Have to VENT!

[sharonlacey]

I am so upset we booked our upcoming cruise while on our last one. Went to the Royal Sales People on the ship and booked. He gave us all the wrong information about the ship. Just told us what we wanted to hear. Well I ended up e-mailing RC and guess what CC people knew what 1 Royal Ambs. 3 people on the phone (that work for RC) didnt know. What a big waste of time. Really wish they would teach the sales people on the ships whats what about the cruises they are selling. Just saying!!

 

Thanks for listening to me rant!!!!;)

[Cruising89143]

What information was incorrect?

[Dayenu]

I am so upset we booked our upcoming cruise while on our last one. Went to the Royal Sales People on the ship and booked. He gave us all the wrong information about the ship. Just told us what we wanted to hear.

 

Some time ago on a cruise I went to the future cruise table, looked at the booklets. Cruisetours in Alaska, hmmm, looks interesting. Went to the table - what is it, can you explain?

 

SURE! It's a cruise where you can see Alaska. So what's the difference between cruise and cruisetour? You can see more on cruisetour. WHY? is this a bus tour? No, it's a cruise, but you can see more.

 

LOL. I even put this in my review that I e-mailed to them, no comments from RCI.

 

(and don't try to explain, I know the difference :D )

[voyager70]

Some time ago on a cruise I went to the future cruise table, looked at the booklets. Cruisetours in Alaska, hmmm, looks interesting. Went to the table - what is it, can you explain?

 

SURE! It's a cruise where you can see Alaska. So what's the difference between cruise and cruisetour? You can see more on cruisetour. WHY? is this a bus tour? No, it's a cruise, but you can see more.

 

LOL. I even put this in my review that I e-mailed to them, no comments from RCI.

 

(and don't try to explain, I know the difference :D )

 

In my experiences the future sales reps REALLY push the cruisetours, even after stating that I was interested in a cruise only. Don't know if they make more commission from the tours or if the cruise line instructs them to push them. And to the OP yes, it is very frustrating the lack of knowledge some of the RCI agents & employees have in regard to their own product.

[endymion6942]

Buyer beware! I have never had a good expierence with the cruise salespeople on Royal ships. I learned a long time ago to know what you want and do your own research before sitting at their desk!;)

[dodgersmom]

We always just purchase the NCC on the ship. Even if we know what we want to do next. Take the certs and then have our TA book exactly what we want. Still get the 100$ OBC and 1/2 deposit.

[Cruising89143]

Buyer beware! I have never had a good expierence with the cruise salespeople on Royal ships. I learned a long time ago to know what you want and do your own research before sitting at their desk!;)

 

I have had the opposite experience. The Allure has one of the best. She has been with RCI for a long time and knows her stuff. IMHO this is no different than booking with a TA. Some know their stuff and others do not.

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Buyer beware! I have never had a good expierence with the cruise salespeople on Royal ships. I learned a long time ago to know what you want and do your own research before sitting at their desk!;)

 

Exactly! The first time we went to talk to a rep without knowing what we wanted already and asked her recommendations. She recommended the same cruise we were on... ??? The next time, we went in knowing what we wanted. The rep was getting irritated because we had to keep correcting her mistakes. Scary! :)

[cruisenfever]

Buyer beware! I have never had a good expierence with the cruise salespeople on Royal ships. I learned a long time ago to know what you want and do your own research before sitting at their desk!;)

We've have had just the opposite experience on our cruises on recent cruises on Serenade, Enchantment and Radiance. All LA's were outstanding.

[Dave85]

Had a positive experience on Oasis. The consultant was knowledgable, pleasant, and efficient. I guess like lots of things in life the next cruise people on board can be hit or miss!

[Ocean Boy]

I have had the opposite experience. The Allure has one of the best. She has been with RCI for a long time and knows her stuff. IMHO this is no different than booking with a TA. Some know their stuff and others do not.

 

However, TAs work for travel agencies and represent the agency that they work for. These folks on the ships are not TAs, they are employees of RCI and represent RCI. And RCI really should make sure that they are well trained, know the product, and represent the company well. There really is no excuse for loyalty ambassadors to not be at the top of their game.

