Jump to content

accio7

Members
  • Posts

    309
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

Reputation Activity

  1. Like
    accio7 reacted to smokeybandit in Moving to Florida for long time Cruiser from California Pros and Cons ?   
    Not if you're moving from California.
     
    Really the only con is the the fact it's hot and humid all the time and hurricanes like to visit Florida.
  2. Sad
    accio7 reacted to Bowen in Medical emergency on Allure   
    We went up to change for formal photos and heard the Alpha call. We started trying to make our way down about an hour late and they had the exit closed. They were making calls trying to get permission to move the body, so I presume it was a death. The crew came out when there were a dozen of us and escorted through the emergency exit.
  3. Like
    accio7 reacted to Biaggio in Trans Atlantic back to back   
    It’s possible, we are scheduled to do it October 26, 2024 Port Canaveral to Lisbon, then November 10th Barcelona back to Port Canaveral. A rare opportunity so we jumped on it. A few days between cruises allows us to do laundry and do some sightseeing over there. 
  4. Like
    accio7 reacted to Montemy2419 in Trans Atlantic back to back   
    I think that would only be possible if you were to cruise Cunard on one of the legs.  The Queen Mary 2 does several Transatlantic crossings so next April we are on RC transatlantic ending in Southampton.  We then spend almost a week in London and are returning on Cunard.
  5. Like
    accio7 reacted to twangster in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    The news that Royal chose to delay the construction of the new Galveston terminal has been out for several months now. 
    Why the sudden rush to slam guest over to Liberty?
    They are days or weeks from figuring out where Allure will be moved to.  Some claim to already know but they haven't made Allure bookable yet.
    Why not wait until its known where Allure will go and offer guests the option of staying on her?  Seems like a win-win as another choice.   
       A. Do nothing and enjoy the wonderful Allure of the Seas from her new home port in XYZ.
       B. Enjoy the beautiful Liberty of the Seas who will remain in Texas where guest have grown to love her.
       C. Since we made the choice to cause this unfortunate situation you are entitled to a prompt full refund without hesitation.
       D. We have a number of other ships sailing wonderful itineraries.  We'll gladly move your deposit to any ship in any cabin based on prevailing rates.
    Wow, what a nice presentation of choices.
     
    Instead they went with:
       You are now on Liberty like it or not.  It's not negotiable. 
       Oh wait, this is blowing up on social media for some strange reason.  Okay fine, you can have a refund but you're going to wait a long time for it.    
     
    Come on man!
    Who's running this company? (asking as an investor)
  6. Haha
    accio7 reacted to Andrew72681 in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    I was thinking the same thing, if the @twangster bot is becoming sentient and attacking we’re going to be really screwed when Lulubot @Lovetocruise2002 goes after the programmers. It’s clearly the first step to Skynet. 
  7. Like
    accio7 reacted to Matt in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    Glad to hear it got sorted out, but the take-away for me here is to always book refundable cruise fare.
    NRD seems like a good idea at the time, but the inflexibility it creates in unexpected situations such as this has catapulted it from "you probably shouldn't book NRD" to "you should NOT book NRD".
  8. Like
    accio7 reacted to twangster in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    I'm curious where has Michael Bayley gone?  Why must Richard Fain be the face of Royal Caribbean International?  
    Lisa Lutoff-Perlo has been busy and visible to the Celebrity community while Michael Bayley has become like a shy child hiding behind Richard Fain's leg.
    Time for some leadership.  Anyone can head an organization during good times and get away with blunders, it's during times of challenge that leaders become clear.  It's time to stop the blunders and lead.  
  9. Like
    accio7 reacted to Baked Alaska in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    100% agree with you @jticarruthers. I really recommended RCL these past 2 years, coming from Disney Cruise Line, I would say you get the same thing from RCL as you do from DCL. My tune has definitely changed. If you can afford DCL, go with them (if the casino is not your thing and you don't mind kids). I have also found that the hospitality industry is still very much alive with DCL, from all levels of their cast members.
    To @twangster's point: RCL is constantly screwing up/"you". I will continue to use MEI FOR SURE, but RCL will probably not be considered first. Fixtures, food, etc, yeh, I get why pay more for that on DCL, but why do I have to pay so much more for competence and knowledge? Shouldn't be that way. RCL needs to pull it's head out of it's you know what! 
  10. Like
    accio7 reacted to jticarruthers in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    I learned my lesson a few years back when I went through the Adventure of the Seas "soft launch" and Royal made it very clear who held all the cards. That's when Royal went from my brand of choice to being one of several options that i consider. I have since enjoyed cruises on multiple other lines (and still Royal when its the right fit) but I went from being a Loyal to Royal cheerleader to recommending several brands when asked.
     
