HalifaxYorksCruiser

I called Royal this morning as soon as the lines opened at 9am U.K. time and did a L&S on our August Rhapsody cruise to August 2022. I got through quickly but the L&S took much longer than last year . The problem in my case was sorting out the £1pp promo flights . It wasn’t a problem last year when I did the L&S.  Still waiting for a correct invoice ( have had 3 so far and all wrong) but have had e mail confirmation that the flight promo will be honoured. The taxes and fees remained unchanged.

2 minutes ago, gdwest said:

Regarding Lift & Shift...doesn't the new date have to be the following year?  My email states

" sailing within 2 weeks (before or after) of the original sale date the following year.

 

I was hoping I could L&S to the following week...from August 16 to the following week of

August 23 since they will state up on the 23rd.

Yes it needs to be the following year:

Option 2: Select a New Sail Date (Lift & Shift)

• If you prefer to move your existing booking to a sailing in 2022 - we're happy to move you! We will price protect the original pricing and/or promotion on a sailing that has the same embarkation port, sailing length, product, and stateroom category as your original sailing within 2 weeks (before or after) of the original sail date the following year. For example, if you are moving from a July 1, 2021 sailing, you can move to another sailing that has the same embarkation port, length, product, and stateroom category, and has a sail date between June 17, 2022 - July 15, 2022.
• Please know, 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 June 11, 2021. If not, we will automatically issue you a Future Cruise Credit.
• Complimentary Casino offers, Charter sailings, and select rates are not eligible for this offer.

It’s been obvious for some time that Rhapsody would not be sailing in the Med this Summer in view of it having been docked for months in St Maarten.

Think Royal are going to be busy tomorrow. Will call them to do a L&S on our August Rhapsody cruise

No surprise about Rhapsody. 

£599 for a balcony inc drinks and gratuities is a bargain. Just wish my wife could get time off work as the weather forecast next couple of weeks is very good.

I have just called Royal regarding my 31st July Jewel cruise. They have extended final payment from today to 8th June ( !) . I suspect I will cancel this booking and get the deposit back as a FCC as cannot see that Cyprus is likely to be put on the green list. 

I got an e mail the other day with an offer on the 8th June cruise  for a balcony at £599

Is anyone making final payments for July sailings on the Jewel. We are booked on the 31st July sailing and final payment due today. Thinking that I will call to cancel and get the deposit exchanged for a FCC. I cannot see U.K. Gov changing Cyprus from Amber to Green anytime soon given that yesterday they put Portugal into Amber. If Cyprus stays Amber I don’t think that I can put up with all the required testing pre and post cruise  ( and the not insignificant costs) plus quarantine on return . Might consider a U.K. staycation cruise.

Got to pay for our 31st July Jewel cruise today. Not sure what to do in view of Cyprus still being on the Amber list and suspect the way U.K. Gov are going is not likely to go Green anytime soon. 

After spending all week drifting off Limassol Jewel has this morning docked. Hoping this is a positive sign of preparing for Jewel commencing cruising in July.

Ships such as Rhapsody ( currently drifting off Freeport , Bahamas) are just not going to cruise in the Med this Summer. Royal need to be honest and cancel now.

Royal are still selling Rhapsody for early July from Ravenna. The selling of this cruise must be pretty close to being fraudulent as there can be zero possibility of Rhapsody being taken across to Europe for July and in my view once July is gone there is no point in bothering taking Rhapsody across to the Med for what is left of the European summer season. 

I see that Jewel is now anchored off the Port of Limassol. My final payment for 31st July sailing is due 4th June but not sure what to do as both U.K. and Cyprus are both on the amber list and Cyprus is in the FCO no travel unless essential list which will negate travel insurance.

I guess that the insurers were not willing to take the risk of the ship being a target for missiles.

9 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

My sailing on 10/2 dropped by ~$300 and there looks to be a lot of rooms left. My guess is that once the first cruises actually hit water this summer and people come back Covid-free and happy, the booking flood gates will open.

Keep checking pricing for 31st July but it’s no cheaper than when I booked as no CAC balcony discount or $100 OBC.

Jewel has left dry dock and due in Gib tomorrow.

14 hours ago, bigeck said:

Good news

Anthem is in the Med on its way to Limassol. To drop off crew I read somewhere

A lot of movement in the Med with all cruise lines

Yes Anthem is slowly making its way across the Med to Cyprus to pick up crew. Suspect Jewel will just have an overnight in Cadiz before proceeding on to Cyprus. I only booked Jewel for end of July as I strongly believe that my 21st August Rhapsody cruise will be cancelled.

Something positive happening. I can see on Vesselfinder that Jewel has left it’s anchorage and is sailing to Cadiz with an ETA of 5th May.

23 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

What ship did this happen on?  The rules changed and they allowed diamond drinks in the MDR in early 2019, if not earlier.

Can’t remember now. May have been before early 2019.

2 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Let me get this straight.   The rules  (stateroom letter?) said  you could not use the vouchers in the  dining room, you ordered a drink, ( likely had to sign a receipt so you were aware of the  charge),  were changed, then complained about the  valid charge and had the charge removed?    

 

Happily, I  believe all ships were allowing voucher  use in the dining room at the  shutdown.  

 

M

 

To explain. I was aware of the “rules” that you could not use diamond lounge entitlements in the main dining room. However on one cruise the waiter told me he would get our drinks on the diamond entitlement. Did not sign for the drinks but still ended up on our bill at the end of the cruise. I did get them removed though by reception desk. It seems a bit hit and miss whether some ships allow you to get diamond drinks in the MDR.

1 minute ago, NSWP said:

Cyprus currently has horrific Covid statistics, per capita higher than India.   I saw figures of 929 positive cases per 1 million people for Cyprus, today.  That is going to take some time to reduce, so why would the ships go there in a few months?

I suspect that if Cyprus has high rates of COVID passengers will not be able to go ashore and that it will be straight from the airport to the ship.

Just be careful ordering diamond drinks at the main restaurant dining table as in the past I have been charged and had to go to reception desk to have them taken off. To be fair the rules did use to say that you couldn’t use the diamond drinks vouchers in the main restaurants but some ships ignored this.

The 50% off a glass of wine or beer voucher ( pre loaded to your card) can only be used once and therefore I usually  use it against a nice wine. Likewise the 20% off voucher. Make sure you tell the waiter that you want to use the 50% off voucher or the 20% off voucher. Equally if you want to use one of your diamond allowance drinks you will need to tell the waiter.

I wonder when Jewel will set off from its current anchorage in Poole Bay for Cyprus. I see Anthem has over last few days made it’s way from the U.K. down to the Med to pick up crew. Currently Anthem is anchored off Gibraltar but rumour has it that it’s going to pick up crew in Cyprus to avoid crew having to hotel quarantine for 10 days in the U.K.

Manchester Airport website:

TUI flights usually depart from Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport. Although, as of September 2nd at 00:01, all TUI flights will now depart from Terminal 1 until further notice.