Dad2Cue

I was told exactly the same about all my refunds being processed on 12/8/22. I called at 9 a.m. eastern time and the call when straight through. CS rep was excellent and the entire call took less than 5 minutes!!

I'm waiting until 9 a.m Eastern Standard Time. It might be easier to forget it except that my memory hasn't failed me yet!

My patience improved during Covid but then things got better. Now my patience is being tested again. I just need closure sometimes and then I would feel better.

A couple of my refunds are for internet packages that were not priced right by Royal on that day when things were not working well on the website. I had to cancel the internet packages for a B2B cruise so I ended up cancelling twice for each cruise. Still no refunds for the internet packages. I cancelled an excursion and repriced it but I received that refund a week ago. What is the best number to call? I called the number on the "Sorry, there's been a change" email I received that confirmed the cancellations---hold time was 74 minutes. The battery on my phone gave up after 90 minutes. I tried calling again early this morning but the office is closed and a message said that I should call back during regular business hours. Do the regular business hours include Saturday? Should I wait this out and just hope my refunds get processed eventually?

This is very interesting but I'm skeptical of everything anymore. I was looking at a cruise about a month ago. Online it said ALL of the ocean view balconies were "sold out". We went with the same cruise, same ship and itinerary except when the "demand" didn't seem as high. Now I see that the cruise we originally wanted wasn't close to being sold out.and cost less than the one we booked. Fortunately we booked refundable so we made the change and didn't incur change fees. Unfortunately, the cost to book refundable was very high. I agree that a land-based vacation is looking like a better deal to me. I think Royal has closed the gap considerably in my opinion. The cruise is a year away so we might still cancel the cruise and get a refund. I wonder how long it will take for the refund to be processed.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/crown-anchor-society?article=172~~73~~24 I think you can sign up if you scroll way down to the bottom. I have signed up a few times but I never receive anything.

I never get an e-mail from C&A. Should I be getting an e-mail?

The calculations to do a cruise are driving me crazy. I wouldn't completely give up on changing your cruise for the $400. Royal is notorious for giving you different answers depending on who you speak with. You might want to call back a few times before you accept their response as the final answer. The more "what if" questions you ask the better. There are always multiple answers to every question. Royal's policy changes happen on a whim too it seems.

I would classify myself as a loyal cruiser (soon to be Diamond+) and a committed cruiser. Until Covid happened, I never cancelled a cruise and would always book NRD. I never canceled or made changes except to reprice the cruise or change my stateroom. When I wasn't confident about the Covid situation, I started to book strictly refundable because I didn't want anymore FCCs My dilemma now is that sometimes a refundable fare is $100's more than a NRD. I now have a refundable deposit that is $590 more than what the NRD fare would be. My deposit was $900 on a cruise that is still a year away so anything can happen. The way prices are increasing, my refundable cruise fare will seem like a bargain and I will lose my chance to change to a NRD. However, I'm committed to the cruise so I probably should switch to a NRD. I have used up all my FCCs so at least that slate is clean.

I have a rollator which is a walker with wheels complete with a built in chair. I used my rollator for the embarkation on our recent cruise. I also used it often during the cruise. . I didn't expect preferred treatment but the staff at Royal Caribbean were very cognizant that I might need some assistance. I would say the cruise guests were very respectful too. I had to decline elevators when offered because it was just as easy for me to wait for the next one. It was my first experience with taking a rollator on a cruise. The rollator got in the way sometimes because I didn't need it all the time. The last time I was on a cruise, I didn't have a rollator. A man came up to me when he saw me walking on the running track. He somehow knew I was having back pain and said I wouldn't be able to walk that off. He said that he had something for me that might help. He went back to his stateroom and brought me some of the chemically activated heat packs. I didn't mind too much that he put a hand on my shoulder and said a prayer. It made me realize that I needed the help and a rollator was an excellent solution. People were generally too kind and considerate but there is nothing wrong with that.

