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Royal Refuses To Allow Use Of FCC’s


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Royal Caribbean refuses to allow me to use my cruise credits despite following all instructions exactly as they advised. I originally booked a Royal Caribbean cruise in January 2020 for a sailing date of May 11th 2020 on the Independence of the Seas. All cruises were canceled due to the global pandemic. Royal Caribbean offered consumers 2 options. Consumers could request a full refund for their canceled cruise. Or consumers could receive a 125% future cruise credit based on the original cruise amount paid rather than receiving a refund. I opted for the 125% future cruise credit. I received the future cruise credits in the form of certificate numbers via email on 4/29/2020. I received 3 cruise credit certificates each in the amount of $477.00 (one certificate for each passenger). The email from Royal Caribbean containing the credits states the following, "To redeem your future cruise credits, please contact your travel advisor or visit our website to book your new sailing and apply your credit." On 5/19/2020, I visited Royal Caribbean's website at www.RoyalCaribbean.com to book a new sailing using the future cruise credit certificates. I found a cruise similar in price to our original booking and entered the future cruise credits to be applied to the booking. During the booking process, I was instructed to enter the future cruise credit certificates to be applied to the new booking. I followed the provided instructions, entered the certificate codes, and the website showed the certificates were recognized and would be applied to the new booking. The new booking was slightly higher in price (approximately $300), so I was also instructed to enter a form of payment to cover the difference in price that was not covered by the cruise credits. I entered a personal credit card. After processing, the final confirmation page showed a total price of $1736.04. However, it also stated that an updated an invoice would be sent after the future cruise credits were applied. The confirmation page stated my future cruise credits needed to be reviewed for validity. Once reviewed and confirmed, a new invoice would be sent showing the updated total with the future cruise credits applied. I received an email confirmation showing a total $1736.04 on 5/19/2020. Within 1 minute, I also received 3 emails from Royal Caribbean showing my future cruise credits and stating the following: "Your future cruise credits were applied successfully and a new booking invoice with the reduced fare will be sent to the email address on file." I never received a new invoice and when I received my credit card statement I found that I had been charged for the full amount of $1736.04 on 5/20/2020. I contacted Royal Caribbean Customer Service via phone (800-256-6649) at 656pm MST on 6/1/2020. After speaking with a Supervisor, I was informed that my future cruise credits could not be applied to Reservation ID 541344 because I had already paid in full. I explained that I followed the instructions provided by Royal Caribbean and booked my cruise online using the future cruise certificates provided. I explained that I received a confirmation email from Royal Caribbean on 5/19/2020 confirm my cruise credits had been applied and advising me that I would receive an updated invoice with the lower fare. I was informed by a Supervisor that this was incorrect and future cruise credits cannot be applied online as stated in the email sent to consumers who chose this option. .The Supervisor stated that the cruise credits could not be applied to this booking and could only be used for future bookings. She said the only way these credits could have been used was via phone, which contradicts prior communication. She stated they will not apply the credits to the second booking and cannot make any adjustments to the fare. She said the amount overpaid must be granted in yet another fcc that I don’t want. So I’ve now paid for this 1 cruise twice with even more fcc’s on the way that I don’t want. I feel this is a predatory practice designed to trick consumers into spending more than intended. Royal Caribbean is not following the terms the provided to consumers and it appears they are attempting to capitalize on the fact that consumers were forced to cancel due to the pandemic. I’m only asking for them to allow me to use the fcc’s they provided in accordance with their instructions. But they continually refuse to assist or apply the credits as originally advised. I’m so disgusted I’m just ready to drop the whole thing and file chargebacks with my credit card company. Royal is ruining their reputation. They’re forcing consumers to spend more than they intended and I refuse to accept it. 

Edited by Host Jacquelyn
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Welcome to Cruise Critic.  Cruise Critic is a forum of fellow cruisers.  Although we may provide some insight, we cannot do anything to get your situation resolved.

 

You may want to send this to RCI's executive team at mbayley@rccl.com.   They will address it and get back to you. 

 

Steve

 

 

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the last two guys have much more patience than me.  I cannot easily read such a long post, with no spaces or paragraphs and written in small type.   So no idea what the issue is.

Whatever the OP is wishing to raise, good luck and hopefully if you sent it to RCI exec Team as suggested above, it will be laid out in a much more readable format 🙂 

Edited by Jeannie333333
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6 minutes ago, Jeannie333333 said:

the last two guys have much more patience than me.  I cannot easily read such a long post, with no spaces or paragraphs and written in small type.   So no idea what the issue is.

Whatever the OP is wishing to raise, good luck and hopefully if you sent it to RCI exec Team as suggested above, it will be laid out in a much more readable format 🙂 

I apologize, formatting such as paragraph and font size were lost when this was copied + pasted over from the complaint I sent RCIs executive team (personal info edited out).

