Mariner of the Seas cancellations

[Stacey RC]

I just got an email from Royal Caribbean that my September 2023 sailing on Mariner of the seas is cancelled because they were modifying itineraries. What’s up with that?

[Bean79]

Welcome to the message boards. Did you reach out to your travel agent? If you don't have one you will need to call Royal directly.

[Stacey RC]

Thank you! I’m planning on reaching out, I was just wondering why they decided to change the itinerary. Maybe to make way for a newer ship?

[Ubiquitous Cruiser]

Ours for October was also cancelled ... this is the letter:

 

Dear Guest,

We recently had to make some modifications to our itinerary planning, which impacts Mariner of the Seas’ May 2023 – October 2023 sailings. As a result, Mariner’s departures have been revised, and therefore, we’ve made adjustments to its itineraries. Unfortunately, this means your upcoming cruise has been cancelled.

We know how much time and effort go into planning your vacation, and we’re terribly sorry for the inconvenience. However, the good news is, Mariner of the Seas will still be offering similar itineraries from the same port – just on different days.

Your vacation is important to us, along with the flexibility to make the best decision for you and those in your party. Below, we’ve outlined your options along with a few additional details.

Option 1: Move to an alternate 6-Night sailing in 2023 onboard Mariner of the Seas.

• If you’d like to move your existing booking to an alternate sailing next year – we’re happy to move you! We’ll price protect the original pricing and/or promotion on a 6-night Mariner of the Seas 2023 sailing that has the same product, embarkation port, and stateroom category as your original cruise within 1 week (before or after) of the original sail date. For example, if you are moving from the 5-night May 29^th, 2023 sailing onboard Mariner of the Seas, you can move to a 6-night 2023 Mariner of the Seas sailing that has the same product, embarkation port, stateroom category, and has a sail date between May 22^nd, 2023 – June 5^th, 2023.
  • Please note, price protection covers your cruise fare/promotion on an applicable sailing only and excludes taxes and fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items, as these may change.
  • You must decide to move to a new sailing by April 27^th, 2022. If not, your reservation will be cancelled.

Option 2: Rebook any Royal Caribbean sailing.

• If you prefer to re-book a different sailing, we’ll waive any non-refundable deposit change fees associated with the move.
• Please note, you’ll be responsible for any difference in pricing for your cruise fare, taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.
  • If you were already paid in full and your cruise fare rate decreases, we’ll provide you with a refund for the difference. You can expect to receive your refund to the original form of payment within 30 business days after we move you. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on your financial institution.

Option 3: If you can’t find a new cruise itinerary and choose to cancel, we’ll be sad to see you go. You’ll receive:

• A full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare and any pre-paid amenities to the original form of payment within 30 business days, including non-refundable deposits.
• Please note, if you choose this option, we will not provide additional compensation.
• Lastly, if you used a Future Cruise Credit on this sailing, and you request a refund instead, we’ll refund any NEW funds paid above the certificate amount, and we’ll reinstate your original certificate.

It’s important to us that you find the best cruise option. Please call us at 888-281-9344 or contact your Travel Advisor by April 27^th, 2022, if you decide to go with option 1 or 2. Please know, hold times may be longer than usual. If you decide to go with option 3, there’s no need to call us. If we haven’t heard from you by April 27^th, 2022, your reservation will be cancelled.

[Ubiquitous Cruiser]

Frustrating thing about this is that Option 1 is not even an option. We had a 5-night, and the offer is a price guarantee for a 6-night within a week +/- of the original sailing. There're no 6-night sailings. There is a 7 night, which is not eligible for the offer, but it's priced at $1,049 for a balcony! 

[bigmoose7563]

2 hours ago, Ubiquitous Cruiser said:

Frustrating thing about this is that Option 1 is not even an option. We had a 5-night, and the offer is a price guarantee for a 6-night within a week +/- of the original sailing. There're no 6-night sailings. There is a 7 night, which is not eligible for the offer, but it's priced at $1,049 for a balcony! 

I believe that is just an example. From how I read it you can switch to whichever new Mariner itinerary in that 2 week window

[Mrs. Regular]

Yep, we were scheduled for an 8-night Eastern Caribbean in July 2023. We would like to do Option 1 but our TA can't even see the new schedule yet and we have to decide in a week and a half. Very frustrating. 

[Stacey RC]

My original sailing was for 9/11/23, I just called and switched it to 9/9/23 a 6-night sailing for the same price as the 5-night sailing I was on before. They were really flexible and helpful! It’s a bonus that I saved a lot of money and will be sailing around the same time

[Ubiquitous Cruiser]

3 hours ago, bigmoose7563 said:

I believe that is just an example. From how I read it you can switch to whichever new Mariner itinerary in that 2 week window

That more falls into option 2, which allows you to transfer to any cruise on any ship even for non-refundable. To me the takeaway is that Royal is in effect doing away with any compensation (e.g. OBC, FCC with +25%) when they cancel a cruise. Understand that they have no obligation to compensate me, but the shift from prior practices is disheartening. At the same time it's also understandable considering the financial situation COVID/CDC wrecked on the cruise industry.

[bigmoose7563]

We are switching from an 8-night Eastern Caribbean to a 8-night Bermuda overnight. The price right now for a JS is almost $1000 pp more then our locked in price so I feel that $2k savings is fair compensation. My TA said they can start doing the changes this afternoon.

[Colombia20102018]

18 hours ago, bigmoose7563 said:

We are switching from an 8-night Eastern Caribbean to a 8-night Bermuda overnight.

Ok. In case you are not aware. Bermuda requires a travel authorization application per passenger. $40 per person. I hope they remove it at some point.

[Moby Dick]

I've never had that happen to me.  Well, I've had a couple cruises canceled because of COVID.  But, that is a whole lot different than being canceled because of a charter, equipment repositioning, and so on.  As much as I'm loyal to Royal, I love cruising their ships (and I'm not saying it doesn't happen on other cruise lines), if it happened to me, I don't know if I'd be a customer of Royal's, anymore.  I'm sure they don't care though.  I'm just one little minnow in an ocean of sharks!  But, there a lot of other ships in the sea.

[Holly44]

We booked the May 13, 2023 sailing on the Mariner while on the Odyssey last week. When I looked at our options yesterday, I noticed that we could move the sailing to the 12th, but we would be going to CocoCay instead of Labadee (which is fine), and we would no longer be going to the Dominican Republic. We eventually decided to change to a cruise on the Wonder for next year instead. It was a bit disappointing, but I’m happy with what we ended up booking. Why does everyone think they are made these changes?  I probably am just missing something, but I didn’t see Labadee listed as a port of call during the months of the revised schedule. I’m wondering if something is going on there. 

[Patchy]

I’m sorry to hear about all of these itinerary changes impacting your sailings.    Question though about the new posted schedules….  Does this mean that the schedules we can see (and book) right now (4/25/22) for new sailings reflect the new itineraries?   Thanks in advance, as I’m looking at a possible summer 2023 on Mariner.