Problem on RCCL - What type of Compensation do I expect? (merged)

[jrk23]

Hi,

I have been having an issue while on my cruise & could use some help. I am on a 9 day Explorer of the seas cruise with Royal Caribbean. We have been having an issue with the carpet in the room being flooded. A little background (if it matters), I booked a balcony guarantee room (on the 7th floor) through my travel agent. The travel agent was able to get our room upgraded to the same room, but on deck 9.

 

When you walk into our room, the carpet is wet, squishy wet. The closet (right by the door), is also wet, soaking wet to the point that it has mildewed and smells terrible.

 

Day 1: Carpet is wet, we (my wife & I) assume that they just washed the carpet. We unpack our bags & hanging items (dresses, suits, slacks, regular shirts, shorts, shoes, etc). In our room, there is not much room for your clothing so everything ends up in the closet. The room smells a little funky but its not the same smell as at home (what we chalk it up to).

 

Day 2: We are at sea & notice a funky smell that we didn’t notice earlier. We see the carpet is still wet and call maintenance . They say they will take care of it. We leave it at that & enjoy our first full day of vacation.

 

Day 3: We called maintenance again, they said they would contact our stateroom attendant & they would handle it. Our state room attendant came, went to get his boss, and his boss offered to comp our dry cleaning bill. They also put a air deodorizer on the floor. Maintenance comes & says the caulking in the bathroom next door is bad & that is what caused the leak. They say it was the shower drain (yuck, hopefully it wasnt the toilet drain...). They say they do not want to clean the carpet because that will just make it wet. With the leak stopped, it will be dry tomorrow & will stop smelling. In the meantime, we move everything out of the closet. All our clothing is now back in suitcases under the bed, on the

couch, on the bed, or on the walls (very nice so far).

 

Day 4: The carpet is still wet. Now its really smelling very bad in the closet and the rest of the room. We grab a cleaning woman in the hall. She immediately calls our stateroom person, he then calls his boss, the head of housekeeping. The head says he will put something down to make it better (put chemicals down to make it smell better). Again, they dont want to clean the rug as that will make it wet & smell worse. After dinner the room has a very chemcially enhanced smell (detergent/flowers) with a fair amount of mold for good measure.

 

Day 5: Our room still smells terrible after our return from St. Martin. We call the head of housekeeping who tells us that he isnt working & that in an hour someone else will be working that shift. Ok, so we wait another hour, call again & a half hour after that the next person who is the "head of housecleaning" came on duty. She calls the front desk to find there are no rooms at all, except for an inside stateroom (we have a balcony stateroom). Now, I have been polite, patient, but after 5 days of this, I am finally getting upset & ask for a room change or upgrade. They tell me they are completely full & the best they could do is an inside stateroom.

 

We say no thanks (who wants to go from a balcony to an inside stateroom). We are really furious at this point. The head of housecleaning is pretty much useless (but polite), but does say to go speak to Brian (the manager of the guest relations). My wife & I go to the front desk. At the front desk of guest relations, Tracy (one of the people at the front desk) asks whats wrong & why we need to speak to Brian (because he is a very important person I guess). We relay the

story again (of course, each time we relay the story, I am getting angrier about the whole mess up). Tracy goes to speak with Brian, he is to busy to talk to us (actually they said he was dealing with a medical emergency).

 

After about 15 minutes of waiting, they finally go get him.

We (my wife & Brian) go to sit down in the bar. He says I understand there’s a problem, then interrupts me to say "lets just move forward", "I want to replace your carpet". Now, I believe moving forward was the right thing to do, but after 5 days, let me vent a little bit. I am a pretty polite person & I never yell at people as I don’t think that will ever help my case. Still let me at least explain my problem, live through some of the pain with me.

 

He offers the inside stateroom again (gee thanks).

