Ian T

Nobody has mentioned European sailings... no takers for Anthem out of Southampton before she heads back to the U.S. in November? Whilst the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office has just issued a general advice against cruising it is advisory only, so whilst it may well screw with travel insurance coverage it is not a strict "no sail" order. Also, they have not suggested a time period and the majority of the cruise bloggers from this side of the pond that I have been following seem confident that, provided the ongoing relaxation of the lockdown/travel rules does not result in a second wave, this advice will be amended in a matter or weeks rather than months... I am booked on Anthem for an Oct sailing so REALLY hope they are right!!

At the start I was one of those setting conditions before I was prepared to cruise again, but after two cancelled sailings I have got over myself and am more than happy to waive them if it means getting back on board... So sign me up! You may well have alerted RCCL to a much needed revenue opportunity here... if only all guests can be trusted not to clamber over each other to bag a "I social distanced on Oasis and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" during the $10 sale ?

This has confirmed what I thought. Many thanks.

Nor for the rest of us in any of our double occupancy ocean view cabins, but there's still Thanksgiving/Black Friday to come... ?

Hypothetical (I hope!) question... Let's say my wife and I have a booking and for whatever reason we are unable to go. Rather than cancel and lose the non-refundable deposit, can we gift it to another couple and pay any change fees that apply or does one of us need to stay on the booking? And a Happy 4th July to friends across the pond ? This year there will celebrations in England too... as it's the day that bars and restaurants are allowed to reopen! ? Although I for one am waiting with baited breath to see how sensible the English general public will be about following the rules once the beer starts flowing again ?

Yes. I recognise that this situation has been thrust upon them too and from all of the interactions I have had with them over the past couple of months (and there have been a fair few!) I do genuinely believe they are working hard to adapt to the regular changes to the process rules and smooth out the wrinkles that it is creating for guests, often seemingly with not a great deal more info to go on than we have, which is why I make a conscious effort to cut them slack even if I am fighting the urge to scream on the inside.

Yes it's good value - I can only assume it hits a pricing sweet spot somehow as we are booked on same ship same itinerary in Feb 2021 for around the same price (in fact that one came in at $200 less for a double occupancy ocean view cabin). However I have jumped on this one too as a back up in case the Feb cruise ends up being cancelled.

Have just had some good news... We are booked to travel with another family on a 12 night Southern Caribbean sailing on Anthem in December 2021. For a long time the family in question were (just like me when I didn't know better - shame on me! ?) refusing to consider a cruise, saying it's just not for them. Anyway, fast forward to just before the COVID-19 bomb dropped and they finally relented and agreed to join us. Not only are they now excited about going on their very first cruise despite all that is currently going on but, with the help of Michelle at MEI, they have just bagged a $1,400 reduction on their fare by re-pricing in this weekend's sale. ? I am taking it as a good omen! ?

My wife is listed on all of our bookings as "Amanda" (to match her passport info); however for some reason her Cruise Planner FCC was issued in the name of "Mandy" so when we applied it to one of our future sailings we received an email from RCCL the following day advising that it had been rejected due to the passenger name not being the same! ? The RCCL CS rep could not explain why it has been issued in this way (the only thing we can think of is that Mandy is her preferred name with CAS) but to their credit they sorted it, (albeit after placing me on hold for about 30 mins). However we see that the same applies to my wife's cruise fare FCC, so when we do finally apply it (as per my earlier post in this thread we are currently holding off pending more info on the fate of 2020 European and/or early 2021 Port Liberty cruises) we are going to have go through the same thing again. ? But if it ultimately means us cruising we will willing take the additional inconvenience.

Looks like that has put paid to that then... way to burst my bubble! ? It's better than than carrying on in blissful ignorance however, so I'm grateful to you for sharing. I recently applied CP credit from a previously cancelled cruise to the booking and started spending it too, so it seems I have more pain and heartache tracking FCCs and refunds to come. ? I note that RCCL is still taking bookings for the sailing in question so I guess it's too much to ask to expect them to make the call to cancel ? It's getting to the stage now where we could have more FCC than we can use, but we have about another 7 weeks before the final payment date, so I think I'll sit tight for now and hope that if I am really good and eat all my vegetables from now on, things will change for the better between now and then. Worst case is we convert it to a refund before year end.

I am still hopeful for our October Canaries cruise out of Southampton on Anthem. Whilst UK citizens will be permitted to travel to Europe (and vice versa) from the end of this week, we are awaiting a big announcement this week regarding travel corridors with individual EU countries that will determine whether or not we will be required to self quarantine upon our return. Rumours are that Spain will get the green light but the jury is still out on Portugal due to a current spike in Lisbon, although I expect the situation to be reviewed on a fortnightly basis and we still have just under 4 months until sail date. In my view, worst case is we skip Madeira but I don't think it will come to that. The other unknown of course is what RCCL decides to do about the European summer season this year. Anthem is currently heading West in the Mediterranean on her way back from Mumbai and I am waiting with baited breath to see whether she turns right toward the UK or goes straight on once she passes through the Strait of Gibraltar.

