RCI Cancelled ALL our shows reservations!

[cello56]

SO frustrated right about now!

Last week RCI called and asked us to please switch from the Eastern Freedom cruise on April 22nd to the Western Allure cruise on the same date. The rep sounded like she really needed to find a lot of people to do this. We agreed to make the change, even though we prefer eastern, and it was a three hour longer drive to the port. I then spent several hours getting our entertainment reservations squared away. There was a computer issue that required several phone calls to fix. Great, I thought - everything is in order - shows are all booked and new soda passes purchased, and I had the confirmation email to prove it.

 

WRONG!! I just happened to look at my reservation this morning and discovered that they had CANCELLED ALL MY RESERVATIONS!!! For anyone who has sailed on the Oasis/Allure, having reservations for the shows is very important. Plus I had already invested several hours getting them all set up!

 

Called this morning and the first rep said that the shows were all closed, and I would have to get it taken care of once on board. I then asked (Politely!) to be transfered to the resolutions department. I had my confirmation email right in front of me and asked to please be put back into all my reservations. After a looong time on hold, they have me back in two of the five I had reserved, but the other three will take getting permission from another department.

 

I hope that this will all get straightened out, but to be perfectly honest, I am very annoyed that this issue happened. I had my holiday all planned out. Shows booked, soda pass booked, we were all ready to go. I really feel that when a customer switches ships at RCI'S REQUEST they should make sure that show reservations are not screwed up!

 

So passenger beware! Sometimes what looks like a good opportunity may end up being a royal pain in the patootie!

[linedancer]

Sorry this happened to you. I agree, it is a pain and I am like you, I plan out everything and when it changes I get a bit upset. But, come on over to our M&M page and meet alot a nice people. You will have a wonderful cruise.

 

Stay positive and I hope you will join us.

Irene

[Twickenham]

Did you receive any compensation/incentive to make the switch? I'm certainly not the first person to scream 'compensation', but this is a situation where they should absolutely give you something for changing all your plans.

At the very least, they should give you your show reservations. Point out that you didn't have to switch, and if they can't get it straightened out, you would be more than happy to go back to your originally-booked cruise.

[psupa]

Wow, what a mess. Hopefully they will make good on your reservations. Just curious did they offer you any upgrade for switching ships.

[Isaboo]

WHAT is going on with RCI these days? I had the same question too....did they offer you compensation for the switch?

[sredish]

I agree with the compensation part. I'm never one to ask for something for nothing, but this is a big something. Especially when you have your confirmation. Plus you only changed your cruise because they asked YOU to, you didn't make the change.

 

I'd try pressing for an upgrade. You never know what will happen. Plus if you start out asking for something "big", they may "settle" and offer a nice OBC instead.

[Shippy]

....when I made all my reservations for shows on the Oasis, I printed the confirmations.

Just in case... That way you might have a good argument onboard. Not that you should have to do this but I do not trust anything anymore.

[cello56]

I did in fact save my confirmation email as well as print it out. I honestly think if I had not done that I would have been out of luck.

 

As far as compensation, we were in an E2 hump cabin on Freedom. They offered us a D1 on Allure, but they were all connecting cabins and I was worried about noise issues, so I took a D2. The rep kept saying how we would be on a nicer ship AT NO COST TO YOU!! The next day I looked it up, and an Allure D2 was $1049 and we paid $1099 on Freedom! So not exactly an upgrade price wise!

 

If they get our show bookings all straightened out I will be happy. If they don't then heads will roll and I will expect some compensation. I honestly think that they asked us to switch because Freedom was selling like hotcakes and Allure was not. They moved us, and then resold our cabin at a financial gain for the company. Not fair if they make more money, and we get scr@wed out of our show reservations.

 

I will update this thread when I hear something.

[Sky616]

Maybe I am missing something here but why would they want you to switch or anybody switch ships for that matter? If anyone makes a reservation on a certain ship shouldn't they assume that that is the ship the person wants to sail on? Is the Freedom near full or something?

