Eaglelover

I am neither a very good stock market follower nor a long-time "cruiser", but having read this blog in preparation for the Alaska trip that didn't happen (it will next spring), I decided to put some cash into what I determined to be a solid market.  Y'all seemed to show me that there are a real loyal, dedicated group of folks who do cruise..  Having mentioned it to my banker son and my other son who spends his time following Army camps, they didn't heed my recommendation very well.  As of today, I look like a genius (my banker son even said he didn't know I was that savvy).  I just wanted to say thanks for the confidence and the advice.  Even if for some reason the whole ship thing sinks, I will still be able to say I've  made a lot of money at RCL!  Oh, and I'll pay the tax on money that I didn't have before. ?  - Meanwhile, I get some onboard credit!

The point that is conveniently missed by this article is that the crew members are on the ships by choice.
They choose to take these jobs because the pay and conditions are significantly better that what they could get at home, plus they get to travel and see parts of the world they would otherwise never see.
Many of the crew have been there for years. If they were being exploited as badly as the article makes out, they would not return after their first contract.
I have worked on cruise ships, and generally, the crew are very happy. It's certainly not a job that suits everyone, and you definitely work long hours, but I'm very glad I did it.
The story originates from Australian worker's unions. Their interest is purely to look after their own members. If they can keep cruise ships away for a bit longer, Australians are more likely to travel within Australia, thus creating and securing jobs for Australian workers. They don't actually care about anyone else except themselves and their members. Anything they say about cruise ships is simply to try and keep them out of Australia a bit longer, or to discourage Australians from cruising.

Not concerned about a vaccine, my deciding factor will be what the "new" onboard experience is.
 

So many unforced errors.  Such a shame.

Let me join the choir singing praises to all agents in general and my Travel Agent, Patty King, who spent hours on the phone with RCL and confirmed that my FCC has been figured correctly now and that my OBC is also, apparently, correct now.  My greatest concern was that there was neither a standard procedure for figuring FCC nor sufficient oversight for the process.  That said, our TA (who also spent hours on the phone so I didn't have to do that) is a classic example of a professional and a great reason to use an Agent when booking your cruise.  I was a believer in enlisting a TA before, but now am even more so.  We'll be cruising the 9 day out of Vancouver next May!  One last note:  it appears that my "insurance" will be returned - it is just a separate transaction.
 

Let me join the choir singing praises to all agents in general and my Travel Agent, Patty King, who spent hours on the phone with RCL and confirmed that my FCC has been figured correctly now and that my OBC is also, apparently, correct now.  My greatest concern was that there was neither a standard procedure for figuring FCC nor sufficient oversight for the process.  That said, our TA (who also spent hours on the phone so I didn't have to do that) is a classic example of a professional and a great reason to use an Agent when booking your cruise.  I was a believer in enlisting a TA before, but now am even more so.  We'll be cruising the 9 day out of Vancouver next May!  One last note:  it appears that my "insurance" will be returned - it is just a separate transaction.
 

I just made a new booking using the casino discount offer.  As @michelle noticed, it looks like the gratuities for suites has gone up from $17.50 PP/PD to $19 PP/PD.
 

 
Not sure if the other stateroom categories has gone up or not.
It looks like there was a 38% discount on the upgrade.  Not great but no worse than last year so that's a relief !!  2 years ago it would have been in the neighborhood of 60%.  UGH

I got the taxes, gratuity, and air fare refunded, but no sign of the Protection Plan on either my my refund or (certainly) not on the Credit... I'm short at least $1K from my original payment!  My TA is going to work the issue, too.  Hopefully she can get someone with a "figgerer"  to "figger" it out....

Great article with a lot of good points. 
The Points Guy: 5 reasons why I’m bullish on the return of cruising.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/5-reasons-why-im-bullish-on-the-return-of-cruising/

Same..... was supposed to recieved over 2000 in fcc...  got my email yesterday.... only 500. 
Seriously Royal!?!
Facebook groups are lighting up... apparently this weekend Fcc is a complete cluster $%#@. 

Somewhere at Royal Caribbean... working feverishly on our refunds and FCC calculations... LOL! ?
 

I came on the blog to talk about the importance of TAs and saw this thread that ties into my point. So my sailing that we had is a 3 person sailing and we paid around $3,400 total for our JS (excluding taxes and port fees). I got an email from Royal today telling us we got our FCC issued! Very exciting! Except it’s for 2 of 3 passengers and only for $420 each which is NOWHERE near the realm of what we should have gotten, not even taking the 125% aspect into account. 
 
All I had to do was forward that to @michelle basically going “what in the world???” And she replies back within hours (emphasis mine) “yes all the ones they just did this week are all wrong
We will get it all straightened out – so frustrating.  

