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AspiringCruisePlanner

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Everything posted by AspiringCruisePlanner

  1. There's some videos from exactly your assigned cabin, 6216. On cruiseshipdeckplans. Here's the link https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/youtube.php?id=9824
  2. This is likely the key point as to why it would be unlikely for Royal Caribbean to drop vaccine requirements in the near future. Allowing more unvaccinated to cruise increases the likelihood that they'll run into a higher rate of critically ill COVID patients. However, they should look closely at the age adjusted rates of hospitalization as individuals aged 17 and below have much less, or nearly zero, disparity in the hospitalization rates between the vaccinated and unvaccinated compared to the hospitalization rates of vaccinated and unvaccinated adults since the Omicron wave. I could see them adjusting their requirements that 90% of their passengers 12 and older be vaccinated and exclude 11 and younger from the vaccinated/unvaccinated count. Seems like a manageable level of risk that would allow more of their loyal customers who are not vaccinated to cruise again.
  3. During the voluntary CDC program, toddlers under 5 were excluded from the count. 5 and older were all included in the vaxed/unvaxed counts. This is likely why it was so difficult to get an exemption. Who knows what they'll do moving forward.
  4. Thanks to the 84 people who responded so far! It's interesting to see the distribution of the answers and how split the opinions are on these topics. I'd imagine RCCL would utilize a survey like this to help guide decision making Let's reserve the comment section for constructive discussion. Utilize the poll to voice your opinion.
  5. My money is on Margaritaville first. I think they've been allowing unvaxed for a while now, up to the 5% and then 10% limits.
  6. It's hard to tell whether these denials are due to the reasoning for the exemption or the pure fact of operational capacity with unvaccinated bodies. I think the latter, but in any case I think the message as you have it there would qualify for meeting their criteria. Well put.
  7. Your doctor is right. To be fully categorized as fully vaccinated for both the CDC and Royal, he needs to have all 3 shots. Like @Matt said, he needs to have gotten his last covid vaccine regiment (in his case, 3rd shot) at least 14 days before the cruise. The Pfizer vaccine for under 5 is a 3 dose regiment.
  8. That would be allowed as long as Jack and Jill each have their own MyVegas accounts with enough loyalty points in each.
  9. Does this mean that non-suite passengers can now book these cabanas to get access to Barefoot Beach? Or has this always been the case? I can understand the reason they would make this change. Holding up the reservations for SC guests until the last minute makes it harder to fill these.
  10. I'd call back and get a different agent to see if they can help. Cancelling onboard gives you a higher risk of being denied or getting only OBC. The Ts&Cs for cruise planner purchases state that calling in more than 48 hours prior to departure should be allowed. For refundable products, including refundable Beverage Packages and Dining Packages you may obtain a full refund by cancelling your order through the Plan My Cruise site or by calling us no less than 48 hours prior to your voyage departure. Refunds requested less than 48 hours prior to voyage departure, or refund requests received onboard may be processed or refused, subject to our sole discretion.
  11. To make things worse, today I got the email from the Genie that was assigned to us. Jay, I'm sure you would have made our cruise extra special.
  12. The OBC is the best value for loyalty points (gold coins) for RC with MyVegas. Side note: you're limited to one reward (either OBC, free play, cruise discount, or comped cruise) per reservation (meaning Jack and Jill cannot both use $100 OBC on the same stateroom reservation) and 2 RC rewards per person in a rolling 180 day period.
  13. If you're within 10 days of purchasing the policy (not the cruise), you can cancel for a repayment of your premium and purchase elsewhere. Otherwise, I'd book flights with Air2Sea so at least you're covered so that you can get to the cruise if there was a significant delay in flights.
  14. I just did a bunch of research when I got a new credit card earlier this year, so I can provide some insight. I've never had to use the travel insurance benefits, but it's important to read the benefits before you decide that you're fully protected. In your situation the Chase Sapphire trip cancellation/interruption covered reasons are much more broad than Capital One's. Currently, Chase Sapphire cards have cancellation/interruption limits of $10k per person and $20k per trip and coverage applies to all immediate family: "Spouse, and parents thereof; sons and daughters, including adopted children and stepchildren; parents, including stepparents; brothers and sisters; grandparents and grandchildren; aunts or uncles; nieces or nephews; and Domestic Partner and parents thereof, including Domestic Partners or Spouses of any individual of this definition. Immediate Family Member also includes legal guardians or wards. Immediate Family Members do not need to be traveling with the Cardholder for benefits to apply." Covered reasons for Chase Sapphire are very broad and I won't list them here, but it does include coverage for weather and strikes but not mechanical breakdowns for Common Carriers. For Capital One Visa Infinite, trip cancellation/interruption benefits are currently only $2k per person and the only Covered Individuals are you, your spouse, and dependent children. Additionally, the only Covered Reasons for the cancellation/interruption are limited to death, sickness, or injury of an immediate family member and default of a Common Carrier - no coverage due to weather, strikes, quarantine, etc. Credit card travel insurance benefits are a great benefit for domestic travel, but cruises are a whole different ball game when you factor in missed connection coverage and emergency medical care and evacuation; which most credit cards do not include. Apparently, CC companies have been pulling back these travel insurance benefits and they are able to do so whenever they choose (with advanced notice). Also, the trip costs have to be purchased with that credit card to get the benefit, so the RC credit card fans wouldn't be eligible for the benefits.
