Cruise reservation cancelled - need advice

[DnA2010]

Well, the situation continues to evolve. As I had not heard back from my TA as of yesterday afternoon I sent another email again formally requesting that the reservation with RCI be cancelled and that a full refund be issued to my credit card. Later that afternoon, I received a response from our TA indicating that after working with the RCI escalations department they were able to recover our original cabin. Additionally, the $100 additional OBC would remain due to all of the issues. At this point I explained to the TA that I appreciated their efforts but had an issue as I now had two reservations and was facing cancellation penalties. Given a number of factors (overall costs, room size, kids preferences, etc.) we would prefer to keep the RCI reservation now that our original room is intact so I have asked the TA to see if, given the circumstances, Celebrity would cancel the reservation and waive any required cancellation fees. The TA indicated they would do so and provide me with an update later today. So, we will see what happens and where we go from here.

While I am happy (and surprised) that we were able to secure our original room, I am frustrated that it took this long to get to this point and may still end up costing me more money than originally budgeted.

I am crossing my fingers that you will get the Celebrity room cancelled with no issues and that if there are any additional costs, they will be covered, or your will receive additional OBC!

 

[cory30]

I am crossing my fingers that you will get the Celebrity room cancelled with no issues and that if there are any additional costs, they will be covered, or your will receive additional OBC!

Well, after speaking with a resolutions representative with Celebrity (who then spoke with RCI) they have indicated that they will not waive the cancellation penalty ($1,000) as the cruise reservation has been paid in full and there are no exceptions irrespective of the situation. I'm not sure what I am going to do now - I have communicated this information to my original TA and let them know that unless they had other options/recommendations I was again going to have to ask them to cancel the RCI reservation and issue a full refund.

So, in the span of less than a week we have gone from thinking we had the perfect reservation, to no reservation, to now one too many reservations . I'm sure I will laugh about this one of these days but it won't be in the very near future.

 

[nkereina]

Well, the situation continues to evolve. As I had not heard back from my TA as of yesterday afternoon I sent another email again formally requesting that the reservation with RCI be cancelled and that a full refund be issued to my credit card. Later that afternoon, I received a response from our TA indicating that after working with the RCI escalations department they were able to recover our original cabin. Additionally, the $100 additional OBC would remain due to all of the issues. At this point I explained to the TA that I appreciated their efforts but had an issue as I now had two reservations and was facing cancellation penalties. Given a number of factors (overall costs, room size, kids preferences, etc.) we would prefer to keep the RCI reservation now that our original room is intact so I have asked the TA to see if, given the circumstances, Celebrity would cancel the reservation and waive any required cancellation fees. The TA indicated they would do so and provide me with an update later today. So, we will see what happens and where we go from here.

While I am happy (and surprised) that we were able to secure our original room, I am frustrated that it took this long to get to this point and may still end up costing me more money than originally budgeted.

Oh man! Why on earth wouldn't the TA take those measures and do that work BEFORE communicating the issue of the cancellation to you in the first place?! If I'm the TA, I'm exhausting all options before I have to tell my client the bad news.

Well, after speaking with a resolutions representative with Celebrity (who then spoke with RCI) they have indicated that they will not waive the cancellation penalty ($1,000) as the cruise reservation has been paid in full and there are no exceptions irrespective of the situation. I'm not sure what I am going to do now - I have communicated this information to my original TA and let them know that unless they had other options/recommendations I was again going to have to ask them to cancel the RCI reservation and issue a full refund.

So, in the span of less than a week we have gone from thinking we had the perfect reservation, to no reservation, to now one too many reservations . I'm sure I will laugh about this one of these days but it won't be in the very near future.

So frustrating. Since the RCI booking is what you'd prefer anyway, have you asked whether your TA would just cover the $1000 cancellation penalty as a result of this mess? I mentioned up-thread that most TAs should have professional liability or E&O insurance that should cover any costs in a situation like this. Good luck!

 

[Chuck S]

I have no advice, but I sympathize and feel your frustration. I haven't used a TA in years.

 

[frank808]

The only problem with that is you get a price drop before final payment is due you can't take advantage of it. Once paid in full you can't price drop. We saved about $500 on our Owners Suite with a price drop.

You can get price drops even when paid in full as long as you are not past the final payment date that Royal sets. Which is usually 90 days from cruise date.

 

[Marchand63]

You can get price drops even when paid in full as long as you are not past the final payment date that Royal sets. Which is usually 90 days from cruise date.

If you actually bothered to read subsequent posts you would seen I acknowledge I may have been given erroneous info. But thank you for just needing to be full on knowledgable but not knowledgeable.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

OP - Do you have a final resolution?

 

[frank808]

If you actually bothered to read subsequent posts you would seen I acknowledge I may have been given erroneous info. But thank you for just needing to be full on knowledgable but not knowledgeable.

