JohnK6404

Rumor has it, Harmony is @Matt's favorite!

Thanks! LOL! I know! I was saying that to my wife, but our friends seem fine with whatever ship we choose. Fortunately, they live in FLA and she works for an airline and gets major travel perks which helps keep the overall cost in check. I haven't checked Oasis and Allure yet since Symphony was calling us ?, but I would assume they will both be more expensive (compared to now) since they will both be fully Amped by Spring 2021!

I figured I should start a separate thread instead of continuing to hijack the DBP debacle thread! ? Hopefully, if you have booked a sailing on Harmony in APRIL 2021 you have already received the e-mail from Royal and/or your TA confirming the cancellation of the APRIL 2021 sailings due to the routine 5-year maintenance dry-dock. If you have not been notified, you will probably want to read this thread and reach out to your TA or Royal CS ASAP... *** Once again, I cannot thank you all enough, especially @AshleyDillo, @Andrew3232 and @Skid for giving me the extra push today to inquire now! Long story short, my wife and I booked Harmony of the Seas for the 4/18/21 sailing out of Port Canaveral. While we were still on Allure this past May, we had all discussed booking a cruise on Harmony in 2021. We later checked out the schedule and realized it only was open/available through APR 2021. At first we were going to wait for the Summer 2021 schedule to be released, but we had been told it would not be out until late summer or fall so we decided to book it on 6/21/19. Over this past weekend, the April 2021 schedule for Harmony mysteriously disappeared from Royal's website. We had been checking regularly to make sure the adjacent staterooms were still available while our friends prepared to book their room through their TA. I called Royal CS and sent an IM through the Facebook page TODAY inquiring because it seemed a little odd. I had read a little while ago here on the forum that Harmony was due for the routine 5-year dry-dock in 2021 and that made me a little nervous! Both responses from Royal assured me it was a system glitch and that they can still see all of the APR 2021 sailings on their end for Harmony. I told Royal CS that our friends wanted to book the same cruise and they provided a telephone number for them to call to make the reservation for our sailing! Tonight, I sent another message via Facebook IM explaining what I was told (Harmony dry-dock) and this time they confirmed and instructed me to contact our TA for assistance and to discuss the "compensation" package! We called our travel agent and they called Royal this evening for the details of the compensation package for our cancelled sailing. At first, Royal CS claimed they already sent us the e-mail explaining our options. We explained to the TA we never got the e-mail and he pushed Royal to provide the e-mail address and they finally admitted it was sent to an invalid/defunct e-mail that wasn't even ours! They resent the e-mail which gives us a deadline of 7/11/19 to make our decision. If we had missed this deadline the cruise would be cancelled and the deposit would be refunded automatically, but we would not get the "compensation" package. For those with any interest, here is the e-mail we received and our options: Basically, Option #1 looks to be the most attractive as it offers all 11 Oasis class sailings on all 3 ships (Allure, Oasis & Symphony) in APR 2021 (same month we were to sail Harmony). Oasis and Allure will be amped. The best part is we lock in the current cabin rate for the same balcony stateroom category regardless of the sailing/ship (we got an awesome group rate for that Harmony sailing through our TA... about $400 cheaper than the Royal sale pricing)! They also will give us $200 OBC (non-suite staterooms), plus we can keep the original perks and OBC originally offered from the TA. I believe we may have to pay for additional taxes, etc., for the difference in prevailing rate. Option #2 allows you to pick any available cruise, but you need to pay the difference between the original stateroom rate and the new rate. Everything else, including OBC, is the same. Option #3 is simply to cancel the cruise and get a full refund of any amounts paid. Needless to say, we're going for Option #1! Looking at Symphony now on Royal's dime! Hmmm... I like the 4/17/21 sailing that includes both Labadee AND Perfect Day at CocoCay! The 4/10/21 & 4/24/21 sailings are effectively the same itinerary as our original 4/18/21 Harmony cruise. Wow! The Labadee/Perfect Day cruise is currently $950 more than what we paid for the same cabin on Harmony! Hmmm... OK, the wife is researching and reaching out to our friends... clock is ticking for us to decide... need to make out decision once again by 7/11/19! Fortunately, this occurred less than two weeks after our booking and almost two years before the cruise, so we can't complain as we were not inconvenienced like many others have been with cancellations much closer to their sailing. I just wanted to make sure no one misses out on the nice "compensation" package offered for these APR 2021 cancellations! ?

Probably have not heard, they asked if we received an e-mail from Royal... they are on with them now... we noticed that the sailing was no longer available on their website too, but assume they just pull from Royal directly anyway. I’m sure they would have reached out to us, but we have no patience! ?

@AshleyDillo @Andrew3232 @Skid BINGO! Finally got confirmation... thank you! I have to stop going on tangents and hijacking threads! ?

