travelinmoma

Thanks all!

My son really wants to cruise to Cuba for his graduation trip.  Do you think there is any chance it will be open by Summer of 2023?  I saw that the Biden administration announced it will be easing sanctions, but do you think it will ease enough to allow cruising again by then?  Should we hold out or just plan something else?  

Thank you everyone!  We decided to cancel the trip.  I appreciate your feedback. 

We had a NE/Canada cruise booked for July 2020 which we moved to July 2021.  Then RCI sold our ship. 😞 We couldn't rebook a NE/Canada cruise before our FCC expired because they weren't offering them.  So we decided to just let our FCC go, use our flight credits to fly to Boston and just see that part of the trip (maybe taking the train to Maine while we're there).  Now Boston has a vaccine mandate and won't allow unvaccinated people in indoor facilities.  Our 16 year old is unvaccinated (and no plans to vaccinate).  I don't need judgments about his status please, my main question is for people familiar with Boston.  Is it worth it for us to still take this trip?  Will there be enough to see and do without going inside places? It will be late March if that makes any difference (not sure what the weather is like).  DH and son are huge history buffs so that was the main reason for the trip.  I'm excited about Lobster rolls .  HA! I also have a Revolutionary War ancestor buried there, and I wanted to visit his grave.  My mother grew up there, so I've been there several times as a child to visit my grandparents, but I don't remember much.  Dh and son have never been.  We won't have a car and had planned to walk/Uber everywhere.  Will we even be able to ride in an Uber?  I appreciate any info.  Thank you!

On 1/10/2022 at 9:14 AM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

couldn't you book some other cruise rather than lose $750? Anything else? I'd rather cruise an itinerary we've sailed many times before than lose $750.

If I could have found something for $750 yes,  but I really didn't want to add another $2000 to that for a vacation that we really didn't want to take.   And honestly, cruising doesn't even sound fun at all right now.  I'd rather take my lumps and do something fun. 

I think anyone booking a cruise (or any travel right now) is taking a risk.  To answer your question, Royal doesn't care. They are really struggling right now and one customer no matter the status doesn't matter to them.  They canceled our cruise because they sold our ship (not due to Covid which is out of their control), gave us an FCC that expired before they started sailing that itinerary again. So there was no way we could have even booked that cruise on another ship. We lost $750. Very frustrating.  I know it's disappointing, but if I were you I wouldn't book anything else until Covid is a distant memory or until you are ok with having your plans ruined at the last minute. 

So my FCC is basically useless to me since I can't sail before it expires.  I was talking to a friend about how I'm considering it my "donation" to Royal because it's the only way I can deal with the stress this whole situation is causing me.  She suggested donating it to Make a Wish or a similar organization.  I hadn't thought about that before, but I know Im able to donate airline miles I've accumulated, so it would make sense that I could donate this FCC.  I Googled it, but couldn't find any info about it.  However I did see articles mentioning that Royal partners with Make a Wish.  Has anyone done this before?  Do you have any info for me to make this happen?  TIA

At this point I'm just looking at it as a donation to Royal -my small part to keep a giant business from going under.  

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

You can get a refund for an August cruise regardless of where you work. You could apply your FCC to an August cruise and then turn around and cancel for a full refund (by claiming you don’t like the protocols). 

She told me I wouldn't get my FCC back because it was from an original NRD.  

1 minute ago, Sunshine3601 said:

When your july cruise was cancelled didnt they give you an option for cash refund or l&s to another sailing?

I thought all fccs issued during cwc policy are good thru sept 2022?

They refunded everything but my FCC( $750).  It has to be booked by March 2022 and sail by Sept 2022.  The itinerary I booked isn't even available again until October 2022.  I'm also a teacher, so no way I can take a week off in October.  😞

I am sooooooo frustrated about this as well.  I had a cruise booked for July 2020.  When I called prior to final payment to see what my options were, I was told I could move my NRD to the same cruise in July 2021.  Wonderful, right?  Well then in December I get an email telling me that they sold the ship I was supposed to sail on in July 2021.  Now my FCC expires in March 2022.  I have absolutely no desire to mess with cruising right now as everything is so up in the air and a PITA (although I would have done it if I had been able to keep my July 2021 cruise).   Not to mention that the itinerary I  had booked isn't even sailing again until October of 2022!   But Royal doesn't care.  Not only will they not refund my FCC, they won't even extend it to a reasonable date when I could actually use it.  AND they were the ones who sold the ship!  I feel like they stole $750 from me. 

So enough of my griping, I do have a point. HA!  The agent did tell me if I worked in healthcare (I don't, but sounds like you do) that I could get a refund.  So, this might be some good news for you.  

On 7/20/2021 at 3:13 PM, LadyShiva said:

(United States) Minor passport for a teenager, where kiddo has Pre-check already, and this is the flip from an expired 5 year to a lovely adult 10 year passport.  I paid for expedited handling.

Applied on June 18th, came in the USPS today!  *whew*  Our major city had NO passport interviews available for months (Pandemic), so we kept looking in smaller and smaller towns in the surrounding areas.  Lucked out with a town that does passports every day, no problems.

