My Nonprofit Reviews

What started out to be a complaint about a former friend turned into a nightmare in dealing with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. First and foremost, I want to express how embarrassed I am to be 60 years old and have to reach out to an advocacy group for help!

Here is how my story begins.......
On November 16, 2021, I contacted Royal Caribbean Cruise lines to inquire about the balance on my upcoming cruise scheduled for May 14, 2022. When I was unable to locate my booked cruise on the RCCL website I contacted their customer service department. The customer service department informed me that I called and cancelled my cruise on Tuesday, October 26, 2021 – they did not give me any additional information.

I informed RCCL that I did not cancel this cruise – since it was my 40th anniversary cruise and we have other couples coming with us to celebrate. I know for a fact my estranged neighbor – who was originally invited to help us celebrate – had access to my booking number since she was originally linked to our reservation.

When RCCL played back the recorded messages of my so-called cancellation, their resolutions department said the voice on the recording sounded too much like me to make a reversal of their decision not to refund my deposit of $500. I was speechless – especially with the cruise with confidence program being offered due to COVID – everything was supposed to be fully refundable. I asked if they had the phone number of where this call originated from, and they would not reveal this information to me. The RCCL representative said the reason” I” cancelled this cruise was because my granddaughter was coming to visit – I don’t have a granddaughter !

I immediately filed a police report for identity fraud/impersonation and all I was asking of RCCL is to cooperate with the police to stop this woman and to refund my deposit. Per the RCCL Resolutions department instructions to obtain a copy of the voice recording – I sent RCCL a certified letter with a copy of the police report and all my booking documents.

I was so frustrated that I searched every avenue to find a way to have Royal Caribbean at least hear me. I was out my anniversary cruise – since Royal would not honor my original booking price and the cruise had doubled in price – my real friends had to cancel since I won’t be on the ship and I was out $500 - but they did provide me with a $300 future cruise credit.

The detective handling my impersonation case tried numerous times to reach out to Royal’s corporate office and each time they put him on hold for hours - never putting him in touch with anyone who was able to assist. I was so upset with the way RCCL customer service handled this case and the way they treated me. Being a diamond member and a stockholder with RCCL meant nothing! Just a note -- Did you know that with Royal anyone can cancel your cruise if they have your booking number – so beware!!

I was on a recent cruise and we were sitting around reading stories of the day when my sister read me a story about an advocacy group - Elliott Advocacy - who was able to reach out to a cruise line and plead a case for a family who was denied boarding, etc. - my sister said why don't you reach out to Michelle Friedman at Elliott Advocacy for help - the article actually contained her contact information. I figured - why not - I was exhausted trying to get someone from RCCL to at least answer me - and I had sent copies of all correspondence to every officer of RCCL including their legal department - no response.

i returned from my cruise and immediately reached out to Michelle. She answered me immediately with additional questions and concerns about my case. Her communication was amazing considering how busy she must be. We communicated back and forth for a few days and she was convinced she had enough information to present to RCCL on my behalf to at least get my deposit back - she was not able to assist with obtaining the voice recordings since this is a totally different situation and requires legal assistance.

I am happy to report that thanks to Elliott Advocacy I received a phone call from the Chairman of the RCCL Resolutions Department offering RCCL's complete apology for the way I was treated. RCCL also offered to reinstate my original reservation - cost and all - however they were not able to offer the cabin on the back of the ship which had already been resold. I informed RCCL that we had already rebooked a cruise so they were happy to apply the $500 to my newly booked cruise and also provided a $100 on board credit.

To summarize - I cannot thank Michelle and Elliott Advocacy for reaching out to their contacts at Royal Caribbean. Without their assistance --all my correspondence would have remained unread and/or trashed or deleted. I have never been one to ask for outside help but I will not hesitate recommending Michelle or Elliott Advocacy for any situation!!! I hope that I don't need them in the future but highly recommend them to those that do!!!