Leaderboard

Final payment made.

Problem is there may very well never be a vaccine and even if there is it may not "eliminate the problem" ... common cold has been around a while - no vaccine ... flu has been around a while, there is a vaccine but we still get flu outbreaks and even people who get the vaccine can get the flue if they get the wrong strain ... so saying its fair to wait on a vaccine is just a way of kicking the can down the road indefinitely.

This pandemic has made for a lot of changes in the cruising world from cancellations, lift and shifts, FCCs and everyone’s least favorite topic … REFUNDS! It definitely has made a lot of people take a new look at life and that is exactly what a few agents at MEI-Travel have done. Danette LeBlanc after 7 years with Mei-Travel is stepping away to spend time with her family. Her father has terminal cancel and she wants to spend all the time she can with him and the family at this time. Prayers to her and her family as they navigate this incredibly hard time. Also, Stephanie Hudson after 15 years has decided to take some time to step away and enjoy her new home on the coast of NC. While this is not her retirement home, I am sure after all this time a little break to put her toes in the sand is what she needs at this time. Wishing her all the best (and a little jealous). MEI-Travel is working over the next week to contact their clients with a new agent that is stepping into very big sets of shoes to fill, but the new agents can do it. It does take a little time to ensure that the new agent has everything and both Danette and Stephanie will be working thru June 30th to help with the transition of their clients. To say that this was a very hard decision for both of them is an understatement. Also, I want to thank all of you for allowing me to work with you all. Being able to chat with your guys almost daily for the past 5 years or more has helped me grow in knowledge of Royal and cruising. There is no way I can think of this group without thinking about all the group cruises – the laughter, the tears, the burning bus, the exploding toilet, the first stop at Perfect Day, St Patrick’s Day and the most expensive Guinness beer or two I have ever paid for… and the memories go on and on….. SHOTS! How could I not mention the SHOTS! But more importantly, Matt. The countless hours of planning for group events, looking up changes and many possible group cruises that never happened, there is just not enough time for me to write up how special my relationship with Matt and his family is. All of this made it very hard for me to make this change, but I am stepping away from MEI-Travel to pursue a new opportunity. This new opportunity will come with new challenges and a chance to spread my wings a little. I hope our paths cross on a cruise some day or maybe in the Orlando area some time (This time without my suitcase with me!). MEI-Travel has a team of agents that work with Matt and they work together to provide great service to you all. I know with cancellations coming in the very near future you might be concerned with all this change, but the team is there to help you all. See you on a cruise! Annette Jackson

And if I get quaratined on the ship, we're in an Owners Suite!!

It's never easy to say goodbye to a friend, let alone three amazingly talented friends. I know I speak for everyone here when I say we will miss your guidance, hard work, and positivity. For years I've advocated using "a good travel agent", and if there were a dictionary definition of that, it would have either of your three photos as examples. I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors and hope you remain part of our community here, and hopefully we will get to cruise again together soon.

We met two couples on the Harmony inaugural in Europe who did precisely that, their reasoning being it would be impossible to fully enjoy the ship and the ports in a one-week sailing. They planned their time so that they visited half of the ports the first week and the other half during the second week and got to enjoy a largely empty ship on the days they stayed on board. They were really pleased wih their decision.

I got another great pic last night of the skyline. I went on a fathers day ride on the quads with the guys.

Yes, of course. And the Air Force has its own spirited cry which can mean anything positive. Here are some examples: Hooah - Army; Hoorah - Navy; Oorah - Marine Corps; Nice Putt - Airforce.

I was checking pricing on some of my short term cruises and noticed that some of them have a nice, big military discount. It seems that they are showing up only on the really short term ones, but if you wanted to book now, get the military discount and L&S....well...could work. My Dec 6 Oasis cruise has a $675 military discount but the one the very next week (second half of my B2B) does not. Go figure. BTW, it seems that they are allowing the military discount AND the C&A balcony discount so that's a nice discount when stacked together.

Only if you were one of the many millions dying or one of the many nurses doctors required to work 24 hours a day.

