Help! 2nd leg of B to B cancelled by RCCL

[lazydayz]

If RC doesn't help you, I think you should cancel the first cruise. Worst case scenario, you are out $402 which you are likely to recoup as a credit. Best case, you find another cruise or two on a Cruiseline that appreciates your business. Good luck.

[APDMOM]

Another vote for the Keys... stop at Bahia Honda State park for a beach day. [emoji846]

 

Hope you get excellent OBC for the ABC cruise to make up for your inconvenience.

 

 

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[Lordnlkon]

Have you looked at just going on the chartered cruise? What kind of charter and what the cost difference would be? That way you wouldn't have to change your airfare.

[moopetguy]

I just got off the phone with the Resolutions department. I feel as though I had a very reasonable request. I requested the Nov 19th sailing and they told me they have the same stateroom available. So it's been pulled from inventory and held. Because this sailing is not one of the ones mentioned in the notification-of-charter email, they need the Revenue department to approve the request :rolleyes: I have to wait until at least Monday for them to see the request from Resolutions, possibly later in the week to hear their decision. The person from Resolutions will follow up with me, and if they don't, I have their email address.

 

This is probably the easiest, no-brainer resolution for them. No airfare change. No angry customer. $200 OBC as already offered. Same ship and itinerary. Same stateroom available to restore the B2B in full. Price for the Nov 19th vs. Dec 3rd sailing was essentially comparable. They'd have to be idiots (or jerks) to reject this. :confused:

[moopetguy]

Have you looked at just going on the chartered cruise? What kind of charter and what the cost difference would be? That way you wouldn't have to change your airfare.

 

I posted more information in the roll call for this cancelled sailing:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52579245&postcount=24

 

For more details, see the entire roll call discussion and not just the one post linked above. You'd have to have bought a car from the family of dealerships that have chartered the ship. You then get a promo code to redeem on the web site. So, unless you are in the market for a new vehicle...

[moopetguy]

I wanted to post a follow-up to let people know what happened for me.

 

Today I got a call from the same person I spoke to previously in the Resolutions department. The Revenue department approved the change for me to the Nov 19th sailing. Same itinerary, same stateroom, same price (actually, lower price as the taxes went down -- saved another $68.76 CAD :D). Received the $200 OBC that was offered as compensation.

 

Again it was a no-brainer because in my case, there was no airline change fee they had to cover, and 3 of the 4 alternate sailings they pre-approved (one of two alternates on Navigator, both of the alternates on Independence) are actually more expensive than the Nov 19th sailing that preserves my B2B. I am satisfied with this outcome...best possible under the circumstances.

 

I know it doesn't help those who don't have the same flexibility as I do and already paid for airfare...hopefully they are willing to cover or do more for you because they didn't have to for me.

[critterchick]

I'm glad you had a successful resolution. Happy sailing!

[APDMOM]

Wow, moopetguy! That is indeed great news! We will thus join you on the second leg - [emoji16]

 

 

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[knittinggirl]

Have you considered other cruiselines? It looks like you could disembark Navigator spend one night in Miami and do a 4 night cruise on a Carnival ship and still use the same air.

 

This is a great idea. I'd suggest looking at Disney, Celebrity, HAL and Princess. We've tried all of them, and each have something nice to offer. We've done several B2Bs w/ a night in between. We've used that hotel night to do our laundry in the hotel laundromat.

 

 

Other cruise lines may be offering itineraries that Royal Caribbean doesn't. For example, we'd planned a closed circuit West Coast Hawaii trip, and it disappeared from Royal Caribbean then Celebrity, but we found it on Princess. HAL offers a cruise that does a scenic day in Prince Christian Sund (Greenland). Most of Royal's ships are too big.

[ptf2009]

Navigator, Dec 3rd, 2017 out of Miami. I'm also affected by this cancellation as I also had this booked as the second leg of a B2B. But at least I have no airfare booked and paid for. I don't have time to call RCI right now, I will see if they are willing to put my family on the Nov 19th 5-night to preserve the B2B. But this is not one of the 4 offered by RCI as OP indicated.

 

UGHH...just got off the Navigator on Sunday. Unless RCCL does some kind of a refurb before your cruise, you will be happy to only have to spend 9 nights on it. It was a fun cruise, but the ship is very "tired." Hopefully you'll find a 4 or 5 day cruise so that you don't get penalized on your airfare. Too bad you didn't book with Southwest...no fees for cancellations.

[ptf2009]

This is a great idea. I'd suggest looking at Disney, Celebrity, HAL and Princess. We've tried all of them, and each have something nice to offer. We've done several B2Bs w/ a night in between. We've used that hotel night to do our laundry in the hotel laundromat.

 

 

Other cruise lines may be offering itineraries that Royal Caribbean doesn't. For example, we'd planned a closed circuit West Coast Hawaii trip, and it disappeared from Royal Caribbean then Celebrity, but we found it on Princess. HAL offers a cruise that does a scenic day in Prince Christian Sund (Greenland). Most of Royal's ships are too big.

 

Or you could find a cruise out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. It doesn't costs that much for transportation from one port to another. SAS will take you to FLL airport for 15pp and then get a taxi to the port. You have lots of options. My only other advice is to find a ship that has recently been refurbed.

[FMZ]

I posted more information in the roll call for this cancelled sailing:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52579245&postcount=24

 

For more details, see the entire roll call discussion and not just the one post linked above. You'd have to have bought a car from the family of dealerships that have chartered the ship. You then get a promo code to redeem on the web site. So, unless you are in the market for a new vehicle...

