Getting RCI to Honor Price Drop Was Like Pulling Teeth.

[rusty nut]

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

Press the number for new bookings and they are open 24 hours.

Good to know, thanks.

[DISFANS3]

Thanks for info..

[Beachammo]

On 5/11/2019 at 9:22 AM, rusty nut said:

Good to know, thanks.

 

I call C&A for everything. 

[kathy884]

If you didn't do the refundable deposit can you still get a better price with a price drop?  Or are you out of luck and would it then only be worth rebooking if the drop is more than the $250 pp deposit.

[Ourusualbeach]

5 minutes ago, kathy884 said:

If you didn't do the refundable deposit can you still get a better price with a price drop?  Or are you out of luck and would it then only be worth rebooking if the drop is more than the $250 pp deposit.

Non refundable fares are eligible for price drops the same as refundable fares. 

[kathy884]

 

29 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Non refundable fares are eligible for price drops the same as refundable fares. 

Great to know.  I will periodically check in case prices go down.  Thanks so much.  I am a first time RCCL cruiser and I just put down deposits for a Feb. cruise last week. 

[libbismom]

It took me awhile on the phone with RCI to get a price drop for a cruise out of Baltimore, Maryland, a few years ago. The rep was very pleasant & apologetic that they couldn’t see the same price. Then we somehow figured out that I was seeing a special discount for select nearby states (Virginia in my case).  After that, they were able to get me the discount. 

[emeraldcity]

I used to use the tactic of just calling back and getting someone else, and that usually worked by the time I had a made a third call. Last time, however, I simply kept quietly insisting to the rep that I wanted the price for a balcony cabin that was now on the web site and I was willing to pay the difference between my original inside booking and the now reduced price for the balcony … less my C&A balcony discount. The price should have come to about $1200 more for the cabin (23-day transpacific cruise). It was less than 2 weeks to sailing and they were deeply discounting the last few balconies. She kept saying she didn't see that price and was quoting me $8000+ for the upgrade. She told me the price I was seeing was for new booking only. I replied that I was on the RC website -- not a travel agency website -- and that was the price for that cabin … and I was willing to pay that price. I told her I could understand that she might not have access to that price, but someone in her office certainly did and I would be happy to wait on the phone while she found that person to assist us. There was a fair amount of back-and-forth discussion, but I kept quietly insisting that I'm sure there was a way to make me satisfied. The call took over and hour, including several chunks of time on hold while things were sorted out with someone higher up the chain, but she eventually came back with the upgrade at a price I was willing to pay (about $40 more than expected, but I wasn't going to quibble over that) and I was very happy with my balcony on that long cruise.

[johnjen]

On 5/10/2019 at 1:11 PM, Floridadude said:

 

Never understood why anyone uses RCCL directly, I always check Royal before booking and it’s always $200-1600 more than I book it for.

 

On our first cruise we lost a price drop thanks to our TA going on vacay. Her co-workers nor any of the other TA's would help us get the price drop, which as I recall, was significant. Never again would be go through a third party in arranging our vacation; never had an issue since booking directly with the cruise line. But glad you have never had problems! Not all TA's are bad except the one online company we had....it's not worth the free excursion nor the free drink package to go through that again.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

1 hour ago, johnjen said:

On our first cruise we lost a price drop thanks to our TA going on vacay. Her co-workers nor any of the other TA's would help us get the price drop, which as I recall, was significant. Never again would be go through a third party in arranging our vacation; never had an issue since booking directly with the cruise line. But glad you have never had problems! Not all TA's are bad except the one online company we had....it's not worth the free excursion nor the free drink package to go through that again.

We've actually had the opposite experience using our cruise-specialty TA - they proactively call us on price drops. Anyone in their office can handle them as well. They are the largest TA in the world, and have 5 local cruise specialty offices in our metro area. I guess it matters which TA one uses.

[Mr. Candyman]

16 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

We've actually had the opposite experience using our cruise-specialty TA - they proactively call us on price drops. Anyone in their office can handle them as well. They are the largest TA in the world, and have 5 local cruise specialty offices in our metro area. I guess it matters which TA one uses.

Same here.  I've never met mine and this is the first time using him.  When I call it's always him answering so I don't know if it is a one man office or he has employees but he took a trip to Portugal and still checked on my reservation getting me a price reduction while he was on his own cruise.  As with any service provider, you'll have some great ones and some you wish you never dealt with.  

[Big_G]

All my price drops have been through direct booking and I've never had a problem. I've never seen a price drop through a TA but I suspect it's because I already got a good price.

[Sherri914]

I've had issues with their customer service members not understanding that the repricing I'm requesting is actually a better deal than my current reservation.  Typically when this happens (for me), it's because they haven't considered the OBC as a "discount".  So for one repricing that I did recently, the fare actually went up a little, but when you figure in the OBC that would now be part of my overall fare, my bottom line was lower to reprice it.  It was hard to get the CS Rep to understand that logic.  But in the end, he did finally get what I was saying and repriced my trip for me.  I check pricing 2X a week (sometimes more) for price drops, discounts, OBC promos, etc.  I've repriced my Nov 2020 cruise several times now, and currently am down $400 from original booking!   

