whitsmom

Fellow Kentuckian here!  We love bourbon though!!  We are just south of Louisville and a little over an hour to Lexington (daughter & family are there).  Kentucky is a beautiful place for sure.

Fellow Kentuckian here!  We love bourbon though!!  We are just south of Louisville and a little over an hour to Lexington (daughter & family are there).  Kentucky is a beautiful place for sure.

Fellow Kentuckian here!  We love bourbon though!!  We are just south of Louisville and a little over an hour to Lexington (daughter & family are there).  Kentucky is a beautiful place for sure.

I get what you're saying.  I'm also usually a negative Nancy myself.  But this isn't a usual run-of-the-mill vacation for me, my original cruise was booked to celebrate me being cancer free.  I'm young, I could have easily been a statistic, and I know I'm being too positive and almost naive about The Bahamas reopening, but I have so much hope for 2021.  2019 was such a horrible year for me, 2020 took my celebration away, so now I'm keeping my fingers crossed 2021 will be absolutely epic for all of us ❤️

I get a work bonus in January and February, I know odd they come after Christmas, but that is when I plan on making all the cruise planner purchases for our 🙏 cruise in August. We should have a clearer idea of what is going on with cruises by then....I hope. 😳

Us too!  I can't figure out why we can't L&S our drink, dining, and VOOM packages.  I mean those are all only RCI anyway and would be no need to be waiting for refunds.  I can see the excursions as those are not RCI.  My 45 business days will be up on July 2nd so we will see it they come thru (I am not holding my breath...)

We are taking our granddaughters to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend and when I talked to them the other day they told me that they have workers that their only job is policing the social distancing in the water park as well as the hotel and etc.  They also have an app now and we can use the app to order and pay for food there.  I did rent a indoor cabana for our 2 days there just to have our own space.  They did say that the Hot Tubs are CLOSED due to not being able to maintain the distancing.  I feel like RCI will have to close the Hot Tub also as they are so small in comparison of the pools. 

We are taking our granddaughters to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend and when I talked to them the other day they told me that they have workers that their only job is policing the social distancing in the water park as well as the hotel and etc.  They also have an app now and we can use the app to order and pay for food there.  I did rent a indoor cabana for our 2 days there just to have our own space.  They did say that the Hot Tubs are CLOSED due to not being able to maintain the distancing.  I feel like RCI will have to close the Hot Tub also as they are so small in comparison of the pools. 

We are taking our granddaughters to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend and when I talked to them the other day they told me that they have workers that their only job is policing the social distancing in the water park as well as the hotel and etc.  They also have an app now and we can use the app to order and pay for food there.  I did rent a indoor cabana for our 2 days there just to have our own space.  They did say that the Hot Tubs are CLOSED due to not being able to maintain the distancing.  I feel like RCI will have to close the Hot Tub also as they are so small in comparison of the pools. 

Have just had some good news...
We are booked to travel with another family on a 12 night Southern Caribbean sailing on Anthem in December 2021. For a long time the family in question were (just like me when I didn't know better - shame on me! 😟) refusing to consider a cruise, saying it's just not for them.
Anyway, fast forward to just before the COVID-19 bomb dropped and they finally relented and agreed to join us. Not only are they now excited about going on their very first cruise despite all that is currently going on but, with the help of Michelle at MEI, they have just bagged a $1,400 reduction on their fare by re-pricing in this weekend's sale. 🙂
I am taking it as a good omen! 😇

We are taking our granddaughters to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend and when I talked to them the other day they told me that they have workers that their only job is policing the social distancing in the water park as well as the hotel and etc.  They also have an app now and we can use the app to order and pay for food there.  I did rent a indoor cabana for our 2 days there just to have our own space.  They did say that the Hot Tubs are CLOSED due to not being able to maintain the distancing.  I feel like RCI will have to close the Hot Tub also as they are so small in comparison of the pools. 

We are taking our granddaughters to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend and when I talked to them the other day they told me that they have workers that their only job is policing the social distancing in the water park as well as the hotel and etc.  They also have an app now and we can use the app to order and pay for food there.  I did rent a indoor cabana for our 2 days there just to have our own space.  They did say that the Hot Tubs are CLOSED due to not being able to maintain the distancing.  I feel like RCI will have to close the Hot Tub also as they are so small in comparison of the pools. 

I would gladly wear a trikini if it got me on a cruise right now.  My wife may act like she has no idea who I am, but that's life.

As long as it leaves port with me on it ... all my goals have been achieved in the itinerary.

So sorry to hear about your experience! We too purchased a policy with Allianz for our 5/31/20 cruise. Fortunately, when it was cancelled we were able to successfully move it first to 10/4/20, and then most recently they allowed us to move it again to our existing 4/24/21 cruise after we did a L&S on the 10/4/20 cruise. Once we explained the reason each time, they just moved it to the new trip dates with no penalties or hassle, etc. Due to the current climate they have been very flexible.
 

