Royal Caribbean International John Chambers (Resolutions Agent) $1900 UNAUTHORIZED CHARGE LEAVES FAMILY WITH NO MONEY FOR 3-5 BUSINESS DAYS Internet

In the future, do yourself a big favor and book any cruises through a trusted travel agent.  This way you are dealing with one person specifically and there is less chance of miscommunication.  You can make payments at will and they do not have the authorization to charge any account without your permission.  Another option is to put your payments aside in another account and then pay the final payment in full 70 days before sailing (when everyone's final payments are due.)

It costs no extra to use a travel agent and you have some other benefits as well.....they will watch for price reductions and you will get them (because the cruise line will not come to you with this information.)  By the way, I am not a travel agent....I just am a frequent cruiser who has found over the years what works best.

"My husband and I live paycheck to paycheck". Then why in the hell are you going on a $2,000+ cruise? Then you go on about your main complaint being how the cruise line withdrew a total of $1,898 out of your account instead of the $300 they were suppose to. Now YOU CLAIM since they withdrew the $1,898, you don't have ANY money for food or gas. That tells me you couldn't afford the cruise to begin with. You were going to spend the day shopping and getting your nails done. Another thing you can't afford IF you're really living paycheck to paycheck. It's not that your "living" from paycheck to paycheck. YOU'RE SPENDING paycheck to paycheck. You spend every frickin' cent you make on frivolous BS and DON"T SAVE ANYTHING. That's because you're weak. Like the old saying goes. How do you go broke making a millon dollars a year? Spending two millon dollars. This incident ought to be an eyeopening experience for you to change your lifestyle and spending habits, probably not. You remind me of politicians and our government.

Instead of starting to pay one year in advance put the money that you would send to the cruise line in a savings account (maybe try a credit union or someplace that won't charge you fees).
That way you can set aside the money over the course of a year. If you set aside 200 dollars a month for 12 months you will have saved 2400 dollars. That leaves you with 300 dollars of fun money on the cruise. Unfortunately that much won't last long on a cruise so maybe up it to 250 to 300 a month.

Then you call the cruise line and see what specials they are running. Depending on the season you may get a lower rate. If there aren't any good deals then go ahead an make reservations for a cruise next year and pay with what you saved up then set aside more money to pay for other expenses that will come up during the cruise.

Nothing sucks more than going on a cruise and not being able to afford to do anything other than hanging out on the ship all day while it is in port because you don't have any money to do anything.

  It's stories like this that illustrate why it is a very bad idea to give any company direct access to your checking account.   It is a commonly posted complaint on this site that some company took more than they should have.   When they do, it's up to you to straighten it all out.   The bank isn't going to be much help because you gave them free access to the account.   I equate it to going to the store and just handing over your wallet at the checkout, hoping that the clerk will take out the correct amount. 

  For online payments, you're much better off using a credit card.  The company only has access to the card's credit line, instead of the cash in your bank account.  It is also much easier to fix an incorrect credit card transaction than an ACH transaction from a debit card.

"let me start off by saying my family is not rich my husband and I live paycheck to paycheck"

That is how you started off, then the truth comes out, most people who live paycheck to paycheck do not go out on saturdays to have all day shopping sprees and get their nails done.

Now lets get to the point, they charged you the full amount owed, and you stated you only wanted to pay $300,  I agree that sucks that this happened to you, they did not over charge you, you paid them only what you owed them(again I know you did not want to pay the full amount at the time) but they offered you a $150 on board credit for the mistake.

That would be some compensation for their error!!!!!!!! what are you looking for them to give you a free cruise, They screwed up YES  but the did not over charge you.They admitted that their website had this problem and did not try to hide it.

Also if you had no food in your house instead of getting your nails done maybe you should of gone food shopping that day instead of a shopping spree.  I think you are exagerating just a little. I personally think $150 for their mistake is plenty, and in most cases it always takes 3-5 business days to get a refund.

You will get your money back plus 150 on board credit, I think your just a person that will never be satisfied 

This is going to sound extremely insensitive, but I'm only going to say what anyone reading this would think.  You said that because of this, your family is without food and gas for 5 days.  Really?  Please tell me that is an embellishment.  If not, this cruise is way beyond your means.