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No one at Royal Caribbean or any other cruise line is going to take the time to wade through that.  Whatever you send them needs to be concise and readable.

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7 minutes ago, Roz said:

No one at Royal Caribbean or any other cruise line is going to take the time to wade through that.  Whatever you send them needs to be concise and readable.

Thanks for your opinion, sincerely. I understand but disagree as I have worked in executive complaints for national financial institutions for many years and over 75% of complaints are tossed due to lack of thorough explanation. “You cancel my cruise. You no let me use cruise credits. Me want refund” Doesn’t cut it. 
 

Not here to argue over that, just interested in seeing if anyone else is experiencing a similar situation. Royal’s social media pages are flooded with consumers who have not been allowed to use their FCCs and were then charged full price for future bookings. 
 

 

Edited by Shotgunblasting
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I thought you could use the FCC when booking online. Sometimes it's best to hang up and talk to someone else.  S

 

When is the new cruise?  Can you cancel the new reservation and get your money back? If I read the post correctly, you only agreed to a $300 charge and not the entire fare.  

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1 minute ago, crusinthrough said:

I thought you could use the FCC when booking online. Sometimes it's best to hang up and talk to someone else.  S

 

When is the new cruise?  Can you cancel the new reservation and get your money back? If I read the post correctly, you only agreed to a $300 charge and not the entire fare.  

Yes, you understand correctly. Royals emails say you can use the FCCs to rebook online, which is what I did. When I rebooked it showed the FCCs were applied. Only a $300 balance remained which I paid via credit card. The first itinerary they sent showed the full $1700+ price but said “You’ll receive an updated fare receipt when FCCs are applied.”  They the sent an email saying the FCCs were applied but no update fare was attached. They charged the full $1700+ to my credit card and when I called they said, “Sorry, FCCs can’t be applied online. And because you already paid (only because they charged me the full price) the FCCs now can’t be added after the fact.”   I asked the Supervisor, “Are you not dealing with 1000s of customers in this situation?” And she reluctantly said, “Unfortunately, yes we are. But we’ve been told there’s nothing we can do.”

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20 minutes ago, Shotgunblasting said:

I apologize, formatting such as paragraph and font size were lost when this was copied + pasted over from the complaint I sent RCIs executive team (personal info edited out).

 

When you sent the complaint to RCL I certainly hope you used paragraphs and a legible font size; otherwise, you may never get a response.

 

After copying and pasting you can still create paragraphs and change the font to a size that is actually legible.  

 

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This is exactly the reason that i use one of the top TA's in the country to handle all of our cruises.. they are used to dealing with the cruise companies and know the loopholes that you face when using lift/switch or FCC's.... and they also have inside info on deals and promos that the cruise lines run.....they also give loyalty perks and appreciate your business and you can develop a trust when using the same sales rep all of the time...

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On 6/6/2020 at 12:23 PM, bouhunter said:

Paragraphs...…......     Not even going to try reading that.

there u go........................ now maybe u could try

 

Royal Caribbean refuses to allow me to use my cruise credits despite following all instructions exactly as they advised. I originally booked a Royal Caribbean cruise in January 2020 for a sailing date of May 11th 2020 on the Independence of the Seas. All cruises were canceled due to the global pandemic. Royal Caribbean offered consumers 2 options. Consumers could request a full refund for their canceled cruise. Or consumers could receive a 125% future cruise credit based on the original cruise amount paid rather than receiving a refund. I opted for the 125% future cruise credit.
 

I received the future cruise credits in the form of certificate numbers via email on 4/29/2020. I received 3 cruise credit certificates each in the amount of $477.00 (one certificate for each passenger). The email from Royal Caribbean containing the credits states the following, "To redeem your future cruise credits, please contact your travel advisor or visit our website to book your new sailing and apply your credit."
 

On 5/19/2020, I visited Royal Caribbean's website at www.RoyalCaribbean.com to book a new sailing using the future cruise credit certificates. I found a cruise similar in price to our original booking and entered the future cruise credits to be applied to the booking. During the booking process, I was instructed to enter the future cruise credit certificates to be applied to the new booking. I followed the provided instructions, entered the certificate codes, and the website showed the certificates were recognized and would be applied to the new booking. The new booking was slightly higher in price (approximately $300), so I was also instructed to enter a form of payment to cover the difference in price that was not covered by the cruise credits. I entered a personal credit card. After processing, the final confirmation page showed a total price of $1736.04.
 

However, it also stated that an updated an invoice would be sent after the future cruise credits were applied. The confirmation page stated my future cruise credits needed to be reviewed for validity. Once reviewed and confirmed, a new invoice would be sent showing the updated total with the future cruise credits applied. I received an email confirmation showing a total $1736.04 on 5/19/2020. Within 1 minute, I also received 3 emails from Royal Caribbean showing my future cruise credits and stating the following: "Your future cruise credits were applied successfully and a new booking invoice with the reduced fare will be sent to the email address on file." I never received a new invoice and when I received my credit card statement I found that I had been charged for the full amount of $1736.04 on 5/20/2020.

