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Limbo....Cuba!!!!


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24 minutes ago, CruisinForABruisin said:

Well, this sucks. Hoping for a cococay replacement, and not Costa maya. But if that results in Nassau instead of cozumel, I'm gonna be horribly disappointed. 

It will be interesting...I’m on the 4 day so hoping key west stays and cococay is next! Though we leave on June 15 so there will be no planner deals like I got on my Cuba excursion.  I’ve never been to Nassau but people don’t seem thrilled. Jane

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2 hours ago, Nasha said:

I would definitely like someone sailing out on June the 10th to provide their itinerary because I'm sure that this will be the fate for all us who paid in full for a cruise to Cuba. I don't care how much refund they are wanting to provide for not sailing to Cuba it will not compensate. We've been to Cococay and it's a man made beach, and the experience getting on a smaller boat to arrive at the beach was more of a hassle vs going to the beach. They might have updated the beach's port and can pull in like Disney's Private Beach. If it was possible and Disney at least had pity on us and let us use their Private Beach instead, I would be 100% down for it!!! Otherwise No Bueno? 

I am on that 6/10 Majesty sailing with Havana stop on 6/13-14 and will post when I get the word. Right now the email I received says we will update you tomorrow by 6pm.

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6:50PM update: The Majesty of the Seas June 5th sailing has swapped out its scheduled stop in Havana to Costa Maya, Mexico.

In an email sent to guests, the cruise line added guests on this sailing will receive a refund in the value of 50% per stateroom the your cruise fare paid as a credit to their onboard account during the cruise.

8:00PM update: Royal Caribbean has indicated a new update will be available by June 6, at 6:00PM EST.

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8 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I feel awful for those of you who are affected by these itin changes but I have NO sympathy whatsoever for Royal Caribbean.  They knew da*n well that this outcome was a very real possibility back in April but they rolled the dice and continued to advertise and book these Cuba cruises.  Now they're going to have to refund money and grovel for forgiveness when much of this could have been avoided.  If I had enough vacation time on the books (which I certainly do NOT) I would have quickly booked one of the Cuba sailings JUST to get the doubtless OBC that will come the way of those who are being inconvenienced.  As a shareholder I am incensed.  Share prices are already falling.

I agree with you about the fact that this has been coming for well over a month. RCI as well as others have known this and continued to book sailings and take peoples non refundable deposits. 

Now RCI can look surprised and just switch an itinerary. I hope the folks who want to opt out are given their money back in full.

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2 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Someone forgot to tell IT to shut down the ability to book cruises to Cuba  - they're still available to book.

You can still book until June 5th and it will be honored. If RCCL or any other cruiseline book Cuba specific cruises sfter that date, they are knowingly and willfully committing a fraudulent act. They must refund 100% of the deposit or can be facing charges.

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11 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I feel awful for those of you who are affected by these itin changes but I have NO sympathy whatsoever for Royal Caribbean.  They knew da*n well that this outcome was a very real possibility back in April but they rolled the dice and continued to advertise and book these Cuba cruises.  Now they're going to have to refund money and grovel for forgiveness when much of this could have been avoided.  If I had enough vacation time on the books (which I certainly do NOT) I would have quickly booked one of the Cuba sailings JUST to get the doubtless OBC that will come the way of those who are being inconvenienced.  As a shareholder I am incensed.  Share prices are already falling.

Completely agree. My parents are shareholders as well and are just hoping for the best. From a shareholder point of view you have to question cancelling the Independence 2020 UK season as well. With Empress and Majesty itineraries effected how many ships need to make Cococay runs? 

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It seems like beyond today and tomorrow's sailings, everything is speculation. 

Really crossing my fingers we still make it there on our November sailing since it's mostly sold out, but I also am not holding my breath that might be the case. 

If we really do get re routed, I'm hoping for Key West and Cozumel instead of Costa Maya or Coco Cay. 

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27 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

It will be all shut down till there is a regime change in Venezuela at the earliest.

 

Everyone knew or had to know this would happen sooner or later.......

Yes...but I literally booked 2 days before the April announcement.  Ugh.. . If only I'd yolo booked the following week! We'd be on a different ship and itinerary.  Jane

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Guest toodle68
35 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

It will be all shut down till there is a regime change in Venezuela at the earliest.

