Question re: post-cruise hotel

[BethV114]

Hi all. My husband and I recently sailed on the Liberty for our belated honeymoon. When we booked the trip through RCI we included airfare and a three night post-cruise hotel stay in Miami. Following debarkation we were brought to our hotel, the Sheraton Four Points Miami, which we had chosen assuming that it would at least be decent considering its Starwood afilliation. At the time we booked, the only other choice was a Courtyard by Marriott, which we now wish we had chosen. When we arrived at the hotel at around 8am, we were allowed to check in and proceed directly to our room. The only problem was that the hotel was a complete disaster beyond the reception area. The elevator was greasy and stained, there was garbage littered about in the hallway of the floor our room was on and the room itself was even worse. The bathroom was old, dingy and dirty and the new "renovations" to the room included only a new coat of paint and new linens/curtains. The furniture was old and banged up, and, to make matters worse, the "new" comforter on one of the double beds had dried blood stains on it. :eek:

Needless to say we were quite unhappy with the thought of spending the last three days of our long-awaited honeymoon at such an establishment and promptly called RCI to see if they could assist us in securing alternative lodgings. To our surprise, however, we were told simply that since we had already left the ship there was nothing that they could do to help us. They wouldn't even help us change our flights so that we could just head home that day! Instead, we called Delta, who gladly changed our tickets to a 12:30pm flight home at a cost of about $77 per person. :(

Clearly if we had booked this trip through a TA, we could easily have called the TA and requested assistance, which I'm sure he or she would have been happy to provide. I honestly don't think my husband and I were out of line in expecting some type of assistance from RCI since our entire trip had been booked through one of their representatives. Am I wrong? Has anyone out there had a similar experience? We can't help but feel a bit let down (not to mention ripped off!) because we paid for an additional three days for our trip that we couldn't enjoy, not to mention the change fee for our airline tickets. :o

Thanks for letting me vent (and please, please don't flame me!).

[Sue L]

Unfortunately there is not much that RCCL can do in that situation. They are just the booking agent for the flights and the hotels they do not guarantee that stuff.

 

I know it is no consolation but next time you should book your own hotel so that you can do the research and such to choose the hotel you would like.

 

I would write a nice letter to RCCL explaining what a nice time you had on the cruise but the experience was marred by the condition of the the post cruise hotel and tell them what you explained in your post. There is no guarantee that they will do anything but you never know.

[Nliedel]

Ugh, that's a tough situation for everyone. As a general rule, I always book post and pre cruise hotels myself. I know, cold comfort now. At least you know for the future.

 

Right now, just sit down and write a letter to RCI. Make it factual and do not exaggerate. Point out how much you enjoyed the cruise and how you felt about the hotel. Don't get over dramatic. You probably won't get your money back, but you may get a discount on a future cruise. For which you will book the hotels yourself :D

[nrh322]

If it's any consolation at all (I doubt it)...my TA and I already wrote letters to RCCL about the choices they had available for pre-cruise lodging in Miami based on the reviews I read on tripadvisor.com. None of them were rated very highly and some of them had some really bad reviews. It's probably time that they reconsider their choices of hotels or at least encourage the ones they've chosen to get their game faces back on.

[BethV114]

nrh322 - Actually, it is a bit of a comfort to know that I am not the only person who is disatisfied with the quality of the hotels offered by RCI for their pre/post cruise stays.

Nliedel and SueL - This was our first cruise and we had experienced a few traveling snafu's in the recent past, so we thought that booking everything at once through one vendor would be the best way to ensure a smooth trip. Obviously, after having taken the trip and having read the posts on CC we now know better and will only book our own airfare/hotel stays in the future. I know that RCI is only acting as a booking agent for the hotels and airlines, but I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that you will not be left totally stranded by RCI in the event that a problem arises at some point during a trip that we booked entirely through them, even if we had already left the ship.

In any event, I did write RCI a letter when we got home which extolled the virtues of the ship and the wonderful crew members (many of whom I mentioned by name), but also described the difficulty we encountered in Miami. Hopefully we will at least get some type of a response addressing their complete lack of assistance after debarkation. As nrh322 previously noted, the choice of hotels offered by RCI in Miami is appalling, and I can only hope that they will take a harder look at the establishments they choose to align themselves with in the future.

[Nliedel]

You're correct Beth and you're here now. We'll keep you on the straight and narrow :)

 

Btw. CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MARRIAGE! May it be as long as you live and as strong as a rock.

[BethV114]

You're correct Beth and you're here now. We'll keep you on the straight and narrow :)

 

Btw. CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MARRIAGE! May it be as long as you live and as strong as a rock.

 

Thank you!! :) :D :) :D

[skipper and gilligan]

Yikes!!!! Now I am getting scared. We have the Four Points booked pre and post cruise in September for our Liberty cruise....................should we change hotels? When we booked back in January within an hour RCI told our T.A. we had to stay with our Four Points reservation as all the other hotels were already booked up. True? :(

[nrh322]

Yikes!!!! Now I am getting scared. We have the Four Points booked pre and post cruise in September for our Liberty cruise....................should we change hotels? When we booked back in January within an hour we were told we had to stay with Four Points as all the other hotels were booked. :(

 

 

You might check the hotel out at tripadvisor.com. Read the reviews there and see if what they have to say bothers you. (It did us!) If you aren't bothered, I wouldn't worry about it. If you are, you can find recommendations for other hotels in the area through that site very easily. Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic are jointly owned or at least somehow related... either way, I could never travel anywhere without them! :)

[skipper and gilligan]

Thanks nrh322,

 

So confusing, did look at trip adviser and saw some really bad reviews and some good reviews.............question is which ones to believe. We were told by one T.A. that if you relied on tripadvisor, no one would go anywhere...............so, have emailed our T.A. to check things out further. Thanks though for the tip.

[firefly333]

Yikes!!!! Now I am getting scared. We have the Four Points booked pre and post cruise in September for our Liberty cruise....................should we change hotels? When we booked back in January within an hour RCI told our T.A. we had to stay with our Four Points reservation as all the other hotels were already booked up. True? :(

 

I think it's always a good idea to check out the hotel on Trip Advisor before booking it. At least you know how its rated by lots of others, not just one opinion. You can also ask down on East Coast thread there are locals who post down there, one gal is an expert in Ft. Lauderdale which is right next door to Miami. I look at everything, and take the reviews on Trip Advisor with a grain of salt. But they are a starting place.

 

If RCI doesnt have any other options, then book on your own, there are tons of empty hotels in Miami offseason in September. The snow birds dont come down until about Thanksgiving.