DaiC01

I did notice a couple articles saying people felt forced to go because they were not getting refunds so the bad press was starting.

I think he meant "guest"

Then it would be "the dice ARE cast."
Dice is the plural of die. One die, two dice.

Unless you're at the Craps table. Then it's definitely dice. ?

I believe it is "The die is cast"
 

This what we had this morning, not sure if the same applies to no-uk customers.
ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING TRAVELS
Important changes to your booking on Quantum of the Seas - 30-Apr-20
Your booking reference: 
Dear 
At Royal Caribbean International, the safety and well-being of our guests and crew is top priority. So, in light of current regional travel conditions, we've made the difficult decision to cancel our Quantum of the Seas 30-Apr-20 cruise.
While these circumstances are beyond our control, we know how much time and effort go into planning your holiday. We're terribly sorry for the disappointment and inconvenience. Please know, we explored all options, before taking this measure.
As a result, we're providing you with the following:
•    A full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare to the original form of payment, including any non-refundable deposits. 
•    A refund for any pre-paid amenities and packages - like internet, beverage, and dining. And know, if you purchased a RoyalUp Upgrade, that too will be refunded to you. 
o    We'll begin processing all refunds immediately, and depending on your banking institution or method of payment, you should start seeing these refunds by the 25th March 2020, but most likely sooner. Please note, that if you paid via a wire transfer or check, your refund will take at least a week longer. 
•    If you purchased air or hotel¿ 
o    via Royal Caribbean, these will also be automatically refunded to you. 
o    on your own, we will assist you with air change or cancellation fees. We will cover $200 USD per person for domestic flights or $400 USD per person for international flights. Please send your receipts to [email protected] for reimbursement. Please reach out to your hotel provider for reimbursement. 
If you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor immediately or contact us at:
•    0344 245 1202 in the U.K. 
Thank you for your patience, understanding, and cooperation during this unexpected situation. We hope to welcome you onboard one of our ships under different circumstances very soon. In the meantime, we hope this situation diffuses quickly and wish you good health. 
Sincerely,
Aurora Yera-Rodriguez 
AVP | Guest Experience
Royal Caribbean International
 

This what we had this morning, not sure if the same applies to no-uk customers.
ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING TRAVELS
Important changes to your booking on Quantum of the Seas - 30-Apr-20
Your booking reference: 
Dear 
At Royal Caribbean International, the safety and well-being of our guests and crew is top priority. So, in light of current regional travel conditions, we've made the difficult decision to cancel our Quantum of the Seas 30-Apr-20 cruise.
While these circumstances are beyond our control, we know how much time and effort go into planning your holiday. We're terribly sorry for the disappointment and inconvenience. Please know, we explored all options, before taking this measure.
As a result, we're providing you with the following:
•    A full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare to the original form of payment, including any non-refundable deposits. 
•    A refund for any pre-paid amenities and packages - like internet, beverage, and dining. And know, if you purchased a RoyalUp Upgrade, that too will be refunded to you. 
o    We'll begin processing all refunds immediately, and depending on your banking institution or method of payment, you should start seeing these refunds by the 25th March 2020, but most likely sooner. Please note, that if you paid via a wire transfer or check, your refund will take at least a week longer. 
•    If you purchased air or hotel¿ 
o    via Royal Caribbean, these will also be automatically refunded to you. 
o    on your own, we will assist you with air change or cancellation fees. We will cover $200 USD per person for domestic flights or $400 USD per person for international flights. Please send your receipts to [email protected] for reimbursement. Please reach out to your hotel provider for reimbursement. 
If you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor immediately or contact us at:
•    0344 245 1202 in the U.K. 
Thank you for your patience, understanding, and cooperation during this unexpected situation. We hope to welcome you onboard one of our ships under different circumstances very soon. In the meantime, we hope this situation diffuses quickly and wish you good health. 
Sincerely,
Aurora Yera-Rodriguez 
AVP | Guest Experience
Royal Caribbean International
 

As it turns out, yes.  In theory I could stay but I fear the greeting US citizens have in store next week.  Welcome back, here is you cot in an army base for the next 3 weeks. 
So it was my choice to rid myself of cash at this point.  As I was booking new flights some were going fast.  Some only had first class at $7k available.  Not that airlines would gouge at this point.  

49 day Singapore to Beijing #stillgoing, apparently!!!
Sorry people RC pulled the plug last night #notbloodygoing

49 day Singapore to Beijing #stillgoing, apparently!!!
Sorry people RC pulled the plug last night #notbloodygoing

That's very interesting....NCL is one of the smallest of the Major Cruise Line Corps; so, in many ways, they were probably the most likely to be the 1st, to leverage some of their holdings. I remember reading sometime ago, around 5 or 6 yrs ago, why NCL pull back on continue developing of the Epic class of ship...they were not happy with that class. I suspect the Epic was their largest holding, that they could leverage, that they was more than willing, to gamble & possible loose.
I would have been completely surprise if Royal had take such a move...even with one of their most least profitable or older holding, outside of Empress, Majesty, & Enchantment, or some combination there of. Royal, Imho, no doubt, is in the best position to weather this storm...which in some ways is still surprising, they would expand/increase their loans by another $550Mil. Those guys are very business savvy & have a pretty sound assessment, of their strength and position in the market. This move maybe more about staying ahead of the curve, moving forward(futures market), than something more presently dire. 

