We recently cruised the Mediterranean with Royal Caribbean. We booked our cruise on the Royal Caribbean website and, because we were travelling with our two young daughters, booked interconnecting cabins. We booked internal cabins. We were travelling with another couple and my mother so we booked 4 cabins in total. Every time any of us logged on to the website and viewed our cruise profile, it stated our two rooms were interconnecting. My husband picked that our friend's were erroneously put in a cabin between the two we'd booked so he phoned Royal Caribbean and asked that they ensure that we have the two interconnected rooms. The agent assured us that this was done.

When we boarded the cruise, we discovered that our rooms were not interconnected. When we went to Guest Relations, we were told that there are no internal interconnecting cabins on the Splendor of the Seas. When my husband explained that we selected the interconnecting rooms shown on the ship layout on the website, Guest Relations told him that it must have been an old, incorrect layout. When we asked why the Royal Caribbean agent we spoke to telephonically hadn't informed us of this, they just shrugged it off. We insisted on a different room because our daughters were too young to be alone in a room. We were told that the ship was completely full so it would not be possible. This meant that my husband and I had to each sleep with a child in a separate cabin and could not go out later than 8.30 when our children, exhausted from touring all day, went to bed.

I understand that mistakes happen but I believe that "Customer Service" is not about ensuring that mistakes don't happen, but how one deals with mistakes when they do happen. This is where the Guest Relations staff on the ship failed miserably. We were treated like rubbish - like we were trying to score an upgrade or freebie. The Guest Relations staff, bar one sympathetic lady, made us feel like WE had made the error and should not make it their problem. Their stance was that if we didn't like the cabin, we could get off at the first port. We were understandably put out and requested some kind of compensation for the error which was clearly on Royal Caribbean's side. We were, in effect, not getting our money's worth given that we were not able to watch a single show or participate in any of the cruise's night time activities. After a number of queries as to how we would be compensated for the mishap, we were given one paltry bottle of wine. Not a beverage package or a complimentary babysitting service for a night, but a bottle of wine. And a ton of attitude. Read more