LogicallyLazy

I guess that’s where the situation dictates which one I would book. I know people who would only book refundable, but sometimes that just doesn’t make sense. Scenario (on the same sailing for 4 people in stateroom) Booking 1: $2000 (NRD), Booking 2: $2500 (refundable) If I definitely go on the cruise on NRD, I save $500. If I cancel, I get back $1600, meaning I lose $400 for essentially nothing. However, if I’m booked on refundable, I spend an extra $500 if I do sail and lose nothing if I don’t. I guess it makes it a little easier to take if I’m spending $500 on something tangible, like the cruise itself, rather than just straight losing $400. So I would say it really depends on the situation.

I did a mock booking once and refundable was an additional $2000. Suffice to say I’d rather lose the $100pp

Whether you agree with the measures or not, you will most likely have the choice to go on the cruise or not. If anything, whenever cruises resume in other parts of the world, I would assume that there would be the option to cancel without penalty due to these measures, if not outright cancelling sailings and re adding new “measure introduced” mirror sailings that would probably be cheaper. That’s what happened in Singapore. All sailing were cancelled and replaced with the ocean getaways. The new sailing also had 50% off every passenger to make it a little more attractive. I don’t know about you, but if I can get $3000 off an initial price, measures or not, I will be more inclined to book it. Also, to give you a little insight on why maybe these measure work in Singapore and people still go on them. Singapore is an island (ie completely surrounded by water) smaller than the size of New York City. With closed borders, you’re basically stuck in a small place with no where to escape too. One thing to note about Singaporeans, is they like to travel, even weekend trips to Malaysia feels like a vacation from the bustle of City life. You can imagine the pent up need to leave Singapore. Add the fact that Singaporeans generally follow laws really closely. I’m sure you’ve heard we’re a “fine” country. Yes, you get fined for some of the smallest things and harder punishments for actual bad stuff. It’s not a bad thing, because personally, I like that I can be walking the street at 3am almost anywhere in Singapore and feel completely safe. Lastly, we do have COVID relatively under control. So much so, that I personally feel many Singaporeans are getting complacent. That being said, most everyone has gotten used to the measures we have on land. Masks are worn everywhere, regardless of your line of work. I wear my mask for 10 hours everyday, to the point that sometimes, my face feels naked without one now. Yeah, crazy I know. The need to vacation is so strong that staycations took off, but I would think for most people, between wearing a mask in a hotel and wearing a mask on a cruise. Most would choose the latter Well, I think I’ll end my rant here. Hope you enjoy a little of perspective from a Singaporean

For my Singapore cruise, the timing depends on how early you check in. Once check in opens, the higher likelihood of getting an earlier boarding time. I checked the app every few hours when check in opened 90 days before the cruise Also, one thing to note is that if you made any changes to your reservation, your check in time resets and needs to be selected again which is something I didn’t think was a good thing. So if this does gets implemented in other countries, just take note to always re select your check in time if you made any changes to your reservation (e.g. change room/upgrade)

Thanks. Really excited for it, which only got worse as I started filling out the star class questionnaire.

You would be correct. Haha. Finally bit the bullet and simply upgraded to star instead of waiting for a slim possibility of getting an upgrade to star. I plan to eat way more than is considered necessary. That's good to know. My dad loves seafood so I was wondering if we could get the seafood tower without additional charges. As for alcohol, my family doesn't partake so it's not really a big deal. P.S. I know its a waste to have DBP and not drink but we got the refreshment package anyway, and adding all the additional stuff, the amount for the upgrade was a no brainer

Unrelated to gratuities, but I’ve seen that certain up charges are waived for star class. (E.g. seafood tower at chops). Is this true? I thought even with UDP, that only covered the cover charge and not up charges

That’s good to know. Thank you Gotcha. Basically whatever gratuities I would want to give to the Genie will be given directly to them, correct?

Can I just clarify as I’m getting a little confused. One benefit of Star class is complimentary gratuities. Is this different from the normal pre paid gratuitues that I would put on any other cabin? Doing a couple of mock bookings for a star class suite and the pre paid gratuities are automatically tagged on. Do you still pay the pre paid gratuities with the star class perk or is it a glitch with the RCL site

Good luck. As of right now, all the suites seem to be sold out for that sailing, so it may be a little unlikely to get upgraded but considering it’s CNY, there is always a possibility of a last minute cancellation

Just an update. I’ve received a RoyalUp offer from my March cruise. Fingers crossed I get it

I love how 'Not reinforcing your opinion' = 'working for Royal Caribbean'

That’s good to know. Makes the option to upgrade that much more tempting if I do get offered one

Was the room service complimentary since you were in a suite? Or is it charged?

