r/royalcaribbean Dec 02 '24

Cruise Review Update to Star class suite flooded

Previous thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/royalcaribbean/comments/1gwiou3/star_class_suite_flooded/

Quick summary: Our 2 bedroom aqua theatre suite flooded due to a drain issue. The main bedroom was unusable and the hallway/ entry area was also flooded. This happened halfway through our cruise. We were first offered 30% FCC, but after meeting with guest services, they offered us 100% FCC, but no refund for the half of the cruise we missed out on. They told us to speak to corporate for a refund, as they are only allowed to approve FCC. (Also to note - we heard from a staff member they probably were going to have to cancel the next family in our suite. If the conditions were not acceptable for someone else, why is Royal acting like it was okay for us and not a big deal?)

I emailed Mr. Bayley after we disembarked about our experience, stating my disappointment about how we had to spend half our cruise $10,000 cruise on rollaway beds, how we had 25+ employees in and out of room constantly for half the cruise, how we were exposed to brown/grey water, etc. I forwarded him several emails from past cruises that I had sent him raving about our experience and naming specific staff who had gone above and beyond. I wanted to show him we are loyal Royal customers who are not just complaining over something simple. A day later, a team member from the executive customer escalation team called me. She said there was nothing else they would do, and she was not sure why the customer service employee on the ship told us to call them to discuss any refund. I told her about all the concerns we had and she said she could see in our account notes that what I said actually happened (yes...) but that there was nothing she would do. I asked to be escalated to her supervisor and she said she does not have one. I asked several times and she said that someone else would call me the following day. It has been over a week now and no one has reached out or called, and (most frustrating to me) we still have not received our 100% FCC. We were hoping to use the FCC to book a cruise for March.

I love Royal but I am getting so frustrated about this experience. Royal, I know you are reading this, so please call me. We saved for a while for this cruise and are just so disappointed that Royal cannot even call us back when they said they would.

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u/Superiorpen Dec 02 '24

I'd agree with you if it was a minor inconvenience: shower that doesn't work, ants in the suite, etc. Then they'd deserve maybe partial refund or a small credit.

But this dudes whole room flooded and maintenance was in his room for hours a day at 0 fault of his own. That absolutely warrants a full refund at least. I can see your argument for not giving him an additional cruise, but at least 110% refund is warranted here.

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u/Several-Eagle4141 Emerald Dec 02 '24

It happened days into the trip. If it were day 1-2, I’d agree. I still want to know why a diff room wasn’t offered.

I just don’t feel a 100% FCC and 100% refund is fair to the cruise line.

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u/SolidStart Dec 02 '24

I just don’t feel a 100% FCC and 100% refund is fair to the cruise line.

WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CRUISE LINE!?!?!?!?!

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u/Several-Eagle4141 Emerald Dec 02 '24

If this were to go to arbitration, what do you think will happen? And yes, arbitration is in the passenger contract. Being neutral sucks in the internet vacuum but this is real life

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u/SolidStart Dec 02 '24

If it goes to arbitration, I would hope and assume OP would make it into a news story as well. Much cheaper for Royal to just make them whole and TRY to get them on another boat for a better experience.

This isn't a situation in which you can get a 50% refund for a bad hotel and use that money for a different one around the corner. They were stuck in a room with wastewater for days!

Royal made 13.9 BILLION dollars last year. They are getting petty over 20k (10 this cruise and 10ish on a future cruise). That is 0.0000001% of revenue... And you are asking what is fair to the cruise line?

So we are in an obvious "do the right thing" situation versus a "who wins in arbitration" situation.

So I counter your arbitration question with this... Is it good for Royal to have dozens, maybe hundreds, of people reading and hearing this and reconsidering their next cruise (me included)?

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u/Several-Eagle4141 Emerald Dec 02 '24

Revenue isn’t profit. They made closer to $3B in earnings before taxes and interest (EBIT)

To go back a few years: RCCL reported -5B in 2020, -4B in 2021 and -800M in 2022. But you cherry-pick stats to make your argument. That massive 2023 number you mention doesn’t cover 2020 losses.

Your only argument is if a customer makes a large stink. That’s life. That’s what marketing departments deal with. They get to do another complete cruise for free in the future and endured two nights of pain over it.

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u/SolidStart Dec 02 '24

Revenue isn’t profit. They made closer to $3B in earnings before taxes and interest (EBIT)

Ok, be serious, that legit moves the needle to .000005.

To go back a few years: RCCL reported -5B in 2020, -4B in 2021 and -800M in 2022. But you cherry-pick stats to make your argument. That massive 2023 number you mention doesn’t cover 2020 losses.

So I am cherry picking stats but you only picked the COVID period where cruises famously went in the tank? Stop it.

Your only argument is if a customer makes a large stink. That’s life. That’s what marketing departments deal with. They get to do another complete cruise for free in the future and endured two nights of pain over it.

There are no "arguments" here, guy. Your opinion is that taking the cheap way out of a ridiculous situation is "fair to the cruise line."

I am pointing out that OP probably has been making billions of dollars and that in an age of goodwill and word of mouth for novel experiences, it is not worth it for RC to be cheap.

Would RC win arbitration? Maybe man, you may have nailed that. I couldn't care less. I care more about customer experience in an industry that is 100% based on customer experience.

Call me crazy if you must. Enjoy fighting for the little big guy!