jensspark

I had one on Liberty last week and it was AMAZING!

I had one on Liberty last week and it was AMAZING!

We were on Liberty last week and it was a challenge! They could have stood to increase capacity for pools/hot tubs/elevators/etc to account for the huge increase in passenger capacity. Also, more show offerings would've been nice. She's my favorite ship, but they were definitely experiencing some "growing pains" over Thanksgiving!

We were on Liberty last week and it was a challenge! They could have stood to increase capacity for pools/hot tubs/elevators/etc to account for the huge increase in passenger capacity. Also, more show offerings would've been nice. She's my favorite ship, but they were definitely experiencing some "growing pains" over Thanksgiving!

From Royal Caribbean:
The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here — this is the green light for adventure! Cruises from the U.S. return this July with a full lineup of award-winning ships. We’re getting back to the Caribbean and back to what we do best — making vacation memories with you. 

As we begin our journey to a gradual and safe operational return, we have  carefully followed the guidance from the Healthy Sail Panel, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Preventions (CDC), and various government and health authorities to pave our path forward, ensuring the well-being of your clients, our crew, and the communities we visit. Our approach will remain very deliberate and methodical. It is for these reasons that our fleetwide return will be progressive in nature, with a roll-out plan spanning across the next several months. A subsequent communication detailing the protocols and boarding requirements your clients can expect for our U.S. based ships will be shared at a later date.

We can’t wait to welcome you and your clients onboard again. Come back and
Come Seek the Royal Caribbean®.
While we are thrilled about our long-awaited return to service in the U.S., we regrettably must cancel the following sailings as we prepare:
Allure of the Seas®departing Port Canaveral: July 4-August 1, 2021
Brilliance of the Seas® departing Tampa: July 3-August 28, 2021
Enchantment of the Seas® departing Baltimore: July 1-August 26, 2021
Explorer of the Seas® departing Galveston: July 5-Sept 22 & October 25, 2021
Freedom of the Seas® departing Bayonne: July 3-October 23, 2021
Harmony of the Seas® departing Barcelona & Rome: July 4-August 12, 2021
Harmony of the Seas® departing Rome: August 19 & 26, 2021
Liberty of the Seas® departing Galveston: July 4-August 8, 2021
Mariner of the Seas® departing Port Canaveral: July 2-August 20, 2021
Oasis of the Seas® departing Bayonne: July 2-August 29, 2021
Rhapsody of the Seas® departing Ravenna/Venice: July 3-November 30, 2021
Symphony of the Seas® departing Miami: July 3-August 7, 2021
We understand the disappointment these cancelations may cause to your clients. For those not previously canceled under our Cruise with Confidence program, please click the Canceled Sailings button below to review compensation options, which will also be communicated to impacted guests shortly
 

From Royal Caribbean:
The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here — this is the green light for adventure! Cruises from the U.S. return this July with a full lineup of award-winning ships. We’re getting back to the Caribbean and back to what we do best — making vacation memories with you. 

As we begin our journey to a gradual and safe operational return, we have  carefully followed the guidance from the Healthy Sail Panel, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Preventions (CDC), and various government and health authorities to pave our path forward, ensuring the well-being of your clients, our crew, and the communities we visit. Our approach will remain very deliberate and methodical. It is for these reasons that our fleetwide return will be progressive in nature, with a roll-out plan spanning across the next several months. A subsequent communication detailing the protocols and boarding requirements your clients can expect for our U.S. based ships will be shared at a later date.

We can’t wait to welcome you and your clients onboard again. Come back and
Come Seek the Royal Caribbean®.
While we are thrilled about our long-awaited return to service in the U.S., we regrettably must cancel the following sailings as we prepare:
Allure of the Seas®departing Port Canaveral: July 4-August 1, 2021
Brilliance of the Seas® departing Tampa: July 3-August 28, 2021
Enchantment of the Seas® departing Baltimore: July 1-August 26, 2021
Explorer of the Seas® departing Galveston: July 5-Sept 22 & October 25, 2021
Freedom of the Seas® departing Bayonne: July 3-October 23, 2021
Harmony of the Seas® departing Barcelona & Rome: July 4-August 12, 2021
Harmony of the Seas® departing Rome: August 19 & 26, 2021
Liberty of the Seas® departing Galveston: July 4-August 8, 2021
Mariner of the Seas® departing Port Canaveral: July 2-August 20, 2021
Oasis of the Seas® departing Bayonne: July 2-August 29, 2021
Rhapsody of the Seas® departing Ravenna/Venice: July 3-November 30, 2021
Symphony of the Seas® departing Miami: July 3-August 7, 2021
We understand the disappointment these cancelations may cause to your clients. For those not previously canceled under our Cruise with Confidence program, please click the Canceled Sailings button below to review compensation options, which will also be communicated to impacted guests shortly
 

