Russ Lomas

On 12/7/2022 at 8:03 PM, Starry Eyes said:

When they are offering a downgrade to an inside cabin on the same cruise, it really does not matter where one lives.  People need to take the same flights or the same drive whether they sail in a balcony or an inside cabin.  Floridians are good targets for move over offers, but I meet lots of people who drive (rather than fly) to cruises from other states.  Furthermore, there are plenty of snowbirds with permanent addresses in other states who are in Florida for months.  As it is just an email offer, the cruiselines can cast a wider net than just Floridians.   I suspect they will get sufficient volunteers to switch to inside cabin in exchange for refund of cruise fare. The last time Wonder was oversold, they made offers to move people off the ship.  Then days before sailing, there were enough cancellations they had a few cabins to sell on that cruise.

I hope for all those involved in the offer, they get enough people to accept.  For those like myself who would have to drive 20+ hours to the port, we will always fly.  Just the threat by RCCL saying that they will start to cancel reservations if enough people do not accept the offer, would be enough to cause a boatload of stress and start the vacation off on the wrong foot.  Good luck to all those who may be affected.

On 12/6/2022 at 5:00 PM, bavrail18 said:

Booked an Oceanview gty. Still do not have a stateroom assigned. Definitely not going to an inside cabin. They said in the email that if they do not get enough people to move they may have to cancel some bookings.

At this point hoping that we will be lucky enough to have our booking cancelled.

Likely that is because you live in Florida.  For those who purchased non-refundable airline tickets already to Florida, that is not a realistic option unless they wanted to eat the cost of their airline tickets.

18 hours ago, CanHardlyWait4NextYear said:

You would pass up a free trip over an inside cabin? I can't even imagine being that lucky. 

You and I feel the same.  If RCCL told me that they would let me cruise for free on our upcoming March cruise in an inside cabin and they just wanted my CP balcony for that switch, I would be all over that offer.

On 11/17/2022 at 10:35 AM, maxsales said:

I admit too being pretty much a Royal rookie, as my Diamond status comes by way of celebrity.  So that being said I am not in the know about how the current voucher system works.  What I do know is that we receive four vouchers per day (24 hours).  Now for the questions

1. Do we receive vouchers on the fist day?
2. With the current drink prices being $14.00 and the voucher being for $13.00 do we pay the deference ($1.00) or pay the entire price?
3. Can be vouchers be used in main dining or specialty restaurants for a drink or glass of wine?

Appreciate the responses and clarification.

Something else that I have learned is that you not only do you get 4 drinks per day including the embarkation day, you also get 4 more loaded on for your disembarkation day.  We used them for specialty coffees and fresh squeezed OJ in the Windjammer (I was driving home, so I did not want alcohol in the morning) before disembarking, but I guess if I had been up at midnight the day before disembarking and 4 were loaded on at midnight, I could have had 4 more alcoholic drinks that evening.

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

My bad, just assumed it ended on Sunday.  Gets them an extra day.  I am assuming that they will want everything open and shiny for the Trade Event sailing

That plus the President's cruise next year

1 minute ago, VernRDH said:

I agree, can't say I am at all interested in Icon. It's a floating water park. I know young families will be attracted by it, guess that means more room and lower prices on the older smaller ships. 

Only thing I liked that I saw was the infinite balcony, but not enough to deal with the rest.

I am game to try Icon once to experience what it has to offer, since it looks very different.  I am also looking forward to hopefully sailing RCCL on one of their older smaller ships in Europe for the summer of 2024 if they go to some great ports that those big behemoth ships cannot fit into.  If on a port intensive cruise, there is no need for all those extra bells and whistles.

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

If you think Royal is bad for slashing their prices you should check out NCL.  Just had a suite drop from $6600pp to $2200pp after final payment

The "scam" that NCL pulled on friends of ours who sailed with them this past summer (if what they said is true)...They originally paid about $2200 per person.  Price dropped to about $1100 per person.  They called in and the $1100 difference was offered as a future cruise credit.

They just booked a European cruise with NCL for next summer.  The price was supposed to be about $2000 per person as advertised (they were also offering 40% off the booking price as they usually do -originally $2800 per person).