[rusty nut]

Okay, now what do I do? I received the email confirmation of my $120 price drop but a few days later, I see that my balance actually went up!! I dread calling them again. Maybe I'll call C&A, instead.

[Clarea]

4 minutes ago, rusty nut said:

Okay, now what do I do? I received the email confirmation of my $120 price drop but a few days later, I see that my balance actually went up!! I dread calling them again. Maybe I'll call C&A, instead.

 

I agree, try C&A.  And get them to email you a written confirmation once they have fixed your booking.

[ShillyShally]

On 5/10/2019 at 1:08 PM, rusty nut said:

Thanks, but that's information he should have had with my reservation number.

Don't assume it's all included if you booked on board.  I've had those reservations to sometimes hold very minimal info!

[loman]

I got a credit on my cruise,  I just called in and they reduced my cruise fare and then é mailed me a confirmation.

The travel agency linked to my credit card wouldn't even respond to emails or phone calls last year.

If I use them I get triple points on the card , but my discount was   a higher dollar amount on the reduced cruise fare. 

A new person took over my account there recently , but I told them I am going back to booking direct 

so I wouldn't be needing their services any longer.

[legaljen1969]

On ‎5‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 1:11 PM, Floridadude said:

Never understood why anyone uses RCCL directly, I always check Royal before booking and it’s always $200-1600 more than I book it for.

I have booked directly with RCCL and had great experiences.  I usually travel with my family and someone else does the bookings and she uses a travel agent.   This cruise she really did get some pretty decent perks, but we shall see how well those work when we actually get on the ship.  I have consistently found that the "perks" promised to us somehow fall through when it's time to actually use them. 
The one time I booked direct,  everything that was told to me was done and I had no problems at all.   And I called several times to price drop and change cabins.  Every single time, it was easy as can be. 
If someone is using Royal directly and you call in, you may want to speak to a Crown & Anchor representative instead of calling straight through. I did find that to be slightly helpful.  Then again, it's been about 4 years since I cruised so all heck could have broken loose by now.

[MichellePerth]

Here in Australia, crown and anchor does not take phone calls.  You have to email them about anything.  It’s very frustrating as many times they misinterpret what you are asking. Many times they have no clue about different programs and you have to write back and explain.  As they take a minimum of two days to respond, it’s a drawn out process.  I spent a couple of hours writing an email explaining a price drop and they didn’t even respond.  Overall, I’d say Aussies love RC, but have serious issues with the back office.  None of these offices are actually located in Australia, I wish we would have the same access to resources as North Americans. 

[johnjen]

13 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

We've actually had the opposite experience using our cruise-specialty TA - they proactively call us on price drops. Anyone in their office can handle them as well. They are the largest TA in the world, and have 5 local cruise specialty offices in our metro area. I guess it matters which TA one uses.

We're talking 2004 the last time we used the one we (erronously) chose; left a bad taste for us permanently with TA arranged vacation planning.

Edited May 15, 2019 by johnjen

[CRUISEFAN0001]

8 hours ago, johnjen said:

We're talking 2004 the last time we used the one we (erronously) chose; left a bad taste for us permanently with TA arranged vacation planning.

That's OK. Understand.

 

We learned many years ago that one bad apple doesn't spoil the basket. 

 

In addition, we now have more than a decade of using 3 different TA's, with one being our primary one. All provide the expected service levels, communicate well...and all have performed price drops without any haggle/delay/problem as reported by the OP. In fact, two (2) of them have been quite proactive on informing us of them and processing on our behalf.

[MichellePerth]

Just curious.  Those who use TAs, isn’t their final payment earlier than direct with Royal?  If so, does that affect price drop actions?

 

thanks

💐

[CRUISEFAN0001]

3 minutes ago, MichellePerth said:

Just curious.  Those who use TAs, isn’t their final payment earlier than direct with Royal?  If so, does that affect price drop actions?

 

thanks

💐

The 3 we've used all have final payment due 90 days before sailing.

[Ourusualbeach]

8 minutes ago, MichellePerth said:

Just curious.  Those who use TAs, isn’t their final payment earlier than direct with Royal?  If so, does that affect price drop actions?

 

thanks

💐

As a TA I usually collect the final payment 7-10 days in advance to allow for any unforeseen issues that may arise.

 

This does not affect the ability to get price drops prior to the final payment date set by the cruise line.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

25 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

As a TA I usually collect the final payment 7-10 days in advance to allow for any unforeseen issues that may arise.

 

This does not affect the ability to get price drops prior to the final payment date set by the cruise line.

That's exceptional customer service!