Had OP phrased the thread title in such a way I'm sure they would've been chided for not only a gross over exaggeration and hysterical hyperbole but likely almost as much for as not naming the cruise line in question. As the saying goes you can't win for losing.

BTW I already gave RCI the benefit of the doubt upthread, though again you seem to have missed that:

Fair enough - sorry I missed your other post.

The naming of the cruiseline is relevant because the OP also posted the same account over on the cruisecritic forum. It is well known that the cruise lines monitor the forums. I can state that for an absolute fact ..... if you check my other posts on another thread you might correctly presume I know a fair amount about how at least one other cruiseline operates ......;)

Now it could be that the OP was so intent on getting as wider breadth of advice as possible that the expending of so much effort to ask there and here ... and then compare advice was a reasonable thing to do.

Another interpretation might be that by the amount of trouble taken for the size of the issue and pursuit of it over at least two forums seems to be a bit more than merely seeking advice.

Hi OP Here
Wow lots of responses:)

A few comments

Sensible people have realistic expectations
I do I expect a cabin that I can use



If it is a reasonable assumption, then there must be something on this thread that you have seen that explains that the problem hadn't only just occured
From post 1
Open the door there is a fan on the floor and the room smells.
If there is a fan in the room then this did not just happen. Exactly who the room steward notified I do not know.


If it had been a genuine request for impartial advice then it could have been accomplished by heading the thread "Flood issue .... should I seek compensation". In my view naming the line changes the tenor of the thread and introduces a dimension to it that changes the intention from advice seeking to what feels and seems like coercion and almost blackmail.

I am sorry that you did not like the title to this thread but I would think that someone would ask what cruiseline. I was seeking advice and the advice that I recieved is that most people think I was compensated with the upgrade to the ocean view. I dont think so and have asked RCL to reconsider. I would be happy with a 25.00 on board credit for my next cruise which I dont feel is alot to ask.
I feel that I did not have the same cruise experience as some one who walked onto the ship and into their room. When we sailed away we were not even sure if there was any room available. That is a horrible feeling and should not happen. It would be different if this was a hotel room in a city. You just walk out and go to another hotel

Regardless of the outcome of this RCL has a problem with the front desk on this ship and hopefully can do something about that.


__________________

YOu shouldn't really need to explain yourself. Most people think its reasonable to ask for help in this situation.

I started reading this thread because I have never been on a cruise before. I wanted to do some preliminary research into the different cruise companies and base my booking decision from the comments on flyertalk because in general I find it to be useful and this forum is generally pretty collegial and fun to read. However, I have to admit that I'm pretty surprised at the bile that one of the commenters keeps on displaying in his/her comments.

Frankly, except for the OP, none of us know what happened on that cruise. Personally, I am only using his story as one of many stories to base my booking decision but because this is a message board, I am taking what he's saying with a grain of salt. I don't see the purpose though, of being holier than thou about anything if you don't have the facts of what actually happened to back it up. Anything you say about what Royal Caribbean actually did is conjecture because you weren't there either. What exactly is the purpose of bashing the OP personally when you don't know what actually happened? What the OP said in this thread is just his pov right? How else is he supposed to express his pov? It is obvious that his pov is not the pov of the cruiseline. That is why, it isn't helpful to anyone who reads this thread what your personal opinion of the OP may be and I think only small minded people with nothing better to do with their time would bother.

OP, from what you've said you seem to have had a terrible experience. My condolences. Sometimes when you go on vacation, you have high expectations. You plan a trip with whatever moments you have ready, and you take time off of work to go on this dream vacation and something goes wrong. And then something like this happens, and then I dunno, maybe the customer service was rude or made it seem like it was your fault or they expected you to be grateful for something like they have a right to expect it but really don't, and it just makes you even more upset. It can be very minor like their tone of voice but it just sticks in your craw and it becomes personal. In any case, some people are like that and you'll probably get over it. If it makes you not want to go on this cruise line then that's what you do, or not. The service is as it is and you were upgraded to an outside view which is more than you paid for. It is up to you to decide if that was worth the 4 hours of aggrevation and the rude behavior or not. But I don't think you should be treated as being whiny simply for airing your grievances on this board because if you are genuinely upset I think it is perfectly normal to try to tell other people and see if you're right to be upset. If it helps, I found your thread to be useful for the most part, and through other people's comments about the rudeness of Royal Caribbean's service in general, I will at least be forewarned and less likely to be upset if it happened to me if I do end up going on one of their cruises. ;)

Jinjin

You mustn't be such a stranger to FT --- and post more!:D 2 posts a year ..... what have we done wrong!:(

I think you may have misunderstood. Looking at your past posts you've had legitimate complaints in the past .... and apart from your trip to Windy Ridge ATL (did that use to be Picket Suites ...... I use to go there a lot ....) when you agreed to have your lock changed ... you seem to be well balanced in your approach to resolving issues.

No one has said the OP didn't have a legitimate complaint. No one has said he shouldn't complain. No one has questioned his account. It is simply the degree / proporionality with which complaints are produced and the change in society where increasingly every complaint even when reasonably well addressed at the time should then receive requests for "compensation". The trend for this and the trend of using the internet to publicise grievances has led to a new risk - and that is one of a perception of blackmail. In other words - many business feel that they must resist what they see as "give me compo or I'll damage your reputation" trend. It is the proportionality aspect that has evoked comment here - not whether the OP was reasonable to complain. The line has been named on two influential forums.