I will take care of it so no worries” 
 
The amount of relief I felt when I found out I wouldn’t have to wait on hold to argue with Royal is legit invaluable. I can’t believe this level of service is free to me. @Matt is SO right when he says that you think you don’t need a travel agent until you really, really do. 

I got the taxes, gratuity, and air fare refunded, but no sign of the Protection Plan on either my my refund or (certainly) not on the Credit... I'm short at least $1K from my original payment!  My TA is going to work the issue, too.  Hopefully she can get someone with a "figgerer"  to "figger" it out....

We received our FCC today and I don't understand their math on it, either. What do y'all think about this? $654 X 2 = $1308.00 

It sounds like those of us who got our crusies credits back today we're very much slighted.
If my agent can't fix it by Monday I'll be on the phone with royal that night bc I really don't think you can call it a credit if it doesn't equal out to what you actually paid let alone no 25% extra 

I'm in a similar situation.  Even if you subtract the Cruise Cancellation fee (which they shouldn't and I will fuss about since I didn't cancel - it''s a reimbursement) they still granted me over $2000 less than I should get and more than a $1000 less than I paid for the berth alone.  This can't fly - or float....  My guess is that they brought in some temps who don't know the business.  At least I hope that's the problem. I'm looking for my first cruise and I can go somewhere else (and sell my stock).

I'm not sure how it can be 125% of what I paid when 800 isn't anywhere close im completely stumped and feel robbed

Hi everyone, I know we get heated debating which dessert is the best one to order, or if a balcony room is worth it, but let's keep these basic rules in mind when chatting here.
No profanity No personal insults No political discussion This includes tropes about politicians and generalizations about political parties No debating religion Keep your posts relevant and accurate to each specific thread. We can all have our little fun within each thread but please make sure the information you're putting out there is correct and current.   Topics not related to Royal Caribbean may be removed. Posts or comments encouraging cruisers to break any Royal Caribbean policy is not allowed and will be removed.

I don't know if anyone noticed but Royal has sweetened the 125% FCC offer by extending it to cruise planner purchases as well.  It's on the website under this latest update.  My guess is it's so that people are more reluctant on requesting a full refund:  
Or, if you prefer the lower value in a full refund, we’re happy to process this for you. Given how fluid this situation is, and the opportunity to use the extra credit being offered, you have plenty of time to make up your mind. You have until December 31st, 2021 to request a refund.
• Please contact us to start the refund process, if you’re willing to give up the higher value of your 125% Future Cruise Credit.
• We’ll then deactivate your Future Cruise Credit and process your refund to your original form(s) of payment, which will include any non-refundable deposits.
• To avoid waiting on the phone to cancel, please click here and we will get the process started for you.
• You can expect to receive your refund 30 days after you submit your request.
• Please note: If you used a Cruise with Confidence certificate on this sailing, and you request a refund instead, we’ll refund any NEW funds paid above the certificate amount, and we’ll reinstate your original Cruise with Confidence certificate.
If you purchased Cruise Planner Items:
• You can opt-in to receive an Onboard Credit in the value of 125% of the total Cruise Planner purchases on your reservation.
◦ Click here to request your higher value credit. You can only take advantage of this offer through April 8th, 2020.
• If we don’t hear from you on or before April 8th, 2020, your Cruise Planner purchases will be automatically refunded.

Good information.   I’m trying to time the bottom like a lot here are.  This will be my first time purchasing individual stocks, except for employer company stocks.   I have been researching for a couple weeks now.  But I think it’s the time to get my feet wet. 

I couldn't have said it better.

We had RCCL stock but when we divested out of the market in October 2019 (hallelujah !!!!!) we got rid of everything. We never tried to use it to get any OBC b/c by the time they loosened the rules for getting OBC we were already out of the market - or pretty close to that time.
Have we been tempted to get back in ?  NOPE.  We are as happy as 2 clams to be seeing our "safe" investments increasing every day rather than going down, down, down.  We both still have a little "funny money" in the market but it's less than 2% of my portfolio so I don't really care what happens there.  Trust me when I say...that the best decision I ever made in my entire life was to get out of the stock market last year.  Dan and I calculate that we would have lost more than a million dollars together if we had stayed.  Will it come back ?  Yes, I'm sure it will but I haven't got that kind of time !!  This is all the retirement money I will ever have.  If I had lost close to 30% (or more) of it in these past few weeks I would be devastated financially.  No cruise stocks for me !!!!

Actually, you don't own didley-squat.  Only the honor to sail on it. ??

Don't forget that's going to be a short term capital gain which could have tax implications for you next April.

I went for 110 and I'm holding out for a bit more gain... at the least I'll own* some of my cruise ship!  {*one or two square centimeters } ;-))