Suzanne D Lvh

Stealing from Customers

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We scheduled a Royal Caribbean cruise to go to the Bahamas. A week before leaving we receive an email from RC stating we aren't going to the Bahamas, and changing the destination to MIAMI FL! The purpose of the cruise was to go to the Bahamas. According to their policy, they didn't notify us on time. They knew we would not be eligible for reimbursement. However, according to their policy we were eligible to be reimbursed for 75%. They knew they were repairing the pier at CoCocay THEY PURPOSELY waited until we could not be refunded! They don't even compensate you by 'giving' you one free drink package or free excursion! The customer is the victim here! How often does this happen?? How much more does the customer DONATE TO THEIR BOTTOM LINE?????
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Loss:
$1826
Cons:
  • Customer service
Reason of review:
Not as described/ advertised

Preferred solution: Full refund

1 comment
Dionta Tat

Repairing the pier!!!!! CoCoCay is a total ripoff.

TVads show people enjoying the water park & having a good time. Went there early February & the park was a long way from being complete. Good place to go if all you want to see is cranes, dozers & other construction equipment being operated.

Very misleading advertising bordering on fraud to enable royal the opportunity to stay at sea an additional day to complete their 7 day cruise cycle. Dishonest to say the least.

Jodi Gdd

Horrible

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Went on a cruise in January with port stops to coco cay and Nassau. Cruise was okay itself, but not great because it was so windy and coco cay got canceled.

The big thing is that they put a hold on my card that wasn’t suppose to be there. Because of this hold my account started to overdraft and accrued fees of $108. The cruise line told me once the hold was reversed that the fees would also be reversed. I Was still onboard at this point, so there wasn’t much I could do other than trust that this was true.

When I got home I found out from the bank this wasn’t true and that they don’t reverse the fees unless it is their own fault. This was the start of a month long ordeal that is still ongoing. I have been on the phone with royal Caribbean and my bank alternately and then I have been on 2 conference calls for my bank to explain to them that if they hadn’t had a hold on that money my account would have never overdrafted. Royal Caribbean finally said okay we will refund these fees back to you, but it will take 3-5 business days.

I wait and call on day 3 and they say it is still being processed by accounting. On the 5th day I call and they say it will be the next business day which would be Monday but it was a holiday, so come this morning and money is still not in my account. I argue with them and they apologize insincerely and by this point I have been denied 2 times to speak with a manager. They call me back after I told them to get a manager and hung.

This is not a manager and this person says there was an error on my ticket and that they had to resubmit it, so it will be another 3-5 business days before the money will be in my account. I talked to many people on the boat and they said they were tipping cash after purchasing a drink package and were never told about the automatic $58 gratuity added to their accounts and that is when I checked my account with the boat and discovered the charge that wasn’t suppose to be there.

There were also other people who didn’t scratch out the tip line and bartenders were adding their own tip. I’m guessing these issues are all adding up big time for royal Caribbean and they are making bank on the people who don’t check their accounts carefully.

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4 comments
Guest

nikmik, YOU are confused! Go read the RCCL website for the drink card packages.

It states in fine print that an 18% gratuity is CHARGED FOR EVERY DRINK YOU ORDER. So those who tipped in cash or on the printout TIPPED TWICE

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1687568

This wasn’t a charge for drinks. My charge was for an activity that was suppose to go on my cousins account.

This was a lottery cruise and my drink package and tips were already included in this. The other complaints I listed were from other people on the cruise.

Guest

You are obviously a first time cruiser, you are very confused. First, the auto gratuity is for room steward, bus staff in buffet area, etc.

It is NOT for your drinks, it is added to your sail&sign on the day prior to your last day on board. This is explained on their website and every cruiseline does it. Second, they also explain the "holds" they put on your bank account. You obviously put no time into preparing for your cruise or you would know these things.

ALSO.... You should never travel with so little money in your bank account, especially out of the country!! What would you do in an emergency?

The " holds" are small amounts...you should have had enough to cover them. Don't cruise if you can't afford it.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1647872

This was a lottery cruise where everything was paid for except extras like activities and shopping. There was an activity that was suppose to be charged to my cousin but got charged to me instead.

This was my first vacation in 6 years and I’m a broke single mom so I had a very tight budget. If an emergency happened I would have had a different card to charge it to.

