WAAAYTOOO

The obvious advantage to booking the 2 BR GS is that you would qualify for all of the Suite benefits.  That includes access to the Concierge/Suites Lounge, breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants, services of the Concierge, invitation to the ship tours (assuming they still offer those after the re-start), reserved seating in the theaters. Are those things worth $2K ?
Personally, I think you will have more room, overall, with the 2 JS.  The second bedroom in the 2 BR GS is really the size of an inside room - very small....but 2 full JS would be LOTS of room....and if they were connecting, it would be like having 2 giant suites !
This would be a tough one for me.  You know I love the suite perks...but to be completely honest, I'm not sure that the suite perks on a non-O/Q are worth $2K.

@michellealways checks prices when a new sale is announced BUT  she does not, nor do I expect her to check prices daily.  That is MY job and I do it every. single. day.  If I happen to catch a price drop (this has not happened for some time, BTW) I notify her immediately and she looks into it.
I have never ever been charged a single dime in fees from MEI.  Never.  Ever....and I've been using them for nearly 10 years.

We sailed NCL once and had a good experience.  We used to be cruise "samplers", but ended up staying with RCG because the ships, itineraries and how the  loyalty programs worked between the lines.   Still have a curiosity about their Haven suites and may try them again someday.

Hi @Neesa I play with these configurations all the time, as well.
Our son (17 at the time of sailing) will be bringing his buddy (18) for all the fishing fun they can handle for our next Alaska cruise. We are taking the Goldstar from ANC to Girdwood and then hopping back on 4 days later for Seward. In Girdwood, they will have their own room, either connecting to ours or not. On Radiance, we have booked a 2bedroom/2bath Owner's Suite. They are both big guys who will get even bigger (already, both are over 6'2"). We went this route for the concierge service and the fact that if my husband and I split-up on the booking, that is if he is listed a concierge level suite and I am in a JS, then even after we switch the keys, only half of our party would be able to avail ourselves of the concierge services, e.g., early on/early off, scheduling services, etc. Yes, it is not a larger ship with all Sky or Star class amenities, but it would still throw a wrench in some of the plans. When we disembarked in Vancouver, we flew by everyone else and ended up in our taxi to VNC in 5 minutes. From Chops to taxi. . .5 minutes. 
For our NYE cruise on Oasis out of Miami in December, we have a Crown Loft Suite, as it is just the three of us. If we would have one more, then yeh, we would have played around with the numbers.
If I had connecting JS suites, then I would add The Key. Getting on and off the ship quickly, even more than ever now with COVID protocols (whatever they may be), would make it worth it for us. 
We are suite snobs, both on Royal and when we sailed with Disney. We like the amenities with concierge-level suites. If GS or higher suites are not available, then connecting JS or balcony with The Key added would be my next choice.
 

The obvious advantage to booking the 2 BR GS is that you would qualify for all of the Suite benefits.  That includes access to the Concierge/Suites Lounge, breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants, services of the Concierge, invitation to the ship tours (assuming they still offer those after the re-start), reserved seating in the theaters. Are those things worth $2K ?
Personally, I think you will have more room, overall, with the 2 JS.  The second bedroom in the 2 BR GS is really the size of an inside room - very small....but 2 full JS would be LOTS of room....and if they were connecting, it would be like having 2 giant suites !
This would be a tough one for me.  You know I love the suite perks...but to be completely honest, I'm not sure that the suite perks on a non-O/Q are worth $2K.

The obvious advantage to booking the 2 BR GS is that you would qualify for all of the Suite benefits.  That includes access to the Concierge/Suites Lounge, breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants, services of the Concierge, invitation to the ship tours (assuming they still offer those after the re-start), reserved seating in the theaters. Are those things worth $2K ?
Personally, I think you will have more room, overall, with the 2 JS.  The second bedroom in the 2 BR GS is really the size of an inside room - very small....but 2 full JS would be LOTS of room....and if they were connecting, it would be like having 2 giant suites !
This would be a tough one for me.  You know I love the suite perks...but to be completely honest, I'm not sure that the suite perks on a non-O/Q are worth $2K.

You guy make me want to switch to MEI for my next booking.
 
Question: Would NextCruise OBC convey with the transfer of a booking to a TA?

Well....for $2000, it depends.  You do get access to the suite lounge and suite concierge with the GT, even though there's no CK.  In addition, you also have seats reserved at shows (I think) for suite guests.  No complimentary voom though which is a major pet peeve of mine on non-Quantum and Oasis class ships.  The other perk of the GT on Mariner is the aft views, but obstructed.  So would that be worth it to you for an extra $2000?  Only you can decide that.
Personally, if it were me, for $2000, I actually might take the GT over the 2 connecting JS only because my kids, while they are getting older, still like to share the room with us.  They say it's part of the family vacation experience. lol
And while not as good as Q and O class, I still like the suite benefits.

