A few months ago, a couple of friends and I took a 7-night cruise on Royal Caribbean. It ended up being a horrible cruise (in our opinion and many other cruisers). Since then, I have attempted to write to the CEO of Royal Caribbean (RCCL), a couple of higher up SVP’s, and finally the Better Business Bureau. To make a long story short… they only gave us $20 credit/person, which was to cover the lunch we had to buy since the ship was severely delayed. I don’t even consider that any type of compensation, since we would have received lunch on the ship had we boarded on time (and not had to buy lunch on land for the $20). RCCL made no other attempt at any compensation at all, even though I shelled out nearly $3000 for the cruise-fare alone. My (somewhat long) email to the executive staff @ RCCL…
I am finally writing this letter / email today to express my displeasure about a cruise I took in February with Royal Caribbean International / RCCL. I expected to hear from Royal Caribbean since I have attempted to contact them, but to this date I have received no correspondence from them.I started planning this cruise early this year, and after a lot of research, I found that many former passengers had written great reviews about Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas, sailing out of Galveston, TX. Since I have cruised with Royal Caribbean before (and others), I had expectations that this was going to be a wonderful cruise. Unfortunately I was wrong on this count.
I had booked a Junior Suite for the February 18th sailing on the Rhapsody. We flew into Galveston the day before embarkation to be sure we would have plenty of time to get to the ship for an on-time departure. The evening we arrived in Galveston, we received a call from a Royal Caribbean agent stating that the ship would be late, but had no further information as to how late or why. Because we did not know the new departure time, we got to the port on-time and checked in our luggage and figured we would do some shopping. At that time we were told the ship would most likely not depart until around 11 PM or even midnight (compared to 4 PM!). We were told that the delay was because of some electrical engine problems, but we would later find out from several crew members that this was not the case, and merely an excuse because their “dry-dock” was poorly timed.
After walking around for hours, and having sore feet, we decided it was better to return to the terminal to wait there. Once we got there it was like a zoo. There were literally many hundreds of people everywhere. Everyone was told to sit on folding chairs in certain sections. We were happy to sit on chairs, compared to sitting on the ground, but after sitting there for a couple of more hours without any real updates as to the ship’s status, it became quite a bad start to our vacation. There were absolutely no drinks (not even water) provided for anyone – quite disappointing.
The ship did finally depart a little before midnight, although the experience so far was a real disappointment. One of the highlights of a cruise is being on the deck with everyone during daylight hours to watch as the ships depart. Unfortunately for us it was dark already. As for activities for passengers, there was absolutely nothing for us to do. The pool and hot tubs were closed, the casino never opened, even after heading out to sea… We were basically forced to turn in for the night, not long after sailing. Before turning in, I went to take a shower, and the cabin had no hot water. From what we heard, this was not uncommon that night, but at least we had water, unlike some others who did not.
The next day we figured that everything was going to be better now, having gone through such a bitter start. We then found out that the main eating area for breakfast, lunches, and casual dinners, the Windjammer, was closed and would remain closed for the duration of our cruise, because remodeling for dry-dock had not yet completed. It was not a minor delay either, whereby they might open a day late or so. Instead the entire floor was completely torn up, no fixtures where in place, etc, from what we saw through the windows.
Because the Windjammer was unexpectedly closed, it made meal service very frustrating. They had diverted breakfast and lunch service into the main dining room, which is normally reserved for formal “menu style” breakfast and lunches, and made it into a big buffet. The lines were absolutely horrendous, turning something that is supposed to be relaxing into an unpleasant event every morning and afternoon. Needless to say, we were quite disappointed that Royal Caribbean had turned it into a big buffet, with only a small (repeating daily) menu available during lunch. Once of the reasons many people take a cruise is for the upscale and relaxing sit-down dining, but this option was taken away from us for breakfast and lunch because of poor planning by Royal Caribbean.
