Royal Caribbean Problem UPDATE
 

We cruised RCL Majesty of the Seas 7-19 to 7-23. We arrived at the boat at 11. Check in easy. Went to have lunch and went tour our cabin around 1;30. The luggage was outside the door. Great. Open the door there is a fan on the floor and the room smells.

I call to the front desk and tell them and they said let housekeeping come and look at it and get back to us in an hour. I said housekeeping is not going to be able to fix this problem. We ran into our steward who said he told them no one would stay in that cabin. The plumbing from upstairs leaked down.

An hour later we call and they say yes there is a problem. No fooling. They tell me that the ship is full and they will see what they can do. Great what does that mean should we just leave because there is no way we can stay in that room. Call back she will let us know.

4:30 I call and she says we can not get a room until all the passengers have boarded and they see what rooms they have left. I burst into tears. We left Chicago at 4AM here it is 4Pm we are wearing the same clothes would love to take a shower and a nap. 6Pm we finally get a room and they tell us they up graded us from an interior cabin to a ocean view cabin.

OK Not a good way to start a vacation but it is not going to ruin our vacation either. We will call customer service when we arrive home. I will say that the food , drink, entertainment, wait staff and ship itself was awesome. But the front desk and customer service absolutely sucked

On Wednesday we played Bingo and I won an upgrade to a balcony suite. WOW HURRAY. Another couple also won. We go pack from one room to go to the new room. We meet the other couple outside the door and they said don’t go in there. She put her key in the door opened it and there was a couple in there. They had given us keys to rooms that were occupied. Our room had people in it also.

I go to the courtesy phone and tell them what happened and they tell us to come back down and switch keys. I don’t think so you made this mistake you bring us our new keys.

When we returned I documented all of this to RCL. Yes I was looking for a little compensation. They told me my compensation was the upgrade from the interior cabin to the ocean view cabin.

I posted this on cruisecritic.com besides being told whats the big deal I am a cry baby by some, now post has been deleted. I feel Cruise critic does not want postings about problems on cruises.


This is our fourth cruise with RCL And probably our last. The customer service is terrible. To tell me that I was compensated by being upgraded is insulting. The room that you were going to give was uninhabitable. For us to have to wait till the ship takes off to get a
Room is ridiculous. We were all set to book another cruise onboard as you get a onboard credit if you book your next sailing while you are on the ship. If you are a first time cruiser I would try RCL but hope you do not have any problems that require the front desk or
Customer service.

I read your post on cruise critic this morning. I am so sorry that you had the problem. However, $hit happens on all vacations. Best thing to do is try to make lemonade out of lemons. I, too, have had problems with the staff at the RCI's pursers desk (I have been on 8 RCI cruises). Frustrating, YES. It did not help that you were tired. (I always fly into a port at least one day, if not two prior to a cruise.) Yes, you were upgraded to an ocean view cabin in RCI's eyes. Perhaps RCI is not the cruise line for you. All have there pros and cons.

At least you had a good time on the cruise despite the problems. Look it as an adventure (albeit not one you want to repeat).

Sorry, but I think you're out for compensation and nothing else. I'll echo what you've already heard. An upgrade like that is a lot of compensation. So, you couldn't go to your room for a couple of hours, big whoop....

I'm sure it was frustrating and irritating. But you WERE compensated, and compensated nicely with an upgrade. I think that was completely in line with what should be expected.

I believe cruise critic probably deleted your thread due to the way the initial post was formatted. I have been a cc member for years and years and have seen hundreds of complaints of various cruiselines. I don't think they were trying to hide a problem on a cruise.

I understand if this has tainted your view, however, I think they did the best they could for you.

I understand your frustration, but honestly the upgrade to an oceanview cabin seems like adequate compensation to me.

You guys are tougher than we are on the CC board!
 

Having said that, I agree that the upgrade was way and above what one should expect in compensation.

I don't cruise RCL, Please explain the rationale of switching cabins (granted a balcony) in the middle of a cruise. ( you did say it was as the result of a win in the casino and casinos don't open until you are at sea}.

ralph

What is it you are looking for from them? Money? A free trip? Every trip for the rest of your life free?

I really don't see what you expect from them. Things happen. They made good on it by giving you a new room. End of discussion.

Am I missing something here? The way I read the OP's post she WON the upgrade at bingo. She would have had that even if there had not been a problem with the original cabin. So RCCL did not compensate her at all for the stink hole they put her in.

[QUOTE=cordelli;14392923]What is it you are looking for from them? Money? A free trip? Every trip for the rest of your life free?

No Of course not. An apology for one thing would be nice. Maybe a 25.00 credit to get two drinks while waiting would have been nice.Ok Lets jut say we took off and there were no rooms available then where would be. They told us they did not know. It is hard to start your vacation like that.

