Dad2Cue

@PieEater That's interesting.  I think the rules need more clarification.  Maybe they could at least split the difference and offer some OBC.

1 minute ago, Andrew72681 said:

Sounds like you just need to move closer to Des Moines. 

Two hours away but I didn't know Southwest flew out of there.  I thought Omaha was the closest but that is 4 hours away.

1 minute ago, Andrew72681 said:

One correction, most airlines don’t. At any point during the process you can reprice a Southwest Airlines flight.

That's what I hear but they aren't an option for me.  My brother raves about them.  No baggage fees also I hear.  Just like the good old days.

4 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

 

They don't cost you anything, either, and  you'd have a choice of taking a refundable deposit - but it's your gamble

It's a gamble no matter what you do... especially now with the pandemic.  The advantage of booking refundable goes away after the final payment date anyway.  That's when the stakes are higher because they have all the money then. 

When I called Royal the other day about a reprice, I saved some money.  I'm pleased that Royal still does that because airlines certainly don't.  I asked the customer representative if he had any inside information about cruising starting Aug 1st ---he wasn't optimistic.

Now I'm getting more concerned about the following email.  I only have a central park balcony at stake so I'm not too worried.

Dear Guest,

We hope that amidst this situation, you have remained healthy, safe, and optimistic that each day that passes, is another day closer to a more regular day-to-day.

Given the closure of shipyards along with the disruption to the supply chain caused by this pandemic, the amplification of Allure of the Seas, which included renovations and new signature attractions, has been moved to a later date. Currently, Allure is in Cadiz, Spain receiving a routine technical dry dock to ensure she is ready for your cruise. We know how much time and effort go into planning your cruise and apologize for this delay in our construction plans. But don't worry, Allure won't disappoint - she will still have next level thrills on every deck. Our adventure seekers can surf the waves on the FlowRider, catch views of the Boardwalk from a vantage point unlike any other on the zipline, or discover new heights as you rock climb at sea. If relaxing is number one on your to-do list, we also have you covered. Enjoy live music as you sip a cocktail, experience world-class entertainment at live production show, or grab a bite to eat at one of our specialty dining venues.

This change does mean that we'll need to make a few updates to some of our stateroom categories in our internal systems. So, over the next few weeks, your stateroom category name for your sailing will show as a guarantee. Once we've completed our work behind-the-scenes, your stateroom category name will be different than what you originally booked. However, please know, your stateroom location, dimensions, and number will all remain the same. The only change will be the name of your stateroom category name.

While we do hope you choose to stay booked on our Allure of the Seas November 1, 2020 sailing, we understand the impact this change has caused on your vacation. Should you choose not to sail, you are welcome to take advantage of our Cruise with Confidence policy. This provides you with the flexibility to cancel your reservation up to 48 hours prior to departure for sailings that depart before April 30^th, 2022 and receive a Future Cruise Credit. To learn more about this program, please visit https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-with-confidence. If you decide you'd like to cancel your upcoming cruise and receive a credit and you don't want to wait on the phone, please click here to get the process started.

And, should you have any questions or concerns, we are here to assist. Please contact your Travel Advisor or call us at (888) 281-9344 and know, hold times may be a bit longer than usual due to this unparalleled situation.

We appreciate your patience, understanding, and cooperation during this situation, and know that together, we will all come out of this stronger than ever. In the meantime, please stay safe. We can't wait to welcome you onboard for an amazing cruise vacation!

Sincerely,

Royal Caribbean International

35 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Yeah. That’s a different story. The spa balcony would have made more sense. 
It could be that you booked a stateroom that would have been obstructed and thus in a lower category. 

The email gave me the impression that ALL the staterooms would be "guaranteed" for about 2 weeks in order to sort things out.  I think they are anticipating cancellations because it seemed liked they were apologizing for the fact that Allure wasn't going to be amplified.  They also didn't seem to care if I cancelled.  I think this cruise has been mostly sold out for a long time so maybe it is too full for covid protocols. I was encouraged they were trying to work things out and the trans Atlantic would happen.  That may be wishful thinking on my part.