Yes! And we were eyeing APR 2021 for some time... we were thinking May, but we finally booked it when we realized that the Summer 2021 schedule won't be out for a few more months! The schedule was still up until this past weekend... we kept checking the adjacent cabins to make sure they were still available while we waited for our friends to book.

Latest in the saga... another updated RCI message response after 6:00 PM this evening... pulled it from a post on Facebook (Twitter response). Response states that you will get the 30% off the DBP (which is the current July 4th sale price), but will be offered for all affected sailings! ? I guess until the folks that purchased it at $18 start receiving those promised "official" e-mails, it's just another response from customer service to be taken with a grain of salt. Now, to find out what's up with my Harmony cruise! (start the Jeopardy theme music!)...

Same thing happened to me... I re-entered it and they gave me the DBP for $18/day... just kidding! Too soon? ? Seriously, yes it happened to me too this past weekend and it seems fine now.

Wait, this sounds familiar... ?

Thank you for the info! My gut was telling me it might be the maintenance dry-dock. Ugghhh... You're right, no one seems to know what's going on... horrible communication within the company. RC customer service by both phone and by Facebook IM insisted there is no change to the Harmony APR 2021 itineraries (as of this morning) and that they see all of them available for booking on their end (even told us our friends can call today to book the same cruise if it's not showing on the website - I white lied, our friends will use a TA when they book ?). Either way, I will definitely wait for some official communication... we have the refundable deposit so I could cancel anytime with no drama, but let's see what they offer! We just prefer a sailing out of Port Canaveral this time since our friends live in the Orlando area. Amped Oasis (as long as we don't go next year!) or Symphony will be nice... or we can wait until May or so for Harmony, if/when it returns to FLA. Just got off of Allure this past May so we want to try another Oasis class ship for sure (at least until Allure is Amped)!

... just a brief change of topic, but also related to RC website glitches! We have Harmony booked for 4/18/21 out of Port Canaveral... for the last 2-3 days, the APR 2021 schedule for Harmony has completely disappeared on Royal's website! I contacted Royal via phone and Facebook IM and they assured us there is no change to Harmony's APR 2021 itineraries and they can view and book the sailings on their end... We still have access to our reservation... ... but when you try to search the Harmony calendar on the website, APR 2021 is not available! Just very strange!

Wow, nice! I remember! We’re trying to coordinate a cruise with good friends with school age children (they sailed Royal for the first time this past April and loved Harmony!). They are looking at Oasis in August 2020 possibly... they would prefer to go during summer or school breaks. Been trying for some time to make it work with their school schedules.

Which sailing did you book on Oasis?

Ha ha! It would be a crime not to take advantage of such a good deal! ?

LOL! No, not available in the CP yet for April 2021... but I can book a South Beach cabana and a massage... woo hoo! We are looking at May, August and October dates possibly (depending on who we go with)... we’ll see!

Wow, that’s like a $450 savings (for 2) if it sticks! My wife and I were just saying we need to book a cruise... fast! ?

My friend, and her family, are on Allure and shortly after sail away this afternoon (about an hour or so out of port) they had a medical emergency (not my friends thankfully). They had to head back to Ft. Lauderdale... she just updated me and explained that the passenger was unloaded onto a tender near the port. Very scary, I hope that passenger is doing OK!

Here's what I've seen so far posted on the blog by Matt in the past... https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/icon-class

Yes they do! ? Right then they were asking us, "What is this 'cruise' you constantly speak of? Can we come too?"

Wow! You're flying in the day of your cruise? I know, sometimes it cannot be avoided due to schedules! I'm not sure if Royal offers luggage service. Last month, we flew in the day before to Ft. Lauderdale for Allure so we never looked into that option. It would be nice since you can see Allure from the terminal!

Yes, checked bags are delivered to your cabin (left outside in the corridor by your cabin). You can't take them since they are collected at the terminal prior to boarding and screened. If you purchase the Key, you leave your carry-ons at a designated location (last month on Allure we dropped them off at the theater and the crew members tagged and checked them in and took them away) and you can just take what you need until the cabin is ready (I used a small sling bag). The carry-ons are delivered to your cabin w/ the Key program. Otherwise, carry-ons stay with you until you have access to your cabin so definitely keep anything of value, cameras, RXs, travel docs, or anything you may need before you have access to your checked bags. Cabins are technically supposed to be ready at 1:00 PM, but they are often ready a little sooner. On our cruise last month, the cabins were ready around 12:15 PM or so... they will make a general announcement on the ship's PA system to let you know.

NICE!

Thanks! Both are rescues. Bella is on the left... we adopted her at 13 months, she just turned 7 years old last month. Jake, on the right, was adopted last December, he is now 22 months old. They love each other!

Oh, that’s definitely in the plans! So humid now!

Another challenge is coordinating with friends/family to watch our two Golden Retrievers! Don’t want to have to board them...