WAAAYTOOO

27 minutes ago, AGSLC5 said:

This is something special Royal is doing for the next few days.. It was just sent to Travel Agents Yesterday... Here is the verbiage from Royal:  

 

Royal Caribbean® knows how eager our Crown & Anchor® Society members are to return to normal daily life — and get back onboard with us. We’re excited to see you again too. To help you get started planning your next cruise, we’re offering you a special bonus that allows you to save instantly. If you’re a Crown & Anchor Society member and book between April 15 – 21, 2020, you could save up to $425 off your cruise, dependent on your loyalty tier and cruise length - combining with the April Splash Sale or your existing member discount for the best possible savings. We can’t wait to make vacation memories again with you!

I don't suppose this will be compatible with any casino discount/rate....

Whew.  I was worried for a minute until you said that the VR glasses do not allow for "commando" mode at dinner.  That would probably would have spoiled my appetite.

LOL

Cream of mushroom soup, Coastal Kitchen filet and Grand Mariner Soufflé for me

Escargot, French Onion soup, braised lamb shank and Tiramisu (from Jamie’s) for Dan

We both also enjoy the whole Maine lobster from the Chops upcharge menu  

Frankly, I'm truly surprised that they have not already made an announcement about the next delay.  After Carnival made theirs, I figured Royal would be following shortly.  To my knowledge, NCL has not yet announced their extension, either.

Love the muster drill concept.

I love the “table occupied” screen.  Great upgrade.

Don’t forget.  The Federal government, for the first time in history, declared a national emergency in all 50 States.  That declaration has not been lifted.  The President has unprecedented authority right now.  Not saying that the Federal government would use it, but it’s in place at the moment.

Yippee !!

Where do you get good Mexican food in Detroit ?  I never could find any !

Yes, I would sail with just the 2 private islands as long as it was at least 7 days.

11 minutes ago, TotalF said:

Any reason us norwegians couldn't/shouldn"t use an american TA such as MEI?

We used a local TA for our first trip on RCCL and I really feel that I could have done a better job researching our cruise. 

I know that MEI can serve customers in Europe so I believe the answer is "yes" !!!  You won't regret it.

12 minutes ago, Traveler said:

Not sure about the leg to Peru maybe I will just take a flight and catch the ship there (I have been told they have a way to send it fast somehow )

Yes, I've heard that this new ship has teleport capability.  You need to try that out for us and see how it works.

2 minutes ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

This such a unique situation, they may recognize a one-time need to give back, at a time of huge inconvenience & uncertainty.  

I think there's wisdom in this sentiment.  Right now, none of the cruise lines can afford to give cash refunds.  They do it when they have to but are giving strong incentives NOT to get your money back.  One way that they can "appease" us is with awarding points.  It costs them nothing except for the headaches that come with increased loyalty members...but frankly, that problem is waaay down their problems list at the moment.  

We have not had a cruise cancelled - yet - but it's coming.  We are 100% certain that our 15 May cruise on Majesty will be cancelled so we will wait and see if those points are ultimately awarded.  It won't bother me one way or the other if they do not but I suspect that they will.

20 minutes ago, Traveler said:

Hello everyone . 

At this  time we were supposed to be on a 11 days cruise on the Jewel of the seas enjoining 10 different Europe locations , for some reason RCL canceled the cruise  ( still waiting to hear why) so I had to cancel our flight to Rome ,  some hotels and change it to some quarantine days (actually,  even from that I am not allow to enjoy as I found myself going to work everyday). 
Lucky for us I was offered  to join an alternative cruise on the new secret ship - Hope Of the seas. as it is an unofficial secret ship please do not share this information (or do not share it with other cruise lines). 
What is Hope of the Seas you ask ? well its part of the new project to create the next next next generation ship of RCL , it is using hydrogen  engine which means no smoke or any pollution  from the engine as the leftover is actually water. The other important feature of the ship is the ability to hover over the water and partially on land which allows it to go to many small ports although its size is larger than the Oasis class. For very small ports its using floating bridges which spread out of the ship and are supported and balanced  by small but strong drones. There are many other new features but some of them I will only find once I will board it. 

