Anonymous
map-marker Atlanta, Georgia

Freedom of the Seas- Not Worth the $$$

Copy/pasting my letter to them sent today. Will update when and I I hear back from them: Thank you for contacting us. This is an automated confirmation that your email has been received. Our representatives will reply to your inquiry in the order in which it was received. Please reply only if you need to provide additional information related to your original email. Follow-up emails regarding the status of your query may further delay your response. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to service your request. [THREAD ID: 1-1JWMWZO] -----Original Message-----From: c.3boys@***.comSent: 08/11/2013 04:46:27 PMTo: web_cruise_comments@***.comSubject: Freedom of the Seas (Aug 4) Bad Experience To whom it may concern, Rather than wait until we get home and forget the details (after all thatis what matters most) my husband and I decided to write out our experiencevia the phone and email as we drive the 10+ hours home. We departed fromour cruise this morning. First let me share with you that this was not myfirst cruise with RCI, I cruised with you just over 10 years ago. It wasjust a 3 night cruise but was simply awesome. This was however, my husbandsfirst cruise. We had been apprehensive over the years because we had readsome poor reviews but decided to go ahead and take the leap of faith forour 10 year anniversary. Unfortunately, we truly regret that we chose RCI Freedom of the Seas tocelebrate such a significant milestone in our lives. There were so manynegatives during our trip that the easiest way to insure little gets leftout is to go by ship appearance and then straight into the dailyexperience. The ship was clean overall on the day of our arrival. We weresurprised to see such an odd assortment of awkward art, especially alongthe stairwells. The art, possibly focusing on the 4 elements??? we debatedthis together the entire trip, just never fit into the "Freedom of theSeas" title to us. The art however, was the least of the worries once wegot into the 1980's throwback decor in our stateroom. Wow. The green wasalmost making us nauseous after a couple of days. The motel 6 I am surewould put our poor 3 art pieces to shame (room #7654). The furniture seemedto be just thrown in there. Why was there an oversized green couch and only1 chair? The glass table was also out of place and twice removed from itsdecade. Moving from looks to cleanliness. The room was dirty, there wereflyers from the previous cruise still in the drawer, along with someclothing tags, and a few bar receipts. The blanket under our bed was filthyand had obviously been used to picnic on the sand with. We only had 2 longtowels - no wash cloths or hand towels. We flagged down our room attendantwho informed us that the towels weren't "done yet" and that he'd have themin an hour or so. We gave him the blanket and he said he'd have a new oneof those as well. We got a shoulder shrug when we mentioned the papers andreceipts. (We threw those away ourselves since he obviously didn't wantthem). Once our luggage was all in the room (we had to claim a bag fromdeck 1 since we had a shirt steamer confiscated) we dressed and went to ourpre-booked Murder Mystery Dinner. Wow. The dinner and show cost us $55 each and was of less quality than ahigh school production. It was sooooo long and drawn out we wanted toleave. We weren't able to order off the menu, rather we were given twooptions for appetizer and meal- neither of which I would have selected. Iasked the waiter about this and he told me I could only order what was onthe Murder Mystery menu. Great.... $55 and a dinner I don't even like. Oncewe left the Olive and Twist Lounge for the restaurant we were placed in afar corner and couldn't hear anything the actors from the Murder MysteryDinner were saying. This wasn't all bad since the show didn't make muchsense and the actors were well - not gifted in the art of acting. Myhusband ordered a steak which he asked to be cooked medium well. It had togo back twice- it was rare the first time out!!!! The entire table was doneeating once his steak finally came out right. Then the dinner ended noteven sure who killed who in the play and the restaurant started to clearout- except our table, we waited an additional 20 minutes on bills. Wefinally went up to the manager and complained about the experience fromstart to finish and she comped the meal. Well she told us she did. We wentback to our stateroom and took deep breaths and vowed not to let this ruinthe start to our vacation. The next day we looked at the "view my account"from the interactive television system. (One of the few positives of thestateroom) we saw that just $40 was taken off. We had paid a total of $110for the show/dinner. We called guest services and were bounced around for agood 20 minutes before we were told we would get a call back. We waitedanother 15-20minutes in the room for the phone call. The manager called andapologized and went back in and fixed our account and then offered us adinner on the house. We declined at the time but later went and had anawesome experience. However, this was a small plus in an evening ofdisaster and an hour of telephone calls. The next night was a formal night. We dolled up as to be expected on thecruise and met up with a crowd of 1/2 formal and 1/2 extreme beach casualin the main dining room. Our seat, 455 was just bad. We were isolated fromall the other diners and every time someone walked into the dining room ina crowd of more than 3 we got bumped. Horrible! We watched as men in shortsand ladies in tank tops walked in, on formal night, and led to their seats.Crazy!?!? So really there was no dress code of any kind. We hated our seatand asked the waiter it we could possibly be moved to another location. Itseemed promising as he walked away to find out but came back with a no andsome excuse. Oh well. I ordered shrimp ravioli and do you know that therewas