And just like that rebooked! Thank you John from MEI!

[RCIfan1912]

Ok from disappointment of May 10th Oasis cruise cancelled back to excitement because we rebooked Oasis Sept. 6th and we went for a Central Park balcony. We just wanted to try this category. Man this guy, this guy John Ames from MEI is incredible. He looked, saw one cabin left and just booked it for us. I told him what we wanted, he saw it was the last cabin and booked it for us. Excited again! I can't say enough about John from MEI!

[Matt]

So glad to hear that. Thanks for supporting our sponsor!

[RCIfan1912]

2 hours ago, Matt said:

So glad to hear that. Thanks for supporting our sponsor!

Thank you, and no problem. They really are pretty awesome or at least John is. Just gotta hope things clear up for a lot of reasons, peoples health and then of course for cruises and normal life. Excited to be one again on a Oasis countdown. 

[Marc Van Niekerk]

Echoing the thumbs up for John.  I emailed him a couple questions last night and he replied within minutes!

Thanks to the @AnnetteJackson and the MEI team for all their work on our behalf!

[RCIfan1912]

12 minutes ago, Marc Van Niekerk said:

Echoing the thumbs up for John.  I emailed him a couple questions last night and he replied within minutes!

Thanks to the @AnnetteJackson and the MEI team for all their work on our behalf!

Yeah I emailed a bunch of times, he got back to me so fast I was stunned. I then emailed him what we were thinking of doing and before I knew it we were booked. I mean just awesome. 

[TLowder]

Do you have contact information for John at MEI?  Thanks.

[RCIfan1912]

2 minutes ago, TLowder said:

Do you have contact information for John at MEI?  Thanks.

I certainly do. When I get home from work at around 4 I will post it for you. 

[RCIfan1912]

2 hours ago, TLowder said:

Do you have contact information for John at MEI?  Thanks.

Here ya go, this link should take you directly to his MEI page with his number and email.

https://mei-travel.com/about-us/team/johna

[TLowder]

Thank You.

[RCIfan1912]

5 minutes ago, TLowder said:

Thank You.

No problem, he is excellent.

[Jill]

I put a deposit down last weekend on a replacement cruise in anticipation of these new cancellations. Already transferred it to Sharla at MEI. I had a few questions regarding the 125% FCC and 125% OBC for cruise planner purchases and Sharla got back to me within an hour. 

Great service! Have been very happy with MEI and Sharla. 

[RCIfan1912]

Hey have a question I just noticed on my rescheduled cruise invoice, I mean this is I guess pending my FCC that will be issued in a few weeks but it says [booking status:offer]. I know TA said disregard deposit date. I assume that "offer" means that when the FCC is issued that status will change to [booked] or something similar. What do you think? I mean we have a cabin number and were told we are booked. 

[spiralqueen]

1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Hey have a question I just noticed on my rescheduled cruise invoice, I mean this is I guess pending my FCC that will be issued in a few weeks but it says [booking status:offer]. I know TA said disregard deposit date. I assume that "offer" means that when the FCC is issued that status will change to [booked] or something similar. What do you think? I mean we have a cabin number and were told we are booked. 

“Offer” is what shows up when a travel agent puts a hold on the room. From what I understand, it takes the room out of inventory. Previously there were a couple of days padding that they allowed a TA to put a hold on a room before a deposit was needed to hold it, but because of all the craziness happening now and the delay in FCC issuance, they are letting TAs put a very extended hold on the room. If I’m remembering correctly, it’s now a 5/31 deadline for deposits to hold sailings. 

[RCIfan1912]

3 minutes ago, spiralqueen said:

“Offer” is what shows up when a travel agent puts a hold on the room. From what I understand, it takes the room out of inventory. Previously there were a couple of days padding that they allowed a TA to put a hold on a room before a deposit was needed to hold it, but because of all the craziness happening now and the delay in FCC issuance, they are letting TAs put a very extended hold on the room. If I’m remembering correctly, it’s now a 5/31 deadline for deposits to hold sailings. 

Yeah that makes perfect sense. TA said disregard deposit due date as Royal Caribbean will let us hold these cabins. I guess when FCC is issued it will just become booked and be done. Then its cross our fingers we cruise in Sept. 

[Larry Muster]

Oh man.  John is great but I always thought we had an exclusive relationship.  I didn't realize he had other clients.  

[RCIfan1912]

31 minutes ago, Larry Muster said:

Oh man.  John is great but I always thought we had an exclusive relationship.  I didn't realize he had other clients.  

Is this a joke? I mean a TA can't survive with just one client unless that client is Bill Gate or Jeff Bezos. 

[RCIfan1912]

Holy Cow what a deal! John Ames from MEI just emailed me with a crazy new price on our Sept. 6th cruise. Now I don't know if we are gonna sail but this price is just nuts. We booked a Central Park balcony and the price was 1,791 and now today its 1,355. That is for 3, our 7 year old son. Please lord we have to sail now with this price. After the FCC is applied we are gonna have 900-1,000 bucks in more FCC for next year. I am in total awe of John Ames at MEI. This guy does not stop, he continually keeps looking for price breaks and deals. 

