Royal Caribbean please read!!!

[funfamilyof6]

Enjoyed your thoughtful and sincere post!!! :)

[tangogulf]

Fantastic that you took the time the highlight the great Royal service you received. My family and I are going on our first RCI cruise this NYE and it's threads like this on various boards that continue to give me confidence I have made the right choice of cruise line.

 

 

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[Iluvcruising2]

Well done Royal!!

[groinky]

Well done Royal!!

 

I totally agree!

 

Another reason to love Royal Caribbean!

[VillaHappy]

Royal does it right! So glad they went above and beyond in this situation!

[Ladysilver]

Love your attitude! :D

[cruising granddad]

Great post! Thankyou.

I hope you sent that message to Mr Goldstein?

If not, please do.... agoldstein@rccl.com

No, I have not.

I just might!

 

Thanks, everyone, for all the kind words!:D

[WNcruiser]

My mom was booked on the Carnival Valor during Isaac that weekend. For those of you that dont think what RCI did was enough, this might change your mind.

 

She was at the airport getting ready to board her flight on Saturday. I was monitoring carnivals website and CC (of course) when I learned the port was closed and the Valor would be arriving at least one day late.

 

When my mom called Carnival for her options, they only offered her a $50 OBC. NO hotel room, NO money for food, NO transportation, nothing else. She ended up cancelling and getting a credit back for the full amount. If they did what RCI did for their passengers, she definately would have flown to Miami and boarded the ship late.

 

Her T/A said that more than 50% of passengers ended up cancelling the cruise.

[blackforest3]

I am glad that RCL did this, but a question. If they were not required to do this, why did RCL? Was it strictly from a customer service perspective? And now that they HAVE set a precident, WOW! A new gold standard will be expected every time! Can RCL "keep up the good work"?

[Steve78]

LIKE!!!!! :)

 

Steve

[foxgoodrich]

My mom was booked on the Carnival Valor during Isaac that weekend. For those of you that dont think what RCI did was enough, this might change your mind.

 

She was at the airport getting ready to board her flight on Saturday. I was monitoring carnivals website and CC (of course) when I learned the port was closed and the Valor would be arriving at least one day late.

 

When my mom called Carnival for her options, they only offered her a $50 OBC. NO hotel room, NO money for food, NO transportation, nothing else. She ended up cancelling and getting a credit back for the full amount. If they did what RCI did for their passengers, she definately would have flown to Miami and boarded the ship late.

 

Her T/A said that more than 50% of passengers ended up cancelling the cruise.

 

We heard a little about Carnival doing less than what RCI did for us. One difference is that RCI did not offer any kind of refund for canceling the cruise. I really wanted to cruise Allure, though! And we were already in Ft Lauderdale. We didn't want to cancel, even though the cruise became shorter, so DH and I were quite happy with what RCI did for us. Most people were happy.

 

I did see a post where somebody said the 10% Future Cruise Credit we're getting is "an insult." She thought it should have been much bigger. Huh? To me, that's gravy! A nice freebie! They had already covered all our expenses for 2 days, plus we got the $650 OBC. (For us, 2/7 of what we paid for our D5 balcony was $696, so $650 was close to reimbursing us for 2 days of the cruise.) So to me it seems that the 10% FCC is a very nice extra - a gift to minimize our pain and suffering.;) And it was probably smart too, since we have to book again with RCI to use it. (No problem...I'll apply it to one of the 3 we've already booked.:D And I am not insulted - I said Thank You!)

 

I am glad that RCL did this, but a question. If they were not required to do this, why did RCL? Was it strictly from a customer service perspective? And now that they HAVE set a precident, WOW! A new gold standard will be expected every time! Can RCL "keep up the good work"?

 

You raise an interesting question. I've thought about this too, and I think it must be that RCI was just trying to provide great customer service. Perhaps they do want to set the bar with the new gold standard and become the cruise line with the reputation for the best customer service. Treating customers this way could impact sales. (For example, when we returned home I called my TA and told her everything RCI did...she was amazed! So if somebody asks her to recommend a cruise line, what might she say?)

And then we all have that 10% FCC...

Judy

[time4u2go]

OP, posting here is nice and everything, but why not send your thoughts directly to RCI?

[time4u2go]

I am glad that RCL did this, but a question. If they were not required to do this, why did RCL? Was it strictly from a customer service perspective? And now that they HAVE set a precident, WOW! A new gold standard will be expected every time! Can RCL "keep up the good work"?

 

One word: Irene.

[LisaGoeke]

Nice Post!

We were on the Freedom last October when the ship ended up in a bad storm. There was a lot of damage to the ship, 2nd seating dinner was canceled, and everyone was requested to go back to their cabins to wait further instructions because things were getting so bad, this all was over a couple of hours. Afterwards, EVERYONE was compensated, even those (like us) who didn't have any damage to their cabins. It was a nice surprise and nothing I expected.

Love RCI!

[MaryEBS]

I really hope that RCCL does read this. So many times we only read complaints people have. It's refreshing for someone to be realistic and grateful!

 

Here's to you!

 

John, I could not agree with you more! We were on the same cruise... sorry we did not get to meet. I believe they went above and beyond for the passengers who were interrupted and provided more than expected.