not one shrimp in the whole bowl!?!? Instead, there were 5 raviolisthat tasted no better than a canned dinner. So not impressed. We left thedining room and as we told the waiters we did not return for the remainderof the cruise. When we got back to our stateroom we reviewed the "view my account" onceagain in order to verify that Portofino's credited us the right amount. Wewere happy to see that was right but then saw 4 $12 charges for gratuities.We figured there was mistake since there were only two of us and we hadjust boarded the ship late afternoon the day before. Nope they tried tocharge us $12 each for the first day too! Are you kidding us? We had tocome onboard and clean our own room and were only onboard for a couple ofhours and did not even eat in the dining room! We called guest services andyou'd think we asked to have our entire cruise comped. We had to go to thefront desk and explain our view point and over an hour and 2 mangers laterwe were finally taken off the forced daily gratuity charge cycle. She madesure to mention we weren't permitted to eat in the dining room for theremainder of the cruise. Um ok... We didn't push it though since the foodwas so bad. Not that the windjammer and the EVERYDAY hotdog/hamburgerselection was great. Fortunately, there was always plenty of fresh fruit.That was the best food on the cruise. Towards the middle of the cruise westarted relying in room service so we did not have to fight the lines orpeople in the windjammer on 11 or waste anymore money in the specialtyrestaurants. (We ate at both Johnny Rockets and Chops as well). However,with the room service it was a science. We knew we had to order two spinachdips in order to have enough chips to eat the one, we'd end up throwing outthe second dip. We had to order the med. chicken salad and Cesar salad toget a chicken Cesar. My husband would order both the salmon baguette andsteak sandwich just to get French fries. We also would order the cheeseplate just for the crackers and extra grapes. It looked like a mountain offood every time they came to our room but we got a 1/2 decent meal that wedidn't have to fight in line for. The next days were ok. Not very eventful we were expecting a little more inthe games and shows. We did attend the art auctions and believe it or notthat was some of the best entertainment on the cruise. Nick and especiallyMartin were just awesome! We ended up buying 3 pieces of work. We did enjoythe game shows or events that Jamie hosted - he was hilarious! Yet hisability to be funny was NOT shared amongst any of the other stage shyhosts. Wow. It was truly like we were stuck in a week of poor high schoolproductions. Terrible. Even the ice skating show lacked a simple storyline. Need I mention we saw 3 falls during the show and a slushy mess of arink. Three falls just do not happen in a high quality ice show. The OnceUpon A Time show had a fun story line and a few talented actors/singers.Whether this sounds rude or not, I must add that in show business image iseverything. I have worked in the field myself, and the lead female singersor at least two of them, Rapunzel and the lead gal from Pinnochio lookedlike men in women's clothing. My husband and I along with 6 others from our4th row seat couldn't help but discuss amongst ourselves if that waspossibly a man rather than a female. Again, it doesn't matter if that wasour waiter or waitress but in a theatrical performance it does play a role. During the trip to the Cayman Islands my husband bought a small bottle ofcoffee rum liquor (no bigger than a Tabasco bottle) and you'd thought hewas a cocaine smuggler. The security on the ship didn't make him check itbut gave him the third degree to say the least and told him they didn'twant him drinking from the bottle and wandering the ship decks. Are youserious? Lol coffee rum in a bud vase is a threat of too much alcohol wheneveryone had the drink of the day in one hand and a free glass ifchampagne in the other throughout the entire cruise! When we returned fromMexico our excursion specialists were a good 20 minutes behind the ship'sschedule. Mind you, this is the cruise we booked through RCI and thesecurity guard had the nerve to tell us we should have been there 30minutes ago at the latest. When we tried to explain that we were with anexcursion group we booked through the ship he told us "the ship has beenready to go there are no excuses YOU are holding us up." Again, wow. Howembarrassing too- in front of everyone. We just shrug our shoulders andwalked away. At the end of it all we spent $350 on our seapass and this was after the$110 credit from the Murder mystery dinner! $55 on general store purchases,$50 on laundry since everything was a wrinkled mess and we were iron less,$40 on a bad haircut, $20 on a picture and the rest was on the 2-6 (farmore often 2) daily drinks and FORCED gratuity for the week. Being nickeland dimed to the degree we were just seemed wrong to me. Since when are youforced to pay someone 15% gratuity after standing at the bar for 10-15minutes trying to get their attention off the other staff or 1-2 "special"customers??? I would have tipped $0 in a few cases and even 20%+ in acouple of others (which we did anyways when deserved). No wonder theydidn't care they were getting their gratuity no matter what. It wasn'tworth it at the time to go to guest services and waste even more of ourprecious vacation time complaining and being talked down to for notcomplying. The final blow was the outrageous $120 parking fee awaiting us. Really?That is just insane!!! It is safe to say that as of right now we won't becelebrating any more special occasions with RCI and will be sure to shareour experience with family and friends and anyone else who asks. Thank-you for allowing us to express our dissatisfaction and know that weare saddened that this experience has left such a bad taste of the industryin our mouths, literally.
View full review
Loss:
$200
6 comments
Guest

