JT2

I guess we have to wait and see how they are going to handle the cruises over 8 days but they are locked now, in compliance with the CDC regs.

Per CDC most people that have contracted the virus have been wearing masks. Europe is under a second wave as well and have been under a very restrictive mask mandate. The push should be for the vaccine, hopefully available by end of this year.

You can search cruises in cruise critic and click on the circled arrow for the maps.

Do the larger ships drink packages cost more?

Was on Brilliance and sale last month was $46, that of course was cancelled and refunded, this month on Indy it's $50.

22 hours ago, Firefly said:

My 8 night Brilliance cruise in June finally changed over to Indy...but they put my husband and I on one side of the ship and our minor children on the other...what a mess. Hoping my TA can get it all sorted out. 

My TA said many of the customer service people are new and not well trained so will take a bit to get everything sorted. There looks to be plenty of blocked rooms for them to shift people around on.

19 hours ago, TempoGL said:

I was moved from Brilliance to Independence for 7/31/2021.  Totally cool with me, but now I get an error when trying to access the cruise planner.  I know that there had been a cruise planner sale and I was planning to book the drink package.  Does anyone know when this will be fixed or if they will honor sale prices due to inability to access the cruise planner?

I'm getting moved to Indy as well but still stuck in limbo. I was just able to get into cruise planner and cancel my bev pkgs.

When I asked them if they would honor the pricing I was told no, they said keep an eye out for sales in the future.... Like I hadn't done that and it been screwed up by them.

8 minutes ago, nate91 said:

I will say that I finally got moved, and had something funny happen to me: I went on Liberty of the Seas in 2018, Independence's sister. Well of all the luck, I was assigned the EXACT same cabin that I had on Liberty on Independence! Now I'm wondering if it was indeed random or if someone went back to see what cabin I had on Liberty. If it was random that seems like a very low percentage chance with the hundreds of balcony cabins on the ship. Not like I had a GS or anything, haha!

I think you know what numbers to play once you get to the casino.

Still waiting to get moved over... Maybe they are waiting until the last minute to do a giant data dump.

I’ve seen someone post they received a $200 obc, per cabin, for having to change ships/cabins, can anyone else confirm this?

Also heard anything purchased in the cruise planner is not moving over and will be canceled/refunded. 
 

45 minutes ago, Firefly said:

My June 19th 8 night Brilliance sailing still shows up in my planner, but the switch to Indy will make the kids happy. Just hope I can keep my cruise planner purchases since they are keeping the itinerary and simply replacing the ship. 

I'm on that sailing too.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN ANNOUNCES UPDATES TO 2021 SUMMER CRUISES
Royal Caribbean Press Center News Feed 3min//keep unread//hide
MIAMI, Sept. 23, 2020 – Royal Caribbean International today provides an update to its 2021 summer cruises, announcing upcoming changes in itineraries and homeports. Tapping market research and valuable feedback from guests and travel partners, the cruise line has adjusted its schedule with the goal of providing guests with greater variety for their 2021 adventures.

Highlights of the updated summer cruises for 2021 include new 4- and 5-night Mediterranean getaways from Barcelona, and more island time in the Caribbean with ships sailing from additional, popular U.S. cruise ports next summer including Tampa, Fla. and San Juan, Puerto Rico.  

The new itineraries combined with Royal Caribbean ships and crew will deliver the signature vacation experience that guests know and love. Most importantly, the global cruise line is applying the best available public health, science and engineering insights to deliver a safer and healthier cruise vacation. 

Guests with confirmed bookings between April and November 2021 and whose cruises are affected by these changes are being notified directly. These existing bookings are covered by Royal Caribbean’s Cruise with Confidence program.

New Itineraries and Homeports

Europe

Adventure of the Seas, which was previously scheduled to sail from Copenhagen and Stockholm, will head for Barcelona to sail a mix of new 4- and 5-night Mediterranean itineraries to historic destinations like La Spezia and Rome, Italy; Ajaccio, Nice and Marseille, France; and Palma and Ibiza, Spain.
Jewel of the Seas, originally planned to homeport in Amsterdam and Barcelona, will now sail from Copenhagen and Stockholm on 7-night cruises calling on Northern Europe’s picturesque ports of Helsinki, Finland; Tallinn, Estonia; and Visby, Sweden.
The Caribbean

Independence of the Seas, originally sailing from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. offering 3- and 4-night cruises, will now make the neighboring city of Miami her home for the summer season and offer a combination of 6- and 8-night cruises to the Southern and Western Caribbean, visiting far-flung islands including Aruba and Curacao.
Vision of the Seas¸ previously planned to sail from Barcelona, will sail from San Juan, offering a new summer program from the island of enchantment. She will offer 7-night Southern Caribbean itineraries to exotic destinations like Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis; St. John’s, Antigua; Castries, St. Lucia; and Bridgetown, Barbados.
Brilliance of the Seas will stay in Tampa for the summer offering a new drive to port for guests. She will sail 4-, 5- and 7-night cruises to the Caribbean, elevating Caribbean summer sailings from Florida’s west coast.
Royal Caribbean’s other summer 2021 cruises will sail on as planned in the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Visiting more than 200 destinations in over 50 countries with 27 ships in 2021-22, the cruise line’s summer 2021 highlights span the globe.

In Europe, new ship Odyssey of the Seas will join Anthem and Harmony of the Seas and make its debut in Rome to kick off its inaugural Europe season. Over in Alaska, the region will see the cruise line’s biggest season yet with four ships, including newcomer Quantum of the Seas. The warmer temps in the Caribbean bring travelers variety in itineraries, destinations and ships with newly amplified favorites like Mariner and Navigator of the Seas sailing 3-night weekend and 4-night weekday itineraries to The Bahamas and Perfect Day at CocoCay, and Oasis of the Seas cruising from the New York area for the first time. In Asia, guests can sail aboard the region’s newest ship, Spectrum of the Seas, offering 4- and 5-night sailings from Shanghai and visiting Japan.

