Liberty to Independence

[hcorey]

I originally had a cabin reservation on Liberty which I paid extra to pick the cabin I wanted. When they moved our reservation to the Independence they changed our cabin to another one I didn’t pick. I’m not sure why but have a idea it’s because they could get a higher price now. What would your options be for compensation for moving us. I think it’s not fair not to get the cabin I chose in January and have to settle with what cabin they picked. What would you do in this situation?

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, hcorey said:

What would you do in this situation?

Hope the sailing goes as planned.

[vegas7df]

I think many people are in the same situation. I just wanted the same deck and cabin category, which I got so I'm happy. 

[cruizinmimi]

I'm still waiting for my assignment.  If you booked with a TA, they are saying it might be July 16 before everything is transferred over.  We have had 8/29 booked for almost 2 years and I really like my balcony cabin and deck, but I may not get the same cabin (I understand).  I just hope that it is the same category balcony at least!

[trafaelwyr]

18 minutes ago, hcorey said:

I originally had a cabin reservation on Liberty which I paid extra to pick the cabin I wanted. When they moved our reservation to the Independence they changed our cabin to another one I didn’t pick. I’m not sure why but have a idea it’s because they could get a higher price now. What would your options be for compensation for moving us. I think it’s not fair not to get the cabin I chose in January and have to settle with what cabin they picked. What would you do in this situation?

 

My mom, sister and I booked our 8/29 cruise on Liberty at the beginning of September 2020.  About a couple of weeks ago, I decided to have a look at the RCI app because of everything that I'd been reading on here about Liberty being replaced by Independence.  Now, I will say that a month ago when I looked at the app, it showed I was booked on Liberty, what the menu was for each day and what excursions were going to be available (1 in Roatan, 6 in Costa Maya and 9 in Cozumel).  So, back to a couple of weeks ago.  My reservation had been updated to show Independence.  Ok, great.  Since both ships are identical in terms of cabins / cabin numbers, this should have been an easy lateral move - meaning that we'd be in the same cabin numbers that we'd made reservations for on the Liberty.  Nope.  I was now on deck 9 at the back of the ship (as opposed to deck 6 at the front interior) and my mom and sister, still on deck 6, were now on the right side of the ship near the middle (their original cabin was also deck 6, but on the left side and first cabin with a balcony).  My mom and I imparted this news to my sister and she took charge.  Last Friday she spent over 3 hours on the phone, got disconnected 3 times when the sales agent tried to transfer her to a supervisor and then got a phone call from the manager last Saturday.  The manager gave my sister a couple of song and dance routines - one was about cabins being blocked off and then another about still finalizing details or some such.  My sister was also told that by 6/18, there would be chances to change things and that she would call my sister on 6/19 (today).  So......I hope to hear something from my sister today.  She was saying that because we didn't get moved to the cabins we originally booked, she's looking for some sort of compensation either in the form of:  a) some money credited back to our accounts b) a free drinks package (I told her this was dumb)  c) upgrading me from an interior to a balcony (I lobbied for this!).  I'm sure there are other things she had written down.  Apparently, when she takes this cruise she'll become a platinum member, so being a gold member she feels a bit put out with the current situation.  I will update this when I know more. 

 

Also....I'd been reading that some people had cruises scheduled for 8/15 and 8/22 on Liberty, but according to the RCI website, the first cruise out of Galveston is the 8/29 cruise, so either people on those sailings moved to a different date later in the year or next year or they got shunted to the 8/29 cruise.

[vegas7df]

My cruise is on August 22, 2021, received my updated invoice today.  I believe the reason the 8/15 and 8/22 do not show on Royal's website is because they are not done transferring people over from Liberty.

[hcorey]

They moved me to the same cabin on deck 6 from deck 8 and gave me a whole $75 on board credit. As a diamond plus this has left a bad taste in my mouth. It should have been a easy lateral move.

[trafaelwyr]

9 minutes ago, vegas7df said:

My cruise is on August 22, 2021, received my updated invoice today.  I believe the reason the 8/15 and 8/22 do not show on Royal's website is because they are not done transferring people over from Liberty.