Ampurp85, you bring up some good points ..... you are correct about Hotels/Resorts, etc. not being like a cruise ship. TBF I think the fundamental or base risk of becoming infected by SARS-CoV-2 is probably higher, perhaps the highest of all conveyances or venues. I also think that because of the scrutiny cruise lines receive and esp. that received during the early phases of the pandemic, risk reduction is a higher priority within the cruise industry than it is within other venues. Of course how effective those risk reduction measures might be remains to be seen. Its hard to objectively evaluate this process. So, I'm just going to say, all things considered, there is a high probability that infection risk aboard ship is going to be less than or equal to the risk of infection on an aircraft, hotel, resort or theme park where similar dining and entertainment venues are present and distancing and masking requirements are already in place. You may have a different opinion on this and I respect that. My opinion that the CDC's No-Sail-Order is foolish (inappropriate is a less emotionally charged word to describe it) is based on the comparative risks of SARS-CoV-2 infection between similar venues. It is also based on the likelihood that the cruise lines know all the costs of handling a passenger or crew member testing positive for C-19 and have experience with and protocols in place to do that where other venues we've discussed don't and may be ill-prepared to do so. I suspect our discussion about this will be moot in a matter of days but it nevertheless is an outlet for the frustration I'm experiencing over the lack of necessity, the arbitrariness of it, inherent in the CDC's actions that amount to an unjustifiable and nearly complete shut down of the cruise lines. We know that the virus has a high rate of transmission. We know that transmission can be mitigated by various measures. I have a high degree of confidence that while the cruise lines can not completely eliminate the risk of transmission, they can substantially reduce it and reduce it more effectively than any comparable venue. As well, they are better prepared to deal with infections that do occur while sailing, limit additional exposures and deal with all of that better than anyone else. JMO, YMMV.

If it helps, we got our refund back within 2 weeks for our deposit on the Brilliance Group Cruise. I'm holding out hope for the Anthem GC. It's too soon for me to know about next summer.

It's possible there may be no vaccine but there is the possibility that society will reach a herd immunity eventually if a vaccine is never realized. That's not guaranteed either. At some point there will likely be some level of balance reached where life can more closely resemble what it was like before CV-19. Until then the CDC is unfortunately doing the right thing with cruise ships from a perspective of containing virus spread. Theme parks are probably best to remain closed right now. Sporting events with large audiences in close proximity are probably best to remain closed right now. Music concerts and movie theaters are probably best to remain closed right now. Even if some areas are opening these items back up right now there is a lot of evidence to suggest that is not the best course of action from a public health perspective. So while cruise ships in North America are being kept from sailing by the CDC there is a part of me that acknowledges that is probably the right thing to do right now.

Been there and cruised that ? The older I get the more I enjoy just watching y'all have fun while I mostly hang out on the ship.

My guess is that the Royal CS reps will not know (or can't confirm) for sure until Royal makes their official announcement (tomorrow I believe) either way in response to the CLIA announcement. I know, the waiting stinks! Everything is pointing toward further cancellations, but it's not official until it's official... is that a Yogism?

The new TA"s should be encouraged to be a part of this group........ The relationships built here are second to none. @AnnetteJackson, take care of yourself. Thank You for everything that you've done for so many. You will surely be missed.

As did I. I saw the email from David in my inbox, mentioning that Beth is taking over our reservations and it was signed by Beci. I like the team effort from MEI.

I would hazard a guess the price reduction is down to port fees being less on the Harmony sailing since it has fewer stops than your original Allure TA. Anyway, now that it's sorted you have something to look forward without a constantly niggling worry in the back of your mind.

FWIW, it always appeared to me that Pullmantur was never financially great, even before COVID.

Hopefully they pick up some crew members before returning. I suspect they will need to be retrained before the Caribbean season starts. I plan to call today and reschedule my Allure TA to Alaska in Aug-Sept 2021. I made a preliminary call yesterday and was told there was not a problem with rescheduling since it was booked refundable. Everything will be carried over to the Alaska cruise ... even the OBC. My cruise planner purchases will be refunded. The wait for that refund is the only downside.

