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Just had to L&S to August 2021


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Well our Sept rescheduled Oasis cruise from May was cancelled as everyone know more cancellations came down today. Immediately was contacted by the amazing John Ames at MEI and moved to August 22, 2021 Oasis to Coco Cay from NJ. I'm hoping 3rd time is a charm with trying to sail Oasis from NJ. You think we are safe over a year in advance? ?

Anyway I still don't fully understand Lift and Shift. Fare moves over, the taxes and port fees I thought do as well unless there is a difference in taxes and port fees we will only owe that? Correct or not? Cabin category I guess is guaranteed? He said if I don't like the location of the cabin he can change that so I'm not too worried about that. We are or were in a Central Park balcony for 1,355 for 3, 2 adults, 1 child. Oh that was paid for with FCC and still have like 1,200 in FCC left over. 

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Port taxes and fees on the old cruise should be refunded to you, then basically applied as credit against the new itinerary's port taxes and fees. Depending on how they are priced for 2021, you could owe a little or get a little back. My 2021 port fees were actually slightly lower than 2020, probably because of the changes in two ports (Sydney, NS to Kirkwall, Scotland; and Dublin to Southampton). But that was offset by being charged slightly more for the cabin.

According to the official documentation, you're supposed to just have your existing fare price preserved as-is when you L&S. But no one I've spoken to has actually experienced this, and most have said they're paying a smidge more (like a hundred or two for my 14-night sailing, depending on the cabin category / class).

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1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

Port taxes and fees on the old cruise should be refunded to you, then basically applied as credit against the new itinerary's port taxes and fees. Depending on how they are priced for 2021, you could owe a little or get a little back. My 2021 port fees were actually slightly lower than 2020, probably because of the changes in two ports (Sydney, NS to Kirkwall, Scotland; and Dublin to Southampton). But that was offset by being charged slightly more for the cabin.

According to the official documentation, you're supposed to just have your existing fare price preserved as-is when you L&S. But no one I've spoken to has actually experienced this, and most have said they're paying a smidge more (like a hundred or two for my 14-night sailing, depending on the cabin category / class).

I guess I'll find out very soon, formal Lift and Shift request made by MEI Travel. He said 72 hours or something. 

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7 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

Except for the additional $9.99 per person taxes and fees the price for our new cruise after L&S-ing was exactly the same as the old one, down to the last penny.

9.99 person I can deal with. Hundreds of dollars or something would not be b right. That payment won't even be do for a very long time anyway. With lift and shift the final payment if any would still be the same as a new booking?

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1 minute ago, RCIfan1912 said:

9.99 person I can deal with. Hundreds of dollars or something would not be b right. That payment won't even be do for a very long time anyway. With lift and shift the final payment if any would still be the same as a new booking?

In some cases it can actually be hundreds of dollars. I've seen a couple of posts, one on here I think and one or two over on CC who mention the taxes and fees being in the 300-dollar range. I actually checked what ours would be by doing a mock booking before asking our TA  to go ahead with the switch (shout out to @michelle from MEI who has been great despite not having made a penny out of our booking yet and now postponed till next year!). Ours was a straight switch to the exact same cruise next year. I believe the people who reported a big jump in the taxes and fees may have been changing to itineraries with different ports and/or on different ships, which I think may influence the amount. 

Final payment date moves along with the booking, so around 90 days before the new sailing date and will be shown on your new confirmation.

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2 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

In some cases it can actually be hundreds of dollars. I've seen a couple of posts, one on here I think and one or two over on CC who mention the taxes and fees being in the 300-dollar range. I actually checked what ours would be by doing a mock booking before asking our TA  to go ahead with the switch (shout out to @michelle from MEI who has been great despite not having made a penny out of our booking yet and now postponed till next year!). Ours was a straight switch to the exact same cruise next year. I believe the people who reported a big jump in the taxes and fees may have been changing to itineraries with different ports and/or on different ships, which I think may influence the amount. 

Final payment date moves along with the booking, so around 90 days before the new sailing date and will be shown on your new confirmation.

Ah thanks, ours is the same ship, same exact cruise just a different week next year. 

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6 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Ah thanks, ours is the same ship, same exact cruise just a different week next year. 

Ours is the exact same cruise and exact same week next year but a different ship (was Allure, now Harmony) so I'm putting the difference in the taxes and fees down to increases made by one or more of the ports or some such bureaucratic thing. Anyway, it was a small and perfectly acceptable price to pay to lock in the amazing rate we had and which I would have been gutted to lose. If we had just moved rather than L&S-ing (which we could have done since we booked with refundable deposit) it would have cost almost double the price, so we are grateful that L&S came along.

 

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Ok, we are all set. Lift and shift to August 22, 2021. We only owe 65 bucks thank goodness and that isn't due till next May.

At the moment I'm not really keen on the cabin location, Central Park balcony 14585 but I only checked it out on my phone just now. I'm sure it's fine. I mean those cabins are basically all the same in the end right. For some reason with this type balcony I thought lower would be better, closer to the floor of central park. 

What do you guys think?

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40 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Ok, we are all set. Lift and shift to August 22, 2021. We only owe 65 bucks thank goodness and that isn't due till next May.