They asked to apply their $1100 future cruise credit and the amount they still owed was not the expected $900 after taking $1100 off the $2000 price.  It was about $1700 each (this had nothing to do with port fees and taxes according to them).  They asked why they did not get the $1100 off per person and the NCL rep said that they apply the future cruise credit to the price BEFORE the 40% off sale they are advertising, and not the price advertised on their website.  Therefore, the true value of each $1100 future cruise credit in reality was only $300 each (times the six credits they had, this meant they got $1800 off instead of the $6600 they had expected).

Pretty shady way of doing things if you ask me.  At least RCCL does not pull that kind of dishonest math (as far as I know).

On 10/6/2022 at 12:05 AM, A&L_Ont said:

Let’s call it a truce.  I’d say that’s enough baseball talk until the games finish Friday night. 

Unfortunately, not only is the Friday game over, but the season.  Our Jays were too up and down this season and never really fully found their groove.  Very disappointing to be eliminated that quickly.  Hopefully you did not make it home in time to watch it all unravel yesterday.  Until next year....

On 10/6/2022 at 9:22 AM, A&L_Ont said:

It has been so long since we saw Owen.  I would never have recognized him if I walked by him now.  Kids are growing up fast.  Our youngest twins are now in high school as well.

Glad you got some riding in on the cruise.  Unfortunately, we cancelled our Mariner trip for this Christmas break (a few of the other families set to go with us cancelled, so we decided to do so as well).  See you in March, and thanks for taking us along on this journey with you once again.

23 hours ago, Ret MP said:

I found the U2 tribute band we saw on the ship on Youtube:

 

 

that is 1,000 times better than the Generation Idol (Billy Idol cover band) that was on the Odyssey when we were on it.  It was supposed to be an Aerosmith cover band (which we were all excited to see).  Guessing they got cancelled last minute (Covid?) and the Billy Idol act was the best they could do (which was not good)

On 10/5/2022 at 5:49 PM, poocher said:

And I was making $7.50 an hour.  

So $7.50 per hour divided by the $1.99 per drink equals one hour of work for 3.77 drinks per hour worked.  Multiply the $13 drink price by 3.77 and you have to be earning $49 per hour to purchase the same number of drinks.  While some do make this, there are an awful lot of people not making that.

If you kept your original reservation number, then the KSF would still qualify for the KSF.  We had twin daughters booked under the promo, but after a lift-and-switch, our kids were both almost 14 years old.  They still qualified under the KSF promo because we retained the original booking number and booking date.

As soon as YOU cancelled your cruise and are rebooking under a new reservation number, the date of that booking becomes the important date for the age of your children.

On 10/4/2022 at 8:35 AM, poocher said:

Going without this trip.  I struggled in March (when the price with gratuities was $71 per day) to get what I perceived to be my money’s worth.  I don’t drink smoothies or specialty coffees, had a few waters but also found the ship’s water tasted perfectly fine, maybe 1 soda per day.  By day 4 I was ordering drinks I really didn’t want.  Will be Diamond after this cruise so the vouchers will be plenty.

Could not agree with you more.  As a recent new Diamond member as well, the 4 drinks daily were good enough for me (though I know others that would burn through 4 drinks before noon).

On 9/27/2022 at 5:38 PM, nferr said:

 I hated the enclosed solarium on the Anthem. Just feels like you're sitting in a humid glasshouse. Spent maybe 15 minutes in there my entire 11 night cruise. A lot of people seemed to love it though.

They must have figure out the temperature issue in the Solarium on the Odyssey.  It was an absolutely beautiful area.  A few times, a bit too cool in March in the Caribbean, actually.  Wish the beautiful tiered pools in there were a bit warmer.

9 hours ago, micmacmissy said:

School principal here - I'm in the same boat!

Literally, the same boat (or ship), due to our schedules

8 hours ago, lovelife said:

The first couple weeks of December is another  great time to cuise. Loveley decor is already up and it's much less expensive.

 

As an employee as a teacher in the public school board, I will not be able to enjoy those early December cruises until I retire.  We cannot take the time off work.  Alas, until that time, those of us working in education or who have kids that we do not want to miss school, are forced to pay triple or quadruple to sail over the Christmas holidays.

One Flowrider vs. two Flowriders on the same class ship.  That right there tells me I book the Oasis every time over the Wonder.  The Wonder is one ship I likely will never sail on for that reason.  Price (especially if one is far more than the other) usually tells me what ship to book.  I got an incredible deal on the Oasis out of NY for next summer that my wife wants to cancel, but the deal was so good, I really want to keep it.  If they switched the Oasis out and replace it with the Allure, Harmony, or Symphony, we would 100% keep the cruise.  If they switched the cruise out of NYC to the Wonder, I would 100% cancel the cruise.