 

ok, thanks for the info.  I was under the assumption that since 8/15 and 8/22 were not showing up, that the 8/29 cruise was going to be the first sailing.  Hmm!  I do know that for the 8/29 sailing, it shows that interior and ocean view rooms are sold out - now, whether or not that's true, I don't know.  It could be that or it could be they're not doing moving people from the 8/29 Liberty to Indy.

[nitajo]

We are cruising 8/22/2021 out of Galveston. Checking my account after the move to Independence I went from a zero balance to over 900.00 and now it’s changed again to over 1000.00. I have been trying to wait and let them straighten everything out before I call them but it’s frustrating. Anyone else?

[HicksRA]

1 hour ago, nitajo said:

We are cruising 8/22/2021 out of Galveston. Checking my account after the move to Independence I went from a zero balance to over 900.00 and now it’s changed again to over 1000.00. I have been trying to wait and let them straighten everything out before I call them but it’s frustrating. Anyone else?

It will be corrected.  My 9/5 sailing invoice showed I owed another $3500 on mine and I was paid in full. The system computes current pricing when they change over and they have to go in later and manually adjust the price to the protected amount. 
It now shows no balance due. 

Edited June 19, 2021 by HicksRA

[Cruzingal#9]

We're sailing on the Liberty out of Galveston on 10/3/21.  I haven't heard anything about being moved over to the Independence.  Is this just up until a certain date?  I think I heard somewhere that the Liberty will be going through a dry dock and be in Galveston in September sometime?  Anyone hear anything about that?

This is the first time we've ever booked a suite and would not be happy campers if that changed!!!

[dominicr]

8 minutes ago, Cruzingal#9 said:

We're sailing on the Liberty out of Galveston on 10/3/21.  I haven't heard anything about being moved over to the Independence.  Is this just up until a certain date?  I think I heard somewhere that the Liberty will be going through a dry dock and be in Galveston in September sometime?  Anyone hear anything about that?

This is the first time we've ever booked a suite and would not be happy campers if that changed!!!

I’m also on the 10/3 sailing on liberty in a 2 bedroom.  From what I’ve read the 9/26 sailing will be the first on liberty when she gets back from the dry dock.  Unfortunately if liberty is late and we get cancelled on 10/3 the Indy is already booking her own cruises and there isn’t another ship to switch to…..as of yet.  

[Cruzingal#9]

6 minutes ago, dominicr said:

I’m also on the 10/3 sailing on liberty in a 2 bedroom.  From what I’ve read the 9/26 sailing will be the first on liberty when she gets back from the dry dock.  Unfortunately if liberty is late and we get cancelled on 10/3 the Indy is already booking her own cruises and there isn’t another ship to switch to…..as of yet.  

Oh my goodness!  Don't even think that!!!!  It's all going to go according to plan😛

[dominicr]

58 minutes ago, Cruzingal#9 said:

Oh my goodness!  Don't even think that!!!!  It's all going to go according to plan😛

god I hope.  This cruise has been canceled for us twice already. 

[F27TW]

6 hours ago, hcorey said:

They moved me to the same cabin on deck 6 from deck 8 and gave me a whole $75 on board credit. As a diamond plus this has left a bad taste in my mouth. It should have been a easy lateral move.

 

Must be someone more important than you is on board and wanted your cabin .. like a Diamond +++.   Imagine ? 

[jcc1025]

3 hours ago, HicksRA said:

It will be corrected.  My 9/5 sailing invoice showed I owed another $3500 on mine and I was paid in full. The system computes current pricing when they change over and they have to go in later and manually adjust the price to the protected amount. 
It now shows no balance due. 

We are on the 8/15 Independence sailing with two staterooms booked. Both were paid off but showed the additional charges. They corrected one today so assume that they are working through them. Talked to a C&A rep and they said the system is not set up to do this and that its a manual process for their agents and they are working through them as fast as possible. 

