Wilson

Pick and choose your travel agency wisely. Ask questions and read the fine print! Last year I reached out to @AnnetteJackson at MEI regarding a possible upcoming cruise. She had booked several cruises for us over the last few years, but I stumbled across a deal from a Big Box online travel agency that seemed to good to be true. Unfortunately she was unable to match the Big Box travel agencies low low "clearance" price so I thought wth, I will give them a try. The deal seemed so good that I started researching other sailings and booked two. Doh! All good until you need to make changes or cancel. A few of the fees that I can think of that we have been hit with: $50 per person to cancel $35 for a date change $35 for a ship change $25 if you replace passenger with someone else $25 to adjust for price drops $25 for cabin changes Next I fear they will start charging a fee for calling! The discounted upfront cruise rate was eventually eaten up with fees. The lack of customer service is laughable. You never talk to the same person and wait for days to get a reply via phone or email. This was even before the virus. Now it's longer. Still waiting for a reply to an email I sent last Friday. MEI has never charged me or anyone I have referred to them a single penny for the above listed services. That's because they don't charge any fees. I learned my lesson and wanted to warn others who might think about trying one of the so called discount online agencies.  

Pick and choose your travel agency wisely. Ask questions and read the fine print! Last year I reached out to @AnnetteJackson at MEI regarding a possible upcoming cruise. She had booked several cruises for us over the last few years, but I stumbled across a deal from a Big Box online travel agency that seemed to good to be true. Unfortunately she was unable to match the Big Box travel agencies low low "clearance" price so I thought wth, I will give them a try. The deal seemed so good that I started researching other sailings and booked two. Doh! All good until you need to make changes or cancel. A few of the fees that I can think of that we have been hit with: $50 per person to cancel $35 for a date change $35 for a ship change $25 if you replace passenger with someone else $25 to adjust for price drops $25 for cabin changes Next I fear they will start charging a fee for calling! The discounted upfront cruise rate was eventually eaten up with fees. The lack of customer service is laughable. You never talk to the same person and wait for days to get a reply via phone or email. This was even before the virus. Now it's longer. Still waiting for a reply to an email I sent last Friday. MEI has never charged me or anyone I have referred to them a single penny for the above listed services. That's because they don't charge any fees. I learned my lesson and wanted to warn others who might think about trying one of the so called discount online agencies.  

Pick and choose your travel agency wisely. Ask questions and read the fine print! Last year I reached out to @AnnetteJackson at MEI regarding a possible upcoming cruise. She had booked several cruises for us over the last few years, but I stumbled across a deal from a Big Box online travel agency that seemed to good to be true. Unfortunately she was unable to match the Big Box travel agencies low low "clearance" price so I thought wth, I will give them a try. The deal seemed so good that I started researching other sailings and booked two. Doh! All good until you need to make changes or cancel. A few of the fees that I can think of that we have been hit with: $50 per person to cancel $35 for a date change $35 for a ship change $25 if you replace passenger with someone else $25 to adjust for price drops $25 for cabin changes Next I fear they will start charging a fee for calling! The discounted upfront cruise rate was eventually eaten up with fees. The lack of customer service is laughable. You never talk to the same person and wait for days to get a reply via phone or email. This was even before the virus. Now it's longer. Still waiting for a reply to an email I sent last Friday. MEI has never charged me or anyone I have referred to them a single penny for the above listed services. That's because they don't charge any fees. I learned my lesson and wanted to warn others who might think about trying one of the so called discount online agencies.  

Pick and choose your travel agency wisely. Ask questions and read the fine print! Last year I reached out to @AnnetteJackson at MEI regarding a possible upcoming cruise. She had booked several cruises for us over the last few years, but I stumbled across a deal from a Big Box online travel agency that seemed to good to be true. Unfortunately she was unable to match the Big Box travel agencies low low "clearance" price so I thought wth, I will give them a try. The deal seemed so good that I started researching other sailings and booked two. Doh! All good until you need to make changes or cancel. A few of the fees that I can think of that we have been hit with: $50 per person to cancel $35 for a date change $35 for a ship change $25 if you replace passenger with someone else $25 to adjust for price drops $25 for cabin changes Next I fear they will start charging a fee for calling! The discounted upfront cruise rate was eventually eaten up with fees. The lack of customer service is laughable. You never talk to the same person and wait for days to get a reply via phone or email. This was even before the virus. Now it's longer. Still waiting for a reply to an email I sent last Friday. MEI has never charged me or anyone I have referred to them a single penny for the above listed services. That's because they don't charge any fees. I learned my lesson and wanted to warn others who might think about trying one of the so called discount online agencies.  

Sorry for the spaces. I did a cut and paste and can’t seem to get it cleaned up. 
 