You sound like cheap, miserable, pretentious ***. Why go on a vacation if you obviously can't afford it?

I saw the ice show on the Liberty of the Seas and even with one fall, it was amazing to see someone ice skate while floating at sea. Even Olympic champions fall sometime.

If you want high quality art, food, and Broadway productions, you can't expect to have it all bundled in for the price of a cruise. Get a life and stop complaining about meaningless, minute things!!

Guest

Sounds like you A. went to your room before it was ready (You're asked to wait a couples of hours after getting on board.

The previous passengers literally just got off the ship the morning you get on). B. had crazy high expectations of the art on the ship (Who seriously cares THAT much? Plus the name of the ship doesn't necessarily mean there's a Freedom theme throughout the whole ship.

That'd be pretty obnoxious). C. were expecting Broadway level productions. The entertainment who work on cruise ships are normally people who haven't or can't make it elsewhere.

You didn't pay $200 to see a show, don't act like it. Skip the shows if you don't like them. They're not for everyone. D.

Don't understand how customs works RE: the bottle of alcohol. You basically tried to smuggle alcohol. Read the rules/THE LAW next time.

I'm not sure how you were embarrassed in front of "everyone" when you were the last ones on the ship...

but I'll just leave that one. You should've known about the price to park, if not you need to learn how to read signage (actually, that's the overall message I got from your review! You can't read posted messages). I also think it's ridiculous to get so angry when other cruise patrons don't dress up.

Is it really that important to you? You need to get a life.

Guest

You sound like u are never happy. Miserable people. Stay home next time.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-963508

Exactly what I was thinking....

Guest

REALLY? And you only cruise with them once every ten years??? I'm glad they can count on your repeat business...

Guest

Absoulutly untrue. i just disembarked from the freedom of the seas and i have to say that in my 15 yrs of cruising and this being my 13th sailing , most on RCCL it was the opitomy of VACATION!!!

the cleanliness, the food the staff the entertainment the cruise director the ports the days at sea there was not one thing i could complain aboutr except it was too short. and i must say that i am thouroghly impressed w/ the new addition of shops.

Michael Kors and a super highend jewelry along w/ a Britto Gallery and store which adds toi the already great selewction of shopping abord.. LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT>>>

View more comments (5)
Anonymous
map-marker New Orleans, Louisiana

NEVER GO ON A CRUISE!

My family and I (four of us) just got off the serenity of the seas ship after a cruise to the Caribbean. If your idea of having fun is getting over charged and stuffed onto a ship with the ugliest, fattest laziest, dumbest people in the USA then by all means, GO!

If you enjoy getting pushed and shoved at an all you can eat buffet or watching as some disgusting pink walrus fills their dinner plate with soft serve ice cream. Or how about the shamelessness of people not being polite enough to hold an elevator for and elderly man and laughing as the door closed before he could get there. Or how about a belly flop competition that a morbidly obese woman won after displacing nearly all the water out of the pool that had so much chorine in it your hair turns green and your eyes stay red.

Never in my life have I been privy to such a shameful display of sloth and gluttony. The disgusting pink piggies who inhabit this floating abomination spill forward onto the shores of a third world country to spend more in one day than some of the locals make in a month.

Waddling like overfed geese down the hallways of the ship on their way to a sixth meal for the day. The poor crew of the ship forced to interact with angry americans who deem it fit that the crew is responsible for the fact that they paid $100 bucks for a dolphin encounter and the poor animal couldn't push their 400lb bulk through the water because the boogie board that was supposed to float them was only able to keep their hulking mass only barely above the water.

No wonder the world has such a bad opinion of americans. we stuff a ship full of the fattiest, ugliest, laziest ones and send them forth to invade some third world country.

In my opinion the crew of the ship did the best they could under the circumstances. its not the fault of the cruise line or the crew that their business has become invaded buy the bottom feeding walruses from *hithole USA.

But its a sad fact of our time that we all must bow to the fat and lazy. The unlucky ones get caught on a ship with them for a week as the ship visits the second and third levels of Dante's ***.

View full review
7 comments
Guest

Well, what did you expect? Did you honestly think cruise ships (with all-you-can-eat buffets and whatnot) would be filled with petite models?

If fat people offend your sensibilities as much as you lead us to believe, then why did you choose this sort of a holiday? It really doesn't take all that much to guess that cruise passengers have one of the highest (if not THE highest) average BMI out of all vacationer types.

(Bad behaviour, such as the elevator door incident you describe, is unacceptable, no matter the size of the offender.

I just don't get your frothy-mouthed rage towards overweight or obese people. It is uncalled for.)

Guest

How in the world do these big, fat, obese people fit in those small cylinder tubes the cruise lines call ''showers''? Ever notice the size of people who are always ''hogging'' the jacuzzies? Think about it!

Guest

We just got back Sunday from a trip on Oasis. I thought everyone here was describing portions of our trip. We went on Oasis in 2012 and did not have any of these issues during that trek. On the latest trip the cruisers were arrogant, over the top and staff seem to flip it back. One of the things that sticks out was someone thought it would be funny to stick a fully loaded ice cream cone into a prize machine (after they opened the door to the revolving prize machine door, received the prize and shut the door) to melt and coat the prizes on the lower rungs of the machine.

The buffets were a free for all of bumping pushing "gimme" and lack of total manner/common sense. My wife got onto a woman for standing at the buffet dipping the same piece of food into several different sauces so she could decide which one to choose. The woman was shocked and my wife had to point out (obviously because she did not read the numerous articles on virus/sickness being spread on cruises) that was how people get on cruises.

The adult pool pool was as much a party pool as the normally wild main pool with the big screen with Adult version of spring breakers.

The children's pool was more quiet and the parents were more personable except for the antics of a few unruly kids (who may have been part of the ice cream cone incident). One of the more memorable events was a 10-12 year old standing on the platform of the circular 3' pool and making several attempts to *** on the kids of all ages below him.

The most unusual will be the subject of an other post related to the jewelry store persons and how to get them honor the price match with a store on one of the islands.

Guest

sounds like the have issues with looking at overweight people.

Guest

I do agree- My husband and I took a cruise on Independence of the seas, and had a really expensive, very unpleasant time for 8 days. We couldn't wait to get back home.

However, EVERYONE on that ship was rude, and a lot of them weren't Americans. My husband is a disabled Vet, and he was pushed, shoved, while we were trying to get breakfast or lunch. When we went to one of their restaurants, wow- the prices!