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey! @WAAAYTOOO @twangster Ask and ye shall receive..... 
 
 
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/06/26/you-can-combine-future-cruise-credits-instead-of-separately-being-reissued

OH, OH, I WANNA PLAY!!!!  I like silver linings. I had a sailing booked on Rhapsody, because it was the only ship going to Roatan (the only request my Honduran wife made for the cruise) the week we could go. THE WHOLE WEEK. Crazy.  But, thanks to our dear friend Covid-19, we were cancelled, and rebooked for a sailing in 2021 that goes to Roatan, AND Coco Cay, on HARMONY. This will be my 1st Oasis class!  AAAAAND were going from an ocean view to an ocean balcony!!!! 
 

This is EXACTLY what they told me on our upcoming booking. I was attempting to reprice our cruise, and the agent ended up making excuses as to why he couldn't rebook; This went on for DAAAAYS. (he kept saying the "hold lines are super long" and "they aren't repricing cruises right now"...
I used the advice from this blog. I called the service number and used the phone routing intended for travel agents (was connected in no time). Then I had to fight with the agent to release the travel agent's grip on our cruise. They said they are unable to do anything about it. I expressed that I HAD contacted the TA (who is the owner), and I kept getting the run around. The rep kept putting me on hold (I think they were just contacting the TA on another line). Lo and behold... I got an email from my TA saying the cruise had been rebooked for a lower price. The rep came back on the line and explained that everything should be corrected... and I insisted otherwise. After some back and forth, I eventually got an email, and was told I had to email them with my request. I emailed them, and no more than 2 days later, we were released. (not notified... I just noticed I could finally pay our balance online). 
The email is: [email protected]
Good luck!

When all else fails, I tend to follow the WWTD axiom.
 
 
 
 
 
What Would Twangsterbot Do?

A client of my hubby told him that his sister is/was given one of the test vaccines and has had no ill effects from it so far.  At least they are "really" in the testing phases.  Fingers crossed!!

A client of my hubby told him that his sister is/was given one of the test vaccines and has had no ill effects from it so far.  At least they are "really" in the testing phases.  Fingers crossed!!

A client of my hubby told him that his sister is/was given one of the test vaccines and has had no ill effects from it so far.  At least they are "really" in the testing phases.  Fingers crossed!!

We did a Iceland land vacation last February and it was our BEST vacation so far!  We saw the Northern Lights 3 nights in a row (one being from the plane flying to Iceland).  We now want to go back and see what their summer is like.  Our tour guide told us their high temp in summer is around 60.  Norway/Iceland cruise will be on my radar too!

I think the major problem is most people lack patience, since everything has become so instant; people expect everything to be so fast. They live in the moment, which is why there is something now called cancel-culture( its stupid and I just learned from a 17 year old who thinks I am old). People have canceled the CDC because they think they are flexing their power with the cruise lines. COVID became known in Dec, then by late Feb the poop hit the fan. We can compare all we want but I said it and @twangster has said; we don't know enough. Add our ignorance with impatience and you have now. Every day a new article implies "this positive trait or this negative trait"....to only do a 360 a few hours or days later. HIV is a virus that affects immune systems, COVID is respiratory; you can avoid one completely. I also believe that there is so much money to be made in just alleviating something like HIV and Cancer' which is why there is no "cure." There is no "real" money to be made in prolonging an airborne and very contagious virus. I think a vaccine might be ready for testing by year's end but whether or not it will work for the 30 possible strains will be a mystery.
I also wholeheartedly believe that cruising will be back in late September or early October. I don't think it will be all the ships or ports but something to get the sea legs back. I don't think the CDC will extend the ban. I think RCCI, hopefully the other lines as well, will use these couple of months to cement everything. I honestly believe RCCI has protocol ready, I think they have been at the drawing boards. However, logistics can be a nightmare and RCCI has dropped the ball once with the whole Allure fiasco. I think the CLIA read the room and is making them come up with sound ways on who, what, where, when and why. It won't be business as usual, they need a clear directive on what ships will start from where. When and how they might get the most bang for their buck. And who will sail and what criteria they might use to satisfy the parameters and the public.

Guys, Hang in there.... they are working tirelessly to make sure that each of you get a contact from the new agent.  Please support Matt.  I know that there are some agents on the boards and other groups that are hoping to take advantage of this situation - but remember that MEI-Travel supports Matt with every booking that is made with them.  That is part of why he has a  sponsor.  So if you request you booking go to another agency, you are taking a little of the support away from Matt.  He works hard at all this and right now like others in the travel industry, he needs all the support he can get to help provide you all with great information on all the changes and challenges he sees.