Spurschick

Spent 2 hours on phone to CR to L&S casino booking cancelled in latest round to January. Was told that new rules mean booking has to be cancelled and rebooked so we would have to front up port fees and taxes as they wouldn’t shift those just the cabin and have to join the queue for refund of original port fees and taxes!

Needless to say unimpressed, especially as still waiting for refunds from our other cancelled cruises in May.

1 minute ago, crusinthrough said:

https://cancellation.royalcaribbean.com/change?brand=R&_ga=2.94405592.594647497.1590767327-1101230479.1590767327

Link does not work

2 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Doesn’t sound like the government in the Bahamas is too keen on a “private-island-only” itinerary:

 

 

 

The closed country of Bahamas is dealing with a much different issue. Several major cruise lines—including Disney and Royal Caribbean—own or lease isolated private islands here, like Disney’s Castaway Cay and Royal Caribbean’s Perfect Day at CocoCay. Officials are trying to ward off any temptation by the lines to do short itineraries from South Florida that visit only places under cruise line control, bypassing the country’s largest city, Nassau. The local Bahamas Tribune newspaper quoted Dionisio D’Aguilar, the Bahamas minister of tourism, as saying that bypassing the capital city—where shops, restaurants, tours, and attractions draw visitor dollars—would not be allowed.

 

And so the saga continues.......

mac_tlc

Bahamas opens to commercial travelers July 1st.  If it is needed to visit Bahamas as a condition to go to private islands I am sure it won’t be an issue to cruiselines if it means they can sail.

2 minutes ago, ACEMommy2008 said:

We chose this one I replace a canceled April one. Because of the FCC offer, we were able to go from a Brilliance interior 5 day to this Oasis ocean view balcony 7 day!  We are really trying to be optimistic, but we also recognize that we won’t be able to come close price wise if we wait until after it cancels. However, we really don’t want to cancel and postpone then see that the cruise does go. Such a tough position to be in!

If you lift and shift it’s price protected.

2 hours ago, ACEMommy2008 said:

We have an Oasis cruise scheduled for November 29. We see the writing on the wall and are hoping to lift and shift. We used an online TA and in speaking with them today, the rep explained that the itinerary that we wish to switch to must be the exact same as the itinerary we already have booked. I was under the impression it just had to be in the same area (Bahamas, Caribbean, etc). Is anyone able to clarify this for me?  

We are praying this one goes ahead. We have had 8 cancelled so far😪

This is the poker cruise so if this is cancelled we will have to be shifted to next years poker cruise and it’s not always on the same ship so I’ll have to see what we will be shifted to.

7 minutes ago, lswilmot said:

Does anyone know if we can L&S a Club Royale free cruise? We are scheduled for a 4 night from Ft. Lauderdale on the Indy in August, and are now looking to L&S to the Mariner in March 2021 from Pt.Canaveral.

Thanks for any assistance.

We did L&S for our cancelled July casino cruise. We had to sail before end February to be able to shift. 

We are hoping with new extension they extended it past February as we have 2 more casino cruises that fall in the new cancelation extension, but won’t find out specifics until Tuesday.

10 minutes ago, chipmaster said:

 

Someone infected can easily be asymptomatic for days and even a week!!! Thus as others noted you can travel, get a viral load so big from a rally person from Tulsa and pass every test and then 8 days later get sick, or never get symptoms as your immune system and genetics makes you a COVID superpersons but give it to people in the elevator, hallway, buffet line, theater, dining room, and we got a super spreader event.

 

In places like Taiwan you are quarantined for 14 days!  

I’m not disagreeing. Although you can test positive if asymptomatic.

the thread is about testing options. I am just stating that they could require a test be performed prior to arrival, which may cut down on asymptomatic people arriving at the port in the first place that didn’t know they were infected, and then supplement test at the port with the breathalyzer test at the port and possibly have sniffer dogs too.

there is no 100% guarantee someone won’t slip through the system.

There is another thread that talks about a breathalyzer style test. There are other reports of dogs being trained to sniff out infected people.

Some countries that are allowing tourists are requiring a negative test from within 10 days of travel.

Given 10 days is a long time frame they may ask for test results and do breathalyzer at port. Not saying that’s what they will do but saying there are several options available.

16 hours ago, little britain said:

Oct 4 is the first cruise that is open to book from Southampton now.

 

Sept 17 is the first one from Spain (Jewel) then Sept 20 on Allure. 

I saw Spain announced yesterday that whilst reopen for tourists, cruises are banned indefinitely 😪

19 hours ago, Lindypops said:

Yes I have also been tacking her , she must be heading back towards Southampton .

we are booked on October 4th sailing so fingers crossed 🤞

As P&O have cancelled all cruises until October 15th and Cunard have cancelled up to November I would be surprised if RC sets sail first from Southampton.