My husband and I promised NEVER to go on Royal Caribbean- EVER again. :upset

Guest

Ok I have to ask is it that you just don't like fat people and being on a ship with them was unbearable or did one of them do something to you? I have cruised with rccl before and my experience was that both fat and skinny people can be rude and act self entitled.

Watching an elevator close on an elderly person is really mean and just shows their lack of home training. However your dolphin comment was funny.

Guest

What you are saying sounds right to me. Avoid cheap cruises always -- try Crystal.

View more comments (6)
Anonymous
map-marker Tomball, Texas

Cruise wouldn't honor the quoted price

I tried to add my son to our sailing via cruises.com. The girl, after keeping me on hold about an hour going back and forth supposedly talking with the Royal Caribbean rep, quoted me a price of $300 extra.

I asked if that was the total price and she said yes. I agreed and gave her my credit card information. She returned to the call and informed me it would be $1600 instead of $300. During the time I was on hold I sent a text to my son, his sister, and his mom telling them he was now booked.

I asked to speak to a supervisor of cruises.com who then sent me to a supervisor at Royal Caribbean. Both placed the blame on the other but the bottom line was they didn't honor our verbal contract. The cruise leaves in 2 weeks and I'm so angry at them I don't even want to go. I cruise every year at least once and generally go Carnival.

This is my second consecutive year with RCL and it will be my last. Same with cruises.com.

It must be nice to not care about losing a repeat customer and btw we have a group of 10 traveling. Hopefully, I can convince them to cruise with someone else as well.

View full review
Loss:
$1300
1 comment
Guest

The same thing has happened to me! Was told £300 then once upgrade was done was asked for £520.

Supervisor promised to listen to call as I had not agreed to the £520 but then never got back to me. They really didn't give a ***.

Looks like this is a common occurrence. I will be taking it further.

Anonymous
map-marker Canfield, Ohio

Carribean cruise ripoff

I'm a disabled vet. My girl friend and I saved for two years to go on a cruise...I booked it with carribean cruise lines..I was told if I paid an extra 30 dollars per person for insurance I could cancell for any reason and get my money back...Well they found my aunt dead in her home and since she almost raised me I cancelled about 2 weeks in advance...thinking we would just go after the funeral...They told me I had to provide a death certificate..So I did...They denide the claim and kept my 1200.00 dollars...So after saving for two years for a vacation they kept my money....Don't believe anything carribean cruise lines tells you they are crooks...I dealt with the company not a travel agent....To rip off a disabeled vet who saved for two years is unbelievable....REMEMBER THIS.....I WILL...
View full review
2 comments
Anonymous

Your being a disabled vet has nothing to do with this complaint.

Guest

If you paid through your bank ask the bank to investigate,i got money back this way,better business berue may help too,good luck,i appreciate your service to this country.they should have honored you with a free cruise

View more comments (1)
Anonymous
map-marker Orlando, Florida

On board credit denied

I booked with an "open cruise" under the crown and anchor member deal, with the benefit of an on board ship credit of $200.00 dollars. My travel agent booked the reservation and then tried to add more expenses. I called RCCL customer relations, they told me there was nothing they could do since it was my travel agent who took the reservation. I advised RCCL the travel agent did not have permission to book the "open booking" since I had not transferred my booking to them. After several calls to RCCL trying to resolve the matter I spoke to a supervisor in customer relations. She told me she would have the credit added to my account. So, I booked through RCCL over the phone and dismissed the travel agent who refunded my booking. Well, I just returned from my week long cruise on FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. There was no on board ship credit given. I spoke to guest relations who were not helpful at all, saying they did not have record of it. I went to the elite "crown and anchor club" representatives on board and they had no record of a credit I was supposed to receive or previous cruises I have been on. After three days halfway through my cruise, they told me they did find record of my phone conversations and agreed I deserve the credit. But guess what? They called the main office in Miami which denied my credit. RCCL a multi-billion dollar company cannot take care of a loyal customer who has cruised with them three times. All for a ship credit of $200.00 dollars....wow. $200.00 dollars that would have been spent on all the *** they charge you for while on board. Hey, maybe I could have played more BINGO or got a few more FRESH SQUEEZED OJ. ridiculous....hope my $200.00 dollars helps you build more ships you blood sucking money hungry thieves.
View full review
Loss:
$200
Lavanya Ffj
map-marker Los Angeles, California

DO NOT BUY DEFECTIVE AND OVERPRICED JEWELERY

We took a family vacation on Oasis of the Seas June of 2012 and my wife purchased a diamond bracelet for $25,895.00 (We were told this was 50% off retail meaning they said it was worth $50,000) What a deal right? in fact after returning home our jeweler later valued the piece at $13,000 Retail. On our flight home my wife noticed some diamonds had fallen out of the bracelet. (this was within 48hrs of purchase) We called and were informed they have a no refund policy but they would fix it. We have since sent the item in (03) times to fix the continuing problem of diamonds falling out. (by the way they sent diamond earrings for the hassle which have also broke) We received in writing that a refund would now be processed and to this date we continue to get the run around and Have NOT received our money back. All items were returned to Royal Caribbean/Oasis of the Seas offices.
View full review
Loss:
$25895
1 comment
Guest

Who the *** would trust a $25,000.00 jewelry purchase to cruise ship personell? Most people cant tell the difference between a cubic zirconium and a diamond. You got swindled because you were ***, plain and simple.