[Matt]

Thanks for supporting our sponsor, @RCIfan1912 !

[coneyraven]

I'm noticing a common theme here ....... MEI Travel...

Whether it's John, @AnnetteJackson, or @michelle - the common element is how awesome they are.  I know, with Michelle's sense of humor, she has really helped to keep my stress through all this crap at a reasonable level.

It's very comforting knowing that there is someone out there that I can trust to have my best interest at heart .... I'll just tend to follow her lead. 

They all must be members of MENSA, because they are brilliant at how they're navigating these shark infested waters

[AnnetteJackson]

3 hours ago, coneyraven said:

I'm noticing a common theme here ....... MEI Travel...

Whether it's John, @AnnetteJackson, or @michelle - the common element is how awesome they are.  I know, with Michelle's sense of humor, she has really helped to keep my stress through all this crap at a reasonable level.

It's very comforting knowing that there is someone out there that I can trust to have my best interest at heart .... I'll just tend to follow her lead. 

They all must be members of MENSA, because they are brilliant at how they're navigating these shark infested waters

This is so sweet!  Thank you so much for the kind words and all of you guys support.  It is some trying times we all find ourselves in but the 10 of us that work with the Royal Caribbean Blog group love sharing and helping you all save so you can sail more!

[coneyraven]

4 minutes ago, AnnetteJackson said:

This is so sweet!  Thank you so much for the kind words and all of you guys support.  It is some trying times we all find ourselves in but the 10 of us that work with the Royal Caribbean Blog group love sharing and helping you all save so you can sail more!

I had no idea there were 10 of you ..... WOW!!!  Well, all I can say is, you all are "rock stars" in my book.  Personally, I can really only speak in regards to Michelle, she is incredibly calm and patient during all this, which is amazing......

Truly a gift to those that she works with.

Mark

 

[Ampurp85]

I am also a John from MEI client and he recently saved me almost $300 on my Jan Mariner cruise. It is very nice to not have to constantly check the price, although I still do. I want to applaud everyone from MEI who continue to provide great service. Whether it be dealing with tons of questions or just providing us with hope that we will all be sipping Lava flows in the near future.

[JohnAmes]

Just wanted to say thank you for all of the kind words! We are here to help and seeing threads like this helps us get through these crazy times.

Stay Safe Everyone! This too shall pass!

[RCIfan1912]

2 minutes ago, JohnAmes said:

Just wanted to say thank you for all of the kind words! We are here to help and seeing threads like this helps us get through these crazy times.

Stay Safe Everyone! This too shall pass!

John, honestly I could not thank you enough for what you have done for us. With all that is going on for you to keep up to date with our booking is just incredible. The deal you got us is beyond awesome. You also stay safe, and yes, this too shall pass.

[TheJones]

22 hours ago, coneyraven said:

I'm noticing a common theme here ....... MEI Travel...

Whether it's John, @AnnetteJackson, or @michelle - the common element is how awesome they are.  I know, with Michelle's sense of humor, she has really helped to keep my stress through all this crap at a reasonable level.

It's very comforting knowing that there is someone out there that I can trust to have my best interest at heart .... I'll just tend to follow her lead. 

They all must be members of MENSA, because they are brilliant at how they're navigating these shark infested waters

I found MEI from this forum/blog.  Last week it was looking very likely our cruise would be cancelled, so I contacted MEI.  Jacki is now our new agent & we are very impressed with her.  Answers emails very quickly & answers our dumb questions.  Our last TA we would be lucky to get an email response in DAYS, my email 3 weeks ago to them was never answered...

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, TheJones said:

we would be lucky to get an email response in DAYS, my email 3 weeks ago to them was never answered...

I think this is the biggest advantage of using MEI.  Not only are their agents excellent but you get instantaneous service and this is something that you just CANNOT get with big online agencies.  On the very VERY rare instances when Michelle was going to be away (and that has happened maybe 3 times in ~10 years) she always made sure that there was someone else waiting to handle any issues.  In EVERY SINGLE instance where I had to go to that alternate person for something, it was always MICHELLE who ended up taking care of whatever I needed....even when she was away on family medical emergencies or in Europe on vacation.  She's just ALWAYS there.

[bossdog421]

Thanks for this thread!

 

I am working with this company now to change a booking i had for next year to this year!

 

Also looks like I'll be doing my first STAR class cruise!

 

Don't want to jinx it but i really hope i can get everything transferred smoothly.

[Lovetocruise2002]

3 minutes ago, bossdog421 said:

Also looks like I'll be doing my first STAR class cruise!

That's it!  The point of no return!

[bossdog421]

36 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That's it!  The point of no return!

I knew it was gonna happen after my last cruise lol...

 

I may have jinxed myself already, not sure they can transfer the reservation and move the sailing.  I got a denial on the transfer saying it was over 60 days even though the invoice is dated 2/24/20. Maybe because i used that $200  anytime booking and it was Feb 2nd when i sailed?  Really hope they can move some things around and make it work! The itinerary is identical to the cruise I already had booked next year so keeping them both is not ideal here.