Thanks! We were booked on Oasis for Thanksgiving 2020 in a 2 bedroom Aqua Theater suite (dream cruise!!!) which of course didn't happen. Our anniversary is 8/3, but we pushed back to 8/14 to give more time and because we wanted an itinerary we had done before so we could enjoy the ship in port. We're based in Houston, so have sailed Liberty many times and were ready to move up to the next level!!
I'm probably going to double book for that week and then use Cruise with Confidence for a FCC and cancel Adventure if Symphony gets the green light. I'd rather have 2 booked than hold out and get a last minute cancellation without another option. I know we'll use the FCC and would prefer the 125% since I'm having to book that Aqua Theater suite in the future (son graduates in 2024, so will book as soon as it goes on sale).

Finger crossed you get some answers soon.  Adventure is a great ship I've sailed on her numerous times but there is nothing that can compare to an Oasis Class ship.  My fingers are crossed your sailing does not get canceled.

Well, now I’m worried about our August 14 sailing on Symphony. This is so confusing to me. The point of doing test cruises was to accommodate families, but at this rate kids will be returning to school before the paid sailings start. At that point, wouldn’t 95/98% sailings have been the better option?

Well, now I’m worried about our August 14 sailing on Symphony. This is so confusing to me. The point of doing test cruises was to accommodate families, but at this rate kids will be returning to school before the paid sailings start. At that point, wouldn’t 95/98% sailings have been the better option?

This! I prefer Royal over any other cruise line. I’m also a TA. This entire announcement and the confusion it has caused would have been alleviated if they had moved forward with cancellations. Nobody wants to learn their cruise was cancelled by reading it on Facebook, especially when the message starts with “Yippee”. What do I as a TA say to clients? 

Well, now I’m worried about our August 14 sailing on Symphony. This is so confusing to me. The point of doing test cruises was to accommodate families, but at this rate kids will be returning to school before the paid sailings start. At that point, wouldn’t 95/98% sailings have been the better option?

This! I prefer Royal over any other cruise line. I’m also a TA. This entire announcement and the confusion it has caused would have been alleviated if they had moved forward with cancellations. Nobody wants to learn their cruise was cancelled by reading it on Facebook, especially when the message starts with “Yippee”. What do I as a TA say to clients? 

This! I prefer Royal over any other cruise line. I’m also a TA. This entire announcement and the confusion it has caused would have been alleviated if they had moved forward with cancellations. Nobody wants to learn their cruise was cancelled by reading it on Facebook, especially when the message starts with “Yippee”. What do I as a TA say to clients? 

And I'm holding out hope my Aug 15 Allure cruise goes forward... if I was RC I'd just say for the Aug cruises everyone needs to be vaccinated to cruise so they aren't dependent on CDC approval of the test cruise.   Otherwise they are likely canceling another round of cruises waiting for the CDC approval.

I will say this. They need to fire whoever is in charge of Marketing/PR.
Michael's Bayley FB post was tone deaf. Yippee!!! is how he starts? Does he not realize how that will be received by customers on July/August sailings that for the first time they realize that their sailings will be cancelled?? Not every cruiser keeps up with cruise news and boards like this. They trust Royal and what they are told. Bayley's FB message was totally tone deaf and put TAs in a terrible position today not to mention those poor customer service reps that man the phones who are now being instructed to outright lie to paying customers. This is a PR nightmare. It would have been better to announce cancellations FIRST and then announce test cruises. I get it, Bayley is rightfully excited about test sailings but did he even run this by his fellow execs and Marketing/PR departments before he announced on FB? If so, did no other exec stop and give him some pause as how this would be received by passengers on July/August sailings? 
This is truly an unforced error by Royal in customer relations and PR

Safe travels! 

Glad you’re here @jensspark!  Hopefully you will be able to find something helpful here - if I ever get serious?

I’m super excited to follow along! We are Star Class in the ATS on Oasis over Thanksgiving week. 

I’m super excited to follow along! We are Star Class in the ATS on Oasis over Thanksgiving week.