MKSglitz

Thanks for the link  F1guynz.  It will be very interesting to find out exactly what the ultimate goal is of the pilot program.  A lot of speculation!

Do tell RBRSKI.  What have you heard about the pilot program regarding the Diamond Lounge and the Concierge service?  You can't just give us that little tease.

What are "Guarantee" cabins?     What are the pro/cons of making this choice?  If anyone has ever made this choice, were you happy with your decision? 

Matt-  I booked my own flight.

Follow up (the next day) :   No reason to respond Matt.  I just checked my RCCL credit card statement and RCCL credited my account with the $400.

I am one of the many people affected by  one of the four cancelled Jan 2018 cruises on the Adventure from San Juan. As part of the compensation package for this, they offered us $200 per person for the change in our airline reservations should we have already booked that flight for the cancelled cruise.  We did. I rebooked a flight for a cruise from San Juan in March and, of course, had to pay the $400 charge to change the flight for both my husband and myself.  I submitted the paper work and proof of that charge to RCCL.  Can anyone tell me how this reimbursement will be reflected?  In other words, do they send you a check?  Do they take it off the final payment?  Or something else?

On 5/12/2017 at 11:28 AM, tiny260 said:

On my last cruise I used the diamond concierge twice to resolve issues I had with the ship, I had already spoken to an ship officer (Somebody with gold bars on their shoulders) and gotten no place. I went to the Diamond concierge and she successfully resolved both issues, one was no big issue, I pack a travel fan that helps me sleep, they confiscated it and were not going to let me have it in the room, she fixed that and I got my fan. Second was much worse, my cabin flooded and they said they couldn't move me because the ship was sold out, she got me another Grand suite.

So for me the program works, the free drinks are great and all the other discounts, but to have an advocate on your side to work with the cruise line or the ship is pretty awesome.

Great information!  I would never have that of that.  Thanks.  This sounds like the most valuable benefit of all!

12 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I think you meant to say Azamara and Celebrity.  MSC is not one of the RCI lines.

My bad.  You're right.

You do get all the perks of being an RCCL Crown and Anchor member when you sail with their sister companies (MSC and Celebrity) but what you won't get are cabin discounts.  That's a big deal.  Was going to book a Celebrity cruise while on one of our RCCL cruises.  When I met with the booking rep and a date and itinerary were chosen, she gave us the price of that particular cruise.  As I looked at the paper work, I noticed that she did not included our cabin discount (Jr. Suite).  When I questioned that, she said that all benefits and perks of our Diamond status transferred over to the Celebrity cruise but that they DO NOT give cabin discounts.   That was the end of my desire to cruise with Celebrity. 

Unfortunately Matt, I don't thing your suggestion would of helped.  If the RCCL agents were as confused about which ships would be where when, how is a travel agent who is getting the info directly from RCCL going to know anything more? I would have run into the same problem if not more so.  As it turned out, all is well.  I am, once again, a happy cruiser.  :)

OMG!  Trying to book a January 2019 San Juan  Southern Caribbean cruise was an absolute nightmare!  I patiently waited for the 2018-2019 itinerary to come out.  I book way ahead of time so that I can get the room that I want.  I waited the week of March 6th only to find out that cruises from San Juan would not be released until March 26th.  I checked my email and the website everyday hoping not to miss the exclusive bookings for the C&A members.  I perused the website the week of March 27th daily and on Tuesday, I noticed that the 2019 San Juan Southern Caribbean itinerary was out (no thanks to any email indicating the exclusive C&A booking).  The Jewel of the Seas was the only ship departing from San Juan for the month of Jan., Feb., and March of 2019.  I called RCCL and I asked about the Adventure and was told that it would be sailing out of San Juan too but it wasn't listed yet .  I replied that it wasn't listed b/c another agent said that it wouldn't even be in the area. After checking and rechecking, the RCCL agent told that I was correct and that the Jewel of the  Seas was the only ship deployed to San Juan at the time.  This was on March 29th.  I booked the Jewel of the Seas for a January 20, 2019 departure from San Juan to the Southern Caribbean.  Done!  Now on Saturday April 1st, I went to the RCCL blog just to see if anyone else ran into any confusing info too when I ran across Matt's blog that the 2018-2019 intinerary was out for the Freedom of the Seas.  And there it was, the Freedom was going to be sailing from San Juan Jan 20, 2019!  I thought, could it be that both the Jewel and the Freedom would both be in port and leaving the same day????  So back on the phone with RCCL to try to untangle this confusing info.  Was told that Matt's info was correct and the Freedom was being deployed to San Juan and cruising the Southern Caribbean the winter of 2019.  The agent said that the info was released to the  RCCL agents just 72 hours prior.  Now I find out that he Jewel was  set to sail on Jan.19th and not the 20th of 2019!!!!  My entire point to this story is that YOU WOULD THINK THAT ALL THE KINKS WOULD BE OUT WAY BEFORE RELEASING FUTURE DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULES!!!! 

PS.  I am happily booked on the Freedom of the Seas for a January 27, 2019 cruise to the Southern Caribbean.  AMEN!!!!

Just read here on the blog that the Freedom may be replacing the Adventure sailing from San Juan in 2019.  Is this confirmed or is this just a rumor at this point?   

The vinyl luggage sleeves/tags sold on Amazon are great.  You simply slip your paper tags into the clear sleeve and attach it to your luggage after you retrieve your luggage from the carousel.  It has a strong cable cord so it cannot be ripped off the luggage.  Check it out by searching "cruise luggage tags"  You won't regret it

When I looked at the 2018-2019 deployment schedule, I  assumed that all  the ships' itineraries were going to run from their posted deployment week 2018 through the winter of 2019 - meaning now thru March of 2019.  The only ship with an itinerary for the early part of 2019 was the Symphony.  Is that the only ship other then the Symphony with an intinerary post in 2019?  I have already booked my Caribbean cruise on the Adventure 2018 and am looking to get first crack at cabin choices on this ship for the winter of 2019.

You hit the nail on the head with your post.  I too have not been disappointed with the cabin that I finally book.  But I certainly would like to know "how the system" works so that I could be even happier with my cabin choice.

I am a C&A Diamond Plus member and I do the get emails announcing the first day of bookings. But it seems that regardless of when I go onto the computer first thing in the morning, I am unable to get the room that I most wanted. It's already been booked!  Can't figure out how that is happening.  Any suggests would be greatly appreciated.

There used to be a shore excursion offered in St Johns, Antigua  called the Crusoe Island Escape.  A small dingy took guests to a tiny island called Prickly Pear Island. The number of guests were limited due to its size.  This island site was as close to heaven as you could it get and, I believe, one of the best shore excursions ever.  It no longer is being offered and hasn't been for awhile.  Does anyone know why this excursion no longer exists?  I know it was operated by a well seasoned Antiguan man named Miguel and his family.

The ship deployment schedule for the Caribbean  2019 begins the week of March 6, 2017.  Once the exact date is announced, does anyone know what time of the day the bookings open (Eastern Standard Time)?