Pattycruise

As everyone else stated  everyone in the room must get the alcohol drink package if one does, UNLESS ROyal carribean is contacted for the "excusal" (need a valid reason)  and then those excused must buy a royal refreshment package.
 FYI Black Friday time seems to have the best pricing for drink packages.  IF you miss that window you can continuously check for sales.
The only problem I have with purchasing a drink package with unrelated people, you make the whole purchase on your credit card and you need to get their money (and then note somewhere you did in case of cancellations). 

The second issue , which I have not yet happen, but I believe will happen,  is if one person drops off the reservation....will the drink package have to be dropped and then repurchased?  meaning I might miss out on that bargain price I had!

With the drink package-which I'll get when I'm with multiple friends/family
Specialty coffee with baileys at breakfast
bloody mary-discoverd this last cruise
Poolside-I love a Mudslide or a frozen strawberry daiquiri  or the drink of the day
dinner-whatever- on my last cruise  it was Tequila Sunrise or a Cosmo
after dinner decaf coffee with baileys
night out-chocolate martini or other fun drink (aren't  they all fun though?)
shots-if I am with those wicked friends who make us drink them (YES, they MAKE US(
If I go to late night pizza, beer with pizza!  must do!
 

Without drink package (only a couple of those cruises)-this was trip with daughter or one friend
no alcohol for breakfast
the drink special at the casino was mimosas so I bellied up to the bar for my order
I could order as many at a time as I wanted.-they even did doubles for me.  It was funny to see those with a drink package trying to get more than one...it's not allowed.  Can't drink package people get a mimosa, finish it and get another?  
one or 2 drinks poolside
maybe one at dinner and another 1 or 1 after dinner.

5 hours ago, Matt said:

Up to 48 hours before the cruise. Changing names is no problem, as long as at least one person from the original reservation is still on it.

Matt, what would happen if I add people to a room (or swap their name in for someone who was on the reservation) and then  all those original people on the room back out before full payment is due? or even after final payment is made?

I emailed my travel agent some questions regarding cancelling of some reservations>
below are the questions and answers.  I need your input as to whether or not  I thought of everything.

Background:  I have 4 cabins booked -for Junior Suites for a March 28 sailing out of NJ
This is a mixed group of Girl Scouts with and without parents attending.
Some cabins hold 4 people, others hold 3.  
our pricing was FANTASTIC, and I'm hoping any changes won't have a negative impact on those who are going.
I want to have them all decide sooner rather than later if they are going to back out (I already have 2 backing out) .I know if I have to shift people around they will lose the great deals they have already booked for their beverage packages, internet packages and the waterpark at Coco Cay.  I do know Black Friday typically has the good deals too.....but if I let these people wait for last minute decisions and have to move people around, the ones gong on the cruise are truly screwed if their reservation changes.Hope that makes sense.

1.  If a girl cancels prior to final payment what happens?
Ans.  Her nonrefundable deposit will be issued as a cruise credit in the girls name.

2.my follow up question to above---can we change the name of that girl to someone else so THEY get the cruise credit when we cancel them?. (intention is to put the mom's name so she can cruise....these girls are not even 18 and they must be 21 to book their own cruise.  very unfair!)
Ans. Yes you can change the name of the person on a cabin reservation, then cancel that person so they get the FCC.

3.What happens if they cancel AFTER final payment/what is the deadline to cancel?
Ans.  Guest have until 48 hours before the cruise to cancel and receive a full credit Future cruise credit(FCC)
 

4.  What happens to any cruise extras purchased?
ans. they will be refunded 

5. Are we able to ADD people to any of the rooms-would they be paying more?.  
I was told we could substitute the names (as in #2 above) and there would be no change in fare.....BUT it was not answered if I just did an ADD to to the room if the person would be paying a different price.
Suppose a room that holds 4 has 2 people cancel and another room goes down to 1 person.  I would move that single person over to the cabin that originally had 4-that person loses their great pricing on beverage and internet and waterpark....are they also losing their great price on their original reservation for that sailing?

6. What happens if Royal Caribbean cancels our cruise after full payment?
Ans.  The guest will have the following choices:
a) full refund
b)125% future cruise credit
C) Lift and Shift to same itinerary/date range in 2022.

here are some thoughts
I am considering adding my husband to my reservation....will he pay more. (that's asked in Question #5 above)
Would I be better off substituting my husbands name on a different reservation along with my 2 sons, so we have 2 cabins? 
IF I added my 2 sons in with my husband and 2 days before cancel my 2 sons....they get FCC, what happens to hubby?  Will they allow only 1 in a room?

At what point am I not allowed to change names on a reservation? (if a girl cancels and I find a sub)  Can it be done after a final payment?

Anything I am not thinking of?  I need to present all the options to this group of girls/parents.

I appreciate the feedback I'm sure I'm going to get.  

Alaska 2019  
It was better than anyone could explain.
We were fortunate to be with family to celebrate my MIL 75th birthday.
We also did a 3 day land tour via the cruise line.

