whitsmom

A few years ago I sailed on Grandeur with my mother. The maitre'd came around to each table on the first night asking how everything was. The couple next to us said it wasn't good. The maitre'd asked what was wrong and how can they make things better, etc. They just shrugged and said it wasn't good food. My mother chimed in and said, "Well I thought everything was absolutely delicious!"
That couple never returned to the dining room for the rest of the cruise, which was nice because we didn't want to be around negativity.

So this thread is as close as I can find to my L&S news.  I'm hijackin' it.
Last week @michelle booked the Royal Suite for me on Empress (11-22-20, 6 night Western Caribbean) with the express intent of L&S'ing it to next year.  According to the website, the appropriate cruise to which to shift this would have been a 6 night Western Caribbean cruise on Odyssey.  YIPPEE !  That sounds great.  Since the appropriate shift from a RS on Empress to another ship is an Owner's Suite, I was happy with that idea.  So she called and they stone cold refused to make the shift to Odyssey even though the website showed that sailing as an appropriate "match" AND there was an Owner's Suite still available (Odyssey only has 2 OS so it was a surprise that one was still available...but it was).  Nope.  Nope.  Nope.
She tried doing the online L&S.  Nope.  They outright refused.
I was so disappointed.  I have read of so many people moving their Empress suites to Odyssey and simply could not understand why I was being denied.  If I had been there in person, they would have labeled me a "Karen" for sure.  LOL
@michelle got a call this morning from the L&S team with the bad news for a second time.  Not only would they not shift me to Odyssey, NOW they wouldn't even shift me to an Oasis cruise that had been their offer last week (this offer never made any sense.  It was a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise which violated all of their "rules" - different number of nights, different itinerary).  Now I was steamin'.  Poor Michelle.  She is so patient.  She texted me to let me know that they were "evaluating our options". 
I was resigned that this was just not going to work out.  I asked Michelle to please just CWC and get an FCC for my deposit.  She said "okay".  Maybe 10 minutes later she texted me that they were offering to shift my Empress RS to an Allure Star Loft Suite during Thanksgiving week (6 night 11-21-21) !!  I almost dropped the phone !  So they were willing to give me a $12.5K SLS on Allure  but they couldn't see their way to giving me a $9K OS on Odyssey ?  Whatever.  I'll take Star Class every time !!!
So....   @michelle is the queen of L&S negotiations.  I don't know how she does it....but she is awesome.  I'm soooo happy !!!!!!!

I took the bait last night and got it, I sold it to my hubby by saying it's only 3 alcoholic drinks a day more than the refreshment package which is £18.24 pppd ?

WOW !  Waaay to go !  If it’s showing up in your online account I think you’ve done it !  That’s the best deal I’ve heard of yet !

Sorry, I have to edit the info and close thread. There is way too high a chance this is not on the up and up (no offense to the OP, just no way to know).

WE have been making basicly the same trip for over 20 yrs for work, same rest stops same fuel stop (Phillipsburg,NJ). It´s 6 hr drive from near Pittsburgh.  Rt 70, to New Stanton, turnpike to Carlisle , Rt 81 to Rt 78 to NJ turnpike to exit 16W to Rt17 Carlstadt. Spend night, bagels at Goldbergs, Liberty State Park (you can see the ship), Then to the ship. The first sight of the ship never ceases to get me to my happy place. We did the straight thru to the ship, ONE time, NEVER again. TOO much stress. Retired, but still make the trip for a friend to help him out once in a while, 3 wks ago I actually made the trip and dragged my wife along and we made a detour to Port Liberty, just to see how far they have come with the new roads and the housing construction. Sad no ship to get on but the area still has plenty of port traffic. Hopefully we will be hearing of all the new protocols and will be cruising again soon.

Your final payment gets moved to October 2021.  We did the L&S for our October 2020 cruise to October 2021 and our final payment was moved to July 2021.

