RC have cancelled our ship - Can you help me decide what to do?

[TheRobinsons]

Explorer on 9th July from Ravenna has been cancelled, so now we have choices to make, the dates were perfect for us.  We cannot go any later than this as I have work commitments that I simply cannot get out of    The itinerary was what we were looking forward to the most.

Options they offered:

 

Option 1: Re-book one of the following 2023 7-Night itineraries onboard Explorer of the Seas sailing to:

• Split, Croatia | Mykonos, Greece | Santorini, Greece | and Olympia (Katakolon), Greece on July 2^{nd  (NOT REALLY THE ITINERARY WE WANTED BUT SIMILAR)}
• Split, Croatia | Mykonos, Greece | Santorini, Greece | and Dubrovnik, Croatia on July 16^{th   (I CANNOT MOVE TO THIS DUE TO WORK COMMITMENTS)}
• Kotor, Montenegro | Corfu, Greece | Athens (Piraeus), Greece | Mykonos, Greece | and Argostoli, Greece on July 23^{rd   (THIS ONE IS THE SAME ITINERARY AS WHAT WERE MEANT TO HAVE, BUT I CANNOT MOVE TO THIS DUE TO WORK COMMITMENTS)}

Option 2: Re-book any other Royal Caribbean International sailing  - This will prob cost more money than we can kind of afford to change to

Option 3: If you can’t find a new itinerary that works for you and choose to cancel, we’ll be sad to see you go.  - We dont get to do the holiday we wanted.

I am just sad that this has happened, will probably go for option one as its the only dates that really suit.

Someone comfort me  lol

[Neesa]

The universe has her reasons. You just may enjoy the similar itinerary as well. Focus on the positives of this trip, and make the best of it with those you hold dear. Enjoy every minute of the experience, so very disappointing express your sadness maybe they toss in some OBC or a nice dinner. I have learned in my 50 + years on the beautiful earth in a situation such as this to be positive and go with it, tell yourself this was meant to be and I'm going to have the best holiday! 

What ever you choose, I wish you happiness

[ChessE4]

If you are flying, pick a cruise that will allow you to spend a few nights at departure port. While Santorini is great, we've enjoyed also Western Med. Crowds are an issue midsummer. Agree that a vacation together is what counts. Enjoy!

[smokeybandit]

And here I thought The Robinsons always went on space trips

[WAAAYTOOO]

Are they willing to price-protect your fare if you choose any of the cruises in Option #1 ?

[FireFishII]

Yes, itineraries are important when picking out a cruise but you got to remember that the ship can always cancel or swap a port at the last minute (which did happen to one of my cruises at 4 days out). But don't forget the most important part of cruising: relaxing and getting away for it all.  So, take the only option left and start planning on having a marvelous time!  Enjoy. 

[WhoCruiser]

10 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

And here I thought The Robinsons always went on space trips

The original  literary Robinsons hundreds of years ago did in fact ship out on the sea,  but then of course they didn't have Dr Smith to contend with...

[TheRobinsons]

So they haven't fully protected the price, we are unable to get my time dining now and are stuck with 6pm, this just feels like a disaster of a first experience with Royal Caribbean.

 

They have cancelled off all our special black friday deals we got on our drinks, so thats gonna cost more now, and to be honest, as the supposed best cruiseline in the world, this is a bad experience for me so far.

[TheRobinsons]

On 12/14/2022 at 11:14 PM, WhoCruiser said:

The original  literary Robinsons hundreds of years ago did in fact ship out on the sea,  but then of course they didn't have Dr Smith to contend with...

Our Dr Smith is currently Royal Caribbean as a company lol.... 

On 12/14/2022 at 1:14 PM, smokeybandit said:

And here I thought The Robinsons always went on space trips

Wish I was going on a space trip at this point lol.

[Neesa]

5 hours ago, TheRobinsons said:

So they haven't fully protected the price, we are unable to get my time dining now and are stuck with 6pm, this just feels like a disaster of a first experience with Royal Caribbean.

 

They have cancelled off all our special black friday deals we got on our drinks, so thats gonna cost more now, and to be honest, as the supposed best cruiseline in the world, this is a bad experience for me so far.

Okay so my Ms positive over here is getting salty on your behalf.  There is a way to gracefully handle this by Royal and they are missing the boat (pun intended) big time. 

This is a tough one, at this point for me I would be like I hear you universe, peace out. Can you get a full refund for the sailing even fcc and start fresh? In my little world 6pm dining alleviates the standing in line and waiting for a table at my time, but losing the black Friday deals is making me angry for you. No way that's right. Reach out mbayley@rccl.com with a calm explanation start with the cruise planner specifics to at least request they respect the pricing you secured. Good luck, I am so rooting for you. 

We're you able to engage a TA? They could help as well. Positive thoughts coming at you. Royal isn't perfect by any means I am comfortable saying this is not something that is frequent.