pezzy669

Welp there goes my 12/17/20 cruise on Brilliance out of Tampa. I just went ahead and requested a full refund, not a huge fan of the restrictions put on lift & shift as I would have rather kicked the can down the road a few months not an entire year. Figure since we already have our airfare to Tampa we might just make a little winter beach trip and visit some friends down there.

Still have my fingers crossed for my 12/17 cruise out of Tampa (Brilliance of the Seas) - RCL still has it for sale on their site. The 60 day timeline to submit plans and get approval I guess could cause some confusion among folks not working for the cruise lines. For all we know they may have been working behind the scenes this whole time and have already done everything and requested necessary approvals to sail. Here is to hoping for the best!

So in my random cruise line internet browsing I came upon cruise mapper that lets you see boats location and track in real time (interesting site.....imagine more interesting when cruises are happening). I noticed quite a few boats from different lines just randomly cruising around in the Caribbean - for example Symphony of the Seas has just gone back and forth and round and round just north of where the other RC fleet is sitting idle. Are the boats like cars where you need to drive them around on occasion to keep things moving per say and its more problematic to just leave them parked? Are these training runs?

Sorry for delay getting back here - work gets crazy during the week. Thank you all for the excellent recommendations and advice!! The cruise compass was awesome to kind of get a feel for what to expect. RC a couple days ago already discounted a bunch of the "extras" so the drink package went from $65 to $49 so I went ahead and nabbed it at that price, was not sure if we could do $65/drinks per day so it was kind of mehhhh at that price, but $49 is potentially doable even factoring in the day in Cozumel. At worst we may break even but now don't have the $460 expense to deal with coming off the cruise. We already determined we are going to skip formal night - not feeling like toting around a suit just for one night on vacation. That kinda stuff is reserved for weddings and work parties, not to be folded up in a suitcase for a Caribbean vacation. Again thank you much for the recommends - the anticipation for the next 140ish days is killing me! I have an "I'm on a boat" t-shirt on the way for the departure day.

Hey all - first time posting here as I have never been on a cruise in my life. My parents went on a RC cruise out of Galveston this past Feb/Mar and they talked it up enough for me to take the leap into trying my first ever cruise. I have had an irrational fear of drowning and boats since a near capsize boating experience as a kid when we got caught out in a storm on a lake in Minnesota while we were fishing - this was 30 years ago but I still remember it like it was yesterday, but I digress. Anyways after my parents raving about their first cruise on RC (and subsequently booking same cruise for January 2021 and an Alaska cruise on Celebrity for sometime during summer) I figured what the heck. Myself, my partner and two of our very close friends booked the 12/17/20 cruise out of Tampa to Cozumel - none of us have cruised before so its a first for all of us and we figured it would be a good starter cruise since it is short and was very reasonably priced. Couple quick questions from you cruising experts. Up front I greatly appreciate any input. 1) Cabins close together. My partner and myself booked separate from our traveling friends and we both just did the "interior guarantee" where you cannot select your stateroom. What is the possibility of getting staterooms close to each other (does not have to be next to each other) if we call RC and let them know we are traveling together? Not expecting anything here as we booked the bargain basement fare but figured it would be worth a shot. 2) Brilliance of the Seas activities. RC website is really not that great in showing what each ship offers and does not, have found while looking at the portion for Brilliance it shows some activities that I don't believe are available on that boat. I know its mid-age for the RC fleet so does not have all the newest and best things but I can't really find anywhere to figure out what it does actually have. Our traveling group age range is 30-42. 3) Cruise planner extras booking time. Myself and my partner are planning on doing the deluxe beverage package (not sure about our friends), and we all are planning on at least 1 shore excursion in Cozumel. My planning personality wants to book it all ASAP so I can put it in the back of my mind until December, but then I step back and say 'what if shutdown causes cruise to be scrubbed'. Should I bit the bullet and go for it or wait to get closer to departure? If you have any other recommends for a first time cruiser it would would be much appreciated, I am not even sure what to expect with any aspect of it so any insight would be excellent! Thank you in advance! Adam