     
  11. Sad
    accio7 reacted to twangster in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    It has been reported that Royal has relented faced with so much backlash on social media. Too little too late, mine is cancelled.
    It's tiresome dealing with a company that doesn't understand it's guests, puts two left feet forward and only after tripping and falling on their face do they go back and try to recover, time and again.  Why does it have to become a scandal on social media for them to do the right thing?
    It does go to show the value of using a travel agent but enough is enough.  The most important reason to use a travel agent should not be "because the company is so screwed up you don't want to have to deal with them".
  12. Sad
    accio7 reacted to twangster in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    My next cruises are four on Odyssey that my TA acknowledges are not going to happen.  We can't do anything on those right now so we have to wait for Royal to officially modify them.  
    Sadly we both lament we get to repeat this sh*t show four times over when Royal finally admits Odyssey isn't sailing in November.  I think my TA is going to fire me.  
  13. Like
    accio7 reacted to WAAAYTOOO in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    This should not happen. For 1 person to get their booking transferred with price protection and everyone else has to cancel, wait 90 days and start all over again at significantly higher prices is just wrong on so many levels.  Not only is the whole situation noxious, the level of service and CS incompetence is staggering.  This is going to result a LOT of turmoil and festering feelings.
  14. Like
    accio7 reacted to Andrew72681 in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    Unfortunately I think more of us should have taken the disputed charge tactic at the beginning when they started playing the long game with refunds. 
  15. Sad
    accio7 reacted to twangster in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    My TA has invested several hours on this talking with various levels.  
    Royal "offered" to move us to another ship waiving the $100 NRD fee but there would be no price protection.  We would need to pay prevailing rates for Star Class on another ship.  Since we booked Allure within an hour of it opening up we had a pretty good rate.  That rate isn't available on other ships and Star Class availability is pretty low in general.  
    They refused to grant any equivalent Star Class benefits for accepting their move of our booking to Liberty.  No gratuity, no Voom, No beverage package, no dining package, etc.  
    Finally they offered a 100% refund of the non-refundable deposit.  I jumped at this. 
    They said it can take up to 90 days to receive the refund.  I had a talk with my credit card company and explained it all truthfully.  Royal cancelled the cruise, attempted to substitute an inferior ship in a different class of service and ultimately they offered a refund in full but at 90 days away.  My credit card company also found this 90 days to be unacceptable so they are disputing the transaction on the basis that it shouldn't take 90 days to receive a refund when the merchant cancelled the service and will eventually issue the refund in full.  
  16. Like
    accio7 reacted to twangster in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    My agent has been fighting with them. 
    No price protection at the moment.  They'll waive the $100 per person fee to move me to another ship but fare will be adjusted to prevailing rates for that ship.      
    The only new thing this afternoon is an offer for 100% cancellation refund.  I'm jumping at this every chance I get.  Whenever the option for all of my deposit back is offered that is a no brainer for me.  
  17. Like
    accio7 reacted to melmar02 in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    Someone just posted the text below on a LOS Facebook page. Maybe there's hope after all? 
    If you were booked on ALLURE and thought your options were limited to Liberty, That has changed today. Call if you wish to make changes. You can now: (1) Still move to Liberty, (2) Move to ANY other ship on a Caribbean cruise with your 7 night price protected (you can move 4 weeks before or after as well, like lift and shift), or (3) get a refund of your deposit (whether it was refundable or not). We moved to Symphony, for the two weeks, in January 2022..Mine is done! Call RC if you want to make changes. Your move is still covered by Cruise with Confidence.We did have to pay a small difference in port fees. We are VERY pleased, since we wouldn't be getting Allure in Galveston then.
  18. Sad
    accio7 reacted to twangster in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    Standard NRDB rules apply.  I'll lose $100 of my $250 towards a fee for not sailing a ship I didn't book. 
    Plus I'll lose all of the the deposit I paid for my siblings since the FCC generated goes to them.  They are brand new cruisers who just got rid of their timeshare and wanted to try cruising but now have an awful taste in their mouth for Royal.  All the king's horses and the king's men won't be able to help me put that humpty dumpty back together again.  
  19. Like
    accio7 reacted to Baked Alaska in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    You would think that if they would send an email describing a room category change that they would send an email describing A WHOLE FREAK'N SHIP CHANGE!!! I'm sure there's a room category change in there, too! WOW!! TOTAL BAIT AND SWITCH! SO WRONG ON SO MANY LEVELS!! It's like you think your booking the concierge floor at the Hyatt and you end up at the free morning buffet Best Western Plus and free use of the house phone to arrange your own activities (a la concierge)! TOTALLY WRONG WRONG WRONG! 
    I hope that @Mattor Doug Parker, Cruise Radio News, will cover this on their next podcast.
  20. Like
    accio7 reacted to Lovetocruise2002 in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    @twangster you might want to try your luck.  Someone in another group lost her ATS on Allure and they moved her to a JS on Liberty.  She fought it and now today they moved her to an ATS on Symphony, she had to move her sail date but they kept her pricing the same.  YMMV
  21. Like
    accio7 reacted to KathyC in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    Ugh.  I'm pretty sure my Empress sailing in August will be canceled, as it's the only one on the schedule between now and late October when she is due in Miami.  We've been wondering why they didn't just cancel it with all the other cancellations for Canadian sailings - this was the only one to Bermuda on Empress's schedule past August 1.  All the rest were to Canada. 