Despite the wildfire smoke in some areas and the HEAT WAVE it was a FANTASTIC experience.

Best thing I did was go on a whale watching tour and bring my good camera.  The tour ended with a seafood bake that was out of this world.
I cannot remember the port we were at-sorry.
 

I have the card. It is my primary card I use every month and pay off the balance in full monthly.  I also have put my 2 sons college tuition onto the card -it is billed monthly,  I figure I'm paying for college they are putting me on a cruise or buying me a drink package! LOL  
I have not yet figured out if I will be applying my points to a cruise any time soon as I believe if you cancel your cruise you lose your points.  I can be wrong on that so you might want to call BOA points and ask.

5 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Actually, making final payment on or before the payment deadline is the ONLY way to get your money back as a cash refund.  If you cancel before final payment or before the cruise line officially cancels the cruise, you will only be eligible for a Future Cruise Credit.

Please clarify if you can.  I have a whole bunch of Girl Scouts who put non refundable deposits down for March 28 cruise out of Bayonne NJ.  
I just had a mom reach out to me today to tell me she is not comfortable sending her daughter.  I have a feeling most everyone will cancel but some are die hard cruise people.  
IF I cancel this one girl she won't get any cash back ?(only deposits were put down of which I believe typically $100 is non refundable)

I'm hoping this is not the case, the girls have been saving for a final trip for years and this is their last year in scouting.

10 hours ago, SPS said:

I'm wondering if we will get booted since we we tend to "budget cruise" (interior cabin, re-pricing when the chance comes), even though we are VERY LOYAL C&A members that book early and A LOT of what we save on cruise fare to put toward CP items such as drinks, excursions, spa, & dining. I'm wondering if any of that will be observed and factored in on the Who's In/Who's Out list.

I don't see RC taking care of it's LOYAL C&A customers, unless perhaps its the highest of the levels.  I've seen many here who have distinction with issues.  Why would RC cruise fare cost more for a C&A member than a non C&A member?  I did pricing out on a cruise and found that happened when I entered in my C&A number.  I feel they only care about selling cruises, and not a thing about their loyal customers.

On 9/29/2020 at 5:59 PM, beachmama said:

Good news...RC canceled our booking by accident. So thankfully it isn't a booted situation. Bummer for me, I have to go rebook all our planner stuff. Fingers crossed I get the same pricing.

i hear there are great prices today on multiple items!

I see a lot of talk about people taking the FCC of 125%....the price of my March 28 out of Cape Liberty NJ  junior suite is just above double of what I paid for it. 

On 8/25/2020 at 1:00 PM, jaredhamburg said:

That happened to me on the Disney Wonder where some people tried to push through my 8 YO daughter.  I had to get grouchy and say we were part of a group as I was getting on to have them let her on as well.  I would never dream of shoving a kid out of the way to get on.  Especially as she was walking right behind me.  Ugh.  I had a stroller and needed to ride it.  I don't ever get perfectly healthy people trying to shove ahead of strollers and scooters at all costs.   Hello?  You just had a huge meal in the dining room and do not look like you have any mobility issues.  A few stairs would probably do you some good to work it off and think about properly queuing. 

Our next cruise will not really need strollers, so taking the stairs will make things much easier.....

Rant over.  Maybe.....

I  do not present as handicapped but I have a bad back.  At times I can walk stairs, distances and stand on a line with no issues.  Other times I am in great pain within minutes of standing on a line or doing stairs.  No rhyme or reason.  I'm sure a lot of people view me as capable of walking stairs-or even standing still on a line.  However, I would never cut people off at an elevator.  I really wish RC would have a "take a number" on their Guest services line because I have spent numerous cruises standing on that line -sometimes multiple times on one sailing-and I pay for it with a super achy back where it hurts to stand, walk and at times even sit.  Even waiting to enter venues to get a seat is painful.  Please don't judge those apparently healthy people.

Drink packages are on sale today. $46  per day for Deluxe, $20 per day for non alcoholic royal refreshment package Not sure for how long,  You can book a drink package and cancel and rebook at any time.  The cancellation goes directly back to your method of payment and you can use the same or another method of payment for the new drink package booking.  

edited to click on "notify me of replies"

On 6/2/2020 at 6:35 PM, USFFrank said:

 It was posted here before and on other RCCL fan pages. You can do Lift & Shift on 2021 cruises thru April, 2022. It all depends on which RCCL agent is spoken too. I have a cruise I booked myself for April, 2021 that I want to L&S to April, 2022. I have not done it yet in the hopes of the April, 2021 cruise going down in price again (it did it once) before the end of next month when I'll ask for the L&S. For what it's worth I also booked this one with a refundable deposit (it was only $20.00 more) for if in the unlikely event I can't get an agent to L&S it, I'll just cancel the cruise and get the $500.00 deposit back...………..eventually.

