WAAAYTOOO

The first half of my Oasis B2B in Jan 2022 (Jan 9) has dropped by over $400 PP.  But as Denise said, the cruise planner items have gone up and stayed there.  Hopefully Michelle can grab the price adjustment for me on Big O.

I've done the butterfly farm in Aruba.  It was ok...but I definitely would not expect it to be a highlight excursion for the day.

Welcome, Knevlett !

Correct on everything up to the excess part.  If it works the way they usually work, any FCC that exceeds the balance of the cruise would be paid back to you in the form of new FCC’s for each person.  It should not matter whether you have a refundable or non-refundable deposit.

5 minutes ago, Chadster said:

Thanks for the insight, Twangster; this is why people much more knowledgeable than me create cruise itineraries! I've decided that while I'm keeping my June 4 booking on Adventure, I'm keeping a July version of the itinerary ready just in case. If my June cruise goes ahead including Canada, then I'll cancel the one in July. Otherwise, I'll just go a bit later than planned; I've already got a trip down south planned later this year, and I'm not sure I want to repeat the trip twice if Royal just sends the ship to Bermuda or the Bahamas..

NOW you’re thinking like a real addict !  Great job !

As @AshleyDillo said above, you cannot use an FCC for :

Deposit

Taxes

Ports fees

Gratuities

Once you have a new cruise booked OR if you already have a cruise booked, you can apply your FCC towards the balance once the FCC is issued.

You were told that you could not use your FCC toward an already-booked cruise ?  Unless they have changed the rules for this FCC, that is completely incorrect.

44 minutes ago, Mr. Candyman said:

 

I'm not the expert and someone will correct me if I'm wrong but this is the way I understand it to work

Sounds right to me.  I wasn't aware of a way around the kids' FCC.  It would be interesting to know about that...

1 minute ago, SteveinSC said:

Yeah....we figured it would be. Especially since I promised the boys we would book one on Harmony. 😂 I figured this was the way it worked. Between that, and the other refunds from 3rd part excursions and such coming back to my card, should be fun to keep track of for my accountant...aka wife.  Thank you, as always, oh wise and generous @WAAAYTOOO

Welcome, as always. 🥰🥰

Just now, Ogilthorpe said:

On the surface the $600 OBC seems generous, but for any bookings that are more than $1200 pp, the Royal offer of 125% is better compensation. It appears both companies are spending generously on incentives, just distributing them a little differently.

I agree.  $600 OBC on a Star Class cancellation would be waaay less than 25%.

Yes, your taxes, ports fees and gratuities will be refunded directly to your credit card.  Probably within 5-7 biz days.  You are correct that the FCC can only be applied to the cruise fare, but between the deposit you must make on the new cruise and the already refunded taxes, etc, you will probably cover most, if not all, of the cost of the cruise.  It’s all a wash, really. You get it all back, one way or another.  The only bummer is that the cost of the replacement cruise is likely to be higher than the cancelled cruise was.

10 minutes ago, ronsuz said:

Just read on Friday that Canada is closing its ports until at least July 1. That means all cruises going through Canada will be canceled. I was going to fly to Seattle for a 7-day Alaskan cruise in June. It's not going to happen. I would not be surprised if the entire Alaska summer season is canceled. My final deposit to Royal Caribbean is due next week, and I will cancel it before then.

You might want to consider waiting until Royal cancels rather than cancelling, yourself.  You would likely get a better “deal” by waiting and letting them cancel.

I understand you not wanting to make final payment, however, it is obvious that Royal is going to have to cancel your cruise.  It is scheduled during the Canadian port embargo.  By cancelling first, you may lose out on any cancellation bonuses they will probably offer.

Yes, in the end, your deposit will essentially be used to cover the taxes, ports fees and, if you choose to prepay them, your gratuities.

1 minute ago, Matt V said:

Are we safe to book a new cruise and pay the deposit while we wait for the FCC to arrive? Then assume we apply the FCC to the cruise we put the deposit on? 