23 hours ago, brillohead said:

I'm still wondering how a certain friend is going to handle the World Cruise without CATS for that long... I'm guessing he'll smuggle a DVD on board for when he's having withdrawal symptoms?

The only thing worse than the live performance of Cats, is the DVD version, sorry John.

4 hours ago, gmkgks said:

Hi,

Looking at the Odyssey for Christmas with a 12 year old.  We have not done any Quantum class ships.  I’m looking at the amenity lists online but I’d love opinions from others that have done the Oasis class and then tried Odyssey. We’ve done 4 Oasis class ships in the last 3 years.  
Thanks. 

We have sailed twice on the Odyssey and twice on Oasis class ships.  We have two upcoming cruises booked on the Oasis and none on the Quantum class ships, like the Odyssey.  That should tell you what we prefer.

The Odyssey is gorgeous and has a lot of amazing things to see and do.  Service was excellent.  Incredible Solarium area.  We sailed the Odyssey twice, once at 17% occupancy and once with 100% occupancy.  The 100% occupancy (which is then norm now, and will definitely will be over the holidays when you expect to sail) felt like it was sailing at 200% capacity.  Free activity spots for things like iFly and NorthStar were all booked fast, so many people either paid or did not do them.  Some prime pay restaurant reservations went quickly.  Shows you had to book ahead of time when boarding the ship filled quickly for some shows.  Worst of all was you could not find a single deck chair after 8 am on sea days on the pool deck, the deck above the pool deck, or in the Solarium.  Wall-to-wall people.  Far less space per passenger than on the Oasis class ships

21 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

What happens, when people test positive before a cruise after September 30th?

No more pre-cruise testing at that point for those who are vaccinated.  Those who are unvaccinated just "have to" do a rapid test which does not even need to be proctored.  I am guessing that 90% of unvaccinated cruisers do not even bother and just saw they did one and it was negative.  RCCL is going to the honour system in these cases, but in reality, it is likely just a marketing ploy saying. "Hey, we said they had to test and they said they did and it was negative.  What else can we do to ensure your safety?"

10 hours ago, rudeney said:

  In that case I stay away from others so I don't transmit whatever it is - cold, flu or COVID - to others.

It is tough to stay away from someone when you are sharing the same cabin with the person for a cruise.

21 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Why did you all go and test? IMHO not a smart move!

Mainly because our other daughter in the room did not want to get Covid by staying in the same cabin for 5 more days with somebody who was infected.  I do not blame her.

Also, because it is the responsible thing to do.  There are too many selfish, inconsiderate people around who couldn't care less about passing it on to other people who could get very ill from it, all because it may inconvenience their vacation plans.

Based on first-hand knowledge, unfortunately, this is how our experience was handled.  We disembarked the Explorer of the Seas with four of the twelve of our group having tested positive during the cruise (3 others tested positive about a day after disembarking).

Our absolute biggest concern, which I made known to RCCL after the cruise, was that every time we received information from a Guest Services agent, or the Infection Control officer, the information was constantly changing and answers to our questions also changed constantly.  This is something they really should have a better handle on now on providing clear and consistent messaging.  This really led to a lot of frustration and wasted time for the 2nd half of our 8-day cruise.

One daughter tested positive on day 4 of 8.  We were given the option of moving both her and her sister, who shared the same cabin (but tested negative) down to deck 2 in the isolation ward.  If you moved, you were REFUNDED the part of the cruise you missed if isolated.  The other individual, who tested negative but chose to isolate, is given FCC equal to the portion of the cruise missed.  If you move to the isolation area, you are not given a key to the cabin, so there is no chance that you can leave and get back in.  They were also given the option of both quarantining in their original cabin together.  My daughter who tested negative did not want to be stuck in isolation, so she was permitted to stay in her original cabin and move freely around the ship, while her sister was put six decks beneath us on deck 2.

Many people on our cruise caught Covid.  I talked to another lady whose elderly husband also tested positive.  They were permitted to stay in their original cabin, but she was allowed to come and go freely from the cabin, with absolutely no masking required.  They also had other family members from other cabins come and visit the sick individual in the cabin (not sure if this was allowed, but the did it anyway).

