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Stay safe @Matt. Thinking of you and all the others living in Florida who are impacted by this.

Stay safe, hoping this storm moves out to sea or dissipates quickly for those in its path!

Holy crow! I just checked my Cruise Planner and the Deluxe package is back down to the “old standard” $56/night base price. No active promo in place, so I’m curious if this is a presage of a proper Labor Day sale. Guess I’ll know by Saturday if I’m going to finally be picking up the package or solidly off of #TeamDX. C’mon 30% sale! Daddy needs a Dark & Stormy or three!!

Just a bit of advice on FCC. Don't have it applied when booking a new cruise. It becomes a PIA. Instead of your invoice showing the original price and then the FCC remove, they apply the FCC at the beginning. It makes comparing prices later looking for a price drop a pain.. and if you do rebook due to a price drop, you have to remove the FCC, rebook and then re-apply the FCC.. My advice.. book normally and then apply the FCC as part of final payment.

I think people will find Royal does the right thing. They always have for me. In the end things always work out.

Better start that blog now! ?

Thanks, @Matt . One of the first things I noticed about this board that I think is fairly unique is the fact that no new topics go unanswered. You seem to make a real effort to help everyone. Appreciate it.

Calling is still the best answer. Give it past today, once the Mariner and Navigator folks are past decision time. My concern with a "no-show" is it may not kick off the proper means of getting your FCC. I'd recommend putting phone on speaker and catching up on these message boards while the hold music plays.

I agree with you and will be very surprised if they don’t make it right. I’m sure they are just overwhelmed at the moment.

The expert meteorologist can’t even predict this historical storm so try to imagine RCCL trying to make sure vacations are not ruined and safely executed. People are going to bitch no matter what just because you can’t please everyone. If people used a travel agent and purchased the correct travel insurance, there should be no issues taking a cruise in the middle of hurricane season. Don’t wait for RCCL to make a decision if you are not comfortable for your individual situation. I am sure they are doing the best they can with the resources they have. Remember most of the employees are based in Miami area, which is going to be impacted as of today, and needs to secure their family and homes. In short just saying EVERYONE needs to be patient as no one knows what is going to happen. (Off soapbox now)

Keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times and enjoy your ride on the RC pricing rollercoaster!

Big winner in the casino ?

Hi all! I'm going to blog my first Alaskan cruise on this thread. It will be a "lazy" blog as I may not post a lot like I did in my other RCCL cruises. If there's anyone sailing on the Ovation soon, you can post questions and photo requests for features of the ship you might be interested in.

so, our cruise out of Port Canaveral is being cut from 4 to 2 nights. Basically... its an overnight cruise. Rep said if you go... we'll give you FCC for the pro-rated days you missed. We'll pro rate everything . I said.. what if we don't go? He said.. we'll give you FCC for the price you paid for the cruise less taxes, etc towards another cruise. He quoted me the amount I paid, which didn't include my accepted Royal Up bid. I then asked...what about the Royal Up? He said, i need to ask my supervisor. Put me on hold and came back and said, "My supervisor said sorry, but you forfeit that Royal Up cost and there's nothing we can do" I just about came unglued. I demanded to to speak to his supervisor and was on hold for 25 minutes. I just hung up. This company is unreal. I'll have to take this back up in the morning. This cruise would have put me at Diamond Level.I've given this company a lot of my vacation money over the last 16 years. If they don't make this right, I'll never give this company one more cent. Very disappointed in RC.

Sometimes it's good idea to go one last time to the Casino , just to get my birthday present

@Matt Better safe than sorry! I really feel for you. I haven't cruised as much as you yet, but I can definitely relate to what you must be feeling! Keep up the fantastic work with all of your blogs, videos & podcasts... They keep us "Cruise -Aholics" fixed! ?

I can say from personal experience now, it's one thing to cancel a cruise, but quite another to cancel on the day you are supposed to board. A lot of emotions and frustration, which is obvious since cancelling months in advance doesn't allow the cruise to become "real" yet. Alas, thanks for following and hoping things will work out for a new live blog for my Mariner of the Seas September 20 sailing.

I think short answer is it's not allowed. According to Prohibited Item list, "CBD Oil / CBD Products" are not allowed.