[RCIfan1912]

50 minutes ago, bossdog421 said:

I knew it was gonna happen after my last cruise lol...

 

I may have jinxed myself already, not sure they can transfer the reservation and move the sailing.  I got a denial on the transfer saying it was over 60 days even though the invoice is dated 2/24/20. Maybe because i used that $200  anytime booking and it was Feb 2nd when i sailed?  Really hope they can move some things around and make it work! The itinerary is identical to the cruise I already had booked next year so keeping them both is not ideal here.

Definitely can get spoiled by the better rooms or suites. 

[bossdog421]

So Michelle at MEI was great. Took care of all of my complicated issues and I'm booked.

 

Star class in 5 months!

[WAAAYTOOO]

4 minutes ago, bossdog421 said:

So Michelle at MEI was great. Took care of all of my complicated issues and I'm booked.

 

Star class in 5 months!

WOOHOO !!!!  Love me some Michelle !!

What ship....what suite ?

[RCIfan1912]

6 minutes ago, bossdog421 said:

So Michelle at MEI was great. Took care of all of my complicated issues and I'm booked.

 

Star class in 5 months!

Awesome news! More detailed information would be great, ship, cruise destination and suite type. 

[bossdog421]

3 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Awesome news! More detailed information would be great, ship, cruise destination and suite type. 

Oasis, Jersey- Port Canaveral - Nassau - Coco Cay, Ultimate Panaramic Suite.

 

Gonna be great because we can see the inlaws when we stop in Florida without them cruising with us this time... Not that it was a bad thing last time ()

 

Been to all 3 ports but plenty to see and do that we haven't done before.

[RCIfan1912]

2 hours ago, bossdog421 said:

Oasis, Jersey- Port Canaveral - Nassau - Coco Cay, Ultimate Panaramic Suite.

 

Gonna be great because we can see the inlaws when we stop in Florida without them cruising with us this time... Not that it was a bad thing last time ()

 

Been to all 3 ports but plenty to see and do that we haven't done before.

Awesome, same cruise we are doing. Never been to the ports other than Port Canaveral of course. Looking forward to Coco Cay. We are staying on the ship in Nassau. 

[bossdog421]

5 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Awesome, same cruise we are doing. Never been to the ports other than Port Canaveral of course. Looking forward to Coco Cay. We are staying on the ship in Nassau. 

Went to Nassau when i was on a Disney cruise, we walked to the straw market. I did not have a good time. I think my daughter would like Atlantis, at least the aquarium, so we'll probably go do that. I found exploring on our own at a strange port that i do not have a lot of fun.

 

I went a bit overboard last time at Coco Cay and was in an overwater cabana. It was great but we didnt get a chance to see a lot of the other parts of the island.  Can't wait to explore more (going to be a lot warmer too)

[RCIfan1912]

5 hours ago, bossdog421 said:

Went to Nassau when i was on a Disney cruise, we walked to the straw market. I did not have a good time. I think my daughter would like Atlantis, at least the aquarium, so we'll probably go do that. I found exploring on our own at a strange port that i do not have a lot of fun.

 

I went a bit overboard last time at Coco Cay and was in an overwater cabana. It was great but we didnt get a chance to see a lot of the other parts of the island.  Can't wait to explore more (going to be a lot warmer too)

Yeah a guy I work with has been there multiple times on a cruise and he said if you don't have a specific excursion then just stay on the ship. He said its not a place you want to just get off the ship and walk around. I kinda knew that but this was first hand experience. I checked the excursions and nothing jumped out to me and most were very expensive. I never stayed on the ship in port and I think it would be fun to be on the ship with 50% less people. 

[Jacki_MEI]

Thank you so much for the kind words - always happy to help!

[FionaMG]

On 4/18/2020 at 12:47 PM, RCIfan1912 said:

Yeah a guy I work with has been there multiple times on a cruise and he said if you don't have a specific excursion then just stay on the ship. He said its not a place you want to just get off the ship and walk around. I kinda knew that but this was first hand experience. I checked the excursions and nothing jumped out to me and most were very expensive. I never stayed on the ship in port and I think it would be fun to be on the ship with 50% less people. 

We actually did a very interesting self-guided walking tour in Nassau. I can't remember where I got it from, might have been Lonely Planet.

I've attached the itinerary and map (word documents) and a couple of pics from the route. We really enjoyed it and would do it again.

walking tour nassau.docx walking tour nassau_map.docx

[MICHELLE]

On 4/16/2020 at 10:27 AM, coneyraven said:

I'm noticing a common theme here ....... MEI Travel...

Whether it's John, @AnnetteJackson, or @michelle - the common element is how awesome they are.  I know, with Michelle's sense of humor, she has really helped to keep my stress through all this crap at a reasonable level.

It's very comforting knowing that there is someone out there that I can trust to have my best interest at heart .... I'll just tend to follow her lead. 

They all must be members of MENSA, because they are brilliant at how they're navigating these shark infested waters

wait I'm funny - good to know - thanks for supporting MEI-Travel!