 

So we give him a time that we can vacate the room (again, repacking everything that is sitting on the bed, floor, wall, couch that we call our dresser) the following day (they could not replace the carpet that day). He then says Gee, its to bad you didn’t call us directly, the maintenance systems & the house keeping systems are all separate from our incident report (my read on it was it was "MY" fault for not calling the front desk). Again, how am I supposed to know that the stateroom attendant, isnt the right person to talk to when there is a problem in my stateroom -

silly me... So, we agree to 12pm for us to vacate the room (we have been to San Juan about 10 times & our plan was to relax in the room). Brian calls & says "can you leave the room at 10am?", Ok, so now we are leaving at 10am, so much for sleeping in tomorrow morning. Brian also says, dont worry, we will be compensating you for the last six days. We have everything on record & can see that you started calling on day 2. He was very reassuring that we would be made happy and that our trouble would be forgotten.

 

Day 6: We come back on the boat at about 1pm, the carpet is replaced (yippie!), Our problem has now been taken care of. In the meantime, I speak to my travel agent who tells me that RCCL is notorious for not taking care of the customer. This has been written up in Conde Nast magazine (stories of people getting shafted by RCCL when there is

an issue on the boat). She tells me that there is not much she can do while I am on the boat & its best to settle this sort of problem while on the boat. Ok, so I need to deal with my mess (or their mess). She suggests that I need to have some sort of written documentation that there was a problem in my room for 5 or 6 days. Ok, that makes

sense as well. So, we go downstairs to speak with Brian. I am figuring that the problem is taken care of, so lets get compensated and move on, try to enjoy the rest of the cruise.

 

So I go to the desk, Brian comes out (pretty quickly this time), and I tell him I spoke to my travel agent & I need some documentation about there being a problem. Brian tells me, I dont actually need that (almost like a jedi mind trick) however, I let him know I do need it. I explain that I was told that RCCL has a habit of not taking care of the customer (according to my agent). He says that the corp office has all the information I need & to take it up with them. I ask to speak with his boss, he then tells me that he is the head of everything & I cant speak to anyone else except him. I then say, Ok, lets talk compensation.

 

He says "you agreed to wait until the end of the trip for that". I say that wasnt the case. He says, well, that is RCCL policy & sorry. I again ask to speak to his boss, he again tells me no. I start to ask about the customer always being right & he agrees thats the case, but no, I cant speak to his boss (or even find out who that person is). Of course, once I started asking for his boss, he became very short & rude in his responses and mannerisms. I let him know he is not treating us with respect or helping us, he agrees & says he is sorry he cant be of more help but thats all they can do.

 

I speak with my travel agent again & ask what to do, again I am told to try to go above him but there doesnt seem to be any way to do so. I then go back to the front desk & ask to speak to Brian again (who I can see sitting at one of the desks in back). The front desk person says he is out of the office, I say, he is sitting right in front of me. They then look at me & tell me he is busy. So, now I walk away even more frustrated.

I get a call from Brian, asking if I could meet him (still on day 6) at 7:30pm.

 

I go meet Brian, now we actually get Michelles office (who is Michelle you ask? I dont know & cant seem to find out), he sits me down & goes through a whole song and dance.

 

"We never offer any type of compensation before the end of a cruise - but for you ... we will."

 

So, he goes on & on about how he put himself out there & this is never he way RCCL does things, etc etc. But, he can offer us either:

 

Door #1: A 20% off coupon for a cruise (9 days or more) with a similar stateroom (balcony guarantee), this discount is good for 2 years! (Whoo Hoo!) Again, if I want to do a 5 day cruise, that wont cut it, it must be 9 or more days.

 

Door #2: A monetary amount of $300.00 that could be put on my seapass account (less than 10% of the price of my cruise) - now this is super super secret & RCCL never does this but because I am so special they will do this for me.

 

So I say to him, I can get a better discount booking online or through a travel agent than 20% off the retail pricing of a RCCL cruise & thanks for that super fantastic offer.

 

I say, my cruise pricing was roughly 3K for 9 days. Thats about $330.00 per day that my room was uninhabitable (but we were stuck in the mold & wetness). I said that the offer you made is less than my retail cost of one day. For that dollar amount, I would rather try to fight with the head office (who according to my travel agent, wont do anything).

 

His offer was pretty much offensive.