Didn't read where you actually acknowledged it. You said that was the info you were told by rep. Just trying to help you out. I wont make the mistake of trying to help you again.

 

[Marchand63]

Didn't read where you actually acknowledged it. You said that was the info you were told by rep. Just trying to help you out. I wont make the mistake of trying to help you again.

And I thank you for that from my Owners Suite 1058 Jewel of the Seas jacuzzi tub


Pretty sure I don't need help cruising. Off to the Concierge Lounge in a few minutes

 

[lancermom]

Interesting info Dug720. Thanks you! I have not used a TA with RCCL so I didn't know that you cannot see final payment date on the RCCL website if booked through a TA. That seems like a bad idea with no benefit that I can see.

I'm a TA. If a TA sends you the invoice directly from RCCL, you will see the correct final payment date. That's what I always send people. However, many TAs like to generate their own invoices with their own logos from whatever CRM system they use, so they may manually input a final payment date which could ultimately lead to a typo.

 

[cory30]

OP - Do you have a final resolution?

Final Update - We will be sailing on the Celebrity Solstice. Ultimately Celebrity refused to cancel our booking without incurring a substantial penalty ($1,000). I did escalate this to their resolutions department but their take was that the TA who made the original mistake needed to fix the problem. So, we ended up canceling our RCCL Explorer of the Seas reservation and the TA provided us with a full refund. Although Celebrity did refuse to cancel the reservation, and the overall reservation is costing us more than our original booking, they were willing to "rebook" our reservation. By doing so, we were able to change our reservation from one standard balcony cabin to two concierge balcony cabins for an additional $400. While still disappointed (and poorer) due to this experience, we are happy to be going to Alaska and are excited to try Celebrity for the first time.

 

[starvenger]

Kind of sucks that you have to put more $$$ into the vacation, but I'm glad that the end result is that you didn't have to cancel everything or eat your plane tickets.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Final Update - We will be sailing on the Celebrity Solstice. Ultimately Celebrity refused to cancel our booking without incurring a substantial penalty ($1,000). I did escalate this to their resolutions department but their take was that the TA who made the original mistake needed to fix the problem. So, we ended up canceling our RCCL Explorer of the Seas reservation and the TA provided us with a full refund. Although Celebrity did refuse to cancel the reservation, and the overall reservation is costing us more than our original booking, they were willing to "rebook" our reservation. By doing so, we were able to change our reservation from one standard balcony cabin to two concierge balcony cabins for an additional $400. While still disappointed (and poorer) due to this experience, we are happy to be going to Alaska and are excited to try Celebrity for the first time.

I am sorry it cost you more money, but I am glad your TA refunded your money. I still think her E&O insurance should cover your out of pocket difference.

Thanks for letting us know.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yipes OP that's a lot of back and forth stuff. Probably not a TA I would use in the future. I can understand why they thought they could charge your CC for the 'second' room because you were really wanting it but of course that caused quite the hassle in the end. Ugh. I feel for you. Glad you got a resolution even if it's costing more money hopefully you have a good cruise!

I did have a question for my own future information--do TAs have different final payment due dates compared to Royal Carribbean?

I see on RC's current website lists:


I don't know if that is new or not but I see 3/31/18 would have been 90 days from sailing date of 6/28/18. The TA's error was putting the final payment schedule for a sailing of 1-4 days which is 75 days (or 4/15/18), but I didn't know if TAs have a different schedule or if they follow RC's policy available on their website (assuming this information was on the website when the original cruise was booked--not sure on that part).

 

[bumbershoot]

I think final payment deadlines for rci somewhat recently changed.

 

[msjprincess]

I think final payment deadlines for rci somewhat recently changed.

Yes I think they changed towards the end of 2016. We sailed in February 2017 and I remember that we were grandfathered in. I think before the change it was 75 days for a 7 day cruise.

 

[jenf22]

I did have a question for my own future information--do TAs have different final payment due dates compared to Royal Carribbean?

The TA we use normally has the final payment listed as a couple of days earlier than the cruise line's. I think that is so they can handle credit card denials or issues that may come up before final payment. But I don't know how other TAs do it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The TA we use normally has the final payment listed as a couple of days earlier than the cruise line's. I think that is so they can handle credit card denials or issues that may come up before final payment. But I don't know how other TAs do it.

That makes sense for sure.

 

[Keels]

I'm glad you got a resolution! We cruised the Solstice to Alaska last August and it was an amazing experience!

I don't know how old your kids are, and I didn't take notice of any kids activities, but it was incredibly relaxing and indulgent for our group of four adults. We were also in concierge balcony staterooms!

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

It sounds like you have ended up with a pretty good upgrade and it looks like it will be a wonderful trip! But what a frustrating experience.