Since the first 2 full days of the cruise was going to be at sea, we decided it would be a perfect day to relax at the pool. Yet again, another poorly timed dry-dock issue appeared when we found out the entire pool was closed (day 2) because they were painting it! There was literally yellow caution tape everywhere blocking the pool, while people were expecting to be able to swim and relax. That’s what we had paid for at least. The hot tubs were closed off and on throughout the trip for maintenance (day 3 and a few more times later), and the water was luke-warm until the last night, despite my two complaints to staff members who told me the water temperature was preset, so that was what it should be at (other people were also commenting how cold the water was).
Walking around the deck was an even more upsetting experience. There were rolls of old carpet shoved in corners and even a huge roll of wiring with dangerous rusty nails sticking out of it!
As the week went on, the troubles continued. During one lunch, Royal Caribbean ran out of buns and condiments for hamburgers. Another dinner service was running so late that we almost ran into the second seating. We ended up sitting at our table waiting for close to an hour for our dinner.
One day, after returning from port, we were in the room sitting on the bed, and a Royal Caribbean employee was on a the hand railing right outside of our stateroom. He looked in, politely waved and smiled, and kept on with his painting. This could have been quite embarrassing had I just come out of the shower.
Another day, coming back from port, one of the elevators was being worked on, causing quite a delay to get back to the cabins. This was just one of many problems with elevators. We heard of people getting stuck in them for more than 20 minutes!
I won’t go on with more of the negative details. Instead I would like my complaint resolved. I had contacted Royal Caribbean customer service before (including the purser during the cruise), but never got anywhere. I was also told I would be contacted, which also never occurred.
I spent $2861 just for the cruise fare alone! To make this matter right, I would like some sort of compensation, such as credit for a future comparable cruise (hopefully one that won’t have all these issues).
I am sending a copy of this complaint to the Better Business Bureau.
Secondly, if this issue is not resolved over the next two weeks I will post this experience, along with the photos to the Consumerist web site (www.consumerist.com) for everyone to see. I don’t like to resort to this, but I feel like RCCL is simply ignoring me now that they have my money.
Regards,
Rob
RCCL’s response:
Dear Mr. [redacted],
Thank you for your inquiry through the Internet to our corporate office regarding the above-referenced cruise. Messrs. Fain and Goldstein and Ms. Norsworthy were pleased to hear from you and, after reading your e-mail, have asked that I respond on their behalf. As a Crown and Anchor Society member, we especially value your patronage of Royal Caribbean International and appreciate this opportunity to address your concerns.
We are very pleased that you and your traveling companions joined us onboard the Rhapsody of the Seas. As great measures are taken in all areas of operation to ensure that our guests enjoy the most relaxing and rewarding cruise experience, we were sorry to learn of your displeasure with certain aspects of this sailing. It is never our intention to disappoint our guests in any way and we would like to offer our most sincere apologies for any elements of your time with us that did not fully meet your expectations.
Feedback from our guests is always welcome and we appreciate the time you have taken to share your experience onboard the Rhapsody of the Seas with us. We truly regret any inconvenience you encountered and assure you that the observations outlined in your letter, including those pertaining to pool maintenance, menu choices and service in the dining room, and the roll of wiring left by the pool, have been directed to the appropriate management teams for further review. We are committed to continually improving our product and services and thank you for bringing these important matters to our attention.
Additionally, we regret that you were not informed of the delay in boarding. However, an attempt was made to contact all guests prior to their arrival in Galveston. Nevertheless, we offer our sincere apologies that you were not aware of this delay and the goodwill gesture of a $20.00 onboard credit offered to assist with covering any lunch costs incurred while waiting to board the ship.
While we understand you remain disappointed with this recent cruise and sympathize with the concerns expressed, we must kindly advise that we are unable to honor your request for any compensation. We are sorry for any disappointment you may have with our decision and remain genuinely apologetic for any inconvenience you encountered during your time with us.
Again, Mr. [redacted], thank you for contacting our corporate office. We look forward to regaining your faith in Royal Caribbean International and hope to have the opportunity to welcome all of you back onboard one of our ships again in the future.