 

I asked him if he thought that if 6 days of a 9 day cruise were ruined (actually the whole vacation is ruined at this point), if 10% of my cruise fees back was fair. He sort of nodded at me but wouldn’t say "sorry Charlie".

 

I let him know that for the 20% off a cruise he was offering & the few dollars back he offered, that instead of accepting his offer, I would prefer to share my story & experience with all of you.

 

Day 7: I get a call from Brain saying that he is going to take this up higher for me & will fight with MGT for me.

 

Then I get a call at about 12:30 (I was off the boat) saying, I tried but thats the best they can do.

 

Any suggestions on what I can do (if you made it this far).

 

Again, my options are to try to go up the corperate ladder, but my travel agent thinks its a lost cause once I leave the boat. Or I could take the 20% off coupon, or I could take the 300 dollars.

 

If I take anything, then its a closed case & Brian really irked me with his treatment. My thought is that 300 dollars isnt worth 6 days of problems. Its a lowball offer but they wont do any better for me.

 

What would you do?

 

Thanks,

Rich

[sas80]

Empathies for your situation!

 

But I have to say how surprised I am that you are actually sitting there, on the 7th day of your 9 day vacation, typing in a long arse post to cruise critic.... :confused:

 

Whatever you decide, have them throw in free internet minutes to cover your on board cruise critic surfing :rolleyes: :)

 

Good Luck!

[glgolfer]

While you're still on board, send a short, concise email to here saying you will follow up with a letter. The shorter you can make your problem the better. Just say you tried for 6 days to get the carpet fixed and when it finally was you were offered compensation that didn't seem acceptable and what it was. Don't bitch, name names or otherwise go overboard with the complaint.

 

 

 

RichardFain@rccl.com

[FlorenceItaly]

I do know firsthand(although not the same situation) the frustration of having to take care of something while on the cruise when there should have been no problem at all. It's very hard to relax and go with the flow when you are dealing with any type of situation.

 

I will lend my opinion. I agree with your TA. Resolve it now, while on the ship. I think the $300 shipboard credit is about as good as it is going to get.

I think once you leave the ship you'll be out of sight, out of mind.

 

See if they will throw in some internet time for the money spent trying to resolve this through your TA. Even though it seems your TA has been no help :(.

 

Perhaps others will respond who have been in a similar situation.

 

 

Marie

[GMoney]

I can't help you put a $ value on this issue, but if it was me, I'd be talking with no one lower than the Hotel Director.

[Swabb3]

Another suggestion is to write it on the comment card at the end of the cruise. For every comment card is read by corporate and I've gotten a call whenever I put something negative on it.

[wolfcathorse]

1) Part of the cost of your room was to eat and use the ships facilities as well as port charges. You still ate, you were still onboard to incur the port charges, and there's a chance you still looked at the casino, shows, etc.

2) For future reference, you needed to go to the Hotel Director (that may have been who Michelle was) to address the issue with your room. But very few know that, you tried following the chain of command and that's admirable of you.

3) You still had the room, except for the one day you were out for carpet replacement, hence they feel you only needed to be compsensated for the 1 day which you figure costed around $300 per day. They did pay your cleaning bill.

4) So what you want is compensation for "pain and suffering". Did you die? Did you get sick? Did you lose any property? Then take the money and run because that's all you're entitled to get.

[dachshunddoglover]

I am so sad for you!!! That is totally wrong of RCI. :mad: The best thing you can do is ask for $500. instead of $300., then take the money and never cruise with RCI again. The best revenge you can have is to never cruise with them again. They have treated you very badly! I am ashamed of RCI. Shame on you if you read these boards! Go have a drink and talk to your new friend "Brian". I am curious if all the suites were full, even the owners suite. Did you ask to be upgraded to a suite since this was their fault? I just feel so bad for you. Try to have a good time anyway! I'll be very hesitant to book this ship, I'll tell you that!

[lindanick]

Just answer one question. WHAT could the travel agent do? This is for the post above me referring that the travel agent did nothing.