I think Venezuela is just an excuse. This admin has blasted the whole openness with Cuba since before the election. Nothing is going to change for the better with travel to Cuba until at least 2021.

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8 minutes ago, toodle68 said:

I think Venezuela is just an excuse. This admin has blasted the whole openness with Cuba since before the election. Nothing is going to change for the better with travel to Cuba until at least 2021.

I don't think its an excuse.....Cuba is defying the US when it comes to Venezuela (and Russia too) .....so this is defn payback and meant to hurt Cuba economically......but again, I am surprised that it lasted as long as it did, even without the Venezuela situation.

 

What's going to change this in 2021?...please don't:34_rolling_eyes: say Trump.......

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13 hours ago, Nasha said:

 We've been to Cococay and it's a man made beach, and the experience getting on a smaller boat to arrive at the beach was more of a hassle vs going to the beach. They might have updated the beach's port and can pull in like Disney's Private Beach. 

Cococay HAS been updated..no more tendering.  They have updated and have a dock now and a huge pool and lots of complimentary amenities.

12 hours ago, Fairlynew said:

My preference would be to get my cruise fare applied to a different sailing.   Any chance of that happening?

Chances increase the further out your booking is.  If Royal decides it would be more profitable to completely redo all of the existing Cuba itineraries because they can't sell the empty cabins past June 5, they may offer an "out" by transferring your current fare or issuing you a FCC.  Really depends on how generous they are feeling.

5 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Someone forgot to tell IT to shut down the ability to book cruises to Cuba  - they're still available to book.

Hmmmmmm...to play the FCC roulette game or not...I was interested in visiting Cuba anyways but it's too hot to go anytime soon.

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Guest toodle68
6 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

What's going to change this in 2021?...please don't:34_rolling_eyes: say Trump.......

It is possible there may be a change of administration.. and that may result in going back to the open policy in Cuba. 

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Guest toodle68
1 minute ago, monctonguy said:

So that's what you were implying...that things will get better in 2021 when Trump is gone......

Better is subjective.  I merely said that a change of admin might result in a change of policy on Cuba.

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10 hours ago, RWDW1204 said:

6:50PM update: The Majesty of the Seas June 5th sailing has swapped out its scheduled stop in Havana to Costa Maya, Mexico.

In an email sent to guests, the cruise line added guests on this sailing will receive a refund in the value of 50% per stateroom the your cruise fare paid as a credit to their onboard account during the cruise.

8:00PM update: Royal Caribbean has indicated a new update will be available by June 6, at 6:00PM EST.

50% cruise fare refund is not a bad deal. 

For US residents, I wonder if you can submit a claim due to travel advisory issued after you purchased your insurance.  Or take advantage of CFAR if you have that benefit in your policy. 

 I hope it is good news at 6PM tonight.

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33 minutes ago, toodle68 said:

 Nothing is going to change for the better with travel to Cuba until at least 2021.

You said things will be better in 2021 with travel to Cuba.....implying that an adminstration change is coming and going to  make things better....

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Rose City Cruiser said:

For US residents, I wonder if you can submit a claim due to travel advisory issued after you purchased your insurance.  Or take advantage of CFAR if you have that benefit in your policy. 

Interesting question..is this considered civil or political unrest?  That's typically excluded from travel insurance policies.

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Moderator Note

As Matt mentioned just a bit ago, political discussion, well-intentioned or not, is not welcome on the boards.  There are plenty of logistics and other legitimate questions and discussion on the changes to itineraries scheduled to visit Cuba - please keep the discussions on these topics.  No one is likely to sway others' political opinions, and any effort should be made somewhere that is *not* RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com.  

I realize some discussion is good-natured banter, but to prevent issues please stick to this restriction.  We don't want to freeze the thread, but will if political discussion continues.  Feel free to message me with any questions.

Thanks!

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Wonder if they will offer the 50% on our cruise that departs on Monday?  We didn't even try calling to cancel or change it, assuming we'd never get through and think that less than a week to go they wouldn't agree to refund us  - are we right in that assumption?  Plus we have 4 flights booked Boston to Miami, hotel in South Beach all already paid for.