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Parker Cwl

Issues had on ship

The bathroom smelled like sewage,thank god took a strong spray with me cause had to use it many times a day. Also the dinning room experience was nothing like it was on my last 2 cruises with Royal Caribbean. I had to say something to the head boss in order to get decent service. Lastly not sure why I have over 1,200.00 in holds through my bank when there should only be 800.00. This is by far worst cruise been on not sure would sail with Royal Caribbean again!
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Reason of review:
Bad quality
Allan H Zun
map-marker Toronto, Ontario

Don't believe the word Guarantee lowest price

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Royal Caribbean - Don't believe the word Guarantee lowest price
I booked a trip for Venice to Venice Oct 12-'19 and Barcelona to Tampa Nov 3-'19 while on a transpacific Royal Caribbean and gave up a room credit and made the reservation non-refundable. While making another Royal Caribbean reservation for a cruise between the two booked I found that I could get it for significantly less than the ones I had, so I checked the same source and found my transatlantic was 50% of what I had booked for, I spoke to Royals reservations and they told me take it they would not transfer the booking at the price and I then looked at my Venice to Venice and I was able to get the same cruise but in a suite for the same fee. I brought this to the attention of the Diamond Lounge Concierge while on my latest cruise Miami to Miami Dec 2 '18 who introduced me to the NEXT CRUISE Mgr. who reiterated what the reservation dept. had said. That cruise went very badly the system did not recognize that I was on the next leg a back to back . I sent a long letter to Michael Bayley, President and was attended to by his assistant Danielle Cardenas who told me that fares are NOT Guaranteed and offered me $50 pp as a credit on the V to V trip...Wow $50, the travel agent gives you that for just booking. I am a Diamond and will be Diamond Plus after the aforenoted trips. Based on this treatment I am taking my business for my next cruise to MCS who give matched loyalty ratings and perhaps the next trip on Royal may be my LAST Allan Hill . Crown & Anchor member 5 yrs and 157 cruise nights + the next trip Angry
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Loss:
$2000
Cons:
  • Customer service and treatment
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

Anonymous Tcj
map-marker Bayonne, New Jersey

Stolen Items

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Several hours after arriving home from my vacation aboard the Anthem of the Seas from April 14- 21, 2018, I realized that I left my wedding/engagement rings (fused together) and my diamond earrings in the safe of my stateroom, which was opened and cleared out, but the jewelry must have slipped under the mat or were undetected by my husband when he cleared out the safe. I knew that they were in there because I took off my jewelry the first day of the sailing and put it in the safe to assure that I wouldn’t lose them on vacation. During the vacation, I got out of the habit of putting on my jewelry every day and completely forgot all about them until I got back from after the trip.

Frantically, I tried to call the ship directly (at a ridiculous price of $7.95/minute, even if no one answers), but after 11 minutes (and $87.45) of no one answering, I hung up the phone and called a general customer service number instead. This person walked me through the steps to file a lost and found claim on a website that Royal Caribbean uses called “ChargerBack.” I wrote a detailed description of my items and filled out the ChargerBack report on Saturday, April 21st, but did not expect to hear anything until the following Saturday, April 28th, since new guests were now in the cabin and the policy, as it was explained to me by numerous customer service agents, is to not disturb someone’s vacation. Surprisingly, on April 23rd, I received an email from ChargerBack that said “We have been unable to find your lost items” and it went on to say that my case has now been closed. I was furious because I knew exactly where the lost items were and since they didn’t wait until the current passengers were off the ship, that means that nobody even bothered to look into my case before closing it.

I made a huge stink on social media and I emailed the executive offices of Royal Caribbean and only then did someone (Stephanie) decide to look into my matter and guess what, my items were found. The email that I received from Stephanie stated the following “I’ve attempted to reach out to you a few times today, but unfortunately, I was unable to speak with you directly. I have great news! We’ve located your wedding rings along with your earrings. Please log back in to ChargerBack and fill out the section that asks for your financial information. There is a $27.04 USD charge for shipping, but once you input your information, we’ll send you your belongings.” Big surprise, someone looked in the safe and there was my jewelry, exactly where I said it would be.

