BarbieBell

We have been cruising for many years and until last year I always booked everything myself. Thank goodness before Covid I started using Michelle at MEI and I couldn’t be more pleased with her. She has done an unbelievable job for us through all these cancellations, FCC’s, Refunds and Rebookings. She’s on top of everything happening at RCI and answers emails etc very promptly, including weekends. Also others are correct, location doesn’t matter, she’s in VA and we are in Texas.

We are supposed to sail out of Cape Liberty on the Anthem next April and will be flying into Newark airport. As we have not cruised out of that port before, can anyone recommend a nice hotel near the port? I have checked online but there’s a lot of confusing information about distances from the airport to the port and various hotels. I called the Marriott at the airport and they said it’s a 40 minute ride but only 10 miles to the port and Uber or a taxi would be quite expensive. Any info would be appreciated ???

You know the cruise lines had no choice about the 2020 cruises being cancelled due to the pandemic and we had 7 that hit the bricks much like many of you I’m sure. However this ship switch-a-roo is all on Royal now. Folks continued to book future cruises, rearrange flights, hotels, tours etc and to support the cruise industry and this is an unnecessary kick in the pants. The emails I received notifying me that my April 21 Transatlantic from Galveston to Copenhagen and the following Baltic cruise May 9 had been cancelled also contained the following statement: “These changes are being made after tapping into market research and listening to feedback and input from guests and trade partners.......” hummmm I guess after over 50 cruises with Royal I didn’t rate any input or consideration before they continued to obliterate our future cruise plans. Odd thing is the Adventures TA was almost sold out, so there’s many folks trying to figure out what to do with these darn future cruise credits or whether to jump on the ole Lift & Shift wagon AGAIN. I didn’t think anyone could take the fun out of planning and experiencing a cruise, but it’s starting to look like RCI has a team assembled that’s fully capeable. Right now you may be thinking your cruises are safe and you still have something to look forward to but it’s my cruises cancelled today and maybe yours tomorrow. Sorry but it seems to be a thoughtless trend on the part of RCI and we are not being treated like valued customers.

I have had the same pleasant experience with the lift & shift program. Now perhaps, like Twangster, it was due to my amazing Travel Agent Michelle at MEI, but it was smooth sailing!

We do transatlantics twice every year and really enjoy them. We sometimes do a B2B and stay on the ship for the next cruise in Europe. We use our airline miles for the one way fare and on American it’s usually 30K per person. One tip, you do need to book your airfare well in advance (I usually book at least 6 mos in advance.

We were booked on the Presidents cruise this year and the transatlantic following it back to Miami and of course they were both cancelled. I agree, it would be nice if they could reschedule it, or announce next years so we could have something to look forward to.

The cruise is open to anyone and RCI usually makes the announcement several months in advance. This years cruise was announced last Nov ‘19 on the Symphony during the Presidents cruise. It was also announced on the RCI website, so just keep checking here or on the RCI website.

When we received a letter from Michael Bailey regarding the cancellation of this years Presidents cruise on the Allure and the transatlantic following it, along with the usual regrets, he suggested that we hold on to some FCC’s as something special was in the works. Does anyone know anything about what RCC may be planning? I would hope another Presidents cruise might be in the future planning, if you’ve never done one, they are really special. Beautiful live flowers everywhere, surprise gifts in your cabin each evening and lots of other special events.

Well still no word regarding the Presidents Cruise and final payment is due now. Some cruise lines are reducing the final payment from 90 days out to 60 or less. It would be a nice gesture on RCI ‘s part and reduce stress on them as well as us. The Allure is already in Europe and is scheduled to be in Barcelona for the Presidents 7 day Med cruise and the following week it sails a 14 day TA back to Miami. As time passes it’s getting doubtful these cruises, like so many others, will happen at all. As these cruises originate in Europe the flights, transfers, hotels etc create quite a task when they are cancelled, and often with very minimum notice from the cruise lines.

Ok 5 cruises cancelled for this year, 2 pending, one Oct 25, TA Nov 1 from Barcelona so yup I agree this is disheartening and expensive. One olive branch that could be offered by RCI would be reducing the 90 day final payment policy. It would be helpful to us and reduce their accounting nightmare issuing FCC and refunds. I think more and more folks are opting for refunds now days, so faith is definitely dwindling. There’s a couple of lines that have gone with 60 day final pays and again I think it would be nice?

