Little bit steamed...am I overreacting?

[marci22]

Must be a new non selling technique lol.

Yes, my nextcruise person told me the cruise I picked was going to be too cold. I like to book something for the $100 deposit and I told her that, but she was very discouraging. Just odd.

[grapau27]

Yes, my nextcruise person told me the cruise I picked was going to be too cold. I like to book something for the $100 deposit and I told her that, but she was very discouraging. Just odd.

Too cold or too hot that is up to you.Did they offer any alternative suggestions?

[marci22]

Too cold or too hot that is up to you.Did they offer any alternative suggestions?

Sure, but I don't need someone else telling me where to cruise to...

[grapau27]

Sure, but I don't need someone else telling me where to cruise to...

I agree,you decide what you want then they should then book your cruise requirement's.​

[OCSC Mike]

I'll admit to having not read through this entire thread but some of the more recent posts describing NextCruise experiences are a bit mind-boggling to me.

 

We did our first on-board booking last month on Oasis (we had a cruise in mind and wanted to lock in under the old rules since no one was sure what changes were coming on July 1st) and our agent could not have been nicer and more helpful with all aspects. She even suggested a minor trick/workaround that is probably fairly common knowledge to those who book early and/or on-board often but it was new to us. The type of cabin we wanted for Alaska next June was unavailable so she suggesting booking one for August knowing we would switch. This gave us time to keep checking to see if the June 2018 cabin type became available but also allowed us to wait until the June 2019 itineraries came out before our placeholder August cruise would be at final payment date (as a plan B). Fortunately, a June 2018 cabin opened up last week and we're good to go now (and already took advantage of a significant price drop and an additional $100 OBC by switching to a NRD).

 

Couldn't have been happier with the experience both on-board and on the phone for the price adjustment. Maybe I just got lucky but my interactions with RCI's vacation planners have been quite positive.

[Ocean Boy]

Some of the nextcruise people are nuts. I had one tell me my Bermuda cruise choice would be too cold that time of year. I said I know, it's just a quick getaway. They kept saying, 'why you want that cruise, it's cold!' I finally just walked away.

You should have told her to call Miami and ask them why they scheduled a cruise to Bermuda when it is so cold there. It reminds me of one time when I was shopping for a new car. A salesman seemed to think he knew more about what I wanted than I did. It was very annoying.

Edited July 4, 2017 by Ocean Boy

[LMaxwell]

Unacceptable - I'd find this persons manager for a brief one on one chat and let them know they need some more training in the hospitality and sales industry. Neither accept, nor cover, for poor treatment. But I would also not invest a lot of precious vacation time on this either.

[grapau27]

Unacceptable - I'd find this persons manager for a brief one on one chat and let them know they need some more training in the hospitality and sales industry. Neither accept, nor cover, for poor treatment. But I would also not invest a lot of precious vacation time on this either.

Yes to both points.

When we seem to get the Hard Sell a lot on the ship this Soft Sell would be frowned on by his manager.

[LMaxwell]

Yes to both points.

When we seem to get the Hard Sell a lot on the ship this Soft Sell would be frowned on by his manager.

 

Soft Sell is planting a seed for later, so the customer comes back and asks for your product. This isn't soft selling. This is crap treatment by an employee who represents the company and is in a face to face sales role.

 

It is absolutely in the managers best interest that they be told of problems so they have the opportunity to course correct. If they are not told and find out later from corporate they have no opportunity to make things better and are just dealing with a negative situation. The sale is lost, the customer is gone, and now corporate is on the managers back to do something about the staff members behavior.

[tinkertwo]

I must say that on our last cruise (it was our first RCCL) we had pretty much the same experience. We were converts, great service, until we hit the next cruise person. Rude is putting it nicely. More like mean. Barely looked at us. Scowled the whole time we were talking. We walked away without booking and just booked ourselves when we got home. There is no incentive large enough for use to take being treated like we are a bother to someone doing the job they were hired to do. We will not go to next cruise again. On the bright side, it gives us more time to play on the ship. :)

[grapau27]

Soft Sell is planting a seed for later, so the customer comes back and asks for your product. This isn't soft selling. This is crap treatment by an employee who represents the company and is in a face to face sales role.

 

It is absolutely in the managers best interest that they be told of problems so they have the opportunity to course correct. If they are not told and find out later from corporate they have no opportunity to make things better and are just dealing with a negative situation. The sale is lost, the customer is gone, and now corporate is on the managers back to do something about the staff members behavior.

True probably wrong description, it is very unprofessional and disgusting customer service.

[grapau27]

I must say that on our last cruise (it was our first RCCL) we had pretty much the same experience. We were converts, great service, until we hit the next cruise person. Rude is putting it nicely. More like mean. Barely looked at us. Scowled the whole time we were talking. We walked away without booking and just booked ourselves when we got home. There is no incentive large enough for use to take being treated like we are a bother to someone doing the job they were hired to do. We will not go to next cruise again. On the bright side, it gives us more time to play on the ship. :)

I don't blame you.Staff like this will give RC customer service a bad name and they need to be retrained properly or dismissed.

[CruisingUS]

I must say that on our last cruise (it was our first RCCL) we had pretty much the same experience. We were converts, great service, until we hit the next cruise person. Rude is putting it nicely. More like mean. Barely looked at us. Scowled the whole time we were talking. We walked away without booking and just booked ourselves when we got home. There is no incentive large enough for use to take being treated like we are a bother to someone doing the job they were hired to do. We will not go to next cruise again. On the bright side, it gives us more time to play on the ship. :)

In the end, these are big corporations. Blind brand loyalty works against your own best interest in this industry. I am glad you did what works best for you and voted with your dollar

[cruisebabe50]

Book another cruise if you want for the Next Cruise perks but go to a different agent. Also make your complaint known while on the cruise. I guarantee they will pay attention.