I wish that’s where the story ends- I made a mistake and forgot my jewelry on the ship, someone found them, I paid $27.04 to return them by FedEx (the only option that Royal Caribbean/ChargerBack gave me), and I should have gotten them back. However that’s just the beginning.

The FedEx label was created on April 27, 2018 and was scheduled to be DELIVERED on Friday, May 4, 2018. However, it wasn’t even shipped out until May 7th (in other words, it was in Royal Caribbean’s hands and not turned over to FedEx from April 27th to May 7th (11 days- that should have been a red flag right there). Royal Caribbean tried to use the excuse that they had to wait for the ship to be in port before shipping it, but the Anthem of the Seas was in port actually twice during that time frame, on April 28th and May 3rd. On the day that FedEx finally received the package, the Anthem of the Seas was actually in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten and not in New Jersey at all, thus making RC’s argument invalid.

I finally got my package on May 8th, less than 24 hours after Royal Caribbean handed it over to FedEx. When I opened the package, there were no rings. All that was in there were a pair of earrings with mismatched backs, which immediately made me think that they aren’t mine. I would have known if my earrings had mismatched backs. I immediately called my contact, Stephanie, at Royal Carribean and left her several voice messages on May 8, 2018. She did not immediately contact me back, so I emailed her as well. She emailed me back on 5/8/18 and said, “I am so sorry for the delayed response. I haven’t been in the office lately. I am also very sorry for this. I am working with our lost and found department to try to rectify this for you. Please allow me some time to speak with their management to see what can be done. I will do everything possible to retrieve your wedding ring for you.”

During the waiting period, I was very upset, as I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I wouldn’t see my jewelry again.

Finally I received another email from Stephanie from the executive offices of Royal Caribbean on May 14th. It said the following:

“I am so sorry for the delayed response. I’ve been working very closely with our Global Security team to ensure your ring and earrings were sent out by our staff correctly. After review, I can whole heartedly confirm that the earrings and wedding ring were placed in the white envelope that was sent to your home address. I am so sorry that you were unable to locate them in the shipping bag, but after our thorough investigation, we can confirm that the jewelry was secured in the white envelope that was shipped in the FedEx bag. I can understand where this is stressful for you. I can ensure you I’ve done everything possible on my end to locate the missing jewelry for you as well as our onboard staff, but we do not have your jewelry in house. Allison, I am really sorry for any disappointment this has caused.”

Looking closely at the envelope, it is clear that there is an indentation in the envelope and that my ring was once in there. The platinum band of my ring was bent because I apparently bang my hand a lot, and it is clearly the same shape indented in the white envelope, so she is right, my rings were placed in the envelope. Also, I took the earrings that they delivered to me to my jeweler who confirmed that the earrings delivered are not the same ones sold to me- in fact, the ones delivered were cubic zirconia and not diamond at all. When I contacted Stephanie again, I mentioned among other things, “why wasn’t the envelope shipped out for eleven days and who was in possession of the items from the date that the shipping label was created until it was shipped eleven days later and what was the cause for the delay?” I received an email response about an hour later that said the following:

“I’m very sorry for the disappointment this has caused. Please trust our procedures are extremely strict when it comes to matters like these. I assure you we’ve gone back and confirmed every step taken in the process of reuniting you with your belongings and found no wrongdoing or mishandling on our end. To your point about the shipping label, it was created on the same day the items were packaged, which was on April 27th. However, the package wasn’t actually sent out until the sailing ended, which was on May 3rd. I hope this email, in addition to our previous explanations, have put your doubts to rest. However, if you decide to pursue this further by seeking legal guidance, your representative will need to contact our legal department directly through the proper channels.”

This is wrong! The package wasn’t sent out on May 3rd! It was sent out on May 7th and I have the FedEx tracking information, by the minute to prove this. If their policies are so “strict,” she would have known this.