Sincerely,
Joan Bernheimer
Sr. Executive Representative
Even if you think some of the complaints are minor, these aren’t:
• closed casino
• closed pool
• closed dining area, buffet only
• cold showers
• tepid hot-tubs
RCCL shouldn’t have even put this ship out to see with passengers on it. Or, they could’ve informed the passengers that many of the expected amenities would be unavailable and given customers a chance to cancel. The $20 on-board credit is a pittance, adding injury to the insult of the copy and pasted customer service letter full of empty apologies.
Rob should write Messrs. Fain and Goldstein and Ms. Norsworthy and let them know the person responding on their behalf is a poor representative if they actually care at all about customer service.
Personally, we have little interest in getting on one of these floating prisons but if we did we would certainly hope we would be able to enjoy the full compliment of floating prison services and accommodations.
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When I first saw this post I thought to myself ‘oh boy, here comes another whiny travel complaint’. I thought it was just going to be about how the ship was late and lines were long to board (which happens). But really, after reading the story and seeing the pictures, you have a really valid complaint. While most of the ship was ‘operational’, that cruise should have never happened – or they at least should have offered everyone a discount or free 3 or 4 night cruise. I’m a past RCCL customer and probably the worst thing I saw was on our first cruise when they were still cleaning the outside of the ship and repairing parts of the atrium when we boarded.
@paul d: No way man, cruises (when you don’t run into issues like this) are awesome – and are a great value when you compare them to other all-inclusives.
My wife and I annually go to the Caribbean for a week’s vacation on Saint Martin. We stay across Great Bay from the cruise ship port, from which we of course see the comings and goings of all the ships, as Saint Martin is a major stopping point for the “cruisers.”
Anyway, we actually feel sorry for the folks that come and go on the major lines. First of all, the stores on the island are far, far less willing to bargain on days the ships are in, and some go as far as raising prices on certain items. Supply and demand, sure, but at the same time, the simple fact is cruisers pay more for what they buy today than I will tomorrow for the same thing when they are gone.
Secondly, it’s virtually impossible to see even the 35 square mile island of Saint Martin and get to know it in the short time the ship is in port. Forget making the short trip to one of Travel and Leisure’s top ten beaches on the adjacent island of Anguilla, Shoal Bay Beach. No way can a cruise passenger disembark, make the ferry and clear customs (twice) in order to make the round trip before they put back out to sea.
Finally, forget dinner at the fine restaurants on the French side of the island of Saint Martin. Instead, the cruise ship is leaving at around 5pm.
So, when folks call a cruise ship a floating prison I can see where they are coming from. A guilded cage, to be sure, but when the stopping points only allow the briefest of visits, it’s almost like never being there at all.
Us, we just wave at the happy faces as they pull out and know it will get quieter, cheaper and we have the rest of the day and all night to explore the island and those nearby, like St. Barth’s.
I’ve been on several RCI cruises, each more impressive than the last, the last on Rhapsody of the Seas itself.
I’ve never experienced anything like this, and will be as horrified and indignant as you if I ever do. It’s not uncommon (and, indeed, desirable for the comfort and safety of the passengers) for cruise lines to perform maintenance during a cruise, but not to the extent you experienced.
The casino was closed the first night, and the Windjammer for the duration of the cruise? I would have thrown myself overboard right then.
I read on the Internet that there have been 21 passengers that turned up missing on cruises in the past 25 years and there is little anyone can do about it. I cannot find an official confirmation of this fact so don’t take it as gospel. As for lawsuits-I’m sure that there is little that anyone can do to win against these “floating countries” unless you have several million to throw away. I have always been leery of the promises and hype from the cruise lines.
@FatLynn: As it turns out, the one we were on was WAAAY cheaper than all the other options at the time. NOW we know why. I wonder if the same thing happened in this case.
