AlohaLivin

Thank you ? It is certainly a unique situation, but since it is s Goverment edict it seems closest to the jury duty than a pure employer situation and they do use that as an example of covered instances. Good idea on the swapping, although it could cause a few other issues (Certain benefits are for guests 1/2, also if 2 is a no show the effect on the 3rd passenger is unknown). ‘The 3rd passenger quandary (or 2nd for that matter) is one I hope has been run into before since that odd pricing is so frequent now that there surely is a way they typically deal with it, just not one I know!

I am bringing this question here now because I don’t know who else to ask. It’s a super sensitive issue right now, I just cannot wrap my head around this - my family is feeling a huge mix of sadness, anxiety, and anger and I very much hope people will consider so I would ask that. ? We have a cruise booked for the 4th week in January. The cabin was an expensive one, but it’s going to be split with my adult (step) sister and so it made it more reasonable when it is divided 3 ways. It has been planned for nearly a year and we’ve all very much looking forward to it. The problem is that my sister works for TSA that is part of the government shut down. Essentially, they are now working for free (and this time, unlike past shut downs, Congress has not yet acted to ensure they will be paid later). What is worse, is that unlike every other shut down in history, this time they have been told that all vacation (leave) time is cancelled (no matter if for a serious illness or a prepaid vacation). Should an employee take the time off that they had scheduled anyway, they will be fired on day 3 for being AWOL. ?. As much as I would like to, I am not going to get into the ethics involved with the decision-making surrounding all of this, but as you can see it definitely could negatively impact this long awaited cruises for all of us if the situation is not resolved by the sailing date (and my faith is gone so we have to prepare for what is possible at this point). We have trip interruption coverage through Chase Sapphire CC that we used to cover the cost of the entire cruise (her portion and ours). It covers immediate family (I assume my step sister would be that). The policy does covers problems like jury duty where the person can’t be released so to me that suggests that her situation would also be reimbursable. My greatest concern is that our cruise happens to be one of those where the 3rd passenger sails “free.” It would be the same kind of problem if the cruise was one where passenger 1 pays 100% and passenger 2 pays 50%. We split the cost, despite the the odd way it is divided on paper for marketing purposes. Does anyone have any experience with how the insurance companies deal with those circumstances? I am assuming there is a general consensus with insurers on this issue, it must come up often, I simply have no idea what that might be. Thank you for any help that you can provide on how insurance deals with these situations - Lynn P.S. I realize that it’s bad timing, but Happy New Year to all of you.

It is my iPad, my iPhone and my PC all playing MyVEGAS games simultaneously ? I just tried it for fun, my husband thought that I was mad (I tried to post it smaller so it wouldn’t take over anyone’s screen). @KLA the user groups over at FB are extremely helpful, actually shockingly helpful compared to much of FB. It won’t take yoy long to get it to speed, it would be much longer than a post to explain it. I have a UN just for play there, if you decide to try it let me know and I can link up with you.

Me too! Free is fun lol

I think that you have created a monster! ??? Is there a cure?!??

I want “Has Road Rage” under mine (or maybe “Stubborn American Crab”, I cannot decide). But “diamond” has a nice ring too ? ? ?

Yes, I understood, we have cruised since I was quite young ? But I was saying that was on my wish list.

I do wish they would award points on full payment at least. Booking a year and more out means that we don’t get the benefit of the status we would otherwise have. Old complaint I know, but I still find it irritating! Oh well!

The sale somehow ended for me before the 26th; it was 16.00 for 2 devices (Voom basic) and jumped to 17.99 when I went in to finalize the purchase today (since I was waiting on info from our travel agent first). Geeez...

Thank you for your reply, I was a little disconcerted no one had to be honest. The OBC is definitely 450 and from the agency vs Royal. I have written to the agency to try to figure out if it’s refundable (I assume that it is, but need to be sure). The agent did initially email back and say that the obc would not be provided until shortly before the cruise (a week or so); she did offer to reduce the obc and instead discount the cruise price by that amount and if they will do that for the full amount then that may be the best way to go...). I agree that it could be best to wait until we are onboard to buy it a (but even more the case if for some reason it isn’t refundable). But, I would never have imagined that an agency obc would not show up until day 2. Any chance you know the usual price of 2 device package of Voom basic? Currently it is $16.99 a day, but no clue how much it would be day 1 onboard. Thanks again for your help ? Lynn

Very helpful, thank you ??? Lynn

We will sail on Grandeur in May 2019 and we would like to purchase Voom on the current sale. The problem is this: (1) the travel agency won’t add the $450 OBC until just before the cruise and (2) I called RCL and they won’t hold the product so we can charge it to our OBC once we are onboard (NCL would do this with tours and other issues but it seems RCL will not). We really want to use the OBC for this and possibly other pre-purchased items since it’s rather large, therefore this is a real problem for us. Does anyone know whether or not if we charge the VOOM package (and/or other product/service) to our CC prior to the cruise we can have it moved to the OBC once we are onboard (either with guest services or the suites concierge)? I could call RCL and ask, but I don’t get the best info that way many times so I am certain that I will get higher quality info here! Clearly the purchase on the website are transient since people often comment that they reverse a purchase to buy the same thing at a new, lower price. Still, I don’t want to assume anything. Thanks all ? Lynn

Tell Nancy that the McBee’s miss her and (1) watch out for the ghost of the Deck 11 Owner’s Suite and (2) we will be back with more peach taffy as soon as we can! ?

