Okgladgal

4 hours ago, bdtrex said:

If I booked directly through Royal and my cruise was canceled, can I use MEI to book a future cruise and still use that FCC?

Yes, you can. I reached out to @michelle at MEI and she was able to rebook my cancelled cruise, that I had originally booked thru RC myself, apply my FCC and answer all my questions. 

21 hours ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

Ok, it looks like the "powers that be" may kill the cruising season this summer and possibly early fall. For those of us with children, we would like to take a vacation THIS YEAR. So here is my dilemma, my cruise in August seems to be threatened at this point. I have planned on rebooking it for October if it is. However, the doomsdayers are saying that this could extend to the end of October, and with the CDC dragging their feet and not wanting to actually be helpful to the cruise industry, this may very well happen. So what should I do? I EXTREMELY want to take my family on a cruise and do all of the fun excursions that I have planned and PAID FOR, but if I rebook and it's cancelled too then we haven't had a vacation at all this year. Should I rebook and take that chance OR should I just plan a destination vacation to somewhere like St. Thomas or St. Martin (provided that they are open to tourists)? Going to a local beach is not an option for us. Also, considering the charged climate right now in the US, there aren't too many places to go that won't end up with us probably being attacked. The point of a vacation is to get away from the stress and madness, but here lately it seems that trying to do that makes the stress worse. A "staycation", meaning staying at home, means nothing more than working around the house (for a Mom) IS NOT a vacation. Oh, and for those who may mention camping, I love it but due to my husband's health we can't. So which would be best? Rebook? or Destination?

Are you located in a city or near one that has a resort style hotel? We lived in Tulsa and we spent many long weekends at the Margaritaville Resort. Something like that might work for your family. If you wanted to still go Caribbean, you could check out the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in Jamaica. I believe it's all inclusive and has a lazy river and play area for the kids. 

3 hours ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

Yes, I am.  @Baked Alaska I keep seeing it for others but not sure how to set it up for myself.

I hide them so they don't take up so much room 

22 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

Hi Mrs. Thomas. Heard your name on the youtube Q&A! You're a celebrity!! Not sure if I understand your question. I don't get a list of cruises. I click on sign in and then nothing but a white page. Sorry, I may have confused the issue further.

Perhaps she means your past cruises in your signature.

Serenade docked in Nassau

19 hours ago, Spang1974 said:

Same here, Just waiting on taxes and port fees now, but I have no expectation of receiving before July, so very positive experience for me as well.

So weird...I received my taxes and port fees back to my credit card first thing.

FCC and Cruise Planner refunds at 125% have truly been a trying experience. I'm happy to say my FCC came back to me correct (after the first wrong one) to within a dollar. My 125% cruise planner refund came back on the nose. I realize I didn't have anything complicated like others but just wanted to bring some good news to this thread.

9 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

Go to casino and cash out?

 

@Baked Alaska I've seen comments like this before but it's never applied to me. Are you saying if you have money left in your planner at the end of the cruise you can get a refund for it at the casino?

I'm conflicted on this. If the casinos were smoke free, I'd stay longer and lose more money

1 hour ago, Louieond said:

We got our FCC cleared up, seems they only gave us credit for one person and then divided that in half! Now our next question is can you get the Visa points we redeemed for OBC switched to our newly booked cruise? Do you call Royal or Visa? Thanks in advance, I'm glad I found this blog!!

I had the same thing for my cancelled cruise. I had quite a bit of OBC already applied to the planner. I called the Rewards # 1-888-305-4626 and the credit was moved to the new reservation the next day. For clarification, it was our Bank of America, my visa rewards.

I imagine the deposit should be deducted, but that still doesn't add up to me

1 minute ago, Kcusack89 said:

Looks like we got the same royal employee doing our credits . I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how 802 equates to 1464

Waiting on my travel agent to respond

Do you have a TA? If not I'd call back tonight and see what they have to say

I didn't use a TA on this one, but I have one now. Maybe she can figure it out. 

We received our FCC today and I don't understand their math on it, either. What do y'all think about this? $654 X 2 = $1308.00 

Yep, our group should be enjoying breakfast in San Juan right now, getting ready to board Freedom. I'm not pouting or anything

Thanks @USCG Teacher I was just reading thru that thread. 

9 minutes ago, Cub said:

So I opted for the OBC but received an email today saying the purchases were being refunded to my credit card.  I don't want that since we rescheduled the cruise and will need to purchase the excursions et al all over again especially  after I made a point to buy them at the lowest price at the time.  Any one else have this happen

Cub, I received the same email even though I requested the %125 cruise planner option. 

45 minutes ago, TXcruzer said:

The 125% FCC will be worthless after the bankruptcy filing 

Do you know something we don't?

Everyone should book an aft balcony at least once! Snag it if you can.

33 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

We don't have a statewide shelter in place, but Dallas county issued one that goes into effect tonight at midnight. Cities around Dallas have been following their lead, and the mayor of our town, which is in the county just north of Dallas, has said he is making an announcement in the morning regarding a shelter order. I think more rural cities and counties will trickle into the same situation as the virus continues to spread,  and at this point April 11 isn't likely. I've pretty much given up hope for my May 25th sailing... I'm feel like I'm playing a game of chicken with Royal to see who will cancel first.  

Same for us in Houston. I'm playing that same game of chicken with RC with my 5/3 cruise.

@WAAAYTOOO just for fun, I'll say June 15th.

11 minutes ago, Chadster said:

This is the big concern right now, per the advisory:

" If you choose to travel internationally, your travel plans may be severely disrupted, and you may be forced to remain outside of the United States for an indefinite timeframe."

We have friends on the Celeberty Eclipse. They've been stranded off the coast of Chile for days. They left Feb 28th and truly have no idea when they'll get home.

18 hours ago, Jill said:

You couldn’t pay me to sail Carnival. 

We've sailed on Carnival 6 times and have no complaints. 

#stillgoing 53 days. Unless DH's work puts the brakes on him.

18 minutes ago, gatorskin76 said:

I'm not sure that booking 8 months ahead is really going to get you as much of the booking early advantage.  Generally that is over a year and sometimes 2 years in advance.

Excellent point!