I’ve been traveling and planning travel for over two decades.

That means I’ve been around the block when it comes to spotting travel value and gotcha traps and how to make choices that align with my personal travel values.

However, my recent battle with One Spa World and Royal Caribbean has forever cured me of the pre-cruise excursion/spa booking excitement, leading me to adjust my approach to planning our cruises.

Along the travel way, I’ve made plenty of mistakes.  But in this post, I’d like to share with you the details of my most recent mistake, how you can protect yourself, and what I’m doing to preserve my travel dollars and sense of dignity.

It was a bit of a bitter pill, but I’ve learned from my experience and will hopefully be a more savvy traveler because of it. 

The Lure of the Discount vs. Constraints

Let me set the scene for you.  The last two weeks of work have been absolute hell.  The sheer volume of things to do waves out before you like an unending carpet, and the most experienced member of your already small team just got promoted to a new position.

You receive an email from the cruise line for your upcoming trip – treat yourself, it says.  Schedule your spa service.  30% off regular prices, it says.

And suddenly you imagine yourself spending your sea day rubbed, oiled, and sent back out into the world refreshed and renewed.  It sounded like heaven.

Little did I know, this moment, this impulse would turn into the equivalent of a week’s worth of groceries dumped into the sea.  Even with the discount.

I wasn’t a novice cruiser on this trip, but I certainly handled the pre-cruise planning differently than on our first one.  Trying new approaches led to both lovely and terrible experiences.

Based on these experiences, I’ve adjusted my approach to planning for the cruise before we embark to hopefully strike that right balance between value and cost.

Here I’m sharing my mistakes, my wins, and my verdict.  Read on to take these lessons into your next cruise planning!

Pssst, do you want to better align your travel with your values?  Take my free travel values quiz before you start planning your next trip and take a vacation you actually love! 

My Failure at Pre-Planning Cruise Activities

In response to a stressful couple of weeks of work, I sought refuge in the hot stone massage I discovered in the Royal Caribbean pre-cruise spa sale a few weeks before our 7-day Southern Caribbean multi-generational cruise.

I imagined myself reworked and remade after a couple of hours to myself in the essential oil-scented serenity of the spa.

However, two days before the booking, I realized.  We’re having fun.  This massage costs a lot of money.  It conflicts with [insert other fun activity we could do together here].  I’m not interested in this massage anymore.

Unable to cancel through the app, I called the spa and cancelled.  I was well within the 24-hour cancellation window.  I was assured by the person at the spa that I would be refunded for my prepaid service at the end of the cruise.

When our invoice was ready on disembarkation day, I checked with customer service and found no refund added to my account.  Checking with the ship’s customer service desk, they informed me I would need to call the spa company when I returned home and request a refund.

And, as you might be guessing, this is where it all went wrong.  

Mistake # 1. I didn’t follow through assertively enough.

After customer service told me to call, I went home merrily in my vacation joy-filled haze.  A few days later, I called One Spa World, the company that runs and manages the spas on Royal Caribbean ships.  No answer.  Leave a message, they say.

Left a message.  Heard nothing.

Called back another day and time.  Left a message.  Sent an email.  Nothing.

Frustrated, I disputed the charge on my credit card.  Eight weeks later, the card company was happy to confirm I had indeed booked and paid for the service, and they reversed the credit on my account.

Now, I’m unsure exactly where to turn.  I’m starting to feel I need to chalk this up as a failure and move on.

I’m frustrated with how the various levels of customer service failed me.  And I wish I had stood up for myself more assertively on the ship at the point of cancellation, rather than just trusting the system.

The Alternative: 

To help you avoid my mistake, I suggest the following.

Mistake #2. I didn’t listen to my own travel values and instincts.

When I booked the spa, I was struggling a bit to manage my emotions around stress at work.  I was burnt out and frustrated, and imagined the relief and joy a massage would have given me.

And, it probably would have.

But I also know definitively that on vacation, I am the glue that holds everyone together.  And if I were to step out of the picture for two hours, the others would have been a little bit adrift.  And I would lie there feeling twinges of guilt for being away, and I would miss the fun they had without me.

I knew, I knew it wasn’t in alignment with our travel or how I see our travel.  Right or wrong, the spa service wasn’t a good fit with my travel values and instincts.  Not to mention the guilt I felt about financially indulging in the massage.  

The Solution:

I wholeheartedly support travel as a means to nourish your soul and refresh your spirit.  It’s one of the main tenets of Wander Woven Travel, which you can read about here.

However, it is important that these avenues towards renewal are in alignment with your overall values.  Mine are strongly: togetherness, fun, value.  I rarely book spa or beauty treatments for myself, maybe a pedicure once a year in my regular life, because it conflicts with these values.  Vacation is no different for me.

While I also support trying new things while traveling, in this case, I didn’t listen to myself, and now I’m literally paying the price.

My Failure at Ship-Booked Excursions 

On our last cruise, we dutifully reviewed a wide range of shore excursion offers for each of our shore days.  The entire family got involved, sharing their preferences and dislikes until we agreed on how to spend these precious exploring days.

On this particular cruise, we did none of that.  There were 5 excursion days on this cruise, and with so many options, it was hard to focus on all these choices.  Plus, given this was a multi-generational cruise, without the rest of our travel partners, it was unclear who might join us for any given excursion.

Instead, 1 – 2 days before each shore day, I spent 15 – 20 minutes reviewing the options in the Royal Caribbean app, found some appealing options still available, ran them by the group, and booked it.

Easy, fast, exciting, and fun.  Everyone knew to look forward to something, and it took surprisingly little time.

Some excursions we would have liked, yes, were sold out.  But what we did choose was tremendous fun!

Mistake #3. Getting carried away with spending.

A day or two after our first excursion booking success, I happened by guest services, where I saw a huge banner.  It claimed that by booking at the counter, you could save up to 20% over the prices in the app.  Likely, more in line with the prices you’d see booking pre-trip.

Ugh.  Value for our dollar is one of my fundamental travel values.

However, I stood there and thought about it a moment.  The process was so easy, and we had a great time.  Wasn’t it maybe ok to not go to guest services, stand in line, explain to someone what I wanted, wait while they did the actual booking, and receive paper tickets I had to keep track of?

I’m still not sure.

But I do regret at least not checking before investing big sums in these excursions, which ran, on average, $100 per person per trip.

A 20% savings on all that would have been meaningful.

The Solution: 

Knowing that I know now, I would revert to my original process of researching and choosing excursions in advance, even if it meant the extra step of contacting travel partners before the trip (where some would be more likely to say no rather than yes).

Alternatively, I’ll book all the day trips we want at Guest Services on board at once to make my time more efficient. 

Lessons Learned

I wish I could say that I never failed as our central travel planner. But I firmly believe that we learn through failure, and I’m trying to accept that truth and move into our next trip wiser.  

However, the good news is, I’m never likely to make these specific mistakes again!  Now I’ve reaffirmed my commitment to standing up for myself and keeping true to my central travel values. 

Everything at Wander Woven Travel is about staying focused on the true reasons behind why you travel and what you value most; lessons that are central to my Royal Caribbean cruise experience.

What are your travel failures?  What did you learn from these experiences? Comment below!

Got a question about a trip you’re planning? Get in touch over here today for a travel plan review and my impartial advice.