Great idea. If you do, please send us a copy! ?

That is what we did, points... sometimes you win and sometimes... ?? @tonyfsu21 It is a great location for food... and I love Foxy Brown’s too!! But I will have to use Uber, the hotel wasn’t up tp snuff and there are other options ?? I could have lived with the construction, it was the bad food and the service attitudes that were really the killer. Hoping for better luck next Nov! I was looking at something on Dania - I will definitely check back through the posts for suggestions.

We stayed at the Olas Blvd Fairfield and we were very unhappy with it (and we don’t tend to be easily put off by minor issues). We normally find the Marriotts good options and this one seemed new so it was an obvious choice, but... The staff was not friendly (one female was problematic enough I wrote down her name to remember), the location was near a lot of big construction, the room was smaller in comparison to most Fairfield’s, the food was a 3/10 ( usually Fairfield’s do a good job with breakfast, but even the coffee was either cold/out most of our stay and that is very unusual). We sail from there again at Thanksgiving next year and I am already searching for new options! On the positive side we are very excited about the B&B we have booked for Bermuda in the late spring (plus it’s close to one of the Caesar’s casinos). ️ Lynn

@Matt gets the award of the month for best idea (even if it happened almost a year ago, I just found it). I am the bargain shopper, the coupon user (except with groceries LOL), I feel better when I get a deal... and this freebie way to add value is fabulous (and many of us would never have looked for it or found it since we either aren’t on FB or aren’t online game players). Good job on asking @Jeepgeek to post (and Russ shares the award for his willingness to provide the info here!). Lynn

IMHO it devalues the suites (I guess it determines what value one places on various parts, hard to create hard data for those variables). But based on what I understand about this option, it would make it less likely I would book a suite on smaller ships.

Ok, so this question will sound strange I am sure, but... I do not have a personal FB account (it is not a good idea given what I do for a living, my personal life and work life would be far too easily merged - FB after all no longer lets you have a truly private and non-searchable account). I do have a fake account from way back - it’s not under real name and I haven’t signed in for years (it was used back when a few places only had discounts via FB or nieces had photos only there). I would like to check this out, but if the mobile accounts aren’t useful for really racking up points I wonder if using the fake account at FB to play would cause a hassle in the end? That is, the different name from the cruiser... For those of you who have used for significant rewards, any thoughts? I’m pretty peaved with M Life right now due to a sudden difference they are making on benefits for military spouses with their military pearl status (and without any way apparently to contact anyone in marketing to get to the bottom of it ?). But, if that should get worked out, I might be on board with adding to the coffers. Thanks all! Lynn

Having been with other lines primarily beforehand (mostly NCL), we too wondered exactly the differences since we first sailed on RCL on Allure in an OS and our next two bookings for 2019 are on non-Oasis Class ships. Since we have to pay for VOOM for those two cruises, I started to really worry that we had made a major mistake with those bookings! In some emails to RCL with inquiries, they sent this link. I found it helpful and you may too! https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-the-suites-program See you on the sea ?? Lynn

We did that very recently. We had booked a Nov ‘19 cruise in the Panoramic Suite and my sister learned she could be off and go with us. I had the agency call (since that one I didn’t book directly) and we just paid the cost for her passage (seems it was maybe 30% plus fees/taxes at that point and another $250 deposit for her). Didn’t take too long to accomplish and I was relieved to have it done! have fun ? Lynn

I didn’t know we had the same parents!!!!! Cool, I need some generous, cruising siblings! ???? Lynn

We have been trying to decide what we would do - we had a cabana with two friends last Oct, but thought it was overpriced for what we received (including the relatively short time we were there). With it just being the two of us in May, we are trying to decide if we wanted to try the bungalow or beds. Has anyone tried either while staying in a suite? If I am remembering correctly, there are only various types of cabanas at Barefoot beach. So is it a matter of having to choose between the relative privacy and increased lunch options at barefoot beach or enjoying a bungalow/beach bed? I am leaning toward a clam shell since we stay in the water snorkeling or walk around (with relatively little time on a lounge chair), but my sister will be with us next Nov so I am also looking forward. ???

The only thing that I worry about “catching” there is a cold (and from the non-Caribbean bunch!) ? Lynn

It’s funny you ask - I was wondering just that thing yesterday! The prices on some items are past ridiculous (frig magnets no less than at least $20, some were more...errrr). ?