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Royal rip off...free gratuities a joke

seafoy

By seafoy,
in Royal Caribbean International

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cruisegirl1

cruisegirl1

Posted
Posted
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

 

The free grats "box" remains on the page even thought it is not applicable. There is place to check off. I checked the free grat box and when I continued the grats were added in to my final price. I had NO IDEA I was booking a GGG sale until I called RCCL. THe category restrictions are clearly noted and my cabin selection complied.

 

 

M

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caribbean sailor

caribbean sailor

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 can make you own free gratuities, just stop by customer service and have your tips removed.

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stleda124

stleda124

Posted
Posted
You can make you own free gratuities, just stop by customer service and have your tips removed.

 

 

People actually do this?! So pathetic. Let me spend thousands on a cruise but I'm not paying 200 in tips. Jesus.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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BekkaW

BekkaW

Posted
Posted
People actually do this?! So pathetic. Let me spend thousands on a cruise but I'm not paying 200 in tips. Jesus.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Yes people do this. I don't agree with it but I can see why you might do it if the advertising told you the final price included gratuities but then it didn't. Customer service actually suggested to me that I do this! Sadly it's only the staff that suffer though so I refused that 'solution'.

 

To the OP, I had a similar problem where grats were supposed to be included per the terms and conditions of the sale I booked under, but customer service wouldn't honor it. I emailed Michael Bayley and his office sorted it out for me.

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GUT2407

GUT2407

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!!!

 

Certainly seems to be the norm for RCCL And Celebrity in Australia,

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marci22

marci22

Posted
Posted (edited)

Something weird that I noticed: I was comparing prices on a cruise that I had already booked. The obc for the 'free gratuities', for a SJS, was noted as ~$164.xx, so the webpage is crediting gratuities at the suite rate, even though you pay JS gratuities at the regular cabin rate. Unless something has changed...(5 nights, 2 people, SJS)

Edited by marci22
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cruisegirl1

cruisegirl1

Posted
Posted
You can make you own free gratuities, just stop by customer service and have your tips removed.

 

I would never penalize the cruise ship staff because of pricing on the company's webpage. I consider the tips to be part of the cruise price. I thought that I was able to take part of the special promotion. No problem paying them, but it would have been nice to get them for free.

 

M

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FOXTROT

FOXTROT

Posted
Posted

We were told by using our Diamond Plus discount we cannot get the "Free Gratuities". Called customer service & they said the same thing. Sent a letter to corporate & have not heard back.

Why as repeat customers should we not qualify?

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LMaxwell Great Review Rare

LMaxwell

Posted
Posted
I would never penalize the cruise ship staff because of pricing on the company's webpage. I consider the tips to be part of the cruise price. I thought that I was able to take part of the special promotion. No problem paying them, but it would have been nice to get them for free.

 

M

 

I am sure the staff will get what they are entitled to receive and would not worry about it. No one should feel guilty making "right" something the company mislead them on.

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crusinthrough "Live from...." Rare

crusinthrough

Posted
Posted
We were told by using our Diamond Plus discount we cannot get the "Free Gratuities". Called customer service & they said the same thing. Sent a letter to corporate & have not heard back.

 

Why as repeat customers should we not qualify?

 

 

I was told the same thing. I also read the two were not combinable in the fine print. I wanted to take off the balcony discount and add the free gratuities because it was more. I was told in order to do this I would have to get the new rate, which is about $600 pp more.

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marci22

marci22

Posted
Posted
I was told the same thing. I also read the two were not combinable in the fine print. I wanted to take off the balcony discount and add the free gratuities because it was more. I was told in order to do this I would have to get the new rate, which is about $600 pp more.

 

If you want the current promo, they will price the cabin at the current promo rate.

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marci22

marci22

Posted
Posted
I am sure the staff will get what they are entitled to receive and would not worry about it. No one should feel guilty making "right" something the company mislead them on.

 

Yes, Royal does promise them a certain amount, and if they don't make it, Royal is supposed to make up the difference. If people remove tips, I don't think the workers 'lose money'.

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nelblu

nelblu

Posted
Posted
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

 

Not necessarily so. I've looking at an Allure cruise for April '18 and the basic prices have remained the same whether free grats or taxes. My problem is that the D+ balcony discount is so much better than either promo.

 

To the Op, when you do a booking the free promo will be so indicted in the payment summary. Mine for instance, if I do not log in, is $190 for 2 PAX--it so clearly indicated.

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cruisegirl1

cruisegirl1

Posted
Posted
We were told by using our Diamond Plus discount we cannot get the "Free Gratuities". Called customer service & they said the same thing. Sent a letter to corporate & have not heard back.

Why as repeat customers should we not qualify?

 

You don't qualify because you are using the balcony discount. If you select the OV, and have the applicable fare, then you can take advantage of the benefit. What makes it unallowable is the BALCONY discount not the fact that you are a repeat customer.

 

M

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caribbean sailor

caribbean sailor

Posted
Posted
I would never penalize the cruise ship staff because of pricing on the company's webpage. I consider the tips to be part of the cruise price. I thought that I was able to take part of the special promotion. No problem paying them, but it would have been nice to get them for free.

 

M

 

Good for you. we tip in cash.:)

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nelblu

nelblu

Posted
Posted
We were told by using our Diamond Plus discount we cannot get the "Free Gratuities". Called customer service & they said the same thing. Sent a letter to corporate & have not heard back.

Why as repeat customers should we not qualify?

 

I'm not sure if you are aware, but it's been like this for many years. This also applies to Shareholders Credit.

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