I'm in awe at this L&S.  I have a cruise booked for March of 21.....may I ask why you are waiting for the pricing to go down on your April cruise to L&S to the following year?  Do you get the same exact reservation for the same exact price?  I have 4 rooms of my Girl Scouts/moms in Junior Suites set for March of 21.....they will be HS seniors....I'm not even sure I will be able to shift to the following year without losing some girls because the Colleges will have different breaks...Do we ALL have to move, can some of us move, what happens if I decide to L&S the whole reservation and then people need to back out......We booked Non refundable deposit....the least of my worries.  I'm afraid for them losing ALL the money they saved to do this trip 

On 6/4/2020 at 10:46 AM, Pima1988 said:

Sorry to read that.  The one thing I have definitely learned is always purchase at the lower price and than go back and cancel the one you purchased at the higher price.  I have read many times how things that have a limitation on the amount available people actually lose it.  IE The Key, Cabanas, Chef's dinner, etc.  All of those items have limited numbers, between the time you cancel and rebook the last one left sold out.

How can you purchase and then cancel the original purchase....the items are typically assigned to one person and will not let you buy another if you already "own" one.

I've always used hand sanitizer, try and not touch railings, after washing my hands-with soap-I use a paper towel to open the bathroom door to exit....after getting food from a buffet, I RE DO my hand sanitizer.  
Have you ever people watched and see people walk past the hand sanitizer station, not wash their hands in the bathroom, eat at the buffet while getting their food?  PRECAUTION is key, year round.  

I've read on this forum to wipe down my room....honestly something I never thought of before but it makes a lot of sense.  SO I will add that to my list of precautions.

36 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

It’s still too early to see package prices for March 2021. I’m sure they haven’t yet decided what the 2021 prices are going to be.

ugh!  LOL  Thank you.....I'm a planner by nature.  
would you happen to know what the current deluxe beverage package is and the royal refreshment package?  I can at least give everyone a general pricing idea

Greetings, I just got my confirmation from my travel agent that I am booked on Anthem for March 2021.
 I cannot see the beverage package options, nor can I see the wifi package rates!  I can see the excursions and other things is this normal that I can't yet see pricing on beverages and wifi?  

I booked 4 cabins and am in charge of my group of teens/adults, I want to ensure I get them the idea on cost per package etc. so they can figure out what they need to save/jobs they need to get etc.

Also when I searched drink packages I see at some point in the recent past people got the drink package at $18 a day!  Awesomeness for you!  If something like that happens again do you all post messages about it here?  I'd LOVE to get in on that!

Labadee, you should be booking those other activities online.  I believe you pay for all of that in advance.  There is a free "golf cart trolley" that takes you to the various beaches/locations.

In regards to dining.  I felt my travel agent dropped the ball when she booked my mother in laws Alaska cruise and failed to book regular seated dining. (we have done this for the past  5 years on every cruise we've been on) I was finally advised to go direct to the maitre'd , dining room supervisor or whatever their title was as soon as  I boarded and he would take care of it.  and he did.  The entire family -14 of us- were seated at one table for the 6:00 seating...(0r was it 5:30-whatever it was)....So perhaps see the Maitre'd-dining room supervisor or whatever their title is as soon as you get on board.

I've not yet done the Canada cruise but I do want to do it...can't seem to get my family to agree to go!
We went to Alaska this past summer, courtesy of my very generous mother in law who was celebrating a big birthday.  It was absolutely AMAZING.  She had booked us the 3 day pre cruise land package and that too was amazing...very tiring...and we were glad to get on the ship so we could "relax" LOL.  
If you are booking Alaska realize that one side of the ship costs more than the other.  We had a balcony but honestly did not spend a lot of time on it....when it came to it we were on excursions or mostly on the deck looking over the rails.  Though the balcony was quite nice.
The Alaska excursions DO book up so when you do decide to book the cruise look at what excursions are available and don't hesitate. (well, the helicopter one my daughter wanted to go on was full-so maybe I'm exaggerating about things booking up?)  Whale watching in Icy Strait was amazing and  the seafood bake that followed was fantastic.  We lucked out with the weather-if you call a heat wave luck! 

That's awesome!  Congrats!

I've never ordered to eat on a balcony.  My kids used to order room service, which they loved because they could sleep in and have food delivered.  When RC started charging for room service I forbid them to order it.  (they don't like the continental breakfast).  We usually all do our own thing on the cruise but my only rule with my family is that we meet for dinner.  I've done this with other family/friends we cruise with and we have all enjoyed the flexibility in being on our own and then at dinner we all talk about our day and what's going on that evening.  
As a former working mom of 3 I thoroughly enjoyed my first cruise experience.  We used to go to a timeshare with the full kitchen and I cooked on vacation to save money.  Cruising is definitely the stress free best thing ever for us!!!

51 minutes ago, twangster said:

Yes it's common for certain cabins not to be available VIA Royal directly but available through an agency.  Typically you don't have to use priceline, any travel agent should be able to book that room.  MEI for example.

My travel agent  did not see that room-she calls Royal Caribbean to book rooms.  

What or who is MEI?  Thank you