LoL...that's what a LoC is. It's just a revolving loan....reasons why I said "Expand/Increase"

It seems that RC are holding on until the very last minute to advise of cancelled cruises. Obviously this makes it very difficult for cruisers, especially one way cruises. I am booked on the Voyager from Sydney to Singapore in mid April, 2020. Do I book Motel Rooms in Singapore or flights back home??? If I do and RC cancels the cruise, I am out of pocket to the tune of several thousand dollars. Obviously they do not care. Surely they already know. They would have a contingency plan in place already. They will just be holding out long enough to secure future bookings with there new "Travel with confidence" policy before they announce cancellations. That way they secure future income and don't have to refund an entire ship load of passengers.
 
 

As a BTW...as 2 of the three stops are changed / cancelled - this constitutes as "significant change" and (in Uk law) makes it eligible for a refund.

Good to know I will contact the TA with this, thanks! 

You will also notice that if you are thinking of taking advantage of the “Cruise with confidence” cancelation, any cruise you book after the deadline of July 31, 2020 is priced at around 50-80% more expensive than the similar Royal Caribbean cruises in 2019. That way your cruise credit is worth a lot less if you want to use it for a like cruise later in the year or next year. For example the cruise I am booked on next month, should I take a cruise credit and book the same cruise next year, the price for the 2022 cruise is almost double. Once again, another example of Corporate greed. They must know today that they will need to cancel the April cruises in Asia. Just tell us.

I would book if I could get my money back off RC

Another advantage is having the same waitstaff every night, if you enjoy that kind of dining experience -- where they get to know your name, preferences, etc.

Noticed the day they announced their temp cancellation policy that an ALMOST identical sailing was $2k greater than the one I just cancelled.

Gee I'm really glad now that I jumped on an Oasis sailing for August 2021 last month ?

I will say point blank -- if this is still in effect on August 2nd and the reality of the situation isn't any worse than it is right now, i will be boarding my cruise ship. I'm neither elderly nor at increased risk, nor is anyone in my family who's traveling with me. I've waited too long for this bucket list cruise, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let fear of a virus stop me from living my life.
Absolutely no one knows when their ticket is going to be punched, no matter how careful you are. Stupid as it may sound, Luke Perry's unexpected death at nearly the same age I am now made me realize I have to stop putting things off until it's a "safer" or "better" or "more opportune" time. To paraphrase The Shawshank Redemption, I've decided to get busy living rather than get busy dying.
Yes, if this turns into a full-blown pandemic come August, with people dropping like flies and the world gone to hell in a handbasket, then I'm SOL and trip has to be canceled. But I imagine if it comes to that, I'll have too much else on my mind to be too PO'ed about canceling my cruise. But I will still be PO'ed.

My thoughts:
This isn't the first time they've had to deal with circumstances like this.  Even 9-11 hit them.  They'll weather through this and once CV settles down it won't take long for Royal to be back to normal. 
I don't see them dropping package prices in a significant way.  That's just bad marketing looking long term.  If they were to slash package pricing it might generate some near term cash flow but it weakens the product in the long run.  A year from now when this is a distant memory if they try to return to "normal" pricing guests will revolt on the grounds "if they could sell it for X last year why is it Y now?".  They will offer some sales like we are used to seeing on Black Friday but don't expect drastic price cuts on packages.
Cruise fares will lower to fill ships.  They already have.  Ovation 3 nights on May 19 - $99.  Wow! 
Ships may sail at lower counts in the near term.  When filling ships at low prices I think guests are more likely to splurge for packages or other onboard purchases because they got such a great deal on the cruise.  Granted not all will.  I still think that is a better strategy - get people on the ship to cover minimal operating costs or at least minimize losses, hope some will spend money on board.  Automatic gratuity will help to keep crew employed rather than mass layoffs.
 
 

Not amazed or surprised but maybe an astute move by RC, in all likelihood lots more sailings will be cancelled and rather than full refunds they have managed to keep your money in their account. 

Just did a mock booking for almost same sailing in 2021 same stateroom category. $2k more. Not. happy. And forget trying to carry over the $18 intern drink sale. STill sailing at this point.

Good question.  We got our email notification last night at 6:52PM.  We have received emails from RCL everyday this week with updates on our Sunday cruise.  Celebrity sent the same email - but much earlier in the day yesterday.
Refunding sick passengers was not new as of yesterday for RCL.  They have been doing that for weeks!