 

I contacted Royal Caribbean Customer Service via phone (800-256-6649) at 656pm MST on 6/1/2020. After speaking with a Supervisor, I was informed that my future cruise credits could not be applied to Reservation ID 541344 because I had already paid in full. I explained that I followed the instructions provided by Royal Caribbean and booked my cruise online using the future cruise certificates provided. I explained that I received a confirmation email from Royal Caribbean on 5/19/2020 confirm my cruise credits had been applied and advising me that I would receive an updated invoice with the lower fare. I was informed by a Supervisor that this was incorrect and future cruise credits cannot be applied online as stated in the email sent to consumers who chose this option. .The Supervisor stated that the cruise credits could not be applied to this booking and could only be used for future bookings. She said the only way these credits could have been used was via phone, which contradicts prior communication. She stated they will not apply the credits to the second booking and cannot make any adjustments to the fare. She said the amount overpaid must be granted in yet another fcc that I don’t want.
 

So I’ve now paid for this 1 cruise twice with even more fcc’s on the way that I don’t want. I feel this is a predatory practice designed to trickconsumers into spending more than intended. Royal Caribbean is not following the terms the provided to consumers and it appears they are attempting to capitalize on the fact that consumers were forced to cancel due to the pandemic. I’m only asking for them to allow me to use the fcc’s they provided in accordance with their instructions. But they continually refuse to assist or apply the credits as originally advised. I’m so disgusted I’m just ready to drop the whole thing and file chargebacks with my credit card company. Royal is ruining their reputation. They’re forcing consumers to spend more than they intended and I refuse to accept it. 

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Just file a dispute with your credit card company and let them handle it. We did that with 2 independent excursion companies who refused to honor their original policy of a full refund and were only offering a future credit. Both disputes were found in our favor and refunded to our card.

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Cwc you can cancel but would just get more future credits. Are you before final payment? These old eyes are having trouble seeing dates and stuff. Any cruise can be rebooked, if you are before final payment maybe you could just get future credits for deposits. 

 

Interested in a 2nd cruise? Hopefully someone with better eyesight can suggest something.

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51 minutes ago, Shotgunblasting said:

Yes, you understand correctly. Royals emails say you can use the FCCs to rebook online, which is what I did. When I rebooked it showed the FCCs were applied. Only a $300 balance remained which I paid via credit card. The first itinerary they sent showed the full $1700+ price but said “You’ll receive an updated fare receipt when FCCs are applied.”  They the sent an email saying the FCCs were applied but no update fare was attached. They charged the full $1700+ to my credit card and when I called they said, “Sorry, FCCs can’t be applied online. And because you already paid (only because they charged me the full price) the FCCs now can’t be added after the fact.”   I asked the Supervisor, “Are you not dealing with 1000s of customers in this situation?” And she reluctantly said, “Unfortunately, yes we are. But we’ve been told there’s nothing we can do.”

 

Have you tried to dispute the charge with the credit card company?  you agreed to a $300 payment not a full payment.  The most money RC should have is $300.   

 

Thanks for the info about using FCC online.  Doesn't make sense that this would be an available option but in reality can not be used.  This seems like a IT glitch. 

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OP must have booked second cruise within final payment date, requiring full payment.  Original post was very specific about dates concerning original cruise but not the new one.

 

 

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To the original poster - I managed to read your post and had no problems whatsoever.  In today's society some people have a very short attention span and are no longer able to read anything longer than a text message!!

 

If I had had a problem, I would have just copied and pasted your post over to a  word document and then just increase the font size.  Easy to do.

 

You have posted here asking for information.  I'm sorry but I am unable to offer any advice.  However,  after your experience, if I can't lift and shift a booking, I will ask for a full refund!.

 

I really hope you have a satisfactory resolution to this.

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Just call back and speak to someone else. Forget the long story. When you call say, I booked my cruise online. RCCL made a mistake and charged the full amount of my cruise to my Credit card.  They should have applied my 3 FCC certificates and charged the balance $3XX to my CC. I need you to correct this.  I have the emails confirming my FCC certificates were applied. Thank you. 

 

Seems like you got a bad cust rep on the phone the 1st time. No big deal. Just call them back.

 

Or like someone else mentioned dispute it with your credit card company. Send the CC company a copy of all the emails. Easy Peasy. 

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Read most of the original post and only saw that the total paid is what we pay for a deposit.  Hope you get it all worked out and can hop on a ship soon.  Our Ovation cruise was just cancelled and now we are crossing our fingers that Odyssey will be ready to go by March 2021.