Princess have not finalized everything but here is what they have released

Here is a link to the Costa resumption protocols. They did release a 5 page pdf which I now can’t find but this thread is accurate per what I had read.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2752959-costa-carnival-cruises-new-safety-procedures/

11 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We went out to dinner a couple of times last week. Inside tables where 6' apart. But that didn't stop people walking between the tables to be brushing up against you or standing next to you as they were waiting to be seated or waiters serving the next table. 

 

And, obviously, no one at the tables had mask on. All enjoying themselves, having a bit too much to drink, talking loudly spreading their germs. 

 

It was a great meal!

We went out for a meal Thursday, thought we would beat the Father’s Day rush.

we luckily got a table with no one next to us but the other side of the restaurant there were 5 tables back to back that they had fully occupied. No where close to 6 feet distancing.

I agree most places doing well, but we have also done take out at restaurants that have bars and bars were not socially distancing.

11 hours ago, EZ1 said:

We have 2 more Royals in August-we just go for the refund of the taxes & insurance.

Already had 4 cancelled-but only 10-20 days to get the refund. Our Carnival cancelled ones took longer 30-45 days. But the worst is Princess-still waiting for(only 1 thank goodness)

We are having a nightmare with Princess and MSC. MSC have made their own headache. Can move our cruise (casino comp) but they charge a deposit which is given as OBC. They can’t shift the deposit so we have to get refund for that as have to pay again to move the cruise. We refuse to give them any money until we get original deposit back. And that cruise was the first we had cancelled and was due to sail April 11th and they still can’t work out where our money is.

P&O was the best closely followed by RC. L&S makes it a lot less stressful!

16 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I agree there was just so much they could have done in relation to the protests and rioting. The people here are letting down their guard as well as things open up here. I'm not seeing social distancing or crowd control at the outdoor bars and restaurants. The tables are six feet apart but people are huddling between the gaps.  Retail in NYC opens next week. We will see what happens here. 

Unfortunately I’ve seen lack of distancing in indoor bars and restaurants as well. Some places have done a really good job of it others not so much.

8 hours ago, MJSailors said:

      Correct me if I am misinformed, but I do not think that Florida had the Phase 1,2,3,4 strategy that New York and neighboring states have chosen as a re-opening protocol.

 Were the number of people using a beach in Florida limited? Was mask wearing and social distancing part of a plan?  Were the number of customers in bars,restaurants and retail shops limited ? Did hair salons,barber shops,tattoo parlors and nail salons have to follow certain protocols for their businesses to operate ?

   Here on Long Island, NY,we have recently been in Phase 2. The parking lot of a nearby State beach has limited parking,with every other spot marked with a traffic cone. Once the lot is full, beach goers are turned away. Our local town beaches are limited to resident permit only and capacity has been diminished.

   In our township,there are signs posted that wearing a mask is necessary if social distancing of 6ft cannot be maintained. The amount of customers in retail stores,restaurants and bars are limited,with only outside dining being allowed. While hair salons and barber shops can be opened,certain protocols have been put in place such as no one in the waiting rooms, only hair services are allowed- no other beauty treatments can be offered. Tattoo parlors are not open.

       So far, our numbers are good. We are hoping this trend continues.

Of course there is a concern that numbers of positive cases may happen given the protests of the past few weeks and more people coming out of their homes to return to work. However, data will be the deciding fact if Phase 3 occurs or if Phase 2 is rolled back.

      It is this attention to the data for decisions about re-opening that has caused the NY numbers to be so low ( at least for now). Perhaps if the government of Florida had been more cautious concerning reopening, the increased numbers of Covid-19 would not be occurring in the state at the present time.

      To return to the OP’s question will Florida cruises start back up in August? Most likely not if the numbers we are seeing in a Florida continue on an upward trend.

From someone who has stayed the course since March,dealing with the threat of the virus and learning how to maneuver in such a situation, there is 0% chance that I would be interested in going to Florida to get on a cruise ship any time soon. YMMV

Regarding opening beaches I’m surprised US hasnt implemented something similar to Spain.

cordoned off 6ft areas, special areas for over 70’s, capacity limited and once gets to a certain capacity you have to reserve a square.

The beaches here have looked like a free for all from what I have seen.

1 hour ago, texasreb said:

Tonight, more bad news.

Royal Caribbean Announces Global Suspension Of Cruising

CLIA has announced the voluntarily suspension of U.S. cruise operations until September 15. We will share more details about this announcement with our guests early next week.

Hopefully can L&S for latest cancellations.

picked a couple of dates ready to hopefully L&S as we have 2 cruises cancelled in this latest round to add on to the 6 others already cancelled. 