[ausofte]

OMG, how stressful! Call back and demand a suite (GS or higher). 1. You deserve compensation and this is reasonable. 2. Supposedly, the concierge has a group of seats saved at every show for suite guests who wait until on board to reserve shows. So you'll just have to make a beeline to the CL to make your reservations when you get on board. Let us know how this works out.

 

Also, don't settle for the runaround from whomever answers your call. Demand a supervisor!

[Jimbo]

Just show up with your confirmations. Get there about 25 minutes before show time and they will let you in.

 

It's only 3 showsyou will have no problems.

 

Only trouble you might have is if one of those shows in the Comedy shows since that is very limited with the number of seats they have.

 

I still think since you printed them out you are good to go.

 

Lots of people who have reservations and don't show up and they let in stand by's 10 minutes before the show starts take their seats.

 

Jimbo:)

[ryano]

Maybe I am missing something here but why would they want you to switch or anybody switch ships for that matter? If anyone makes a reservation on a certain ship shouldn't they assume that that is the ship the person wants to sail on? Is the Freedom near full or something?

 

Im on the 4-22 Freedom sailing and as far as I know the ship still has all categories available except for the suites.

 

I have no idea why RCI wanted them to "upgrade" to Allure but I would have taken it as well! Even though its a 12 hour drive to FLL (and more gas) vs 9 hour drive to PC for me.

[cello56]

Just show up with your confirmations. Get there about 25 minutes before show time and they will let you in.

 

It's only 3 showsyou will have no problems.

 

Only trouble you might have is if one of those shows in the Comedy shows since that is very limited with the number of seats they have.

 

I still think since you printed them out you are good to go.

 

Lots of people who have reservations and don't show up and they let in stand by's 10 minutes before the show starts take their seats.

 

Jimbo:)

 

Our cruise is supposed to be a relaxing time without stress! We really love seeing all the shows, and since I am short, getting a good seat is important to me. Showing up and waiting standby at the end pretty much ensures a stressful time and rotten seats! I really REALLY wanted to have everything all set to go and stress free.

 

As to why they asked us to change ships, I can only guess that the Freedom was selling better. The RCI Rep said that she had a long list of Florida people who would be driving to the port to call that day.

[Jimbo]

Our cruise is supposed to be a relaxing time without stress! We really love seeing all the shows, and since I am short, getting a good seat is important to me. Showing up and waiting standby at the end pretty much ensures a stressful time and rotten seats! I really REALLY wanted to have everything all set to go and stress free.

 

As to why they asked us to change ships, I can only guess that the Freedom was selling better. The RCI Rep said that she had a long list of Florida people who would be driving to the port to call that day.

 

I didn't say go in the standby line........I was just stating that some of those people get in too. so there will be room for you.

 

So if you go in there with your confirmation paper they will let you in, just say it is some kind of computer glicth on their end. They will let you in. Go in 40 to 45 minutes before show time and get a good seat. You will be fine and nothing to worry about. Believe me they will not give you a hard time or want to create a problem over 2 seats.

 

Jimbo:)

[wwcruisers]

Yikes, Cello 56 -- that's terrible! :eek:

It's just awful that RC called and asked you to move your cruise to another ship, and then messed up your reservations. One of the (many) reasons that I have no desire to sail Oasis or Allure is the apparent need to pre-book absolutely everything. For me, that takes the spontaneity out of cruising. I think that if I ever were to receive such a phone call from RC, my reply would be: "Sorry, but if I had wanted to book that ship to that destination, I would have done so, myself -- but thank you for calling."

I do hope that you get this worked out and are able to enjoy your cruise. :cool:

[LESLIEKURZ]

Call again and try a different rep. When I don't get an issue resolved to my satisfaction I keep trying till I get what's I'm asking for. So long as the request is reasonable (and yours is) someone there will be sympathetic and help you.