We booked our original cruise with the same offer but the FCC was awarded to us on a 50/50 basis, so it seems there is little in the way of consistency of approach... oh, and despite my wife being listed on both the old and new bookings as "Amanda" her proportion of the FCC was made out to "Mandy" (the preferred name on her CAS account) so when we tried to apply it to the new booking we received a system email the following day stating that it had been rejected because the passenger was not the same!! ? The good news however is the CS team were very helpful and efficient in fixing the issue ?

I realise that if the RSS team cannot find a solution to your first issue this may well be scant comfort but on your second issue you should be able to apply part of your FCC for your wife providing she was on your original booking: Can I use part of someone else’s Future Cruise Credit to cover my own cruise fare? Future Cruise Credits in most cases are nontransferable. This means that you cannot use someone else’s credit for your own cruise fare nor vice versa. Any remaining balance on your credit will automatically be created into a new certificate after you’ve completed your sailing. However, if you still have a Cruise with Confidence or Global Suspension Future Cruise Certificate, any remaining balances from one person’s credit can be used to cover another passenger if they were originally booked with you. For example: Original Booking: Susan Smith received a $1500 FCC Jason Smith received a $500 FCC New Booking – Credit CAN be used for another passenger: Susan Smith’s Cruise Fare is $1000 Jason Smith’s Cruise Fare is $1000 Susan can use the rest of her FCC for Jason because he was a passenger on the original booking. New Booking – Credit CANNOT be used for another passenger: Susan Smith’s Cruise Fare is $1000 Tyler Jones’s Cruise Fare is $1000 – New Guest Susan cannot use the rest of her FCC for Tyler because he was not a passenger on the original booking. Susan would be issued a new FCC, after the completion of her sailing, for the remaining $500. The FCC will need to be redeemed by the original expiration date or within 6 months later — whichever date gives Susan the most time to use it.

I am currently doing just that... My FCC is in GBP and i have two cruises to which I can apply it - Oct 2020 Southampton and Feb 2021 Bayonne. (My Dec 2021 sailing is booked in USD so given the advice elsewhere on here that the currency cannot be changed, using it for this is off the table). I have not yet applied the FCC to my Oct 2020 Southampton sailing because if it gets cancelled there is no guarantee I will get it back before the final payment date for my Feb 2021 Bayonne sailing, in which case I would not be able to use it for that either, meaning I would end up paying the balance in cash and being stuck with a FCC that I cannot use. Equally I have not applied it directly to my Feb sailing as that would mean I only have the option of paying the balance of the Oct fare in cash, which may then be subject to a long wait for a refund if it doesn't sail. I know that I will ultimately need to stump up the cash for one of the sailings, assuming they both go ahead of course (which I REALLY hope they do!), but I am holding out for as long as I can for news on RCCL's plans for restarting cruising in Europe before pressing the button, which I am hoping will be before the mid August final payment date as it will make my decision so much easier. I hope this makes sense (I sometimes think I end up confusing myself by over thinking!)

Thanks. It's the same here in the UK and I have recently switched to booking through MEI. Great saving on that suite BTW! ?

Many thanks. I plan to use MEI for all my future bookings so everything you have said applies.

Sorry all but I now have a follow-up question (that's the trouble with having too much time on my hands to ponder future cruising ?). If I cancel and re-book to take advantage of a price drop, what happens to any CP purchases... do they simply transfer across to the new booking "as is", do they transfer but then get price adjusted to the cost at that point in time, or is it case of refund and start again? Oh, and what is the rule for any OBC? Thanks ?

I have a feeling I may be about to answer my own question, but I always appreciate the input from all you learned folks on here. In the past I have booked directly with RCCL via their UK web site; however it is somewhat restrictive compared to booking via a US TA - non-refundable deposits only and no option to cancel and re-book in order to take advantage of price drops. To overcome this (as well as have a valuable ally in the event that the pesky virus is still causing havoc) I recently booked a 2021 cruise through Michelle at MEI - who has been great - and it has got me thinking... Is there any benefit in booking a refundable deposit at the outset and then re-booking with a non-refundable deposit as we get closer to the sail date? Whilst the non-refundable deposit is lower I imagine it does not materially impact the overall cost of the cruise? Further, I presume that at the point I cancelled and re-booked I would be subject to the cruise cost at the time I did so, which is likely to be higher by virtue of the sail date being much closer?

Really helpful info; thanks very much.

Thanks for the advice. I have seen recommendations for Dramamine on other posts etc too but it does not appear to be available in the UK (at least not over the counter). I presume however that we will be able to pick some up at a Walgreens or similar in NY before we board.

Loved the blog, thanks! It has got me really excited to be sailing on the same ship and itinerary... only 536 days to go!! ?

Thanks, as always, to everyone for your helpful advice and info.

I guess that's our shore excursion sorted then ?

So true... The internet was the only real show stopper, but once I assured her the WiFi code will be waiting for her in her cabin she was sold! ?