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Royal rip off...free gratuities a joke

seafoy

By seafoy,
in Royal Caribbean International

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seafoy

seafoy

Posted
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Not sure anyone else has encountered this...purchased a cruise two days ago under the assumption I was receiving the current promo of BOGO 1/2 price and free gratuities. I logged into my account, and thru the entire purchase process the deal banners of bogo and free gratuities displayed on the website each click of the way. I finished the purchase, and was very excited for upcoming cruise! Went into my reservation today and nowhere did it state free gratuities, just my purchase price, and I thought that was a bit odd, but maybe it doesn't show. I gave RCI a call just to confirm them. Long story short, apparently the "best price" for you just automatically pops up...so, without my knowing, I apparently was booking under the "going,going,gone sale" even though everything on my screen continued to display I was booking bogo with free gratuities...and you guessed it, the going going gone sale doesn't include free gratuities. I went in and did a mock booking to screen shot it along the way....will send to corporate even though It may not make it past the trash can. REALLY DISAPPOINTED Royal Caribbean...Totally false and misleading information on your website!!!

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debshomespun

debshomespun

Posted
Posted (edited)

Did you ask the agent to change your reservation to the promotion with the bogo 50% and free gratuities? You should be able to do that. Also, did you book Oceanview or higher cabin? The inside cabins do not include free gratuities. Also, the free gratuities comes in the way of an OBC, (on board credit). Hope this helps you out some. If you were not satisfied with the final price, why did you book?

Edited by debshomespun
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Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

Posted
Posted
Not sure anyone else has encountered this...purchased a cruise two days ago under the assumption I was receiving the current promo of BOGO 1/2 price and free gratuities. I logged into my account, and thru the entire purchase process the deal banners of bogo and free gratuities displayed on the website each click of the way. I finished the purchase, and was very excited for upcoming cruise! Went into my reservation today and nowhere did it state free gratuities, just my purchase price, and I thought that was a bit odd, but maybe it doesn't show. I gave RCI a call just to confirm them. Long story short, apparently the "best price" for you just automatically pops up...so, without my knowing, I apparently was booking under the "going,going,gone sale" even though everything on my screen continued to display I was booking bogo with free gratuities...and you guessed it, the going going gone sale doesn't include free gratuities. I went in and did a mock booking to screen shot it along the way....will send to corporate even though It may not make it past the trash can. REALLY DISAPPOINTED Royal Caribbean...Totally false and misleading information on your website!!!

 

A little information, please.

 

There should be two prices, according to what you are saying.

 

The price under the BOGOHO sale.

 

The price under the Going, Going, Gone sale.

 

How do the two prices compare?

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stleda124

stleda124

Posted
Posted
Not sure anyone else has encountered this...purchased a cruise two days ago under the assumption I was receiving the current promo of BOGO 1/2 price and free gratuities. I logged into my account, and thru the entire purchase process the deal banners of bogo and free gratuities displayed on the website each click of the way. I finished the purchase, and was very excited for upcoming cruise! Went into my reservation today and nowhere did it state free gratuities, just my purchase price, and I thought that was a bit odd, but maybe it doesn't show. I gave RCI a call just to confirm them. Long story short, apparently the "best price" for you just automatically pops up...so, without my knowing, I apparently was booking under the "going,going,gone sale" even though everything on my screen continued to display I was booking bogo with free gratuities...and you guessed it, the going going gone sale doesn't include free gratuities. I went in and did a mock booking to screen shot it along the way....will send to corporate even though It may not make it past the trash can. REALLY DISAPPOINTED Royal Caribbean...Totally false and misleading information on your website!!!

 

 

You have 24 hours. Do I booking the other way and if cheaper, switch it on the phone.

 

As others mentioned, it's on oceanview and higher. If you booked inside, it's a mute point.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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seafoy

seafoy

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Can you cancel, and start over?

 

Did you ask the agent to change your reservation to the promotion with the bogo 50% and free gratuities? You should be able to do that. Also, did you book Oceanview or higher cabin? The inside cabins do not include free gratuities. Also, the free gratuities comes in the way of an OBC, (on board credit). Hope this helps you out some. If you were not satisfied with the final price, why did you book?

 

Well...if you actually change to the "promotion"...guess what? The price of the cruise goes up $200 to cover those "free" gratuities! I booked because I was satisfied with the price, assuming I was getting my gratuities covered. I was deciding between this an an NCL cruise, if I had known I wasn't getting the gratuities, I probably would have went with NCL, as it would have come in a couple hundred cheaper!

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seafoy

seafoy

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Can you cancel, and start over?

 

A little information, please.

 

There should be two prices, according to what you are saying.

 

The price under the BOGOHO sale.

 

The price under the Going, Going, Gone sale.

 

How do the two prices compare?

 

The problem is....there was NOT two prices listed, or ANY options for that matter...I screen shot the entire mock booking! Everything stated I was getting bogo with free gratuities.

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Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

Posted
Posted
The problem is....there was NOT two prices listed, or ANY options for that matter...I screen shot the entire mock booking! Everything stated I was getting bogo with free gratuities.

 

That didn't answer my question.

 

Under the BOGOHO promotion, which you said you "screen shot", how much was the total?

 

How much was the total you were charged under the GGG Sale?

