Starry Eyes

Do you mean the deck numbers are on your set sail passes though you did not notice them previously?

If so….Muster station and deck number often appear on the set sail pass when when a cabin number is discoverable by barcode trick.  I don’t think it suggests your official assignment is or is not imminent.  OTOH, with each passing day  your cruise gets closer and so surely you official assignment does too.  
 

You sail in a few weeks?  Still more than 30 days?

Unless she has another trip planned that make this a better time to renew the passport, I’d wait to renew.  I’d plan to board with the passport (given Bermuda’s rules).  I’d have BC plus DL available as a backup in the unlikely event the passport is challenged.  I’d renew the passport upon return.

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The prices in the planner are likely lower than on board. Simply cash out your OBC at casino. Most cancellations on board end being credited as refundable OBC. 

I agree with Biker.  
Personally, I elect not to prepay gratuities; paying on board gratuities can consume a lot of OBC.

5 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

Thanks for the barcode tip - if it's right, I'm very happy with the 2 interiors I was assigned.  While not next door to each other, they are close and they are in a great spot in the middle of the ship (not under the pool, not over the dining room) where we can do stairs up and down to get places - and only 2 decks from central park, but not on the central park deck, so no traipsing folks coming down our hallway.

 

Plus, they gave me 2 3 person rooms, even though I had canceled our 3rd person in one room months ago...so extra bed space is a plus...

I’m glad you like your predicted cabins.  So far when a number has appeared with the barcode trick it has always accurately predicted my gty assignment.  Of course, the cruiseline is allowed to change around gty cabins if they wish (though they rarely do), so I admit there’s an off chance one could change sometime.  Also, while the apple wallet method seems fool-proof,  barcode reading apps can be more finicky, so one needs to take care to really get a valid barcode reading.

25 minutes ago, scooby1 said:

We have the same thing and no cabin assigned at all, no muster or anything. 

 

I think we will be searching for free rooms at this rate when we get there, anyway still plenty of time for them to decided to look for a room for us I guess. 

 

Oh and no adding the room into the wallet DOESN'T work, still shows GTY. 

Yeah, though the barcode trick has given me results several times, other times it still said gty.  You can re-check with the barcode trick (especially if a muster station appears before your cabin assignment, as the OP experienced).  Or your cabin assignment might appear without the barcode ever giving you a preview of your cabin number. Hang in there.

8 hours ago, JoieNsk said:

Thank you!

 

I suppose emergencies happen. And people can cancel.

 

But I wonder how many cancellations can happen so close to the sailing date? 

 

Even if somebody has to cancel (I can't even imagine a no show, but anything can happen I suppose...) - the cruise line keeps the money. So they don't loose anything, right?

 

Of course it never hurts to get even more money. Maybe that?

Emergencies do happen.  Cancellations occur.  If hypothetically someone in a high end suite must cancel 4 days before sailing, a whole cascade of upgrades would probably occur, each resulting in a money for the cruiseline and hopefully delighted cruiser in a better cabin. 

As your set sail pass shows a muster station, Royal has planned a cabin for you even though it is not officially assigned.  Would you like a preview?  If so, use the “barcode trick.”  If you use an iPhone, add your set sail pass into your apple wallet.  Then in your apple wallet, look at the string of characters under the barcode…the numbers to the right of the dash (-) are a cabin number that is very, very likely to be assigned to you before the cruise.  Android users can download a barcode reader to accomplish the same.

59 minutes ago, Patcap38 said:

And, yes, I know I have 45 days to check in, but the reason I wanted to check in so early is because I wanted a specific time.

I’m currently impacted by the password issue.  My old password is not working on the app. I’ll try resetting it soon on my computer.  I don’t know if all these access problems are contributing to your issues or not.
 

I have not heard of these Vancouver-specific app check-in requirements, so take the following with the appropriate grain of salt…On the app, at 45 days we go straight to step two and pick our time.  Having secured our time slot, we complete the rest of the check in process at our leisure.  If for some reason, that did not work and I had trouble with my Credit Card entry, I’d check in as though I wanted a cash account then add the credit card at guest services.  

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Yes as third and 4th guests have a different cacellation policy however you risk being moved to a double occupancy room and repriced.  

If they cancel only the fourth guest would they be apt to get a bit of money back with little risk of being moved or repriced?  