[trafaelwyr]

An update on my situation.  My sister spoke to someone (not a manager) today and it sounded like they were giving her the run around with regards to our rooms.  My mother has pretty much settled on the room that they were given on Indy, but I'm still irked about going from the front of the ship all the way to the back.  If the ship is only going to cruise at a 25% to 30% capacity, I don't see how RCI could be claiming that all interior rooms are sold out.  So, they've either placed someone in the cabin I should be in or it's been blocked off.  I don't know how some people are having luck with RCI and getting either an upgrade or back to the room they originally wanted (since both ships are identical with regards to cabins).  It's another waiting game as this manager is supposed to get in contact with my sister within the next 48 hours since she didn't talk to my sister today. 

[Ashland]

8 minutes ago, trafaelwyr said:

An update on my situation.  My sister spoke to someone (not a manager) today and it sounded like they were giving her the run around with regards to our rooms.  My mother has pretty much settled on the room that they were given on Indy, but I'm still irked about going from the front of the ship all the way to the back.  If the ship is only going to cruise at a 25% to 30% capacity, I don't see how RCI could be claiming that all interior rooms are sold out.  So, they've either placed someone in the cabin I should be in or it's been blocked off.  I don't know how some people are having luck with RCI and getting either an upgrade or back to the room they originally wanted (since both ships are identical with regards to cabins).  It's another waiting game as this manager is supposed to get in contact with my sister within the next 48 hours since she didn't talk to my sister today. 

Best of luck to you...but I must say personally I would prefer an aft cabin to a forward one and deck 9 over deck 6...hope it all works out for you.

[ducati996spr]

Well, at least you got moved. I am on 8/22, still showing canceled, and now getting notices that I have an outstanding balance for things I had planned (Ship tour and Chefs Table) on Liberty! 

 

Going to be upset if they move us last minute and then we don't get to book our onboard events because they are sold out and pay full price for drink packages...... Had them booked for $43 on liberty. 

[HicksRA]

3 minutes ago, ducati996spr said:

Well, at least you got moved. I am on 8/22, still showing canceled, and now getting notices that I have an outstanding balance for things I had planned (Ship tour and Chefs Table) on Liberty! 

 

Going to be upset if they move us last minute and then we don't get to book our onboard events because they are sold out and pay full price for drink packages...... Had them booked for $43 on liberty. 

As a side note, people on these cruises are getting an email stating that cruise planner purchases are being refunded, but if you rebook the cancelled item at current higher prices, obc will be issued for the difference.  

[ducati996spr]

37 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

As a side note, people on these cruises are getting an email stating that cruise planner purchases are being refunded, but if you rebook the cancelled item at current higher prices, obc will be issued for the difference.  

That is AWESOME if it happens.... 🙂 Thanks so much for that insight. I am just ready to have my new booking! 59 days out! 

[cruizinmimi]

Yeah!!  We are official now.. Going on the 8/29 Independence of the Seas.  It has been way too long.

[dominicr]

Does liberty have to do a test cruise when it gets back from dry dock or does it get to just take the place of the Indy?  I’m curious if liberty will actually start cruising on 9/26

[HicksRA]

3 hours ago, dominicr said:

Does liberty have to do a test cruise when it gets back from dry dock or does it get to just take the place of the Indy?  I’m curious if liberty will actually start cruising on 9/26

I don’t think so. Situations in Galveston are different than Florida. 
It’s scheduled for a full cruise when it arrives on Sept 26th. 

[cruiseguy1016]

We were originally booked in a corner aft on Jewel out of Galveston for March of this year. Because of Covid we had to lift and shift until next March. RCI tried to move us to another cabin but our TA fought with them to keep us in the corner aft. Then our cruise got switched from Jewel to Liberty. RCI again tried to move us to a different cabin because the corner aft on Liberty is a different (more expensive) category than the corner aft on Jewel. Our TA went to bat for us and fought with RCI explaining that we originally booked a corner aft and through no fault of ours, the cruise got switched to a different ship. She insisted that we get to keep our corner aft and that the original price was honored as per the lift and shift. It took a while but she was successful and we got to keep our corner aft for the same price we paid originally. I love having a TA that can get things done.