twangster

How active is everyone? Is beach a big draw or are you looking for something away from the beach since CocoCay will be a beach day?

FWIW - RCG is the only cruise family that provides reciprocal status of any sort. The product and price/point structure is so different I'm grateful for what we do get between them. The Carnival family does zip between brands within the family.

Normally they don't require anyone under the DX age to buy any package. It's only when a second person is of age but applies for a DX exemption that they require a refreshment package be purchased for them. I've sailed with a 20 y.o. before from the U.S. and I was able to buy only one DX for me, no package for them.

Wow. If it's any consolation refunds haven't actually been taking 45 days here even though that's what they say every time. Refunds I requested on 4/16 were posted to my credit card on 4/22. Visa is slower at processing compared to American Express by a few days.

I never thought of this. That would be a bummer if the plan was to divide parents between two cabins so only one had to buy the DX only to find out now the cabin with an 18-20 y.o. has to buy it for them too.

What do you call a cow during an earthquake? A milkshake.

How long before the whale tail joins the party?

Welcome to the message boards! Coco Beach Club is included for no one, not even suite guests. There are no designated suite areas at CocoCay. The only way to gain access is for everyone to purchase a pass. With the numbers in your group you should look into a cabana within Coco Beach Club since that includes passes to Coco Beach Club.

Next action for HB-267 is on Monday 4/26/2021. 4/23/2021 House • Bill referred to House Calendar • Bill added to Special Order Calendar (4/26/2021)

While SB-426 was working its way through the Florida Senate, the Florida House of Representatives has been working on their version of the identical bill. HB-267 https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/267/?Tab=BillHistory It appears HB-267 has cleared three committees, had the first reading in the House and is on the calendar for the 2nd reading. 4/22/2021 House • Bill referred to House Calendar • Added to Second Reading Calendar

Most people are shocked when they find out how bad an electrician I am.

Okay number 2. Having to re-enter my details over and over again when searching for a cruise. CAS #, age, state of residence, etc. I should be able to enter that once per session or login and it already knows my state, my age, my CAS#, etc.

Welcome to the message boards!

In the spirit of keeping this to defining the "most" frustrating thing... Inconsistency. Different ships, different crew members, different agents implementing the same thing differently. From the suite experience on newer ships with Royal Suite Class, to one ship allowing Johnny Rockets with the UDP while another won't, to a loyalty ambassador who implements their own version of the program rules and everything in between. Pick a policy, process or procedure and apply it equally across the fleet.

The race is on! Will @Matt overtake cruise slacker @mpoole3 or will there be a late surge to defend his throne?

I received a response that was not some generic cut and paste that all emails get. Dear , Thank you for contacting me to express your support for restarting cruises out of U.S. cruise port terminals, including Port Canaveral. I am in full agreement with you and have made resumption of cruises from U.S. ports a priority. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is the barrier to allowing cruises from U.S. ports. Unfortunately, the Administration's new CDC Director, Rochelle Walensky, has failed to update the Framework for Conditional Sailing (CSO) that was put in place last year. With the large numbers of Americans having immunity by either recovering from COVID or having been vaccinated, or who are practicing safe distancing and safety protocols, it is clear that the CDC policy is outdated. Also, cruise lines have put in place many safety protocols for overseas cruises and the CDC must recognize that they can be put in place for ships leaving U.S. ports. Also, CDC guidance can be easily skirted by U.S. citizens who fly to the Caribbean and board a cruise ship, sail, and return to the United States, avoiding all of the restrictions that the CDC has proposed for U.S. cruise passengers. Among the steps I have taken to get the Biden Administration to revise the CDC policy are: Cosponsored H.R. 2554, directing CDC to allow safe cruises by July 1, 2021; Recent meeting with White House officials to ask the COVID Task Force to appoint a point person to work directly to resolve issues between CDC and cruise lines; Wrote to the Administration outlining reasons to open the United States for cruises; and Met with cruise industry officials and the Florida Ports Caucus Members of Congress to better collaborate on a path forward. The bottom line is that U.S. cruising is responsible for tens of thousands of Florida jobs, and they are needlessly suffering. Resolving this issue quickly is a top priority for me. It is an honor to serve you in Congress. Please visit www.posey.house.gov/survey2021 to share your views with me on issues before Congress and to sign up for our periodic newsletters and telephone townhall meetings. Please reach out to us if we can be of service to you. Sincerely, Bill Posey Member of Congress

What did the grape do when he got stepped on? He let out a little wine.

It's actually immigration law that prevents cruises to nowhere. Foreign crew working with C-1/D crew VISAS can't stay in the US and/or work in the US. When a ship does cruises to nowhere it effectively never leaves the US (dipping toes into international water doesn't count). Therefore foreign crew violate their crew VISA when they work on cruises to nowhere. Cruises to nowhere would be a game changer in the restart but they are not in the deck of cards the cruise lines are forced to play with.

Keep in mind that the type of deposit is only relevant prior to making final payment. Once you reach final payment due date and you pay for the cruise in full, at that point standard cancellation terms apply regardless if you had a refundable or non-refundable deposit. You can convert a refundable rate to non-refundable rate but not the other way around. Often though cruise prices increase over time and when you convert it's done at prevailing rates on that day, not what the rates were when you originally booked. For this reason it often doesn't make sense to convert from refundable to non-refundable.

The price difference between refundable and NRD can be all over the place. I've seen the increase be from $0 to over $2,000 just to make a cruise refundable. Interior and OV cabins often have small difference while balcony and JS suites can be a higher fee to make it refundable. Grand Suite and above are mostly not available refundable. There are some exceptions but for the most part full suites are always NRD. It never hurts to ask or look for the check box near the end of the booking process right before putting a deposit down on the Royal website.

Welcome to the message boards. There is a thread about this so take comfort knowing you aren't the first. In my experience with the new UI the pricing does track with $1 on a level playing field. You probably grabbed it before when it was discounted and now it's a higher price not because of the new UI, that's just how Royal pricing works, old UI or new UI. Unless you are on a Haifa based cruise there will be many sales between now and when Odyssey sails elsewhere. There should be an opportunity to watch for sales and hopefully find it again at a lower price. Another word of warning - Royal excursions that Royal themselves provides such as items at CocoCay also now are now subject to tax. Don't cancel any other excursions without factoring in 12% VAT in the Bahamas. Excursion provided by 3rd parties such as Swim with the Pigs, don't seem to be subject to taxation, just Royal items.

With a side of: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/06/12/five-lessons-ive-learned-all-these-cancelled-cruises https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/08/25/how-plan-cruise-vacation-maximum-flexibility https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/12/08/10-mistakes-travel-agents-see-people-make-going-cruise-ship

...and then this: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/06/20/video-should-you-book-refundable-or-non-refundable-cruise-fare

Let's start here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/01/22/royal-caribbean-refundable-versus-non-refundable-cruise-fares