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Explorer of the seas 5th November CHANGES


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ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING TRAVELS

 
 

Dear Guest,

We’ve been carefully monitoring four storms with our Chief Meteorologist, James Van Fleet, that have impacted the current Explorer of the Seas sailing, which in turn impacts our route while crossing the Transatlantic. These storms are large, growing, and moving quickly, at different times. Unfortunately, when one passes, the other makes its way into our path. So, to avoid rough seas and a bumpy journey, we were forced to change our current itinerary, causing the ship to arrive in Southampton on November 8th, instead of November 5th. As a result, we’ll set sail on November 8th and we’ll visit Philipsburg, St. Maarten as we make our way to Miami, Florida.

We are terribly sorry for this last-minute change, but know we made this decision to maintain a safe and comfortable journey. As always, your safety is our top priority and fortunately, being onboard a ship is one of the safest places to be during a storm, as we can sail out to sea and navigate around inclement weather. Plus, our ships have the latest technology, satellites, communication equipment, along with a team of experts who closely monitor the weather. Below, please find our new itinerary.

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Weather Disclaimer: Please know that while this is our current plan to maintain a safe journey, the weather patterns can change. Should we need to make additional changes, we will let you know immediately. Your safety is our top priority!

If you’re interested in booking new shore excursions for Philipsburg, please visit our Shore Excursions Desk once you’re onboard. We have a plethora of tours for you to explore!

If you choose to sail…

To help make up for the unexpected shortened cruise, we’re providing you with the following:

  • A refund for the cruise days missed, plus a Future Cruise Credit so that you can come back and sail with us.
    • Both amounts will be in the value of the 3 days your cruise was shortened by, and based on the cruise fare paid, per person, non-inclusive of taxes and fees.
  • A refund in the form of an onboard credit for any remaining taxes and fees, after the itinerary change.
  • In addition, if you purchased an internet or beverage package, unlimited dining package, or pre-paid your gratuities, you’ll receive a prorated refund for the shortened 3 days.
  • Any pre-purchased Royal Caribbean International shore excursions for the missed ports will also be refunded as an onboard credit.
  • Also, we know we have many Crown & Anchor members on this sailing, and we know how important it is to get you to that next tier …so, we will honor the days missed as loyalty point nights – even though the sailing is shortened.
  • Transport rearrangement fees only, meaning you needed to get to the ship regardless of this change – but if you pre-booked it and there is an issue changing, we will review this expense.

All refunds will be applied to your Onboard Account as a refundable credit can be used anywhere onboard. Any unused credits will be refunded back to your credit card on file about 3 - 5 business days after the sailing ends.

If you purchased your air with us directly, we will contact you to assist with changing your flights. If you purchased your air independently, we are currently working with some of our airline partners, as some have agreed to waive change fees for our guests due to this special circumstance.

  • If your airline does not waive the change fees, we will cover your non-refundable air change fees: up to $200 USD/£155 per person for domestic flights and $400 USD / £310 per person for international flights. 
  • If you are not a local guest, and are unable to change your flights, and incur a cost due to a hotel stay, we’ll provide you with a refund of up to $200 USD/£155 per stateroom.
  • Please send your receipts to RoyalGuestRelations@rccl.com for reimbursement review.

If you choose to not sail…

While we hope that you do, if you decide not to, we’ll provide you with:

  • A 100% Future Cruise Credit of your cruise fare paid to rebook at a later time.
  • A refund for all pre-purchased packages like, internet or beverage, unlimited dining package, or pre-paid your gratuities. And, you’ll receive a refund for your pre-purchased shore excursions.
  • You can expect to receive your Future Cruise Credit via email by November 12th, 2019. 

If you prefer to rebook another cruise now…

  • If you’d like to re-schedule your cruise sooner, you may move your funds over to a new reservation with no penalty.
  • Pricing will be at prevailing rates and you will not receive a Future Cruise Credit. If you’d like to re-book, please do so before November 5th.

Again, we are truly sorry for this last-minute change, but appreciate your patience, understanding, and cooperation during this very fluid and unexpected circumstance. We are confident, you’ll have a wonderful holiday!

Sincerely,

Royal Caribbean International

 

Below are some additional answers to some questions you may have.

How is my Onboard Credit calculated?

The OBC compensation amount is based on the Total Cruise Fare paid and are exclusive of taxes and fees. We take the cruise fare you paid (less any certificates & promotions) and divide it by the number of cruise nights for a prorated daily value. That percentage or daily value is then multiplied by the number of days your cruise was shortened.