Yes.  I was just responding to this very idea on a different thread.  I think it is very wise to do this.  IMO, prices are just going to continue to rise.  As long as you book a fully refundable deposit, you really can’t go wrong.  You can add the FCC to your booking later.

1 minute ago, KyleW2 said:

My guess is they are assuming COVID19 will no longer be a concern on April 13th, which will raise cruise prices by at least 25% as people won't be worried anymore and will start booking cruises again. If that happens, it will be a wash and they really won't be missing out on anything by offering the extra percentage. 

I have the cruise I want to rebook with planned out, at this point just waiting for the FCC. I will calculate the percentage increase on April 13th from now just to see if that is what happens. 

Since you already know what you want to book, have you considered going ahead and booking it now and applying the FCC later, once you receive it ?  I would be afraid that prices are just going to go up, up, up especially once the FCC’s are delivered.  As long as you book a fully refundable deposit, you can’t really make a mistake. 

Just now, CowboyMedic said:

The 125% FCC won't be available until April 13th, 2020. The 100% cancelation will be received after you cancel per RC.

That’s interesting. I had not read that before.  Kinda sucks for people who want to reschedule and use the FCC.  Thanks for providing that info.

@Matt, sorry you aren't getting on a cruise ship today.

😪

28 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Plus it breaks up the number of people they have to deal with.

You are soooo smaaat.  Even if you do have bony wrists.

🥰

29 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

They may not honor what they said to those folks that canceled on their own. 

^^  This ^^

4 hours ago, F1guynz said:

The other issue I see is that when cruising does resume a lot of people will be booking/paying using FCC which won’t help with cash flow.

just to be on the safe side we took the cash refund instead of 125% fcc. I don’t expect Royal to go bankrupt but I would rather have the money sitting in my bank account rather than an a FCC sitting in theirs which could become worthless in a worst case scenario, especially if it is worth thousands of dollars.

While I don't think that RCL will be going bankrupt (unless this things goes WAAAY longer than it looks like it will), there is also an issue for some of us who have a waterfall of FCC's.  If things keep getting postponed, eventually these FCC's are going to expire.  Truly, this is more of a concern for me than RCL financial insolvency.  I already have 2 cruises which have FCC's applied and they are coming up fairly quickly (this calendar year).  As @twangster has taught us, these things can become a nightmare to track.  Unless Royal wants to keep extending these FCC's (and I'm sure they do NOT want to do that), there will be a reckoning at some point where the FCC's are going to go end-of-life.  As the VERY old saying goes, sometimes a bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush.

BTW, the same thing goes for airline "credits" - another hard lesson recently highlighted by @twangster

When was the Freedom's dry dock originally scheduled ?

21 minutes ago, twangster said:

I'm facing the same challenge coming at me.  Sailing April 12 is a transatlantic to the UK and outside the window of when they have posted they are shut down.  I'm after final so consequently the only option to cancel right now is the Cruise with Confidence program. 

Resist !  Don't cancel !!!!!!!

Thanks so much for your live blog. It was such a blessing this week.  Sorry it’s over but glad to hear that you booked while on board.

I totally agree with you about 150 CP and Wonderland. One and done.  Also glad to hear that you would have benefited from the DBP.  You did exactly the right thing - tried [not having]  it to see, and realized that next time it will work to your advantage to have it.

Glad you are back home, safe and sound.  Bunker down, buy some toilet paper (if you can find any) and stay well and healthy.

Ugh.  Can’t say that I blame you.  Fingers crossed, still hoping for you.

🤞🤞🙏🏻

IMO the OS is a significant upgrade from the GS-especially if the price difference is minimal.  The bathroom is much nicer - separate walk-in shower, jets in the tub and bidet.  There is a full dining room table and chairs inside and of course, larger room and balcony. I LOVE the OS.  I would definitely pay extra for it.