Rogene Udk
map-marker Civitavecchia, Lazio

Defective merchandise purchased on Navigator of the Seas

Royal Caribbean - Defective merchandise purchased on Navigator of the Seas
Royal Caribbean - Defective merchandise purchased on Navigator of the Seas - Image 2

On the last day of my July 21-28 Mediterranean cruise on Navigator of the Seas I purchased a large bag with wheels from one of the shops onboard to accommodate all of the souvenirs I purchased on the trip. The bag worked fine until I went down the gangway to depart the ship the next morning - the wheels immediately fell apart, leaving me with a large, heavy bag I had to drag through the port with my suitcase.

I had planned to take the train back to Rome as I still had 3 more days before my flight home, instead I had to spend $60 Euro to share a taxi back to the city. I also had to buy a second suitcase to put the souvenirs in as the bag was useless. Royal Caribbean's policy on returns or refunds is onboard credit only but how could I possibly have taken the bag back after the cruise was already over??

View full review
Loss:
$27
Anonymous
map-marker Columbus, Ohio

Crown & Anchor Member rip-off

We booked a cruise on the Brilliance of the Seas, based on a “special offer” e-mail for Crown & Anchor members, on June 26th, 2013. We also booked their Choice Air on the same day. Our cost for the cruise and the Vacation Protection Plan was $4,138.00 plus tax etc. We made the final payment on Tuesday August 13th as required. We then made a change to the credit card used on August 16th via the Crown and Anchor phone line, which a very pleasant conversation showing the type of customer service I have come to expect from RCCL. When I went back in to check the change I also ran the same cruise and was shocked to discover if I booked the identical cruise, with the same class of stateroom on the same Deck 9 the cost would be $3,589.52! That is $548.48 less! We did book under the $200 on board credit offer, but I am shocked. Bottom line it seems to me that we are paying $548.48 more because: 1) I am a Crown and Anchor member 2) We booked early responding to your e-mail offer 3) We are taking our third cruise with you rather than another line. This really doesn’t seem like the kind of customer service RCL should be offering their return passengers (or anyone for that matter)! This really smacks of false advertising to the “valued Customer” of a “special offer”. UPDATE: As of August 26th, I have sent three e-mails and only received two automated replys and one with me a canned response with the very predictable conclusion of saying “After the final payment date, no refunds or onboard credits are available, unless the booking was created within 48 hours of the price change and the proper redemption form was submitted. Please visit http://www.royalcaribbean.com/bestpriceguarantee for the complete terms and conditions” I have also sent three letters to Lisa Bauer - Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, Adam M. Goldstein - President and CEO and Vicki Freed - Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service with zero response. I talked to a Matt at Crown & Anchor customer service, also on the 16th, and he put me on hold to try and get a resolution but came back with the same result. He also told me this issue had been “elevated” before, but never with any result. This entire process has taught me that Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines considers Crown & Anchor members “valuable customers” because they can easily rip them off!
View full review
Loss:
$548
1 comment
Guest

I booked with an "open cruise" under the crown and anchor member deal, with the benefit of an on board ship credit of $200.00 dollars. My travel agent booked the reservation and then tried to add more expenses. I called RCCL customer relations, they told me there was nothing they could do since it was my travel agent who took the reservation. I advised RCCL the travel agent did not have permission to book the "open booking" since I had not transferred my booking to them.

After several calls to RCCL trying to resolve the matter I spoke to a supervisor in customer relations. She told me she would have the credit added to my account. So, I booked through RCCL over the phone and dismissed the travel agent who refunded my booking.

Well, I just returned from my week long cruise on FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. There was no on board ship credit given. I spoke to guest relations who were not helpful at all, saying they did not have record of it. I went to the elite "crown and anchor club" representatives on board and they had no record of a credit I was supposed to receive or previous cruises I have been on. After three days halfway through my cruise, they told me they did find record of my phone conversations and agreed I deserve the credit. But guess what? They called the main office in Miami which denied my credit.

RCCL a multi-billion dollar company cannot take care of a loyal customer who has cruised with them three times. All for a ship credit of $200.00 dollars....wow. $200.00 dollars that would have been spent on all the *** they charge you for while on board.

Hey, maybe I could have played more BINGO or got a few more FRESH SQUEEZED OJ. ridiculous....hope my $200.00 dollars helps you build more ships you blood sucking money hungry thieves.

Carilyn Wit

Do not buy jewelry on ship

I bought a beautiful Effy ring on Royal Carribbean ship. The jeweler told me they didn't have my size.

But they take care of sizing and its very simple. I Sent the ring back march 30 and it is now July 29. I'm getting the run around and they are refusing a refund. Do not buy on board.

No if ands or buts. They are a rip off. My next step is my credit card company. I don't know what others route to take.

So far they've sent me a shipping refund of 8 dollars.

I've called every week and its always a different response. What a joke!

View full review
Loss:
$500
3 comments
Shanesha Vzu

Effy jewelry comes from a warehouse in New York. The quality of it is not all that good.

Drastically over priced even with all the "discounts" they give you. I agree, never buy any of that stuff on the ship. Once you leave the ship you are on your own and will likely not get any service if you need help.

It's all a scam, don't fall for it.

Guest

Update.... The ring finally arrived near the end of August and the ring was incorrectly sized.

I called right away and was reassured I would get a response and now I can get ahold of NO ONE! Worst experience ever!

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-720247

I had a similar experience! Royal Carribean, Royal Media, and Effy are scammers!

Have had my item for nearly 6 months and refuse to return it. Mean while I'm paying for the item.

Royal will do nothing!!!! Do not trust these dishonest companies who lie to make a sale!!!