Without a shadow of a doubt, I am convinced that Royal Caribbean found my items and someone in the company, whether it’s on the boat or on the shipping dock, opened the envelope and stole my items and replaced the earrings with other earrings to try to fool me. Well I wasn’t fooled and neither was my jeweler or anyone else who is now involved in this case. Someone in the company is a thief and this company is crooked to not accept the blame. I lost over $10,000 worth of jewelry, plus the $87.45 I paid to have nobody answer the phone plus the $27.04 I paid to have RC ship fake diamonds to my house. I am absolutely disgusted that, even with the facts stacked against them, Royal Caribbean refuses to accept blame. I hope that whoever is wearing my jewelry is enjoying it as much as I did for the past 10 years or if they sold it, I hope that they really needed the money. If you look up Royal Caribbean and/or ChargerBack reviews, you’ll see many other stories that sound eerily similar to mine. Bottom line is, if you do decide to sail on Royal Caribbean, leave anything of value at home. Royal Caribbean will absolutely never get my business again.

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Loss:
$10114
Pros:
  • Overall vacation
  • Staff onboard
  • Cabin
Cons:
  • Companies who place blame on others to cover their own butts
  • Companies not taking responsibility for their actions
  • People stealing from me
Reason of review:
Poor customer service

Preferred solution: Let the company propose a solution

17 comments
Guest

The same issues happened to me but with evening dresses and I also spoke to Stephanie. She said, sorry they have not been found even though they were inventoried. Horrible experience not only do they steal from you but their ships are garbage scowls!

Guest

For an item of value like that, it would be a good idea to carry a separate insurance policy on it.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1628555

Anything worth value to you should be insured.

Guest

Maybe your husband gave your ring to his girlfriend? Just a thought.

Guest

Why did you take jewelry with you that you had no intention of wearing? Sounds pretty stupid to me.

Guest

Royal carribean is a corrupt company

Guest

Royal not accepting responsibility? Wow this seems all too familiar!

We were on a cruise with them recently to Cuba. We were nervous about booking a tour but Royal assured us that booking with them is the safest. I'm sure you have heard of that whole spiel, with them explaining how they basically "have your back" if anything goes wrong. Well something did go wrong.

In Cuba my fathers car with his driver in it was detained for 30 minutes because the driver was using an expired registration plate. Royal hired these people yet doesn't make sure they have the proper credentials before putting their guests in a car with them? We got back to shore excursions and explained are predictament wanting a refund, and the manager responded with "so you want a refund because you were detained by 3 officers for 30 minutes, how does that entitle you a refund". We responded that Royal was supposed to protect us, and that this could have been avoided if you ensured that this company didn't give drivers expired registration plates.

He said sorry there is nothing I can do. We than said also the convertible cars you have advertised falsely, we didn't get. He responded sorry cars are limited. So I went on social media and caused a stink.

Only then did someone contact me and offer me 20% off only for the cars not being the correct one. The refused to take responsibility for anything else. If your name is connected to someone else, and they mess up that looks bad on you as well. Also why did I have to cause chaos on social media to get a partial refund that I was entitled to at the beginning.

They had a opportunity to make things right and they chose not too. They are a very corrupt company. I get that routine checks are common for any country, but this wasn't a routine check.

Routine checks don't last a half an hour with the officer screaming at the driver and than the driver calling his management to see what to do. This company honestly disgusts me.

Guest

You SAID you take responsibility. Doesn't sound like it.

Two different things....one question....did YOU pay for Fedex?? No??? Did you offer???

Of course not, RC can just eat the cost. Right??

Guest

You forgot your ring, your mistake - had you taken care to not leave it behind you’d never have had this issue in the first place...sheesh everything is always someone else’s fault - I’ve got an extra mirror if you need to see who’s at fault here

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1489138

Ummm did I not say that? Stealing someone’s belongings is a totally different subject than leaving something behind.

Two different situations here. I took blame, obviously, and if you need to know, the stress took quite a toll on my health, but that turned to relief when the items, which I made a mistake (as I already said) of leaving behind, were found and on their way to being returned. When it wasn’t returned because someone from RCL has sticky fingers, the blame shifted to them.

No one has the right to take someone else’s belongings. Ever.

