USCG Teacher

My guess is the e-mail you got after cancellation was automated, it's been my understanding since the launch of L&S that Casino fares were ineligible.  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/General_Info/CWC_Enhanced_FAQs.pdf

Just now, Va4fam said:

Thanks @USCG Teacher.....glad you were successful.   We  booked a similar trip on Oasi (Oct 20) for a GTY JS.   Haven't decided if we are using L & S for that one........... yet.  Not feeling good about cruises from Bayonne this fall.

Had much the same feeling about August!   Good luck to you whatever you end up doing!

Just curious how a Junior Suite guest goes about making dinner reservations for CK (assuming that perk continues, I've read rumors of potentially no more JS access to CK at all)?  I'm assuming it's not available in Cruise Planner, so do you have to actually walk up there once on board?  Can you do it on the phone?

1 hour ago, Va4fam said:

Is RCI allowing GTY reservations to remain intact and moved via L & S with no additional changes or charges?

Have not received confirmation from TA if we can do that or will have to change the reservation from GTY to an actual cabin.

This is exactly what I did, and mine was even more "questionable" than your situation because I upgraded my oceanview to a JS GTY on my 08/2020 cruise because it was so cheap, THEN did a Lift & Shift to 2021.  Took 3 calls and a supervisor for my TA to get it done, but I'm here to tell you that they CAN get it done! 

6 minutes ago, darketower said:

Yes they do. We were supposed to be on Oasis 7 night to CocoCay this 8/16 but lifted and shifted to next August. The itinerary is Orlando, Coco Cay and Nassau. With 3 sea days. 

Was supposed to be on that same cruise!  I L&S'd it to 8/8/21.

If you've never been to NYC, it's a great opportunity to double up your vacation.  As a local, I fully agree with @WAAAYTOOO, EWR is the way to go unless you can find SUBSTANTIAL savings into JFK.  Only go to LGA if it's life or death. Now if it were me, I'd fly in a few days early and find a nice hotel in Jersey City to home base in for a few days.  The rooms should be significantly cheaper, and as long as you are comfortable on public transportation, taking the PATH into NYC from Jersey City is a fast and easy way to get in and out.  See the sights, do the tourist thing, and getting a shuttle to Cape Liberty the morning of your cruise should be cheaper and easier from the NJ side of the Hudson.  Just this Jersey boy's two cents!

1 hour ago, K&L said:

Lift & Shift is a joke.  We had 3 back to back Mediterranean and transatlantic cruises scheduled for October.  Tried to do the lift & shift to next October —same ship, same number days, leaving from same port, listed as Greek Isles and Adriatic. However, since RC changed the ports that were being visited, it wasn’t considered “similar” for the program.  It’s just a PR ploy in my opinion.

I'd have your TA call back & ask for a supervisor if necessary.  As with all things RCI, if the 1st rep. doesn't give you the "right" answer, there's a decent chance the next one will!  Good luck!

3 minutes ago, Peachykeen said:

1) making room service free to everyone to encourage eating in one's own room / distancing

While I would believe that Royal would try to avoid taking any actions that would reduce revenue streams if possible, I think this is a really good idea!

Was in this exact situation.  They did L&S my GTY Suite reservation, even though it wasn't even an option on the August 2021 itineraries I was eligible for.  Original rep said they couldn't do it.  Took my TA two days and literal hours on hold to finally get a hold of a supervisor, but long story short, they were able to do it.

FWIW, the bus system (https://www.gotobermuda.com/sites/default/files/bta19-bus-schedule-may.pdf) and ferries (http://www.rccbermuda.bm/ferries_about.aspx) are both very easy to navigate and very affordable (https://www.gov.bm/bus-fares).  @JLMoran is right, outside of departure day, the biggest reason to do cruise line-based excursions is gone.  We managed to do Horseshoe Bay and St. George's on our own at a fraction of the cost of organized excursions and had a good time getting there and back, especially skirting along the north side of the island on the Orange Route ferry out to St. George's!

2 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

Right near the dock is a fantastic miniature golf course - Bermuda Fun Golf. http://www.fungolf.bm/

I just checked out the website, this is really cool!  It's also definitely the closest I'll ever get to playing on anything remotely resembling a PGA course!

2 hours ago, mworkman said:

@USCG Teacher Is this your cup? Not judging, just saying!

 

Close, but we didn't have the color-matching sleek molded type.  Guess we weren't fancy.   We had the generic type:

5 minutes ago, mworkman said:

Yea and we could go back to the old Tupperware cups of yesteryears   Who remembers these?

These are the exemplar reusable cup.  I think I started using one around age 2 (with the equally iconic Tupperware "sippy cup top") and continued to use it pretty much until High School. (The Tupperware, not the sippy cup!  )

6 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

I could see how it may be a challenge for a small family of 2-3. Royal's photographer's took 110 photos of my family of 4 on our 7 day on Liberty in September. Here's how we hit that:

10 welcome aboard photos at two backdrops, 5 at sailaway on the top deck, 12 at night one dinner in the MDR, 16 at a backdrop on formal night 1, 12 in the MDR on formal night 1, 21 on the dock at Roatan (we waited a long time for our excursion, so all the roaming photographers made their rounds to us), 11 on the dock at Cozumel, 10 in the MDR on formal night 2, 9 on the Promenade lighted bridge on formal night 2. 

