VACruiser

I have to wear a mask at work when not sitting at my desk and I have become accustomed to wearing one; but, I don’t think I would be interested on going on a cruise if it were required. I expect my vacation to be a relaxing period of time and wearing a face covering while sitting at the pool just seems the opposite of relaxation.
 

It will be funny when face tans everywhere but the nose down to your lips becomes the new fad.  

1 hour ago, mattymay said:

Yes, I realise, but at some point the industry needs to say ok you've had the vaccine, that's all we need to allow you on our ship.

I live in Australia and pre-covid we often travel to Florida to board cruise ships. I can tell you now we wont be travelling all that way just to be told we can't board because one of us has a high temp, etc.. 

I'm not sure the average ratio of overseas passengers per cruise but I would suspect there would be many people in the same situation.

I was feeling terrible last time I boarded Ovation of the Seas in Sydney around Nov last year. Took some medication the morning of boarding and was feeling fine the next day. What would happen these days? Would probably be denied boarding. In my opinion this makes cruising not a very desirable option as you don't really know if you can actually go on your holiday until you wake up that morning and are lucky enough that everyone feels ok. For those that don't live near a cruise port it can be quite costly just getting there (flights, hotel, etc). Is the cruise line going to reimburse me for that? 

 

I would imagine you would get the two normal options - Future Cruise Credit or refund in which flights and hotels are on you and I agree that would be the hard pill to swallow. I too live quite a distance from a cruise port, not Australia mind you, but nonetheless, still costs money to fly and I need a hotel.
 

Pretty much over the years I budgeted a thousand U.S. dollars for movement to the port and hotel with restaurants. Sometimes it may not cost that much but other times I’m pretty close to that number. Cruising isn’t cheap so the thought of not making it on a ship gives me anxiety when what I’m looking for is fun in the sun. 

6 hours ago, mattymay said:

Need a vaccine. Die hards will do this, your average family wont.

 

Covid-19 is a strain of the many cold and flu viruses we humans can get on an annual basis. Even if a vaccine can be developed for this one strain, the virus will mutate like all other viruses do. People have to start to understand this will be with us forever as just another virus that can make you sick. We are going to have to live with this beast. However it got into humans will be debated for years but the one thing we do know is it is not going away anytime soon. 
 

I ventured out for a Flu vaccine last year because I knew I was cruising in March 20 on Oasis and low and behold I get the flu 5 days before the cruise and had to shift my cruise to Dec 20 on Harmony which now I have subsequently cancelled with a refund.  I got Influenza Type A and the vaccine last year was for a different strain. It’s going to be like this in the future with the many different strains that will mutate. 

You can also hit them up on Twitter or Facebook and you will get a response. In my case I had waited 60 days for a refund and called my TA who in turn called RCI to find out my refund had fallen through a big dark crevasse (my visual anyways) and got lost. Once that was determined I got a refund within 5 days. 
 
I have learned in the cruise world having a Travel Agent is almost a mandatory only because the cruise lines can be very hard to deaI with and I think it’s almost by design. 

I have a Crown Loft Suite (CLS) planned for November 21 on Oasis of the Seas that I booked in 2019. After the most recent sale came out this week I priced another cruise for a CLS for April 22, and to my surprise, I noticed that the price had risen $1300 dollars for the exact same specifications. Sorry if I’m late to the sad-party but has this been the case on all cruises going forward? 
 

The difference in price was $5400 to $6700 with the exact specifications. That’s a pretty big jump in price. 

It took over 75 days to get my refund for my last non-cruise so the sting is still very real to me. It would take a lot of time and forgetting the last experience for me to give RCI any money. I swore I would never give them money until they start cruising again and at the moment I’m standing by that. Count me on the I’m on the #nomoneyRCI train. We’ll see how long that lasts when the 2022 cruises get posted in the fall. 

8 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

Today is July 18. I still haven't received any refund or activity on my RCCL BOFA card.

I’m with you on that...today is July 19 ( cancelled 18 May 20) and still nothing of a refund. I called my TA last week, and much to my chagrin, my paperwork for the refund fell through the cracks - imagine that.  So the TA went over the numbers with RCI to make sure the refund will be correct, and after RCI keeping $200 due to a changing dates long ago, I should see a refund - well sometime.
 

It’s maddening what they are doing. I don’t know how they will ever get loyalty again as I’m just one person and I’m sure there are lots of people like me. I’m basically losing $200 for a silly reason, long story, but I guess that’s my RCI tax or donation to the RCI cause. 

31 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

If you cancelled a cruise (using Cruise With Confidence), you will not be getting a refund.  The only option for self-cancellation using CWC is a 100% FCC.  Since you did this in May, I certainly would have thought that you would have gotten the FCC by now, but if you are looking for a refund, I'm afraid you won't be seeing it.