We have travel insurance on all of it, but (sorry for the pessimism) we're sure they won;t pay out much if anything on that under these circumstances.

This trip was 100% about the destination for us. Our kids are 18 & 21, might be the last time we go somewhere as a family and wanted it to be special.  We haven't been able to do something on this scale in 9 years, but for our 25th wedding anniversary we found a way to get this trip booked.  he small old boat didn't matter to us, but experiencing CUBA together is what mattered.  If we could, we'd cancel all of it and re-book on a larger ship and make it about the ship, and not about the destination, but that;s not an option being offered to us is it?

Now we might go to a second Mexico port, right next to the one we were already going to?  Hardly makes up for missing the experience of visiting Havana.  I applaud the 50% refund, and REALLY hope it applies to our voyage as well.  It would take a little of the sting away.  I can;t see why we wouldn't be offered everything the voyages that left today received.  What would the logic be to offer us anything less?

Anyone know the rules/policy well enough to confirm or deny we have no other real options here?  Sorry for the rant, just need to vent!

 

 

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Fair enough...however, my posts were news and facts as to why this was happening. Then someone else implied this would change based on elections and when I questioned what they were trying to say, they denied it.

 

My one line of political commentary was in fun...it was said in jest. Everyone is WAY to PC........:34_rolling_eyes:

 

I am not trying to persuade anyone to believe any view....I stated  news article facts..and questioned what another poster was  underhandedly implying with their post.

 

At the end of the day..this event is a POLITICAL issue......that's not a secret nor an opinion.

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11 minutes ago, FoxboroCruiser said:

Wonder if they will offer the 50% on our cruise that departs on Monday?  We didn't even try calling to cancel or change it, assuming we'd never get through and think that less than a week to go they wouldn't agree to refund us  - are we right in that assumption?  Plus we have 4 flights booked Boston to Miami, hotel in South Beach all already paid for.

We have travel insurance on all of it, but (sorry for the pessimism) we're sure they won;t pay out much if anything on that under these circumstances.

This trip was 100% about the destination for us. Our kids are 18 & 21, might be the last time we go somewhere as a family and wanted it to be special.  We haven't been able to do something on this scale in 9 years, but for our 25th wedding anniversary we found a way to get this trip booked.  he small old boat didn't matter to us, but experiencing CUBA together is what mattered.  If we could, we'd cancel all of it and re-book on a larger ship and make it about the ship, and not about the destination, but that;s not an option being offered to us is it?

Now we might go to a second Mexico port, right next to the one we were already going to?  Hardly makes up for missing the experience of visiting Havana.  I applaud the 50% refund, and REALLY hope it applies to our voyage as well.  It would take a little of the sting away.  I can;t see why we wouldn't be offered everything the voyages that left today received.  What would the logic be to offer us anything less?

Anyone know the rules/policy well enough to confirm or deny we have no other real options here?  Sorry for the rant, just need to vent!

 

 

I’m not so sure that they wouldn’t give you a refund if that’s the option you would want. If you really want to cancel, I would call and find out.

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19 minutes ago, FoxboroCruiser said:

Wonder if they will offer the 50% on our cruise that departs on Monday?  We didn't even try calling to cancel or change it, assuming we'd never get through and think that less than a week to go they wouldn't agree to refund us  - are we right in that assumption?  Plus we have 4 flights booked Boston to Miami, hotel in South Beach all already paid for.

We have travel insurance on all of it, but (sorry for the pessimism) we're sure they won;t pay out much if anything on that under these circumstances.

This trip was 100% about the destination for us. Our kids are 18 & 21, might be the last time we go somewhere as a family and wanted it to be special.  We haven't been able to do something on this scale in 9 years, but for our 25th wedding anniversary we found a way to get this trip booked.  he small old boat didn't matter to us, but experiencing CUBA together is what mattered.  If we could, we'd cancel all of it and re-book on a larger ship and make it about the ship, and not about the destination, but that;s not an option being offered to us is it?

Now we might go to a second Mexico port, right next to the one we were already going to?  Hardly makes up for missing the experience of visiting Havana.  I applaud the 50% refund, and REALLY hope it applies to our voyage as well.  It would take a little of the sting away.  I can;t see why we wouldn't be offered everything the voyages that left today received.  What would the logic be to offer us anything less?