It was really easy for us to hit 110, and we actually had a lot of other nights we missed the photo opportunities around the ship. We had not had family photos made in a couple years, so I knew we were going to take a lot, but I feel like I missed out on those other nights now that I'm going to be limited to just 100. 

We only had 35 taken of 5 of us on a 5 day on Enchantment, but there were 2 nights that were really rocky so we skipped dinner (and photos) those nights.

 

Gotcha.  I think part of this here is a fundamental difference not just in whether or not to use the professionals, but how one utilizes the shots.  In your exact 110 shot scenario, I would've ended up with 10 pictures: my favorite shot from each of the backdrops, my favorite sail away shot, my favorite shot from MDR night #1, etc.  Between my time in photography and my wife's experience as a graphic designer, we're pretty good at narrowing down and agreeing on what we think are the best photos of the family.  I totally understand the mentality of wanting all the shots, it's just not how I operate personally.  Thank you for taking the time to break it down; the 100+ number is much easier for me to wrap my brain around when I think of it in terms of proofs, not "keepers."

45 minutes ago, Jax said:

We actually exceed 100 photos so selecting 100 may be painful.

I have to ask a question, and it is going to sound like I'm being flippant, but I swear I'm genuinely interested. How did you manage to take more than 100 photos? Was it longer than a 7 day cruise?  Were you part of a really large group? That's more than 14 pictures a day with the photographers for a week. It's been a long time since I've been on a cruise ship, so I'm seriously floored by the logistics of that! Are there more photographers than there used to be? More candid opportunities throughout the ship. Again, sorry if it seems like I'm banging on here, but I am a photo guy, I even used to manage a photo lab back in my college days, and I figured a 20 picture package would do me just fine. Maybe I need to rethink that.

20 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I don't know....tha'ts a pretty darned good upgrade !!!

I'm certainly not complaining!  

While not quite the upgrade that @1978bucketlist scored, I was just able to upgrade my August 2020 sailing from a Deck 3 Oceanview cabin to a Suite Guarantee for a grand total of $193 for the 4 of us (NOT per person!), then Lift and Shift it to August 2021.  Did it take may TA 5 hours on hold to make it happen?  Yes, yes it did.  Am I sending him a bottle of his favorite Bourbon for his efforts?  You better believe it.  Many thanks to @Matt and everyone on the board for their expertise and quick dissemination of information to allow this to happen!

2 hours ago, marti314 said:

This practice is EXACTLY what RCL wants and needs right now.  They will gladly take your full payment in 2020 for a cruise in mid to late 2021.  They likely know their ships wont be going out full next year and it will take years to be back to "normal" so absolutely you are giving them a 0% interest loan for say 9 - 12 months!

And when they're giving me rates at 40% of what they are next year, plus price protection even past final payment date, I'm more than happy to!  Like @Kathleen said, it's not going to shake out right for everyone, but in certain scenarios it's going to be a big win-win.  Same rules as always apply: do your research, work with a good TA and do what's right for you!

38 minutes ago, bobroo said:

True Lift and Shift champions add cruise insurance to their new reservations if they did not have it before.

Even if you've sailed for years without it, I think it's very prudent at this point in time. 

Personally I couldn't imagine traveling without it in the past.  Thinking about not having it NOW?

29 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Frankly, I’ve thought of doing this myself.

Given the source, I find this to be reassuring! 

So, theoretical question.  Booked on a cruise this August.  Prices are obviously low for that sailing right now.  Could I upgrade that reservation to a better cabin category, THEN "lift and shift" it to an August 2021 sailing?  Get upgraded at 2020 prices for a 2021 sailing sounds like a good deal if that doesn't violate terms and conditions.  Thoughts? 

48 minutes ago, DanielB said:

Thank you....We are doing the Embassy Suites...I will get my Hilton points, free drinks, free breakfast oh and free drinks...LOL

You could do A LOT worse in the area. As @bytheslice mentioned, the mall and IHOP are. very close, as is a Ruby Tuesdays.  I understand that their shuttle to/from EWR is one of the more reliable in the area as well.  GrubHub/Door Dash/Uber Eats also greatly opens up your dining possibilities both of the local and chain varieties, and that property has a number of nice public spaces where you could besides being in your room.  All in all, a good choice.

I had to use HOWLONGAGO.com to figure out that it has been 5,463 days since my last cruise.  A few kids, 4 degrees and a couple of jobs fell in between. 

It was supposed to be 109 days until my next cruise, but it looks like 473 may be more realistic.  After 5,400 days, what's another 300 or so?

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

The Total Wine and Gary's stores around here are all curb-side drop-off now. Just pull up, pop your trunk, and someone will come out with your order and put in the trunk / close it up for you. Ultimate zero-contact while still being able to leave the house. Same with a lot of the fast-food places around here like Playa Bowls, Panera Bread, Smash Burger, and Moe's Mexican Grill.

This must be a wide-spread Jersey thing, because it's much the same down here by Princeton.  We even have a drive-thru farm around here, which is great.  You order fresh fruits, vegetables and eggs online, print out your order form or just have it on your phone's e-mail. You drive into the barn, show them the print out or e-mail (which they scan through your window), then pop the trunk.  They fill you up with farm-fresh produce and you're on your way.  I've gone every week since they started!