Hutcherl

It's kinda a 50th bday cruise(Aug 18) for me. First cruise over 7 days and first time out of Cape Liberty.

Looking for options for park and cruise type hotels for August '22 sailing. Can't find much in doing some preliminary research. As of right now, there are no plans for NYC sightseeing. Also, wondering what is best way to get to and from port- hotel transportation, Uber or taxi? TIA

That's for the info! Diamond 4 drinks per day at anytime is a pleasant change. Up from 3 the last time we cruised. This might be enough to keep us from purchasing the DBP. DBP is high right now on our 9 day Oasis in August. 69.99/day. 4 drinks per day won't always cover the consumption but having to cover a couple drinks here and there will certainly be less than the DBP purchase for 2 on a 9 day sailing

I have just booked my first cruise in 2 plus years and always went through a TA. I never had one find a price drop. I would have to notify them to reprice. I booked direct throughRoyal this time. And plan to do so moving forward. I prefer to be able to communicate directly with RC to handle my booking. In my experience, I'm my best advocate when I need something handled.

And let's hope that by then the Covid stuff settles a bit and we can take as close to a "normal" cruise as possible

Sounds like a good plan. One that I think we will follow if the DX package doesn't come down to a reasonable(to me) price

Not willing to buy at $88 a day. But good advice though about being able to repurchase if price drops

I'm Diamond as well so it's nice to know the coupons still exist. Plus, the non alcoholic package seems to be priced okay. If prices never drop, maybe purchase non alcohol bev package to cover all other drinks and use the coupons where we can and just pay for alcohol drinks separately? I know it all come down to your level of consumption. But it's fun to be back in the planning phase of cruising again!

Thanks for the reply. That's definitely closer to what I remember. I remember the process of checking closely for price changes so I'll be doing that.

Just booked this sailing. Like the shirt! Will be on the look out for you!

Hey folks, it's been a while since I have checked out the forum. Just booked Oasis, Cape Liberty, 8-5-22 to 8-14so it's time to start planning. What is the average, going rate for the deluxe nowadays? I'm seeing the deluxe bev package currently $88/day buy one get one 50% off second. That feels kinda high comparing the pricing pre pandemic.

If you find a good one keep them close. I have used several. The current one(first time Using) never returns emails and is annoyed when you push to get communication from her. I’m to the point that I’m probably not using one anymore. I like to control my booking so I’ve never found real value in one. Not one has ever informed me of a price reduction . I had to notify everyone when the price dropped. Not once did one surprise me. This is really the reason I started using TAs in the first place. And I believe if there is a reasonable dispute, nobody is going to fight on your behalf like you. My experience is that A TA quickly says there is nothing that can be done. But in reality, I believe if I had the ability to deal with RC directly I could easily get reasonable disputes corrected. I’m sure there is great value in having a great TA handle your reservation. I just have struck out pretty much every time.

I understand, completely, how you feel. I’m still owed half of the money I have invested. They did return the first half last week but I have to wait to the second week of August for the other half, so they say. They say there is a delay because of the amount of requests. Okay, I understand that. But 60-90 days is ridiculous. So finally somebody was able to finally find the time to process one half of the money owed. But what in the world is the reason for only refunding half?? They are definitely sitting on refunds. I don’t think it can be explained in any other way. With that said, I’m a loyal customer and will sail as soon we can. I just think it’s unfair how they are handling refunds. When you make a purchase, it’s immediately charged to you account. I don’t expect the refunds to be immediate but a 7-10 days is reasonable. Southwest changed my flight so I was able to get a refund, not future credit. I was getting the refund alerts on my credit card while I was still on the phone with them requesting the refund. Just saying

I’m betting there are charters for the type of swinging we all assumed that was being referred to!?

Southern carribean(ABC islands) out of Baltimore on a oasis class ship!! Talk about a dream... lol I understand all the reasons why this can’t happen but one can dream, right?