  • For example, a 7-night cruise that was $1,000.00 USD per person, with $300 in promotions, would be $1,000 - $300 = $700 Cruise Fare Paid per person divided by 7-nights for a daily value of $100 per day. If your cruise was shorted by 3 days that would be $100 daily value x 3 = $300 Future Cruise Certificate.
  • Cruise fare refunds as Onboard Credits: Works just like the above, except it’s added as a refundable onboard credit to your onboard account.  If you don’t use it all, the rest is put back onto your form of payment onboard.
  • Pre-cruise Packages Onboard Credits: For shortened sailings, we applied the same basic principle. We took the total you paid for a package and divided it by your total amount of cruise nights for a daily value. So, a $500 per person Beverage Package on a 7-night cruise, would be $71.43 per day. Then, we multiply that per day value by the amount of days (3 days) your cruise was shortened. In this example, 3 days X $71.43= $214.29 per person, which would be added as a refundable onboard credit to onboard account.

How is my Future Cruise Credit calculated?

It’s calculated the same as the Onboard Credit described above.

Why will it take until November 12th to get my FCC?

We need this time to understand who chose to not sail and who opted to move their funds to a new ship and sail date – we have taken a snapshot of the sailing as it is today, right before our announcement.

Why is my credit different from others in my stateroom?

The credit is calculated per person and after any promotions. For example, if you booked a BOGO (Buy One, Get One) 50% promotion, the first guest on a booking will have more credit than the second, because the first sailed at a full rate while the second sailed at a discount of 50%.

What happens if I don't spend the full amount of my onboard credit?

If you spend less than the full value of your credit onboard, any leftover $$$ will be refunded to your card on file.

My reservation was paid in a different currency, why is my credit in USD?

All transactions onboard are done in USD, so your credit will be in USD. We lock in the exchange rate the day before your sailing to be fair to all guests.

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So I booked this cruise over a year and a half ago and have been following the ship closely this week. last night I got the dreaded news that we will lose 4 great port stops and just go St Maarten.

Very disappointed but there's nothing I or anyone else can do. I often see people in this situation and don't know what they are feeling but now I know :(

Any thoughts on the compensation etc? I don't think its too bad personally?

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Am I reading this right?  I don't know what the original itinerary was, but it looks like they offset the departure date by +3 days?  I know there's always a weather risk (this year's Caribbean schedule during hurricane season had me sweating a September cruise -- nasty year).  I've got a Med cruise next year, and with all the flights, hotels and other stuff (different departure and arrival ports) this would be a huge PITA to fix if everything shifted 3 days this close in.

 

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8 minutes ago, J_Keeble said:

yes that correct, the ship is currently - or was stuck down south near Portugal so instead of departing Tuesday 5th it will now be 8th November

 

we will be loosing the ports of  St Lucia, Antigua, Dominica and Barbados and it will be replaced with 1 stop in St Maarten

Ouch.  I'm not sure what I'd do... but a lot of it would be based on non-cruise related expenses like cancellation or change fees for hotels and airfare if you've got those.  I feel for ya.  I'd be very tempted to just pull the eject handle.

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That is disappointing to lose those port stops.  I do understand that weather can and will impact sailings, however it does look like they are compensating fairly reasonably. It all depends on if the itinerary was your desired end state or just the crossing. If it was the crossing, you could look at adding another cruise with those ports after your arrival in Florida. Best of luck in your decision. 

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we booked flights separate at £480 for 2 passengers so we would lose them I presume as the cruise isn't technically cancelled so insure would win that war

 

we paid £2266 for the cruise, interior cabin with drinks included. that's £80.9 a day

we will get the 3 days refunded so 80.9 x 3 = 242 per person so times that by 2 = 485 refunded

we will also get 3 days FCC which is again £485

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So sorry to hear about this unfortunate change.  I think you have a very good attitude about it.  I know some would be rending cloth and throwing themselves on the floor.  Congratulations for not doing that !

I also love how they are rewarding C&A nights in conjunction with the original itinerary.  I don't think I've heard of them doing that before.  Good news.

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46 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I also love how they are rewarding C&A nights in conjunction with the original itinerary.  I don't think I've heard of them doing that before.  Good news.

They did this with the hurricane shortened cruises.  Love that they addressed it in the email, though!

But yes..great attitude!  You'll still get a cruise and then have some FCC to offset the cost of the next one you book.

If you have to negotiate with the airlines to change a flight TO Southampton to meet the ship later than originally planned, name drop Royal Caribbean even if you didn't book the airfare through Royal.  They waived the typical change fee and didn't charge a fare difference either after we name dropped.

As for any OBC you end up getting, you should be able to visit the casino and charge to your room account from the slot machines at no fee.  That can turn your OBC into real money that doesn't captively have to be spent on the ship ?

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Just now, J_Keeble said:

 is good they an honouring the C&A points as it take me up to exactly 80 points and diamond!

That's where I was with my hurricane affected cruise..was bummed it was shortened because it was going to be my hitting diamond cruise..but surprise!

