Argh, really annoyed

[chimaer]

I booked a 3 night cruise in October on IOS as a surprise for my hubby's 30th birthday. I paid £339 per person for an inside room. My mum phoned this morning saying they have an offer on for balcony staterooms for £99 per person per night and she'd put a hold on one for her and my dad. So now a balcony room on my cruise is only £297 per person. I only booked and put a deposit down 2 weeks ago so I phoned to see if there was anything they could do but the offer is for new customers only.

 

I'm so annoyed as I could have saved £88 on my holiday and got a better room :mad:

 

I was looking forward to this holiday and now I feel rubbish. I know it's luck of the draw but if I'd have only waited 2 more weeks to book I could have saved money and got the balcony room I know my hubby would have really wanted but we can never afford :(

[fishtaco]

I booked a 3 night cruise in October on IOS as a surprise for my hubby's 30th birthday. I paid £339 per person for an inside room. My mum phoned this morning saying they have an offer on for balcony staterooms for £99 per person per night and she'd put a hold on one for her and my dad. So now a balcony room on my cruise is only £297 per person. I only booked and put a deposit down 2 weeks ago so I phoned to see if there was anything they could do but the offer is for new customers only.

 

I'm so annoyed as I could have saved £88 on my holiday and got a better room :mad:

 

I was looking forward to this holiday and now I feel rubbish. I know it's luck of the draw but if I'd have only waited 2 more weeks to book I could have saved money and got the balcony room I know my hubby would have really wanted but we can never afford :(

 

Cancel and go through a T/A on a group booking for a balcony?

[chimaer]

Cancel and go through a T/A on a group booking for a balcony?

 

I can't. I'd lose my £150 deposit on the room I have and I can't afford to do that :(

[twinkle1980]

Just had the same thing for our May cruise, balcony is now less (ok only £5 but still!) than our insides. We too were advised it was a "new customer only" deal. Have sent email anyway to see if there is any leeway, but dont expect anything tbh having read other reports here. :rolleyes: :(

 

They too say we would lose the £150 deposit, however terms and conditions say that to make significan amendments (including changing blinking ship!) its a £75 fee, or for smaller amendments (such as upgrading, changing cabins or grade) its £35. Have asked them to clarify this as I couldnt find anything in their T&C (someone point me out if I missed them) which suggested "new customer only offers".

 

reminded me of this: :D :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=733V399DGQU

[NorbertsNiece]

I'd love to know where they saw this offer as I can't find it :(

[chimaer]

Just had the same thing for our May cruise, balcony is now less (ok only £5 but still!) than our insides. We too were advised it was a "new customer only" deal. Have sent email anyway to see if there is any leeway, but dont expect anything tbh having read other reports here. :rolleyes: :(

 

They too say we would lose the £150 deposit, however terms and conditions say that to make significan amendments (including changing blinking ship!) its a £75 fee, or for smaller amendments (such as upgrading, changing cabins or grade) its £35. Have asked them to clarify this as I couldnt find anything in their T&C (someone point me out if I missed them) which suggested "new customer only offers".

 

reminded me of this: :D :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=733V399DGQU

 

:D Yes it does

 

They said they'd pass it to a manager to see what they can do but I can't see it coming to anything, if they even phone back at all. I expected it to come down in price nearer the time but 2 weeks later with almost 7mths to go is really bad luck :(

[chimaer]

I'd love to know where they saw this offer as I can't find it :(

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/cruise-deals/see-more-get-more.aspx

[peteukmcr]

Just had the same thing for our May cruise, balcony is now less (ok only £5 but still!) than our insides. We too were advised it was a "new customer only" deal. Have sent email anyway to see if there is any leeway, but dont expect anything tbh having read other reports here. :rolleyes: :(

 

They too say we would lose the £150 deposit, however terms and conditions say that to make significan amendments (including changing blinking ship!) its a £75 fee, or for smaller amendments (such as upgrading, changing cabins or grade) its £35. Have asked them to clarify this as I couldnt find anything in their T&C (someone point me out if I missed them) which suggested "new customer only offers".

