WAAAYTOOO

I don’t miss the muster drill

Good to see you on the blog. It's been a while !!

Each FCC has an independent expiration date. The rules are very fluid right now. In the past, an FCC that was “removed” from a cruise (for any number of reasons), reverted to its original expiration date but with current circumstances, they have been changing those expiration rules. I think “it depends” is probably the best answer to your question, at the moment.

Unfortunately, if it was booked with an FCC you would get refunded with an FCC. So sucks

If you cancelled your March cruise using Cruise With Confidence, you would receive only Future Cruise Credits for that cancellation - no cash refund option is available for CWC. For any cruise that Royal cancels you would/will have a choice of cash refund or Future Cruise Credits.

I'm very surprised that they allowed this. That's great news. Generally, they would make you take the cancellation penalty before they would give you any kind of price reduction after final payment. Happy to hear about this !

I noticed that yesterday they started a new "Flash Sale" ($300 for most of my cruises) but it negated the C&A balcony discount ($250 on most of my cruises) so about a $50 lower cruise fare. By the time they diminish it with pricing tricks, it generally didn't give me much more than a $25 discount so I'm not going to bother Michelle for $25. I also noted a VA resident discount ($600) on one of my December 2020 Oasis cruises but the $606 military discount was negated so I will keep what I have. VA resident discounts are extremely rare, as far as I can see. I am an obsessive "checker" so I see all of these little fluctuations and pricing voodoo that generally won't make much of a difference....but I still do it every day.

I guess the best news here is that Royal Caribbean has any money to purchase anything ! A bit of reassurance, I suppose https://seekingalpha.com/news/3590167-royal-caribbean-acquires-remaining-stake-in-silversea?utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha&mail_subject=rcl-royal-caribbean-acquires-remaining-stake-in-silversea&utm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-3

I don’t think so, Denise. I think the only way that “two become one” is if one has been applied to a cruise and then that cruise got cancelled. Instead of issuing 2 FCCs, they would combine them and make 1 big one with a new expiration date...but if these 2 FCCs have nothing to do with each other, to my knowledge, they cannot be combined and you can only apply 1 FCC (each) to any Cruise. That’s the rule I wish they would change...but I don’t think they have changed it.

You were very fortunate. If an Agent doesn't want to voluntarily give up the booking it is really difficult to move.

YIPPEE !!! So glad you got it sorted out, even if it was painful. I totally agree with @USCG Teacher....going with MEI next time is a good move !

It depends on who you get on the other end of the line ! I would think that you would be able to do this....basically the same cruise with just a small variation of the itinerary. It's certainly worth a try. It sounds like a really good idea, to me. Why not take advantage of the current rules and let them do something in your favor, for once. I think this program only goes through the end of July though...I wouldn't wait too long. Good luck !

According to my Agent, a full refund of both cruise fare and cruise planner purchases are on their way from my cancelled Sept. Liberty cruise. The cruise fare was exact and the CP purchases added up correctly even though the amounts were completely bizarre. It hasn't hit my bank account yet but apparently the refunds are on their way. If so, it will be the first of my 5 cancelled cruises that will be completely and totally refunded.

Obviously, you are a Saint. May God bless you and keep you. ???

Ugh. Horrible situation. If it were me, I would tell the current TA that unless he/she handles the L&S correctly within the next 3 days, I intend to contact Royal and ask for help with having the booking transferred out of the current agency. Now, I realize that this is a bit of a bluff as it’s next to impossible to move a booking that the Agency isn’t willing to give up, but I’d sure make the current Agent believe that a YOU believe it can be done !

You're welcome !

Yes.

The only time I have had this happen was when my booking was still on "hold". Once real money is introduced, it has always magically appeared in my list of upcoming cruises. Have you tried searching for a missing cruise ? As for seeing your 2 cancelled cruises still in your cruise list, they will stay there until ROYAL officially cancels them (not to be confused with when Royal announces that they are cancelling cruises for a certain period of time). IMO this is the cause of most of the delays in receiving refunds. My May Majesty cruise stayed in my list until the day after it would have returned back to port....and at that time it disappeared from my list and I assume the refund process was initiated. I still have not received my taxes, port fees, gratuities or cruise planner purchases from that one.