[brn2crz]

Sorry..I am pretty understanding of issues..But with this one..On day 2 (end of the 1st full day)..I would be at the pursers desk with the ultimatim...Have the carpet cleaned and dried by 5 pm at the end of the 2nd full day,or put me in a equivalent or better room...Or I will move all of my belongings to the pursers area,and live there with a sign explaining my situation....Something would have been done much sooner.

 

Sorry for your troubles..

WCH...I always respect your posts. (and still do ) ....But this was above and beyond normal inconvenience,and occupied almost 100% of the OP's time to resolve.They chose not to handle this matter properly,within a reasonable time...Compensation is due..

[PhoenixCruiser]

I agree with $500.

 

What do you think would be fair?

 

###

[FlorenceItaly]

Just answer one question. WHAT could the travel agent do? This is for the post above me referring that the travel agent did nothing.

 

The TA is able to be an advocate for their customer. The TA is able to communicate with corporate, and maybe even email the Hotel Manager directly, etc. And, btw, I do some on-line booking AS WELL as with Travel Agents, just so you know I am not anti-agent.

 

 

Marie

[caviargal]

I can't help you put a $ value on this issue, but if it was me, I'd be talking with no one lower than the Hotel Director.

 

As a TA, I agree with Patrick. And I also think it is very important to resolve this before you leave the ship.

 

I assume that you documented everything as specifically as you did in your post? I would type it up in bullet form, short and specific, and present this to HD, clearly and concisely.

 

I personally would be prepared to ask for exactly what I wanted from him and not leave the suggested resolution up to him.

 

JMO.

[sas80]

When the inside room was offered, I would have asked "what do i get" if I move to the inside stateroom.

 

You should have been offered straight compensation, back to your credit card, for the price difference per day in category, and then could have kept asking for more compensation becuase now your cabin has been (as an example)

"moved forward from being aft"

"is not the category that you booked and expected to enjoy"

"is not close to the elevators/is too close to the elevators"

"is not as convienient as your original cabin" (in terms of location, placement on ship, etc)

and is greatly going to adversley affect the enjoyment of your vacation.

 

As it stands now they probably think is isnt as bad as you are telling them because you didnt initially move.

 

(playing devils advocate)

After all, if it was really that bad you would have jumped at the chance to switch rooms, balcony or no balcony.....

 

Good luck!

[jrk23]

While you're still on board, send a short, concise email to here saying you will follow up with a letter. The shorter you can make your problem the better. Just say you tried for 6 days to get the carpet fixed and when it finally was you were offered compensation that didn't seem acceptable and what it was. Don't bitch, name names or otherwise go overboard with the complaint.

 

 

 

RichardFain@rccl.com

 

Hi,

 

Where should I be sending that short email to? I dont mind naming names (I have my list). The main thing I would like to do since RCCL is jerking me around, is to get some negative PR for them. Again, this all comes down to treatment by one person (Brian).

 

I cannot get above Brian, no one at the front desk will help me & now they all recognize me.

 

I dont expect something for nothing, but for days on end I have had to deal with more personel than I would prefer to do on my 1st vacation in 2 years (kind of not really important).

 

Rich

[jrk23]

Another suggestion is to write it on the comment card at the end of the cruise. For every comment card is read by corporate and I've gotten a call whenever I put something negative on it.

 

I will give that a try, but I doubt it will do much good for me at that point, out of sight - out of mind.

[shirleygr]

We had a very similar situation occur when we were on the Majesty this past January. Without going into all the boring details, we ended up speaking with the head purser quite by accident at the Crown and Anchor party and she facilitated our eventual resolution. The last evening of the cruise we received a letter from the hotel manager which entitled us to 50% off a future cruise (also same length, same cabin category). I would ask for similar compensation since you were unable to use and enjoy your stateroom for about half your cruise. Good luck!

[jrk23]

1) Part of the cost of your room was to eat and use the ships facilities as well as port charges. You still ate, you were still onboard to incur the port charges, and there's a chance you still looked at the casino, shows, etc.

2) For future reference, you needed to go to the Hotel Director (that may have been who Michelle was) to address the issue with your room. But very few know that, you tried following the chain of command and that's admirable of you.