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cruisegirl1

cruisegirl1

Posted
Posted (edited)
Not sure anyone else has encountered this...purchased a cruise two days ago under the assumption I was receiving the current promo of BOGO 1/2 price and free gratuities. I logged into my account, and thru the entire purchase process the deal banners of bogo and free gratuities displayed on the website each click of the way. I finished the purchase, and was very excited for upcoming cruise! Went into my reservation today and nowhere did it state free gratuities, just my purchase price, and I thought that was a bit odd, but maybe it doesn't show. I gave RCI a call just to confirm them. Long story short, apparently the "best price" for you just automatically pops up...so, without my knowing, I apparently was booking under the "going,going,gone sale" even though everything on my screen continued to display I was booking bogo with free gratuities...and you guessed it, the going going gone sale doesn't include free gratuities. I went in and did a mock booking to screen shot it along the way....will send to corporate even though It may not make it past the trash can. REALLY DISAPPOINTED Royal Caribbean...Totally false and misleading information on your website!!!

 

The same thing happened to me this week. The cabin category I booked was on the GGG sale - but there is no indication of this on the booking page. And, I only had one booking option for the category. I called RCCL and the agent "re-priced" using the BOGOHO and free grats. and it was way more money. And, if you are booking a balcony you have to decide what you want, the free grats or balcony discount. For me, the balcony discount is higher than the free grats.

 

So, I took the GGG, the bal discount and have to pay grats.

 

I agree - it is VERY MISLEADING. and, as we all know RCCL is going after the new cruiser. There was very little monetary booking difference for a first time cruiser and one with many cruises on RCCL. As a loyal cruiser, I received about a $30 benefit over a first time passenger. Good for them, not so good for me.

 

 

 

M

Edited by cruisegirl1
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awestover89

awestover89

Posted
Posted
The same thing happened to me the week. The cabin category I booked was on the GGG sale - but there is no indication of this on the booking page. I called RCCL and the agent "re-priced" using the BOGOHO and free grats. and it was way more money. And, if you are booking a balcony you have to decide what you want, the free grats or balcony discount. For me, the balcony discount is higher than the free grats.

 

So, I took the GGG, the bal discount and have to pay grats.

 

I agree - it is VERY MISLEADING. and, as we all know RCCL is going after the new cruiser. There was very little monetary booking difference for a first time cruiser and one with any many cruises on RCCL. As a loyal cruiser, I received about a $30 benefit over a first time passenger. Good for them, not so good for me.

 

 

 

M

 

I guess I'm not fully seeing how it's misleading. To me it's no different than a sale at a store excluding clearance items, or a promotion at the movie theaters that excludes matinee showings. There are two sales going on, you get the cheaper price of the GGG or the BOGO + Grats

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Paulette3028

Paulette3028

Posted
Posted (edited)
You have 24 hours. Do I booking the other way and if cheaper, switch it on the phone.

 

As others mentioned, it's on oceanview and higher. If you booked inside, it's a mute point.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

There have been plenty of complaints from cruisers over the past several years about the 'non sales type promotions' that often are put out. No matter what promotion is created, there are often times category/cabin exclusions. Throughout this thread the OP has not mentioned what cabin he booked.

 

The OP makes mention of the 'deal banners' promoting the "Free Gratuities" but perhaps excluded the cabin he was booking. It would be nice to have clarification.

Edited by Paulette3028
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seafoy

seafoy

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The gratuities promotion is free gratuities for OV or higher as stated on the cruise lines website.

 

Thought I had mentioned...booked a supreme oceanfront balcony...so definitely qualified.

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reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

Posted
Posted
Thought I had mentioned...booked a supreme oceanfront balcony...so definitely qualified.

 

The way the banners are setup as you are in a booking, it would be very difficult to not pick the correct category. Once you get into pricing for a specific category, that is a completely different story. They don't detail out all the options that you end up with.

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marci22

marci22

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For the free grats promotion: when you get to the last page, if you look left, you will see an empty box that you can check for 'free gratuities'. If you check this box, the amount to the right will increase, and a note will pop up that says something like, 'free gratuities will appear on your account as $164 obc' or some other number.

 

So free grats aren't automatically added in all cases, but if you are logged into your account, and the appropriate things are checked off (senior, residency, etc) the 'best' price should appear at the end. Also, C&A discounts are not added to free grats, it's one or the other.

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StolidCruiser

StolidCruiser

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A little information, please.

 

There should be two prices, according to what you are saying.

 

The price under the BOGOHO sale.

 

The price under the Going, Going, Gone sale.

 

How do the two prices compare?

 

For the free grats promotion: when you get to the last page, if you look left, you will see an empty box that you can check for 'free gratuities'. If you check this box, the amount to the right will increase, and a note will pop up that says something like, 'free gratuities will appear on your account as $164 obc' or some other number.

So free grats aren't automatically added in all cases, but if you are logged into your account, and the appropriate things are checked off (senior, residency, etc) the 'best' price should appear at the end. Also, C&A discounts are not added to free grats, it's one or the other.

 

This is the way it worked for me. The net result was basically the same either way.

 

With the "free grats" box unchecked, my fare was $2,489.12.

 

With the "free grats" box checked, my fare was $2,624.12 with $136.00 in OBC - net result $2,488.12. Actually a dollar cheaper. :)

 

When you actually pay attention, read what you are booking and understand the pricing it makes perfect sense.

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robandana

robandana

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Posted
For the free grats promotion: when you get to the last page, if you look left, you will see an empty box that you can check for 'free gratuities'. If you check this box, the amount to the right will increase, and a note will pop up that says something like, 'free gratuities will appear on your account as $164 obc' or some other number.

 

So free grats aren't automatically added in all cases, but if you are logged into your account, and the appropriate things are checked off (senior, residency, etc) the 'best' price should appear at the end. Also, C&A discounts are not added to free grats, it's one or the other.

 

I think if the OP was to look they would see the price was basically the same either way...its a bit of a scam this free grats sale...it looks to me that they bump the price up the amount of the grats and call it a sale. just my 2c

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