I do agree that the cruise industry is severly lacking. I went on an RCI 5 day cruise 4 years ago on Enchantment of the Seas and it was wonderful, the food was excellent, we went to the shows every
night, it was just an all around good cruise experience. I just got back from another RCI cruise, this time 7 days on Liberty of the Seas. This is their newest ship and our sailing was on it’s fourth sailing out. Honestly, to me, the ship was just TOO big, the elevators were stupid, you’d have to wait like 20 minutes on an elevator going where you were going. The Windjammer food was terrible. Well I take that back, it was good the first day, but eating the SAME thing everyday gets boring. By day 3 we were so tired of hamburgers, hotdogs, minute steaks, and mashed potatoes we thought we would have a better time if we jumped off the boat. And, we had looked forward to eating at Johnny Rockets, but they didn’t open until the second to last day because, as a crewmember told me, “A pipe went Poof on the last voyage.” They couldn’t fix it before the boat went out again? Oh, and this pipe was not that old. By the time the Johnny Rockets did open, we were ravenous from hunger and we tore that place up. In addition to the bad food, there were also bad shows. The only show I went to was the ice show. The rest of them sounded pretty dull. But this wasn’t all, no, the Norovirus, the virus that cruise ships have been having, was going around our boat. The people on the last cruise had started getting it, and then people on our boat started getting it. Everything was covered in bleach, we had to use hand sanitizing wipes everywhere, people were paranoid, it was crazy. And the really sad part was, if you got the norovirus, they locked you in your room, taped the door up, and put an armed guard in front of the door. No joke, they had tasers or something. There were people all around our rooms that had it, so there were armed guards up and down our hall. So needless to say, this was a rather disappointing experience.
On a higher note though, there are more cruise lines than just the major ones you hear about. (I wouldn’t go on Carnival either, my parents went on one and said it was a big party boat with a bunch of drunk people.) There are smaller cruise lines, with what they call boutique ships that are smaller, more personalized, and probably more for the older crowd. They sound very nice. If you really want to go on a cruise, but don’t want the big main stream cruise line ships, do some research to find the less publicised ones.
That being said, I will most likely go on an RCI cruise again, because I really do like the company. I will not let one bad experience taint me. However, I will be going on a smaller ship next time, like the Enchantment.
Try a chargeback if you put it on a credit card.
Chargeback?
@speedwell
You managed to make that phrase sound even dirtier by changing your phraseology.
I’m not a frequent cruiser, but I can now strike RCL off my list of choices. Thanks RCL, made my decisions a lot easier in the future.
@the cultural icon:
Find a good attorney versed in tort an maritime law.
Chareth Cutestory? LOL.
@shertzerj: Actually there’s a problem with them NOT putting out to sea. They sell these damnable tickets up to two years in advance of the sailing date, and when does ANYTHING ever go as planned? So they skip repair dates to keep on track figuring they can fix at sea because the alternative of canceling just ONE cruise means refunding two plus thousand passangers and making amends for the cancelation (since they no longer would have their money, they MUST make the customer happy to get the cash back). But fixing at sea, as we see here, means NO refunds of any money, and since they have the cash already, no compensations.
Heres a good way for Mr/Mrs Redacted ( :p ) to get their complaints across. Find out what the most common ports are for the RCL line, contact the major paper in that city and give em this story. Cruise lines rely on the good favor of their port cities, and say Vancouver no longer liked Royal. You can bet they would be more thorough on inspections and violations, or at least the few places in north america they can be held accountable in would keep an eye on their biz.
Between this story and the other cruise line with the raw sewage in the cabins, I’ll not be taking any cruises.
For what is is worth, you might want to check out:
[www.cruising.org]
I have a RCCL cruise planned for the end of the month on the Rhapsody, for my honeymoon. I’m going to call them today, and ask them:
1) If they’ve seen the article
2) If they have a response to the article
3) When is the next drydock scheduled for this ship
4) What guarantee do I have that the services on board will be operational
5) Who do I contact ON BOARD if something is not up to my expected standards.
To the others who have said they don’t want to cruise: I’ve been on a few cruises and every one was great. Cruise ships aren’t “floating prisons,” because most prisons don’t have pools, outside sun decks, shopping malls, multiple restaurants, and dance clubs. A cruise is very similar to a high-end resort that just happens to float.
I’ll be recording the call that I make today, so if they give me answers that are ridiculous I can send it on over to you guys.
Speaking of which (off topic paragraph coming up), I have a LG VX8100 phone, and it only records what THEY say, not what I say. I have to three-way call to another phone, and then let my cell phone sit there recording while I talk on the other phone in order to get the entire conversation. Who designs something like that?
