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Thanksgiving Side to Side: Brilliance to Oasis


WAAAYTOOO

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On 12/12/2019 at 10:33 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

The FCC is based on the base fare only.  IOW, the taxes, fees, gratuities etc do not count towards the FCC.  I don't think the fact that it is a casino comp factors in at all....from what I understand it it based wholly on the cruise fare that you paid.  Since our cruise fare was $6255.70, I would expect our FCC to be $1251.14 but our TA told us to expect in the neighborhood of $1100 so there must be some factor included (or excluded, in this case) that I am missing.  We all know how Royal uses "fuzzy math" and it looks like this is no exception.  I know from reading others' accounts, most people are consistently disappointed that their FCC is lower than they expected.  I'll join that group, I guess.

Here's a bit of good news though....we found out that we will be able to combine this FCC with ANOTHER casino comp upgrade.  I'm using a free casino comp certificate (which I am upgrading) for a sailing on Liberty next September (Labor Day) and I will be able to apply this FCC to that casino comp upgrade.  So, you can combine a casino comp upgrade with an FCC which is great news.   As Twangster has explained to us a couple of times, the FCC can only be used to pay for base fare.  We cannot use it to cover taxes, fees, gratuities, etc.   Coincidentally, the FCC will almost exactly cover the cost of the upgraded fare, so this one will be almost "FREE".

Update on the 20% FCC.  I will preface my story by saying that this is not yet final.  My TA is questioning the results but I will just say....boy, was I ever mistaken with my estimate of what our FCC would be !  In my previous post I had estimated that our FCC would be between $1100-$1200 based on the cruise fare of $6255.70.  Imagine my surprise when the FCC arrived on Tuesday in the amount of $464 - $232 each.  I was stunned, to say the least.  As I said, Michelle is looking into it today for me.  As I no doubt mentioned elsewhere in this thread, this cruise was an upgraded casino comp. It started as an interior room and I paid a casino discounted upgrade to Star Class, which, in the end, totaled $6255.70 before any taxes or port fees.   I feel sure that this is factoring into the unbelievably low FCC somehow.  I will withhold any further speculation about how the FCC was calculated until I hear back from Michelle. Just know that I am enormously disappointed at the moment.  I almost wish that the Genie hadn’t even offered the FCC. I neither asked for it nor expected it.  More, once I hear back from Guest Relations.
 

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8 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Update on the 20% FCC.  I will preface my story by saying that this is not yet final.  My TA is questioning the results but I will just say....boy, was I ever mistaken with my estimate of what our FCC would be !  In my previous post I had estimated that our FCC would be between $1100-$1200 based on the cruise fare of $6255.70.  Imagine my surprise when the FCC arrived on Tuesday in the amount of $464 - $232 each.  I was stunned, to say the least.  As I said, Michelle is looking into it today for me.  As I no doubt mentioned elsewhere in this thread, this cruise was an upgraded casino comp. It started as an interior room and I paid a casino discounted upgrade to Star Class, which, in the end, totaled $6255.70 before any taxes or port fees.   I feel sure that this is factoring into the unbelievably low FCC somehow.  I will withhold any further speculation about how the FCC was calculated until I hear back from Michelle. Just know that I am enormously disappointed at the moment.  I almost wish that the Genie hadn’t even offered the FCC. I neither asked for it nor expected it.  More, once I hear back from Guest Relations.
 

Andreas is presenting me with the paperwork and details of our FCC tomorrow. I am interested to hear how these work as it’s all new to me! Fingers crossed it works out for you. 

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Very bad news, I’m afraid. The FCC is accurate, according to Michelle.  I am disappointed beyond imagination. She provided calculation details but it makes no sense to me.  I really wish they had not offered any FCC at all.  It makes Royal seem so shady to me. It’s as if they are saying to me - “We want to restore your confidence in us by completely destroying your confidence in us”. I’m honestly sick to my stomach about it.  I’m sure you’ll have better luck as you won’t be dealing with Casino chicanery but I caution you to temper your expectations. Bottom line - your cruise fare is NOT what you pay for the cruise !  It is some voodoo made-up value that pull out of their as*es.