The master bedroom. Both the bedrooms have ceiling fans which is nice.

Update: parents called and were on hold for 2 hours but issue resolved. Calling was the way to go. Thanks to all

We're staying at the Homewood Suites in Clear Lake. The have a free breakfast which is ok. Eggs, sausage, hash browns, pastries - the typical frozen and heated by the hotel kind of fare. We've stayed in nicer hotels, but it's fine for three days, and we get our two bedrooms with separate living room. There was an issue adding on last night's reservation - DH called and the same type of room was available, but maybe not the same room. The receptionist couldn't figure out how to add the one day and keep us in the same room. He called late and it was the over night desk clerk. We just wound up booking a separate reservation for the extra day online and figured we could take care of it when we got here. When we checked in, the front desk said it shouldn't be a problem for us to stay in the same room, but we do have to get our cards reactivated today. Should just take a minute, and then we're heading to the Children's Museum in Houston. Here are some pictures of the hotel room, DH is taking a nap in the master, so no photo there - it has a king size bed, TV, and another closet. The layout feels a little off. The room with the double beds has an en suite bathroom and the second bathroom is accessible by the living area. Usually the master has the en suite. Not a big deal, we just thought it was a little odd.

There's a giant hurricane that is going to sit on top of Florida for three days. If that's not the definition of extenuating circumstances, I'm not sure what is.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel this sailing. The logistics of the extended sailing combined with a hurricane that seemingly will never end means we cannot go. Or at least, it's not the responsible thing for us to do.

Personally, I don't think RC tried to sneak $5000 onto your credit card. Everyone makes mistakes. $18 drink plan anyone? I understand your frustration though. The test of a good company is how they resolve their mistakes.

Day 5 leftovers We came back from Santorini around 2 pm and went to catch some food and nap. I was do glad they have done the excursion early morning so it was not too hot. We continue our day st the diamond club before going out for the top tier party , must say it was quite empty. On the ship we have 70 platinum , 51 Diamonds , 25 D+ and 0 pinnacles . Too cruiser were with 444 nights ... The party included a performance of the too dancers and the band which were performing all week long. The Captain said few words and the cruise director Bill was trying to tell done jokes , he reminds me a 70s TV host show , he was Ok during the events but his morning shows were very short and without much interactions with the activities manager. Our captain Bill We continue for dinner at WJ it was lasagna night whic is always good. We continued to the love and marriage show which seemed as it was rushed but still funny , for some reason they have not emphasis this is adult only so there were we quite allot of kids in the theater, three of the were the grandkids of the older cupple. You can imagine how the cupple struggled to answer were was the strangest place they have done coffee (well as maybe there are some kids here 2) . I am sure lots of parents had to explain new facts to their kids ?

I can't imagine they would have built the island without the foresight of there being hurricanes though. We've had at least 1-2 every year for the past few years. I'm sure they have some kind of protocol...or maybe it's my wishful thinking since we're supposed to be there on the 7th!

Every storm is different. Some have more rain, some more wind, some more surge. Some move fast, some move slow. If a strong storm hits there will be some damage. Decorative panels ripped off, trees down, roof damage, water and sand in places where it isn't wanted, but the primary core structures should be okay. If a big storm hits they will have to close it while they restore it. On Jost Van Dyke the famous bars on the beach had sand up to the roof line. They had to move massive volumes of sand and then make repairs from sand and surge damage. The same would occur on CocoCay so while it is designed to withstand strong storms that doesn't mean they will re-open the next day without having to do anything.

'bout to find out!

