Royal Caribbean Cruises

I booked and paid for a cruise to Bermuda and purchased the cruise insurance, all through Royal Caribbean. The night before the cruise was set to sail, Royal Caribbean emailed me to let me know the itinerary changed from Bermuda to Canada, because of bad weather. We didn't even get a 24 hour notice about this change. We were already packed for Bermuda weather and drove to New Jersey for this cruise. Apparently others received a second email about canceling the cruise and getting a full refund for the change in itinerary. I did not receive that email, even though I purchased cruise insurance. And no one in customer service is answering my question as to why I never received that email.
Also, they stated we would have 2 days in Canada. Day 3, we arrived at midnight. So we had all day for Canada. We then left at 3:00a.m. On Day 4, and they considered that a full day. Idk how 3hours is equivalent to a full day, but according to Royal Caribbean it is. On Day 3, when we got off the boat to explore Canada, literally everything was closed. The Farmer's Market was closed, museum was closed, churches to tour were closed, and the Sky bridge was closed. After finding out there was absolutely nothing for us to do in Canada, we got back on the boat just to find out that shops, some bars, PADI (a diving activity) and the casino were closed. So all we had to do was either sit in a crowded hot tub or an ice cold pool on the cruise ship, in Canada, where it was maybe 60-65 degrees. Since they considered Day 4 a "dock day", even though they left the port at 3:00a.m., some of the previous activities were closed as well.
Royal Caribbean did however give us a $100 Onboard credit. Which they then took back by charging us $16 a day in gratuities.
To top it all off, I have been trying to get a hold of Customer service to express my disappointment and ask why I never received that refund email. Out of 5 different people I've tried contacting, only 1 person got back with me about the issues. But they still aren't answering any of my questions.
If you are considering a cruise, I'd seriously look at reviews at other cruise ships before booking with Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean is not willing to refund my money. CDC is advising to avoid cruise ships and after a personal battle with covid, I was sick for three weeks and lost 40lbs recently. My family and I are now deathly afraid to be in large crowds. I pleaded with the resolution specialist named Mario De Leon, and all he can say is sorry but you have a voucher for the year 2022 as if they were a positive thing even after I explained my situation. I continued to explain my family's health and well-being are not worth the risk after my experience. And again all he could repeat was there was no refund but you enjoy the cruise later. It was almost as if I was talking to the wall because he listened to nothing I said. So basically Royal Caribbean is strong-arming customers to take the cruise and risk my family's health or forfeit my 2500 they have held on for the last two years. Below is an article speaking about this situation and the refund policy from their Internation Vice President of Guest Experience. The link is below and an excerpt about this issue. Below is an excerpt from the article dated July 1st, 2021. At a webinar with travel agents on Wednesday, Royal Caribbean International Assistant Vice President of Guest Experience, Aurora Yera-Rodriguez, told travel agents guests can get a refund for their FCC on sailings where protocols have been announced. The question came up if a guest was adamant that they will not get vaccinated and has an FCC, will Royal Caribbean offer a full refund. Ms. Yera-Rodriguez responded that Royal Caribbean will indeed offer a refund for both money paid on the reservation and money owed in most FCCs. "If we've announced protocols for a particular sailing that anyone is booked on, we're glad to offer them a refund." https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/07/01/royal-caribbean-will-refund-your-future-cruise-credits-if-you-dont-new-health-protocols

STOLE OUR MONEY

We purchased the travel insurance for a full refund and when we needed to cancel our trip we were fully aware we would lose the $175 in travel insurance, but they don't take that payment out until you pay for the cruise in full. THIS WAS NOT CLEAR DURING THE TIME OF PURCHASE.

So, I have to pay them over $6000 to get my deposit back minus the $175. Why would I pay them another 6 GRAND when I can't even get $400 back?

