Need Some Guidance...

[thp60945]

I booked a cruise a couple of weeks ago on Royal Caribbean Navigator of The Seas.  It is the only time I could find that worked for us as my daughter will be on Spring Break from school.  She is 15.  I seen a post later that there is going to be a college spring break party on board during our sailing.  I contacted RC to try and change our ship, date, or see if they could accommodate is in any other way.  I am not trying to cancel, just rebook.  They were not helpful at all and advised there would be a $400 charge($100 per person) to change our reservation.  Have any of you cruised during spring break?  What are we in for?  Should I be more persistent in changing the date?  I had no clue when I book this that it was going to be a party cruise.

[Aquahound]

Did you book with a non-refundable deposit?  You haven't reached final payment date so you should be able to cancel and rebook another cruise without penalty, unless the fee is due to a non-refundable deposit. 

[thp60945]

I’m not sure.  How do I tell? This is our first RC cruise. I guess i booked it blindly. 😕. I thinks it’s absolutely ridiculous that they want to charge me to rebook. 

[mom says]

41 minutes ago, thp60945 said:

I’m not sure.  How do I tell? This is our first RC cruise. I guess i booked it blindly. 😕. I thinks it’s absolutely ridiculous that they want to charge me to rebook. 

Not sure why you think a change fee is ridiculous. It appears you did not use a TA when you originally booked. Did you read the T&Cs  before you paid the deposit? A good TA would have warned you of this. Now you're stuck. Personally, I would not want my 15 yr old DD on a ship with a bunch of college spring breakers. An expensive lesson learned, perhaps.

[cheeseclan]

 

Call back and explain that you did not know about this and have kids and see if they might change it to another sailing for no fee.  Even if they don’t do it for free I WOULD change it.

 

i as an adult would not want to be on the ship during this college party cruise!!!

 

BTW I wish cruise lines would notify potential customers that this is a theme cruise before one books.

Edited June 12, 2019 by cheeseclan

[thp60945]

Yes a lesson learned. No, this is our first RC Cruise.  I booked directly through RC. I guess I think the fee is ridiculous because #1. I’m not trying to cancel, just change. 

#2.  This is our first RC cruise so I might expect a tiny bit of grace. 

#3. Our cruise is 9 months out.  I’m not trying to make a huge last minute change.  

[donaldsc]

Call RC.  If the person that answers can not help you, bump it up to a supervisor.  If they can't help, bump it up again.  Be polite but persistent.

 

DON

[thp60945]

I wish they would too. I’ve already tried talking to them.  I’m going to have my husband call. If they won’t do anything, I guess I’ll just have to suck it up. If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me I’ll be ok. Lol

[cheeseclan]

I agree with Donaldsc above.  Keep asking for a supervisor and explain what is going on.  Be pleasant but insistent !!  Good luck and let us know how it turns out..

[happy cruzer]

Relax.  All cruise lines have terms and conditions.  RCCL is not trying to personally punish you.  They need to protect against cruisers booking high season cabins and then later cancelling.  If the group gets really big,  RCCL might want to rebook you.  Else you can go at spring break which was the time you needed.  Do things early in the day, have your daughter go to the kids camp activities.  It will impact you but if you need to cruise during spring break it could happen on any cruise of 7 days or less.

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, thp60945 said:

 Have any of you cruised during spring break? What are we in for? 

PARTÉÉÉ🍸🍸🍸🍸😎😎😎😎🌴🌴🌴🌴

[Xyla]

Probably most 3-5 night Caribbean cruises during spring break are going to have somewhat a party atmosphere, even if there isn't a defined college party group on board.

[Cruiser_1977]

@thp60945 I don't think you have much to worry about. It's a big ship.  

 

You mention making a change. However, you said you picked that week because of your schedule. Any cruise 5 days or less during March and April may have college spring breakers (In Spring of 2000 I was one of those with 5 of my best friends). Before you call, know exactly what change you'd like to make. Do the research. When you call BE POLITE (almost overly). Explain what happened and ask if they can move you to XYZ ship on 123 date. Don't demand. Don't be snarky. It is not the fault of the person on the phone. Or RCL for that matter. They are in the business of making money. If the CSR can't help. Simply ask to speak to a supervisor. Be able and willing to HOLD. Try to call during 9am - 5pm. Don't hang up until you have talked to a supervisor. IF they agree, ask for an e-mail and check that it has arrived in your inbox BEFORE hanging up.

 

 

Edited June 12, 2019 by JennyB1977

[crystalspin]

My non-refundable deposit cruise for January 2021 has a $100pp per leg of a back-to-back, so $1000 if I need to change! Of course I knew this when I booked direct with RCI. We do have protection through our credit card for covered reasons (Spring Break would not be a covered reason), and I figured that the only reason we would have to change would be health-related and covered.

[thp60945]

1 hour ago, JennyB1977 said:

@thp60945 I don't think you have much to worry about. It's a big ship.  