I have been in dry dock for almost 8 years, and it’s finally (FINALLY!!) time for the uncontainable excitement I have for my upcoming cruise to boil over onto the Live Blog pages! We’ll be on Liberty of the Seas embarking September 1 for a 7 day western Caribbean cruise to Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. We're also heading to Galveston a couple days early to visit Space Center Houston. Unfortunately, this will not be a true live blog as we are unplugging for the trip, but list any questions you have here and I’ll do my best to get the answers when I’m on board then post when I’m back. I’ll post our plans and some details over the next several days and a review with photos once home. About us - I am 39 and DH is 47. I home school our two kids and run a wedding cake bakery from home. I like to think I can talk to myself in public and call it a parent-teacher conference. ? DH is an engineer. DH and I have sailed twice before, both on Royal - Independence Eastern Caribbean in 2010 out of Ft. Lauderdale and Voyager Western Caribbean in 2011 out of Galveston. We loved both of these, and our only “complaint” if we had to come up with one was that the dance floors were too small. This will be our kids’ first cruise; DD is 10 and DS is 7. DD has Autism Spectrum Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. A few years ago, she would have been diagnosed with Aspergers, but it’s now lumped in with ASD. She doesn’t generally need special accommodations as she’s mainly socially awkward (can’t remember multiple step tasks, gets distracted in her own world, interrupts you mid-sentence to tell you all about dinosaurs/Pokemon/every word of a tv show she saw once 6 years ago). With her GAD, she occasionally catastrophizes things. In her mind, wild fires in California mean the whole world will be consumed by flames type of thing, so we did a lot of video watching and safety type prep with her to hopefully ease any fears that might come up on board. I had several photos of a life boat drill and another crew drill from our previous sailings which helped a lot. DS is your typical silly, loud boy. Both the kids are extremely excited for the cruise. Right now they want to spend a little time in Adventure Ocean each day, but we'll be spending a good portion of the time together as a family. Why this cruise - I decided that it had been long enough since our last cruise, and that we were going to take one for my 40th birthday. It’s the same month as the sailing, so it counts, right? We actually had our third one booked in 2012, but we got pregnant with DS and wound up just cancelling due to timing of everything else going on in our lives beyond a new baby (aging parents, job changes, etc). We have been land vacationing a lot these last 8 years at Great Wolf Lodge as there is one less than an hour from our house, the kids love it, and it’s cheaper than Disney! Because we live in north Texas (Dallas area), we decided to keep it easy and drive down to Galveston. Liberty’s water slides and Splashaway Bay will be a good fit for my kids, and I wanted a 7 day cruise which Liberty offered as opposed to Enchantment’s 4 or 5 day itineraries. We booked during the 2018 Black Friday sale which featured a discount on the second passenger and Kids Sail Free promotions. We picked up about $500 in price drops along the way, even after our cabin category sold out thanks to @Lovetocruise2002's tips. More to come...

Seen this posted on Facebook and thought it would be a great guide for first timers on Allure. The lady that put this together spent some time and thought into it. GUIDE - Allure of the Seas 01-19-20.pdf

My experience has been that when your close-in Cruise disappears from the website, it is considered “sold out”. It’s entirely possible that it will reappear if cabins become available but if it has disappeared, you can consider it sold out. I really hate when they do this. I would prefer that they just leave it on the website but show it as sold out.

Glad you made it back home without further mishaps, and that you had such a great time! Welcome to the Royal family! ?

I went ahead and jumped at the $48/day price. We figure we'll break even at worst and we have the added convenience of not thinking about it.

Day Nine We had a leisurely morning on this day! Room service breakfast (surprisingly best room service omelette I have had, and I have had a LOT) followed by beach time at the Caribe's private beach. There were so many fish I had to send CBF back upstairs to unpack my goggles! If you stood still the fish would gather at your feet! So cool. There is a rock break to calm the waves and it's perfect for floating. We had our own floats but the hotel rents the big tube kind I saw a lot of people using. After a couple hours in the ocean we swapped over to the pool for one last piña. The pool bar didnt open till 11 or I would've squeezed in more! haha Looking towards Condado At 12:30 we went back up for showers and final packing. Dropped the rental car off at Budget at the San Juan airport and got in line with security to see our flight was delayed by an hour and a half. This meant we would miss our connection in Miami to San Diego. American had no additional flights to SAN till 6am the next day so I booked us a room at the Embassy Suites Miami Airport and went about looking for good Cuban! Landing in Miami Atrium interior of the Embassy Suites Miami Airport. There is what looks like a great breakfast area but we had to leave at 4am the next morning and missed it! The hotel did provide "breakfast bags" for us at 4 with a banana, apple, muffin and bottle of water each which was nice! We ended up at Versaille's on recommendation of our Uber driver and President Obama himself! He once visited Miami and they shut down the entire restaurant to serve him. He was right, it was FANTASTIC Cuban! We got a cubano to enjoy for breakfast the next morning and the vaca frita y picadillo. Both dishes were amazing, and the rice, beans and plantain were a highlight as well. Would love to come back here next time I find myself in Miami!

