Just got booted from my boardwalk balcony

[jewel825]

I'm so sorry! I'd be mad too! We booked a boardwalk cabin on the Allure last year and it was my favorite cabin of all time! I loved looking down on the Boardwalk and seeing all the action below. I never felt like people were looking in at me or staring at my on my balcony. I would prefer a Boardwalk over an ocean view balcony any time!

 

We were towards the end of the ship and it was perfect. I remember thinking that the cabins on the very end would be the best. There's no comparison to the one on the end to one toward the front of the Boardwalk. I hope they can give you some type of compensation.

[cruisegirl1]

I too would be very angry if a carefully selected desirable cabin was taken away. Given a replacement in the same category is not sufficient. Even if the change was made prior to final payment, often other work/family obligations and travel plans are in place and cannot be changed or cancelled.

 

OP- I hope you get a better deal from RCCL.

 

Please keep us posted.

M

[Nan1052]

I agree that this isn't acceptable. First, you had a terrific location on deck 11, and now have an obstructed view to the amphitheater, due to the overhang.

 

Call your travel agent and let her know that you are not at all pleased with what they've offered you, and that you would like her to please go to bat for you and negotiate a more desirable location. Category B1 on 11, is not the same as the B1 on deck 14. If she can't get anything done, call RCCL yourself and ask to speak to someone in the Resolutions Dept as earlier suggested. But give your T/A an opportunity to be your hero.

 

They expect you to accept this switch, but speak out!

[Jessy74]

Ask that they move you to an ocean view balcony of the same size. OV is better than Boardwalk, unless you want to have people looking in your window when they walk by.

 

jc

 

We were on Deck 14 in a Boardwalk cabin for an Easter cruise the year before last. Almost directly across from your new cabin. Keep in mind that it is directly beneath the teen club on deck 15. It was outrageously loud. All hours of the night. If I were you, I would request an upgrade to an ocean view.

[vacation_junkie]

Where exactly are they putting in new suites?? I have 8729 booked for Allure in 2016.

 

The stateroom they are speaking about is on the Oasis which is in dry dock right now. The changes have no effect on the Allure.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

The rest of the story

 

OV bal are just 60$ more and there are plenty left

They may be $60 more now, but not just $60 mor ethan the OP's booked price. Prices have escalated dramatically since I received my current fare during the BOGOHO1 sale. I actually booked 11329 almost two years out just to get that cabin and to change to an OV balcony now would cost me an exra $800+ dollars over my existing price.:mad:

 

They are putting in suites where those cabins are.

 

 

Edit AND they are still selling those end cabins. I saw one available for a cruise in 2015

 

We don't know for sure they are using the B1's to put in suites yet. The November moves may be just for ongoing noise and construction issues. It seems that post-dry dock changes are going o be ongoing for awhile. I don't believe we have heard from any later cruise dates than November about being moved. I am going to wait until things shake out before I get my panties in a bundle over this for my May cruise.:p And yes, I did see they are still selling those cabins for future cruise dates. If it is true that those cabins are going away I at least have time to do something about it. I don't plan to cancel, but I don't want a less desirable cabin, either. If OV balcony prices drop I will probably switch to one of those.

 

I read a report from someone on he TA who said that an officer indicated that the Secret Balconies would be converted into additional cabins, but not necessarily luxury suites, and they may or may not have balconies. And so the speculation continues. As stated before, it is too bad that RCI thinks it's ok to leave their loyal and pre-booked passengers hanging. Loyalty only stretches so far.....

Edited September 22, 2014 by Sunny AZ Girl

[Langley Cruisers]

Ask that they move you to an ocean view balcony of the same size. OV is better than Boardwalk, unless you want to have people looking in your window when they walk by.

 

I feel the same way as you do however, OP specifically chose this cabin. He wanted it, still wants it, and many passengers love the BW cabins as well as CP and RP cabins. Different strokes. :)

Edited September 22, 2014 by Langley Cruisers

[boulders]

The stateroom they are speaking about is on the Oasis which is in dry dock right now. The changes have no effect on the Allure.