The obvious advantage to booking the 2 BR GS is that you would qualify for all of the Suite benefits.  That includes access to the Concierge/Suites Lounge, breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants, services of the Concierge, invitation to the ship tours (assuming they still offer those after the re-start), reserved seating in the theaters. Are those things worth $2K ?
Personally, I think you will have more room, overall, with the 2 JS.  The second bedroom in the 2 BR GS is really the size of an inside room - very small....but 2 full JS would be LOTS of room....and if they were connecting, it would be like having 2 giant suites !
This would be a tough one for me.  You know I love the suite perks...but to be completely honest, I'm not sure that the suite perks on a non-O/Q are worth $2K.

@michellealways checks prices when a new sale is announced BUT  she does not, nor do I expect her to check prices daily.  That is MY job and I do it every. single. day.  If I happen to catch a price drop (this has not happened for some time, BTW) I notify her immediately and she looks into it.
I have never ever been charged a single dime in fees from MEI.  Never.  Ever....and I've been using them for nearly 10 years.

@michellealways checks prices when a new sale is announced BUT  she does not, nor do I expect her to check prices daily.  That is MY job and I do it every. single. day.  If I happen to catch a price drop (this has not happened for some time, BTW) I notify her immediately and she looks into it.
I have never ever been charged a single dime in fees from MEI.  Never.  Ever....and I've been using them for nearly 10 years.

I can promise you the lowest price in terms of what Royal direct has to offer, but I can't promise you to match a $600 discount that Costco is giving, or anything like that. But I can promise you that I will work hard for you and do my best job for you, as I would for everyone no matter what. 
*By "I" I do mean "pretty much all MEI-Travel agents."

No, the old agency will not be notified.  There's a difference in being unethical (i.e. me just stealing your business from the existing TA like promising you something if you cancel your reservation with them) and just business (i.e. you aren't happy with the current TA and like our service better).  It's a service industry for sure.

 

Haha. It’s actual a local Mom-and-Pop company in the town where I work. We actually found them at a wedding show when we were planning our honeymoon. We planned three international vacations with them and we only ever paid for the cost of the trip.
Now they have “re-branded” and fees are everywhere! Oh here’s another fun fee - “reservation change fee, $50 per person, per change” and yes, that would have been charged had we “lift-and-shifted”!
Amen to the advice said all over the site and forum -“Use a GOOD travel agent”!
?

Yup - $150 per person - $300 total. It was not a fun transaction. And unfortunately, this clause was buried in their fine print terms and conditions.
THEN, they had the audacity to try to have us come back to them “for a special rate of only a $100 per person planning fee”. They had never charged us before but I guess now they are.
So good riddance to them! Out of respect to that company, I won’t mention who they are.

But I will be reaching out to MEI once we can start booking again! I hear they are great :-)
thanks all!

Richard Fain's latest video update that actually includes some noteworthy updates.
 

The saliva test is even better (also RT-PCR). I've done 3. Pretty handy (although as a woman I was really never taught to spit well when I was a child, lol).  I'm hoping for something like cheek or saliva for these cruising tests.

I think its very likely everything US based in June will be cancelled based on NCL's cancellation and the lack of CDC activity.

@Aiden ParkerThis is a great idea.  During my home time the past year, I found a photo album I had picked up on a cruise at some point that I forgot I had.  Still new in wrapper!  So I went back to my first cruise on 1992 and printed out pictures from every sailing.  I printed out a picture of the ship to start each section, looked up sail dates and itineraries, and made a album full of memories that now span almost 30 years.  Having notes from the past really helped me fill in some of those blanks.  I had to do some digging through old scrapbooks & external hard drives for details; I wish I had started a log once we fell in love with cruising and knew we'd be life-long cruisers. 

I had booked two cruises direct in 2020 and early 2021. When all the cancellations started I was able to move my 2021 cruise to a TA and have booked two more with them. The issue I've run into is tracking the FCCs and OBCs from my personal cruise which were later added to the 2021 cruise which then got cancelled as well. The TA could not track them accurately. Spent about an hour on the phone with Royal and got it all figured out. I'm still quite happy going forward with my TA. Glad to hear about booking a cruise myself then transferring it, I hadn't thought about that and I've played message tag with my TA trying to get a booking that I really wanted. I'm going to keep this in mind as I start looking at 2023.

Your TA charged you a cancellation fee?????  That is definitely grounds for "see you never again", IMO.
And yes, once the reservation is cancelled, you are not tied to them.  The FCCs belong to you.  However, I have found with the many cancellations that I have had this year, some of the FCCs went to my former TA and not to me.  Being that they are not reliable, they never sent it to me.  A quick call to Royal and that's all it took for me to receive it.

If one uses the Ultimate beverage package correctly, ones mask usage will be limited. 

That definitely will ruffle some feathers if you need a vaccine, a negative test and still have to wear masks.