WAAAYTOOO

I just asked @michelle to book the CR offer 20RBO103 for me. I'm turning our Dec 2020 Oasis into a B2B (we are already booked on 12-6). She was on hold for EVER, gave up, waited a while, called back and got an agent within minutes. Go figure. The very weird thing is....they would not allow access to this booking as a travel agent. She was able to put it on hold and get a casino price but will not be able to access it. I have never known this to happen before. I don't know whether I will be able to move it over to her once I get it going or not. Once I get a detailed cost I can determine what kind of casino discount they are giving me on the upgrade. If it's reasonable, I will put down the deposit and keep it. If not, I will remove the hold. I won't know until I get a confirmation.

I agree that this is likely. Right now, if Dan wants to travel - anywhere- he has to ask permission both from our Firm and from the government. My guess is, when cruising resumes, he would have to retire to go.

You can even apply an FCC to a reservation that is already paid in full. It ends up getting shot out the back side as a refund to your credit card.

None of the Cruise Planner prices are budging...with the exception of the UDP !! In the past, the UDP on the O class ships has been as high as $199, so while $20 doesn't sound like much, it is a bit of a discount off the highest high price that I've seen. We love the UDP and continue to get it for every cruise where it is offered. You get a LOT of food...lunch on embarkation day and any sea days of your cruise as well as every dinner. The truth is, sometimes it is too much food on sea days. But on the Oasis class ships there are a lot of options for eating specialty, so you get to try a lot of different options. We have never ever had any problem getting reservations except on the very rare occasions when we try and make a last-minute change. I recall having to eat at Chops at 9:30 once !! That wasn't too cool but that was b/c we had some kind of schedule change where we had to shift everything and that was all they had. But for the vast, vast majority of cases, you get the restaurant you want at the time (or very close) that you want. The specialty restaurants are a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the MDR. I always feel just a little bit special when I dine at one of the specialty restaurants. I guess that's why they call them specialty restaurants !! LOL Will you, most likely, have to repeat some of the restaurants on a typical 7 night cruise ? Yes, but you get to choose which ones you want to go back to !! The specialty restaurants have static menus; they do not change from day-to-day like the MDR menus so just keep that in mind. If you want a wide variety of different options every night then you are probably better off sticking with the MDR or doing a 3 night specialty dining package. Just be aware that the 3 night package does not include any lunch meals, just dinner. I encourage you to try the UDP and decide for yourself if it is too much of a good thing !!

Thanks ! Doesn’t look similar so I have no idea what my offer is !

What is the offer code for this ? I did not get an email but Dan and I both have an offer 20RBO103 on the clubroyaleoffers site. Thanks !

Thanks. Very helpful information.

What a wonderful blog and a great distraction. Thank YOU for taking time to do it. I kinda laughed when you said that you wished you had done more specialty lunches. I have been considering doing fewer of them. I always feel compelled to do specialty for every meal and it’s just absolutely too.much.food. I applaud you for not feeling pressured into too many big meals. My guess is that, with the larger group you had, it was difficult to organize big specialty meals and that probably helped. But when it’s just Dan and me, it’s easy....but not altogether smart. Did you find that there was always too much food just hanging around your suite ? We always have soooo much food just left uneaten. Cookies and fruit and fruit and fruit. On our last SC cruise (Oasis in Dec) we finally asked Joyce to please STOP with the in-room food delivery. Maybe with your larger group there were people there to eat it but with us, there just isn’t. I hate being wasteful.

No stimulus for either of us but honestly, we don’t need it. We are both still working full time even though retirement is imminent for me. If I was getting one it would definitely be going to the citizens’ cruise ship industry stimulus fund. 🤭🤭

I love seeing all of the creative ways American businesses are innovating to overcome the negative effects of this misery. Most of our local restaurants are providing take out and delivery and providing support (meals) to our local HCP and first responders. It really is heart warming and a reminder that nothing is more powerful than love and good ol’ American ingenuity. I don’t think our liquor laws allow alcohol to be taken out. I haven’t heard of anything like that, locally.

Lol. Yes, it’s been walkie walkie. I’m doing great, BTW. Thanks for the positive thoughts.

I would be thinking about those splurge purchases IF the prices were budging at ALL...but they’re not. It will be interesting to see prices (fares and CP purchases) come down to entice existing and loyal customers or if they go the route of maximizing prices. I would think that #2 would be a mistake but I’m often wrong about such things !

Yes, if it goes ! I’m planning on going on the May 16 cruise out of New Orleans, too....but I’m not very hopeful for that one...😢😢😢

Any news on Allure ? Is she still in Southampton ? As I recall, Cadiz had closed until 3-26. Just wondering if Allure had been able to enter dry dock.

Them’s just the rules....

There is no downside to working with an agent now and booking when the time is right. You will not lose a deposit under the current rules. If you book a non refundable deposit way out in the future then you might risk losing a part of your deposit if you change your mind later. Deposits are all being refunded currently.

They will not extend the final payment deadline. If you want to cancel the cruise it is best to cancel before final payment.

The only problem I had with the rooms behind the restaurants on 8 is that the one on the forward “hump” was a long walk to the aft elevators. Other than that, I also loved these rooms.

Yes, you did it exactly the right way. Once your FCCs are received, just have them applied to your replacement cruise.

As far as I know there is always a UDP. I suppose there’s a chance that it has sold out but frankly, I’ve never seen that happen before. Odd that it isn’t showing up in the Cruise Planner.

You have to go all the way through the booking process to find the refundable deposit option.

Excellent point

I’m not sure I want this with a hot dog but a good Italian sausage ? Maybe... not sure how easy it would be to get the spaghetti through a real sausage though....

We’re close too. May 16

Michelle Cunningham [email protected]