When we booked the trip we did not receive ANY receipt of purchase with information regarding our cruise. We got one email telling us to create an online account. So we did that, and then there is ZERO documents to see the itemized receipt of what we have paid, where the money went, and what is the final balance.

They don't show you that until you give them a credit card number...

I will NEVER book a cruise with them again. This was nothing but smoke and mirrors, and every single time you turn around you have to pay for something else, and never get confirmation of your purchases.

We purchased the travel insurance for a full refund and when we needed to cancel our trip we were fully aware we would lose the $175 in travel insurance, but they don't take that payment out until you pay for the cruise in full. THIS WAS NOT CLEAR DURING THE TIME OF PURCHASE. So, I have to pay them over $6000 to get my deposit back minus the $175.

Why would I pay them another 6 GRAND when I can't even get $400 back?

When we booked the trip we did not receive ANY receipt of purchase with information regarding our cruise. We got one email telling us to create an online account. So we did that, and then there is ZERO documents to see the itemized receipt of what we have paid, where the money went, and what is the final balance.

They don't show you that until you give them a credit card number...

I will NEVER book a cruise with them again. This was nothing but smoke and mirrors, and every single time you turn around you have to pay for something else, and never get confirmation of your purchases.

User's recommendation: DONT give them a dime unless you can afford to lose it.

RC is nothing but problems. We have had to call over issues many times. We are always on the phone for over an hour and about 50% of the time we get "disconnected." We were sent an invoice that shows a zero balance and then five months before the cruise, 5 months after the booking we were sent a new invoice saying we owe $1000. If we do not pay the cruise is canceled without a refund. We have always booked through Carnival and will only book through Carnival in the future. When I told them that, they basically said they didn't care, I was only one person.

On top of that, the "all-inclusive" cruise doesn't include the majority of restaurants on the ship. All ships have upgraded dining, but RC wants to charge for all of it. The ship is small and outdated compared to others we have sailed on.

The attached itemized receipts show that our payments "disappeared" and new amounts owed. No explanation was given. We were just sent new invoices. After 3 and a half hours on the phone with three different people, we were told there was a system malfunction in April when we booked that made it look like we paid more than we had. We had originally booked in 2020 and had rescheduled several times because of COVID. We did not pay the deposit in April 2022, all balances were carried over from original booking in 2020.

I have no idea how they have four stars.

I want to write positive reviews but in this case my review is more pessimistic but hopefully will help you make an informed choice on whether to sail with Royal Caribbean or not.

The good: they have a special service offering for repeat customers. If get to the upper tiers of their rewards program, you will have access to priority check-in, access to welcome back parties and if you are a diamond, emerald or pinnacle members you have access to gifts and diamond lounges. However you would have to sail I think 43 nights to get to even platinum. I was able to get to gold due to their alliance with MLife (from MGM in Las Legas) so had some sort of recognition without even sailing with them.

They are bring out brand new ships but this may not affect the service levels (see below).

The bad: 1. The boat that I cruised on was old and tired and the shower temperature control did not work so there was only one temperature which was a little bit too warm, especially for a very hot day in Australia.

2. The service was lacking. If I did this cruise again, I will opt to give tips directly to those who made more of an effort rather than pre-paying gratuities. It would probably incentivise the staff more.

3. Be careful of the used by date of their food. We noticed that the yogurt was 8 days past the "best before" date and just wanted to bring this to food and beverage manager's attention. Her response was that it was international law that allows them to serve food that was within 2 months of the "best before" date. Really? For yogurt too?

4. The food was mediocre at best. I am not a food snob but felt that they really did not bring a standard that you would expect from this type of cruise line. I resorted to paying for their premium/specialty restaurants and found this to be much better. Get the 5 pack deal as it costs $20 USD per head which was not too bad considering that We had $300 on board credit.

5. The onboard entertainment was boring. I have sailed on Carnival cruises for my first and other time and found their shows to be of the same standard as what you see on say Broadway... almost.

I think I will sail with another cruise line next time.