I live in SWFL where these dearlerships are located and have been listening to this dealership advertise their FREE CRUISE on Navigator on the radio for the past 3 months at least. I wonder why it took RCCL so long to alert currently booked passengers? I will say I did notice a couple weeks ago he started saying "we have the whole ship..." and I'm not sure he was saying that before.

[moopetguy]

Hopefully you'll find a 4 or 5 day cruise so that you don't get penalized on your airfare. Too bad you didn't book with Southwest...no fees for cancellations.

 

Not sure if you meant to quote someone else, but I don't have airfare booked. :) I followed up later to say we switched Dec 3 to Nov 19 so we'll still be on Navigator for 14 nights on a B2B. The itinerary should be exciting enough for us to make up for the ship feeling "tired".

 

I wonder why it took RCCL so long to alert currently booked passengers?

 

I wonder as well. And I know roughly when it happened because it was February 1 when the sailing went from still being available, to being "sold out" on the same day. RCI sure took their sweet time to let people like me know.

[M&M cruiseaholics]

Moopetguy, I am so glad they took your offer and that you are happy. They screwed me!!!

 

RCCL would only allow me to scheduled the 5 night cruise that you received if I were to pay the going rate (no price protection since I did not select the 4 cruises they offered). It did not matter to them that I had the B to B and that I was unable to accept any of the 4 selected cruises. The price would increase by $260 if I took that offer. I would also lose the Original OBC offer of $200. After my travel agent was unsuccessful in reasoning with the Re-Deployment department and I was unsuccessful with my contact, I agreed to accept a $200 OBC for my 9 night cruise through the Crown and Anchor department. . That is all they are offering me. Obviously they did not care that I just turned Diamond, I am cruising on Anthem in 2 weeks, cruising on Navigator in November (unless they cancel my 9 night cruise) and Celebrity Summit in May of 2018. I am just not important to them.

 

I am also concerned that my Travel Agent may not have fought hard enough for me, but that is another story.

 

I have decided to stay in Florida for the 5 nights that were cancelled by RCCL. I will not pay another dime to the airlines (almost $900 additional as I stated earlier). I have decided to go to the Florida Keys as many suggested in this thread. I am hoping that my 5 night Keys cost will be similar to what I would have spent on the cancelled cruise, but I know it will cost more.

 

I also find it interesting that a previous poster asked why it took so long for RCCL to notify its cruisers of the cancellation. Ironically a timely notification may have been prior to my purchasing airfare, which is the main problem in my case!

[djandnic]

We had two cruises cancelled when the EOS first came out because the ship needed more repairs / upgrades. I can tell you from experience you have to keep calling until you can get to the right level of the organization to get adequately compensated. If I remember correctly, it was folks in the rewards office that final did the right thing and got us fully compensated for the actual money we were out (not trying to make money on their issue like some do).

 

Just understand before you start this process, it takes a lot of calls, and lot of time and a lot of frustration, but you can get recovery if you have a stamina. Good luck!!

Edited March 30, 2017 by djandnic

[moopetguy]

Moopetguy, I am so glad they took your offer and that you are happy. They screwed me!!!

 

RCCL would only allow me to scheduled the 5 night cruise that you received if I were to pay the going rate (no price protection since I did not select the 4 cruises they offered). It did not matter to them that I had the B to B and that I was unable to accept any of the 4 selected cruises. The price would increase by $260 if I took that offer. I would also lose the Original OBC offer of $200. After my travel agent was unsuccessful in reasoning with the Re-Deployment department and I was unsuccessful with my contact, I agreed to accept a $200 OBC for my 9 night cruise through the Crown and Anchor department. . That is all they are offering me. Obviously they did not care that I just turned Diamond, I am cruising on Anthem in 2 weeks, cruising on Navigator in November (unless they cancel my 9 night cruise) and Celebrity Summit in May of 2018. I am just not important to them.

 

I am also concerned that my Travel Agent may not have fought hard enough for me, but that is another story.

 

I have decided to stay in Florida for the 5 nights that were cancelled by RCCL. I will not pay another dime to the airlines (almost $900 additional as I stated earlier). I have decided to go to the Florida Keys as many suggested in this thread. I am hoping that my 5 night Keys cost will be similar to what I would have spent on the cancelled cruise, but I know it will cost more.

 

I also find it interesting that a previous poster asked why it took so long for RCCL to notify its cruisers of the cancellation. Ironically a timely notification may have been prior to my purchasing airfare, which is the main problem in my case!

 

I'm sorry to hear of RCI not treating you fairly :( I don't know why they wouldn't let you book the Nov 19th sailing at the protected rate. What class of stateroom did you have for Dec 3rd? Did you price-compare Nov 19th to the two Nav and two Indy sailings that were pre-approved? When I did for an inside, 3 of 4 were more expensive so it just made sense. I also wonder how hard your TA tried to help. :confused: The person I talked to in Resolutions was fully on board (sorry, couldn't resist) with my proposed resolution and I feel like she went to bat for me with the Revenue people.

 

I understand you've decided to visit the Keys but if you are interested in pursuing this further then you could try getting in touch with Michael Bayley's office or the director of guest relations, if I remember correctly and is still current, is Aurora "Laly" Yera-Rodriguez. Even if it's just to explain what happened and express your dissatisfaction.

[Bootman4U]

You're paying an AGENCY $50 per ticket for changes? Why did you even USE "an agency" to book air tickets? Did it get you a significant savings? I'd say that agency fee is the rip-off.