Mess with our family of 4 booking

[Ebarnett8]

Hi folks, please let me know your take on this and if I have a reason to be upset or not...

We are invited with some family to join them on a cruise & we have 2 little ones under 5. Looking at the options, the prices are super rediculous for one room with us all in it, so we instead book 2 gty balcony rooms which are supposed to be connected and end up paying about half the price this way. We get our room assignments today, and they aren't connected, not even close. Different decks, opposite sides of the ship. I call in, trying to figure out a solution, they end up "making an exception" in putting us all in one room since the 2 rooms that we had could both accomodate the 4 of us. No upgrades, just consolidate us all into one of the 2 rooms. Now I feel like we should've got some kind of upgrade or compensation since we gave them a room back and they gave us nothing. I mean technically we could have all slept in one room anyway, couldn't we? And just let the extra room stay empty. We're just frustrated and kind of feel like we gave something up and got nothing in return. What do you guys think? I'm trying to stay level-headed about all of this but can't help but I feel like I made a mistake in letting them take a room back with nothing in return..

[KsucAts]

Sounds like you should have kept what was given to you.  What made you think the gty rooms were supposed to be connected?

 

I just booked two gty rooms with older kids and have seen no promises or any indications that they will be connected or even close.  I am hopeful, but it was worth the gamble for the savings.  

[Ebarnett8]

When I booked it, I selected for the rooms to be connected...

[mugtech]

17 minutes ago, Ebarnett8 said:

When I booked it, I selected for the rooms to be connected...

You selected that, but they are in no way obligated to give you connected since you chose to save money with a gty.  In response to your question, no, you are not justified to complain, you got what you paid for.

[Ebarnett8]

Meant to add, having never cruised with the kids before, my interpretation of how the gty worked was that they'd pick the rooms, however, the two rooms would be connected. That's what I thought I was paying for. Obviously didn't work out that way in the end, which is why I feel like I'm paying for what I should've known though isn't there some responsibility on their end for making this clear...

[PhoenixCruiser]

Are you sure the wording said they would be connecting? I don't  think they could guarantee that with booking two guarantees. 

[Merion_Mom]

I agree with PhoenixCruiser.  When you select that guarantee category, that is all that you are selecting.  There is no way to book "connecting guarantee" cabins.

 

If you need connecting cabins, you must choose and book those.

[Tee & Chilli]

I would have kept the second cabin to use as more storage and a second bath for one parent to shower, etc, before dinner.

 

Royal gave you one cabin which would cost you more than the two cabins.

Edited November 2, 2019 by Tee & Chilli

[Ourusualbeach]

This happened to me 8 years ago.

 

I just went on and did a mock booking and was surprised that it still allows you to do this.  When you select 2 cabins it then asks you if you want connecting.  You then follow through the rest of the booking and it allows you to select guarantee.  It even went so far on one booking to tell me that there were no guarantee cabins available.  I was able to select a category and it took me to the booking stage with no mention of the cabins not being guaranteed as connecting.  Any reasonable person would assume that they had just booked connecting guarantees.

 

In my case I escalated it and while they were not able to give me connecting cabins they did find us cabins next door to each other.

Edited November 2, 2019 by Ourusualbeach

[123funcruiser]

As others have said you Need to pick your Rooms and pay more for it to make sure you get connecting Rooms. If it was a mistake to give up the second room or not is up to you to decide. However I highly doubt you´d gotten anything in return anyway. They wouldn´t have cared. 

 

As per the screenshot above it clearly says "Include connecting Rooms" which for my understanding is just a Preference Setting but not a guarantee at all. It also says based on availability which is another strong indicator of no guarantees given. 

Last but not least it is highlighted in blue what you are guaranteed and there´s no Mention of a guarantee of connecting Rooms.

[harry0]

When is your sailing?  If it's before final payment -cancel aND rebook  - If not I would call back and try to get 1/2 your money back or get connecting insides or other categories. IMO the connecting feature is very misleading. if you do not get satisfaction from the customer rep ask to talk to resolutions manager

[mjkacmom]

We always book connecting balconies, so can’t book guarantee, since they wouldn’t be connecting. I think since you had two cabins that only slept two, with beds for two, they instead moved you to a cabin with beds for four, which I’d prefer for my family. I assume it’s after final payment. I always call and book, so I can ask questions.

 

ETA, you booked two balcony guarantees because it cost you half of what it would cost to book four of you in a balcony. You now have four of you in a balcony. You are back to square one, and now realize that the lower cost of booking guarantee is not an option for your family since you want to stay together.

Edited November 2, 2019 by mjkacmom

[crooooze]

If I understand the OP concern - they paid for two gty rooms, then were consolidated into 1 gty for the same price.

 

Doesn’t hurt to call back and see if they would toss in a little OBC. Not likely they would offer anything, however.

[123funcruiser]

27 minutes ago, crooooze said:

If I understand the OP concern - they paid for two gty rooms, then were consolidated into 1 gty for the same price.

 

Doesn’t hurt to call back and see if they would toss in a little OBC. Not likely they would offer anything, however.

 

They Paid for two gty´s and were Consolidated into one assigned room, without having to fork out the Money for one assigned room, which was according to the OP double of what they Paid for two gty´s.