1 hour ago, broberts said:

 

Putting the onus to communicate on the stroke victim seems particularly removed from reality. 

Strokes vary greatly so you should avoid generalizing about “stroke victims.”  This person  was medically disembarked, with care properly transferred to a local hospital.  If providers at the local hospital concluded she was incapable of making her own decisions, they’d have tried to reach her emergency contact.  If they determined she was capable of making her own decisions, then the onus is basically on her.  She’d have a right to privacy and self determination; that is reality.  She was able to communicate with the “late eight” after the stroke and she was then able to fly alone half way around the globe, including changing planes.

27 minutes ago, Tommynice said:

I find it absolutely rediculous that, outside this thread, I have not found one related article, nor a single comment that addresses personal responsibility.  These cruisers did not get on board by the deadline.  It's their fault, not the cruiselines. It really is that simple.  Gone are the days of people acting like adults, NOT acting like victims for their errors, and NOT blaming everyone but themselves.....

This showed up in my news feed.  Of course it cannot balance all those other articles.

https://www.escape.com.au/travel-advice/cruise-passengers-stranded-the-travel-lesson-we-had-to-have/news-story/29ac559969eea6ff52e5b042b6d6bb70?amp&nk=6eb43bf5e3f1644397e212cb3c6b515e-1712414303

1 hour ago, IntolerantLlama said:

The only one I feel bad for is the 80 yr old stroke victim that when she received her wallet from the care team it was missing all her cash and credit cards and the couple from SC that was the only responsible people that had cash and credit cards on them that ended up supporting all the others.

Per a media report, that wallet was not left on the ship.  The wallet was recovered from in a tour van, so some random tourist or a local could have gotten into the in the wallet.  The wallet was returned to her more than 24 hours after she left the hospital (so 2 days after the ship sailed).  https://www.businessinsider.com/norwegian-cruise-passenger-stranded-africa-stroke-2024-4?amp

In several media reports, the 80 year olds family expresses frustration and anger that they were not contacted by the cruiseline.  The family does not seem to acknowledge that conscious, reasonably competent patients have privacy rights and make such decisions themselves.  If mom does not call her son or ask that son be called, neither cruise line nor hospital nor hotel will call that son.  

17 minutes ago, erby2283 said:

I am tempted to bid on the junior sunset suite for our 5/4 sailing....but I'd have to fork out the whole amount as the friends I am going with are satisfied with our balcony. Trying to talk myself out of it...  Also haven't ever been offered a chance to upgrade before. Do they ever accept anything below the minimum?

Occasionally the minimum bid may be adjusted.  Usually my minimum bids remain constant, but I have seen a few minimum bids go down or up over the bidding period.  If the current minimum bid for the sunset junior suite is more than you are willing to pay, you could re-check your offers occasionally to see if the minimum has changed.

Pending may turn into a win; it has for me.  However, other posters have reported pending bids that never went further.

Are you watching for corresponding activity on your credit card? That would be the first indication of success 

5 hours ago, miyanc said:

It may be in this now 330 page thread, but has anyone booked a gty, been given a room or noticed after 45 day check in that it was a bad or undesired room and successfully bid a royal up?  If I remember correctly we sailed on allure in 22 ( all got COVID only waved at ports from the balcony) when the 45 day check-in yielded a bar code there was something we didn't like about the room and for a small fee we were able to pay for an upgrade.  But that was by calling cs and switching the booking.  

I have started from a gty and had successful RoyalUp bids, though I was not necessarily dissatisfied with my assignment or results bar code trick. Unless my gty assignment was an upgrade (however small), I do not think my feelings about that gty assignment would have had any bearing on the bidding.
 

Knowing my future cabin assignments via the bar code trick or actual assignment does sometimes impact my bidding.  For example, if I find I like my gty cabin enough, I’ll cancel bids for small upgrades.

On several occasions my original RoyalUp bids have been cancelled when my gty cabin is assigned.  I have the opportunity to bid again; occasionally I am able to bid on additional categories.  Sometimes my bids are cancelled repeatedly, sometimes once, and other times not at all.

20 minutes ago, rockmom said:

but I do think this can be a longshot.  So many bid on these, very few get them, especially with ships almost always sailing at full capacity these days.  

Valid point.  I look at my own RoyalUp bids as longshots and I never get my hopes up, despite having past winning bids.  Even if it is a long shot, the OP might want to consider bidding.