I'll repeat pretty much what others have said
it's a way to totally get away from work and problems, etc it's a way to have complete family time (no internet for us so we really just enjoy our time together) no cooking, cleaning and laundry (well ok...laundry will be waiting when we return but none to be done during the week) so much to do for all of us, adults and kids, between the amenities (swimming, mini golf, rock wall, waterslides, zipline, laser tag, sky pad, etc etc depending on the ship) and the organized activities (e.g. scavenger huts, trivia, dance classes, games such as giant jenga, etc etc) great food selection and love the sit down every night excellent entertainment and variety every single night (broadway shows, musical acts, comedy type shows, etc, then fun things like Love & Marriage, Quest, Battle of the Sexes, etc) yummy fun drinks different music playing in the evenings (schooner bar, other areas along the promenade) crew is generally excellent, smiling, happy excellent ambiance...I love just waking and exploring the ship, looking at the art work on the walls and around the ship, etc relaxing...nothing better than going for a walk and watching the water move by (will often just watch the wake at the back) and seeing different places for a day I really don't think any other vacation even comes close.  

Sorry, also meant to comment on this in the prior post. I disagree strongly that the AIDA Explorer Dream cruise is the more important one to watch, purely speaking as an American in a country that's even less experienced than Germany at this point. If Explorer Dream goes without a hitch, the response from here, press and elsewhere, will be exactly your slant: "Of course! They deal with that sort of thing all the time!" Followed by, "Now get some Europeans on there and impress us."
If Germany's cruises continue to go without a hitch, first without port stops and then gradually adding those in, the reaction here as well as Europe will hopefully be more along the lines of, "Hmmm. They actually got it to work without ever dealing with this sort of thing before, ever. People were actually willing to go along with the protocols and they actually did the job. Maybe cruising can be done after all."

Finally, as promised, a recap of Schiffstester Matthias Morr's conclusion video:
- Boarding times were enforced (usually TUI Cruises doesn't assign boarding times). Masks had to be worn in the terminal and in the queue in front of the terminal. Health questionnaires & temperature check for check in. B2Bs are currently not allowed.
- Muster drill: when on board you went from your cabin to your muster station. Explanations were given in small groups.
- Ship sailed at around 40% capacity (= 1200 guests), max would've been 60% (=1400 guests), 800 crew. Possible difficulties in selling the cabins might've been short notice and comparably high pricing - there were no discounts and no interior or ocean view cabins, only balcony & suites.
- Crew was quarantined on ship 14 days prior to the first cruise. They were very happy to be back working. Crew have to wear masks or face shields while working in contact with passengers - irrespective of social distancing.
- Every passenger had to do a daily temperature check by infrared camera. Hand washing and use of disinfectant was enforced.
- Masks were only mandatory where you couldn't keep a distance of at least 1.5 metres (about 5 feet). Masks were provided in the cabin on arrival, people with medical exemptions had to use face shields (not provided).
- No seats at the bar - either service at a table or queuing with social distancing (TUI has waaaaay more waiters at bars compared to Royal, so not a problem). Buffet was available, but no self service. Also no full show ensemble, only solo performances. No party (sail away, pool party etc.). Sauna is currently closed but this might change soon. Whirlpools could only be used by members of the same travel group at a time.
- Audience: younger than TUI's normal average, apparently no first time cruisers, many regular customers of other cruise lines (mainly AIDA and MSC)
-  Staggered disembarkation times were enforced (usually no assigned times).
- Most important: no cases of COVID were reported!
 
"Fun" facts:
- A few German media companies contacted passengers to try and get pictures of passengers not obeying social distancing rules. That's the state of the German press for you... 
- Mein Schiff 2 met with Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 6 while at sea - a bit like the meeting of the 3 sisters (Oasis, Harmony and Allure). 
 
If you've got any questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to find an answer - might be easier for me as many sources are in German only and Google translate is a train wreck.
 
 
 
 

We visited Jim Beam in Louisville area, probably Makers Mark our favorite, but the drive to Woodford May be the most scenic, we are as about as far North as you can get in Ky, but we think the Ohio river area is also scenic. But sure we sure anxious to eventually get back on a cruise ship.

Seconded! Kentucky in Spring is one of my favorite places. If youve never been to Louisville for the Derby, you havent lived. It will change your life. You combine the beauty of Kentucky with BOURBON and horses???? Whats not to love?!?!?!!?  I need a mint julep. 
 

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.