If the only room that had available was the ocean view and they put us in there that is not an upgrade that is they paid for a room and that is the only one we have left.

My point here is we still had a good time because we realized that all is not perfect BUT RCL has a problem with the front desk personnell.

They booked an inside cabin, where there was a problem
They were moved to an ocean view cabin. That was the upgrade they feel was compensation.

The suite thing came later and is totally not related to the issue at hand at all.

They could have "upgraded" one of the more frequent travelers who had booked an inside to that outside and given the OP their inside, but they choose to upgrade them for the inconvenience.


Well you know that's not true, because apparently there were also at least two suites available.

I agree with cordelli. OP was compensated. Truth be known, most ships go out with a few cabins available even if it is considered sold out. RCI is not known for their warm and fuzzy purser's office. Turnaround day is very busy at the purser's office. I'm sure there is paper (computer) work to change cabins, etc., etc. It takes time. Who knows, they may have upgraded someone from an OV cabin to a suite to get the OV cabin for the OP.

As for compensation other than an upgrade, heck, on my last B2B cruise in the Caribbean (second day of the first cruise), one the photographers was hounding me so much that he pushed me into a concrete bench. I received a black and blue mark the size of a grapefruit and it sure hurt. It took a month to heal. By the end of the cruise every on the ship wanted to see the bruise (on my upper thigh). I visited the purser's office to complain about the photographers in general..."no" means "no photo" (wasn't looking for compensation). I did not get a "sorry", but they sent me a $10 bottle of wine. I guess they thought the wine would make my boo boo better! We laugh about it now.

Sure RCL could've done that but IMHO would still have had to compensate OP in some way for the delay in getting the family an inhabitable cabin, such as an OBC. There was also the risk OP found out someone else had been bumped up and they accommodated in that person's interior cabin which might've made an already challenging situation worse.

FWIW I think RCL tried to make good on a tough situation at the start and that says something to me, the latter suite snafu notwithstanding. Of course that's just MHO.

I find this post very dissapointing.

There was a relatively minor unforeseen problem that was sorted out to your very generous advantage. You then basically went on to do all you could to ruin your own holiday out of a sense of misplaced and over-optimistic greed. This attitude of unrelenting pursuit of compensation come what may even when the problem is unforeseen and resolved well is one of the most distasteful developments of consumerism.

Go back and thank them for handling the problem well and giving you an upgrade.

So they put you in a room with a major leak. How is it they didn't know immediately what cabins would be empty (they made you wait till boarding was done) and yet they had two empty balconies to give away as prizes later? (were they just balcony cabins or actually suites..)

You may argue that the upgrade from inside to view is nice, but if they had an empty balcony/suite, good customer service would be to put the distressed passenger in the nice room. An Ocean view room isn't THAT big an upgrade -- they are still small. And dont forget, the line does owe them a habitable room.

With respect ..... why should everything in life that goes wrong in life - however trivial and however quickly resolved - always be compensated for as though a great catastrophe has caused despicable suffering?

There is a difference between resolving a problem quickly and generously- and putting right through compensation some great loss. The cruise line put this issue right to the customers advantage as quickly as they could. The demand of compensation is outrageous.

Let's please get a grip to some sort of reality.

IMHO OP has more of a grip on reality than many others who post seeking compensation, especially on the hotel forums, for far more trvial things. And while I stand by my belief that RCL tried to do the right thing it wasn't all that "quickly resolved" as pax was without a cabin for 4+ hours so it isn't like they were screaming for compensation after a 15 minute delay upon embarkation.

Well ... I'm posting on this thread not others where people do worst things and you and I weren't there ... but read and think about what the OP has at least said.

The "tears" and the "I go to the courtesy phone and tell them what happened and they tell us to come back down and switch keys. I don’t think so you made this mistake you bring us our new keys." So is the OP a casualty posting here and other forums looking for sympathy (and whipping up reputational pressure to the cruise line to "pay up" or he or she will continue trashing) or an attitude looking for an answer to DYKWIA? Why on earth was going back to pick up the keys such a monsterous suggestion? He/she was after all very tearful and was complaining at the time it took to resolve. The cruise staff were dealing with the busiest time for them for the whole cruise - embarkation . They merely suggested he/she came and picked up the keys. The response to that request should tell you all you need to know about this issue.

So the OP ended up going on a cruise where they were able to see the sea rather than the wall that they had budgeted for. Is that not a result? And who ends up paying for this rediculous compensation for any excuse culture/atttitude?

Yes, it is good to read what OP said, which I'm not sure you have entirely as OP's suite snafu was not at the busiest time, embarkation, but halfway through the cruise and it was a supposed prize that seemed less so when the keys to the suite found guests already ensconced in said suite. I don't blame OP one tiny bit for that bit of attitude as I might've been tempted to vent myself at such a error. However that less than sweet suite upgrade pax won is a separate issue from the problems encounter upon embarkation and IMHO should be treated as such.

