RC Vacation Planner

[iuki]

2 hours ago, imola said:

*Update*

I called C & A, they are closed.  Called main number.  The lady was very nice and provided a lot of "new to me" information.  She said she would send a request for a PVP for me but it would be next week sometime before I heard from anyone as they don't work weekends.  Also stated they do not do "courtesy holds" for less than seven days cruises.  She wanted me to book the cruise(s) highly suggesting that I booked refundable which were 1000+ more for each cruise (doing a B2B).  She shared that by doing that we could do one of three things: 1) take the cruise 2) cancel and get our deposit back any time before final payment 3) move it from refundable to non refundable with the price dropping back any time before final payment.  Has anyone done this before?  I have never heard of this option.  It got so confusing that I told her we would have to think about it.  I am not sure what to do at this point. 

Because I have had screwups by RC PVPs in the past, this is what we do.  We go online and look at the itineraries, ships, categories and prices.  When we find something we’re interested in booking, we call the C&A desk and tell them what we found.  In the meantime, we have the deck plan open for that particular ship.  The RC rep tells us what is available in the area/deck/location that we like.  We book it refundable, and just when we’re going to make final payment, we ask the rep to check for any price drops and change the booking to non-refundable.  We saved $600 on our last cruise by doing that.

 

If you are already booked on an upcoming cruise, we look up all the info before we go on the cruise AND just before we meet with the Next Cruise Rep.  This way, we only need to put $100/pp deposit, plus get the deposit as OBC on the next cruise.

 

Good luck to you.

[imola]

1 hour ago, iuki said:

Because I have had screwups by RC PVPs in the past, this is what we do.  We go online and look at the itineraries, ships, categories and prices.  When we find something we’re interested in booking, we call the C&A desk and tell them what we found.  In the meantime, we have the deck plan open for that particular ship.  The RC rep tells us what is available in the area/deck/location that we like.  We book it refundable, and just when we’re going to make final payment, we ask the rep to check for any price drops and change the booking to non-refundable.  We saved $600 on our last cruise by doing that.

 

If you are already booked on an upcoming cruise, we look up all the info before we go on the cruise AND just before we meet with the Next Cruise Rep.  This way, we only need to put $100/pp deposit, plus get the deposit as OBC on the next cruise.

 

Good luck to you.

Thank you for sharing you experiences. We booked. 

[imola]

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

All the info she gave you is correct. 

With the 3rd option she mentioned that would all depend on the pricing for your cruise at the time you do reprice to non refundable deposit.

If you book with a non refundable deposit and decide prior to final payment that you need to move your cruise to another date then each person losses $100 of their deposit. 

If you are trying to get same cabin for both sailings I recommend booking as soon as you can.

Thank you. We took your recommendation, called again and booked our B2B. There was only one cabin that we could get for both cruises and didn't want to lose it. Now we wait 105 days. lol

[Sunshine3601]

9 hours ago, imola said:

Thank you. We took your recommendation, called again and booked our B2B. There was only one cabin that we could get for both cruises and didn't want to lose it. Now we wait 105 days. lol

Congratulations!    It is so nice when you can stay in the same cabin for a b2b. 

count down begins😃

[Illbcruzn4life]

12 hours ago, imola said:

Thank you. We took your recommendation, called again and booked our B2B. There was only one cabin that we could get for both cruises and didn't want to lose it. Now we wait 105 days. lol

glad to hear. Glad everything turned out well. Those 105 days will go by fast and you'll be doing your b2b. Have a great time! 😃

[imola]

5 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

glad to hear. Glad everything turned out well. Those 105 days will go by fast and you'll be doing your b2b. Have a great time! 😃

Thank you.  C & A is now telling me that final payment due 90 days out.  Is that new?

[Illbcruzn4life]

2 hours ago, imola said:

Thank you.  C & A is now telling me that final payment due 90 days out.  Is that new?

I don't think it's new. My last couple of cruises have been at 90 days. I think most of the mass market lines are at 90 days now.

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, imola said:

  Is that new?

Final payments were delayed during the startup - they returned to pre-COVID dates in a staggered manner starting with cruises last month. All cruises should have "normal" pre COVID due dates now.