View more comments (2)
Anonymous
map-marker Miami Beach, Florida

What cruise lines don't want you to know

On march 14 we bought a cruise departing on march 30th from Puerto Rico on the Royal Caribbean “Brilliant of the seas” . We bought an interior stateroom for 4 Passenger, my wife , my to children and I. We flew to Puerto Rico and board the ship to enjoy our family vacation. When we arrived to the stateroom there was a terrible odor. We spoke with the room steward about the strong bad odor that came from the bathroom. He said that the bathroom was clean as we could see, but they had had problem with the sewage line and there is nothing he could do. He said he had cleaned many times and sprayed to deodorize. We believed to the room steward because the room and the bathroom looked very clean. We also notice the shower was leaking and he said he had reported days ago, but our main concern was the bad odor that caused us nausea and make the room a not suitable place to stay. We went to Guest Services to request they switch our family to a new room. They said that they do not have anything available to accommodate 4 of us. They offered 2 staterooms which I did not agree because I have two children 5 and 7 that could not be in a separate room. We explain want to switch to a similar stateroom of what we purchased. We stayed onboard until last minute waiting for solution, but they said that the 2 stateroom was the only option available. We insist on a solution and the person said that they may have a stateroom if someone cancel on the middle of the cruise because they had another boarding Port. They were very clear to us that there was not guaranty they can find a solution because depends on cancellations they could have. We were very disappointed, they understood our situation, one said that if he had been me, definitely, he would have got out of the ship. Unfortunately we did not have any other option that get out of the ship and stay in Puerto Rico. On Sunday march 31th, 2013 we spoke with Adam from Cruise.com, he said he needed to contact Royal Caribbean. The Cruise Line had to wait until the cruise end to contact the ship. The answer given to him was they will not refund the money paid, and we are going to receive only $203.8 for taxes. My wife contacted Royal Caribbean customer Service on April 23rd, 2013. She spoke with Rocio who insisted that although we had purchase a stateroom for 4 people and they were not able to provide us with a similar stateroom, they will not refund the money because we should have stayed in the 2 stateroom they offered or wait if someone cancel and we get a room. I bought an accommodation for 4 people in a stateroom onboard the Royal Caribbean Brilliant of the Seas, but unfortunately they were unable to provide me the service purchased. They ruin my vacation plan and also they also want keep the money. The cruise lines operate their ships virtually 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. Cruise ships do not make money unless they are operating. The cruise lines push the ships just as hard as they push their crew members. A ship out of service for a week for routine maintenance means the loss of tens of millions of dollars but ships how "Brilliance of The Seas" has thousands of dissatisfied customer like me.
View full review
Loss:
$1896
4 comments
Guest

I do not understand why people keep traveling in such cruise companies.

Why they do not demand improvements?

Which federal agencies oversees such cruise lines?

Why authorities allow them do whatever they wanna do!

Guest

Use whatever money they give you to take a few lessons on typing in the English language. Geez, you had an option and declined it. Tough.

Cardell Qkq

They offered you a reasonable solution onboard. You could have put one parent and one child in each room.

Guest

did u get a refund

View more comments (3)
Anonymous
map-marker Boston, Massachusetts

Dishonest and rude customer service

I was told that if I fully pay for a cruise and the price drops at least 4 days before the trip then I am entitled for a free upgrade. Today "online" the price of a balcony room dropped so I called customer service and both times they told me that it only applies to new customers. No where on the website said that particular price was for "new customers" only. I actually argued with the supervisor that the website was not specific. He said don't trust the website and to always call customer service for any deals. Hmmm that doesn't make sense to me. Sounds like false advertising. I checked the site after we hung up and magically the price went back up. Unbelievable. I am done with this cruise line.
View full review
Loss:
$40
Anonymous
map-marker Palm Harbor, Florida

Bait and Switch

We made reservations that were confirmed in writing on 5/1/13 for a "Book a Balcony at Balcony at the Price of Overview"

On 7/29/13 we received another confirmation for the same cruise for a "Large Oceanfront Room"

When I emailed to request the deal that they first confirmed- they said I misunderstood and will not make good on it.

After much back and forth, they would only give a $50 room credit and bottle of wine

I am 65 years old...and we are taking my son and his fiance on their Christsmas gift cruise.

To make this worse- I am member of their Crown and Anchor Society for frequent cruisers.

View full review
Loss:
$1000
Pete O Slv
map-marker Hull End, England

Royal, not so Loyal.