Wow my lift and shift was done over night after I filled the online form in yesterday ? a quick call to get cabins next to each other and all done and they seem to have reduced the price in my favour ?

push me ^^^^^ and all will change!!!!

Having done the 5 day to Bermuda out of Bayonne a lot and the 9 day out of Bayonne to Caribbean once, I wouldn't mind combining them both for a two week adventure. @ehw51 As far as same itinerary, never have (never any B2B), but would without question, especially if it's a ship we have never sailed before as you cannot do it all in 7 days. One of the cons to cruising is you're at port for a few hours, knowing you're coming back the next week allows you to see a little bit more.

Because there is no benefit to be gained by anyone higher up to apply pressure.

@JeffB @Ampurp85 As a reader I've thoroughly enjoyed your posts - you've disagreed respectfully and intelligently. I've said before I'm tired of the Covid 19 back and forth but I realize I was tired of people not being respectful in their back and forth.

I'm sadder to read this than I am about canceled cruises ?

Nice Putt....love it. 91st Security Police Squadron stationed at Minot. I took every TDY I could and saw the world 2 weeks at a time...lol.

My thought is book the cruise and hope for the best. Let's say it gets cancelled, there's usually enough warning you could do a vacation home rental or something a little more local.

Yes, you would be able to cancel. However, you would need to book before August 1st as that is currently the date the program ends. Concerned about traveling? Looking for flexibility in your plans? As of May 6, 2020, our enhanced Cruise with Confidence program gives you even more flexibility. Whether you’re already booked on a cruise, or are thinking about it, we want you to Cruise with Confidence. That’s why Royal Caribbean will let you cancel any cruise that sets sail from now through April 30, 2022. Whether it’s a booking you already have or one you make right now through August 1, 2020, you’re covered. As long as you cancel at least 48 hours before your sail date, you’ll receive a Future Cruise Credit. The credit is valid through December 31, 2021 or 12 months from your original canceled sail date (whichever is longer) and can be used for any open sailings at the time of booking. As of May 6, 2020 we have also added the new "Best Price Guarantee" and "Lift and Shift" options outlined below. If you opted into our Cruise with Confidence program before May 6, please learn more about that program here.

We were on that sailing as well. We Lifted and Shifted to same time in 2021 last week. We looked up the cabin fare for 2021. It was a 71% increase from our current 2C cabin fare. So we saved $1650 by Lifting and Shifting vs. making final payment and waiting for Royal to cancel. Sadly I think it's Royal's strategy to wait until after final payment is due before they cancel. What way they can float your money for 60 days. Too bad we lost $400 for our canceled flights.

@YOLO YES! I made some changes due to Cruise Planner sale & have been waiting since April, 22, 2020 To make matters worse they did refund two (2) Chops Lunch right away, BUT I purchased and cancelled three (3). Then they said it was MY BANK, then thank goodness I had a patient representative they said while it looked like and showed 3 were processed when they dug deeper they found one never went through (after digging) Now it is well after the 45 days and still waiting for now just under $3,000.00 Not to mention FCC's on cancelled sailing. I will not pay one more dime until I get my money back. I called, I sent an email, I went on their social media, I have heard NOTHING. It is really turning me sour on RCCL and I never thought that could happen. So sad.

Okay, nevermind! It's definitely cancelled, she just confirmed it - it's the refund package that has not yet been issued on our cruise. They're supposed to have that in the next couple of days. Sorry!!!

I know...me, too. I just booked a Grandeur for 10 October. I'm wondering if Grandeur will ever sail again for Royal. It sorta makes me a little sick to my stomach to think that Grandeur may be going straight to the scrap yard. I hope that doesn't happen.

Thank you for your help, @AnnetteJackson. While youve only assisted me once, it was greatly appreciated and was a brick in the foundation in what I trust will be a working relationship for some time. You, and the other agents, will be in my prayers and I wish nothing but the best in yalls future endeavors! Ill raise my next glass in your honor!