Looks like you were reassured you will be Diamond for your Jewel cruise in January..must feel good..and then you can put that FCC to good use booking that Alaska cruise (snooping your signature...)

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1 minute ago, AshleyDillo said:

That's where I was with my hurricane affected cruise..was bummed it was shortened because it was going to be my hitting diamond cruise..but surprise!

Looks like you were reassured you will be Diamond for your Jewel cruise in January..must feel good..and then you can put that FCC to good use booking that Alaska cruise (snooping your signature...)

aha! yes what a snoop ;)

 

Although I need to change it now as Jewel is now in march still doing Dubai, with Alaska being bumped to 2021 and a freedom cruise in late 2020 to make up for the ports we are missing from this cruise. ( the other half really wants to do southern Caribbean )

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45 minutes ago, J_Keeble said:

( the other half really wants to do southern Caribbean )

And rightly so. Southern Caribbean is great. I would have been gutted to lose those ports in exchange for 9 sea days and one port call in St Martin (even though I really like St Martin).

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Royal continues to impress with how it handles events that are out of their control forcing them to make changes that impact guests.

No one can control mother nature and it appears the choices offered are reasonable and fair.  

I don't imagine anyone likes to have cruises altered or cancelled anymore than when it happened to me this year more than once, all out of the control of Royal Caribbean.  In all cases they were fair and pleasant to deal with through the process.  I didn't like it but it wasn't Royal's fault.  

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I am in the same position, We are booked to sail on the 5th. Its fine for those people who are using it as transfer from UK to USA. We booked this over a year ago wanting the Las Vegas extra. We like sea days but not full transit with only one stop , not 4 stops to warm up then Las Vegas. WE have opted to cancel, with Cruise 1st , but still cannot get and answer as to what we are being refunded.  We have a very short window and want to book something else, but, until we know what we are getting we're in limbo.

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2 hours ago, J_Keeble said:

I think royals calculator is broken! $105 pp refund! I’m a seriously p*%#|~d off right now

how can they remove a promotion that I have already paid them in real £

 

this is disgusting! 

2468501D-16E9-4643-869A-6A89FAAB56C4.png

They did the same to us last year on the Navigator,? we cancelled and swapped to the Oasis luckily our return flight was same day we disembarked, turned out to be a fantastic land and cruise holiday ? never sail from Southampton after September we’ve learned the hard way..

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2 hours ago, J_Keeble said:

So from this I will now be getting a refund of £2266 for us both and they will be loosing our custom

One thing I’ve noticed over the years of this was in the US they would compensate much better, look at the Oasis when the crane fell on it full refund with 100% fcc...? 

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3 hours ago, Jason12 said:

One thing I’ve noticed over the years of this was in the US they would compensate much better, look at the Oasis when the crane fell on it full refund with 100% fcc...? 

That's not even close to same situation. With the crane, entire cruises were cancelled. In this situation, the sailing is still occurring. 

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36 minutes ago, Matt said:

That's not even close to same situation. With the crane, entire cruises were cancelled. In this situation, the sailing is still occurring. 

A cancelled cruise is much easier to deal with because it’s final with a full refund and basically a free cruise..a shortened and change of itinerary cruise with no compensation or fcc is very hard to swallow happened to us twice now we lost close to 3K. ??‍♂️

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Turns out the comp I calculated isn’t what I’m getting

 

they remove the promotion, which I’ve already paid for in my cruise Fayre and then calculate it

 

so no it’s 2266 minus the promotion which is 688 pp 1376 = 890/28 = 31 x 3 = £93

 

not the £245 we were expecting

 

sorry royal but you’re calculator stinks and I will now be getting a full refund of £2266

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We were affected by Hurricane Dorian sailing 7 nights on  HOS from Port Canaveral. We chose to take the future cruise credit as well. Taxes and Gov't. fees had to be refunded directly to our card.  As far as  the fcc, ...well if we had to do over I would have probably have gone on the 3 night instead of taking the fcc.  It really was a nightmare trying to get it. We tried to use to book Symphony for Oct.26th for Halloween and could not until after the fcc was emailed to us.  That was a bit strange as RCL Crown and Anchor could not help with it upon calling them, then we sailed Mariner b2b on Sept.13th  for 3 nights and Sept. 16th for 4 nights. We spoke with the loyalty ambassador and he told us he could do nothing until the fcc were issued.  The only thing we wanted to do was transfer the amount of the fcc towards the Symphony sailing and then pay the difference but that was for some reason impossible.  RCL finally issued the credits sometime around 3 weeks after the sailing.  HOWEVER due to some special promo we used at the time the booking was made my credit is for over double what my spouse received. The amount is correct just not divided equally.  

As a side note we did sail on Symphony over Halloween and won the funniest costume contest.

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