For sure once it was offered I said why not , specially when they told me that the cruise will be to the holy land and maybe I will also join a cruise to Peru later.

So here is the information.

13 April - Boarding Hope of the seas  in Afssos Greece  ( a very small port to hide the ship)
14 April - Haifa , Israel - planning trip to north of Israel and a view over the sea of Galilee
15 April - Tel Aviv - Enjoying the Med seas and Old Jaffa , over night in Tel Aviv 
16 April - Tel Aviv in the morning , trip to Jerusalem  
17 April - Dead sea trip (from Ashdod port) 
18 April - cruising   back to Greece.  

As always in such first time cruses things might change , who knows maybe we will have time to visit the red sea or other places 

For this cruise we got the internet package (new generation satellite which should provide sustained 100 Mb)  , next generation  Ultimate Drinking package  (you pay it only if you consume at a certain day more than the package cost) and we are staying in a new Junior two room suite.

Well , I should run to pack, need to catch a flight soon.
  

I sure hope you are doing a live blog.  We need the distraction !  I especially want to hear about the Greece to Peru leg.  That sounds awesome !!!

1 hour ago, codyh21 said:

Clearly no guarantees, but I can easily see these dropping once things get back up and running.  I also wouldn't be surprised to see them relax/go back on requiring everyone to have the DX if in the same stateroom.  We always call in and get my wife the refreshment, but I feel they'll be doing everything they can to bring revenue back in.

I'm also looking forward to getting the UDP on our first sailing back and getting some great food!

Wishful thinking but I'm right there with ya !!

Truly, I have no idea....but I think that if there are any changes it will be to the higher tier levels making it harder to get to P.  I can see them moving P from 700 to 1000 and then moving D and D+ up from their current levels. Who knows.  There will be gnashing of teeth and rending of cloth over any changes but I think that many are distracted right now and the very fact that cruising will be returning (when/if it does !) that the outcry would not be as loud as it would during "the salad days" [extra points if you know what film that one comes from].

I could very well be wrong but I thought the 125% even on the cruise planner purchases was just going into the overall FCC.  I don't THINK it will be applied to any future CP items.

I completely concur with @twangster’s comments re: loyalty.  I also believe that if there was ever going to be a time to remodel some of the thresholds (points’ requirements and levels’ requirements) it is now.  I won’t be at all surprised to see a few tweaks come out of this hiatus.

28 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Wait..so it’s Symphony on August 1st or grandeur on August 1st?

Symphony. We had to change it from Grandeur b/c the casino offer did not apply to Bermuda.  Symphony 1-8 August 2020.

On 4/9/2020 at 11:21 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Please add Grandeur, August 1-6 2020.

Thanks !!

Of course, this needs to be changed from Grandeur to Symphony.  It’s now 1-8 August

Update:  so, it seems my little scheme did NOT work.  Last night I got an email from the Club Royale agent who originally booked the Grandeur “hold” with Michelle.  She very nicely explained that the Bermuda Grandeur cruise did not qualify for the casino offer.  

So now we are booked on an eastern Caribbean cruise on Symphony (our first time on Symphony) for the same dates (1-8 August).  More money than I wanted to spend since I now have to pay for airfare, but still a good deal.

It could have been much worse.  I’m sure Royal could have either charged me a change fee, since I changed ships OR she could have simply removed the casino offer and charged me full price for the Grandeur cruise. I guess it never pays to try and cheat.

All’s well that ends well.

It does seem odd to me that they would rather give me a free 7 night cruise than a free 5 night cruise....but they did.  Go figure.

If you are a US registered vessel you can do a cruise to nowhere.  It’s just that it’s waaaytoo expensive an regulations-onerous to be a US flagged vessel !

15 minutes ago, RBRSKI said:

When do we all think the cruise lines will make a decision to cancel past 5/12?  

I'm guessing the new dates of cancellation will be coming very soon...probably within the next couple of days. I don't see # 1 or #2 (above) changing so that leaves #3.

So the question is....does the 100 days start on April 9 or March 14 ?

This rule is pretty much consistent with North American pricing rules.  Seeing that you are from the UK, it could be different but I doubt it.