Another update. Got my full refund less $50 which I think the TA charged in their words for all the effort. Requested 23 March. Confirmed same day as it was. RCCL cancellation not mine. Random amount of like 2 or 3% refunded in 2 random amounts about 3 weeks later. Then the rest today. Quite a long time at 90 days (email said 45 days max originally) .. but we got there I guess.. Hopefully I can send it back to RCCL soon.. but not confident the worst is over just yet.

Thanks for your post. Yes, everything about COVID-19 is regional. One size does not fit all in terms of infection rates, mortality and morbidity, mitigation and containment measures, just about everything to do with C-19. Differences are particularly applicable when it comes to appropriate mitigation efforts. Certain areas at a particular time may need none because case numbers are very low or are zero. Others need much more for the opposite reason - high case numbers and growth rates. S. FL's C-19 experience is quite representative of more densely populated metro areas such as NYC, Detroit, LA, Dallas, etc., but not entirely. There are even municipality differences in S. FL. Miami is different than Fort Lauderdale is different than Boca. When I did the analysis in my post above, I combined data from all three major hospital systems each in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade. There is a lot of homgeneity across the three counties but still a lot of differences. Maimi Dade has a much lower per capita income, older long term care facilities, more multi-generational housing than Broward or Palm Beach Counties. It is why Miami-Dade has, by far, the highest per-capita infection rate, the highest case fatality rate and its population drives state stats in the same direction as the county C-19 related stats. That's why what might be an appropriate mitigation step in the city of West Palm Beach may not be appropriate for the city of Miami. Monroe County is another example, It includes the FL Keys and has a very low number of infections and a low CFR. Mitigation and containment measures there that are based on state rates won't be applicable and have to be tailored to fit, for example, Key West's C-19 circumstance. It's hard ...... none of this changes the foolishness of the CDC's No-Sail-Order but it does highlight why rises in case numbers globally, in the US or by US state's can not properly inform CDC policy. The cruise industry is an entirely unique segment of the travel and leisure economic sector. That is partly because what it has done and will do to insure that cruise ships will not contribute to disease spread. I'll acknowledge any kind of travel has the potential to spread viral infections. That is proven in the case of SARS-CoV-2. But it makes no sense that resorts, theme parks, sporting events, aircraft, casinos, para-mutual (horse racing) facilities are all approved to operate with the CDC's blessing and the cruise lines are not. I would bet good money that these facilities will contribute more to disease spread than cruise lines will. But these operations aren't shuttered while cruise operations are. Airlines operating regionally and some internationally depending on hosting country's position won't spread the virus? Of course they will and countries opening their airports have calculated that the costs of bringing thousands of potentially infected airline passengers to their countries that will spread the virus among their citizens is worth it. But it's not worth it for cruise lines? ..... insane.

We usually fly into FLL from DTW because it is almost always cheaper. We love the Intercontinental Miami, especially the Bay view rooms. That is our go-to hotel when sailing from Miami. When is your August sailing on SY? @WAAAYTOOO and I are both on the 8 nighter in August 2021.