I completely agree with you on this. I understand why they did it (attracting new cruisers with a WOW experience) but it is NOT worth it to me to fly for a 3 or 4 night cruise. That is why I will never do NAV unless it can be at LEAST a B2B. I hate that they charge such a premium for the drinks package on those shorter cruises, too.

The good thing about Okinawa is that, due to the prolonged US military presence over the years, most aspects of business are pretty English-familiar. That trend is less prevalent in the northern part of the island (where it seems you will be docked) but still evident. If you plan on doing much, make sure you have some Yen. I am not that familiar with the northern part of the island (we lived down south for 3 years) but it is, IMO, a much prettier area. If it were me, I would probably avoid renting a car. #1, they drive on the left side of the road and it can be difficult to make that change if you’re not used to it. #2, the road signs are generally only in Japanese - especially up north. Of course, they have GPS these days, but I still refuse to drive when I go there for work. It can be pricey - especially if you are constantly converting dollars to yen.

My advice, with C&A....if the count is in your favor, say nothing.

I got a bunch of refunds yesterday for my cancelled August Symphony cruise. I have been very, very fortunate. So far (fingers crossed behind my back) all of the CP refunds have been accurate and complete for a single cruise...so I haven't had to go searching trying to and identify which refunds are from which cancelled cruise. My unprofessional observation is that they are working in reverse. I got my October refunds first, now August but still waiting for May.

Head's up re: Grand Cayman. It is expensive. Just be prepared.

As far as I know, this is still permitted

Yes, it is as close to an all-inclusive as you can get with Royal Caribbean. While there are a number of behind-the-scenes tours that you can take (complementary), the All Access Tour (which is a specific tour) is not included at no cost. I will say, the All-Access Tour is well worth the money that they charge, but it is not free for SC. There are some things with SC that others cannot get at any price. Nobody else on the ship can get room service delivered from the specialty restaurants. SC also includes unlimited laundry service. I suppose you could pay for individual bags of laundry every day if you wanted to, but for SC, it is complementary and they bring it back to you all hung up on hangers except for the unmentionables. Of course, the Genie is only available for SC. Only SC get individual reserved seating anywhere in the theaters and performance venues (some variation for some of the venues depending on ship and Genie). With SC you get unlimited water, soda and beer in your suite. If you want wine, you can have that delivered, but it is not complementary. They strongly discourage liquor in the suites but even that can be obtained at a very dear price. Not only do you get priority embarkation (and disembarkation) but the Genie meets you personally and escorts you directly to your Suite. No waiting until 1:00 for your room to be ready. Regarding the cost....you will probably not be able to justify the cost by adding all of the add-ons to a Sky Class room. I suppose there are rare instances where SC might work out to be less money, than adding all of the optional perks to a Sky Class fare, but I have never found one that did ! The difference in service is unquantifiable (as @Lovetocruise2002 mentioned). As I said above, there are some things that you cannot add on at any price. There are times when the Genie is worth every dime that you spend on your SC cruise. A particular instance comes to mind when all passengers had been required to disembark (I won't bother with all of the details) and we were stuck in a terminal full of very unhappy folks. One call to the Genie and she came and rescued us and got us back onto the ship before anyone else was being allowed back on. It was hours...and hours before everyone was allowed back on the ship. SC on O class is incredible. I love it....but to be honest, I think I enjoyed the Genie more on Anthem than on any other ship where we've been SC. Imagine your children or grandchildren being able to ride the bumper cars as many times as they want, going to the front of the line every time. Between the bumper cars, North Star and IFly, the Q class ships have so many unique activities and being SC allows you to go to the front of the line, every time.