Oh that would be interesting and a total misunderstanding on my part. An email has now been fired off to poor Michelle on what category I’m in at the moment. If that’s true I can apply the FCC to my November 21 cruise so I guess it would work but that just leaves more money with RCI.

As @Jillstated above they need money from others to pay others money out is the very definition a Ponzi Scheme. 

I like my TA Michelle Cunningham  too and hope the best for her but  here’s my rant - I’m so ticked off at Royal Caribbean right now it’s hard to think straight. I cancelled a cruise that was scheduled for Dec 20 on Harmony on 18 May 20 as we didn’t want to cruise in the craziness this year. 
 

I chose to get a refund and as of July 14th 2020, I’m still waiting for my money back. That’s just robbing the customer. I can’t imagine any other company running a business like this and keeping brand loyalty.  They have kept my money interest free and held hostage for almost 60 days and counting.  If I would have gotten the money in 7-10 days, like it should have been, I would have booked another cruise but now they have kept it for sooooo long no way I’m giving them any money.
 

They have proven they can’t be trusted with anymore than the deposit. Paying of cruises early like I used to do - nope no more money until I have to pay final. I’m trying to decide if I want to cancel my final RCI cruise on November 21 on Oasis and say bye-bye cruise line and do something else. I’m hanging on to a very small string and it’s about to snap. This really ticks me off!!!

I really liked Key West on a stop I had on a Carnival ship. But, if you happen to be there during one of their interesting festivals in the fall you will be in for an eyeful of things you wish you’ve never seen.  

I wonder what the profit margin is for a full ship versus a well socially-distanced ship say around 50% capacity? A company has to make money to operate and I’m quite sure operating a Oasis class ship is an extremely expensive venture. They may start like this, just to get going, but as time goes on, money must be generated heavily to pay back all these loans cruise companies have been borrowing to stay operating. 

I know this is a cruise blog, and people on it have a high level of tolerance for cruising under extreme conditions just to get going, but I have to think it’s still a minority portion of the ship.  To get back to making money they need new people to try cruising and getting the ships back to a high profit margin. Either more people cruise or they raise the prices for cruising. Something has to change in order for the company to become profitable again and that’s going to be tough with social distancing which probably equates to lower people numbers on ships. 
 

We shall see but I do love the business aspect of how this is going to work. 

I think all this refund/FCC shenanigans is Royal winning a battle but overall may just lose the war.
 

I’m still waiting on a cruise refund and some FCC. It’s on my count, day 45, and it’s been all quiet on the Russian front. I’m frustrated with what they are doing but I do understand it. They are hemorrhaging money with no revenue incoming so they are trying to hold unto the money for as long as they can as that is their near term target; but, it angers me as a consumer that they are doing this and it makes me question my need to go cruising in the future. How many people are like me that are thinking the same thing.

I spend 7+ thousand on cruises all together so add lots of my mind-set up and they we lose loyal cruisers who will find other ways to spend their money. There are lots of resorts and vacation places vying for that money. I used to look forward to emails from Royal announcing new sales but now I just delete them knowing that all they want is more money to hold unto and not return in a reasonable fashion if it gets cancelled. They have hurt their loyal base. It’s to bad they have chosen this route - understandable, but not prudent. 

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

1 hour ago, Meridian said:

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.  

I’m still waiting on a refund for a cancelled cruise and I’m in the 40+ days mark. But, 90 days is just criminal in my mind. How would it be if I took a cruise and paid RCI 90 days after the cruise - I don’t think that would work but it sure seems to work in the opposite direction. No where else would this be allowed in commerce. I can add all kinds of analogies but I’ll leave it with - criminal!

I have a cruise scheduled for November 2021 but I’m hanging by a thread here and extremely disappointed with RCI on this issue. I’m about to scrap it all and just start doing land based vacations...I’m still hanging in there but some days it is just an irritant. 

I imagine their driving factor in any of these decisions is about preserving as much money as possible. The thing that will change that is the backlash their decisions get; the blowback factor. And, this got one so they modified their rules to accommodate these changes. In the end of the day they still need to preserve the company as well as some thread of customer satisfaction.
 

In normal times that is hard, but under these circumstances, almost impossible. Their customer service was spotty to begin with and this situation it has shown how poor it truly is. I’m still waiting for my money back on a cancelled cruise - I think I’m in the 40 day mark now - that is a bad company practice and it leaves a terrible taste in my mouth and there are thousands of people just like me. 

Reading these items makes me sad. I cancelled a cruise and I’m now at day 40 for a refund - my calculation and I’m sure not theirs. They did refund the excursions and I think insurance money within 3 weeks but the bulk of the money about $2.5k is sitting in crazy RCI limbo world.

What this has done to me is taken the shine off a company I once used to give money to readily for a cruise vacation. Now I can’t trust them with any money and I am questioning if I should ever go cruising again.