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Very bad news, I’m afraid. The FCC is accurate, according to Michelle.  I am disappointed beyond imagination. She provided calculation details but it makes no sense to me.  I really wish they had not offered any FCC at all.  It makes Royal seem so shady to me. It’s as if they are saying to me - “We want to restore your confidence in us by completely destroying your confidence in us”. I’m honestly sick to my stomach about it.  I’m sure you’ll have better luck as you won’t be dealing with Casino chicanery but I caution you to temper your expectations. Bottom line - your cruise fare is NOT what you pay for the cruise !  It is some voodoo made-up value that pull out of their as*es.

Boo ?

I hate to see this.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/3/2019 at 1:45 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

For those of you who might care, I told photos of the bar menu in the Suites Lounge. 

image.thumb.jpeg.932ac0026b97803438934321663945b8.jpeg
This is the Happy Hour menu available daily from 4:40-8 PM

I have the full service menu as well but need to clarify some info on this one and will publish it later 

Hi Raye or anyone who can answer... Is this only a loyalty lounge or is this something that anyone in a suite can avail themselves to? 

 

We do miss the Haven lounge and bar when sailing RC and not sure this would be a viable alternative. 

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On 12/4/2019 at 10:57 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Just in case any of you thought I might be embellishing my story, I provide photographic evidence of the seriousness of the plumbing debacle. They are working both inside 

image.thumb.jpeg.0a941f9db546986d709d75f481a2d0f2.jpeg

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and, out in the hallway and overhead in the crawl space

image.thumb.jpeg.9979cdded538195cac37066b4afc07d5.jpeg

Sorry for the quality of the hallway photo  I was trying to be unobtrusive and take a quick shot.  Didn’t want the worker(s) to think I was spying on them !

Our water is on but we didn’t dare try and use the other toilet.  Dan dashed gown to 15 to find an available public toilet.  It was funny for a while.  Now it’s becoming a real nuisance  

 

 

 

 

Lol, I'm saving these pics for Batman. 

The complaint he makes most often, particularly on longer cruises, is that the TP is too scratchy and he threatens to bring his own Cottonelle. 

At the moment, i have him convinced they would be able to trace his contraband TP back to our room, and we'd have to pay damages. It's probably true. Most importantly, he believes it. ?

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25 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Hi Raye or anyone who can answer... Is this only a loyalty lounge or is this something that anyone in a suite can avail themselves to? 

 

We do miss the Haven lounge and bar when sailing RC and not sure this would be a viable alternative. 

On Oasis it is open to Suite guests and Pinnacle members.

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51 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Hi Raye or anyone who can answer... Is this only a loyalty lounge or is this something that anyone in a suite can avail themselves to? 

 

We do miss the Haven lounge and bar when sailing RC and not sure this would be a viable alternative. 

You would like the Suite lounge and Suite sun deck way better than your experience on Anthem.  Both the lounge and the sun deck have a bar which is different from Anthem.  

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1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

Hi Raye or anyone who can answer... Is this only a loyalty lounge or is this something that anyone in a suite can avail themselves to? 

 

We do miss the Haven lounge and bar when sailing RC and not sure this would be a viable alternative. 

If this is from the Suites Lounge (and I assume it is, from my post) then anyone who is in a full suite or a Pinnacle Club member can go to this lounge. They serve water, wine and beer all day (11-11) and liquor during the “happy” hours.

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28 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

If this is from the Suites Lounge (and I assume it is, from my post) then anyone who is in a full suite or a Pinnacle Club member can go to this lounge. They serve water, wine and beer all day (11-11) and liquor during the “happy” hours.

@SweetPea to add to that, if you have the drink package (which you would with star class) you can get liquor there all day as long as the bar is open.

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1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@SweetPea to add to that, if you have the drink package (which you would with star class) you can get liquor there all day as long as the bar is open.

Thanks! Just got Batman to agree to cancel the Encore and keep my eyes peeled for when Royal comes to their senses on Oasis pricing out of NJ (currently insane, currently wide open). He's not thrilled that they're only offering weeklong cruises on a ship that large, but i just scored a MAJOR victory in getting him to agree to the Haven cancelation... Stay tuned. This may be the year of Royal and no Norwegian for the first time ever. ?

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12 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

Thanks! Just got Batman to agree to cancel the Encore and keep my eyes peeled for when Royal comes to their senses on Oasis pricing out of NJ (currently insane, currently wide open). He's not thrilled that they're only offering weeklong cruises on a ship that large, but i just scored a MAJOR victory in getting him to agree to the Haven cancelation... Stay tuned. This may be the year of Royal and no Norwegian for the first time ever. ?