[cruisinfanatic]

OMG, how stressful! Call back and demand a suite (GS or higher). 1. You deserve compensation and this is reasonable. 2. Supposedly, the concierge has a group of seats saved at every show for suite guests who wait until on board to reserve shows. So you'll just have to make a beeline to the CL to make your reservations when you get on board. Let us know how this works out.

 

Also, don't settle for the runaround from whomever answers your call. Demand a supervisor!

pretty late to be doing any demanding. The OP should have said a suite or no since a D2 is hardly much of an upgrade from an E2

[cello56]

Still waiting to hear if there has been a resolution to this.

[Big_G]

OMG, how stressful! Call back and demand a suite (GS or higher). 1. You deserve compensation and this is reasonable. 2. Supposedly, the concierge has a group of seats saved at every show for suite guests who wait until on board to reserve shows. So you'll just have to make a beeline to the CL to make your reservations when you get on board. Let us know how this works out.

 

Also, don't settle for the runaround from whomever answers your call. Demand a supervisor!

 

Getting a little ahead of yourself aren't you? I agree the OP has a beef but demanding a GS for cancelled shows? I love it when others ride in on their high horse over other people's problems and tell them what they should demand. As for, "Don't let them give you the runaround." I suspect that ship has sailed. Sorry for the bad pun/cliche.

[colesc15]

Keep us posted:)

[B-52]

Very frustrating to say the least....

 

If it were me, and it's not, if I had received a phone call asking me to switch ships I would have said NO WAY!

If I wanted to cruise on that ship I would have booked that ship, but I didn't. I booked this ship!

 

 

They would have had to offer me the moon to get me to change my vacation completely around.

 

As it is, you were nice and obliged them, only to get screwed by the corporate monster.

They are not your friends....it is a business.

[molly361]

Good luck I hope it all works out for you.

[honeybee85]

For those asking why RCI would ask someone to switch ships...

 

Only Revenue is permitted to make these calls (or someone on their behalf) which means the ship was in danger of being oversold. They most likely overbooked guarantees. This is what they do when that happens. You don't have to accept their offer but keep in mind that I have seen them start cancelling reservations and refunding in full when no one accepts the offer to move.

 

As for "demanding" a suite. Give me a break. Yes, the price is comparable now - but I bet it wasn't when you originally booked. 10-1 that D2 would have cost you a lot more on booking day than your E2 did.

 

It really sucks about your show reservations. I would be curious to know how they got cancelled. For what it is worth, try not to be too short with the Resolutions agents. They have very limited access when it comes to this and all they can do is ask the entertainment folks to open up seats - if the entertainment folks say no, Resolutions cannot force it.

[cello56]

For those asking why RCI would ask someone to switch ships...

 

Only Revenue is permitted to make these calls (or someone on their behalf) which means the ship was in danger of being oversold. They most likely overbooked guarantees. This is what they do when that happens. You don't have to accept their offer but keep in mind that I have seen them start cancelling reservations and refunding in full when no one accepts the offer to move.

 

As for "demanding" a suite. Give me a break. Yes, the price is comparable now - but I bet it wasn't when you originally booked. 10-1 that D2 would have cost you a lot more on booking day than your E2 did.

 

Just for clarification, I NEVER asked for a suite! All I asked for was my reservations reinstated. Period.

 

It really sucks about your show reservations. I would be curious to know how they got cancelled. For what it is worth, try not to be too short with the Resolutions agents. They have very limited access when it comes to this and all they can do is ask the entertainment folks to open up seats - if the entertainment folks say no, Resolutions cannot force it.

 

Again, just for clarification I am one of the most polite people you will meet. I am nice to everybody! I am also fully aware that you 'catch more flies with honey' when dealing with people in customer service. I am not however a patsy, and I will get this resolved, even if it means that I have to politely ask to move up the customer service food chain at the resolutions department.

[ERIE 13]

As time goes on more and more of these stressful situation are happening to RCCL customers. Could be maybe the powers that be need to take a cruise themselves to relax a little.