He/she got two upgrades. One because the room wasn't habitable - the other won at bingo. Either way .... no lives were at risk ... no permanent damage done ... a bit of poor service .... but why the relentless pursuit of compensation?

[QUOTE=uk1;14396489]I find this post very dissapointing.

There was a relatively minor unforeseen problem that was sorted out to your very generous advantage.
Unforseen NO
Quote from post 1
We ran into our steward who said he told them no one would stay in that cabin. The plumbing from upstairs leaked down.

You then basically went on to do all you could to ruin your own holiday out of a sense of misplaced and over-optimistic greed.

Quote from post 1
OK Not a good way to start a vacation but it is not going to ruin our vacation either. We will call customer service when we arrive home. I will say that the food , drink, entertainment, wait staff and ship itself was awesome. But the front desk and customer service absolutely sucked.

.

Go back and thank them for handling the problem well and giving you an upgrade
I dont think so

What does DYKWIA mean?

I have travelled alot and know stuff happens.
I still think RCL handled this wrong maybe you would feel different if this happened to you. I would hope that RCl would take this complaint and at least look into the front desk situation they have on the Majesty.

Majesty OTS is one of RCI's older ships. I sailed her over 13 years ago. She only has inside, OV and suites, no regular balcony cabins. The OP was upgraded for his four night cruise.

FYI: The cabin steward will move the luggage to the new cabin for you. Simply leave your packed suitcases in your old cabin. However, this does take time.

As I stated before: $hit happen on vacations. Frustrating yes, life altering...usually not.

[QUOTE=Goldiemom;14396029] RCI is not known for their warm and fuzzy purser's office.

Funny you should say that, because I felt the same way on both RCL cruises
I have taken. They have a very surly attitude, which probably put the OP into a tail spin. On my last cruise my luggage disappeared and when I called the Pursers desk I was brushed off with a "don't call us ,we'll call you when we find it".
Finally around 8pm our cabin attendant told us that we should just go down there as the lost luggage room is right next door. We went down and there was our luggage, all the tags had been ripped off. Why the pursers desk didn't suggest that we come down and have a look, I'll never know.

I like the ships but hope I never need the purser's office help again.

I've been on thirty plus cruises, many two weeks long, and I have seen and heard it all. In my opinion a bottle of wine (and maybe even a plate of fruit) from the Hotel Director with a note apologizing for the rocky start and wishing these cruisers a good trip would have gone far and cost very little. This would have been standard on a line higher than RC. What bothers me about the experience was not the flood, unfortunate as it was, but what happened after: the cruiser was left to stumble upon this herself, no note from the Hotel Director explaining what the situation was, offer of a drink in the bar while they sort it out, use of the spa to change clothes, etc. This is not an unheard of situation, and there should be a plan in place to deal with it. If there was a plan it failed.

Absolutely - there should be. But if that doesn't happen - and you don't like it - you go elsewhere next time. But you make the most of your trip - enjoy it and move on.

It really does appear as if you're whining over very little.

RCL did their best to accommodate you in what seemed to be a very full ship. From the sound of it, you kept trying to get compensated in some way every time something unforeseen happened. You walked in on another couple in your FREE upgraded, won, room. That's not cause for alarm- It happens everyday in hotels around the world, to people who have PAID IN FULL for the room they're trying to get into.

Basically, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. They moved you to an ocean-view and then you got another upgrade. You have very little room to moan and complain here. Don't like RCL anymore? I'm sure another cruise line would be happy to take your money.



BN

Folks are still confusing these two upgrades I see when the way I see it OP only "got" one upgrade from RCL and "winning" an UG shouldn't be seen as some gesture of goodwill and is nothing more than random luck.

While on that subject of that windfall just because it happens in hotels often doesn't mean IMHO RCL shouldn't deserve some heat for the poor planning of giving away as a prize a currently occupied stateroom. It isn't rocket science to check to see whether the prize is indeed occupied so giving the cruise line a complete pass on this isn't kosher to me.

Amen, Fontaine. RCL had the chance to turn a negative into a positive and missed it.

This whole thread shows that whatever hotel management system this ship uses is totally out of whack. First, with respect to the cabin with known problems (the OP walked into the first room and a fan was there), the housekeeping manager should have taken this cabin off the "ready" list.
Upon embarkation, lots of things happen and it's possible that the staff was waiting until most of the checkin was completed to give the OP the best possible cabin. Then two occupied cabins were given out. I'm sure the only reason the prize was made available at Bingo was the hotel management system showed two unsold suites. Either those suites were really sold, or the ones actually empty did not show up as "ready".
RCL hotel management on this ship: Needs work
OP's sorrows: A bit too played out for me. I could never have made it through all 7 continents in this world with that 'tude.