 

:confused: The Allure is the same ship as the Oasis and the Allure is going into drydock to have the same changes done in 2015 as the Oasis is having now.

[Canadian Cruiser98]

I love Royal Caribbean, but sometimes I just have to wonder about their thought process. :confused: I think the secrecy surrounding this Oasis dry dock and renovation is ridiculous, unnecessary, and is causing a lot of anxiety and ill-will among booked passengers.

 

I agree! With the January Freedom dry dock as well they aren't saying anything! It is incredibly frustrating for people already booked on the sailing to not know what is happening, and it's entirely unnecessary. I wish Royal would just release the details on the dry docks, not leave already-booked guests to second-guess whether their vacation will be screwed up. Royal needs to be far more transparent with this and realize it affects people's trips.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

The stateroom they are speaking about is on the Oasis which is in dry dock right now. The changes have no effect on the Allure.

 

The Oasis isn't in drydock yet. It goes into drydock on Oct 1 and will be there for a mere two weeks before it heads back over to this side of the pond. The number of changes they are doing are dramatic, and this amount of time is apparently not enough to do the work that is planned, despite bringing on 1,500 drydock workers working 24/7. They are probably concentrating on getting the public areas done first in order to have minimal impact on the TA passengers, but work will be continuing through November at least on those aft cabins. Again, we will find out for sure what is happening as time goes on. However, I believe it is bad form for RCI to just let those booked in the affected cabins to hang and moving those who have made final payment to a less desirable cabin is a horrible idea!

 

The Allure will probably have similar changes, but at least those passengers will have an idea of what is coming.:rolleyes:

Edited September 22, 2014 by Sunny AZ Girl

[Nan1052]

Just got a phone call from my travel agent that RCI has booted us from our cabin 11329 because of construction for our cruise on November 29, 2014.

 

Instead of the last balcony cabin on the boardwalk on deck 11 we now have the first boardwalk balcony on deck 14, 14693.

 

There are no other B1's available for our sailing.

 

Of course they waited until final payment date has just past so we can't cancel and now have to just suck it up and move on.

 

Booked in January for this specific cabin. Not happy at all.

 

Oh yeah I know it is in the contract that they can do this but doesn't make it any easier to swallow.:mad:

 

Bill

 

There are four cabins remaining in the B2 category, with two of them on deck 12. 12695 & 12697. I know that's a downgrade, but better location that what you're in. Yes, same area, but not obstructed and kids won't tend to be as noisy. Ocean view balcony cabins are selling very affordably, so may be that they will upgrade you to one of those. Worth a shot!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I have asked my TA to ask RCI resolutions to put me in an OV balcony, offer me $100 OBC or waive the cancelation fee.

 

I'll let you know what happens.

 

Bill

[skiiergirl]

Ask your TA to go to the mat for you; that's not right. RCI know perfectly well how many people book those cabins for their prime location (if they had any brains they would charge more for them), and to boot you out long after they knew they were going to be doing construction work (somebody posted at least a week ago that they were booked out of their B1 on the westbound TA) and cause you to have made final payment is unconscionable, IMO.

 

Exactly what I was thinking!

[xpcdoojk]

I have asked my TA to ask RCI resolutions to put me in an OV balcony, offer me $100 OBC or waive the cancelation fee.

 

I'll let you know what happens.

 

Bill

 

Good luck!

 

Your request seems fairly reasonable to me.

 

jc

[PCWalton1]

We don't know for sure they are using the B1's to put in suites yet. The November moves may be just for ongoing noise and construction issues. It seems that post-dry dock changes are going o be ongoing for awhile. I don't believe we have heard from any later cruise dates than November about being moved. I am going to wait until things shake out before I get my panties in a bundle over this for my May cruise.:p And yes, I did see they are still selling those cabins for future cruise dates. If it is true that those cabins are going away I at least have time to do something about it. I don't plan to cancel, but I don't want a less desirable cabin, either. If OV balcony prices drop I will probably switch to one of those.