[Sunshine3601]

5 hours ago, imola said:

Thank you.  C & A is now telling me that final payment due 90 days out.  Is that new?

90 days is the Normal timeline.   So you want to watch prices on your sailing for the next 2 weeks.   If you see a price drop call for a reprice and you could switch to the non refundable deposit then, if you want to.

[iuki]

13 hours ago, imola said:

Thank you.  C & A is now telling me that final payment due 90 days out.  Is that new?

After the pandemic when they started to cruise again, they changed final payment from 90 days to 30 days to entice people to cruise again.  Now they’re back to 90 days from sail date for final payment.

[imola]

I am just sharing information that I was given this morning.  I can handle it but thought you all might find it interesting.

 

 

I just had a long conversation with a very nice rep at RC.  He offered some interesting information on this topic.  He told me that RC does not have PVPs.  He said that if you book direct with RC the person booking your cruise is supposed to follow up with you periodically until sailing.  I shared with him that in all my years of cruising (that is many) that has never happened.  He told me to just call C&A for booking cruises and any issues or needs we might have.  I even found an old post that I did a screen shot of PVP contact name, number and email.  I sent an email 3 days ago with no response.  

 

Now about the Final Payment.  I shared my concern that on the first leg of our B2B RC paperwork is showing that our final payment is due 74 days from sailing date not 90.  I have been told 90 days is the new requirement.  On the second leg of the cruise the RC paperwork shows that our final payment is due 11 days before the one for the first leg of the B2B and 89 days before sailing date.  In both cases missing the 90 day mark.  I was assured that RC does this just to stagger incoming money processing and that we would not lose our cabin for paying past the 90 day requirement.  All this makes question the information so I will be paying for both cruises before the 90 day mark.  

 

[iuki]

2 hours ago, imola said:

I am just sharing information that I was given this morning.  I can handle it but thought you all might find it interesting.

 

 

I just had a long conversation with a very nice rep at RC.  He offered some interesting information on this topic.  He told me that RC does not have PVPs.  He said that if you book direct with RC the person booking your cruise is supposed to follow up with you periodically until sailing.  I shared with him that in all my years of cruising (that is many) that has never happened.  He told me to just call C&A for booking cruises and any issues or needs we might have.  I even found an old post that I did a screen shot of PVP contact name, number and email.  I sent an email 3 days ago with no response.  

 

Now about the Final Payment.  I shared my concern that on the first leg of our B2B RC paperwork is showing that our final payment is due 74 days from sailing date not 90.  I have been told 90 days is the new requirement.  On the second leg of the cruise the RC paperwork shows that our final payment is due 11 days before the one for the first leg of the B2B and 89 days before sailing date.  In both cases missing the 90 day mark.  I was assured that RC does this just to stagger incoming money processing and that we would not lose our cabin for paying past the 90 day requirement.  All this makes question the information so I will be paying for both cruises before the 90 day mark.  

 

Thanks for sharing.  

[Sunshine3601]

3 hours ago, imola said:

I am just sharing information that I was given this morning.  I can handle it but thought you all might find it interesting.

 

 

I just had a long conversation with a very nice rep at RC.  He offered some interesting information on this topic.  He told me that RC does not have PVPs.  He said that if you book direct with RC the person booking your cruise is supposed to follow up with you periodically until sailing.  I shared with him that in all my years of cruising (that is many) that has never happened.  He told me to just call C&A for booking cruises and any issues or needs we might have.  I even found an old post that I did a screen shot of PVP contact name, number and email.  I sent an email 3 days ago with no response.  

 

Now about the Final Payment.  I shared my concern that on the first leg of our B2B RC paperwork is showing that our final payment is due 74 days from sailing date not 90.  I have been told 90 days is the new requirement.  On the second leg of the cruise the RC paperwork shows that our final payment is due 11 days before the one for the first leg of the B2B and 89 days before sailing date.  In both cases missing the 90 day mark.  I was assured that RC does this just to stagger incoming money processing and that we would not lose our cabin for paying past the 90 day requirement.  All this makes question the information so I will be paying for both cruises before the 90 day mark.  