Hey I feel for you, we have had 5 cruises cancelled since April and two more For this year are not looking good at this time, however, my TA, Michelle at MEI has been right on it every time. Realizing the burden all this has put on all TA’s I’ve been amazed that she always replies to my requests within a couple of hours or less. She is amazing and I highly recommend her if you want quick, accurate and up to date information. Although this situation is hard on everyone it’s sure nice to have someone like her in your corner.

The 2020 Presidents Cruise is October 25 sailing on the Allure out of Barcelona for 7 days in the Med. The next cruise following it is a transatlantic from Barcelona back to Miami. There’s lots of us booked on both cruises and as things are right now, we are wondering what’s the possibility that these will sail or be cancelled. With international flights, hotels etc booked, it would help if we had some idea regarding these cruises. I would wonder if Michael Bailey is still planning to be there and host the Presidents Cruise? I kinda think he has a pretty good idea by now…

Thanks for the info, I had not seen Matt’s post. I am also on the TA after the President’s cruise and looking forward to returning to Miami on the Allure.

Has anyone heard any news about this years Presidents Cruise? It’s on the Allure this year and sails out of Barcelona on Oct. 25.

We were booked on the Brilliance leaving Tampa May 2 for 15 day transatlantic which was sold out & ending in Amsterdam. We were notified today that it’s cancelled, however our B2B from Amsterdam for 12 day Baltic Cruise hasn’t cancelled yet. I’m not sure but I would think it will cancel also. Right now the schedule still shows that ship resuming cruises from Amsterdam mid May, but nothing shows the ship relocating from Tampa to Amsterdam. I’ve looked at the schedules and frankly there’s not much to choose from right now to use the Future Cruise Credits for so not sure that refunds aren’t the better choice.

As the Presidents Cruise is fast approaching I’m curious if there’s been any announcement regarding special entertainment or activities? We are doing B2B starting Oct 26 so maybe they will have something to share that week. In the past I believe they did put some info about the Presidents Cruise out several weeks prior?

Has anyone heard about any special events or entertainment on the Nov 2 sailing on the Symphony?

Ok thanks?

That's a real possibility I'm sure, but there is nothing showing on the Anthem until May 15.

I was browsing transatlantics for Spring 2020 and noticed the Anthem has a sailing on April 12, 2020 from Bayonne NJ to Southampton arriving on April 24, 2020 I wanted to book a back to back but can't find anything on this ship following the crossing Does anyone have any information on this ships schedule at that time?

Oops I forgot this site is pretty testy, my $475 for the cancelled TA was something I was looking forward to, so call it greedy if you like, but I don't think the "new" promos will be comparable. Maybe a choice of either would be fair. Although my bio shows Pre Gold I'm actually Diamond+ and an experienced cruiser so hold back on the slams.

We were so sad on Tuesday April 2, when we were notified our upcoming transatlantic on the Oasis for April 21 has been cancelled. They said the ship is being sent to Cadiz Spain for repairs and no word when she will be back in service. Royal has been very accommodating except they refused to transfer your onboard credits to another cruise?

I found The Key offering on my upcoming transatlantic on the Oasis. I suppose it's a good deal in some ways, but as a Diamond Plus member it sounds like RCI is now selling our benefits to everyone. We earned our benefits by cruising and accumulating cruise points.

Just returned from the Symphony Transatlantic and although the ship exceeds all expectations the cruise overall was disappointing. The crew seemed unorganized, their new app system was having glitches and the over 200 pinnacle guests plus approx 200 suite guests pretty well had the run of the ship so Diamond Plus guests were out in the cold. Our happy hour was in a couple of small rooms on deck 4 and so crowded meeting and socializing was impossible. Probably the worst deal was the decision to stop in Port Canaveral for the ship to undergo US inspection and forced all crew and passengers get off the ship and go through immigration. So our last day on the ship involved getting off the ship in groups much like departure day, waiting more than two hours in lines and then making do in a very small terminal until we were allowed back on the ship around 2:00. So we had a bad day, then repeated the process departure day by waiting in long lines to disembark, then gather bags and more huge lines for taxis. Clearing immigration wouldn't have made it any worse really and we could have enjoyed our last day much better. This was poised as making it easier on the guests however most guests didn't agree at all. It appeared the only ones that benefited from that ordeal was RCI. The were able to sail smoothly into Miami with all preparations done for US arrival, dump us and reload for the next cruise. Lots of angry people leaving with a frown rather than a smile feeling like we got a swift kick in the pants. Sad, I was really looking forward to this cruise for over a year and it was a serious disappointment.

We are on that sailing also and you pose an interesting question. It's good to know about MDR menus when scheduling reservations at speciality resturants.