Just the cruise fare itself. And it is specific to the person whose name is on the certificate.

Day 6 Katakolon We arrived around 9 am to this small port which we shared today with one of the MSC ships (even this information was not correct in the port lection were they said we are going to be the only ship). This is a docking port. The Katkkolon village is very small around 600 people and nothing really to offer beside it's being a gate to Olympia and some nice beaches. As we already visited 3 other very active ports we decide not to plan anything. It was quite and hot day and visit the ruines of Olympia were it's very hard to find shade can be a challenge. Yes I know it's historic place and who know when we will there again but we learn the hard way that sometime to push too many places to visit can has its price. So I decided to wait one year and see the Olympic games from our air conditioning living room :-). We visit the village center and bought some presents to take with us back (olive oil , olives , baklava) and a replacement to my belt which was broken , I refuse to admit it's because my too many visit to the WJ and more about the quality although it was bought in Italy in one of our pervious cruise. On our way back we saw our ship naked , apperently they conduct a drill and lower all the live boats. We got some light lunch (preparing for our Chef table) after that we went to tour the ship and rest in the pool. We went to get ready for the official day . I went to hit the shower again , the shower is very good it has a wonderful powerful stream but one small problem, the clips which should keep the shower head is not up to the task.i had a Kramer incident (when he buy a extra powerful shower head from the black market) and I lost control of it , let's just say deck 9 was not the only pool deck. After drying the floor we made our way for the meeting point of the chef table.Its our third time going to the chef table and each time it's different experience although the food is more and less the same , it's all about your table companion. This time we had a group from Norway , cupple from Texas and people from New Mexico. We had very nice conversations and exchanged emails so it was a nice group. Wine was as good and the waiter always suggested to refill the glass Food was good although last time we had a better filet . They replaced the truffled spaghetti with a fish fillet so we got two main course. For dessert we got the sphere again which always nice , they also brought some assortment of small desserts. I also got my cream covered cheesecake. We got chocolate martini with the dessert The dinner took 4 full hour, post dinner we went to the 80s show which packed . Q We ended up in the quest before catching some sleep.

I was on the 10th floor on the Brilliance of the Sea and I can confirm the rolling cart noise under the dining areas. Do not book under them. They rolled until 2:00 AM and were back at it by 5:00 AM. It was awful!

Sorry to hear but understand. Being in North Florida the unknown is nerve racking for us too. Fingers crossed no issues for that cruise. We are also on that sailing.

If the worst thing that happens is some people have to cancel a cruise and other itineraries are modified, I think we will all be relieved.

We need to remember as well that RCI has its headquarters in Miami, so people working there are probably concerned not only with others people's vacations, but about the safety of their families and homes. I understand the stress this is causing but try to remember that many people have worries beyond their vacation and trust that RCI will find a solution, even if not immediately.

Stay safe!

I was wondering what NEW package that was..... Deluxe Happiness Package.... Deluxe Hops Package.... Deluxe Hangover Package???

I too am cancelling my cruise and taking the FCC, but elected to do RoyalUp. For the time being, I've got bigger, hurricane sized, problems than this to deal with.

