Royal Intervention!

Royal Caribbean announced to its customers 5 days before it’s departure on-board the Navigator of the seas of this massive itinerary change from this

Mon 05Nov2018 Southampton, England – 4:30 PM Boarding

Tue 06Nov2018 Cruising – – Cruising

Wed 07Nov2018 Cruising – – Cruising

Thu 08Nov2018 Cruising – – Cruising

Fri 09Nov2018 Cruising – – Cruising

Sat 10Nov2018 Cruising – – Cruising

Sun11Nov2018 Cruising – – Cruising

Mon 12Nov2018 Boston, Massachusetts 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked

Tue 13Nov2018 New York City, New York 4:00 PM – Docked

Wed 14Nov2018 New York City, New York – 8:00 PM Docked

Thu 15Nov2018 Cruising – – Cruising

Fri 16Nov2018 Cruising – – Cruising

Sat 17Nov2018 Port Canaveral, Florida 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

Sun 18Nov2018 Miami, Florida 7:00 AM – Departure

To this

Mon Southampton, United Kingdom 4:30 PM
Tue
Bruges/Zeebrugge (Brussels),
Belgium
9:00 AM 6:00 PM
Wed Le Havre, France 8:00 AM
Thu Le Havre, France 6:00 AM
Fri Cruising
Sat Cruising
Sun Gran Canaria, Canary Islands 8:00 AM 3:00 PM
Mon Cruising
Tue Cruising
Wed Cruising
Thu Cruising
Fri Cruising
Sat Cruising
Sun Miami, Florida 7:00 AM

As you can imagine customers have been devastated by this change and if they choose to go on the cruise were only offered $100 USD onboard credit for inside cabins, $150 USD onboard credit for outside cabins, $200 USD onboard credit for balconies and $300 USD onboard credit for suites. Plus a 25% future cruise credit for their next cruise.

I only had one customer on this itinerary who is a friend but had no choice other than to accept due to his travel arrangements. I also looked after a colleagues customer who was so saddened by the news but I didn’t give up on him. I managed to get him rebooked on another Royal Caribbean back to back cruise in the Far East.

So it just goes to show that your travel agent will go out of their way to try and deal with the best possible outcome in scenarios like this one. OK, most customers will probably want to cancel but your agent will always help where ever they can. And feedback from customers will always help other customers that have not booked.