cruisinnewbie

Hi, all! Thanks to you all, I was keeping track of the suite prices on our upcoming Anthem cruise even though our category was sold out. I noticed today that all of the suite prices were significantly lower than any I had previously tracked. I called RC and asked them to reprice my cruise and they said it was still more than I paid. Just checking if this is typical? It just seemed weird to me that all of the other suites would be less money but mine (GLS) wouldn't, but then again pricing on RC seems to be weird in general. Thanks for any insight!

I got a floating cabana for $1049 in June 2020 for a March 2022 cruise. The cabanas are currently $1699 on cruise planner. My water park tickets ended up going way down, and I rebooked ($43 a person down from $79) but the cabana prices have just gone up, up, up. I actually booked way back then because people on this wonderful site told me it was a good deal. Hope that’s helpful!

I should have known you all would not only calm me down, you’d have all of this crazy inside scoop!

10 minutes ago, Elnoz said:

I feel so guilty seeing that people's reservations were cancelled because of a charter I'm on! I almost hesitate to confirm this news LOL

Haha I promise not to tell my friend. 

Thanks, all! I always come to you before I panic, lol. 

Hi all. A friend just told me that their feb 2022 cruise (Miami to Caribbean on harmony) just got canceled. I came here immediately since I know you all have the scoop, but I didn’t see anything. I am wondering if it has to do with ports that are not allowing visitors any time soon (my friend thought their Jamaica stop might have something to do with it?). I don’t want to spread rumors, but with a March 2022 being pretty much all I’m living for right now, lol, I was wondering if others had heard of cancellations into 2022. 

On 3/12/2021 at 5:35 AM, LogicallyLazy said:

To close out my journey on Quantum. Here’s a little video for you guys to enjoy. 
 

Quantum of the Seas Ocean Getaway - 1 March

This video is amazing! Thank you so much for this blog. We are booked in a gls on Anthem in March 2022 and I am increasingly worried about it actually happening! This video made me want to go even more! 

Oh man now I can’t find the review and I’m haunted by my guesses about what was in the coffeemaker.

Following as well. Star class on Anthem out of Bayonne March 2022 - counting the (hundreds) of days... we will just drive to the port that day (we live about 90 minutes away), but I love all of these tidbits about how to do star class right!

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Once declared in a relationship both of you and your dependent children (< 18) will rise together even though only one of you actually cruised.

This is all so helpful - thank you!!!

39 minutes ago, twangster said:

you should cruise because you like to cruise rather than just to reach some level in a loyalty program spending thousands of dollars in the process.  

That’s a great point. I’m just wondering if I could sneak in a long weekend getaway and then reap some benefits from that on our big family cruise. 

Speaking of family, I’d love the long weekend cruise to be just hubby and me. Is it problematic when you and your kids are at different C and A levels? Does it impact anything? 

3 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That is correct.  In order to qualify for double points, you have to have at least cruised once and be gold status.

Looks like I have something else to obsessively visit RC’s site to look at!

Am I correct that having a C&A number but never having cruised (thanks, 2020) means I would not be eligible for the double points on my first cruise? Our first cruise is scheduled for March 2022 (just saw that’s now included in double points) in a suite for 7 nights. I’m thinking if we took a three day cruise somewhere for the cheapest price possible first to qualify for gold, that would mean we’d be platinum by the end of that March cruise. Are the perks worth it? This is all crazy dreaming at this point anyway since my husband would likely look at me like I have three heads if I suggested this directly to him. Figured I’d try a more understanding crowd first!

22 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I wander around and keep getting lost or looking for something that I never find.

I have this one too! I’m a teacher and it’s often a class I need to teach. 

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

I don't always remember my dreams but I had a cruise dream about a month ago.

I was boarding a ship that was 5 minutes from my house.  The ship was supposed to depart at 4pm but they started boarding at 8am as I was driving my car past the port so I thought I'd check in, get on board and take some pictures then go home and grab my suitcase.  Once on board I am walking around taking pictures.  It was cold at this port.  Snow everywhere, water frozen around the ship.  I didn't have my coat because I was just going to check in, pop on board, then go home for my stuff.  

I was trying to go live on Periscope but I couldn't type the title of the broadcast.  Autocorrect kept changing it to something weird.  That won't work and this went on and on.  I was getting frustrated as this was going to be an epic cruise, during the pandemic when no ships were supposed to be sailing.  I'm on a ship but I can't get Periscope to work.  There were all sort of media and others around me, bumping into me, when I realized I wasn't wearing a mask and few others were. 

The Captain came on the PA and announced since everyone was on board we would be leaving at 10am, in 3 minutes time.  Crap, I don't have my stuff, I don't have a coat, I just have what I'm wearing.  Then the ship started moving.  Why can't I type in Periscope?   I'm missing the sail away. 

As part of the celebration of this epic cruise during the pandemic children are ice skating outside on the frozen sea around the ship and the the ship is breaking through the ice as we depart.  The children were right beside the ship but they didn't appear to be in any danger.  How are these children ice skating right beside the ship?     That can't be safe I remember thinking.  Why can't I get Periscope to work? This would be epic on Periscope.  

