MrMarc

Wouldn't it be nice if RCCL just informed passengers and stopped taking reservations for it?

I bid the maximum on an upgrade and still doubt it will be accepted.

On 5/29/2023 at 2:05 PM, BigKarl said:

LOL,  I jumped on this deal early this morning as this is for the 4 night Mexico Cruise and it is a fantasstic deal. I immediately went to pay for it to lock it in when I found that my transaction would not go through.  I called my Credit card Company and they said that the block was not on their end.

I went back to the RCI website Only to find that I no longer had the package purchased but that it looked like the purchase was never made and now I return to the offer to try again and I am greeted with this! 

\

IT Website team makes yet another price error?   BUT, this time RCI does not honor the error and hides the mistake?

I had to call to get the 3 night for $91 on Quantum in August.  It did the same thing twice.  The price dropped to $91, but it said sold out.  I called and was told they would sell it to me if I sent in a screen shot.  When I did the person came back and said they would NOT sell it to me at the screen shot price.  I asked for a supervisor and got the snide "Okay, but they will tell you the same thing."  The supervisor simply sold it to me at the $91 price with no argument.

This is getting old.  They are going to inherit some of the loss of goodwill from Southwest.  You can only blame your computers for so long and not this many times. 

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Just got this notice regarding a change to applicable hours for drink vouchers.  Does this mean that we have to consume all of our first day's vouchers by 5:00 PM....and that after 5:00 PM you are now on the next day's allocation ?

 

No, they reset at 4:59 AM, so you will basically loose the first and last day's vouchers.  Nice that they tried to spin it as a positive though.  

If they refused service and called security on a passenger, I would guess that the person is probably banned from RCCL, so it does not really matter anymore.

I just went from an interior to Ocean view for $50 total on Navigator out of LA.

The truth is that since you have had so many issues, every issue is going to seem worse than it probably is.  This is not flaming you, it is a normal reaction.  Once things start getting to you, you start noticing every little thing.  I bet if you approached it differently, you might be able to help yourself.  Ask the bartenders where you can get what you want.  If they say the don't know, ask them to check with someone else.  The other thing to remember is that every cruise, even on the same ship, is different.  The particular group of passengers can easily create a good or bad vibe for the cruise.  I would say to simply chalk this up to a bad cruise, and don't let it "poising" your next cruise, whether it is with RCCL or someone else.

To use these rewards, call the Club Royale number (I know, most of them are gone) during regular business hours.  They have, or at least had, a desk that was familiar with the MyVegas rewards that makes it a lot easier.  Many of the agents have no idea what you are talking about. 

it's already inside.  Never mind.

14 hours ago, Cruisingmama said:

 

Not sure if this has anything to do with it but as soon as I booked 3 cruises (over the next year) my offers STOPPED. Was getting 3-4 offers monthly up until that point.

They probably limit the offers until they see how much you gamble on the booked cruise.  That's a guess, there is no one outside of the people that run the cruise casino offers that knows how the people who get offers and what offers they get are actually determined.  Personally, I think they use some of the calculations used in proving  the theory of relativity.

I travel alone, so as long as it costs less than Voom, I always get it.  If you have multiple people, you have to consider how much the other benefits are worth to you.  I usually find better seats at shows than those reserved for The Key.  I do enjoy the lunch and breakfast.

1 hour ago, CharmMicah68 said:

After all....90% Vax is WAY safer than 80% Vax or 70% Vax....I've lost the ability to be shocked or phased in the absence of common sense and logic displayed by companies, government, people....

Bowen....my hope is to someday share a beverage and a laugh on a cruise ship with you.  Perhaps I    will follow where you go.

I I wonder why people trust cruise companies to run the ship, but not about COVID.  Either they know what they are doing, or they do not.  So if you do not trust them on their COVID decisions, I totally agree you should not go on their ships, obviously they have no idea what they are doing.

I think things will remain the same through the end of the year.  Right now the possibility of a large outbreak and the resulting bad press is too much of a risk, and many of the ports will have to change their requirements before it will even be possible for the cruise lines to change.  But as we all know, covid changes can change quickly and often.  I have an august 10 cruise to Alaska scheduled, and I'm not expecting any changes.

On 7/12/2022 at 8:55 AM, CharmMicah68 said:

I    would concede that opting out doesn't immediately influence cruising capacities or booking demand.  There are many factors impacting the current status (pent-up demand, got to get out whatever the cost mind set, money to burn, threat of FCC expiration).  Eventually that will level out and RCCL knows it and by that time will pull out or the CDC will drop it.  They are probably betting on CDC dropping it....which they should.  Having said that....nothing surprises me on the behavior of government controlled institutions.

The question I    have is, would anyone participating in this blog NOT cruise if RCCL dropped from the CDC voluntary program?  Would anyone actually cancel their cruise or NOT book one because of dropping the protocols of the CDC program? 

yes.

