accio7

If you can’t drink enough to make the package worth it, you don’t have to abstain on your cruise.  Pay as you go and drink as you normally would.  This will also give you an excellent idea of what you actually spend so you’ll know what your break even point is in the future.

Always pay with a credit card that way you can dispute it.

Welcome to the forum, I absolutely feel your anger. But you reached out, that's good. Craft an non emotional email to the CEO Michael Bailey. He has staff that answer for him, mbailey@ rccl.com I do not believe they would condone or support these actions, but if they are unaware they should know this is happening. 
Explain your situation not the awful experience as your intended result is to be made whole, you can complain about the (ahem) questionable customer service separately (we here all have experienced the same hold times and odd if not always different answers) 
And finally once this is corrected connect with your preferred travel agent, we all here like MEI travel and I promise you they will take the BEST care of You! 
I wish you well, many of us here have a situation too, but I do have MEI in my corner so I am not where you are, YET. 
Good luck, please I hope to see you on a future sailing. Stay safe and healthy.

I do not find this to be helpful, I do not find RCL to be anywhere near a scam or an international Joke but love the fact you create an Alias with the same name as your topic title.  #Clever

A little Freudian slip there @coneyraven? Wishful thinking?
I would say that at this point, very few ships are "for sail" relative to the number that are for sale.

The October 11 Group cruise is back on the website along with all of the other October sailings out of Boston !!!
...but now, all categories except for inside cabins is showing "sold out".
To me, this seems to imply that the cruise has NOT been cancelled but that they have closed new reservations to achieve some kind of minimized occupancy.  Perhaps a change of itinerary ?
Of course, this is all pure speculation....but it's a change from yesterday !

I hope Peace will find it's way to your city!  

Yeah, I can't even deal with it now anyway.  Between the covids, the riots in Minnesota and my dog being mysteriously sick I just want to disappear into the mountains.

Wait it out. You only stand to benefit in terms of better deal back.
Not to mention there is a slimmest of slim chance the itinerary is changed.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/05/29/canada-extends-cruise-ship-ban-through-october-31

It’s now officially announced in this morning’s Press conference by Canada’s government:
No cruise ships will be allowed into Canadian ports before October 31, 2020 - effectively cancelling the Summer and early Fall cruising season in Canada.
This will mean more cancellations and itinerary changes for this year’s Alaska, Eastern seaboard, and Fall foliage cruises.

As they are not launched yet, I would say they are in a very unique position as far as training and recruiting with a totally new crew, and the other cruise lines won't follow suit.

Did someone say cookies? (there are cookies?) 

I'm about 30 miles south of Minneapolis.  I'm not a fan of that dept, but that's all I'll say here ?

Mail received this Morning from Royal Caribbean :
Dear Guest,
We hope that amidst this situation, you have remained healthy, safe, and optimistic that each day that passes, is another day closer to a more regular day-to-day. While this is like nothing any of us have ever experienced, we continue to evaluate how it impacts our upcoming sailings and our return to service.
The Hong Kong government advised they’re extending their social distancing policy which unfortunately means we must cancel your upcoming July 3rd, 2020 cruise onboard Voyager of the Seas. We know this is disappointing. We’re disappointed too. Below are some options for you, including one that has been very well received by our guests, as it provides a little something extra to use when we all start cruising again!
….

Just as a reminder. @matt has asked for no discussion of politics. It’s the sticky post at the top titled “don’t do these things”

Again, as I asked in another topic, what cruise related thing are you here for? You joined half an hour ago and have added nothing useful to any discussion. I’m more than willing to take a look at any credential you have in epidemiology, but we already have an epidemiologist here in @Baked Alaska . We’ve already got a designated troll, and luckily right now he/she only comes out from under that bridge on weekends. 

Nope, just a concerned insider who appreciates the community that @Matt has fostered for ten years now. 

I know it's not the same, however I had H1N1 when it went around, was in my mid 20s. Certainly wasnt pleasant and didnt eat for about 10 days and lived in the bathroom...but made it though. Now it's part of our flu vaccine I believe. 
That being said, my biggest fear in all of this has and still is with all the people we are trying to save from covid, we are killing them from many other things. Cancers not being diagnosed, or treated. Disease not being caught because people are scared of the ER etc. Not to mention people who suffered financially before ( and even people who weren't) are now going to be so much worse.  Malnutrition etc. Not to mention the rise in anxiety, depression and suicide. 
Just my opinion...