Suddenly I'm dealing with my cabin and I couldn't get my door open.  I went to a table on the pool deck where a crew member was dealing with cabins and they said quite a few people had to get new cabins so they gave me a new cabin on the spot.  It was 8652 or something like that.  I remember thinking that doesn't make sense, there are no 86XX cabins on this ship class.  The crew member reassured me that was my cabin.  Okay I thought, that must be my cabin.  He also said my stuff was waiting for me in my cabin which was odd because I hadn't brought my suitcase with me and he just picked me this new cabin from a print out he had.  How did they know to put my stuff in this cabin if they just gave me this cabin assignment?  It didn't make sense but he assured me it would be there.  Cabins weren't ready yet so I couldn't go to see what stuff I had.

From an upper deck I see the ship continuing to break through the ice as we sailed down a frozen fjord away from port.  Children were now skating on the ice behind the ship as it was refreezing in our wake.  It's like the children were chasing the ship, on skates, behind us on the frozen sea.  I remember thinking this was all so strange.

Then I woke up.

I also had a bunch of confusing moments, like wondering why no one was wearing a mask and deciding to leave the ship to run home and pack some extra toiletries. Dream logic is amazing. 

9 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Wishing your dream will come true...

thanks again for your advice when we were booking - GLS 10724 here we come (in like 450 days). 

So this is probably weird to post since I read this blog WAY more than I post so I feel like I know all of you and you have no idea who I am, but... I couldn’t resist. I had a dream last night that for some reason, only my scheduled Anthem cruise (March 2022) was allowed to sail right now. I was SO excited to do a live blog here, and I kept telling my family how happy you would all be to see the pics and hear our experiences. We were at the port and I almost missed the cruise because I was taking pictures of every single thing for this live blog. I woke up super disappointed that it wasn’t real. Apparently thinking about our first Royal cruise and our first star class cruise has been the only thing keeping me going these days and my subconscious wanted to get going! Anyway, just sharing for a laugh. Happy Saturday!

Just as an FYI, I checked my cruise planner today after they loaded the Black Friday deals, and there were some solid savings for my March 2022 cruise. I returned my 79 dollar water park tickets and got them for 43, and I got the 100 photo package for 124 (it was 254 yesterday). I figure I can always cancel it if I see a better deal next Black Friday!

Wow, those prices are so good. I am seeing 100 prints/digital for 249.99 for my March 2022 Anthem 7-night. I wonder if that will drop on Black Friday?

4 hours ago, Ogilthorpe said:

I had this happen a couple of years ago after I was researching on the RCL site. The person who called me said she was a personal RCL vacation representative and offered to assist with reservations. I assume it was triggered by my RCL site activity.

That's what she said she was, and I got a follow up email from her as well saying she was my personal representative. I do check my 2022 cruise price every day, so maybe they think I'm booking a lot of cruises!

21 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

RCCL keeps track of the calls that comes in. Once their system picks up your call, they will call you back to see if you booked, issue was resolved, etc. It's just a call back. Nothing special.

Aw. I wanted to be special

Hi all! I just received what felt like a really random phone call from someone from RC. She said she wanted to see if she could help me book any future cruises. I told her I was all booked and all set and she just said ok thanks for choosing RC and hung up. Have I made some kind of special list? Am I getting scammed? Just curious so I thought I would ask the RC brain trust.

1 hour ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Yes, I have been assured I am able to apply my grandkids' FCCs (they are now sailing free) to their parents' fares but also for the couples still sailing with us...the extra from one FCC is being applied to the other occupant's higher fare

This is reassuring! Thank you for sharing your experience. 

6 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Do not apply the FCC until final payment!  Once applied, it changes the bottom line and it will make it hard for price adjustments if the price drops on your cruise.

Oh! Thank you! I won't. Love this site!

6 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Same info as @twangster, when we lost our March sailing, our FCCs came back divided equally by 4.  I was a bit alarmed because up to this point, it has always been only able to be used in the person's name only and passenger 1&2 always pay more.  Anyway, my awesome TA told me not to worry at all.  Since cancellations rolled out, they have bent the rules a bit and as long as it's the same 4 people (or whatever amount was on the original reservation) redeeming it on the another booking, then they will just roll it all together.  Fast forward to May when I made final payment for my now cancelled August sailing, my TA was able to apply the March FCC without issue even though the amounts on the FCC for my two kids were way more than they were actually paying on the booking.  Now fast forward again to today, I just received my FCCs for my cancelled August sailing and the FCCs have been divided equally by 4 again.  This time I am not going to stress too much.  We're applying this set to our cruise next summer with the kids so it's the same 4 again.

Thank you! Yes, I was so confused by the equal amounts because my kids had fares that were way lower than ours. I'm waiting a bit to apply the FCC officially since the cruise isn't until March 22 and if we do need to move the date or something I'd rather not have the FCC involved yet. That's why I'm not just calling to do it now and make sure. Of course that doesn't mean i can't worry about it now! Lol.