 

You mention making a change. However, you said you picked that week because of your schedule. Any cruise 5 days or less during March and April may have college spring breakers (In Spring of 2000 I was one of those with 5 of my best friends). Before you call, know exactly what change you'd like to make. Do the research. When you call BE POLITE (almost overly). Explain what happened and ask if they can move you to XYZ ship on 123 date. Don't demand. Don't be snarky. It is not the fault of the person on the phone. Or RCL for that matter. They are in the business of making money. If the CSR can't help. Simply ask to speak to a supervisor. Be able and willing to HOLD. Try to call during 9am - 5pm. Don't hang up until you have talked to a supervisor. IF they agree, ask for an e-mail and check that it has arrived in your inbox BEFORE hanging up.

 

 

Thanks!! I did pick that specific date because my daughter is out of school and it would work perfectly. However, I would change it to fall break or whatever I had to. It is what it is. I am definitely polite when speaking with them. 

[cb at sea]

You are part of "spring break"!  It's really no different than any other cruise, except there are more families, since this is when folks (like you) can go!  It's not like a frat party or anything!

 

Of course, ANY shorter cruise will have it's share of partiers...folks wanting to fit 10lbs of fun into a 5lb bag, so to speak.  If your cruise is longer than 3-5 days, you aren't going to notice anything but more families.

[crystalspin]

Actually, this is being at least semi-organized as a mega-frat party. I understand the OP's hesitance -- these things really can take over a ship (or a town! I was in Daytona Beach for Black College Student Week once -- the strip was so packed cars couldn't move). So a different ship could make a difference, even in Spring Break.

 

OTOH, OP: you are looking at 4-day cruises during college vacations, the Party Cruise atmosphere is always a danger. Spring Break is also higher priced (in general) -- how about a 7-day in the summer? Yes it is vacation time, but spread out over a few months, it's not as concentrated or (usually) subject to organized groups. Before you plunk down hard cash, a trick is to google the ship and sail date -- although truth be told I have never done this! it is a way to find any groups that is mentioned on these boards.

[Aquahound]

2 hours ago, cb at sea said:

You are part of "spring break"!  It's really no different than any other cruise, except there are more families, since this is when folks (like you) can go!  It's not like a frat party or anything!

 

I whole heartedly disagree with this post.  Spring break cruises are very different, especially organized SB cruises like the OP's. 

[thp60945]

What is OP's and SB?  

 

[thp60945]

27 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Actually, this is being at least semi-organized as a mega-frat party. I understand the OP's hesitance -- these things really can take over a ship (or a town! I was in Daytona Beach for Black College Student Week once -- the strip was so packed cars couldn't move). So a different ship could make a difference, even in Spring Break.

 

OTOH, OP: you are looking at 4-day cruises during college vacations, the Party Cruise atmosphere is always a danger. Spring Break is also higher priced (in general) -- how about a 7-day in the summer? Yes it is vacation time, but spread out over a few months, it's not as concentrated or (usually) subject to organized groups. Before you plunk down hard cash, a trick is to google the ship and sail date -- although truth be told I have never done this! it is a way to find any groups that is mentioned on these boards.

Yeah, looks like I have learned a valuable lesson .  You live and learn I guess.  

[brillohead]

24 minutes ago, thp60945 said:

What is OP's and SB?  

 

Original Poster

Spring Break

 

[brillohead]

5 hours ago, thp60945 said:

Yes a lesson learned. No, this is our first RC Cruise.  I booked directly through RC. I guess I think the fee is ridiculous because #1. I’m not trying to cancel, just change. 

#2.  This is our first RC cruise so I might expect a tiny bit of grace. 

#3. Our cruise is 9 months out.  I’m not trying to make a huge last minute change.  

Here's another way of looking at it -- if you had booked non-refundable airfare (which, by the way, you have to pay for in full at time of purchase, not just a deposit with payment in full at a later date like cruise lines allow), would you expect the airline to change your seats without a change fee?

The fact of the matter is that ANY cruise in that time frame is likely to be a Spring Break cruise, and especially a cruise of less than seven days.  

You could try asking Royal how many berths have been set aside / blocked off for this particular travel agency.  If the agency has only reserved 500 spots on a ship that holds 3,000+, that might set your mind at ease a bit.  

Or, you could just bite the bullet, pay the change fee of $100/person, and choose a different cruise.  

 

[Essiesmom]

You could also call the agency organizing the group and see if they will tell you how many they are expecting in each group.  I see they are running the cruise three times.  EM

[Robinsoncruiseso]

Go and have a good time. Some travel agent/agency reserved group space and is attempting to sell it. They may only sell a few cabins. Give them a call and ask. Honestly, if a group of young adults who knew each other wanted to cruise, they would probably book themselves and you would never know. Also, 20 somethings will probably be occupying different venues on the ship then you.  Stay out of the bars on the ship and in port and you should be fine.  Have a super time with your family. If you see anyone Misbehaving on the ship, in their 20’s or 70’s, let someone know and Security should take care of it. 

[geoherb]

We took my then 85-year-old mother-in-law on a spring break cruise on a Carnival ship. I was well aware that it was spring break since DH was teaching at a community college and his spring break was when we could go. Overall, we had a good time, and my mother-in-law was thrilled that we took her. But there were way too many students--both college and high school. It was the latter, actually, that we ended up having more problems with than the college ones.