At the moment I'm not really keen on the cabin location, Central Park balcony 14585 but I only checked it out on my phone just now. I'm sure it's fine. I mean those cabins are basically all the same in the end right. For some reason with this type balcony I thought lower would be better, closer to the floor of central park. 

What do you guys think?

Phew on only a few bucks! Surprised to hear all about the price differences, thought the entire point of L&S was to preserve price, but guess it wouldn't be fair to have Royal pay a tax or port fee so it makes sense. 

I've never stayed in a Central Park Balcony but looking at floor plans that does put you under the pool deck. I'd want to be a few floors lower, personally... Again, never stayed and don't even have the desire, I just share your "too high" (<-- Major League anyone?) concern. 

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I shifted a Mariner to an Indy and only paid a difference of port taxes and fees. The fare would have been $200+ more if it was a new booking but I paid like $26 more in fees which is fine. I am solo so it it is a promenade interior that will be part of either a B2B or S2S. I kept my exact same room but its a ship I haven't been on. So I am excited. I would expect the taxes and fees would be higher in late 2021 and early 2022.

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39 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

Phew on only a few bucks! Surprised to hear all about the price differences, thought the entire point of L&S was to preserve price, but guess it wouldn't be fair to have Royal pay a tax or port fee so it makes sense. 

I've never stayed in a Central Park Balcony but looking at floor plans that does put you under the pool deck. I'd want to be a few floors lower, personally... Again, never stayed and don't even have the desire, I just share your "too high" (<-- Major League anyone?) concern. 

Yeah just looking at the deck plans I am not liking where it is. I'd rather be on deck 10-12. I also don't want to be a pain in the butt to my TA either. What to do?

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3 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Yeah just looking at the deck plans I am not liking where it is. I'd rather be on deck 10-12. I also don't want to be a pain in the butt to my TA either. What to do?

I feel you there. Just had my agent mix two into one and now after seeing @Matt's blog about price increases, I have my spreadsheet out deciding about an upgrade now... If it's a yes, she's going to kill me :).  (of course there is only one left on the floor I want too).

In your shoes, I'd do a mock booking and see how many rooms are available, maybe enough that you can wait a few days, then bug him :). 

Edited by sk8erguy1978
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I'm still dealing with my  TA that I booked with before I became acquainted with this blog (and MEI) and the recommendations here, and he is insisting my only L&S option for my Allure 7 night November 2020 trip would be to Oasis , and not Oasis class but the Oasis ship only. I was considering shifting my 2020 November cruise to the Harmony GC next year (and cancelling the booking I already have for that trip)  but concerned it was over Thanksgiving I wasn't sure it'd be an option so I asked him. The fact that he says my only L&S option is to sail Oasis bothers me as I see plenty of 7 night Caribbean options +/- 4 weeks of my original trip. I just want this trip behind me so I can quit having to reply on this guy for my changes and questions.

So many have it so much worse but having to still use this TA that is a constant source of misinformation is driving my bonkers in an already bonkers time.

*Whine over*

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21 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

I feel you there. Just had my agent mix two into one and now after seeing @Matt's blog about price increases, I have my spreadsheet out deciding about an upgrade now... If it's a yes, she's going to kill me :).  (of course there is only one left on the floor I want too).

In your shoes, I'd do a mock booking and see how many rooms are available, maybe enough that you can wait a few days, then bug him :). 

There are only 2 room each in deck 10/11/12 which 10 is the ideal deck to me. I sent him a polite email just to see what we can do. 

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6 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

There are only 2 room each in deck 10/11/12 which 10 is the ideal deck to me. I sent him a polite email just to see what we can do. 

I would have done the same in that situation. Good Luck! For the record, I was thinking 10 or 11 would have been that sweet spot, little away from the floor but not so far away you lose the ambiance. 

Edited by sk8erguy1978
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25 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

I would have done the same in that situation. Good Luck! For the record, I was thinking 10 or 11 would have been that sweet spot, little away from the floor but not so far away you lose the ambiance. 

Ok, question for ya. 2 rooms each on decks 10 and 11 but all connecting. 1 on deck 12 not connecting. Not connecting better on 12 than connecting on those other decks right? What do you think. 

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1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Yeah just looking at the deck plans I am not liking where it is. I'd rather be on deck 10-12. I also don't want to be a pain in the butt to my TA either. What to do?

Something as simple as changing rooms, if you do not change categories, is super simple for a TA. They can do that On their own,  without calling in.  I wouldn’t worry about it being an imposition to your TA.  Nothing worse than a bad location, IMO.

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19 hours ago, BunnyHutt said:

We changed from 8-night NYE 2020 to 7-night Christmas 2021 (both on Anthem, exact same ports, even same stateroom #) and are actually saving about $400. Of course, since we’re losing a night I’m glad to see the fare drop though I was prepared for it to remain the same. 

Huh interesting and I thought I saw a thread where Royal wouldn't allow someone to go from an 8 night cruise to a 7. Glad it worked out for you. 

I'm happy about our switch but seeing 423 days cruise count down is a bit deflating when it was 72 or whatever it was. 

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2 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Huh interesting and I thought I saw a thread where Royal wouldn't allow someone to go from an 8 night cruise to a 7. Glad it worked out for you. 

I'm happy about our switch but seeing 423 days cruise count down is a bit deflating when it was 72 or whatever it was. 

It was probably my thread. ? I couldn’t do it online but Michelle at MEI got it done for me!

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