    Now you have me thinking they may send another ship in her place, which means we will not be docking in Hamilton and St. Georges but back over at the Royal Dockyard.  The whole appeal of this sailing (besides all the friends on it) was to dock where no other ship can.  We docked in those two small ports in 1997 on Song of America.  Sighhhhh...
  22. Like
    accio7 reacted to marti314 in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    This happens a LOT with airlines.  They will cancel a route completely.  Put you on different Aircraft, different connections,  move your seats  but the BIG difference is any time this happens with an airline you have the option for full cancel and full refund due to the changes which are NOT what you agreed to in your contract with them.  
    RCL is digging itself a bigger hole than this pandemic has already handed out.
  23. Wow
    accio7 reacted to twangster in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    I found out by looking at my future cruises on the website. 
    They removed me from Star Class that would have included a Genie, prepaid gratuity, Voom, deluxe beverage package and the dining package among other benefits and now those are all lost since Liberty doesn't offer Star Class.  No change in fare, no compensation, no refund option.  Can't Lift & Shift a fall 2021 cruise and CWC doesn't apply as I've only paid a deposit.   Sail Liberty or walk away from my deposit.  
    For my party including family members sailing with me, adding gratuity, Voom, deluxe beverage and the dining package adds nearly $4k to the cruise cost.  
  24. Wow
    accio7 reacted to Andrew72681 in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    It’s been a hot garbage fire especially for suites. There was a person who was in a 2 bedroom Aquatheater suite and they told her the only option was to move to a Junior Suite on Liberty. No compensation at all for the lost inclusions (dining, beverage, etc)
  25. Sad
    accio7 reacted to twangster in Warning - Royal Changing Ships Without Notice   
    I always try to stay positive but Royal has implemented an unprecedented change that should be a cause for concern for everyone.  They are changing a ship, swapping an Oasis class ship to a Freedom class ship and arbitrarily moving guests into new cabins with no recourse, no refund and few options.
    This is unprecedented and it should be a cause for concern for anyone booking a Royal Caribbean cruise.  The ship and cabin or cabin category you book may not be what you find yourself sailing. 
    Without notice or communication your ship and cabin can be substituted to something else. 
    We all know that the cruise contract allows Royal to make certain changes when they are required to do so.  Historically that has resulted in itinerary changes that substitute different ports of call.  That's different than swapping in an entirely different ship.   Historically when Royal redeploys a ship the future cruises on the impacted ship are cancelled and they have typically offer some sort of compensation in the form of a small on board credit.  That's not happening now.
    In the case of Allure of the Seas from Galveston Royal Caribbean has decided to postpone building the new terminal there which means that Allure can't sail from Galveston as they had planned.  
    This morning I have discovered that rather than cancelling Allure bookings Royal has substituted Liberty of the Seas in her place and arbitrarily changed cabins to a different cabin category downgrading in the process.
    The options they have offered - accept their change or lose the deposit.   
    Imagine booking an international flight in First Class that includes lie flat seats, complimentary meal and beverage service and everything else that goes with First Class only to discover the airline has swapped in a smaller plane and placed you in another seat that doesn't include any First Class benefits.  That is what Royal Caribbean is now doing on future cruises without changing the fare paid or offering any compensation.
    This change is unprecedented. 
    Why Should This Matter To You
    The cruise you book can and will be changed by Royal Caribbean to anything they want without notice or compensation.  They aren't just changing some ports on an itinerary, they are now changing the entire ship and cabin category.  
    Let's say you booked Oasis of the Seas.  You may find that ship has been redeployed due to the pandemic and now your cruise is moved to another ship.  Maybe even a smaller ship that doesn't offer your type of cabin or any of the features and activities for the ship you booked.
    I can understand why they need to do this.  Cancelling thousands of bookings at a time when there is no income is a recipe for bankruptcy.  However for us, the cruising public on the receiving end of these unprecedented changes, it represents a whole new level of risk when booking a cruise.  
    This pandemic has created unprecedented changes at so many levels.  This move by Royal Caribbean represents a new twist to vacation planning on a level we've never experienced before.
    I've long said I don't care where the cruise goes, just get me on the ship.  The problem now when booking a cruise is I don't know what ship I will actually be sailing on.
×
×
  • Create New...