In the end I think you have a case but the program is new this year and this may the the first real test of mass cancellations. Be patient and don't get overwhelmed or stressed about it, give it some time. They are swamped at the moment and once the dust settles they'll have time to focus on specifics like this. Terms and Conditions Acceptance and Rejection of an Offer RCI reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to determine if an Offer is accepted or not, regardless of stateroom availability. RCI may review and make a decision about an Offer at any time after the Offer is submitted, up to 24 hours before the cruise departure date. If RCI accepts the Offer, Guest will receive an email confirming the acceptance of the Offer and the details of the upgraded stateroom booking (the “Upgrade”). RCI will assign the location of the stateroom in its discretion. The Upgrade will have the same number of berths as the original stateroom. Immediately upon RCI’s acceptance of an Offer, the Total Amount will be charged to the Credit Card and becomes final and non-refundable. Refunds, credits, or changes may be issued only in the following circumstances: 1) RCI cancels the cruise, or 2) RCI cancels the cruise and re-books the guests onto another cruise in a stateroom class that is lower than the upgraded stateroom class. Any refund or credit will be limited to the Upgrade charge and credited back to the Credit Card in the same currency of the original charge; no other charges or fees of any type or nature will be refunded or credited. If RCI does not accept the Offer, the original booking will continue, and persons associated with the booking will travel in the original stateroom category. RCI will not offer and guests will not receive any compensation, consideration, or other benefit as a result of the Offer not being accepted. Modifying or Cancelling the Offer or Booking by Guest After RCI Accepts the Offer If RCI has accepted the Offer, the Offer cannot be modified or cancelled, and Guest must pay the Total Amount regardless of whether Guest subsequently modifies or cancels the booking. If RCI has accepted the Offer and Guest modifies or cancels the booking, the Upgrade and the Offer will be cancelled. RCI will have no obligation to invite the Guest to submit a new Offer on the modified or new booking or to apply the Upgrade to the modified or new booking or to issue a refund or credit of any kind. Upgrades are non-refundable unless Guest cancels the booking. If Guest cancels the booking, Guest’s cruise fare will be refunded in accordance with RCI’s standard cancellation policy, and Guest will receive a refund for the Total Amount of the Upgrade. Modifying the Booking by RCI If RCI for whatever reason re-books the Guest or any person associated with the booking to another cruise departing on a date that is different from the original booking date, RCI, in its sole discretion, may transfer any Offer made in relation to the original booking to the new booking, subject to availability of the upgraded stateroom category.

This morning the Labor Day Sale banner is now on display. Still $56/night, same as last night, and listed as BOGO50 (i.e. 25% off). That works out to just under $75/night on-board price. So they reduced the on-board price a smidge, but not enough to make me bite. Sorry, Royal, but no #TeamDX for me at this point. That drink calculator posted here a while back makes it really clear that at these prices, I'm best off just sticking with the Refreshment Package I already bought (especially at $17/night!), bringing my own wine for dinner drinks, and then enjoying any mid-day or after-dinner drinks a la carte.

Just dispute the charge(s). With EVERY credit card you can dispute any given charge.

I am not sure about that particular ship as we have never sailed on her before but I can tell you that we were on Anthem in April and we were able to have only dinner in the CK, you may want to check once you get onboard. I have read the other thread and it seems as if things change from ship to ship and depending on the availability. I can tell you that we had dinner in the MDR two nights, wife was unsure and was afraid to try something new. After the first night in the MDR I convinced her to try CK the next evening and she fell in love, the third night we were back in the MDR and needless to say after dinner that evening we were able to reserve our spot for the rest of the week in the CK without any issues. Needless to say after that trip I am a CK junkie and will try to book our next cruise on a ship with one, and in a suite so we can eat there the whole week! GOOD LUCK and HAPPY CRUISING!!!?

Day Eight (Part III) We headed over to the newly renovated Caribe Hilton around 4pm. As a loyal Hilton Honor member I had already checked out a satellite view of the hotel towers and chose the ideal room for beach viewing ahead of time. haha The room and hotel grounds were GORGEOUS! We headed down to the pool after check in for a few more piñas since the Caribe claims to be the birthplace (I swear I saw several places claiming this - what about Barrachina?). They've got 3 pools including 2 infinity edges and one with a swim up bar and a children's water spout play area. This is aside from the beautiful private beach! View from the room Facing Condado Center pool Beyond the infinity Hilton H lies the swim up bar. After poolin' and showers we headed to Condado to Orozco's in search of the perfect mofongo (and of course another piña - how many am I up to today alone!?) The atmosphere was casual and the mofongo was amazzzinggg. I went with pork and CBF had the garlic trifongo with pollo. Also, bonus photo - I absolutely love this logo! Can you believe it's untouched since 1949?! With that we were back to the room for - what we thought was - one last vacation slumber before our mid afternoon flight the following day.

The tubs in the suites that I have been in are slightly smaller than standard size. But still way better than the phone booth showers.