@WAAAYTOOO Thanks for the insight. I will definitely update if I do receive a RoyalUp offer. While the cruise will not have any port stops, it seems that, at least for the current peak December cruises that are sailing, that basically everything requires a reservation and with 50% capacity in the restaurants as well as coastal kitchen, many guests were not able to get a seat. Many speculate that those in star class with genies and sky class with concierge book them up a lot earlier as compared to people hoping to pop in for a meal. Even windjammer is closed for dinner as they do not have enough staff to man the MDR as well as the buffet Now with that in mind, the wonder is would a genie be able to help in situations like that. Prowling the local forums don’t help much as not many people are star class lol

Booked on 2021 QoTS from Singapore. Based on the current cruises to nowhere that have sailed, some passengers have received a RoyalUp offer, though with the ships being max 50% I guess it may be a less likely to get a successful upgrade. Hopefully, with the sailing happening when school's in, the option to upgrade would be available. From what I hear, the genies are basically a gift from god, so I wouldn't mind spending some extra if an upgrade in in the cards, especially since I'll save on some cruise planner purchases. My only worry is that, being my first cruise, getting into Star class will spoil me for any future cruise that I do not opt for Star. That being said, I'm basically counting my chickens before they hatch, seeing as I don't even have an offer yet. ?

Anyone have any experience with RoyalUp and going to Star Class? I'm currently booked for a sky class loft suite on QoTS in March and was looking if I would even try for an upgrade to a grand loft suite for Star class. From what I found out, most people who get an upgrade receive it a few days before the cruise. As star class perks include drink packages, how will this work in regards to cruise planner purchases? Will I be able to refund the amount paid for cruise planner purchases? Also, how will the royal genie work in that regard, considering they usually contact the passenger quite a while back in advance to confirm all their preferences. Is it worth to upgrade to star from sky class?

Thank you so much. That was exactly what I was searching for.

That's good to know. We probably will be at the shows so it should not be a big issue, but I think I'll try to change in to Deck 10 instead. Thanks. Good to know. Now wondering if the same applies to Sky loft suites.

I'm not booked on a grand loft, by sky loft suite 8722 on Quantum. It will be my first time on a cruise so I wanna make sure I have a good experience. Thinking if I want to change decks to 10722 instead. I'm just worried as 1 of my party is moderately prone to sea sickness. I took a chance with an Aft room, don't want to take a higher cabin if I can avoid it in case there is slight swaying. In regards to the noise, I realize this is subjective, but how loud is the noise bleed? Like, muffled bass beats or full on rumbling floor with discernable sound. Wondered about this too as the aft of quantum does slope a little in. Is the deck 10 suite smaller?

With the news that the man tested negative after debarkation on 2 separate tests, I think attention now has to turn to the accuracy of the test they have on board and how they deal with false positives in the future. While false positives are inevitable in any test, considering it halts the entire cruise, I think a retest should have been done on the ship itself to see if the results repeated. Hopefully it isnt due to contamination of covid in their test devices, because the test on land showed the original sample from the patient also tested negative. That being said, the protocols work. They aren't there to completely stop the virus on the ship, but to prevent the spread if there was a case on board. In which case, they demonstrated that they had a plan in the event of a case. Now they just need to add protocols in regards to the handling of positive results on board and the possibility of false positives.

It really is the luck of the draw too. Personally, I walk down orchard road in Singapore and the crowds look no different or even worse than the photos from Quantum of the seas. You don’t have cases popping up everywhere because of that. Plus, Dream cruise has been operating for a whole month prior to RCI and they didn’t have a case on board. That being said, the protocols in place are different for the 2 cruise lines but for the most part, they have similar measures.

Based on information from local forum sites in Singapore, people on the cruise will be given a pro rated refund of 1 day to their onboard credit, with unused credits refunded to their card. Additionally, they would receive 1 days worth of cruise fare as FCC. Also, seems the Dec 10 cruise will proceed as planned For anyone interested in a few reads. https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/travel-accommodation-89/royal-caribbean-quantum-seas-5941562.html#post131294251

Think of it this way, you have a home (Cruise ship) with all your valuables inside it (passengers). To protect your valuables, you put in a fence (Testing) around your house to prevent a burglar (COVID) from getting into your house. Some burglars see the fence and decide to choose somewhere else (positive test result and denied boarding), other see it and decide to jump the fence anyway (false negative result and boards ship with virus). But before the burglar can get to your valuables, they have to get past your door lock (mask) and security system (social distancing) both of which may stop the burglar eventually or slow it until the police (quarantining suspected cases on board) arrive. None of those measure are 100% effective, but you use them anyway as a means to deter and act as firewalls. Hope this helps

The 180 day period is a Singapore Government rule so I don’t think the same would apply to the rest of the world should cruises resume. Of course, RCL may keep it to ensure safety on board. Who knows? Depending on what they decide, many things may change as Singapore has pretty strict laws in regards to the handling of COVID. Probably why the cases are Low enough to count on your fingers in recent weeks