You've seen my post - An Optimist's View of Where RCL stands - if you hang out here. I took a couple of swings at what I consider to be the CDC's arbitrary and unjustified No-Sail-Order. There was some good back-and-forths about it being a good idea or not so good to restart cruise ship operations. I want to take another swing at the CDC. I post on a forum of University of Michigan grads (I'm an alum). Because of my medical background I'm asked a lot of questions about what I think about C-19 and it's impact. To be clear, I've been a reopening advocate for a while and I'm not just pulling stuff out my butt to support that view. I will admit a bias towards reopening. The facts support that the social and economic costs of continuing to immobilize the US as a virus mitigation and containment measure exceed the costs of the disease burden associated with the rising number of new cases attendant to reopenings. Today, I got asked, what are these costs and how do you do an objective cost/benefit analysis that makes sense to support one position or the other? One way to look at this is to examine hospital admissions from the Emergency Department for C-19 like symptoms in patient's that present with them and have either already tested + for C-19 or were tested in the ED and were +. I did this to address another posters view that we may be forced to endure additional economic pain (more shuttering and sheltering) as an off-setting cost of reopening such reopening that will cause medical costs to rise proportionally with hospital admissions. The poster also responded to my view that declining fatalities are a good proxy measure of virus control and, indeed, that is the case. Fatalities are dropping. He also offered that there is a disease burden other than dying and Ampurp 85 would agree with this in that she asserted there are attributes of C-19 short of dying that can be significant and costly. I'm not sure increasing infections equates to increasing hospital admissions that increase medical costs.I'm positive, though, that not many people who get infected get seriously ill or as my other forum poster and in this forum Ampurp 85 argued that attributes of C-19 short of dying can be significant. Assuming that there is a uniform disease presentation between an asymptomatic C-19 patient and one that dies is incorrect. To draw that conclusion, we can look at deaths and hospital admissions globally. We're still holding at global figures that show only 5% of C-19 infections result in death and only 0.0046% are hospitalized. I'm assuming that C-19 cases that get hospitalized would be the ones with significant symptoms. So, most infected patients have little impact in terms of a health care systems costs of dealing with C-19 patients. To demonstrate that increasing case numbers do not necessarily mean rising health care costs such that those costs are greater than the economic pain of moving back to sheltering and shuttering, I examined S. FL's stats through 6/20 . Here they are (includes Palm Beach, Broward and Miami Dade COs):From 5/18 to 6/20 ED daily visits for C-19 like symptoms rose from 590 - 1210. I'd expect that with the growth rate of infections increasing like it is in FL.In the same period admissions dropped from 7% to 6%. You'd expect that figure to rise. It fell!My conclusion is that the hypothesis, increases in both new C-19 case numbers and ED visits for symptoms suggestive of C-19 will increase hospital admissions and therefore will increase C-19 related health care costs, is incorrect. I also concluded from my analysis that Bar, beach and restaurant closings in S. FL., something the local media is saying needs to be done, were not indicated Not yet. Let's see how official plans in each of the three S. Fl counties to cuing masking and social distancing along with enforcement works for two weeks. I just demonstrated that C-19 treatment related hospital costs are probably dropping and increases in "economic pain" (mitigation and containment with a return to sheltering and shuttering) given increased case #s are unjustified. As I wrote this post I thought, this reasoning applies to the foolishness of CDC's No-Sail-Order. I would imagine that the costs of caring for and transporting of confirmed C-19 cases that were aboard the multiple cruise ships in varying degrees is known right down to the dollar. Although I don't know what that total figure is and certainly it's safe to assume the cruise lines know a dollar figure that is associated with each passenger or crew member that received on-board care or transport, the cost of doing that can not possibly be close to the economic cost of continuing to shutter the cruise lines. Not even close. To put it another way, on a cost basis the economic pain the cruise lines are suffering because of the CDC's No-Sail-Order are likely to be greater than any costs of dealing with a single or multiple C-19 infections occurring on a cruise ship. End the No-Sail-Order.

Tips to go faster in a waterslide: Try to have as little of your body actually touching the slide as possible. Cross your ankles, cross your arms, lift your butt completely off the slide with all your weight on the heels of your feet and your shoulders. Try to keep your legs, butt, back and head off the slide as much as possible. The less body touching the slide the faster you go. That's how you get 3 plus spins around the toilet bowl... i mean champagne bowl... on the Supercell slide. EDIT: Since this is a topic about the Abyss. I want to add to NOT do this on the abyss.

I'll never forget the day of embarkation, at the windjammer, this older person reaching right into the chips for nachos with his hands! I politely reminded him that the tongs were for getting food from buffet. This other middle age man (not sure if related) to told me to mind my own business and I had told him politely that we all need to be food safe as this was not his home dinner table. He was pissed off! To Bad!

@AnnetteJackson and @StephanieH wish y'all the best. Been a pleasure meeting and working with ya.

Change is really the only constant in this world. My prayers go out to Danette in this difficult time. Good luck to you and Stephanie. I have really come to appreciate the TA’s at MEI.