[Scotty G]

We always just purchase the NCC on the ship. Even if we know what we want to do next. Take the certs and then have our TA book exactly what we want. Still get the 100$ OBC and 1/2 deposit.

Ditto!!!

[retired2005]

Years ago, when I was young and foolish, I booked a cruise while I was on board the Enchantment. As a teacher, I always looked at an April sailing. We were looking at 3 cabins the Voyager ( it had just been launched).Tony was very pleasant and helpful. He gave us so much information and I was so excited! (This was before a computer was so common in every household) He took all of our information, we picked our cabins and he gave us a local travel agent to deal with after we got home. As we got closer to the following April nothing was arriving in my mail about our vacation. I called this Agent and she had no idea what I was talking about. It turned out that my "friend" Tony had booked us on a cruise that sailed the April vacation week that we needed but on the PREVIOUS year. We obviously had no cabins reserved for my vacation week! I was speechless... well, not really. I called RCCL directly and they found us 3 cabins but, certainly not the ones we'd wanted.

Moral of this story......always know what you want, do your own reserach and make sure you know the answers before you talk to anyone "in the know". That was 13 cruises ago and I've been very happy ever since!!!!!

[psupa]

We always just purchase the NCC on the ship. Even if we know what we want to do next. Take the certs and then have our TA book exactly what we want. Still get the 100$ OBC and 1/2 deposit.

 

We do the same thing. We purchase the NCC for the onboard credit. We usually know what cruise we will be booking, but I like to search the cabin categories and prices myself.

[orville99]

We usually book the same cruises every year, so we see the LA as more of an order processor. When my schedule is not set yet, I just get an ncc for those cruises. They're all nice, but I don't need them to pitch me on any cruise.

[sharonlacey]

We have been on the same cruise for the last 3 years. We knew we wanted something different. Decided on S. Carib. on Vission. My DH likes the suite for the larger balcony, I like pool seating and consierge club. He assured us this ship had both (also 3 speicalty restaurants). The only people that knew what this ship has is the CC people, lol. Next time when I want to book a cruise I will come here where people know what is what with RC.

 

Also, the only advantage we got for booking onboard was 75 each cruise credit. No 50 % down for suite and lots of bad info!:eek:

[cruisenfever]

We have been on the same cruise for the last 3 years. We knew we wanted something different. Decided on S. Carib. on Vission. My DH likes the suite for the larger balcony, I like pool seating and consierge club. He assured us this ship had both (also 3 speicalty restaurants). The only people that knew what this ship has is the CC people, lol. Next time when I want to book a cruise I will come here where people know what is what with RC.

 

Also, the only advantage we got for booking onboard was 75 each cruise credit. No 50 % down for suite and lots of bad info!:eek:

You did not research the ship prior to booking?:confused:

 

This has been on the RCI home page under The Royal Advantage for several months now http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentSitelet.do?pagename=royal_advantage_main&cid=int_0012

 

When booking a full suite (GS or above) the deposit is always doubled no matter if you book on board, from home or during a sale. It's been that way for several years now.

"Deposit requirements vary based on length of cruise and the type of stateroom reserved. Generally, deposit guidelines are $200 per stateroom for 1 to 5 night cruises, $500 per stateroom for 6 to 9 night cruises and $900 per stateroom for 10 night or longer cruises. Suite categories do require a double deposit since there are a limited number of suites".

[sharonlacey]

Iiknow about deposit (this is our 4th suite) and we have sailed on this class of ship a while ago. So I knew some basics, but it was 10 yrs ago and I figured the RA would know what he was talking about. I did ask him all the questions that we were concerned about he flat out told us that "dont worry they have it all"! I said why is there no consierge lounge list on the ships description, he pulled out a book of the same ship and said "see it is here in my book", lol. I should have known. We are still keeping our booking it just makes me angry that these RA dont know what they are talking about.