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Yes, another coffin nail into RCCL reputation that has already bleeded with their refund bits.

I hope your email to Bailey helps and the exec team can solve this.

Also do not worry about those critics of your font size. I managed with 2 fingers to zoom in and enlarge the font to my needs.. Not all elderly understand how to customize such a trivial issue.

Good luck!

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23 hours ago, lovemylab said:

 

Why do you insist on posting in such a small font?  Not everyone wants to pull out a magnifying glass to read your post.

 

At least it wasn't in that silly cursive font

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3 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I sure wish posters would use a font that some of us struggle to read. Why not just leave it default?

 

They did a paste from another document,  I get it

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23 hours ago, panamapd said:

  In today's society some people have a very short attention span and are no longer able to read anything longer than a text message!!

 

If I had had a problem, I would have just copied and pasted your post over to a  word document and then just increase the font size.  Easy to do.

 

And in todays society others are either too lazy or lack the basic common sense to corrctly format a post before hitting submit.  

 

Many people read cruise critic on phones and tablets where copying and pasting to a word document isn't an option.

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On 6/6/2020 at 3:26 PM, Shotgunblasting said:

Royal Caribbean refuses to allow me to use my cruise credits despite following all instructions exactly as they advised. I originally booked a Royal Caribbean cruise in January 2020 for a sailing date of May 11th 2020 on the Independence of the Seas. All cruises were canceled due to the global pandemic. Royal Caribbean offered consumers 2 options. Consumers could request a full refund for their canceled cruise. Or consumers could receive a 125% future cruise credit based on the original cruise amount paid rather than receiving a refund. I opted for the 125% future cruise credit. I received the future cruise credits in the form of certificate numbers via email on 4/29/2020. I received 3 cruise credit certificates each in the amount of $477.00 (one certificate for each passenger). The email from Royal Caribbean containing the credits states the following, "To redeem your future cruise credits, please contact your travel advisor or visit our website to book your new sailing and apply your credit." On 5/19/2020, I visited Royal Caribbean's website at www.RoyalCaribbean.com to book a new sailing using the future cruise credit certificates. I found a cruise similar in price to our original booking and entered the future cruise credits to be applied to the booking. During the booking process, I was instructed to enter the future cruise credit certificates to be applied to the new booking. I followed the provided instructions, entered the certificate codes, and the website showed the certificates were recognized and would be applied to the new booking. The new booking was slightly higher in price (approximately $300), so I was also instructed to enter a form of payment to cover the difference in price that was not covered by the cruise credits. I entered a personal credit card. After processing, the final confirmation page showed a total price of $1736.04. However, it also stated that an updated an invoice would be sent after the future cruise credits were applied. The confirmation page stated my future cruise credits needed to be reviewed for validity. Once reviewed and confirmed, a new invoice would be sent showing the updated total with the future cruise credits applied. I received an email confirmation showing a total $1736.04 on 5/19/2020. Within 1 minute, I also received 3 emails from Royal Caribbean showing my future cruise credits and stating the following: "Your future cruise credits were applied successfully and a new booking invoice with the reduced fare will be sent to the email address on file." I never received a new invoice and when I received my credit card statement I found that I had been charged for the full amount of $1736.04 on 5/20/2020. I contacted Royal Caribbean Customer Service via phone (800-256-6649) at 656pm MST on 6/1/2020. After speaking with a Supervisor, I was informed that my future cruise credits could not be applied to Reservation ID 541344 because I had already paid in full. I explained that I followed the instructions provided by Royal Caribbean and booked my cruise online using the future cruise certificates provided. I explained that I received a confirmation email from Royal Caribbean on 5/19/2020 confirm my cruise credits had been applied and advising me that I would receive an updated invoice with the lower fare. I was informed by a Supervisor that this was incorrect and future cruise credits cannot be applied online as stated in the email sent to consumers who chose this option. .The Supervisor stated that the cruise credits could not be applied to this booking and could only be used for future bookings. She said the only way these credits could have been used was via phone, which contradicts prior communication. She stated they will not apply the credits to the second booking and cannot make any adjustments to the fare. She said the amount overpaid must be granted in yet another fcc that I don’t want. So I’ve now paid for this 1 cruise twice with even more fcc’s on the way that I don’t want. I feel this is a predatory practice designed to trick consumers into spending more than intended. Royal Caribbean is not following the terms the provided to consumers and it appears they are attempting to capitalize on the fact that consumers were forced to cancel due to the pandemic. I’m only asking for them to allow me to use the fcc’s they provided in accordance with their instructions. But they continually refuse to assist or apply the credits as originally advised. I’m so disgusted I’m just ready to drop the whole thing and file chargebacks with my credit card company. Royal is ruining their reputation. They’re forcing consumers to spend more than they intended and I refuse to accept it. 


 

I can barley see that to read all that

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