2 hours ago, harry0 said:

When is your sailing?  If it's before final payment -cancel aND rebook  - If not I would call back and try to get 1/2 your money back or get connecting insides or other categories. IMO the connecting feature is very misleading. if you do not get satisfaction from the customer rep ask to talk to resolutions manager

Even if they could cancel and rebook, they booked this way because what they got now would have been double the Price.

[Ebarnett8]

I called and spoke to retention, they're not willing to do anything, they basically hung up on me. Very disappointed with Royal. The problem boils down to communication. If we knew that by selecting gty, we wouldn't be connected, we wouldn't have booked at all. The fact is that nowhere does it say by selecting gty, I am giving up the option of having a connected room. For future reference, I'll be booking 2 rooms, then call in a day or so later while I'm still in the refund window and merge us in 1 room & then be able to collect the refund.

Edit: assuming I'd ever want to cruise them again.

Edited November 2, 2019 by Ebarnett8

[mjkacmom]

7 minutes ago, Ebarnett8 said:

I called and spoke to retention, they're not willing to do anything, they basically hung up on me. Very disappointed with Royal. The problem boils down to communication. If we knew that by selecting gty, we wouldn't be connected, we wouldn't have booked at all. The fact is that nowhere does it say by selecting gty, I am giving up the option of having a connected room. For future reference, I'll be booking 2 rooms, then call in a day or so later while I'm still in the refund window and merge us in 1 room & then be able to collect the refund.

Edit: assuming I'd ever want to cruise them again.

I don’t understand what you mean, you can’t just merge 4 people into a cabin that sleeps 2. I doubt they will book 2 of you in a cabin that sleeps 4. If you realized that guarantees couldn’t be connecting in the first place, would you have booked a cabin of 4 (which is what you have) or connecting cabins (which would most likely cost even more than your cabin for 4, which according to you is priced ridiculously high).

[KsucAts]

10 minutes ago, Ebarnett8 said:

I called and spoke to retention, they're not willing to do anything, they basically hung up on me. Very disappointed with Royal. The problem boils down to communication. If we knew that by selecting gty, we wouldn't be connected, we wouldn't have booked at all. The fact is that nowhere does it say by selecting gty, I am giving up the option of having a connected room. For future reference, I'll be booking 2 rooms, then call in a day or so later while I'm still in the refund window and merge us in 1 room & then be able to collect the refund.

Edit: assuming I'd ever want to cruise them again.

 

It was pretty clear to me when I booked my two gty rooms that the connecting option disappeared from the website.  Also, it doesn't make sense to me but Royal actually charges more for 4 people in 1 gty room than 2 gty rooms.  I am willing to take the chance.  Once our rooms are assigned and if they are not close, I will look to see what might still be available and if something is close to one of the rooms I will call and see how much it is to upgrade to the open room from the other gty room.  If that doesn't work out, I will happily accept the savings I got and have two rooms that aren't close together.

[123funcruiser]

37 minutes ago, Ebarnett8 said:

I called and spoke to retention, they're not willing to do anything, they basically hung up on me. Very disappointed with Royal. The problem boils down to communication. If we knew that by selecting gty, we wouldn't be connected, we wouldn't have booked at all. The fact is that nowhere does it say by selecting gty, I am giving up the option of having a connected room. For future reference, I'll be booking 2 rooms, then call in a day or so later while I'm still in the refund window and merge us in 1 room & then be able to collect the refund.

Edit: assuming I'd ever want to cruise them again.

 

Good luck with that. When you call in you´ll be able to Change your booking at the going rate. If 4 People in the room is cheaper, why not book it that way upfront. If it´s more expensive there won´t be a refund coming your way, but they will reprice and want more Money at final payment from you.

[Ebarnett8]

It's not cheaper- it's twice as much. Makes no sense

[marci22]

You should have asked the question here before you gave the room back. Personally, I'd call back and try to get the booking reinstated as you had it. No sense in giving up a room where you get nothing. 

 

Did you book a nonrefundable deposit?

Edited November 2, 2019 by marci22

[Midwestgal]

That too bad and I can understand your upset.

unless I was getting a refund I would of kept the other cabin as someone mentioned . The other could of been used for showers and even a place for kids to nap while one of you use the other cabin to relax....I would of found a purpose.

Royal won out on that one that’s for sure

[123funcruiser]

6 minutes ago, Ebarnett8 said:

It's not cheaper- it's twice as much. Makes no sense

 

While it might not make sense to you or me it makes sense for RCI and they obviously make Money with this pricing. 

 

You got a Resolution now with getting what you wanted in the first place and without having to pay the high Price. I don´t understand why you expect a refund. What would that refund be for?

[marci22]

Also if I am reading this correctly, you got two rooms for half the price of 4 in one room. Now they have put you all in one room, for that same price. So you actually got 4 in one room for half the price that anyone else would currently pay.

[marci22]

In the future, if something like this happens, make sure you review all of your options and think about it for awhile before making a decision. I'm not criticizing you, but a lot of people think they have to make these split second decisions and they really don't have to.

[mjkacmom]

15 minutes ago, Midwestgal said:

That too bad and I can understand your upset.

unless I was getting a refund I would of kept the other cabin as someone mentioned . The other could of been used for showers and even a place for kids to nap while one of you use the other cabin to relax....I would of found a purpose.

Royal won out on that one that’s for sure

But they had 2 cabins that slept 2, they now have 1 cabin that sleeps 4. They aren’t going to get a cabin that sleeps 4 plus another that sleeps 2.