Woohoo!!! Glad that worked out. And Oasis class rocks! #teamOAclass!

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On 12/3/2019 at 5:14 PM, Andrew72681 said:

Hopefully it was on a pocket pair rather than backdooring into quads

At our local casino you would have received an extra 300 for getting it on the flop. Also for straight flush or Royal flush on the flop could pay in the 100.000. extra. They run a progressive for great hands.

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On 12/9/2019 at 12:31 AM, MadamG2U said:

WAAAYTOO just wanted to thank you again.  Everything has been confirmed and its perfect.  We will have Israel as our Genie

We had Izzy for our first Star Class experience and were disappointed overall.  We didn't hear anything from him pre-cruise until 15-days prior to sail when I finally called RCL. After that phone call he sent one introductory pre-canned email and one email with a draft schedule. When I sent our edits/inputs to his draft he never responded and our next communication with him was when we met at embarkation.   

At the port he was late for our pick-up and we could have boarded faster if we had just gone with General boarding. Other than stragglers, we were literally the last people to board . So much for getting to our room early. ?  Unfortunately, that set the tone for the whole cruise.  Throughout the week we generally saw him only once per day, and usually a "touch and go" at dinner for about 5-10 minutes to review the next days schedule. Other than that he was a ghost to our party.

Requests to him were about 50/50. We asked for snacks and drinks for sail away, which arrived 45 minutes late and after we were already at sea. Requests for front row seating were not met on two occasions (Comedy show and Come Fly with Me) and a request to eat in CK on Thursday night was not met because 'CK would be to crowded' ?.    

He did arrange special transport for my Mom at Labadee, a dedicated photographer and some jewelry for my wife on formal night, but other than that there wasn't anything "special" about having a Genie.  Fundamentally, he was a concierge that came to us once a day at dinner rather than us having to go to him in the suite lounge.

I've also read some of the reviews about Izzy and most are generally good. I was under the impression that his other family(s) on this cruise were pretty high maintenance and he did pass on he was dealing with unusual requests from one particular family. He might have had an off week, or a demanding family, but bottom line; he didn't impress us at all and didn't make us feel we got anything special out the Genie experience.            

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2 hours ago, TrophyHusband said:

We had Izzy for our first Star Class experience and were disappointed overall.  We didn't hear anything from him pre-cruise until 15-days prior to sail when I finally called RCL. After that phone call he sent one introductory pre-canned email and one email with a draft schedule. When I sent our edits/inputs to his draft he never responded and our next communication with him was when we met at embarkation.   

At the port he was late for our pick-up and we could have boarded faster if we had just gone with General boarding. Other than stragglers, we were literally the last people to board . So much for getting to our room early. ?  Unfortunately, that set the tone for the whole cruise.  Throughout the week we generally saw him only once per day, and usually a "touch and go" at dinner for about 5-10 minutes to review the next days schedule. Other than that he was a ghost to our party.

Requests to him were about 50/50. We asked for snacks and drinks for sail away, which arrived 45 minutes late and after we were already at sea. Requests for front row seating were not met on two occasions (Comedy show and Come Fly with Me) and a request to eat in CK on Thursday night was not met because 'CK would be to crowded' ?.    

He did arrange special transport for my Mom at Labadee, a dedicated photographer and some jewelry for my wife on formal night, but other than that there wasn't anything "special" about having a Genie.  Fundamentally, he was a concierge that came to us once a day at dinner rather than us having to go to him in the suite lounge.

I've also read some of the reviews about Izzy and most are generally good. I was under the impression that his other family(s) on this cruise were pretty high maintenance and he did pass on he was dealing with unusual requests from one particular family. He might have had an off week, or a demanding family, but bottom line; he didn't impress us at all and didn't make us feel we got anything special out the Genie experience.            

I am sorry to hear this.  He was completely different for us.  He was late picking us up at the port but he lost his phone.  So I let that slide,  But there after anything I asked for he delivered above and beyond.  He took special care of my folks who are in there 80's, especially my mom who has bad arthritis.  Even down to the gifts he gave us.  I could see he put thought into it

Hoping the rest of the cruise was great 

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