Royal Caribbean’s full list of 2021 summer cruises can be found here.

About Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International has been delivering innovation at sea for more than 50 years. Each successive class of ships is an architectural marvel featuring the latest technology and guest experiences for today’s adventurous traveler. The cruise line continues to revolutionize vacations with itineraries to more than 270 destinations in 72 countries on six continents, including Royal Caribbean’s private island destination in The Bahamas, Perfect Day at CocoCay, the first in the Perfect Day Island Collection. Royal Caribbean has also been voted “Best Cruise Line Overall” for 16 consecutive years in the Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards.

Media can stay up to date by following @RoyalCaribPR on Twitter and visiting RoyalCaribbeanPressCenter.com. For additional information or to make reservations, vacationers can call their travel advisor; visit RoyalCaribbean.com; or call (800) ROYAL-CARIBBEAN.

I asked to see what they would say.

17 minutes ago, Atlantix2000 said:

That's some excellent PR deflection.  Only one piece of info has to be wrong to claim it "featured outdated info".  Everything else could still be accurate!

Glad to see I'm not the only cynical one here. That's exactly how I took it.

I sent a DM to them on Twitter, here is reply: 

I'm so sorry for the delay. Yesterday a press release was posted that featured an update on our Summer 2021 itineraries. It was posted in error and featured outdated info. We’re always looking at ways to offer our guests and travel partners the best vacations. When there are confirmed details on any changes to our itineraries, we’ll let you know.

37 minutes ago, Pooch said:

The price on our cruise has risen almost 30% in the last few weeks.  I am stubbornly holding onto the hope that they have reached reduced capacity and are trying to discourage further bookings.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

The price on my balcony guarantee has gone up 43% since I booked it the beginning of August. Maybe they readjusted the cost due to moving from Brilliance to Independence....

So, if true. Brilliance would be replaced with Independence. 

I would think the lobbyists are way out in front of this and have steered them towards language that encompasses things that are already in the works or would need to be done in any case and are probably already in the works. Most senators don't pull this stuff out of thin air.

20 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

My first sailing was an 8-nighter on Freedom of the Seas like @JT2 is taking, including 3 port days plus a stop in Labadee. I did a semi-live blog of that (link in signature) and gave my daily drink tallies there; definitely came out ahead with the package. Didn't even have to drink that much, but that trip the DBP was only $42/night -- a price I haven't seen in a heck of a long time now.

My math was wrong, we'll only be in Aruba and Curacao plus Labadee so 4 days at sea. Right now price for DBP is $61 at 20% off so will wait to see what Black Friday/Cyber Monday brings. I checked out your blog, loved it, very informative! 

5 minutes ago, crisgold52 said:

Tipping spoils the market. We already pay prepaid gratuities.  No difference whatsoever. Of course when one TIPS they think they see a difference but it's always subjective. I've tipped twice when I first started cruising. No differences. But if people have cash to spend on Star Class and UP then sure it's good. But otherwise most of us average folks who stick with Inside Oceanview or Balcony then tipping or not is debatable. Tipping seems very Americanized however I dont see people tipping grocery clerks or cashiers. Service is service. Minimum wage there also. 

I didn't say everyone should tip. You are absolutely correct that we've already paid the gratuities and, like you, I notice no less service if I don't. But I do feel good about doing so and I'm sure the staff member feels good about getting it, so no harm. Not sure why you think that "spoils the market". I'm as average folk as you can get, I uploaded a spreadsheet to see if getting the drink package was worth it and balcony is splurging for us.

16 minutes ago, Chuck586 said:

New to the boards but I have a tip question.

What is the general feeling about adding an additional tip to the receipt if you have the full drink package?  Since 18% is already calculated in is an additional something expected or no?  

Is the guy or gal that does not add something more ignored for the rest of the day?

I always bring along some small bills and tip often. While the 18% is spread out to all the staff, showing extra appreciation at a point of service pays just seems like the right thing to do with all that those folks have to do for relatively low pay. Never gotten bad service when I didn't tip but, if you do, it is noticed and feel like you get even better service. 

36 minutes ago, Andy & Sheryl Unwin said:

Former Royal Navy, I was trained by the best

Excellent! I've got an 8 day scheduled next June with 3 sea days and Labadee, challenge accepted.

US Army Trained.

9 minutes ago, Andy & Sheryl Unwin said:

 

• Wed 02/19/2020 - 20 x 13 = $260.00

4 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Wasn’t thinking of changes in the dollar cost of the package. Was more thinking of a lower number of drinks for the first day with the reduced hours of opportunity. 

Oh, well it's up to whoever is using it to figure out how much they will drink a day, there is no preset on that. All those fields are set at 0.

2 minutes ago, chodnett said:

Great spreadsheet! Thanks for sharing!

Not sure of the creator, but a similar web-based tool can be found here: https://connect.calcapp.net/?app=9tts3&fbclid=IwAR2rN17vx_4Vk0_pG--Dvy173K63MTb3PeWsVEeQx37zzbJfOTAxIowZbfk#/

I hadn't seen that site before, looks great and will have to try it out. I actually found the basis for the one I uploaded on a FB group but it was for a 4 day cruise so just adjusted the tabs for the different amount of days. 

Whatever is needed to help us make wise drinking choices!!

54 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Any change on how the sheet is handling embarkation day? Looking like there will be four or more fewer hours onboard for the time being, with check in times starting at 2:30. 

I doubt they will charge any less for that day so the spreadsheet would still hold true.