[cruisenfever]

Iiknow about deposit (this is our 4th suite) and we have sailed on this class of ship a while ago. So I knew some basics, but it was 10 yrs ago and I figured the RA would know what he was talking about. I did ask him all the questions that we were concerned about he flat out told us that "dont worry they have it all"! I said why is there no consierge lounge list on the ships description, he pulled out a book of the same ship and said "see it is here in my book", lol. I should have known. We are still keeping our booking it just makes me angry that these RA dont know what they are talking about.

A lot can happen and not happen in 10 years. I definitely would have reserached the ship right here on CC before calling and booking a cruise. It's a pretty well known fact that CC people know more about what is and isn't going on with RCI than RCI does.

[windjamming]

I am so upset we booked our upcoming cruise while on our last one. Went to the Royal Sales People on the ship and booked. He gave us all the wrong information about the ship. Just told us what we wanted to hear. Well I ended up e-mailing RC and guess what CC people knew what 1 Royal Ambs. 3 people on the phone (that work for RC) didnt know. What a big waste of time. Really wish they would teach the sales people on the ships whats what about the cruises they are selling. Just saying!!

 

Thanks for listening to me rant!!!!;)

 

That's awful. I'd be upset too. As others have mentioned, it's pretty much luck of the draw when it comes to getting correct information on the ship. I've found that making an appointment with the LA (and not the assistant) generally tends to yield better results, though there are exceptions. (Abundance, the assistant LA on the Liberty was a star.)

 

And, if you happen to sail on the Allure, always book an appointment with Cindy Dangel. She is the best of the best.

[BND]

We always book onboard so we can get the obc. We know when booking GS's that we have to put a double deposit down. We know holidays, which ships are newer, larger, smaller, etc. How do we know all this? We research, actually I research everything, every port, every ship, etc. We usually know before we board what cruise we'll be booking. That said, I don't book a ship just for certain amenities. We book for the entire picture and know before we go.

 

We only use the loyalty amabassador to get the OBC and if we're in a cabin below a GS, the 50% deposit. We just booked for March 2013 on EX in a JS for $200 with $100 OBC. Our upcoming EX cruise in Nov, we booked in July 2011 while onboard EN and we have a GS, we put $1800 down and get $150 OBC. I'm so glad we booked when we did as this turned into a Member's cruise and outside cabins currently are going for more than we paid for our GS.

 

Remember, Buyer Beware.

[BecciBoo]

It was obviously a newer LA. But doesn't surprise me much. I have found in all lines of business, the training just isn't what it used to be from knowledge of merchandise to knowledge of policy etc. And the younger the people who are hired(now don't go throwing flames) the lower the level of knowledge. Training departments just aren't doing an adequate job of training these days. JMHO:cool:

[wolfcathorse]

And, if you happen to sail on the Allure, always book an appointment with Cindy Dangel. She is the best of the best.

 

yes, Cindy is personable but even she has her moments. When I sailed Freedom in Oct 2007, she was the LA, as we were waiting for my confirmation for the future booking to come through I told her Sovereign was leaving the fleet in 2008 and she laughed in my face and said "That's not true, I haven't heard that rumor!" She then proceeded to say she's still booking Sovereign, the ship isn't leaving, where did I get that idea, yadda, yadda, yadda. I would have loved to have seen the look on her face when RCI finally told her Sovereign was leaving.

[windjamming]

yes, Cindy is personable but even she has her moments. When I sailed Freedom in Oct 2007, she was the LA, as we were waiting for my confirmation for the future booking to come through I told her Sovereign was leaving the fleet in 2008 and she laughed in my face and said "That's not true, I haven't heard that rumor!" She then proceeded to say she's still booking Sovereign, the ship isn't leaving, where did I get that idea, yadda, yadda, yadda. I would have loved to have seen the look on her face when RCI finally told her Sovereign was leaving.

 

Laughing in anyone's face isn't nice. She could have handled that better with you. To be fair, though, I personally wouldn't discount a LA for not being able to confirm a rumor. I would discount a LA for not knowing if a ship currently in the fleet had a Concierge Lounge or not being to describe the difference between a cruise and a cruisetour.