L&s has has been the least painful thing to do. It’s better than waiting months for refunds like some of the other lines we had cruises cancelled with.

21 minutes ago, Ms Jo UK said:

Site back up

 

Yes and can still book cruises for August 🤞🏻😉

On 6/8/2020 at 9:14 AM, gmaloon said:

I cancelled jy drinks package and specialty dining package over a month ago and still not received the refund. I called and waited over an hour on the phone and gave up.

 

I thenm wrote to the CEO and received a reply from Tamika Thompson from the Executive Office. She basically said to be patient and it would take 45 to 60 days. I questioned why it was so long and she replied again to be patient withjout saying why.

 

I then said that there was no reason why it would take so long because we are in 2020 and everything is computerised. I posed a direct quetion "Is the delay because each cancellation is having to be done manually?"

 

She just replied "No, due to the mass cancellations nationwide, we are delayed processing all refunds."

 

So basically RC are purposely holding on to peoples money. Whatever happened to taking care of customers? It isnt because there is more work to do or anything like that, it is obviously just a cashflow issue and they are waiting/hoping for people to make new bookings and payments so they have money to do refunds.

 

Very disappointed.

I’m sorry things are longer than most people would like but we had 6 cruises cancelled with 4 different cruiselines.

i am still waiting for my refund for MSC cruise due to sail start April, and Princess we cancelled in March and we are being told probably more like August before we see the money.

RC have been the second best line we have dealt with in terms of speed to refund. I’d be happy if I could get my money back in 60 days from MSC and Princess but I’m already over 90 days with both.

9 minutes ago, EDHFamily said:

I smell a Class Action lawsuit coming on because I'm being forced to pay credit card interest fees for a May cruise that was cancelled.

If you dispute they will not charge you interest whilst the refund is pending

16 minutes ago, OHCruisinDad said:

 

My thinking is yes.  And we have the Liberty booked on August 30th.  Might as well check the L&S options now and be prepared.

When we did CR L&S they said we had to sail by February. I hope sailings start soon as we will be hard pressed to keep moving our cancelled cruises into that time frame given holiday sailings are blocked.

Just now, OHCruisinDad said:

 

My thinking is yes.  And we have the Liberty booked on August 30th.  Might as well check the L&S options now and be prepared.

Agreed August is looking less and less likely, especially with increasing cases in Florida.

I am hoping that RC may return a little sooner than NCL. I honestly don’t see all lines starting back up at the same time. Speculation on my part, but basing that on demographics and which lines passengers will be most happy doing short cruises to private islands. 

In their (NCL’s) TA release they mentioned decision was in part due to closed ports, but that they expect to start sailings in the near future. 

1 hour ago, ScubaCruiser54 said:

I guess the Novel Coronavirus -19 makes me look like an expert...  Boy, I guess there will be a lot of changes now.

At least RC made people use hand sanitizer going into WJ!

Unwrapped utensils was a norm in buffets and quick service restaurants in lots of land based restaurants too. They didn’t make people use hand sanitizer entering so just imagine the germs there.

Yes it is a change that I see happening but not just on cruise ships.

11 hours ago, petuniaflower said:

Refund received today after TA calling MSC Monday and it being "escalated"...cancelled beginning of April for May 23 sailing.

And our refund was escalated 10 days ago for a sailing in April.

Glad you got your refund but this is ridiculous.

What’s even more annoying is I wanted to rebook. Was told my deposit would be issued as fcc. Had this been done I wouldn’t have a problem, but no they then said (after 2 months of phone calls) that I couldn’t have an fcc and I had to wait for my refund. At the beginning I was told delay was because FCC’s being processed in Italy and they were in lockdown. 

You would think refunds funds would be simpler, there again it took my daughters school almost 8 weeks to refund her Senior prom ticket🙄

This is was the first of 6 cruises I had booked that have been cancelled. I have 3 cancelled cruises fully resolved. 

The only good good thing is with the delay and the change in ports/itineraries for next year I’m not trying to fix a booking that had been changed again.

On 6/14/2020 at 5:02 PM, Roger88 said:

Americans, and princess passengers specifically (according to the threads on this forum) have received their refunds in 30-45 days. There were some ridiculous cases when they couldn't manage and still have not received the refund but I rather blame it on some technical issue with the system rather than companies not willing to issue the refund in general. So yeah, I think for the US  citizens it went just alright 

Princess refunding in 30-45 days. I’m sorry but that’s a joke. We cancelled in March and have been told it’s going to be another 2 months before we are likely to get our money from Princess. Needless to say we have filed a cc dispute after the latest update.

they are the only cruise line that is actually making MSC not look like the worst I am dealing with, and we have had 6 cruises cancelled so far with 4 different cruiselines.