copteacher

We have sailed on several cruises booked through our MEI TA and have received OBC for each of them. The OBC doesn't show up until the day we board the ship and is not listed in the quote at the onset of the reservation. In our experience when we ask for a quote on a specific cruise the reply comes with a section that states "As part of my service I continue to watch for all future special offers and I automatically adjust my clients reservations if the new offers are applicable. I am also available to help book your excursions, spa, specialty dining reservations and more if needed. And I will be your single point of contact for any and all questions or concerns. Please also note that I always include an On-Board Credit as a thank you for using my services. And my services are always Free! "

Thank you! I read the other post immediately after asking but I appreciate your help none the less.

Where did you find the Royal Caribbean link to these tests?

Both me and my wife have had Global Entry for years. It is the best money we have spent on travel related items. The interview is a breeze! It will take you longer to park and find the interview location that the interview itself. We also had to drive out of town to an airport that offered interviews and we just made a date night out of it. FYI.... I recently renewed mine and did not have to re-interview and my renewal was approved in less than 48hours and the new card was in my mailbox in less than a week so once you get it then it is pretty easy to keep renewing when necessary.

@Kcusack89 thanks so much. Luckily I work in a position that designates me essential to the state so, unlike so many, I am still receiving a paycheck. Because of this I am trying to be patient about the time it is taking to see results. I guess I just wish they would communicate to me, and everyone else, what the process is and what to expect. At least then I would know if something wasn't happening when it was supposed to. Thanks for the reply and hopefully we will all look back on this mess in the future and say "remember when....?"

@Kcusack89 I received an email on April 26th indicating all of my cruise planner purchases were being refunded. How long does it take after that for them to actually refund back to my credit card? I am assuming this email is an indication that they are working on my refunds but haven't really received any guidance as to how long to wait for the refund to show up before calling and sitting on hold for a long time. Any help or advise would be much appreciated. Thanks!

We have the same cruise scheduled at the end of April. No real expectation that it will happen but we sure are hoping it will. Even if no ports are open take use to the 2 private islands and I'd be happy. There is so much to do on that ship and with the discounted DBP we scored when the intern screwed up I am sure we could have a great time! As with everything related to this situation I guess we just have to wait and see!

We have a cruise scheduled to leave Port Canaveral on April 26 on HOS. If the cruise is a go, by some true miracle, we will definitely be on it. If not, I'll take my refund and move on. Already have Alaska planed for next year and can't get away any other time this year so a cancellation would derail our cruise options for 2020. We are fortunate enough to have steady jobs and no break in our income so getting the cruise refund now or later really makes no difference to me. I can see where it could be aggravating to others that they are not cancelling further out but totally understand it as a business decision.

I have booked an Alaska cruise in May 2021 for a large group. Went through John Ames, my agent at MEI, and he was able to save us a great deal of money over what RCI listed the cruise fare to be. The fare we received included a pretty good discount for a group and he put a courtesy hold on the entire group for 5 days to give us all time to commit 100 percent. This was also a refundable rate so we feel we got a great deal. I will always recommend MEI and John!

When I inquired about switching mine I was told that they could only switch it to the TA if I had reserved my cruise in the past 60 days. Since I was in that window the switch was easy and the TA took care of everything. I am not sure if they have the ability to work around that 60-day rule or if the 60-day rule makes it easier for them to get the reservation switched. I do know they had to send a request to RC asking to be able to switch the reservation. Of course, RC approved the switch within minutes of the request and the entire process was very easy. I would check with an MEI agent about being able to switch if this is something you are interested in. I know I am very happy that I switched. My TA has already saved me money and made a few reservation changes for me and I didn't have to deal with any of it myself.

After becoming addicted to this blog I switched my HOS reservations, that I initially made through RC, over to MEI. My agent is John Ames and he has been amazing. This is the first time I have ever used a travel agent and I will use MEI, and John, for any future travel needs. I have had a hundred questions and he has been patient and answered every question. When I email him I get a reply within minutes in most cases and he always follows up to ensure I have a great understanding of what is happening. I would recommend John and MEI to anyone!

I booked a cruise on HOS in April 2020 and thought about purchasing travel insurance since it was so far away and there is plenty of time for things to happen. As I was researching my options I came across a discussion (sorry but I can't remember the site it was on) that spoke about certain credit cards offering cardholders travel insurance as a perk of having their card. I always use the same card to book my travel so I called their customer service line and was informed that not only do they provide travel insurance simply because I use their card, but the coverage was better than the plans I was considering. I use the Chase Sapphire card but I have seen that many other cards offer this perk. Just a thought!

Hello all, Let me start by saying this blog is an amazing resource. I find myself visiting it daily! I was wondering if anyone could tell me how far in advance Royal Caribbean allows for you to purchase drink packages, make show reservations, etc. within Cruise Planner? I have booked a 7 night Western Caribbean cruise on Harmony in April of 2020. I know it is a long way off but I like to plan way in advance and take advantage of reduced rates. When I log into Cruise Planner I am able to book shore excursions but unable to do anything else in the system. Is this common? Is there a specific number of days before the departure date when they open these other options? Any help would be greatly appreciated.