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Terrance M Eyw
map-marker Rockford, Illinois

SCREWED BY ROYAL CARIBBEAN

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We received a notice yesterday, eleven days before our cruise that it had been cancelled. It was the 24th sailing on Navigator of the seas out of Miami Florida. Purchased insurance for our flights only to find out that the cruise being cancelled is not a covered reason for cancellation, so we have to eat the $682.80 LOSS! THANKS AGAIN ROYAL CARIBBEAN FOR THE SHORT NOTICE AND RUINING OUR FAMILIES VACATION! Seriously? Eleven days notice??? How is this right in anyone's mind? This was the first cruise we booked with Royal Caribbean. We will NEVER trust them again. I WILL BE CONTACTING OTHERS TO SEE IF ANYONE ELSE IS INTERESTED IN FILING A CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT.
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Anonymous

Chartered cruises on RC

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Great prices for this chartered cruise but it was still Royal Caribbean. We brought 2 bottles of wine,but they were rudely confiscated. The charter did not allow it. We could pick them up after the trip. The drink package was overpriced. The food in the dining room was mediocre. The package for special dining was great. Gratuities included and 40 percent off a bottle of wine. Few shore excursions. Cruise literature said take the Hop on off Bus in Jamaica. After waiting in line at the port, we were informed that these buses were only for Carnival ships!

Beware the charters; you pay in the end. Many other complaints. All night pool parties kept many awake.

Thank goodness we were on level two. Quiet.

This was adults only. Nice but..

Dining room food was mediocre. The fitness center was closed for the whole trip. Beware the chartet

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Reason of review:
Bad quality
Xinh H

Royal Caribbean is doing dirty business and cheating customers

Re: Refund for Oasis of the Seas, 7 Night Western Caribbean Cruise, Departure Date 06 Jan 2019. Reservation ID: 882****. Royal Caribbean cancelled the above mentioned trip because their food was poisoning. They said they will refund the cruise fares for the whole trip to all customers but in fact they tried in many ways to not to refund the cruise fares. Royal Caribbean is doing dirty business and cheating customers, their food is poisoning, room services and customer services are the worst. There are many good cruise lines in the market so please remember not to chose Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Xinh Hoang
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Loss:
$700
Reason of review:
Return, Exchange or Cancellation Policy

Preferred solution: Full refund

Debra F Ysf
map-marker Gold Coast, Queensland

Glass in food

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My husband and I went on radiance of the seas to new zealand. He is Australian and had never been on royal carribean before. He and I recieved a decent cabin but the smoke alarm went off waking us up at night once at 2am before 3 days into the cruise they replaced the battery and problem was solved. Then while enjoying our dinner my husband bit into an appetizer tart and found he had bitten down on glass, he pulled it out and staff came and took the glass. He didnt even know if he ingested any, we were scared to death! We were afraid to eat the food, who knows what else they have in it. Glass is bad, we are shocked!!! The final straw was when a dessert cart came flying towards my table as the ship was turning, smashing into a window as i had just luckily got up to look out at the scenery. were very lucky we were not harmed from this nightmare at sea. When i returned i contacted american corporate office to be told here is a coupon off another cruise, ha i wont be needing that, I wont be going on another cruise with them, safety is not serious to royal carribean in my opinion. Jessica at corporate acted uncaring and like no big deal, ummm yes it is. Having food without glass, and being safe at sea is a Big Deal. I have contaced them no answer but via email, I feel Jessica needs to do her job and think of guests in her response
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Pros:
  • Crew
Cons:
  • Glass in my food
James H Nvi
map-marker Cape Canaveral, Florida

Don't deliver on promises

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We books directly with Royal Caribbean... when we booked we were promised Adventure Gear packs for our two boys. Once on board they told us they had no idea what this was probably a sales pitch. When I complained they promised to make it up to us. They never did. I'm very disappointed in their dishonesty Our boys were very disappointed. Their child care was extremely unorganized. Our boys have had much more fun on other Cruise Lines. We're finished with Royal Caribbean !
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Anonymous
map-marker Romney, West Virginia

Overselling Scam, then bait and switch.

Beware booking on Royal Caribbean. They apparently routinely use bait and switch to herd their victims around for sharper profit, and care nothing for the customer.

Here's the scam in a nutshell:

1. Advertise an attractive package on sale, for, say Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

2. Double sell the attractive dates (ie: sailings that occur during holidays when the kids are out of school, end of December, very early January.) Heck, triple sell them. It doesn't matter if the ship holds 3000 people and you sell 9000 berths, because you are going to scam 2/3 of the customers into moving to unattractive dates just as soon as you tally up the sales and crunch the numbers.

3. After you sell all you can, start emailing and calling, and tell your customer that the cruise for that date has been "chartered" (or "cancelled," depending on which liar you talk to.) Offer them a really amazing hundred bucks of room service credit to move their entire trip back to later dates in January, or even February, (dates nobody is sailing, because families all have their kids back in school.)