This has been submitted to Fark. Hopefully the admins will be nice and greenlight the link, and then this’ll get more press.
@madktdisease: kudos
Long live AD
They should get a full refund. I have never been on a cruise, but after hearing this, and other stories I doubt that will happen. It’s either a ship that is falling apart, or everyone on board getting sick. Not to mention the crime on board!
    That’s an amazingly bad story. We did a Carnival 5-day last year, from Mobile to the Yucatan, and it was a great time. And, it was the oldest ship in the fleet (the Holiday). The service was excellent, the food outstanding, and it was only $249 a person. You can’t even hardly eat every meal out for five days, for $249.
    There were a few drunks, yes. We largely avoided them. We had one of the cheapest rooms, way down in the bowels of the ship, with no windows, on the Riviera deck. Most of the passengers willing to get pay extra for enough $8 drinks to get drunk, were housed on nicer decks. The Riviera deck was nice and quiet, and didn’t rock as much as the rest of the ship, either. If you have the discipline to hit the sit-down meals, the drunks won’t bother you there, either. They line up like buffalo at the buffet line on the Lido deck.
    To me, a cruise is a good opportunity to be a total slug, eat well, and catch up on my reading. As far as drinking on ship, buy a bottle of Crown or Cuervo at the duty-free store, and avoid the bars.
Here is a forum thread posting from (presumably) another passenger on the same sailing. Sounds like a poorly timed cruise, indeed:
[boards.cruisecritic.com]
Interestingly, just a few weeks ago, the holding company launched a new brand (Azamara), and their first cruise (ship also emerging from drydock) was not ready, in many ways similar to this report. That cruise was delayed one day and the entire cruise fare was refunded to all passengers! Azamara is a “higher quality” brand, but I have to wonder if that refund was at least partly due to complaints from this incident.
Alright, I just called them (I said I would in a post at 10:54AM)
I spoke with Zeke in Customer Service, who was very pleasant. They have no knowledge of this article and have no standard response to it.
I did get my 5 questions answered:
1) If they’ve seen the article
–No
2) If they have a response to the article
–No
3) When is the next drydock scheduled for this ship
–February 2012
4) What guarantee do I have that the services on board will be operational
–Explained below
5) Who do I contact ON BOARD if something is not up to my expected standards.
–On board: Guest Relations Desk. Afterwards: Post-cruise customer service (800) 256-6649
As for #4. I was told that they couldn’t GUARANTEE that there wouldn’t be anything wrong with the ship. Sometimes things break and they have to fix them. This, I understand. The original complaint was that EVERYTHING was broken. Zeke seemed shocked when I went into the extent of the complaints I had found here. He said that he’s never heard of a ship being that badly in need of repairs before. Of course, he’s a first-level tech, and he may been INSTRUCTED to say things like that, but it’s good to hear.
Anyway, the deal seems to be: Ships are drydocked every 5 years. A drydock period can last up to 2 months. While I was on hold so Zeke could check the drydock schedule, the annoying hold music lady informed me that a certain boat of their had just come out of a 2 month drydock, and had so-and-so improvements because of it. Our Mr. Redacted unfortunately encountered a ship that had just missed its drydock appointment, and so was literally about to fall apart. Personally, I think they should drydock them more often if major systems quit working at 5 years and 2 days.
Basically, it boils down to this: Call them and ask them about the drydock schedule for their ships in the time period or port that you’re interested in. If the ship has been out of drydock more than 3.5 years, don’t take i, and tell them that you’re not taking it because of their reputation for drydocking their ships too infrequently.
Incidentally, Zeke was very helpful and apparently went through some considerable effort (or got a cup of coffee) when I asked him for the drydock schedule. I also asked if there were any currently known issues with the boat, and he looked that up and reported that the pool was closed in February but everything is reported functioning currently.
The recording isn’t interesting enough to post. It’s not like I screamed “CANCEL THE BOAT” over and over again.
@madktdisease: He was fantastic in getting a conviction in State v. Hook (and now I will be singing “You’re a crook, Captain Hook” for the rest of the day)
@taylorich: Definately agree. Every company has a problem product, flight, trip, etc every once in awhile. It’s all about the resolution and RC is severely lacking here.
