Chadster

One of my friends was scheduled to sail from Mobile aboard Carnival Fantasy later this month. That cruise, of course, was cancelled. She and her family managed to get re-booked for August -- including being moved into a suite and getting a nice bit of OBC...and now she's lost that one, too. ? Man, this is all crummy regardless of what line you're sailing. I know the lines are doing what they think is best, but it's still disheartening.

So I just experienced something really weird, and I'm not sure what to do here. Back on April 2, I got my FCC for a cruise I cancelled when they began offering "Cruise With Confidence" back in March. It was basically 50% of my cruise fare because I was within final payment (however, I got the other 50% and my taxes and gratuities back on my card shortly there after, so all the funds for that cruise are accounted for). Today, I got a second FCC for that reservation number in my name for the exact same amount as the first. I'm still awaiting FCCs for the June cruise RCCL cancelled, as well as for the July cruise I cancelled -- because I foolishly thought the June one was a go after an itinerary change. I know those'll be coming in the next couple weeks. My question is -- which of these two FCCs (that have different certificate numbers, but the same reservation number) do I use? Does it matter? Alas, I know I can't use both. ?

I'm glad to see there are plans being put into motion by at least one of the major cruise lines, which will hopefully inspire the others to follow suit with something similar. And while I understand their move to start with a smaller fleet and a smaller number of ports, it makes me a bit sad that those of us who would have to pay basically half of our cruise fare to get to a cruise from one of these ports are just in a wait and see mode, especially sine the current picture in these ports is no better than those the rest of us hope to sail from. Here's hoping I can get in at least one cruise this year. ?

Thanks to great prices on upgrades, I managed to work my way up from an interior to a junior suite on a sailing this summer... ...which, of course, became a casualty of the cancellations. ? Now I'm bound and determined to find my way back to the suite life one day!

"Look like".Riiiiight. And suddenly, we begin to understand how you fund your cruise habit. ? Seriously, though...I'm glad there are some people out there who know how this is supposed to work. One of my friends reported that things here in Maryland weren't quite so awesome when she was out and about today. ?

You'll have to let me know where to send the commission check, because I've decided that between all these possible changes, the fact that I'm sailing a few days before Thanksgiving, and just because I clearly needed arm-twisting to extend my vacation by a day, I just booked the Embassy Suites for the night before departing for 8 days aboard Anthem in November.

Hooray! Wonderful news! Here's hoping you and your fellow residents stay healthy and that we can all visit your state soon and go a-cruisin'!

I saw this and immediately thought of this group, for some reason. ?

Your point about cabins mirrors everything I've heard so far about shipboard life for the crew right now. I remember somewhere hearing one of the captains making a shipboard announcement, and he was talking about exactly this -- about how they were working to get crew moved into guest cabins as soon as possible -- and this was weeks ago. And I wish I knew who started the whole "floating petri dish" mantra, especially because every time someone who actually has been on a cruise asks about airplanes, these people hem and haw. Yes, people might be around a greater number of people for a longer period on cruise ships, but what about, say...Disney World, where a greater number of people are around one another from sunup til sundown for days in a row, because you're gonna suffer FOMO if you don't spend every minute in one of the parks! (Please note, this is not a jab against Disney lovers -- I don't blame you for being excited!) Sadly, cruise ships have been targets for a lot longer than just the last 6 months -- this is just convenient for those who have an "us vs. them" view of cruisers. According to them, we're either all indulging in 24-hour-a-day frat parties at sea or we're living it up in some fancy cabin while a crewmember is squeezed into a sardine can. To hear some of these folks, you'd think that crew members have to actually turn a crank that makes the ship's propellers move. ?

I had one this week that I booked with just the deposit, and even after linking it on the web site, it didn't show up. But it DID show up in the app. Eventually it showed up in the Cruise Planner, but honestly, I'm not sure what combination of cussing at my computer, logging out, logging in, trying a different browser, and practicing voodoo worked, but it's finally there. ?

Yes, but I'd be less likely to get the tip of my tongue or my lip injured by button-fly jeans. ?

Thanks for the heads-up, @AnnetteJackson -- looks like all my cruises are good to go. Quick question: would our TAs be able to tell us what the refunds we received are for? Not that it's of big import right now, but eventually, for my own bookkeeping purposes...or rather scratchpad-keeping.

This is a fantastic plan, though I'm thinking I'd rather use button-fly jeans, rather than ones with zippers -- especially after I've been drinking for a while! ?

Same here. Random refund in my account this morning; in parts, and I can't figure out exactly what this one's for based on the amount, but I'll chalk it up as a win and just keep watching for more!

The fact that this line keeps getting repeated by people over and over as an attack on the cruise lines shows that these people have never cruised, and clearly that they can't make their own informed decisions. All the while, people crammed into a 737 like sardines due to an airline's "basic economy" fare are clearly not able to practice social distancing.

I'd really like to see RCCL announce that these particular FCCs from the cancellations and the CWC initiative could be combined to use multiple FCCs for one cruise. Alas, with the date extension, I doubt that'll transpire.

566 days since I got off Carnival Fantasy after my first-ever cruise. 165 days til I'm on Brilliance. I'm sad that it's not sooner, but I'm really kinda excited that my first cruise back will be with the fine folks of this community -- and some of you others, too. ?

The waiting is the worst part. I mean, I've already lost my June sailing (it was on the 4th), but just like everything else in this whole phased-opening world, it'd be nice to have some concrete answers. Plus, I'm tired of hemming and hawing over snagging a deal on Oasis in June. #YOLOBookingProblems

Another day, another day of distancing.

I see that pole and all I can think is I'd find some way to hit my head on it. ? Still, my quest for an aft balcony shall continue!