AshleyDillo

Pretty sure from what I've seen and heard from the others who have used FCC and from travel agents..but I have been wrong before. My FCC simply states it can only be redeemable on cruisefare. I would assume that there are separate accounting buckets for the cruisefare and port fees, taxes, prepaid gratuities, and travel protection. The FCC gets applied as payment towards the cruisefare up to the total amount of the cruisefare and then the remaining deposit can be used to cover those other cash-only pieces. Again, don't know 100% for sure and nothing on my FCC mentions any effects on a deposit.

Freedom made it into Miami this morning,

I see that you applied the deposit, but the deposit is a credit towards total amount of funds owed, but it doesn't reduce the cruisefare when calculating how much FCC can be used. The cruisefare is still the cruisefare regardless of how much the deposit is. A deposit can be used to cover the port fees and taxes or prepaid gratuities while the FCC can't, so Royal will shift the deposit over to cover those costs to allow the FCC to be applied to the actual cruisefare. When issuing the FCC, they issue it based on the cruisefare. It doesn't matter if someone had a $100 deposit or a $1000 deposit on their cruise.

They changed the Cruise with Confidence policy shortly after they announced it to where you could either get the 100% FCC or take the 50% penalty and get the rest refunded in cash like before the Cruise with Confidence policy existed. Prior to the change they stated you would be an FCC equal to the penalty amount if you canceled, thus a 50% refund and a 50% FCC.

If you cancel, you won't get the 125% FCC. You have to wait for Royal to cancel you, otherwise you only get 100% FCC. And yes you can apply the FCC to your Odyssey sailing that you already have booked. If the FCC is greater than the cruisefare any excess FCC gets reissued AFTER you take that May 2021 sailing as another FCC to be towards another cruise. They do not give the surplus as OBC.

You are correct in that the FCC can only be applied to the cruisefare. The issue here is that a reservation HAS to exist in order to apply the FCC, thus why you can't just start with an FCC to create the new booking. A cash deposit has to be put forth to create the reservation to apply the FCC to. The allowable amount of FCC to apply towards the cruise can not exceed the cruisefare. It doesn't in this example, so they will allow the full FCC to be applied. That will mean the $200 deposit causes an overpayment towards the cruisefare after the FCC is applied ($466 - $200dep - $400FCC = -$134) . Since there are still port taxes to be paid they will get paid by the deposit overpayment ($134) first before any refund would be issued. With only a $200 deposit, it doesn't cover the full port fees and taxes so there will need to be more money paid ($148.92 - $134 = $14.92). We are told over and over that the FCC can't be used for the deposit, and that's just because you can't create the reservation without a deposit and you can't apply the FCC without a reservation. Unsurprisingly Royal's systems make it really difficult and folks get caught off guard being told they have to lay out more money to create the new booking even though they have the FCC. You can pay off a cruise completely and then apply the FCC to it and you can get a refund of what you've paid towards the cruisefare portion. Otherwise there would be no way for someone to use the FCC on a cruise less than 90 days out (after final payment).

Obviously put it through a refurbishment and rename it (ala Carnival Triumph) so folks forget it's the plague ship? ?

They do have suites on Carnival ships too ?

Yes..once you sail on the first cruise the remaining FCC will get reissued for you to use to book the next one!

The best place to get information is going to be from official cruiseline announcements -- straight from the horse's mouth. Even that translated story above may not have the full picture and scope of the situation as they don't know what Royal has in the works to find alternate solutions. You really won't know for sure until Royal announces it.

I'm not sure about the math as it's too early and I don't know what the required deposit is, but yes you are thinking about it the right way.

You may want to ask about the transferring of insurance to another booked cruise. Technically you did use the cruise insurance since the insurance policy is effective from the day you take out the policy if it has cancellation coverage. There should be at least a pro rata return of premium option that could be applied to another cruise. I know with my independent trip insurance I can make changes to the policy and move it to different dates in the event I switch cruises or overall travel plans.

They have used cruiseships as hotels for large events (Super Bowl) and emergency housing after hurricanes in the past. Could definitely be a thought if things get out of control with the hospital systems.

I thought the doctor note thing was devised by the CLIA to appease the government so they could continue to operate. I can see it going away eventually as the situation improves and life goes back to normal, but it may linger a bit even after cruising resumes to, again, appease the government so they can start back up again.

I would hold off on canceling the cruise until April 13. It doesn't matter if you wait as you'll get the same FCC as you would today. But you may luck into Royal canceling before you hit the 48-hour mark and get the higher FCC offer.

Do you have the FCC already issued? I'm not sure where you're getting the 6 months from. Only thing I could see is if you used an FCC to book this one that just got canceled.

If you cancel on your own you only get a 100% Future Cruise Credit for the base cruisefare. All of the excursions and Cruise Planner stuff is fully refunded along with port fees and taxes. If Royal cancels and uses the same policy as they are for this current suspensiom, you can elect for a 100% refund of everything or you can choose a 125% Future Cruise Credit based on just the base cruisefare and all of the excursions and Cruise Planner stuff is fully refunded along with port fees and taxes.

She was right in you can't use the FCC towards the deposit. You have to separate out the port taxes from the total owed as well because the FCC is not allowed to be used to cover that. The FCC will cover up to the full amount of the cruisefare before the port fees and taxes. If the FCC is greater than the cruisefare less the port fees and taxes you will be refunded the deposit less the port fees and taxes. Any excess FCC at that point gets reissued after you complete your cruise.

Please do! We won't have any live cruise blogging for some time ?

I know this one..but I wanna be fair.

I find that I use Royal's site directly to price out cruises that I'm looking at and then I take it to my MEI agent to quote it. Usually the TA can't undercut the cruiseline prices unless they locked in a group rate of some sort. The bigger agencies do this a lot which is why you may find cheaper prices. But you give up the personal level of service that you would get from working with a smaller agency. Plenty of folks found this out when they had to sit on the phone trying to get through to a large agency's call center. MEI can get you the same incentives as booking directly with Royal. Best thing to do is contact MEI and get set up with an agent to immediately start working with to take advantage of the current RCL promotion. You can also book yourself directly and transfer it to a TA within 60 days.

Guess you didn't realize you immediately get recognized as a Top Tier Insider..nice having you in the chat today!

Can't really speculate on what will happen as this situation evolves. I will stress that currently if you cancel today, you will get the same 100% FCC as you would if you wait and cancel on April 9. However, if Royal cancels the cruise for you there is the possibility of a larger sum of FCC or a 100% cash refund. Basically you don't need to make a decision until April 9 as to whether or not you feel comfortable still going. You may find that Royal or the situation makes the decision for you.

If you've paid the deposit and then you apply the FCC to what you have remaining of the cruisefare, it will refund you the excess deposit that you paid. The deposit will then go to pay the port fees and taxes before Royal issues you a credit to your form of payment. The FCC will not be applied to the port fees/taxes but rather it will replace your deposit and the deposit will go to that. If your FCC is more than your cruisefare (including deposit but NOT port taxes) then a FCC for the remainder will be issued after you sail. So if you can deal with Royal holding onto the money you put down for deposit, my suggestion is to play the repricing or upgrade game before applying the FCC. Then once you hit the 90-day payment then apply the FCC.

Only way really around it is to pay the premium for a room with enough berths and plan to no show the kids. If you luck into a good KSF offer then it works out even better provided passengers 1 and 2 aren't paying a ridiculous premium for being in a larger occupancy room.