[we like it hot]

I wish cruise critic had a 'Like' button :)

[pomlover]

I am happy to hear RCCL took care of you. Yes, cruising in this time of year is risky. Once, while flying a tornado was over an airport and my connecting flight was missed. Of course most everyone on board was going to same flight. By the time I got up to desk, no seats available. So basically I was SOL! Had to purchase another ticket to guarantee I would get to my port on time! Again, they said weather was NOT airlines fault. No help with room that night or anything.

 

And yes the Cruise lines do moniter this boards. My post were taken off and Carnival was told they took care of us when we had problems. Which in their eyes I guess they did. Then my next post the thread was closed. So not sure if I can keep posting or what! But so glad to see ANY CL take care of their passengers!

[cruising granddad]

John,

 

I never post on these main boards, but for you - anything! :D

 

I'll post it to FB for you and email you with any feedback.

 

So glad we got to meet on the crazy sailing that was ours, and yes, we were VERY fortunate because they didn't need to do a thing for us. And it was STILL a great cruise! :)

 

We were also on the 8/26 'Hurricane Isaac' Allure cruise and are also very happy with the way RCI took care of us. We received a $650 refundable OBC (we had a negative balance at the end of the cruise and got a credit on our credit card), we were reimbursed for our meals, we were treated to 2 nights at the Embassy Suites in FLL on RCI's tab, and we're getting a Future Cruise Certificate for 10% of what we paid for our cruise. While we were terribly disappointed that we lost 2 nights of our cruise on Allure (our first time on one of the big girls!), we were happily surprised with the care from RCI. It made the situation better. And we're very grateful for what RCI did for us.

 

The only complaint that I think is valid is that lots of folks on our cruise had a hard time getting the info/details/plan by phone. People spent long hours on hold, some people were promised a call back and never got it, and in general, it seems that RCI was not prepared to handle the volume of phone communications that had to be made. BUT this situation may have a silver lining since it had to be a learning experience for RCI - now they know what's involved when an incident such as this one occurs. I'm confident that they will come up with a contingency plan that will provide more staff on short notice to man the phones the next time something like this happens.

 

We agree, John! THANK YOU RCI! YOU TOOK CARE OF US WELL AND YOUR GENEROSITY IS APPRECIATED!

And...if I had to guess...I think that most of us will be back for another shot at a 7 nighter on Allure...our 5 nighter was only a tantalizing taste...so the investment in customer satisfaction will pay off.

Judy

Thanks, Sande (& Scott), Judy (& Buz) for posting. This is why I started this thread, so other CruiseCritic members can see how Royal Caribbean took care of us! I wanted to get the word out.

[cruising granddad]

OP, posting here is nice and everything, but why not send your thoughts directly to RCI?

Well, I have thought about that.

Royal Caribbean knows they did the right thing!:D

I knew the way I worded the thread that many CruiseCritic members would read it, also!

I have never emailed or written a letter to Royal Caribbean.

I wanted people new to cruising to know Royal Caribbean is a great cruise line!

I have cruised 6 cruise lines and seem to always want to cruise on Royal Caribbean!:D:p

[reeran]

Great post, it's nice to hear they took good care of you!:D

[Daycare Provider]

:DNicely said....good job!

[cruising grandma]

Cruising grandma booked us another RCI cruise this week!!!! We will be cruising on Independence of the Seas 12/8/12. Another great thing about cruising RCI is meeting so many wonderful people on our cruises. We know at least six others who are on the next cruise.......met them all on different cruises and can't wait to cruise with them again. I am emailing cruise friends trying to see if they can join us on the next one. We also met so many nice people on Allure (some at the hotel precruise and made, hopefully, lifelong friendships with them and many others on the cruise) We love to cruise with those we've met through the years, and do plan cruises with as many as we can.

Crusing granddad and cruising grandma LOVE RCI!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D

Thanks again Royal Caribbean for all you have done and the wonderful cruise experiences we have had on your fantastic ships!!! We can't wait to be back onboard!!

[Iluvcruising2]

From the way I look at it, Royal must have considered this scenario way beforehand and took a management decision to have such a compensation policy.

 

Think about it - while such a policy is certainly costly to Royal upfront, the goodwill earned is fantastic. More importantly, this goodwill is anticipated to translate into more repeat sailings in the future as well as new first timers who heard about this.

 

Overall, it probably makes good business sense for Royal to have done what they did.

[cruising granddad]

From the way I look at it, Royal must have considered this scenario way beforehand and took a management decision to have such a compensation policy.

 

Think about it - while such a policy is certainly costly to Royal upfront, the goodwill earned is fantastic. More importantly, this goodwill is anticipated to translate into more repeat sailings in the future as well as new first timers who heard about this.

 

Overall, it probably makes good business sense for Royal to have done what they did.

That is why I am trying to get the word out to everyone!

Royal Caribbean WILL take care of you!!:D

[emmacruises00]

Wow! RCCL has ALWAYS been, and will ALWAYS BE my favorite cruise line. But I had no idea how nice they would be in a case like this (as I have never cruised in hurricane season). This ESPECIALLY shocks me, because Allure is their largest (well, that and Oasis) and newest ship. That really had to have cost them MILLIONS of dollars, and they don't know if you will ever cruise them again. This is affirmation that I am LOYAL TO ROYAL, BABY!!!