WAAAYTOOO

That's very interesting. I have never heard of a "mystery" deal with CR or one that had to be booked through an agent. Hope you get something really GREAT !

Yes, if you do not make final payment before the deadline they will cancel your cruise and return your deposit. I have heard a few instances where they offer a day or so grace period but I would never count on that. I would expect my cruise to be cancelled if I do not make final payment by midnight on the final payment date.

This is the operative part of your discussion. If the airline made a change to your schedule that has produced a sketchy connection, it is incumbent upon them to change to a schedule more accommodating to you. This is a job for your TA. I would insist that the TA take care of this for you. Changing the flights to permit a reasonable connection should cost you neither time nor money.

More is better !

Me too !

No [pax] cabins are below the waterline so at the very minimum, they will see out, above the water line.

I completely agree. Transportation is such a huge expense or us that we have basically stopped cruising out of Florida except or rare occasions. That is one of the primary reasons we are moving to FL when we retire !!

One con that you might need to consider. If you have 1 full suite (Grand Suite or higher) and one non-suite, those that are in the non-suite will not be eligible for suite amenities such as breakfast in the specialty restaurant (usually Chops but can be a different restaurant, depending on the ship). The non-suite guests would also not be invited to into the suites lounge if your ship has one. So if this is something that might cause a problem, you might just want to consider how it would affect your suite experience. If you're thinking of doing a Jr Suite and a non-suite then it wouldn't really affect any of the suite privileges as the Jr Suite has no real suite privileges to speak of.

I have a Feb 2020 Anthem booked and I thought I was being very conservative, believing that SURELY it would all be open by then but now I'm beginning to think it might NOT be done - even by Feb 2020 !

Welcome, Julie and Randall

Yes ! This is how Michelle became my permanent agent. Not only does she know how to twist arms with the cruiseline, she knows all the tricks of working directly with Club Royale. She did an amazing job for us when we had the disaster with Empress. All of our cruises are booked through the casino.

So relieved for you ! Glad he didn't need the anit-venom. I learned something today. I didn't realize you ever did NOT need the anti-venom. The human body is an amazing mechanism. Congratulations to you both and warm wishes for continued recovery.

I have had reservations moved to Michelle after 60 days but it's not the norm. Trying cannot hurt !

...and the next day, that poor filipino was homeless....

Bravo MEI ! SO happy that this is coming to a good end. There are so many lessons here. Twangbot's are extremely important - our children DO learn to handle life's disappointments (and joys !) from us and we don't know until WELL after it's too late that the way we handle crises is exactly the way they will handle crises. Another important lesson here is to be persistent (well done, alamode123) and not accept the answers you sometimes get if it's not what you want ! The third lesson is one we hear over and over and over again on these boards. A GOOD TA is worth waaay more during adversity than they are when things go the way you want them to go. I LOVE my Agent (Michelle Cunnningham, in case there's a soul on this planet that doesn't know yet). She works hard for us. Very hard. Believe it or not, I am NOT the easiest customer to have ! ? I ask for stupid stuff and have her check prices WAAAYTOOO often. I cancel and rebook, change rooms, overreact and whine. But she couldn't be more professional and attentive. To be completely honest (now that the crisis has passed) I did not expect this unfortunate scenario to end well for alamode123. I have heard MANY such stories (there shouldn't even be ONE) and they rarely (never ?) work out in the passengers' favor. Honestly, I think this might be the one and only time I've ever heard of Royal actually changing their minds and offering an alternative option to what their pathetic offers usually are. So, hooray for this time. The girls and you are going to have a great cruise. It won't be long and you will not even remember that your cruise was originally booked on a different ship. The truth is, you are getting a BETTER ship now and you will all have the time of our lives. Good deal !

So NOT true. ?

Don't take it personally. They hate everyone.

I know what you mean about the "other" forums. I couldn't agree more. The GREAT part about the MDR is that they are so amenable to most anything you want. There will be NO problem whatsoever with inviting another person to join you for dinner. Since they will most likely seat you at a 4 top (if you ask for that), the addition of 1 more person won't even cause a blink. Whether or not they seat "strangers" with you is entirely up to you ! That's what I love about the MDR. If you WANT to be seated with others, you can ask for that and they will kindly oblige but if you are socially awkward, like me (HA !!) and do not especially want to have to make small talk with someone you don't know, they will make sure that you have a "private" table. While they are great about making sure you are happy, it is BEST if you pick one or the other (private or not) at the beginning of the cruise, let the head waiter know your preference and stick to it for the remainder of the cruise. But even if you change your mind and decide to make some new friends, they will accommodate that as well. It's just easier for them if you make a preference and then stick to it. I hope your son makes LOTS of new friends !

I don't know about C&A loyalty priority (I don't recall there being any but it's been a long time since I was at a tender port) but when we were in a suite a few years back, the Concierge took us downstairs for our "priority" tender boarding and we had to wait for all of the excursion folks to go before they started letting us on. So, for those who had no tender priority (neither on an RCCL excursion or in a suite), the first "regular" tender was a considerable wait.

I've never had an UDP but I am reading, fairly often now, that at least on the O class ships, they are allowing you to use your UDP on embark day. I suspect that this is ship-dependent, so YMMV but many have reported being able to use their UDP on day 1.

Yes. You are free to take drinks and food out of the Windjammer.

Agree with Sabrina. Just a[nother, well documented] website blunder. All of the amenities noted for OS also apply to GS, regardless of the ship.

BakedAlaska, how is your husband doing today ?

Good luck with this. I hope he (or more likely, someone from his office, on his behalf) gets back with you. For an entirely different reason, recently, I sent my one and only (so far) email to his email address and never even received so much as an acknowledgement that they received the email....much less any kind of response or resolution. Maybe you will be luckier than I was.

I've never heard of Medicare J. Do they still offer it ?