Royal Caribbean Horrible Customer Service... leaves family stranded

[Amanda Mingard]

We were scheduled to cruise November 8th from Barcelona to Barbados with our 3 kids 1, 4 and 6. Because this was a transatlantic cruise, there was confusion on their website about pre-testing/vaccination requirements. I booked back in July and called 3 times between booking and sail date to clarify the requirements. Each of the 3 times I called, I was told that there were no testing or vaccination requirements for my children. I also closely monitored the entry requirements to Spain (as we would be originating in the US and spending 3 weeks prior to the ship traveling Europe) as well as Barbados (my husband has been traveling there multiple times since April). We flew the whole family over and when we went to board the ship, we were denied due to the 6 year old not being vaccinated. There was no one from Royal Caribbean who would speak with us at the port (he was hiding in the other room letting the port folks try to give us numbers to call). I received a "denial" letter with an emergency number on it from the port workers who suggested we could ask for an exception. It wasn't even the correct number. We had to leave as the port was closing with literally no where to go. I spent about 3 hours on an international rate call being transferred 4 times, disconnected and mostly on hold. Eventually I spoke with Danny del Castillo. First he told me that if called in August, things could have changed... yes, things got more lenient, not more strict. I received several emails over the months showing they were reducing requirements. My last call was on October 8th which they (for the 3rd time) confirmed children were not required to be vaccinated or tested under 12 years of age. I repeatedly told him that I spoke with Royal Caribbean 3 times. He then told me that they only offer advice on embarkation requirements and it actually my job to know the policies and therefore my fault. When I read him the verbiage from the website (attached below), he deflected. He then chuckled at me when I asked about a refund. He told me they would only refund gratuities. I demanded that he review the calls as I know they are recorded. He said he will get back to me in 5 days. Obviously this allows us no chance at getting on at another port. Our return tickets are out of Barbados and we have been stranded in Spain. I cannot find any actual customer support, management contact. I get no responses from anyone online or emails and if I call, I simply sit on hold for hours. I would caution anyone booking with a company that has no customer service, no accountability to their policies or employee training on land, let alone at Sea.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

What did your TA say?  Below are the requirements from the RCL TA Website and it clearly states that vaccinations are required for Transatlantic sailings:

 

Vaccination Requirement

COVID-19 Vaccination Required for Guests Age 5 and Older
Transatlantic Sailings from Europe
Testing Requirements

Testing Requirements

All guests age 5 and older must bring a negative test result for a COVID-19 test taken within 2 days before boarding day.

The test you take must be supervised by a health professional, such as a doctor, pharmacy technician, public health worker, or telehealth professional. Telehealth testing at home is accepted for vaccinated guests, and must be conducted under live video supervision. Tests must be arranged on your own and are at your own expense.

Guests age 4 and younger do not have any testing requirements.

[Surfguyxxx]

I do feel bad for you but......it is clearly written out what the pre cruise testing requirements are.  

Q

What are the pre-cruise testing requirements for my cruise?

A

 

 

Pre-cruise testing is no longer required to sail, with a few exceptions. At this time, only the following sailings have pre-cruise testing requirements:

• Cruises from the U.S. and Caribbean that visit Colombia
• Transatlantic Cruises
• Cruises from Australia

Edited November 16, 2022 by Surfguyxxx

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

50 minutes ago, Amanda Mingard said:

We were scheduled to cruise November 8th from Barcelona to Barbados with our 3 kids 1, 4 and 6. Because this was a transatlantic cruise, there was confusion on their website about pre-testing/vaccination requirements. I booked back in July and called 3 times between booking and sail date to clarify the requirements. Each of the 3 times I called, I was told that there were no testing or vaccination requirements for my children. I also closely monitored the entry requirements to Spain (as we would be originating in the US and spending 3 weeks prior to the ship traveling Europe) as well as Barbados (my husband has been traveling there multiple times since April). We flew the whole family over and when we went to board the ship, we were denied due to the 6 year old not being vaccinated. There was no one from Royal Caribbean who would speak with us at the port (he was hiding in the other room letting the port folks try to give us numbers to call). I received a "denial" letter with an emergency number on it from the port workers who suggested we could ask for an exception. It wasn't even the correct number. We had to leave as the port was closing with literally no where to go. I spent about 3 hours on an international rate call being transferred 4 times, disconnected and mostly on hold. Eventually I spoke with Danny del Castillo. First he told me that if called in August, things could have changed... yes, things got more lenient, not more strict. I received several emails over the months showing they were reducing requirements. My last call was on October 8th which they (for the 3rd time) confirmed children were not required to be vaccinated or tested under 12 years of age. I repeatedly told him that I spoke with Royal Caribbean 3 times. He then told me that they only offer advice on embarkation requirements and it actually my job to know the policies and therefore my fault. When I read him the verbiage from the website (attached below), he deflected. He then chuckled at me when I asked about a refund. He told me they would only refund gratuities. I demanded that he review the calls as I know they are recorded. He said he will get back to me in 5 days. Obviously this allows us no chance at getting on at another port. Our return tickets are out of Barbados and we have been stranded in Spain. I cannot find any actual customer support, management contact. I get no responses from anyone online or emails and if I call, I simply sit on hold for hours. I would caution anyone booking with a company that has no customer service, no accountability to their policies or employee training on land, let alone at Sea.