 

Thank you for this information.   I definitely would not wait past the 90-days mark either.   Hopefully you will see a price drop before your final payment date.    That is always nice 😀

[imola]

On 7/16/2022 at 4:00 PM, Sunshine3601 said:

Try calling the Crown and Anchor Desk at 1.800.526.9723.   Ask if they can assign you a personal certified Vacation Planner.

I'm not sure what hours C&A Desk is open.

I spoke with C&A desk this morning.  I was told that RC does not have PVP.  The rep said that the RC sales person who books a cruise for the customer is suppose to stay in contact with the customer between booking and sailing. I told him that we have been cruising for 34 years and that has never happened. He just said well it should.

Just sharing information that I was told.  

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I have called the regular number twice and I have completed & paid for two bookings. Each time I ask for an RC Vacation Planner to be assigned to me.  I want one person that my friends, family and I can call for bookings and questions. Both times I was told “NO”.  The last time I was told that they were all busy on the phones and no one could help me.

 

I just called the Crown and Anchor Society and that guy told me that Royal Caribbean does not have those.  He also said that it would not make sense to have those because they would have to spend time calling you back to follow up with you and they don’t have time to do that.  Are you kidding me???

 

I told him that I have vacation planners with every cruise line that I have booked with.  How do you get someone assigned to you with Royal Caribbean? I have over 20 sailings with Princess and I like working with the same person each time.  What the heck??? 

[imola]

19 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I have called the regular number twice and I have completed & paid for two bookings. Each time I ask for an RC Vacation Planner to be assigned to me.  I want one person that my friends, family and I can call for bookings and questions. Both times I was told “NO”.  The last time I was told that they were all busy on the phones and no one could help me.

 

I just called the Crown and Anchor Society and that guy told me that Royal Caribbean does not have those.  He also said that it would not make sense to have those because they would have to spend time calling you back to follow up with you and they don’t have time to do that.  Are you kidding me???

 

I told him that I have vacation planners with every cruise line that I have booked with.  How do you get someone assigned to you with Royal Caribbean? I have over 20 sailings with Princess and I like working with the same person each time.  What the heck??? 

If you get an answer please let me know.  We have gotten the same run around from RC. I have also been told that RC does not have PVPers yet I have seen many folks on CC talk about what great ones they have but are not allowed to name and contact information I am told.  C & A said that i what they they are for but they do not provide the same service with the same person.  We are booked on a 3B starting in October.  Like you we have PVPs that we use with all the other cruise lines we book with.  Wish RC would get with my program. lol

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 hours ago, imola said:

If you get an answer please let me know.  We have gotten the same run around from RC. I have also been told that RC does not have PVPers yet I have seen many folks on CC talk about what great ones they have but are not allowed to name and contact information I am told.  C & A said that i what they they are for but they do not provide the same service with the same person.  We are booked on a 3B starting in October.  Like you we have PVPs that we use with all the other cruise lines we book with.  Wish RC would get with my program. lol

Even though I have 2 cruises coming up with RCCL it makes me want just book with Princess.  It is such a hassle to try and book rooms next to each other.  We wanted to book connecting cabins but the person told me that they could not hold the other room until my friend called in after we hung up from me making my booking. I ended up paying for both cabins and now everyone owes me money.  With Princess my CVP would complete my booking and then contact the others or have them call her.  I will let you know if I have any luck and please do the same for me.

[imola]

3 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Even though I have 2 cruises coming up with RCCL it makes me want just book with Princess.  It is such a hassle to try and book rooms next to each other.  We wanted to book connecting cabins but the person told me that they could not hold the other room until my friend called in after we hung up from me making my booking. I ended up paying for both cabins and now everyone owes me money.  With Princess my CVP would complete my booking and then contact the others or have them call her.  I will let you know if I have any luck and please do the same for me.

You have a deal.  I had even found contact info for RC PVP posted from somewhere but don't know how old it was.  I sent a contact with no response.  My PVPs with other cruise lines call or sends emails just to check in with me and see if I have questions about anything and to let me know that they are there to make my experience easier and more pleasurable. 

[Coralc]

They used to have them. It was helpful. But Royal Caribbean is cheaping out on a lot of things.