"John Thompson" wrote in message
news:jthompson-10C556.07445609102009@news.eternal-september.org...
> http://consumerist.com/5377217/royal-caribbean-sees-no-problem-with-twin-
> beds-for-anniversary-trip
>
> "According to customer service, Royal Caribbean can assign you and your
> significant other a room with twin beds even though the website
> specifically says your room will be a queen.
>
> "I purchased a room for my anniversary on royalcaribbean.com with the
> assumption my girlfriend and I would not be sleeping on opposite sides
> of the room. The site clearly states that my room will have twin beds
> that can become a queen. However, upon check-in I find out that my
> specific room is L-shaped and the beds cannot be pushed together.
>
> "Rather that remedy the situation by offering a room upgrade (there were
> unused rooms on the ship of comparable quality), both of the customer
> service reps I spoke to were unapologetic, refusing to admit any
> mistakes and asserting that Royal Caribbean could assign me any room on
> the ship that met the grade of quality (H) I had paid for.
>
> "I know cruise lines have been hit by some rough economic times, but I
> expected more from a service industry. I have no doubt a Holiday Inn
> would have provided me a better room if I were unsatisfied.
>
> "Customer service refused to budge an inch..."
>
> See the screen shot from their web site where it shows that RCL screwed
> up.
>
> (Cue the travel agents protecting their jobs, saying "This is why you
> use a travel agent" and posting their FULL contact info at the bottom)
QED. Thanks for posting this and showing what can happen when you book
directly with a cruise line.
If you look at the screen shot, it also says that these people could be
assigned any oceanview cabin, anywhere on the ship.
As a travel agent, when people book a GTY, I tell them to look at the deck
plans, find the worst cabin and ask themselves if they would be happy if
they were assigned that cabin. SOMEONE is going to get that cabin and it
could be them. I doubt that the "Certified Vacation Planner" at Royal
Caribbean explained it that way.... nor did their website.
A Guarantee is a great way so save some money when buying a cruise, but ONLY
if you don't care about what cabin you get or where it will be.
I find your swipe at travel agents to be amusing. You attack the very
people that could have helped this person avoid this problem. I have had
cases where I was able to get a GTY cabin assignment changed but this person
didn't have anyone acting as his advocate.
Oh... and I am not defending the way this was handled onboard the ship. IF
there was another available cabin (and that is a big "if"), they
could/should have done some reassignment to make this better for the
customer.
Here it comes... the dreaded .sig file......
--
George Leppla
Countryside Travel http://www.CruiseMaster.com
Blog http://cruisemaster.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/CruiseMaster
|