The information you are quoting applies to sailings OTHER THAN TRANSATLANTIC.  Please see my other post for Transatlantic requirements,.

[Ret MP]

1 hour ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

The information you are quoting applies to sailings OTHER THAN TRANSATLANTIC.  Please see my other post for Transatlantic requirements,.

Yep

Edited November 16, 2022 by Ret MP

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, Surfguyxxx said:

I do feel bad for you but......it is clearly written out what the pre cruise testing requirements are.  

Q

What are the pre-cruise testing requirements for my cruise?

A

 

 

Pre-cruise testing is no longer required to sail, with a few exceptions. At this time, only the following sailings have pre-cruise testing requirements:

• Cruises from the U.S. and Caribbean that visit Colombia
• Transatlantic Cruises
• Cruises from Australia

I believe the OP's issue was with lack of vaccination, not lack of testing.

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, Funky Fusion FoodsJ said:

What did your TA say?  Below are the requirements from the RCL TA Website and it clearly states that vaccinations are required for Transatlantic sailings:

 

Vaccination Requirement

COVID-19 Vaccination Required for Guests Age 5 and Older
Transatlantic Sailings from Europe
Testing Requirements

Testing Requirements

All guests age 5 and older must bring a negative test result for a COVID-19 test taken within 2 days before boarding day.

The test you take must be supervised by a health professional, such as a doctor, pharmacy technician, public health worker, or telehealth professional. Telehealth testing at home is accepted for vaccinated guests, and must be conducted under live video supervision. Tests must be arranged on your own and are at your own expense.

Guests age 4 and younger do not have any testing requirements.

Where is this on the website?  Can you provide a link?

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by time4u2go

[Sunshine3601]

Sorry for your loss, but royals website clearly defines the requirements for a transatlantic crossing.

When you phoned is it possible you did Not specify you were on a TA crossing?

 

 

[time4u2go]

1 minute ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Sorry for your loss, but royals website clearly defines the requirements for a transatlantic crossing.

When you phoned is it possible you did Not specify you were on a TA crossing?

 

 

Where does it state this TA vaccination requirement? Can you provide a link?

[Sunshine3601]

6 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Where does this come from?  I'm not doubting that it's there, but I don't see it on their website.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-vaccines-are-required-to-travel-on-a-cruise

 

[Sunshine3601]

9 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Where does this come from?  I'm not doubting that it's there, but I don't see it on their website.

 

And here is link for testing requirements.   Both testing and vax requirements should be easy enough for everyone to find.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/will-i-have-to-take-a-test-before-i-cruise

[A&L_Ont]

Welcome to CC.

[TexasRon]

I am sorry that this huge line cannot figure out how to actually help customers looking for, but not finding, the right answer.  I know plenty will give you the “it is all your fault answer” but Royal should at least have someone to route calls to people who can help instead of people that just give answers and that may or may not be helpful.

 

That kind of answer should be the province of social media sites like this.

 

C-19 has caused a lot of confusion and many (though no one here it seems) have trouble finding the exactly correct answer to their requirement questions.  A C-19 policy expert to correctly answer questions or provide web sites would be a good thing.

 

I am a Royal fan but I find the answers from agents baffling at times.  
 

Good luck to you!

 

I really do like these boards but sometimes…

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

34 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Where is this on the website?  Can you provide a link?

 

I took that from CruisingPower which is the website TA's use for Royal Caribbean.

[KelJ]

I’m sorry for what you and your family have experienced. I can only imagine the disappointment. Hopefully you have travel insurance so the financial hit is a minimum and you can still enjoy some time in Spain and change your flight arrangements. 

[Ret MP]

9 minutes ago, TexasRon said:

I am sorry that this huge line cannot figure out how to actually help customers looking for, but not finding, the right answer.  I know plenty will give you the “it is all your fault answer” but Royal should at least have someone to route calls to people who can help instead of people that just give answers and that may or may not be helpful.

 

That kind of answer should be the province of social media sites like this.

 

C-19 has caused a lot of confusion and many (though no one here it seems) have trouble finding the exactly correct answer to their requirement questions.  A C-19 policy expert to correctly answer questions or provide web sites would be a good thing.

 

I am a Royal fan but I find the answers from agents baffling at times.  
 

Good luck to you!

 

I really do like these boards but sometimes…

I too am a Royal Fan.  However, I KNOW that relying on the "PHONE ANSWERERS" at the Mother Ship is precarious at best.  That'  s not to lay blame at the feet of the Guests/Customers.  Just a well known fact!  I would never rely on the answers of great importance that I get from the "PHONE ANSWERERS"  I always go to their website FAQs and other OFFICIAL sources.  For example:  I take my drone with me on all my sailings, I take a copy of Royal's FAQ about drones (and it's good I do), and I make sure I check the websites of the countries I visit.  But, at the end of the day, it is the Cruiser's responsibility to follow ALL rules/regulations/policies/laws.  