I will declare my interest in the issue because I started and owned the second largest by revenue satisfaction consultancy in Europe. We never quite made it to number 1 .... but the others started several decades earlier than us ....:D There is a 95%+ chance that the PC you are currently using is from a manufacturer who has been one of our clients. I have personally worked with the CEO and owner of a cruise line (apart from other businesses in the hospitality industries) because he was obsessed with customer satisfaction and knew of our work and wanted to replicate it in his own business. We effectively became the "voice of the customer" and helped.

It's important that companies work hard to manage and fullfill the reasonable expectations of their customers and most companies do this well in the majority of situations. They also make mistakes which they try to resolve.

But they also have a responsibility not to feed what is a growing trend for customers to use the internet to coerce what they (in this case the cruise company) might legitimately feel has been an issue that they have resolved equitably. We have not heard their side. To simply pay compensation to avoid disgruntled customers from bad mouthing them and posting their names in an adverse way on several forums is something they will and should positively try not to feed because if they do they will make the situation worst and in the end all other honourable customers will pick up the tab and pay more for their products services ...... and cruises. I am not suggesting that this is the case here, I'm merely pointing out the motivations from the other side.

So far as your own plans for cruises are concerned, as long as you approach your cruise with common sense, and humour and recognise - as with most things - you take the promise with a pinch of salt and accept that you largely get what you pay for - you'll have a good time.

I agree with the part that you should make the most of your trip, but I disagree that a customer should necessarily go elsewhere if they have a problem with the cruise line. A customer should let management know about problems, then the cruise line can strive for improvement. If a customer just never returns the cruise line might never know why they lost the customer.

The leaky cabin was known to the cabin steward and others. The customers were still put in the cabin. A replacement cabin was eventually provided but after a lengthy period. The way I look at it the only thing the cruise line did was provide a habitable cabin to its customer. This was their minimum obligation to the customer.

There was no sense of urgency to the customer service people to resolve the problem. There was a sense of urgency to the customer. They wanted to shower and change. They had no habitable cabin for hours. By the time they were placed in the ocean view cabin it had ceased to be any kind of upgrade or compensation. It was a necessity. The cruise line was under obligation to provide a habitable cabin to the customer.

The cruise line should have handled this in a better manner. Suggestions by others have been made. (complimentary cocktail, spa coupon, cheese plate, bottle of wine, etc.) Since this was not done, I don't see how the customer was compensated in any way. All the cruise line did was provide a habitable cabin to the customers. I think the customer has every right to complain and let other potential customers of the cruise line know about this incident.

With Royal Caribbean these types of things hapen all the time. Sometimes they are handled well, sometimes they are not. Any business should know that when a customer walks away dissatisfied they usually tell many people. Just as when a customer walks away WOWED, they tell many people.

I see this situation not as a customer causing a problem, but as a company not handling business in a competent manner.

But in my view, naming the cruise line informs the people on this forum of the problems the customer encountered on Royal Caribbean. They did not encounter this customer service problem on Princess or Cunard, it happened on Royal Caribbean. I do believe forums such as this and cruise critic are the appropriate places to air a story such as this. When the company's name is not mentioned then the reader may just assume, oh so cruise lines don't have good customer service when problems occur. That would be an incorrect assumption on the readers part. There are many cruise lines with terrific customer service. Royal Caribbean's customer service is hit and miss (from my own personal experince on many, many Royal Caribbean sailings).

By naming the company, the reader receives more information that may help them determine if Royal Caribbean is or isn't a cruise line they want to consider sailing.

Correct. I agree. We are I'm afraid repeating ourselves. Again no one is suggesting he shouldn't complain.

But the issues you raise in both of your posts are different issues and that is the seperate issue of genuinely informing others. There is nothing wrong with that, but that was not the intention of the OP. He said he wanted help with getting compensation. I have merely pointed from the complainants point of view that "(a) informing others is different from (b) trying to get compensation and have simply highlighted the risks associated with demanding compensation and mounting what might appear to them to be coercion by blackmail. There is a difference between the way you go about asking for compensation than you do to punish a company for not complying with your demand or posting to genuinely inform others. That's all!

Also, neither you nor I had been there - but with experieince you start to read between the lines and build a picture from the little you do know. The telling line from my point of view was when the OP said:

You or others may see no significance in that comment. I find that attitude highly significant and is inconsistant with the claim of behaving "reasonably". I find the attitude irritating. You need to show and demostrate that you did all you could do to help yourself and that you were courteous to staff. The approach and attitude the OP had taken - fair or unfair - in part may indicate what may have caused the response he received from the cruise line and may be illuminate the way he treated cruise staff at the time. To get the best from other people you behave differently. People dealing with the OP at the time were humans as well and if you want to get the most from people - you treat them respectfully and work and cooperate with them to attain the resolution you are seeking.

Anyway I'm unable to add any further value to this ..................

Why only these posts since 2007 until today by the way .........

Completely agree.

;) :p

Does anyone wish
 

there was an unsubscribe option under thread tools? Would be nice when you've heard enough....

Thanks!

(That'll teach people who subscribe and then complain when people post .......:))

This isn't the correct forum for your request (there are two forums one for defects one for improvements)... but in the interests of being helpful - go to >myflyertalk>list subscriptions> tick the thread you know longer wish to follow then>delete subscription.

Hope that helps.:)

I have an opinion, but others have expressed the same one, so why be redundant.

Instead, if this happens again (on another line since you won't return to RCCL), head for the spa to take a shower. You'll feel better and it may change your perspective on the situation. I've sailed on the MotS on 3 occasions. It's not the cruise of a lifetime. I'm sure your next one will be better.

Well, because I only read these boards on occasion and I didn't feel the urge to comment on any particular thread until yesterday. Why do you post so often?