 

I read a report from someone on he TA who said that an officer indicated that the Secret Balconies would be converted into additional cabins, but not necessarily luxury suites, and they may or may not have balconies. And so the speculation continues. As stated before, it is too bad that RCI thinks it's ok to leave their loyal and pre-booked passengers hanging. Loyalty only stretches so far.....

 

Ginny, I think you may be closest to the mark on this. Since they are still selling those end cabins you may be right that the cancellation of the end cabins in November is just to facilitate work on the Secret balconies. So I will calm down and wait to see what happens over the next month or two. :)

[Fortypluscruiser]

The rumor is that they are just adding four more AquaSuites as the secret balconies weren't generating any revenue. Makes sense. And I don't think you'd want to be in that cabin next door to the construction. If your TA is big enough, they have access to an inside sales rep who can do something to take care of you.

[Janet524]

I have asked my TA to ask RCI resolutions to put me in an OV balcony, offer me $100 OBC or waive the cancelation fee.

 

I'll let you know what happens.

 

Bill

 

Good luck. I hope your TA advocates well for you and that this is resolved to your satisfaction. Lately, it seems with RC the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

[Sky616]

I am on the same sailing as the op. Our boardwalk cabin is 12729, the last one on starboard side. I haven't heard anything yet from my ta but I just did leave a voice mail with her. We chose this cabin in October of 2013 for the view of the theater and boardwalk. We have two kids ages 13 and 5 who we thought would love this cabin and we two adults would have access to the secret balcony. This cabin has a Pullman and a sofa bed for the kids. Where in the hell would they put us needing those two types of beds for them. They definitely won't sleep together in a sofa bed. They would kill each other by the end of the week. This could get really ugly. Made our final payment in August.

[NoWavesInCali]

Oh no Bill!! That's terrible news!! I was so excited for our cruise Sept 2015 and remember how I told you I'd made the change to 9729? UGH!!! I can't believe RCI would do something like this! Now I am super worried that they'll move us too... Even though we are a bit over a year away, it still concerns me since more and more cabins will be filling up which means that in case they "need" to move us, they'll probably move us to a crappy one 😥

[roe2ship]

I'm sorry to hear this, Bill. I know how you must feel. We book the boardwalk cabins (last ones) way in advance. To get notified about a switch is disappointing enough but to actually tell you after final payment is just beyond sneaky!

 

Good luck and I hope you get what you are looking for.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

So they wouldnt waive the cancelation fee but they did give us an extra $100 obc which is all i asked for.

 

It takes the sting away a little anyway

.

 

Will keep my eyes open for a better cabin between now and sale date.

 

That's for all the support and not flaming me for venting.

 

Bill

[dacsmom]

I am glad you got some OBC out of it. I think you are taking this rather well, RCI does not seem to be rewarding cruisers who book well in advance of their cruise lately. It seems that there is no real advantage to booking early anymore.

[connes1]

I would push the issue. Talk to a supervisor. I am sure they can put you in an ocean view. You are not being treated well and it seems rccl is taking advantage of the customers.

[emmy]

The stateroom they are speaking about is on the Oasis which is in dry dock right now. The changes have no effect on the Allure.

 

 

No yet..Allure is due for drydock in 2015 and I expect similar changes to be made. Deck 8 though should be okay. The public balcony area that are being remodeled are deck 11,12 and 14 both port and starboard

[emmy]

I am booked in cabin 11329 in Feb and am on the OASIS transatlantic post drydock. I will be visiting the Loyalty Ambassador to first see if these cabin are totally gone, just blocked because of construction and to ask about the new deck plans for that area in order to select a new cabin possibly in that area