I don't really have an opinion on the compensation question, but I would point out that the suite upgrade was not "free" it was won in a paid game of bingo. It is no different than placing a bet in roulette and being paid when your number comes up--The casino is giving you "free" money, it is paying off on a wager. The suite upgrade was exactly the same, the op purchased a bingo card and played-- the prize is just the cruise line paying off on the bet.

Before winning the suite, though, the OP was put up in an ocean-view cabin though they had paid for an inside cabin. Frankly I don't see how further compensation is expected.

Being on a cruise is supposed to be a luxury experience where you have no worries. That's how they're marketed. The failure here is that the OP's cabin was not useable and that should have been known at check in - the cabin attendant seemed to know this well before OP got there.

Regarding this needing to wait to see who shows up, it's a bit fishy. Cruises are not like airline flights, where they frequently oversell by a few seats. There isn't another 3000 passenger cruise ship leaving for cozumel in 4 hours to bump tohe oversells to. So, with 2 empty suites to give away as bingo prizes, plus at least one empty oceanview room on sailway day, good hotel management would have reassigned the OP to one of those rooms at check in rather than having OP roam the ship, find the unacceptable cabin, wait in another line at the pursers desk, etc.

Perhaps they bump premier guests to nicer rooms on sail day, maybe its first come first served amongst the elite, so maybe they were processing those movements before knowing exactly which mid range rooms were going to be empty. But they should have known OPs room was not useable, and told OP that at check in. A pass to a lounge, a free drink, and the eventual useable cabin would have prevented this thread from ever being started.

Your belief that "Being on a cruise is supposed to be a luxury experience where you have no worries" shows a lack of realism irrespective of what you claim the brochures promise.

1. There needs to be a reality check. Sensible people have realistic expectations. Not all cruises are the same. The main differences include the staff / passenger ratio. Unexpected things go wrong. Even on a 6 star line things go wrong and you have to be patient. To say "that should have been known at check in " and use that to justify mounting a campaign demostrates a lack of balance.

2. Asking him / her to wait was not fishy. They upgraded him. They possibly wanted to see what the best available was going to be. There are "no shows" even on cruises. This strategy worked because they were upgraded from inside to sea view. To trivialise this shows a lack of reality and appreciation and balance.

Do you have any idea what you are talking about? A Lack of reality and balance? I didnt mount any campaign, I've just stated that sending a customer to a room you know is full of water is a bad idea.

Yes I do ... and no you didn't.

You believed the OP's account (it was he/she mounting the campaign) without question and without considering there might have been another version. You then added another set of presumptions including dark motives for the delay in dealing with the issue. "It sounds fishy" is what you said. Why does it "sound fishy". Perhaps you should ask yourself whether your words to me .... "Do you have any idea what you are talking about? " - are more appropriate to your own presumptions. Were you there?

You are now also claiming that you know that the people at the desk purposefully sent to OP to the room knowing full well it was out of service ... "I've just stated that sending a customer to a room you know is full of water is a bad idea " or are you prepared to accept they didn't know and you don't know.

You assumptions are quite rediculous.

Not all are to me. The assumption that the cruise line should've known of the condition of the room and not sent the guest to it is IMHO quite reasonable.

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. Otherwise the presumption is totally unjustified the reasonable assumption was that the problem simply hadn't yet been reported to the desk either because it had just occured or that the people who discovered it were dealing with what was a serious issue. Unless there is evidence to the contrary, decent people always give the benefit of the doubt.

What is rather tiresome is the presumption that service staff are always incompetent and dishonest and that they can be attacked at whim when they are not around to defend themselves. It is also tiresome that at the heart of these issues is always the compo demand. In the end we all pay.

This behaviour says much about the people that indulge themselves in such behaviour than in those they ignorently criticise.

There is something on this thread that explains it, though once again I believe you haven't fully read OP's words which are here for all to see:

To me and others that indicated that the cabin hadn't suddenly become unihabitable but was in that state before the OP embarked so it's entirely reasonable to expect the cruise line should've know of the issues and avoided assigning that specific cabin to the OP.

Well I 'm just thick.

Where does anything you have said indicate it just hadn't happened? You have stated it as fact that it hadn't and I am too dumb to see where you got the fact from.

OP spoke to a cabin steward who knew of the cabin problems and indicated they'd told supervisors yet it was still assigned at embarkation. It's reasonable to assume the cabin wouldn't have become so uninhabitable in only a few minutes unless it was a massive water leak from above which surely would've drawn the interest of superiors and ship's officers.

The insistence on villainizing the OP is unfortunate as while I didn't agree with them seeking more compensation beyond what was given and said as much upthread I have tried given them the benefit of the doubt that the version of events was more or less accurate though it's become obvious you feel otherwise.