I know it's not RCCL, but there are a bunch of MSC cruises available.

10 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

I think a year ago those cruising only because of the vaccine requirement would be pretty high.  In 2022, I can't see it being the same.

I agree it wouldn't be the same, but they claim to be filling the ships with the vaccine requirement in place.  Why even risk the publicity generated by a single bad case?  Cruising is different than other forms of travel in both the environment onboard as well as the scrutiny of the press.  I think at this point I would cruise without the restrictions in place, but honestly they make me more comfortable whether they are actually needed or not.  I do not think we will see anything change until the crew issues are resolved and they stop filling the ships, assuming they actually are right now.

In considering how many people will not cruise if the vaccine is required, you also have to look at how many people will not cruise without the requirement.  Not to get political, but realize that we are all tending to think that whichever way we feel is what the majority of people feel. I would assume that the cruise lines have enough resources to estimate which will benefit them the most.  I think the same goes for the testing requirements.  It is not a question of right or wrong or anyone's health(well, maybe the crew's), but what market research tells them will be most beneficial.

This issue is not new.  There were questions regarding the liability of Cruise Lines for using the facilities and questions regarding the excursions falling outside of the guidelines at the time.  The cruise lines decided to take a chance.  They may end up regretting it.  I do not see a plotical issue, but a Court doing what it is supposed to interpreting and enforcing laws and contracts.

You might call because they might not take pre-paid cards at all.  A lot of hotels do not.  In this case, sending the actual cash is much better.

I've thought of it.  The only time I looked at the numbers would have been for this month.  Another cruise line keeps sending me offers for $0 cruise fare (admittedly for interior rooms), so I looked at it.  I actually run a store, so I could not be away that long.  The other problem is my lack of will power.  The "free" cruises always cost me more than I intend to spend, at at 5-10 pound weight gain per week, I would have to have multiple sizes of clothes and my cardiologist would not be happy with me (nor would my body).

On 2/1/2022 at 1:42 PM, smokeybandit said:

No but they did take advantage of the Launch with Confidence program

Free Viagra?

6 hours ago, Shari said:

There are those of us who are fully vaccinated but had such adverse reactions to the second shot that we are unable to be boosted.  This would be a major impact.  I only got vaccinated because of cruising.

You are absolutely correct, while personally I would selfishly like the booster required, I realize it is a much more complex question than the initial vaccine.  It may be that the lower passenger volume lines will do it, but the larger passenger lines (like RCCL) may not.  I am willing to bet there are meetings with medical, PR and marketing people going on about this daily right now.  The cruise lines, and even a small business like mine, are caught between a rock and a hard place.  Whatever is done, a significant group of people will be angry at it and think the person making the decision is crazy or stupid.  I wish a lot of these people making these pronouncements owned a business and had to make these decisions in areas where there is no government mandate and no real agreement among the people in the surrounding area.  People on both sides think a majority of people agree with them, which is of course impossible.

5 hours ago, Shari said:

FYI the booster does NOT stop people from getting COVID so testing will still be required. 

5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

True. Several other of the protocols don't stop people from getting covid either.

Why do people keep making statements like this.  no protocol is 100% effective, that does not mean it doesn't work.  Come on Smokeybandit, even you know this is true.  If you use that standard no medicine, medical treatment or vaccine works.  There may be disagreement about how effective the vaccine is, but no one is saying it does not work.  And please don't put that partially quoted statement by the CDC director where he misspoke and has explained it over and over.  Now on masks, I will agree that there are some that say they are totally ineffective, although I disagree.  But there is definitely support for that position, but none for a claim that the vaccine does not work at all.  I don't want to convince you to think I am correct, but if we are going to discuss it at all, let's at least be realistic.  They don't stop everyone from getting covid, but they do stop some.

17 minutes ago, MrMarc said:

What they are doing is working, despite the vocal opposition demonstrated on Facebook and various cruise boards.  However, if I were to base a decision on the boards, there is a very clear majority that want the current protocols or even stronger ones.  However, my guess is that the cruise lines have done actual market research and actually know what they are doing better than any of us do.  If the cruise lines are as inept as many people now consider them to be, I cannot believe that they would trust them enough to cruise with them.  I have come to the conclusion that they know what they are doing, no conspiracy, no political agenda, just a desire to provide the safest cruise with what the majority of people who cruise consider acceptable requirements.  I understand the few that want no vaccines and no masks are very loud and claim to be in the majority, however I think there is ample proof that is not the case.  I think the cruise lines are going to have to be very sure that dropping any part of the current protocols is demonstrably safe, not that someone thinks or believes it's safe, before they will loosen the protocols.  They cannot afford to just try it and see what happens, not to mention that doing that would be incredibly dangerous and irresponsible to passengers, crew and shareholders.  I do not think any of us here, including myself, are smarter than any individual cruise line, much less all of them.

 

Soory, except, of course, Waaytooo.