Planetcruise/Iglucruise have changed to a lowerclass stateroom

magpie

I have booked a cruise for myself and my husband to celebrate his special birthday. I was allocated a balcony room  class XB. I received an email through from Planetcruise (PC)advising me the class had been changed to IE, which is a balcony with restricted view. I contacted both PC and Royal Caribbean (RC) regarding this. RC confirmed that they are different category of cabin and XB is not restricted view. I advised PC of this and they said I hadn't specified an unrestricted view when booking. I advised them that they didn't specify that the cabin may have a restricted view. If they had I would not have booked it. I wouldn't normally care but this is my husbands 60th birthday present and I would like it to be special. I seem to be getting nowhere at all and it's not a cheap cruise. I have now formally complained and I'm waiting and waiting for them to get back to me. I am thinking of contacting the CEO of PC and also their directors. I will never book through them again. They are totally unhelpful. Any helpful advice would be appreciated.

eskbanker

magpie said:

I was allocated a balcony room  class XB

That phrasing sounds odd, did you actually make a choice of a specific class from a tariff of published options when booking?

diystarter7

Hi OP

Sorry to hear about that, see what they say and hopefully you will get a result.

Let us know and I'm feeling you will get a free upgrade, rightly so

strawb_shortcake

With a restricted view it could still be considered an upgrade depending on other features of the room. 

If its anything like P&O you have the option to pick an upgrade, most seasoned cruisers don't allow for upgrades as upgrades can mean different things to different people.

Additionally a restricted view may just be a lifeboat below the line of vision, there are likely to be groups on Facebook that can show you what the room and is actually like

magpie

eskbanker said:

magpie said:

I was allocated a balcony room  class XB

That phrasing sounds odd, did you actually make a choice of a specific class from a tariff of published options when booking?

This is the specific class on the booking. I was also informed at the time of the booking that the cabin was an XB class meaning blacony

Westin

It would seem that both cabins have balcony though.  Did you book and pay for a cabin with balcony (only) or a balcony with an unrestrictive view?

If PC still to the IE cabin class, what outcome do you desire?

TELLIT01

If the OP specifically booked an XB class cabin, and the booking was confirmed by Planetcruise, I don't understand how they can unilaterally downgrade with either the agreement of the customer or a reduction in the cost.  Surely that must amount to a breach of contract, or am I missing something?

daveyjp

Depends what you actually booked so check your confirmation email.

If you chose your cabin grade (and even cabin number) it shouldn't be downgraded, but an upgrade or relocation to another cabin in that grade may happen if you don't opt out of changes.

If you played 'lucky dip' and went for a guaranteed fare 'GTY' on any invoice, changes will probably be permitted as GTY cabin isn't confirmed until nearer the sailing date.

magpie

TELLIT01 said:

If the OP specifically booked an XB class cabin, and the booking was confirmed by Planetcruise, I don't understand how they can unilaterally downgrade with either the agreement of the customer or a reduction in the cost.  Surely that must amount to a breach of contract, or am I missing something?

This is what I'm trying to get across to them but hitting a brick wall. I have confirmed with RC that class XB is unrestricted and yet I have been allocated IE which is restricted view. I wouldn't normally bother too much but this holiday is special to us. They just don't reply to my emails and you can't get through to them on the phone. 

HogMan

XB seems to refer to  an Ocean View Balcony Guarantee rather than a specific type of cabin. So 1E would fall under the  guarantee of a balcony view albeit restricted?

What are the differences between Royal Caribbean's 1D, 2D, 4D, etc balcony rooms? | Royal Caribbean Blog

Caz3121

Royal Caribbean appear to offer 2 options for cabin selection...both of these fall under balcony
"You pick your room" where for a higher cost you choose your location and cabin number
"We pick your room" - "We give you the best available stateroom in this category, based on availability, assigned prior to sailing. The stateroom allocated may be subject to obstructed views"
Your initial post says that you were allocated a cabin, does that mean you did not pay the higher fare to select your cabin? the issue being that the one that was originally allocated has now been changed?