Dear Cruisers, old and new, We are writing to you today as loyal Royal Caribbean cruisers in the interest of improving Royal Caribbean's Customer Care when unusual situations occur. All we are asking from you with this letter is your attention, your consideration of the issues which still disturb us regarding the Customer Care we received, and your commitment to a higher level of training for the crew members who interact with customers after a traumatic event. We recently found ourselves in a very unusual situation on our 28th May 2011 cruise on the Independence of the Seas. As we were returning to the ship at All Aboard time in the Port of Gibraltar on 31st May 2011, a terrifying explosion rocked the port, causing injury to a number of passengers and workers. While we were very fortunate to escape physical injury from this terrible event, we were completely traumatized while we watched in shock as our ship quickly pulled out of port away from the fire caused by the explosion, leaving us behind. We were left alone to find our way to Cannes, the next scheduled port on our cruise. The Port Agent did take things in hand and arrange for us to fly to Nice the next day. We made our own arrangements to stay overnight with family nearby. We spent nearly 14 miserable hours in airports and in transit the next day. Once we arrived in Nice, we made our way by taxi to Cannes. We received a rather unkind email from Royal Caribbean (our only contact from RCI), forwarded by our travel agent, informing us that RCI would not reimburse our expenses for the travel to Cannes to meet the ship. We also discovered that no arrangement for a hotel in Cannes had been made, and we had to make several phone calls in order to eventually get this problem solved by the Port Agent in Gibraltar. When we finally arrived back to our ship on 2nd June 2011, we expected to meet with Royal Caribbean representatives to help us cope with the event which had ruined our cruise vacation. We were kept waiting for six hours before that meeting occurred. When we finally were able to meet with the guest services manager, we were surprised to encounter a somewhat hostile attitude, which seemed to imply that we were somehow at fault for the event which interrupted our vacation. It took four days of meetings to achieve a resolution which was to the satisfaction of RCI more than us. During this time we were made to feel as though we were at fault. We were already stressed and traumatized by the explosion and the fact that the ship left us behind, and the two days we had to spend (in the clothing we were wearing, with no access to our medicines) trying to rejoin the ship on our own were terrible. We felt completely abandoned and disregarded by Royal Caribbean. In the interest of improving Customer Care, we would like to offer the following after-the-fact suggestions. Had this protocol been followed in our situation, it would have made all the difference in the world, and we would not have felt nearly as stressed, traumatized, and abandoned as we did. We would have felt that RCI cared about us. 1. The trauma and uncertainty of our situation could have been instantly remedied if arrangements had been made to tender us immediately back to the ship. We completely understand why the ship had to make an immediate move (prior to the published departure time) out of its berth in the port for safety after the explosion. We do not understand why OUR safety was disregarded. Had we been tendered back to the ship while it waited a safe distance from the port, the further trauma of our travelling on our own to Cannes while we were still suffering from shock could have been avoided. 2. An immediate call should have been made to us by a Customer Care Representative aboard the Independence. This representative should have inquired about our wellbeing, inquired whether or not we had our passports with us, and asked if we had adequate cash to travel to Cannes to meet the ship. (No contact was made and no concern for us was expressed by anyone aboard the Independence.) 3. The Customer Care Representative should have made certain that arrangements were made for our flights, taxi and hotel, and informed us of these. Periodic phone contacts to check on us should have been made at least once per day during the time we were away from the ship. (No phone calls were ever made to us by RCI or any member of the crew of the Independence.) We should also have been given a phone number by RCI that we could call so that we could access the representative in case of problems. 4. When we finally met the ship in Cannes and reboarded, the Customer Care representative should have immediately met with us. (We were kept waiting for six hours. We lost our opportunity for a day in Cannes.) There should have been some semblance of CARE communicated to us - care for our wellbeing, for the trauma we had endured, for the stress of our being left behind, and for the rigors of our travel to meet the ship. A simple note in our cabin upon our return, and perhaps some small amenity like a vase of flowers with a Welcome Back message, would have been a nice gesture. A small gesture like that would have made all the difference in the world to us. It would have made us feel like we mattered, like we had some value to RCI as a customer. While we realize that our situation was an unusual one, we would like to suggest that some training be conducted so that Royal Caribbean Customer Care Staff are better equipped to deal with passengers who have experienced a traumatic event. An emphasis should be placed on CARE for the passengers who have endured such a horrific experience. We offer this input with the hope that RCI will take steps to insure that any future passengers in a situation such as ours are treated in a more appropriate, sensitive, and caring manner than we were. We, like the majority of Royal Caribbean passengers, had saved our money for many months to pay for what should have been a wonderful vacation aboard the Independence of the Seas. Instead, our vacation was ruined, not by the explosion itself, but by the complete lack of Customer Care we experienced at the hands of representatives of RCI after the explosion. This lack of CARE for us is the lingering after effect of our experience and completely destroys the memory of the good days of our vacation. To put it simply, we feel disappointed and betrayed by the way we were treated. We have continued to choose Royal Caribbean for years as our cruise line because we enjoy the beautiful ships and the level of service we've experienced aboard our Royal Caribbean cruises in the past. (And please know that we received excellent service from our waiters, cabin attendant, and other crew on this cruise - it was only the Customer Care staff who were uncaring.) In this situation, our loyalty to you was repaid by your disregard for us. Thus, we can't help but wonder - if loyal Royal Caribbean customers (we have achieved the Diamond + level in the Royal Caribbean Crown and Anchor loyalty program) are treated with such blatant disregard as that which we experienced, what would a first time customer have experienced? We also can't help but wonder if it is time for us to investigate other cruise lines which might place a higher priority on customer care and be better prepared to deal with an emergency situation such as ours. We sincerely hope that our experience offers a learning opportunity for RCI that will result in a higher level of staff training and sensitivity, which hopefully will result in a much higher level of care for any future customers who might find themselves in a similar traumatic situation. As for us, it will take us awhile to determine whether RCI still meets our needs as a cruise provider. A continuing relationship of any kind requires a level of commitment from both sides. We have to decide whether we can risk the potential for betrayal before we cruise RCI again. Sincerely,
View full review
Loss:
$4000
5 comments
Guest

Customer service, of whch I extend to ALL my clients, is severely l acking. That is why we ate still around and coming *** with a vengeance! You case for example enlven if u booked thru a travel agent ( I assume) being Crown andd Anchor Society!!Ylthere are many things I would've done..

A) Upon the explosion in Gibraltar I would immiately have called me(the travel ptissional)

B)if the next port was Nice..I would have taken care of flights, and transport to the ship. In Nice. In addition..I personally know many 5* hotels in Nice that would have made this trip from *** easier ..with comp champaign of course

C) finally, I would. Not rest getting you a COMP cruise due to your ranking with RCCL

Guest

Terrible customer service. RCCI does not stand behind "their book early with paid deposit" for your next cruise.