Anyone know the rules/policy well enough to confirm or deny we have no other real options here?  Sorry for the rant, just need to vent!

 

 

Check your itinerary.  It's being reported that the Cuba cruise itineraries are starting to show the new ports in the cruise planner.  That would be step one. 

Then I would contact your travel insurance to get a copy of your travel policy documents and read through it.  Some offer a monetary compensation for port changes even if you don't suffer a financial loss!

As far as Royal's compensation, you will have to wait to see if they extend you the same offer as they did the June 5, 6 passengers that got offered the 50%.  They haven't made any official announcements yet as to how they are handling it yet.  I'm sure it all depends on how easily they can get the new itineraries set up, doing some number crunching, and seeing what the other cruise lines may be doing.  I know Carnival offered my friends a full refund on their June cruise.

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5 hours ago, Matt said:

Fair warning....please no political discussions here. It's a no-win and you'll never convince others of your opinion. Let's keep the bickering to whether or not the drink package or The Key is worth it!

Thanks!

Drink package always! The Key not sure, heard both good and bad.

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Wonder what will happen for Virgin( I know, its not Royal) but my understanding is that all their itineraries for their cruises include Cuba...and being a start up cruise line, I wonder how easy it will be to dock at different ports instead now. Quite the headache for the planning departments right now I am sure!

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https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/itinerary-updates

Cuba Travel Policy Update - June 05, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. (EDT)

Royal Caribbean's Facebook for Live UpdatesRoyal Caribbean's Twitter for Live UpdatesRoyal Caribbean's Instagram for Live Updates
 

Effective immediately, the U.S. government has implemented new regulations that prohibits travel from the U.S. to Cuba by cruise ship. This change requires us to immediately replace all Cuban ports. For all 2019 sailings on both Majesty of the Seas and Empress of the Seas, we have secured alternative ports and we are in the process of communicating the new itineraries to our guests and travel partners. For these guests, they will have the option of remaining on their sailing with the new itinerary and receiving a 50% refund or they may cancel their cruise and receive a full refund.

For 2020 sailings on both Majesty and Empress of the Seas, we are working to secure alternative itineraries and expect to be able to communicate to our guests and travel partners within the next week. 

We are sorry for this unexpected and sudden change to our guests’ upcoming vacations and appreciate their understanding. 

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So sad..... Again...I wouldn't ever have sailed majesty but heck... Maybe they will upgrade is for free lol!  I haven't gotten any official documentation for June 15 but we will go no matter what...we have airfare and hotels booked and I'm not going to try and argue with Allianz over this one.  I hear the service on majesty is amazing.  So close...10 days away.....  Jane

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1 minute ago, mom2mybugs said:

So sad..... Again...I wouldn't ever have sailed majesty but heck... Maybe they will upgrade is for free lol!  I haven't gotten any official documentation for June 15 but we will go no matter what...we have airfare and hotels booked and I'm not going to try and argue with Allianz over this one.  I hear the service on majesty is amazing.  So close...10 days away.....  Jane

Log in and check your itinerary on your cruise..it may have been updated so you know where you are going!  Don't spend all of that 50% OBC onboard and have it go back to your credit card to book your next one!

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4 minutes ago, mom2mybugs said:

So sad..... Again...I wouldn't ever have sailed majesty but heck... Maybe they will upgrade is for free lol!  I haven't gotten any official documentation for June 15 but we will go no matter what...we have airfare and hotels booked and I'm not going to try and argue with Allianz over this one.  I hear the service on majesty is amazing.  So close...10 days away.....  Jane

PS:  I'm seeing folks on your date report seeing Cococay and Nassau..so you just may get to experience Perfect Day!

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Just now, AshleyDillo said:

PS:  I'm seeing folks on your date report seeing Cococay and Nassau..so you just may get to experience Perfect Day!

Nope...no cococay.  Stuck going to nassau.  Oh well... Will now start a new thread asking everyone what to do in Nassau!  I truly wish they had put us at cococay so we could have done something active.  Might just end up another use the drink pkg day.  Oh well....   Jane

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