I don't really know if it says anything:

15 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

I was thinking more of the possibility of an American Administration that isn’t exactly into globalization and may continue international travel bans we’ll into the latter parts of this year. You in the UK may be set to get into Spain, but may have more trouble being admitted into the US. 

At least I'm not too concerned about that ... sorry @Jason12  However, I think this American Administration likes Britain!

23 minutes ago, Andrew72681 said:

Did you by chance have a spa balcony room? Those rooms all went GTY after that category was removed. They are slowly resetting them to their original room selection. It took mine about two weeks. 

Central Park Balcony ... not sure what effect it would have on those staterooms.  

2 minutes ago, Jason12 said:

I think they will do the presidents cruise week before the TA and hopefully sail with guests back to Miami
btw Spain is doing fantastic  now very low numbers all round and some days zero deaths

I hope you are right!  I would think every effort will be made for the president's cruise to happen. On the other hand, Spain may be doing great but do they really want a bunch of Americans and Brits showing up??

47 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Well that depends on when you are cruising. Estimates say some European ports will open July-ish for cruise lines based in Europe.....possibly with heavy restrictions like 14-day quarantines. Others say that EU ports won't be open until late Oct or even not this year to people from outside the EU.

I really wish we could get more information about the EU because final payment date is fast approaching.  Never mind--my FCC paid that off in full but I want to use the FCC so I don't have to go through that ordeal again.   The cruise is November 1st.  I don't have my flights and hotels booked to Barcelona in advance of my trans Atlantic back to Miami.  There are 2 stops in Spain, 1 in the Canary Islands and one in Coco Cay and about 10 sea days.  I can live with Allure not being amplified.  However, if any port calls are cancelled or I have be quarantine for 14 days anywhere ... that would be a deal breaker.  I just need to begin making some plans soon.

I did receive a long detailed email that my stateroom will show "guaranteed" for the next couple of weeks.  Apparently they need to do some rearranging in stateroom assignments because Allure won't be amplified.  No indication that the cruise will actually happen or not.  They did say I could cancel under the cruise with confidence program.

On 6/6/2020 at 3:25 PM, Katy H said:

can someone let me know if the Jewel will be cruising by November?  We are booked for a transatlantic out of Italy Thanksgiving day!  Do you think it will go?

 

Jewel is currently cruising off the coast of southern Spain and not too far from where Allure is dry docked.  I don't know if that means anything but at some point she will need to cross the Atlantic ... with or without passengers.  At least Jewel is in the neighborhood of where she is supposed to be.

19 minutes ago, marti314 said:

Short term 0% loans for 2-3 months... Should be 100% illegal 

 Especially when I have to pay the entire balance on my credit card because I will have to pay 20% interest if I don't.  

On 6/5/2020 at 1:32 PM, AshleyDillo said:

When you use OBC to make a Cruise Planner purchase, it will be refunded immediately.  You should easily be able to cancel and repurchase if it's with OBC.

Yes ... I really wish that I could just "buy" OBC instead of making cruise planner purchases with my credit card.  When there is a cruise planner sale,  I'm starting to think that saving $20 isn't worth the hassle of waiting and constantly wondering if the refund will materialize---no fun.

4 hours ago, Andrew72681 said:

I think I’m the past others have been able to apply a FCC to a cruise that was already Paid in full and got a refund cash credit back for the debit balance. I’m think it might have been @Lovetocruise2002 who did it. 

I was able to apply a FCC to a cruise that was almost paid in full.  The FCC was more than enough to pay the remaining balance and the net result was a nice refund after the FCC was applied.  That was almost 2 months ago.

At the time,  I asked if I could book a new cruise and use FCC for the deposit.  I was told that wasn't possible.  

Sometimes it seems like they like to make up new rules just to keep us guessing.

I like to check prices online every so often.  I presently have an ocean view balcony but I can't check for a lower price even though the cruise is 10 months away.  There is an ocean view "guarantee" but that isn't quite the same category.  Is Royal  "hiding"  staterooms because there are plenty of ocean view balcony staterooms that cost extra because they are connecting rooms or have sofa beds.