[grapau27]

Book another cruise if you want for the Next Cruise perks but go to a different agent. Also make your complaint known while on the cruise. I guarantee they will pay attention.

Good advice they might even give you extra OBC too.

[Mr. Click]

Was this on Anthem? There is one guy there that we should have walked away from. We were trying to book an Alaskan cruise on Radiance and he kept telling us we really needed to book Celebrity in Alaska because it is much better. We said no thanks and he just grumbled. His attitude completely changed when his boss showed up though.:rolleyes:

 

That is kind of funny, we have a RC cruise in May that we booked while on a Celebrity cruise. They were disappointed we did not chose a similar Celebrity cruise but when I pointed out that RC had a better itinerary for us and was $2000 less he went right to work getting us the RC trip and even found me a better price.

 

 

OP, you are right to be upset but remember the old saying, don't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch. Others have given you a lot of good advice and hopefully you did take it up with guest relations etc. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior by anyone, anywhere.

[Aboat1]

Visit GS tell them what has happened and remove the Auto Gratuities, only tip those you think deserve a few bucks

 

What????? What does tipping have to do with the people at the next cruise desk?

Why on earth would you punish everyone else for the actions of someone who does not participate in the tipping pool? :mad:

 

When you go out for dinner do you not pay the establishment because the Taxi driver was rude?

[2ferfun]

UPDATE: MATTER WAS RESOLVED. So after reading through all the advice on here and cooling down a bit I decided to speak with guest services. They brought out the GS manager and then another 3 stripe officer (not sure what his title was). They were very interested in my story and asked several questions about the employee. They brought me into the back office and had me wait awhile and after a few minutes in walks the staff captain! I think that's the number 2 guy on the ship but not sure about that? Anyway, they had me repeat the story and they wrote down every word. Apparently the NextCruise staff are on a different management structure and are somewhat autonomous. This particular employee has been a problem with numerous complaints and they are documenting everything to get him terminated. After documenting everything and getting my contact info if needed later they escorted me to the next cruise desk ( and he was still there watching us closely :D) and set me with another agent. We got our cruise booked with some extra OBC and their strong apologies. I felt that we were well taken care of and I would say that we are now Loyal to Royal! A happy ending to a great vacation!!

[CruisingUS]

UPDATE: MATTER WAS RESOLVED. So after reading through all the advice on here and cooling down a bit I decided to speak with guest services. They brought out the GS manager and then another 3 stripe officer (not sure what his title was). They were very interested in my story and asked several questions about the employee. They brought me into the back office and had me wait awhile and after a few minutes in walks the staff captain! I think that's the number 2 guy on the ship but not sure about that? Anyway, they had me repeat the story and they wrote down every word. Apparently the NextCruise staff are on a different management structure and are somewhat autonomous. This particular employee has been a problem with numerous complaints and they are documenting everything to get him terminated. After documenting everything and getting my contact info if needed later they escorted me to the next cruise desk ( and he was still there watching us closely :D) and set me with another agent. We got our cruise booked with some extra OBC and their strong apologies. I felt that we were well taken care of and I would say that we are now Loyal to Royal! A happy ending to a great vacation!!

(y) Glad things worked out. Can I ask how much extra OBC you got?

[Clarea]

UPDATE: MATTER WAS RESOLVED. So after reading through all the advice on here and cooling down a bit I decided to speak with guest services. They brought out the GS manager and then another 3 stripe officer (not sure what his title was). They were very interested in my story and asked several questions about the employee. They brought me into the back office and had me wait awhile and after a few minutes in walks the staff captain! I think that's the number 2 guy on the ship but not sure about that? Anyway, they had me repeat the story and they wrote down every word. Apparently the NextCruise staff are on a different management structure and are somewhat autonomous. This particular employee has been a problem with numerous complaints and they are documenting everything to get him terminated. After documenting everything and getting my contact info if needed later they escorted me to the next cruise desk ( and he was still there watching us closely :D) and set me with another agent. We got our cruise booked with some extra OBC and their strong apologies. I felt that we were well taken care of and I would say that we are now Loyal to Royal! A happy ending to a great vacation!!

Excellent outcome! You are correct, the Staff Captain is the #2 person in charge on the marine side, right after the Captain.

[grapau27]

UPDATE: MATTER WAS RESOLVED. So after reading through all the advice on here and cooling down a bit I decided to speak with guest services. They brought out the GS manager and then another 3 stripe officer (not sure what his title was). They were very interested in my story and asked several questions about the employee. They brought me into the back office and had me wait awhile and after a few minutes in walks the staff captain! I think that's the number 2 guy on the ship but not sure about that? Anyway, they had me repeat the story and they wrote down every word. Apparently the NextCruise staff are on a different management structure and are somewhat autonomous. This particular employee has been a problem with numerous complaints and they are documenting everything to get him terminated. After documenting everything and getting my contact info if needed later they escorted me to the next cruise desk ( and he was still there watching us closely :D) and set me with another agent. We got our cruise booked with some extra OBC and their strong apologies. I felt that we were well taken care of and I would say that we are now Loyal to Royal! A happy ending to a great vacation!!

That is fantastic news and so pleased you got extra OBC.

The rude agent obviously has upset other people and probably his colleagues too and if he is dismissed it is by his own gross misconduct.

[Ocean Boy]

Thanks for the update. Glad you had a satisfactory outcome as your issue was completely legitimate.

[Mr. Click]

Cheers for you for doing it the right way, kudos for the Royal staff for listening and taking action.

[davekathy]

2ferfun...excellent. Now enjoy the rest of your cruise. :beer-toast:

[marci22]

Glad you got it taken care of.