4. Insult your customer by promising to "lock in" the great rate they got on their booking for one of the new dates (even though the new dates are cheaper anyway) so you are pretending to do right by the customer, but making a fool of him at the same time!

5. If the customer tells you they booked a cruise on a certain date, over a year in advance, because they needed to trip when their kids were out of school, apologize, but try to sell them one of the dates they can't sail on anyway, because the customer is stupid, and you don't care that you just cancelled his booking for no reason.

6. If the customer finds another date during the holiday (say a week earlier, but still in the Holiday when the kids are off school,) and asks to move to that date, gladly offer to do so, but at TRIPLE the price, because it's a "more desirable date" Don't offer a more expensive package at the rate the customer booked to make up for ruining their trip, only offer less expensive packages for the same rate, during times when nobody can sail because the kids are back in school. Alternatively, offer them a similar cruise on a cheaper ship sailing from a totally different port for "just a little bit" more money. Win win!

This is how you bait the customer with an attractive offer, the, callously switch and herd them into less attractive sailings with absolutely no regard for their needs, and apparently no regard for your own reputation as a business.

But hey, you're Royal Caribbean, right? Aka: PLAGUE SHIP INC. You send entire ships' worth of people to hospitals at a time. How could your reputation be any worse?

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Jillian A Tnn
map-marker Jackson, Mississippi

Horrendous

The pregnancy policy on royal Caribbean is ridiculous for someone who is not a high risk pregnancy. It states you must be less than 24 weeks pregnant when the ship returns. I had a dr’s note saying I would be less than 24 weeks then they kept asking me how many weeks I was when my due date etc. they said my dr was wrong and I was currently 24 weeks. I couldn’t board the ship. Why doesn’t this cruise line figure important things out with the customer before we actually are about to board the ship?!!! Yet you take our money right away with no problem. You don’t care how many weeks pregnant I am when you take my money. How selfish of a cruise line thank you for not working with us to get our dr to fax over something further and having a dumb policy. How this cruise line came up with 24 weeks as a cut off date is beyond me. My physician even agrees there is no reason a healthy pregnant woman can’t travel on a cruise ship at 24 weeks gestation.
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Anonymous
map-marker Palmdale, California

Scary Food Workers

We went on a 7 day RC cruise leaving Dec 16. While on the cruise we paid for the on board behind the scenes kitchen operations tour. It was really interesting and an eye opener. One thing they really tried to stress was how clean the kitchens, food service lines and cooks were. As we were walking thru the kitchen the cook was preparing the ribs for the dinner meal. The ribs were half cooked which ok I can see that, but as soon as we passed the chef I looked back and watch him drop some of the food on the floor, then immediately pick it up and placed it with the other ribs. When I confronted him he denied doing it and didn't really seem to care. So next time your eating on any cruise line just remember how your food could have be prepared. That weird taste is called the kitchen floor spice.
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Courtney L Zco
map-marker Tampa, Florida