3) You still had the room, except for the one day you were out for carpet replacement, hence they feel you only needed to be compsensated for the 1 day which you figure costed around $300 per day. They did pay your cleaning bill.

4) So what you want is compensation for "pain and suffering". Did you die? Did you get sick? Did you lose any property? Then take the money and run because that's all you're entitled to get.

 

1. Ok, sure thats true there were other things to do on the boat. I really enjoy taking a nap mid day. Every day was spent dealing with the crew.

 

2. I still cant get near the hotel manager - all I get is the guest relations manager.

3. Every day the room had a wet carpet, mildew so bad they dry cleaned my clothing.

4. I am not looking for pain & suffering. I want them to make things a little more right than they have.

 

I am not looking to get into a debate that they should give me the explorer of the seas as compensation (but I would take it). I didnt get burned by hot coffee & I am alive.

 

However, this vacation sucked. The help was less than helpful in the mgt department.

[GMoney]

Hi,

 

I cannot get above Brian, no one at the front desk will help me & now they all recognize me.

 

 

Then I would insist to Brian that you want to speak with the HD. After 30 someodd cruises on RCI, I've learned that the key to resolving issues with them is getting to the right person. The HD is definitely empowered to make these kinds of decisions.

 

Also, if you paid for your cruise within the past 60 days, I would dispute the charge (of the cruise, not your SeaPass) with your bank when you get home, based on quality of services rendered. It's a long shot, but perhaps worth it.

[jrk23]

The TA is able to be an advocate for their customer. The TA is able to communicate with corporate, and maybe even email the Hotel Manager directly, etc. And, btw, I do some on-line booking AS WELL as with Travel Agents, just so you know I am not anti-agent.

 

 

Marie

 

For the record, my Travel Agent did call Corp serveral times on my behalf. Brian said he could see all the events with my cruise including the recent complaints.

[cb at sea]

I hope you paid for this cruise with a credit card. If so, I'd call the card company and give them this info. If you haven't gotten some satisfaction, let them do a chargeback to Royal Caribbean. That'll get their attention! As far as what you expect to get for this inconvenience (which seems to be considerable) only YOU know that!

[jrk23]

Then I would insist to Brian that you want to speak with the HD. After 30 someodd cruises on RCI, I've learned that the key to resolving issues with them is getting to the right person. The HD is definitely empowered to make these kinds of decisions.

 

Also, if you paid for your cruise within the past 60 days, I would dispute the charge (of the cruise, not your SeaPass) with your bank when you get home, based on quality of services rendered. It's a long shot, but perhaps worth it.

 

I flat out asked Brian to tell me who else I could speak to. Who was his boss. He refused to answer. He kept appologizing to me (which was getting me a bit crazy) but wouldnt help me. He fluffed me off until I walked away.

 

I really hope RCC monitors this board. Maybe that will get things somewhere.

[swtp2nia]

Wow - what a nightmare! I feel for you!

 

I would agree with some of the solutions here. Take $300 and run. You can ask for shipboard credit for the next cruise - but after this fiasco I wouldn't blame you if you never sailed again ;)

 

However, take the knowledge you've gained from this cruise (and the boards) to prepare for the next one. The best revenge is to not let this stop you from doing an otherwise very enjoyable activity - cruising.

 

Take care

[jrk23]

Im not sure I want to dispute the charge, that seems pretty shady to me. I wanted a service & I got something, not nothing.

[GMoney]

I flat out asked Brian to tell me who else I could speak to. Who was his boss. He refused to answer. He kept appologizing to me (which was getting me a bit crazy) but wouldnt help me. He fluffed me off until I walked away.

 

I really hope RCC monitors this board. Maybe that will get things somewhere.

 

Some of getting this resolved is going to depend on your skills to effectively influence and negotiate.

 

I would not count on RCI seeing this and reacting. That happened recently with a Seven Seas experience ( I think it was them), but RCI isn't Seven Seas. Like Caviargal said, resolution while onboard is key; after that, your position really weakens.