I’m very new to cruising and I liked it the four times I have travelled but this has really dampened my cruising mindset. It’s time to start looking elsewhere for my vacations. And, I’m sure I’m not the only one with this mindset. RCI may well weather this storm but loyalty has taken a hit on cruisers and they will lose valued customers. 

I’ve already cancelled a cruise for later this year because I wanted to see what happens. My caution is waiting to see which ports are accepting travelers. I cruise for destinations so if my itinerary changes that would be a deal breaker for me. Wearing a mask on vacation also does not make me want to go cruising; just doesn’t seem like a vacation to me and makes it too surreal. 

I don’t have a cruise for 18 months so I’m in the wait and see mode. I hope it comes back but...who knows. 

I can sympathize with the crew a little bit. It’s not the situation per se that is frustrating, it’s the not knowing and where it ends. I’ve been out of work since March 16th and at first it was ok, but it’s really dragging on now and irritating as we wait for word when we can go back to work. You know it’s coming , but it’s the not knowing that is bothersome and irritating. And, add on that being stuck on a ship and not everyone is going to be happy about that. To the crew it’s a job and not all fun and games like travelers that sign up for a week of travel.

I’m sure if you are stuck on a ship as other travelers with COVID cases and quarantined for weeks on end you might feel differently about your captivity. I know I would!

7 hours ago, jakedasnake said:

I'm on the symphony 27th cruise, and if I can get on a ship with minimal people, I will go. It is doubtful but hey I can wish. 

My concern is not if it goes, but what itinerary will it be? I know a lot of the Caribbean islands are not open for tourism so maybe Coco Caye and maybe Labadee. Some people are happy to just be on the ship but I’m not that person. I don’t like sea days and I like to go to places and do things on land. I would not be happy if I didn’t get to go on the itinerary I signed up for but that’s just me. 

As you’re losing sleep (oh awesome sleep) I would probably Future Cruise Credit it and look for something down the line. Cruising out of NJ in August could be difficult all by its self. Between New Jersey and New York they are the epicenter for the US in regards to COVID numbers as they have the highest numbers in the US.  The chances of the cruise getting cancelled is probably high, but if waiting for more information is causing you mental anguish, it’s not worth the agony.  
 

I am getting ready to cancel my cruise in December 20. Not that I think it won’t go but because of the lack of unknowns involved and I don’t want to worry about itinerary changes...I worry a lot so I don’t want to have to care about it so I’ll move it to the next year. 
 

I know cruising will come back this year what I’m worried about is what countries will allow tourists? I can see lots of changed itineraries. If you pick cruises based on islands you want to visit you may be disappointed. 

”The company expects to use the net proceeds from the offering of the Notes to repay its $2.35 billion 364-day senior secured term loan agreement with Morgan Stanley“

When you have to borrow money to pay off previous debts that’s not a good thing. I’m not sure what it means exactly but it’s got to do with burn rates they are using to stay a going forward concern.

It has/is interesting to see how a challenged industry is working their financials in a zero income environment. The banks are doing everything they can to keep it a float (intended pun). The CFO’s are really making their salaries now. No one wants to see a huge money making industry go down the tubes but the travel industry is in for lot of problems in the coming years. Older and younger Americans may not frequent the industry as much as in the past so as older cruisers pass away; younger cruises may not want to try the “floating pertri dish” as has been stated over and over by the press. The cruise industry is going to have to pay a lot of money for advertising going forward as it has to fix the curse that has been thrust upon them with bad press.

I believe that the future innovation in the travel/cruise industry will be hindered going forward so as to shore up their financials. This COVID situation will be imprinted on the minds of CFO’s for years to come just as much as it was for people in the 1930’s. We will remember it for years as 2020 is a year to remember for the rest of our lives.

18 hours ago, Chadster said:

Thanks to great prices on upgrades, I managed to work my way up from an interior to a junior suite on a sailing this summer...

...which, of course, became a casualty of the cancellations.  Now I'm bound and determined to find my way back to the suite life one day!

I’m with you there - I worked my way up from a Junior Suite on a cruise,  that I had to cancel due to the flu, and moved the cruise to December,  then moved to a Grand Suite, and under the recent sale, moved to a Crown Loft Suite for not too much additional money.  Crazy but that’s what occurred. 

My wonder isn’t that cruising will start sometime this summer or early fall, it’s more the thinking of which countries will let you in for travel purposes and will employers require a 14 day quarantine upon your return. I think there is  going to be some major changes to itineraries as this starts back up depending on which countries will accept guests. I think Coco Caye is going to get a lot of guests and visits but it can only handle so many ships per day. 

Think of the mainstays of ports visited - Western  Cruises - Cozumel, Mexico, Falmouth Jamaica, Labadee Haiti, and Easterns of St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Kitts...All different countries with their own Government to work with. They need the travel money so it will be interesting to see the balance between their people and travel money.