Denied boarding for our Honeymoon

On 5/29/2017 my friend contacted her travel agent to book a cruise with Royal Caribbean. We received an email showing the initial deposits paid to book a cruise from Tampa, FL to Cuba and Mexico leaving 5/23/18. In this email it references having a Birth Certificate and Marriage License available if you do not have a passport. It also references the drink package being refunded if the trip is cancelled. The drink package was $540.00. In September 2017 I contacted Royal Caribbean and paid for the full amount of the cruise. On the receipt issued it states, “Guests should check with their travel agent and/or government authority to determine the travel documents needed for each destination, including the port of embarkation.” I confirmed multiple times with Royal Caribbean representatives at 800-327-**** that a passport card would be acceptable as this was a closed-loop cruise to the Caribbean and Mexico. In March 2018 my fiancée and I went to the local passport agency and ordered passport cards. We paid $175.00 to obtain the cards and confirmed with the passport officials at that time that a passport card was acceptable documentation for a closed-loop cruise to Cuba. On May 15, 2018 I called Royal Caribbean and spoke to Kate. I spent over an hour on the phone with her as I had been receiving conflicting information from other friends that have travelled on RC cruises stating a passport book would be required to board. While working with Kate she referenced several documents stating a passport card is acceptable documentation to travel but when I requested copies of those documents I was told they were for internal use only. I asked to speak to a supervisor who could provide written documentation as I was now concerned we would show up at the port in Tampa on 5/23 and not be allowed to board. I was transferred to a supervisor, September Swank, ph#800-327-**** x27079. I was again advised that RC would be required to accept any documentation that was accepted by the US Government. When I requested something in writing from September she stated she would need to contact her supervisor and would call me back on 5/16. At this time, I reminded September that the longer we waiting the more it would cost for my fiancée and I to request rushed passport books, if required, and I would expect RC to refund those charges. I was continuously reassured that would not be necessary as the passport cards would be accepted. My fiancée and I had reached out to the US Passport Agency, the US State Department, UC Customs and the US Embassy in Cuba. All of this documentation also confirms travel to Cuba on a closed-loop cruise can be completed with a passport card and a passport book is not required. I did not receive a return call from September. I contacted RU again and spoke to another “supervisor.” I was informed that September had made a notation – she had contacted the port supervisor and was advised we would not be allowed to board without a passport book. This supervisor also mentioned that no notations had been made about my previous phone calls prior to the 5/15 call with Kate and September. I again asked that my concerns be escalated to another supervisor as we were expected to board in less than 1 week. I was advised I would receive a call back but never did. My fiancée and I both submitted rush requests through rushmypassport.com for $600.00 each. My fiancée received his passport book on 5/22. Mine did not arrive until 5/24, therefore, we were unable to board. Had RC advised us correctly in the beginning that the passport book would be required by the cruise line we would have ordered them in March. As advised, the US Government would have accepted our passport cards but it is a restriction from RC to only accept the book. Because this is clearly a RC rule it should have been simple to communicate their requirements to us.
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Loss:
$2400
Reason of review:
Return, Exchange or Cancellation Policy

Preferred solution: Full refund

4 comments
Guest

You are not being truthful. A passport book not card is required.

In addition, the passport must be valid for at least 6 months after your cruise ends. Birth certs, drivers licences and passport cards are not accepted. You say you called the cruise line and US Customs and were given incorrect info......I have to say BS. Passport requirements are even outlined in the cruise lines website.

Shame on you for blaming a company for either your laziness or stupidity. Or was it a combination of both of these "attributes?"

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1587422

You're entitled to your opinion. However, I have the written documentation to prove it.

The cruise line website says "passport" and does not specify book or card. On a closed-loop cruise to the Caribbean and Mexico passport cards ARE acceptable for travel. They are not accepted on open ended cruises or airlines.

It is also documented in the company's call notes that I was, in fact, given incorrect information by several of their representatives, including 2 supervisors. The only shame here is that you made the choice to comment on a situation you clearly cannot grasp.

Guest

Thank you My fiance and I are planning a trip with RC in march to Cuba, Mexico, and the Bahamas. I have my passport but because he did not need his to cruise to Bermuda we where just going to bring his birth Certificate and ID but this helps us a lot!

we are about to apply for his passport booklet now hopefully we won't run into any other complications. I hope everything works out for you full and you are able to get a full refund!.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1578929

When it says Passport it means book. The other is called a Pass Card not a Passport Card.

Also a Pass card can only be used in certain Caribbean destinations and Mexico. Also you cannot fly out of country with a Pass card. It's only good on cruise ships. If you sail to the Bahamas on a Pass card and get sick you cannot return on an airplane.

You will have to sail back. So be careful.

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Lisa Aye
map-marker San Jose, California

Horrible customer service

stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full stars-rating-full

We recently booked a cruise on the allure of the seas on Nov 25th. The cruise had to be canceled and Royal Caribbean assured me I would receive a full refund.

I received an email on November 29th from orbits confirming I would receive my refund in 7to 9 days. I have now spent 3 hours on hold back and forth between orbitz and royal and have still not received my refund. Orbitzs and royal have both confirmed I will receive a refund but it has not been credited to my account. I have been referred to royal again to call them to resolve.

I am sitting on hold as I write this review and no one has picked up the phone and it has been 30 min. If you book a cruise with royal hope that nothing goes wrong because if you have to speak with customer service prepare to loose hours of your time

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