I have the same question except we will need to get to the port from Long Beach (LGB). We have a rental car to turn in at LGB on the morning of our cruise. We are planning on a taxi from the rental car return. Are there better options?? I can't imagine a taxi would cost too much but prices in Southern California are outrageous.

I just checked my leftover coffee card with three shots left on it. All it says is QN on the back for Quantum. What are the letters used for Serenade? I will be on Serenade in two weeks. I'm pretty sure I can rub off the QN if I needed to. With any luck, Serenade will be SN. Then I will only have to worry about the Q I have purchased another new coffee card for Serenade so I'm not too worried about it. Do you think the barista will even turn the card over and look on the back?

For a 7-night cruise that works out to be $8 per day. The refreshment package is usually $23 per day during a sale so that saves $15 per day. I really like the drink vouchers. My occasional drinks with alcohol are free with the vouchers. Except for having to count my drinks every day ... there's nothing to complain about.

What if I created my ArriveCan account already but I forget to do the part about the planned travel. Can I still get the ignorance waiver?

I don't know which ship I prefer because I haven't been on either ship since they were amped. We liked both ships before they were amped. We got away from Freedom class ships but we are making a return to Freedom this October. I had a similar dilemma because we would be closer to Port Canaveral when we debark in Tampa after our Panama Canal crossing. I don't know why I chose Freedom because Independence would have been more convenient. Freedom was the least expensive cruise at the time but getting to Miami from Tampa isn't cheap. However, we can visit relatives north of Miami so that will be nice and saves some of the expense. I like the way Freedom was amped but I don't think you will go wrong either way. We got a junior suite on the pool deck at the front of the ship. All of those staterooms were booked on Independence at the time. I'm wondering how that location on the ship will be. At the time we booked that stateroom, I was thinking everything would be right there and the only need for the elevator would be for shows, MDR and occasional trips to the promenade.

Sometimes it is better to be mute.

Repricing seems to be a thing of the past. The prices of the cruises I have booked just go up. I haven't seen a price drop in ages. All my cruises are booked refundable now so it is a MOOT point. Repricing used to be fun but it seems like a waste of time to check the prices anymore.

Thank-you for this. I added the link to my "To do a cruise file." Except now that file is getting so cluttered that I can't find the link in that file.

I just checked into my Alaska cruise that departs in 3 weeks. There was no mention of ArriveCan during the check-in questionnaire. It could have been in the fine print somewhere but I didn't see it. Royal said check-in was complete via email. What ever happened to allowing Alaska cruises that skip Canada?? Nothing against Canada ... I will do the ArriveCan thing if they want me to. Sounds like it might take awhile so maybe I will start it today.

What does Canada charge? I'm rapidly being priced out of the cruising market. Edit: I should add that I'm getting "hassled out" too but that is just a personal decision.

At first I thought you meant it was the pinocle lounge. Fancy lounge for that card game.

We are doing an Alaska cruise in a couple of weeks. I don't really want to go see Victoria again. I wouldn't mind staying on the ship. Would I still need to do the ArriveCan app if I don't plan on leaving the ship in Victoria??

I have to agree with this assessment. Our very first cruises were all on a Freedom class ships and they were beyond superb. We ventured up to Quantum class and Oasis class and we were somewhat disappointed but still had a great time. We got away from the Freedom class but bigger is not always better. We are looking forward to Freedom OTS again in October but it is a 4-Night cruise. We have never been on anything smaller than Freedom class. We are looking forward our the Panama Canal crossing on Serenade right before the Freedom cruise.

You are better off changing ships but there are only so many of those too.

I have stayed at Comfort Suites Miami Airport North. At the time, you could do one way or a round trip back to the hotel from the port. Round trip worked out well for us. That area near the airport wasn't so good in terms of things to do. I was only interested in doing the cruise and getting back to the hotel so it worked out well. We rented a car so we went some places downtown. That was before Covid so a car rental is much more costly now. There is a newer Comfort Suite hotel that was built a few years ago. I don't know why it was built so close to the existing one. Nobody consulted me about where they should build it. I would have built a few more restaurants or something instead of another hotel.