We have booked 8 cruises with RCCI and this is not the first problem we have had with them.

We just decided to cancel the 8th cruise and fight with the Royal Caribbean Visa Credit Card division and dispute everything...so unbelievable that they would rather cheat a loyal customer out of $200 than to just resolve it honestly...we are done with them. Do yourself a favor and stay away from RCCI and the sister cruise lines.

Guest

:( Royal Caribbean is and always was a very low end cruise , you get what you pay for and a whole lot less, Why the *** anyone would expect anything from Royal customer service is a shock to me no matter what happens to you on board , it's always your fault, even if you are raped, thrown overboard and missing. If you want to be safe , stay away for Royal.

My name for there ships is "Ghetto of the Seas". Please keep your family safe and never leave any young ones around for the crew to attack. If you have to go on a royal Cruise, Rule 1. DO NOT COMPLAIN about anything or you may find yourself ask to leave at the next port, or the drug dogs at port will just happen to find pot in your Cabin, and YOU WILL be arrested and pay a big fine, than you have to find your own way home because Royal left you behind.

You think I'm kidding? go to the Maritime lawyers websites in Miami and seek the truth. Why anyone cruises anymore is beyond me.

I have cruised many many times, I too was ***, but now I know better.

Guest

News reports indicate that the ship was supposed to depart at 4PM "about the same time as the blast", and that only two passengers were left behind.

Seems to me that you were late getting back to the ship and unfortunate circumstances kept the ship's crew from bending over backwards and waiting for you. If the cruise had left significantly before the published departure time as your story suggests, there would have been many more that weren't on board.

Guest

We've just returned off another cruise that we had booked with Rccl, the cruise line have ignored my communications, we are really shocked their chairman Mr Richard Fain choose to ignore and not listen to us after what they did to us in the aftermath of the tank blast in Gibraltar. We have sent him several emails, after doing so many cruises with this outfit you thought that quality customer care would be on hand, it does not happen.

We've now decided after eight loyal years with Rccl the time has come to go do the other cruise lines, I'm hoping I can email them back thanking them for doing us such a disservice and forcing us to the competition.

I can truly believe the amount of complaints on here regarding Rccl, the quality of the cruising has greatly diminished in our eight years with them.

I also think its shocking to read o many issues regarding the food being served on the ships these days, the constant negative feedback for Allure and Oasis is not good, but then we ave seen all the good things go in the "yearly cutbacks", they have to be shooting themselves in the foot for sure.

I think your all about due a rethink on the points system soon, I wonder how many diamond people will end up in the lower brackets after the next round of cutbacks.

View more comments (4)
Cassian Omv

Cancelled Cruise

Today I learnt from my travel agent that our Royal Carribean Cruise due to leave Shanghai on the 11th September, 2013 has been cancelled. The communication received from Royal Carribean is as follows On this occasion, we have received further notification that the Mariner of the Seas sailing on 11th September 2013 has been chartered to a large group. This means that over 90% of the cabins on the ship have been sold by a large group who have requested these changes. Staff on board will also be catered for this group. This decison has left us devasted, naturally all our flights and hotels before and after the cruise have been booked months in advance, plus our deposit for our cruise has been paid over six months ago. RCI now cancel on us with no alternatives in sight. You cannot book another cruise for the same time with RCI or any other Cruise line, with such little notice. This is an absolutely disgraceful way to treat repeat customers such as ourselves. We do not understand how you can take a deposit in good faith from customers, hold on to it for six months or more, than turnaround and cancel your cruise with the excuse that RCI have accepted a charter from a large group, so "bad luck" to everyone else who have patronize your company, spoken in glowing terms about our previous experiences to friends and family, and this is the treatment that they are giving out. Over the next few days I intend to take this up with RCI and ask them to reconsider their actions, if I get no response my next step is to voice my absolute disgust via social media. Royal Carribean should hang their heads in shame at kicking off loyal and repeat customer to take on "a large charter" obviously putting financial profit and gain over the little guy.
View full review
Loss:
$10000
1 comment
Guest

ive just got got back from a china RCC cruise trust me u r so lucky!

Anonymous
map-marker Poughkeepsie, New York

Promised Refund and Didn't Deliver

In 2012 we booked two cruises to Alaska for myself, my husband, and my parents. However, my mother shattered her femur and was unable to go.

So we rescheduled for July 2013. But she is still unable to go. Since the previous refund issued by RCCL (for excursions for 2012) was never returned to us we contacted corporate regarding canceling the trips. We did not want the refund to go back to the pre-paid card used for the purchase as we no longer have the card and the company requested no refunds be issued to it.

We provided RCCL with that information. We were told by Laura Garcon (we have copies of all emails) that we would have the refund in another manner. She specifically stated it would not go back to that card. Then I was given a daily run around regarding how the refund would be issued.

While she was out of the office on 4/19 I called the main corporate number. I was told that the refunds were issued on 4/18 to the card we specifically said not to issue them to. We actually had asked that nothing be canceled until we could guarantee the refund would not go to that card. So now we have a canceled trip and no refund.

I gave Ms. Garcon a chance to fix the problem upon her return on 4/23 but she refused. Now we could wait over a year for a refund of over 10k. We are considering suing.

My parents saved for 30 years for this trip. It is not RCCLs fault that they cannot go, but it is their fault for not treating us fairly. 10k is nothing to them, but it is everything to us.

Total we paid them over 14k and have not received a dime. I have copies of all emails sent and received.

View full review
Loss:
$14000
  • 1
  • ...
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • ...
  • 36