator does it right!

[Tim,n,Sue]

On our last cruise (dec 5 on the Allure)we were given a $100 OBC by BIL nd his wfie. They were told we would receive a nice card indicating the gift. No card. I asked RCI why they failed to do so and they have yet to respond. Kind of what I expect from the customer service group.

[rubrrick]

I was with Carol on that cruise, and I can tell you that she was not a happy camper, so I don't think that this is the last that we will hear from her.

 

Hopefully she will share the apology when it finally comes to her from shore side (and I hope that she receives one, it is deserved).

 

What, if anything will Royal Caribbean do for her to redeem their "Gold Anchor Service"???:rolleyes:

 

Rick

[booze brothers]

You should have had it delivered to the MDR instead of your cabin.

 

;)

 

ROFLAO!! At least I think that was a joke !

[Cliftoncruz]

We ran into a similar problem involving Celebrity in 2008 on a 15 day Hawaiian Cruise. We were celebrating a special occasion for my wife. I had pre-ordered several gifts (wine, etc... some through our TA)), and only one of the items made it to us. When I spoke to Customer Service they were adamant they had delivered everything I had ordered.

 

I contacted the TA via e-mail who contacted Celebrity in Miami, and those items showed up a few days later. The other items I had purchased I was able to retrieve the order from my e-mail showing the purchase and confirmation of the purchase. However, Customer Service was again adamant (photocopy) they did not have a record, but after several discussions with higher ups over several days we received the items.

 

One our last cruise on the Explorer we again had a problem with an order, but this time I had a photo copy of the purchase, and they relented. I have pretty much decided not to purchase anything any more from gifts and gear or the wine cellar. The whole process just takes away from the cruise!!!!!