Hoping to lift & shift our Sept cruise now. This is just getting so frustrating!!!

@JeffB Considering Fain has mumbled/walked back over the Aug 1st start date, hence him saying "when they return things will be...." I would raise my August to maybe 23% but no higher. I personally want to be proven wrong but too much evidence says to the contrary....like a CEO or other top executive making vague statements. I want cruises to start asap so all the kinks can be worked out by the time I feel comfortable enough to step on a ship. Where you lose me is your belief that Trump plays a part and that I somehow believe they haven't developed protocols. I stated that if it was "business only" based they haven't implemented any from a financial aspect. I have no doubt these past few months they have been at the drawing board. Why spend money, when A) you are already one of the cleanest, and B) they aren't approving said protocols. I can easily assume they haven't because they released their COVID protocols early on in the beginning of the year when cases started to appear. Listening to Fain he talks of blue ribbon panels and other stuff but vaguely...he also makes it seem like he is waiting until the CDC gives them a green light. I don't think anyone in government has the "best interest" of people or businesses not associated with them. This is why governments and such need to stay out of business, create committees and arbitrary rules, but stay in your lane. Had Trump and the government had such interest, we wouldn't have had to rush openings, beg to reopen or have so many failing businesses. I am sorry but Trump only cares about optics, he wants business to thrive so he can say he brought the USA back from economic extinction. Trump mentioned CCL and the cruise industry once or twice, in the beginning. They got no incentives and have been hung out to dry. Nobody is lobbying for them but themselves. While the amount of jobs the cruises industry provides might not be nothing to sneeze at, they are still international companies. As far as lawsuits goes, didn't say anything about whether the person has a chance at winning. Just that a person could sue. We all should be familiar with guilty until proven innocent, it happens all the time in life and even on this board. People don't read the cruise contract or choose wrong, then they post how RCCI is a fraud or nefarious etc. Now someone who doesn't know better think ill of RCCI. A lawsuit whether it is frivolous or not, hurts a company's image and people often reply with their wallet. Think about all the companies issuing BLM statements and firing people who have had racist issues in their past. We, I am a black woman, make up only 13% of the population....yet every company is trying to prove they aren't racist. So imagine a person suing for neglect because of COVID, the average person is going to go "boooooo no cruises, they wrong"...I mean that's what I read any time an article is posted about cruise lines.

I would absolutely go on a Royal cruise this weekend. But I would also not be stupid about it....just like when I went to the beach Memorial Day week. I would wear a mask when I am inside in crowded situations like boarding, going to the shops in the promenade, regularly use hand sanitizer after touching something other people touch, and of course wouldn’t shake hands and generally keep my distance from others. But I would still go to the pool, eat in the restaurants, and have a good time. My 4 teens would do what they are going to do and hang out with friends just like they do now when I’m home and when we were at the beach. I would tell them to be careful but realize they will only do so much. in terms of RCL, they haven’t said what they will / won’t do when allowed to sail again, but I’m sure we will be getting served in the Windjammer for a while. But it’s silly to think it won’t be modified once they do sail. Again, my key point here is that all other US travel businesses have opened or are opening...why can’t they? I do agree with some of the posts above that it’s rooted in taxes, number of jobs of US citizens Impacted vs non citizens, bad lobbying, etc. Plus all the negative press from the Princess ships.

EVERYTHING ISN'T A CONSPIRACY, PEOPLE

No problem, and be sure to have a good travel agent that can help through those steps in case you need to cancel.

I have 2 cruises on Oasis in 2020 and Sabor doesn't show up, I have 2 on Oasis in later 2021 and Sabor does show up. Interesting, Sabor was taken out when she was amped and El Loco fresh was added.

@Big Dawg Ron ? Really ? I thought about coming along but I don't have the energy to keep up with this wild man. Good luck !!! Besides, it looks like a guys-only deal. I never really wanted to go anyway... BTW, I am certain that @mpoole3 will have his feelings hurt by not being invited. ?