I had the Hong Kong flu in the early 70's.  I can tell you that it was the sickest I have ever been in my life.  I was a teenager, but I was DOWN HARD.  I remember laying on the couch and not being able to even move.

Sigh. I just want to live in a world where this isn't our every day talk. I'm fine with a new normal. I'll wear masks if I need to. I'll learn to not touch my face as much. I just want to have this not be every topic of conversation.
@JLMoran I don't mean to be a jerk on your post. This is valid information and I'm not directing my jerkiness at you. 

Article from today’s WaPo discussing the realities we need to face around the likelihood this virus is NEVER “going away”.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/05/27/coronavirus-endemic/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most
 
The article rightly points out we already have 4 coronaviruses today, which cause the common cold and which have never been stamped out. Vaccinations will help with managing this virus, but we have to stop looking for a quick-fix solution to “get us back to normal” and understand that the presence of COVID-19 is the new normal.
I don’t think for a second this means that we’re all going to be isolated for the rest of our lives, or that cruising is done as a form of travel and vacation, or that we’re done for as a species. But I think it does mean we really should stop saying things like, “Things will be back to how they were once 2021 comes around”, and start planning on lives where this new virus is going to be a thorn in our side for at least the next decade.
Hopefully our favorite cruise line and all the others are already taking that long-term view.

I think we need to keep perspective here. This isn't the first pandemic, or even the worst pandemic we've faced.
Most recent one I remember is the Hong Kong flu of 1968/69. It is remarkably similar to Covid in many ways.
The US death toll was 100,000, which on a percentage basis is worse.
How did we respond then? We put men on the moon and celebrated with a ticker tape parade in Times Square.  We held Woodstock.  Royal Caribbean started sailing just a few years later.
A vaccine was in development, but the virus burned out before it was available. 
 
I expect something similar with Covid 

Here's been our experience with the sudden round of cancellations.
 
My wife and I were booked on the 18 October 2020 cruise to Canada out of Boston.  As soon as the cancellations were promulgated, our TA called my wife to notify us.  My wife then called me at work.  She wasn't able to pass on many of the details---I'm the one who handles the logistics for our cruises---but I got the gist:  the 2020 cruise was off.  My biggest concern at that moment:  I had done a great deal of research and had booked that cruise almost two years ahead of the sailing date; I got a hell of a good fare and the precise suite I wanted on board Brilliance of the Seas; and I didn't want to have to pay more than that original fare, nor lose that particular suite, should we reschedule the cruise.
 
That latter concerned me more because I knew every other person whose Canadian cruise had been canx would be looking to rebook.
 
Fortunately, we have a head's-up TA.  As soon as she got the word that our 2020 cruise was canx, she booked us on a 2021 cruise, same destination, same itinerary, same suite, in the same week in October, 2021.  The TA and I had several phone calls and e-mails over the next couple of days.  There have been some "teething pains" as Royal Caribbean has scrambled to adjust to this recent spate of cancellations, but here's what fell out for us:
 
The original fare I paid has been preserved, under Royal Caribbean's "lift and shift" plan.  All of the purchases for the 2020 cruise (excursions, shipboard events, beverage package) we made through the cruise planner are being refunded.
 
As for our air tickets to Boston, I had purchased those myself---it was cheaper than going through the cruiseline:  two first-class tickets from Charlotte to Boston and back, on American Airlines.  I just finished talking to a rep at AA about the situation, and here's what happens there.  They've cancelled our current air reservations and supplied us with a voucher for the amount we paid.  At the end of November/start of December of this year, their October, 2021 flight schedules will be published.  As long as I make new reservations before the end of March, 2021, the voucher will be applied to the new reservations.  The AA rep candidly told me that we might have to pay for any increase in fare, but if the fare drops, then we will be refunded any amount left on the voucher.  I figure that's about as good a deal as we're going to get.
 
Obviously, the Good Mrs. Benson and I aren't crazy about adding another twelve months to the wait---a lot can happen in a year---but it appears that we've landed about as well as could be expected, given the situation.