4 minutes ago, Jason12 said:

@Dad2Cue are you on the Allure TA this year.?

@Jason12 Yes ... I'm trying to be optimistic about it.  My wife says she isn't going unless things get better so I need some good information.  Anything related to quarantines and masks is bad.

1 hour ago, Jason12 said:

Yes Spain and lots more are opening over next few weeks, all local airlines are flying to holiday destinations by end of month   so hopefully we will be sailing over to Miami in November

@Jason12 How is England??  My cruise that was cancelled was a trans Atlantic to Southampton on Anthem last April.  We rescheduled that cruise for April 2021.  We have rail passes in England which are unused and will expire in January 2021.  I was thinking about flying into London and use up the rail passes before going to Spain. 

@Jason12 It wouldn't hurt to call them about the FCC.  I never did receive an email about the FCC.  When I called, I was told that it was processed 3 weeks before and they applied the FCC to a cruise that was already booked --- the Allure TA in fact.  I had a remaining balance on that cruise that was less than the FCC.  When the FCC was applied, I received a $700 refund from the Allure TA.  Tell me that Spain is opening up so Allure will have guests back to Miami.

1 minute ago, Jill said:

What ship and itinerary is this? I love Aruba and St Maarten is my all time favorite! 

Freedom on January 10,  2021 --- price is good too.  I'm optimistic.

56 minutes ago, Kcusack89 said:

6 hours ago, Jill said:

But my eyes can’t see what color St Maarten is!

I can hardly see the ABC islands but Aruba looks grey.  St Maarten is my other port.  My cruise starts in Puerto Rico so at least San Juan is might be good to go.

27 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Heck, I haven't even done a Jr Suite yet. I had one booked on the Brilliance GC (I heard Radiance class have pretty big JSs), but that's gone.  I do have an Owner's Suite on Empress, but that's probably about as big as a Jr Suite on Brilliance, lol.  Maybe with all I'm saving from the canceled cruises (I assume both Odyssey sailings will be a no go) I should get an actual real suite on the Harmony GC!d (Now is the time where you all talk me out of it.  Ready? GO!)

I would say it depends on how many FCCs you need to put to use.  A FCC from a longer cruise seems to require a suite on a shorter cruise so you can use the whole FCC. 

A suite on a smaller ship makes sense too when you are used to paying for a smaller stateroom on the the larger and newer ships.  

9 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes.  This is a very dangterous trend. Be afraid.  Be very afraid

I'm more afraid of being quarantined in my room and being at sea for weeks.  It seems I can justify an upgrade just in case that happens.

Today, I enjoyed reading about this topic on the Royal Caribbean Blog.  It made me think about the cruises we have done.  Our first cruise was an interior room mostly for economic reasons.  I found that I needed at least a window so we shifted to an interior stateroom on the promenade on Freedom class.  Then we got a virtual balcony on Anthem  but the balcony overlooking Central Park on Allure was much better.  An ocean view balcony was okay but I liked Central Park more.  I had no issue with a junior suite except for the price.

Is this a dangerous trend and should I stop eyeing those other suites???  ......

1 hour ago, Andrew72681 said:

I think as with any economics class, it really depends on the value of the money over time. Us for example took the April cancelled FCC (which didn’t arrive till late May) and applied it to a sailing in November. Between late May and first week of November nowhere else would I be guaranteed to make 25% on my money. 

That is the exact same scenario with me except my cancellation was in March and there wasn't the 25% bonus.  We applied the FCC to a November trans Atlantic cruise from Spain to Miami.  I'm very happy about using the FCC except my wife thinks it wouldn't be wise to do the cruise.  My only defense for her concern is mostly about making sure we use the FCC.

4 hours ago, L454S said:

At first we took the FCC's because we thought they could be used much the same as cash for existing and futur.e bookings. Much to our dismay, that IS NOT the case. It seems to be like the game of kick the can. Just keep kicking the can down the road.

Ultimately FCC expire and go "poof"... or that happens to me in my race to use the FCC.  Plus, with a refund, I enjoy spending the money a second time on ANYTHING I want.  Even with the extra 25% with the FCC, it isn't worth all the hassles!