 

reminded me of this: :D :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=733V399DGQU

So sorry this has happened, and it's another example of one rule for those who book in the US and for those of us who book in the UK. The details of the UK T&Cs http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/_images/RoyalCaribbeanUK_Terms%26Conditions_011012_tcm16-11237.pdf Section 1.11 gives the details of the £75 change of sailing fee, and the £35 fee for changing cabins etc.

[NorbertsNiece]

http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/cruise-deals/see-more-get-more.aspx

 

Thanks! :D

 

ETA : OK. It's FROM £99pp..... and looking at it from a solo cruiser perspective the balcony is not cheaper than an inside....

[twinkle1980]

Hiya

 

I know, and would be happy to pay the admin fee, but not happy with them insisting we would lose the £150 deposit.

[sue999]

It seems RCI have differnet rules for different countries.

The same thing happened to us last year .

We booked a cruise , we live in the UK.

Our friends who live in Chicago booked the same cruise.

On checking prices there were better deals just 48 hours later.

Our friends in the USA were able to cancel and rebook the same cruise with no financial penilties.

We tried to do the same from the UK , RCI would allow us to cancel and rebook but we would have lost most of our deposit.

No one at RCI could explain why our friends from the USA could do this and we could not .

I could understand it if if the cruise had have been a few weeks/days from departure but it was 8 months away.

 

We are diamond members , so obviously not new to cruising .

It has left a bit of a bitter taste, especially as speaking to a couple whilst on the cruise, they appeared to have got a much better deal for first time cruisers.

Anyway moan over ..... other cruises to look forward to

[villauk]

Another reason to book via the States. I think I may even try to get my next cruise certificate in $. Has anyone not from the US ever been refused a $NCC when onboard - just wondered if you could purchase one without any issues?

[leyla]

Call back your travel agent & ask them to upgrade you from an inside to a balcony for the same price you paid (not your parents). At least you will have a balcony. I know we can do this in Canada & USA. Even if you pay a small fee for doing the paid upgrade you will be happy with a balcony.

[twinkle1980]

Call back your travel agent & ask them to upgrade you from an inside to a balcony for the same price you paid (not your parents). At least you will have a balcony. I know we can do this in Canada & USA. Even if you pay a small fee for doing the paid upgrade you will be happy with a balcony.

 

I tried that... They wanted £237 pp as the new price is "new cust only"

[chimaer]

Call back your travel agent & ask them to upgrade you from an inside to a balcony for the same price you paid (not your parents). At least you will have a balcony. I know we can do this in Canada & USA. Even if you pay a small fee for doing the paid upgrade you will be happy with a balcony.

 

I didn't book through a travel agent, I booked direct through Royal carribean and they said all I can do is pay extra to upgrade or cancel and rebook the offer (losing my £150 deposit in the process)

[chimaer]

It seems RCI have differnet rules for different countries.

The same thing happened to us last year .

We booked a cruise , we live in the UK.

Our friends who live in Chicago booked the same cruise.

On checking prices there were better deals just 48 hours later.

Our friends in the USA were able to cancel and rebook the same cruise with no financial penilties.

We tried to do the same from the UK , RCI would allow us to cancel and rebook but we would have lost most of our deposit.

No one at RCI could explain why our friends from the USA could do this and we could not .

I could understand it if if the cruise had have been a few weeks/days from departure but it was 8 months away.

 

We are diamond members , so obviously not new to cruising .

It has left a bit of a bitter taste, especially as speaking to a couple whilst on the cruise, they appeared to have got a much better deal for first time cruisers.

Anyway moan over ..... other cruises to look forward to

 

Yeah I looked at the prices for my inside cabin before we booked and my cabin booked through a US website would have been £60 pp less and I would have got some OBC too. It seems really unfair when you get the same holiday

 

This is my first cruise with RCI, before I've been with P&O, and this is already leaving a bad taste in my mouth. I suppose I've just been unlucky. But I expected price drops nearer the cruise, not 2 weeks before the cruise when it's still 7mths away. Oh well :(

[Cuizer2]

I booked a 3 night cruise in October on IOS as a surprise for my hubby's 30th birthday. I paid £339 per person for an inside room. My mum phoned this morning saying they have an offer on for balcony staterooms for £99 per person per night and she'd put a hold on one for her and my dad. So now a balcony room on my cruise is only £297 per person. I only booked and put a deposit down 2 weeks ago so I phoned to see if there was anything they could do but the offer is for new customers only.