[swoopy2110]

Welcome to CC!

Sadly, their policy is quite clear on the website. The policy for TA's is different to cruising round Europe. I don't see you getting a refund or credit.

[time4u2go]

3 hours ago, Amanda Mingard said:

I booked back in July and called 3 times between booking and sail date to clarify the requirements. Each of the 3 times I called, I was told that there were no testing or vaccination requirements for my children

That's pretty bad, that they told you multiple times that there were no testing or vaccination requirements.  Even if it's on the website (in fact, BECAUSE it's on the website), there's no excuse for their phone agents giving out incorrect information.

[fpcruiser]

1 hour ago, time4u2go said:

Where does it state this TA vaccination requirement? Can you provide a link?

The top of Royal Caribbeans Home page under Protocols Update

[Babr]

33 minutes ago, KelJ said:

I’m sorry for what you and your family have experienced. I can only imagine the disappointment. Hopefully you have travel insurance so the financial hit is a minimum and you can still enjoy some time in Spain and change your flight arrangements. 

I don’t think any travel insurance covers the failure to provide required documentation.

[twins_to_alaska]

I feel badly for the poster. Guessing she was more focused about sailing from Barcelona as she showed in her vaccination snippet instead of the fact that it was a transatlantic sailing which clearly has the vaccination requirement listed. I would have hoped the phone reps would have pulled her actual reservation to see transatlantic but perhaps not.

 

As it's been over a week since they missed the boat I hope they're safely home although sadder and out a good bit of money.

Edited November 16, 2022 by twins_to_alaska

[ARandomTraveler]

It's unfortunate the OP didn't find cruise critic sooner. The thing I love about this message board is that it's full of questions like this, and answers come from crowd-sourced information from people who do their research and travel often.
 

Any discrepancies that come up from talking to customer service or from online websites and FAQ's that may not align, are looked into by the masses until a consensus can be made about the answer. And if the information or changes to policies are too new for anyone to be sure about, there's bound to be someone headed onto a ship within days who will figure out the real deal and report back. 
 

Every time I cruise (and even in the years that I'm not cruising), I make sure to come here and read the posts so that I can be updated on what's new (and what's not), and I always head off to my cruise confident that I know the rules and know what to expect. 
 

People make a lot of jokes about the Diamond, Diamond +, Pinnacle people, but the one thing we all benefit from with their frequent cruiser statuses is the wealth of information that comes from all that cruising, and all that info can be dumped onto cruise critic, sorted out and categorized in a way that helps all of us know what's what. 
 

And that's why I love cruise critic. The end. 

[artvlay]

Last month we had a similar issue with RC and their inept response(s).

Due to covid we had three cruises that had to be used by the end of 2022. We took Odyssey from Rome, Brilliance from Ravenna and Anthem from Southampton. We had to test through emed between the Odyssey and Brilliance cruises. Our TA arranged a test on Brilliance before disembarkation. 

A few days prior to the end of the Brilliance cruise we went to guest services to ask about the procedures for the test. The officer on duty told us that the testing requirements were ended and it wasn't necessary for the test. We politely pushed back and said that being that Anthem was a Transatlantic there were different rules. That officer went and spoke with another person and they both came back and reissured us that tests were no longer required. 

We walked away and we just didn't feel comfortable with that answer. I went on the RC app and looked at the requirements for us to board the Anthem cruise.  It said that testing was in fact necessary to board. 

That evening we went back and asked to speak to someone in charge of guest services. A very nice woman came to us who was the front desk  manager. We showed her the app statement and she told us that she would look into it. The next day we went down and again she said we didnt need the test. We requested something in writing to confirm this policy. We told her that we didn't want to get to the Southampton pier and be denied boarding. She then said she would contact the ship directly. We came back later that day and she apologized profusely, stating that she didn't realize that it was a transatlantic. And, we did in fact need the test. Had we not been persistent we would have had a problem. Royal has a HORRIBLE  way of educating employees and having consistent policy information. 

The woman who started this thread should have noticed that the six year old needed the vaccine but Royal needs to have a little compassion and attempt to resolve difficult issues in a better way. 

[happy cruzer]

I think that I agree that this is an instance of horrible service.  So what if the website says one thing?  And a person representing the cruise line says another?  Websites often have incorrect or out of date information too.  It is debatable which is more trustworthy.

 

Any thing that might deny boarding should not be miscommunicated.  If the person representing the cruise line can't read the website, then why would the average cruiser be expected to? 

 

I think that if the original poster can prove that she was given the wrong information, she could get some compensation.  And weasel words that state it is up to the cruiser to know the policies won't cut it because it many cases it the line's policy not a particular country's.  She did try to find out the cruise line's policy.

[lovescats5]

Hence the reason for a good TA.  I was in contact with our TA (although he was not yet ours) before our Alaska cruise to get all the information we needed on paperwork that had to be completed.  If you haved a good TA they will help you get the correct information.