 

I hope that is good news for others waiting on their passport renewals.  I am doing the countdown dance now that I can breathe easier. 😁

We need to do this for our soon to be 16 year old.  His passport expired in February, but I wanted to wait until he was 16 to get a new one so it would be good for 10 years instead of 5.  Do we have to do it in person with both parents even though he's 16? Any tips or advice?  Anything I need to make sure I have ready?  Thanks!

Thank you for all of the responses!  I'm nervous about giving them any more money to book another cruise, but it looks like that might be my only option.  

I read an article recently that NCL was offering a refund for FCC if the FCC was used to book a  cruise  under the Peace of Mind plan and then that cruise was cancelled by the cruise line.  We had a similar situation with RCL.  I really have no interest in taking a cruise for a VERY long time and my FCC expires in March.  Has RCL changed its policy at all or any talk of following in NCL's footsteps?  Any chance I can get a refund or at least an extension on my FCC expiration?  Thanks!

On 12/16/2020 at 10:42 AM, Bery said:

We used our FCC ($500) to rebook Empress for Bermuda in July 2021 and paying an additional $500 deposit.  We are wondering if we can now get the refund for the total of $1000. Anyone know?

We did something similar and so far they have only refunded one deposit.  😞  I feel like they should refund the whole thing if they are the ones cancelling the cruise.

On 12/23/2020 at 4:53 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

 

As Nancy mentioned,   The FCC will be reissued and you may request a refund on the new cash. 

So if I can't cruise again before the FCC expires I'm just out of luck even though they are the ones who cancelled my cruise? 

1 minute ago, NancyIL said:

According to RCI’s email, you will get a FCC unless you request a refund. 

I requested the refund, but I have $750 that was a FCC from a nonrefundable deposit and then $750 from the Cruise with Confidence program since they made me pay another deposit.  I'm just hoping I get all $1500 refunded as I do not want any FCC.  We will not be cruising again for a very long time. 

So if I had a nonrefundable deposit, I will still get my money back (not FCC) since they canceled, Correct?  TIA

I'm a little sad about giving up cabin 9664, but I'm relieved.  Now I'm no longer wondering everyday what my plans are for the summer.  I can move forward with a new plan.  

I never got to sail on Empress.  I'm hoping they will offer a NE/Canada option on another ship in the future.  

At this point, I'm just hoping and praying my cruise gets cancelled, and I can get a refund.  We are booked on a NE/Canada cruise.  I can't imagine not being able to get off the ship in my own country and walk around.  In Boston, we had planned to just walk the Freedom Trail (ironic, huh?).  

Thanks for the encouraging words.  I will check out the beach you mentioned.  I'm a beach gal 100%! We are definitely starting to think about a Plan B.  I think we could rent a car and drive our cruise ship itinerary, so that's a possibility too.  Son and husband are both history buffs, and they have never been to NE.  

On 11/23/2020 at 8:27 AM, Sunshine3601 said:

We have several sailings booked out of Cape Liberty from March thru Sept 2021 and all of them have gone up.  Some more than double the price.   They dont drop until september/october.  

Empress sailings out of NJ are very expensive!!

We are also on Empress out of NJ in July.  I've noticed our price has almost doubled!  I  really really really want to go on this sailing.  We were able to snag one of the larger ocean view rooms, and I had to use my airline credits to rebook our flight to NJ.  I wont' have a chance to change them again.  If this ship doesn't sail, we'll be stuck with an 8 day trip to NJ.  😞

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Since neither of those has happened or is even planned on we don’t know how Royal will handle it.

 I had an airline credit from the canceled trip in July.  I rebooked the same cruise (Empress which rumor has it, she's getting scrapped)  for July 2021, and now I have to make a decision about these flights by the end of December.   I'd really like to have some answers.  I have a feeling I won't be going on a cruise, and I'll have flights to NJ booked.  I guess I need to make a plan B for spending 8 days in NJ.  Ugh  I wish Royal would just offer a full refund since they don't seem to know what they are doing and most people need don't make all of their vacation arrangements at the last minute. 

On 7/22/2020 at 8:41 AM, Mapleleafforever said:

Hell to the NO, I will gladly take a full refund for our next cruise though as this stipulation wasn't in place at time of our booking. 

 

I am nowhere near an anti vaxxer and in fact both our kids as well as my wife and I are fully vaccinated. We never get flu shots though as we prefer to keep ourselves healthy and let our immune systems do what they're supposed to do. 

 

Vaccines generally take quite some time to develop and our family refuses to be guinea pigs for a rushed vaccine. For those wanting to be first in line for said rushed vaccine you might want to look up what happened in 1976 with the swine flu vaccine. 

 

Oh, and in case you get the rushed vaccine and god forbid something bad does happen you have no right for any legal recourse against the vaccine maker. 

 

Your best defense is to do your best to maintain a healthy weight, eat right, and exercise. 

 

 

 

 

Are they going to offer a full refund?  I was curious about this as well.  If we decide we don't want to do this since it wasn't a requirement when we booked, will we be able to get our money back?  I also want my money back if I am only allowed to get off the ship if I am going on one of THEIR excursions.  I'd like to know how that is going to be handled.  

I'm late to this thread, but I moved our July 2020 sailing on Empress to July 2021.  I have to book my new flights to NJ by the end of December in order to use the credits I was given by AA.  Do you think we will know by December if she's not coming back since there are November sailings scheduled?