FoxboroCruiser

Coco Cay Honeymoon May 1994

Damn. In 2019 our Cuba cruise got impacted by politics. We took the 50% credit and booked a June cruise on Adventure to Bermuda for the following year. COVID hit and that cruise was canceled. We rescheduled on Freedom for 2021 thinking we’d be fine over a year later... nope. Now we are looking at 2022. It’s a long wait to take a much needed vacation!

No official word yet...

You’d think having two cruises canceled (June 2020 and June 2021) would count for something...lift and shift is the least they could do ? We will likely have to push to June 2022 so we can wait for the price to be right if we have to, but they better not think I’m putting down a third deposit when the first two times ended in cancelations.

Great article, very helpful - thanks Matt! Seems like we'd have a least a month's notice, which may be enough for us. I guess I have to now start trying to figure out /what and when to rebook... The price of balcony cabin on the Bermuda sailing we have planned has gone as high as $1800 and as low as $950. Timing is everything!

Was that formally announced? I agree that’s likely the case, but I was really asking when an announcement might be made. May be I missed it?

I clicked through a bunch and tried a search or two but didn’t find a clear answer. We’re trying to figure out how close to the June 19th sail date RC can get before canceling. Recently it seems they are one month at a time and announce with about 45 days before the start of the month. They have canceled though May 31st so may be mid April they’d announce June cancels...? Would you agree that’s likely what we’re looking at? It would be a bit challenging for us to plan to be on vacation with less than a few weeks notice. Our jobs require several weeks notice to take a week off. We REALLY want this cruise to happen, but doubt it will. If we take the time off and they cancel we are stuck home with no plans... just trying to figure out how to play this!

Same here!

Honeymoon was on Majesty in 1994 and 25th Anniversary in 2019 on Empress. Sad day indeed.

The drink package/voom wasn’t any less expensive than when we purchased it a few weeks ago, but We booked the All Access Ship Tour for the 4 of us. Can’t wait for that!

We pulled the trigger today. It was $54 for DBP and 1 Voom device, down from $61 just for the DBP...

We lived in NY for about 10 years, and would go to Whippany to JR Cigars! Great place if you like a stogie. might have to head out to route 10 Before the cruise!

IHOP doesn’t sound like a bad start to embarkation morning! We cruise from Port Liberty in June and pancakes sound good to me!

Empress 2019 - Right behind Bolero's

I agree. The crew probably isn’t making big money, and I’m guessing a few extra bucks means more to one of them than it does to me. They are ways from their homes, families and friends so I can have a great vacation. My first job was a busboy, and I waited tables and bartended for my early twenties. I took a lot of pride in being good at both serving food and drinks. It’s honest work, and those who are great at it deserve to be recognized. If you add up what you’d pay in tips for all of the tippable services you receive onboard daily, I’m sure it would be more than what the daily fee is. I don’t think you have to break the bank to do the right thing...

Great stuff, thanks to everyone who has shared. Really helpful in our planning ?

We are booked for a 5 Day to Bermuda on Freedom as well. The crystal caves sound interesting (will definitely research that some more) , hoping some more tips, recommendations, and ideas are shared!

Yes! We were supposed to sail to Bermuda on Adventure 2 weeks ago, but when it got canceled we booked the same cruise for June 2021 on Freedom. We thought about booking later in 2020 but we didn’t want to have to worry and wait again so thought pushing it a year out would give us peace and something to look forward to once this mess is over. If it’s still a factor in 365 days I think a cruise isn’t going to be our biggest concern.

We got the 125% FCC and after doing all the math the 4 credits came out 100% correct. Hopefully the refund ties out as well.

Our May 30th cruise was canceled by RC on April 26th. They promised the FCC by 5/22 and we received it 5 days late on 5/27. They said the refund of port fees and taxes would be about 45 days. That would have been about June 1st but here on 6/7 we haven’t received it yet. With tens of thousands of transaction to process I’m not surprised it’s late. Hoping to get it some time this month, if not I’ll start calling ?

We absolutely LOVE your Vlogs! Your love for cruising on Royal Caribbean is obvious and Anthony is hilarious (mostly on purpose ?). Please keep them coming!

Ok got it, thanks for the info. So we need to pick a second cruise that has a final payment date later than the first cruise ends... too bad that really limits the options a bit. Is the left over credit typically available right after a cruise ends or should we book cruise two a few weeks or even months after the first?

Good question, and interested in the various things people do at Atlantis. Nassau hasn’t looked like an intriguing port option tomus but after watching some YouTube videos of Atlantis the idea is growing on us. It looks spectacular.

We received our FCC for our May 30th Adventure to Bermuda cruise, haven’t checked the full math yet but it looks right. No refund of port fees and taxes yet but am sure it’s on the way soon. The extra 25% on the FCC May help book another cruise after it’s applied to the rebooked 2021 Freedom/Bermuda trip... my bad for not reading all of the FCC posts carefully enough but most were just frustration over waiting for the refunds/credits so I skimmed through them without gaining a better understanding of what happens when your FCC is more than the balance due on a cruise they are applied to. Michele/MEI recommends not applying the FCC until closer to final payment, but once we do apply it can we then apply any remaining FCC balance to another booking?

The Pullman beds on the Ocean View Empress cabins really suck if you don’t need them. Makes the cabin that much smaller, really inconvenient when there’s just two of you in the room. Wish the terrible TA at AAA had told us about them. We had two cabins right next to each other and both had those beds, but each room only had 2 people in them. It was right there on the ship map but she didn’t tell us , explain or suggest we pick rooms without them. Make sure you do if in a similar situation. Loved the ship.