  15. WorldTrips Atlas Journey Premier has a missed connection coverage of $2000 per person, or their Preferred plan has $1500 per person. I'd look into those to get you better coverage in the broader missed connection category. Ideally, the missed connection max benefit would be higher than the total cost of your flights, cruise, and onboard purchases. Make sure that the Missed Connection it includes payments for non-refundable travel arrangements as well, and not just added cost to catch up to your travel arrangements.
  16. I'll add a data point here. Requested a vaccine exemption for religious reasons for my sister aboard Allure on July 31. Request was denied today.
  17. After a long journey of waiting and hoping and waiting and hoping again, we are not going to be going on this cruise for our family vacation At the start of all this planning, we thought our biggest hurdle was going to be figuring out how to plan around my older brother's first year of residency which starts July of this year. After hearing in April that his department head made some adjustments so that he was able to take our week of the cruise off, we were so excited because we thought that was the biggest hurdle. That wasn't the case. When we booked the cruise back in November of last year, we were aware of the protocols that all passengers over 12 must be vaccinated. I told this to my unvaccinated older sister when we booked this that the vax requirements may or may not be in place by the time we sail. She was very adamant that she would not have my two nieces (under 12) get vaccinated, but she would consider getting vaccinated if it was a requirement. Fast forward to about a month ago when the protocols for our cruise date were officially released, we decided that we would take a shot at the vaccine exemption for my sister. Today we finally got an official response back saying they cannot accommodate the vaccine exemption due to unvaccinated capacity limits. We're seeking a full refund for both of the reservations that we have and our wonderful TA, Grace, is helping out with that. We just can't do the vacation without everyone being there. It just wouldn't be right. We do plan on doing a family cruise some other time when everyone can go. It's really too bad because we got such a good deal on this cruise and have been planning and looking forward to it ever since we booked it. It's unlikely that we'll find an opportunity like this one in the future at the same or somewhat close in price for the same rooms. As an alternative for this year, we're probably going to do a short family vacation at the "Water Park Capital of the World", Wisconsin Dells. Here's hoping that the general public will stop paying attention to the COVID headlines so we can move on with our normal lives. P.S. if anyone is looking to book either a 2BR Aquatheater Suite or Royal Loft to sail on Allure on July 31, keep your eye out for these rooms to become available in the near future. It'll be interesting to see what price they will have on these.
  18. This is a good question because coverages can overlap in some cases. Trip Interruption kicks in the day you choose to start the benefit, so it's very important to pick the day you start driving or flying to the cruise port. Everything before that falls under Trip Cancellation. With Trip Interruption, you are covering all non-refundable pre-paid expenses that you've paid to the airlines, hotels, cruise line, etc. up to the limit you set in the event you cannot make it to your destination due to the policy's list of Covered Reasons. Depending on the plan, it can also cover additional cost that may be incurred due to extra costs associated with buying alternative transportation to catch-up to your cruise, or alternative travel home in the event you get sick and cannot make your original flight/transportation home. Here's a quote from an IMG policy for example: "TRIP INTERRUPTION If You must start Your Trip late or are unable to complete Your Trip, We will reimburse You, up to the Maximum Benefit Amount shown in the Schedule of Benefits, for the unused, forfeited, prepaid non-refundable Payments or Deposits paid for the Travel Arrangements You purchased for Your Trip plus the Additional Transportation Cost paid to either: (a) join Your Trip if You must depart after Your Scheduled Departure Date or travel via alternate travel arrangements; or (b) rejoin Your Trip from the point where You interrupted Your Trip to the next Scheduled Destination; or (c) transport You to Your originally scheduled Return Destination of Your Trip;" The key thing to look at are the list of Covered Reasons a claim can be made for reimbursement. I have not been able to find a travel insurance plan that will cover the entire cost of a cruise under the Trip Interruption section (assuming you miss port departure) when an airline causes a delay to your arrival that is due to overbookings, understaffing, or other related circumstances where the airline is at fault. The only Covered Reasons that these policies include in their Trip Interruption section are weather related delays, mechanical issues, or strikes and these Covered Reasons can vary from plan to plan. So, for example, if you get bumped or your flight gets delayed or canceled because they are short staffed, the Trip Interruption portion of the policy doesn't come into play. Other sections of the policy like Trip Delay or Missed Connection can come into play for any type of transportation delay, but these coverage limits are often lower than your entire cruise fare. Finding a policy that has a high Missed Connection coverage limit would be wise to cover all your bases if you're flying to your cruise port.
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