I was going to pre book another Royal Caribbean cruise on my next cruise to get On Board Credit…I guess it’s back to Princess for me!!!
You should post this over at Cruisecritic.com–You’ll get the pot stirred for sure over there!!!
How does someone at RC make the decision to send out a cruise without proper dining facilities?
I mean, why else go on a cruise if not for the food and dining experience?
I can put up with delays, the pool not working, wiring on the ship, and I can’t blame the poor guy who was painting outside your cabin.
But, BAD dining? that’s when I call my lawyer.
Well the first cruise we went on, Enchantment of the Seas, we had actually been scheduled for a certain date, and they cancelled that cruise date and rescheduled it, I suppose it was for repairs. But they gave each of us $100 of onboard credit. Thankfully they let us know in enough time so we could fix our flights.
To the person that said buy liquor in the duty free shop and use that, that’s exactly what we did on our first RCI cruise. Since then, RCI has changed their rules about liquor onboard and they don’t allow it anymore. If you buy liquor in the duty free store, they box it up and deliver it to you on the last night. If you try bringing it onboard, if they find it, they will confiscate it and give it to you on the last afternoon. I don’t know how it happened, but we bought liquor at the Bacardi factory in Peurto Rico, and we had it in our Bacardi bags and we were more than willing to hand it over to them, but they sent our stuff through the scanner and let us go on. We were like WHAT??? So we drank some of that. Ha! Then a couple of days later when we were getting on from St. Maarten, our alcohol was hidden in a regular bag and they took it away from us. Very weird.
I got very upset with the bar service because every drink I ordered had WAY too much hard liquor in it. It’s like, they were purposefully trying to get me drunk. I started having to say, I would like a such-and-such, light on the tequila, rum, vodka please. And I got hastled so many times by the bar attendants. I look a little young for my age but gah, I didn’t think I had to carry my ID around with me the whole time. I had, on numerous occasions, the bartenders call me a liar. No joke, they said “You’re lying, you’re not 21.” That was very rude and it pissed me off.
My wife and I have often joked that I would like to go on a cruise someday. She, on the other hand, has no interest in doing so.
After I read this I told her that she wins this debate. We’re never going on a cruise.
I’m sorry but to me the e-mail/letter sounds whinny and just bitching to try to get money out of them. Oooooooh! Dangerous rusty nails! I think maybe if the letter would have explained what you were expecting from the cruise vs. what you received it may have gone better. When on a cruise I would expect to be treated like a king and it sounds like you were herded around like cattle.
My letter would have stated something along these lines: I was promised swimming, hot tubs, casual dining, etc. and instead I was given cold showers, bad food with long lines and no swimming while doing my best to avoid stepping on rusty nails and carpet rolls. What do you guys plan on doing about this so that I don’t spend the rest of my life telling people to avoid you?
Wasn’t Royal Caribbean in “breach of contract?” They advertise pool/casino/etc. and did not provide it. Could you take them to small claims court? I’m not a lawyer so I don’t really know, but in my opinion you paid for services they did not render.
Wow, wow, wow. That’s really insulting customer service. That was the most obnoxious template e-mail I’ve ever read. I can’t wait to read the follow-up to this in the future.
Oh, but I do think that part about “we were waiting without drinks!!!” sounds kind of stupid… And by kind of, I mean he should be hit in the teeth.
Why does every ship on every line have a bar or restaurant called “Windjammer”?
@WhatsMyNameAgain: Yeah, they should be kicked in the teeth for waiting 4 hours in a lawn chair without anything to drink. That is a perfectly reasonable complaint for someone that wasn’t planning to sit in a lawn chair for 4 hours at a dock. In Galveston.
Maybe they have a job for you at Royal Caribbean Customer Service, they seem to think just like you.
here in brasil the royal caribbean makes some great college cruises for singles =)
loads of fun and you´ve guessed, put 500 single college students in a boat for 7 days… party all day long and room parties as well =P
^^^^^^^
Exactly why I hate going on cruises. Drunk college kids. They think they are the only ones around.