Pick and choose your travel agency wisely. Ask questions and read the fine print! Last year I reached out to @AnnetteJackson at MEI regarding a possible upcoming cruise. She had booked several cruises for us over the last few years, but I stumbled across a deal from a Big Box online travel agency that seemed to good to be true. Unfortunately she was unable to match the Big Box travel agencies low low "clearance" price so I thought wth, I will give them a try. The deal seemed so good that I started researching other sailings and booked two. Doh! All good until you need to make changes or cancel. A few of the fees that I can think of that we have been hit with: $50 per person to cancel $35 for a date change $35 for a ship change $25 if you replace passenger with someone else $25 to adjust for price drops $25 for cabin changes Next I fear they will start charging a fee for calling! The discounted upfront cruise rate was eventually eaten up with fees. The lack of customer service is laughable. You never talk to the same person and wait for days to get a reply via phone or email. This was even before the virus. Now it's longer. Still waiting for a reply to an email I sent last Friday. MEI has never charged me or anyone I have referred to them a single penny for the above listed services. That's because they don't charge any fees. I learned my lesson and wanted to warn others who might think about trying one of the so called discount online agencies.  

Booked 3 for 2021 during last promotion. Feb, May and Dec. 

Booked 3 for 2021 during last promotion. Feb, May and Dec. 

Booked 3 for 2021 during last promotion. Feb, May and Dec. 

We cancelled all our cruises and got our money refunded.  We will not book again until an active covid case does not result in the entire ship being quarantined and struggling to dock at the final port, and my wife being forced into 2 weeks unpaid self isolation on her return home.  We just booked our first US based vacation for years. Cost more than a cruise ? 

MEI can book anyone in the world because of the global reach of this blog.

I have not been on a Royal cruise since last year and things may have changed. Might also be different ship to ship, but we did this on our last cruise with no problem. They gave us 4 different codes and we just shared them with the other couple. 

I decided to hide the posts that had the alleged dates. On the one hand, if it's inaccurate it spreads false info. If it's true, well, it says confidential and I'm not sure how I feel about posting it.  I hid the posts, so they may come back, it's an ethical dilemna and I'm not sure how I feel about it quite yet.  
I hope you all understand. I really try not to be overly censor things at all. I hate the idea of heavy moderation, but at the end of the day, I aim to ensure we spread the correct info here.

That is high. We have also found that Dallas based Southwest is now more expensive than American when we fly from DFW to Florida. No longer the "Low cost leader" for us. In late April I was able to book $49 roundtrip on AA to Orlando and $95 roundtrip to Miami. 

Same here. Purchased our DX/Voom combo and Ultimate Dining Pkg  Ultimate Dining was only $26 per day. ??

Same here. Purchased our DX/Voom combo and Ultimate Dining Pkg  Ultimate Dining was only $26 per day. ??

Same here. Purchased our DX/Voom combo and Ultimate Dining Pkg  Ultimate Dining was only $26 per day. ??

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

Just thought I'd give MyVegas/MyKonami/PopSlots players a heads-up:
I was able to get a points refund on a reward I redeemed for a cruise I cancelled under "Cruise With Confidence". Now, I did book the cruise within the last 30 days, so I dunno if that had an impact, but I contacted PlayStudios support, they asked me for the redemption code for the award and a screenshot confirming the cruise was cancelled (I sent them a screenshot of it being cancelled in the "Cruise With Confidence" form), and they refunded the points to my account.
I dunno if any of y'all have rewards redeemed for cruises that have been cancelled by RCCL or that you've cancelled under "Cruise With Confidence", but if you do, I'd check with the support staff to see if they'll refund the points and cancel the award so you can redeem one later. The worst they'll tell you is no...which, of course, is not what we wanna hear, but...

There's a 3nt cruise on Ovation for 500k LP.  Vancouver to Seattle

Big sigh...still waiting for “free” Royal cruise.  If they don’t offer something in the next six months I’m probably going to cash in and try out MSC. 

There's a 50,000 coin 7-day Caribbean cruise up there now. Of course you'll have to leave on Monday. They've got a few others a little further out, but they are a little more expensive (125,000 - 250,000)

Yes.  2 free days each.

Side topic... I wish they would ban the aerosol sunscreens on the ship. Not only does a good portion of the product fly on to other people, it makes for a slippery surface on the decks. Many catamaran excursions have ban the use of the aerosol products to avoid slips and falls. 

Side topic... I wish they would ban the aerosol sunscreens on the ship. Not only does a good portion of the product fly on to other people, it makes for a slippery surface on the decks. Many catamaran excursions have ban the use of the aerosol products to avoid slips and falls.