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FYI... APRIL 2021 HARMONY SAILINGS CANCELLED!


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I figured I should start a separate thread instead of continuing to hijack the DBP debacle thread! ?

Hopefully, if you have booked a sailing on Harmony in APRIL 2021 you have already received the e-mail from Royal and/or your TA confirming the cancellation of the APRIL 2021 sailings due to the routine 5-year maintenance dry-dock.

If you have not been notified, you will probably want to read this thread and reach out to your TA or Royal CS ASAP...

*** Once again, I cannot thank you all enough, especially @AshleyDillo@Andrew3232 and @Skid for giving me the extra push today to inquire now!

Long story short, my wife and I booked Harmony of the Seas for the 4/18/21 sailing out of Port Canaveral. While we were still on Allure this past May, we had all discussed booking a cruise on Harmony in 2021. We later checked out the schedule and realized it only was open/available through APR 2021. At first we were going to wait for the Summer 2021 schedule to be released, but we had been told it would not be out until late summer or fall so we decided to book it on 6/21/19.

Over this past weekend, the April 2021 schedule for Harmony mysteriously disappeared from Royal's website. We had been checking regularly to make sure the adjacent staterooms were still available while our friends prepared to book their room through their TA. I called Royal CS and sent an IM through the Facebook page TODAY inquiring because it seemed a little odd. I had read a little while ago here on the forum that Harmony was due for the routine 5-year dry-dock in 2021 and that made me a little nervous!

Both responses from Royal assured me it was a system glitch and that they can still see all of the APR 2021 sailings on their end for Harmony. I told Royal CS that our friends wanted to book the same cruise and they provided a telephone number for them to call to make the reservation for our sailing!

Tonight, I sent another message via Facebook IM explaining what I was told (Harmony dry-dock) and this time they confirmed and instructed me to contact our TA for assistance and to discuss the "compensation" package! 

We called our travel agent and they called Royal this evening for the details of the compensation package for our cancelled sailing. At first, Royal CS claimed they already sent us the e-mail explaining our options. We explained to the TA we never got the e-mail and he pushed Royal to provide the e-mail address and they finally admitted it was sent to an invalid/defunct e-mail that wasn't even ours! They resent the e-mail which gives us a deadline of 7/11/19 to make our decision. If we had missed this deadline the cruise would be cancelled and the deposit would be refunded automatically, but we would not get the "compensation" package.

 

For those with any interest, here is the e-mail we received and our options:

 

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Basically, Option #1 looks to be the most attractive as it offers all 11 Oasis class sailings on all 3 ships (Allure, Oasis & Symphony) in APR 2021 (same month we were to sail Harmony). Oasis and Allure will be amped. The best part is we lock in the current cabin rate for the same balcony stateroom category regardless of the sailing/ship (we got an awesome group rate for that Harmony sailing through our TA... about $400 cheaper than the Royal sale pricing)! They also will give us $200 OBC (non-suite staterooms), plus we can keep the original perks and OBC originally offered from the TA. I believe we may have to pay for additional taxes, etc., for the difference in prevailing rate.

Option #2 allows you to pick any available cruise, but you need to pay the difference between the original stateroom rate and the new rate. Everything else, including OBC, is the same.

Option #3 is simply to cancel the cruise and get a full refund of any amounts paid.

Needless to say, we're going for Option #1! Looking at Symphony now on Royal's dime! Hmmm... I like the 4/17/21 sailing that includes both Labadee AND Perfect Day at CocoCay! The 4/10/21 & 4/24/21 sailings are effectively the same itinerary as our original 4/18/21 Harmony cruise. Wow! The Labadee/Perfect Day cruise is currently $950 more than what we paid for the same cabin on Harmony!

Hmmm... OK, the wife is researching and reaching out to our friends... clock is ticking for us to decide... need to make out decision once again by 7/11/19!

 

Fortunately, this occurred less than two weeks after our booking and almost two years before the cruise, so we can't complain as we were not inconvenienced like many others have been with cancellations much closer to their sailing.

I just wanted to make sure no one misses out on the nice "compensation" package offered for these APR 2021 cancellations! ?

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15 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

Looking at Symphony

Symphony   Symphony   Symphony

Of course, we haven't been on any other Oasis class ship, but we so loved Symphony!

Thanks for the update and we are really happy for you guys! 

Guess your friends will have to pay more to join you now ?

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12 minutes ago, Skid said:

Symphony   Symphony   Symphony

Of course, we haven't been on any other Oasis class ship, but we so loved Symphony!

Thanks for the update and we are really happy for you guys! 

Guess your friends will have to pay more to join you now ?

Thanks!  LOL!

I know! I was saying that to my wife, but our friends seem fine with whatever ship we choose. Fortunately, they live in FLA and she works for an airline and gets major travel perks which helps keep the overall cost in check.

I haven't checked Oasis and Allure yet since Symphony was calling us ?, but I would assume they will both be more expensive (compared to now) since they will both be fully Amped by Spring 2021!

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7 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

Rumor has it, Harmony is @Matt's favorite!

So is spaghetti bolognese and it really was not that good. Then again I get my Italian wife's cooking. Instead of the pizza/bagel controversy, maybe we should start a sauce/gravy thread. I've been losing the "gravy is brown" argument for decades now.

Okay, another thread hijack...I apologize.

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9 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

Rumor has it, Harmony is @Matt's favorite!

His reasoning is that Symphony was like a sequel to Harmony and the original is always better. 

Symphony was my first Oasis class and then I only had a 3-day cruise on Harmony, so it's a little skewed.  Also was Star Class on Symphony..so definitely even more skewed.  I also enjoyed Playmakers, Hooked and El Loco Fresh which aren't on Harmony.

I absolutely love Terminal A in Miami too...it was so easy to get on the ship both times I've sailed from there..leaving the ship there is not so fun if you don't get off early, though. 

Either ship you should have a good time but I would totally take advantage of the price protection to jump over to Symphony in this case.  

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We had booked Harmony April 25, 2021 as our schedule was so very limited ( 5 of us including 3 young adults all graduating from university). We found out Friday evening that the cruise was cancelled.  After the initial panic of trying to find a replacement, we "settled" on the Allure as we were get an eastern itinerary in the exact same cabin!  I say " settled" because the lack of an onboard waterpark upset us a bit.  Fingers crossed that when it gets Amped up, water slides are included.  

 

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4 hours ago, NancyNurse said:

We had booked Harmony April 25, 2021 as our schedule was so very limited ( 5 of us including 3 young adults all graduating from university). We found out Friday evening that the cruise was cancelled.  After the initial panic of trying to find a replacement, we "settled" on the Allure as we were get an eastern itinerary in the exact same cabin!  I say " settled" because the lack of an onboard waterpark upset us a bit.  Fingers crossed that when it gets Amped up, water slides are included.  

 

Fingers-crossed! I would be very surprised if they do not match the scope of the Oasis upgrades. Slides should be a given now otherwise it will be the odd duck in the class! Even the older ships are getting water slides as they are Amped.

I remember before the official announcement of the Oasis upgrades came out, people were not sure if it would create an engineering/structural challenge to add the wet and dry slides, but thankfully they worked it out!

Have a great time, I'm sure you will!

We are just about ready to call and make the swap... definitely the same itinerary, but still coordinating with our travel friends in FLA!

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3 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

Just an update... we finally made our decision, went with Option #1, and switched to:

Symphony on 4/24/21 (Cozumel, Roatan, Costa Maya & Perfect Day)!

Same itinerary, but in a different order...

Can't wait! :27_sunglasses:

Yeah!!! You will have a great trip!  Jane

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