Independence of the Seas Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,703 reviews

Royal Ripoff

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Independence of the Seas
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rustyewing
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Feb 2020

Dear potential, or currently booked Royal Caribbean guest,

My original cruise itinerary was changed from a 3 day Bahama to a 5 day Mexican because of Hurricane Dorian last year, we couldn't get the extra time off, so Royal offered no refund, but rather future cruise credit that had to be booked and used within a year. It took several phone calls and emails to Royal "Executive Offices" before they finally applied the future cruise credit to my account, then had to wait, beg and demand a refund on the port taxes and other prepaid on board expenses we should have automatically received within days of the major itinerary change. It took over two months before they finally got the credits and refunds correct. I was certain they were attempting to keep our money and would have if I didn't persistently demand it. On a side note, if you were lucky enough to go with the 3 day turned to 5 day cruise, which was provided to guests with less than 24 hour notice of sailing, you got two extra days of cruising, all 3 day dinner, drinking, etc., packages were automatically extended to 5 days at no extra cost to guests, plus one extra future cruise day. Those who couldn't make the major itinerary change, got a future cruise credit to use within a year. What, Really???? nothing for the inconvenience we suffered. To add insult to injury, I bought a buy one, get 50% off second guest. That meant that future cruise credit had to be applied the same way, made it more difficult to use the credit without having the same type of offer on a future cruise. I also understood that all guests would get the “one day future cruise credit” and was actually told by a Royal Caribbean Customer Service representative that I would, but was then told later I must of heard wrong, or misunderstood, they were not offering the one day future cruise credit to guests that didn’t go on the extended 5 day itinerary. I was able to get them to listen to the recorded call (yes all calls are recorded) and they came back and admitted that they did hear the Customer Service representative tell me I would get the extra future cruise credit, but went on to say she shouldn’t have told me that and she would be getting additional training, rather than honor what I was told.

This morning we returned from our "future" cruise, although we pre-ordered and paid for a case of water a month before the cruise, the water wasn't in the room upon our arrival, had to ask for it several times before it finally showed up later that evening. Upon disembarking this morning, I found a "Mini Bar" charge of $46.02 on our final statement. We didn't have a mini bar, but learned that "bottled water" is considered a mini bar item, so even though I prepaid $27.14 for 12 bottles (effectively 3.17 gals), Royal double charged me (understatement). I tried calling, but was told that customer service doesn't have a copy of my final statement yet, I have to wait 3-5 days before I can dispute this charge. I’m afraid the chase is on again.

Cabin Review

Cabin was okay, but bathroom and balcony had maintenance issues.

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