If paying to upgrade them to Sky class at today’s prices to a bridge too far, you could consider placing an upgrade bid via RoyalUp (if they get a RoyalUp offer from balcony to a Sky class suite).  If you have their reservation number (and their consent), you can check for RoyalUp offers with this link.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/cruise-room-upgrade 

RoyalUp should be happy to take your credit card number rather than theirs when submitting a bid if this is a gift to your kids.  Then, like so many other cruisers, you can sit back hope the bid is accepted.  

1 minute ago, LobsterStalker said:

You beat me to that one !

 

Cheers

+1

Well, if you really, really want a midship cabin, you aren’t the ideal person to book gty, so I hope midship is just a bit of a preference.  

Have you already checked in for your cruise or is your 45 day check in coming up soon?  If you have checked in, did you try the bar code trick?  Getting a clue about your expected cabin location may inform your bidding decisions.

42 minutes ago, pghflyer said:

I don't envy their situation at all, this is bad for everyone. I think a change in port to 5-hours away warrants a full refund offer or an incentive to change ports and stick with it. So, this seems fair and a good customer service gesture.

Have you called to request a refund and been refused?

They are making a up to $200 pp transport allowance; that’s a decent gesture for a situation the company did not create.  As you probably know, there are reports that people have called and received refunds; perhaps such requests are being handled on a case by case basis.  Norfolk is as close or closer for some passengers.

Over the years whether we have flown or driven,  I’ve generally learned about parking and shuttles and local hotel and ground transportation options and so on mostly from the internet…cruise critic, port websites, various travel websites, etc.  Cruise lines (not just RCI) have provided pretty limited information.  Frankly better or more complete info has come from other sources.  If the passenger did not buy Air-Sea with transfers, Royal will tell them the port and the times; planning the transit to the port is on the passenger. Respectfully, I think you need to own it.  You are obviously very capable.  I hope you go and have a fabulous time.

18 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

I might be losing my house on one bet here and I would have lost my vacation house on this one.

 

I am with you.

 

I think the biggest difference was the fuel savings first and time second.

 

They have enough supplies on board to get them to Port Canaveral where they will load up.

Yes, the fuel saving of Norfolk vs Bayonne should be significant.  It is also possible that Norfolk was more helpful and accommodating (perhaps hoping to attract future cruise ship home ports) compared to Bayonne.  Royal might have gotten feedback or looked at bookings to determine many of the Baltimore passengers would have been arriving from the south or west vs north in deciding whether Norfolk or Bayonne was a better substitute for more people .

7 minutes ago, emeraldcity said:

So now that it's determined where the current passengers will disembark, how does the cruise line deal with the obvious PVSA violation. Do they file for an exemption?

 

As the port of Baltimore is so clearly unavailable, the cruiseline should not have any difficulty obtaining a waiver.  

16 minutes ago, toad455 said:

 

I also don't ever remember Norfolk having more than one ship sailing from there. It's always been a limited summer home port for Carnival. Has Royal ever sailed from there?

Royal has sailed from Norfolk previously, as mentioned by another poster.  Her is an old announcement, circa 2007 for the 2008 sailings:

“We are thrilled to bring Grandeur of the Seas to the cities of Norfolk, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland in 2008,” Bauer added. “The Royal Caribbean itineraries from these two major home ports complement the variety of cruising options available to travelers along the Eastern Seaboard. Grandeur will sail roundtrip from Norfolk’s newly constructed Half Moone Cruise and Celebration Center on five-night Bermuda cruise getaways, eight- and nine-night voyages to New England and Canada, and nine-night Eastern Caribbean sailings. From Baltimore, Grandeur will sail roundtrip on five-night voyages to Bermuda and nine-night cruise vacations to the Eastern Caribbean. Prices start at $649 per person, double occupancy.”

So, Royal Caribbean did use the Norfolk terminal years ago.  Best wishes to those on the current and upcoming Vision cruises.

11 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

That's why cruises on Enchantment, Grandeur, and now the Vision have been so popular over the years.

“Driving distance” is subjective.  Several years ago we planned to fly from Milwaukee to BWI for a b2b out of Baltimore.  When our flight was cancelled, we decided the port was within driving distance; we left in the evening and drove overnight to reach port embarkation morning.  People plan further drives, especially if they have planned visits along the way.