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A thought exercise on Lift and Shift...


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So, theoretical question.  Booked on a cruise this August.  Prices are obviously low for that sailing right now.  Could I upgrade that reservation to a better cabin category, THEN "lift and shift" it to an August 2021 sailing?  Get upgraded at 2020 prices for a 2021 sailing sounds like a good deal if that doesn't violate terms and conditions.  Thoughts? 

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38 minutes ago, bobroo said:

True Lift and Shift champions add cruise insurance to their new reservations if they did not have it before.

Even if you've sailed for years without it, I think it's very prudent at this point in time. 

Personally I couldn't imagine traveling without it in the past.  Thinking about not having it NOW?

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14 minutes ago, whitsmom said:

I'm pretty sure that we will be moving to next year too. We are going with friends so we will be deciding this weekend.  While I am happy to have the option to move and keep pricing and all the same, I REALLY need a vacation.....

I know what you mean. We were set to sail the Greek Isles out of Rome on Explorer of the Seas (whose Amp has now been delayed/canceled) in October. It was a cruise we have looked forward to for quite some time. Recently, though, the anticipation of the cruise has been overshadowed by worry. As soon as I saw Matt's Blog post on Wednesday, I researched same itineraries for October 2021 and once I saw that ours was available and on Odyssey of the Seas, we decided to jump. Our room, a 2BR suite, is limited and since there was one available our reschedule became easier to accept. The price differential was significant (the room we booked would have been 6000.00 more total over 4 people had we not been able to carry forward our original pricing) making it all the much easier to accept cancellation for this year. As an added perk we are now sailing on a ship with Suite Class so we will gain some additional benefits with our room now on Odyssey. I look at it this way; we have traded a vacation which became overshadowed with a little worry to one filled with excitement and anticipation again. And as they say, "time flies", and that year delay will be here before you know it. Because, like you, we need a vacation, we are hopeful that by the time we would have sailed, we can somewhat travel within the states, to a vacation spot that allows further distancing, and enjoy some R&R that way for 2020.

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3 hours ago, Kathleen said:

I know what you mean. We were set to sail the Greek Isles out of Rome on Explorer of the Seas (whose Amp has now been delayed/canceled) in October. It was a cruise we have looked forward to for quite some time. Recently, though, the anticipation of the cruise has been overshadowed by worry. As soon as I saw Matt's Blog post on Wednesday, I researched same itineraries for October 2021 and once I saw that ours was available and on Odyssey of the Seas, we decided to jump. Our room, a 2BR suite, is limited and since there was one available our reschedule became easier to accept. The price differential was significant (the room we booked would have been 6000.00 more total over 4 people had we not been able to carry forward our original pricing) making it all the much easier to accept cancellation for this year. As an added perk we are now sailing on a ship with Suite Class so we will gain some additional benefits with our room now on Odyssey. I look at it this way; we have traded a vacation which became overshadowed with a little worry to one filled with excitement and anticipation again. And as they say, "time flies", and that year delay will be here before you know it. Because, like you, we need a vacation, we are hopeful that by the time we would have sailed, we can somewhat travel within the states, to a vacation spot that allows further distancing, and enjoy some R&R that way for 2020.

Wow !  I am very excited to hear that they allowed you to L&S from Explorer to Odyssey.  That's quite a step up in ship class.  GREAT move, IMO.

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2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Wow !  I am very excited to hear that they allowed you to S&L from Explorer to Odyssey.  That's quite a step up in ship class.  GREAT move, IMO.

It took our TA hours with Royal on the phone to accomplish it but in the end, I agree with you, I thought it was a win/win for us. I Hope others will check and see if Lift and shift can work for them, but as we learned, you will need ooodles of patience. Our TA was on phone with Royal for 1 hr 45 mins on Wednesday and then got disconnected, causing great frustration. At that point, he did a very smart thing and booked the room under regular price to make sure it was still available since he knew it was the only one, and then started the whole process again on Thursday, upon which took an additional 1hr 20 mins., after which he was able to send us our new confirmation with the reduced price of our 2020 cruise. Because he snagged the room Wednesday at the original price, we were able to know exactly what it would have cost and exactly what our savings were. If He wouldn’t have had to do that, due to  his aggravation on Wednesday, we wouldn’t truly know the savings.

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Have changed an Oct 2020 , 11 night Empress cruise to Oct 2021 using the L&S offer.  The 2020 prices were honored and we got the same cabin, same itinerary etc.The current price for that cabin is double what we paid for the 2020 cruise, so it was a great saving.  As others have said , it is a year later but it takes a lot of the worry out of the picture. Hopefully all will be back to normal in 2021.

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This practice is EXACTLY what RCL wants and needs right now.  They will gladly take your full payment in 2020 for a cruise in mid to late 2021.  They likely know their ships wont be going out full next year and it will take years to be back to "normal" so absolutely you are giving them a 0% interest loan for say 9 - 12 months!

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48 minutes ago, marti314 said:

This practice is EXACTLY what RCL wants and needs right now.  They will gladly take your full payment in 2020 for a cruise in mid to late 2021.  They likely know their ships wont be going out full next year and it will take years to be back to "normal" so absolutely you are giving them a 0% interest loan for say 9 - 12 months!

For us, the monies that Royal Caribbean has is not full payment but instead our deposit. There was no requirement we pay in full prior to moving our sailing. Our cruise was not scheduled until October 2020 and full payment would have been due until end of June. We could take advantage of the Lift and Shift program and they merely moved our deposit and gave us the price of our 2020 sailing in October 2021. For Cruisers whose sailing are mid August through December and have not had to make final payment will be able to lock in their current price by just transferring their deposit to a sailing in 2021. It won't work for everyone, but some, like us, if your willing to make decision to delay now, it was better than the FCC granted through the straight Cruise with Confidence rules.

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2 hours ago, marti314 said:

This practice is EXACTLY what RCL wants and needs right now.  They will gladly take your full payment in 2020 for a cruise in mid to late 2021.  They likely know their ships wont be going out full next year and it will take years to be back to "normal" so absolutely you are giving them a 0% interest loan for say 9 - 12 months!

And when they're giving me rates at 40% of what they are next year, plus price protection even past final payment date, I'm more than happy to!  Like @Kathleen said, it's not going to shake out right for everyone, but in certain scenarios it's going to be a big win-win.  Same rules as always apply: do your research, work with a good TA and do what's right for you!

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For me, the Lift and Shift offer is brilliant and I think RCL is to be commended for providing this option. We were due to sail from Fort Lauderdale in October but, as we are in the UK, we have no idea whether flights will be back to normal by then, or even if we will be allowed into the US. We changed to the same cruise for October 2021. We retained our current price and package (drinks, OBC, etc.) which is great. This year's cruise is 33% lower in price for a like for like cabin compared to next year. Final payment has been moved from July this year to July next year. (This is for a Celebrity cruise through the Panama Canal but the principle is the same.) 

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