 

I'm so annoyed as I could have saved £88 on my holiday and got a better room :mad:

 

I was looking forward to this holiday and now I feel rubbish. I know it's luck of the draw but if I'd have only waited 2 more weeks to book I could have saved money and got the balcony room I know my hubby would have really wanted but we can never afford :(

 

I recently book a cruise and the day after I booked the price of the cabin when up $600. If you could predict the future you would be rich beyond your wildest dreams and not care how much the cruise costs.

 

So stop second guessing yourself. You made the best decision for the time when you booked. You can't do any better than that.

[Paulxyz2004]

Another reason to book via the States. I think I may even try to get my next cruise certificate in $. Has anyone not from the US ever been refused a $NCC when onboard - just wondered if you could purchase one without any issues?

 

I´m from a Euro country and have purchased $NCC´s without a problem. But I don´t know if this makes a difference, I had booked the cruise I purchased those NCC´s on in the US and had them go to my US TA again. So it can be done, just not sure if it will depend on how the cruise you are on is booked.

[villauk]

I´m from a Euro country and have purchased $NCC´s without a problem. But I don´t know if this makes a difference, I had booked the cruise I purchased those NCC´s on in the US and had them go to my US TA again. So it can be done, just not sure if it will depend on how the cruise you are on is booked.

 

Thanks, Paul. Our next cruise we booked in the UK, however I have previously booked using a US TA. So, I'll try my best while on Oasis and hopefully I'll be lucky ;).

[pollux]

No way you can compare different country rules.

When I want to book oneway airfare from the USA it cost me over 3000 dollar.

When I book from Europe going back to the US its 1/3 less.

[jbwaterski]

So sorry this has happened, and it's another example of one rule for those who book in the US and for those of us who book in the UK. The details of the UK T&Cs http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/_images/RoyalCaribbeanUK_Terms%26Conditions_011012_tcm16-11237.pdf Section 1.11 gives the details of the £75 change of sailing fee, and the £35 fee for changing cabins etc.

 

This is not exclusive to the UK. I live in the states, and the same type of thing just happened to us.

We booked an oceanview in December for our Easter Sunday cruise on Allure. On Tuesday, I saw that an Oceanview with a balcony was about $200 less than we paid. I called my TA and he called RCCL and he was told it was only for new bookings. I didn't even ask for a refund, I just wanted the better cabin. So I called C&A, told them I am a Diamond member and have brought many groups of friends and family on RCCL. As many as 31 have sailed with us and over 20 three times. That wasn't good enough.

As my TA said, it makes no business sense to upset some of your best customers and TA's to give those cabins to "new Bookings.

 

Jim

[TEXASMUNK]

The UK's consumer protection laws. They are so strict and draconian that the cruise lines need to close any and all loopholes. Just you do not have the buying flexibility of the US consumer. Ain't our fault....sorry for the frustration.

[chimaer]

Well I've been on the phone to them again and as a goodwill gesture they have given me the same deal for the price I've paid already so I've got a free upgrade to a balcony stateroom. So it's worth phoning to see if they can do anything

[We-R-Off]

I´m from a Euro country and have purchased $NCC´s without a problem. But I don´t know if this makes a difference, I had booked the cruise I purchased those NCC´s on in the US and had them go to my US TA again. So it can be done, just not sure if it will depend on how the cruise you are on is booked.

 

We did this several years ago without problem for Celebrity but not all cruise companies would allow non US passengers to book. A year later we tried to book a Celebrity cruise with the same TA & weren't able to !!!! go figure.

 

Our first cruise went down in price a lot & after several phone calls to our TA, we were upgraded dramatically & got on OBC.

 

The last two cruises we've booked more than 6 months in advance, the prices have risen a great deal. Our current cruise at the end of May is sold out for balconies & the price of inside cabins that remain are more expensive than the price we paid.

[LobstersLass]

Well I've been on the phone to them again and as a goodwill gesture they have given me the same deal for the price I've paid already so I've got a free upgrade to a balcony stateroom. So it's worth phoning to see if they can do anything

 

Result! Enjoy your cruise.