You have to pick your cruises and timing. I did not find many drunk college kids when I went to the Caribbean in early December.
i’ve never understood the appeal of cruises. for the same money you spend on a cruise, you can travel around Mexico, Central America, Europe, Thailand, Hawaii, Caribbean, etc. i’ve done it. many, many times. climbed Mayan ruins in Tikal, went snorkeling at Phi Phi island, eaten dim sum in Hong Kong at midnight, driven the Hana Highway, met Vaclav Havel at an art opening in Prague, etc.
i’ve had some of the most amazing experiences in my travels. met great people, seen beautiful places. none of it would have happened if i had been on a cruise. you need more than an afternoon stop at a port to really get to know a place.
@FatLynn:
If they didn’t, all the other restaurants would be entirely too windy. You need something to jam that up.
buh-doom pah!
@LAGirl: Sightseeing is strenuous and tiring. You get home and you wish you had another week off of work to recover. Cruising is all relaxation.
They are completely different products, both are worth doing.
Cruises are craptacular. The whole idea of being stuck on a boat with other people too stupid to think up better vacation ideas should be offensive to all races, religions and creeds. Where do you want to go on vacation? How about a floating strip mall? If you like cruises you are bad and you should feel bad.
@Thrust:
Oh, I agree, they shouldn’t have put the ship out to sea. I was just taking notice of the wrong usage (sea/see) in the post at the top. Just being a grammar jerk.
I am so glad I saw this. I was about to book this same cruise out of Galveston – I am definitely not going to now. They just lost my business and hopefully this will have an effect on others.
We are Crown & Anchor Diamond members with RICI and have sailed on the Rhapsody many times. I’m am absolutely appalled at your horrible experience. Thank you for posting this. I’m so sorry for your basically lost cruise. When you spend that much money on a cruise you certainly don’t expect this. I’ve forwarded this to all my cruising friends and am considering canceling our upcoming cruise. RCI’s response to your concerns is totally unacceptable. If they maintain this attitude toward their customers soon they will have no customers.
i agree about the complaint letter being too long and whinny. however, RC giving only $20 credit was like a slap to the face after splitting on you. i’m going to avoid them like the plague if i ever plan a cruise.
It’s not cheap, but Crystal Cruises is fantastic. Food is incredible, good crowd, and the staff is constantly falling over themselves to hook you up.
I will never take a Royal Caribbean Cruise because of what I’ve just read. I will not let any of my friends or family go on one either.
Instead of refunding one ships’ worth of passengers, you will pay by having fewer bookings on many future ships.
Where is the genius management decision? Take some lessons from jet blue you idiots.
Wow!! It’s events like this that make me really happy to be terrified of going on a cruise. Open water with no sight of land is not my idea of a vacation or good time. The fact that Royal Caribbean offered such a paultry sum is an insult.
Wow, I really can’t believe that someone thought that it would be _okay_ to let this crusie line ship sail in the shape that it was in. I mean, I understand that construction has to be done, and on a regular _fishing boat_ or naval boat, that would be fine, but when your paying large sums of money to be on board this vesisle, its quit a diffrent story.
I can only hope that you don’t blame the person who sent you the letter with the 20.00 rebate in it for what happend. Although it deffinatlly feels like their mocking you, they probably geniuinly do have no control over how much money they can offer you.
I hope things turn around for you after this story starts to pick up. (It got onto the front page of digg at least).
The only advice that I can give you is that if you get into contact with customer support again, try not to chew them out over what happend. Try to stay calm and explain what happend in a civil manner because the happier an employee is to help you, the more likely your going to end up getting what you want (this can be applied to just about anything, by the way).
Wow! Remind me not to use RC for my next cruise. Geez, I know it sounds bad but you would’ve been better off injuring yourself on a nail in their repair site. Then, maybe, you could have received a $40 rebate. What a joke.
I was on this cruise and was just thinking today what to do, i think I am going to file a small claims lawsuit against them and the travel agency locally. It was worse than what was described.
I was standing on the precipice of booking a cruise with these clowns. Thanks for pulling me back from the edge. They just lost 4 tickets.