One of my other daughters (from a different cabin) tested positive on day 7, along with 2 other children in another family cruising with us.  We had this daughter isolate in her original cabin and her sister who had shared the cabin with her the past 6 days moved in with our other daughter who tested negative on day 4 and had a cabin to herself at this time.

I was informed by guest services agents that as her parent who was not staying in the same cabin with her, I was permitted to move freely around the ship, but if I went into the buffet, I would have to gather my food and I would not be permitted to eat in the buffet, but would have to take my food to an outside area to eat it (totally ridiculous and not what the person I mentioned previously was told).  The parents of the other 2 children we were cruising with were told something different yet again.  They were told they had to mask whenever they moved around the ship, even though they had tested negative.  Yet again, a 3rd different answer to the same question...

You can see where the frustration came from (and this happened over and over with flight changes, transportation arrangements, hotel reservations - over and over for 3 days).

What I do have to highly praise RCCL for is that we have already received the refund to our credit card for the pro-rated portion of the cruise for those who tested positive on the ship within 2 weeks of the sailing's completion.  We also received full compensation for our hotel rooms and food as we drove back to Canada from Florida.  Our relatives received full compensation for their hotel room, food, and air transportation changes.  I was shocked to see the credits on our credit card statement that quickly.

One warning for non-US citizens regarding reimbursements for submitted documents.  I submitted our total amount in US dollars to RCCL.  They credited our credit card the same dollar figure (but in Canadian funds), thus we were short-changed by the 30-35% exchange rate.  One more email to RCCL though had this resolved, and 4 or 5 days later we were issued another credit to our credit cards for the difference in the exchange rate.

31 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

I think it ended when they stopped refunding cruise fares when people tested positive and could not cruise.  That either changed Sept. 1st, or maybe it was Sept. 11th?  Not to say "I told you so", but months ago, when we were speculating when testing might end, I said I'd put money on it being when that reimbursement policy ended.  I guess i was right! 🤣

Found the right answer on the RCCL website.  You are right about the reimbursement policy ending, but you just jumped the gun on the date when it ends.  It is still in place until the end of this month.

• Pro-rated cruise fare refund if your cruise is cut short for reasons related to COVID-19, for cruises departing on or before September 30, 2022.
• If you test positive for COVID-19 during the cruise, Royal Caribbean will cover the costs of COVID-19 related medical treatment onboard, and provide assistance with any required land-based quarantine, as well as coordinate travel home for you and your Traveling Party, for cruises departing on or before September 30, 2022

13 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

That's the one LOL

 

Guess I should have tried the handle to the steam room on day 5 when I was five feet away from it in the sauna.  Oh well....

15 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 The free sessions were booked very quickly, both this week and last but if you checked daily, there were opening appearing.  We had a reservation for a free session that was cancelled due to issues in port but were able to book for another inport date/time. .  The paid ones seem to be more readily available.  I would suggest you keep checking daily as openings do occur. 

 

They always book insanely fast.  Glad we had the opportunity to book them when we sailed the Odyssey at 17% occupancy last year and enjoy them.  I know you can just go stand-by for Northstar since there were a lot of no-shows, but that is hard to do if you want to do it with a larger family as one group.  I heard you could even do that for ifly as well, but did not try to go stand-by for that.

18 hours ago, rudeney said:

I believe the reimbursements have ended now.  If you test positive and get quarantined, you are just SOL.  

I am not sure of the date the policy for reimbursement for being quarantined while on the ship ends (or ended).  It still may be running, or it may have ended by now.  Our cruise finished 3 weeks ago, and we were eligible for the reimbursements from that cruise (which have partially been paid back - a portion was not paid yet, but that was an oversight on their part, that they said they are now correcting).

The rest of the world (I am a school teacher in Ontario), is now basically being told, just live with Covid.  You are directed to isolate and return to work or school when symptoms have been improving for 24 hours.  Others will not bother to isolate at all.  Not saying what is right or what is wrong, but it is funny how quick policies can turn on a dime.

If RCCL tests you and then quarantine you now as you state and then there is zero compensation at all, that there will be the incentive people need to not test at all and just go on about their vacation.  At least when the quarantine was in place, the reimbursement offered was enough to encourage some people sitting on the fence whether to get a test or not, to do so.

8 hours ago, Fartlek said:

for those that tested positive, how long did it take for you to get a negative test?

Took between 12 and 13 days for each of us to test negative after initially testing positive.  The line was very faint around day 8, but continued to be there until day 13 for me.  I tested every 2nd day.