Starry Eyes

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.

Wonder of the Seas April 28 will spend a second day in Puerto Plata.  We were originally scheduled there on day 5.  We will now be there both day 5 and day 6.

23 hours ago, thefog said:

they will be on quantum of the seas.

Does your SIL understand there are a lot of obstructed balconies on that class of ship?  If one books a gty balcony on quantum class, one should expect to be assigned a cabin with a lifeboat to obstruct the view from the balcony when sitting, though an adult will have a view over the lifeboat when standing on the balcony.  Some people are lucky and get a less obstructed or nonobstructed assignment, but expect an obstruction.  Nonetheless, many people do book balcony gty as they can be good deals, one still gets fresh air and can look over the lifeboat.

16 minutes ago, renee1222 said:

Barcode scanner worked! It is deck 12, exactly what we requested, no bonus upgrade. We actually had 2 GTY rooms,  reservations linked, and we got connecting cabins! Was not expecting that. I was just hoping to not be several decks apart,  one forward and one aft!

That’s wonderful.  Still, for future knowledge, understand they really don’t take “requests” on gty cabins.  Sometimes it works out well.

9 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

And port fees are rarely refunded. The fees you pay are an estimate based on historical data. When the ports post their actual fees, they are often higher than you paid; when something is cancelled, those fees go to cover the shortage. 

And the final numbers can be determined during the sailing.  As previously mentioned if a refund is appropriate, it can be posted to the on board account as a refundable on board credit. 

12 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

What makes you think I have $2,000,000 in my 401k?

Maybe that poster just doubted the accuracy of your screen name😉😀😉.  A $58000+ RMD from a $2,000,000 401K might back calculate to a 73 years old with a 53 year old spouse as solo beneficiary. 

Obviously strangers cannot guess your account balance from your RMD alone.  After all 100 year old (couple or single) with a $375,000 401K also has a $58000+ RMD.  There are many other options with that same RMD.

1 hour ago, Bethorama said:

Because we are getting less than the cruise we paid for. We are only getting 2 ports to go to instead of the 3 as we had booked. Not sure why that is so confusing. 😀

Have you read your cruise contract?  If so, you know you did not actually contract for a certain itinerary or certain ports or a certain number of ports, etc.  That might be sad but it should not be so confusing😉😀

1 hour ago, Bethorama said:

They could have at least offered reduced port fees. 

No promises, of course, but there’s still a chance customer service is playing it safe by saying that now.  Sometimes port fee refunds are made to the on board accounts during the sailing.  Honestly though when we have received such adjustments it has usually been a rather small amount of money.  Symphony is a great ship and I hope you enjoy your time on board.

Typically at least one specialty restaurant is open for lunch on embarkation day.  As most guests (plus some crew) are off the ship, the specialty restaurants are generally not open for lunch on port days (remember…they typically don’t even open the MDR for lunch on port days!). Casual dining like Johnny Rockets might open mid afternoon on a port day, but that may not be the reason you are thinking if UDP😉.  
 

Whether you will get enough value from the package is your call.  Have a nice cruise.

7 hours ago, mets07 said:

We still prefer the flexibility of MTD and hope they continue to offer it on Royal. We don't make reservations. 

 

However, the process could be vastly improved. At minimum, the ability to do what is done on Carnival, as others mentioned, would be great....  you see the current wait time in the app and simply click to check in. It alerts you when your table is ready and indicates the table number. 

Yes, it would be a big improvement if we could see the wait times and request a table via the app.   Waiting for our table would be pleasant if we are sitting in a bar or one of the lounges enjoying a drink before dinner.  

16 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Good idea but this approach only works if NCL has a ship in port the same day your cruise begins and ends. On days NCL does not have a ship in port the entrance and exit to the parking garage for Terminal B are usually blocked. 

I can understand the garage entrance being blocked if no ship is in port, but are you certain it is also impossible to exit?  Imagine someone is parked for an NCL cruise and the is cruise interrupted by family emergency.  Having flown back to Florida early, you really think they would not be able to get their vehicle out of the POM parking garage? They would be told tough cheese…. come back when there is a ship docked🤪.  That seems unlikely.

2 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

They just changed the lunch hours to only sea days recently. 

I do not think it is a recent change.  

48 minutes ago, keishashadow said:

I’m honestly not 100% sure which GTY I Booked. My first GTY and so excited it was approx price of inside in place. Had hoped to see the code on website vs calling in like the GTY noob I admitted am lol

 

Booked directly thru RCCL

 

assume whatever assignment will beat the inside 

 

however, if I do see that another category opens up

after final pmt date; can I still

pay the difference in price & upgrade to a higher category even tho I’m booked via GTY rate?

Frequently you can pay the difference and upgrade if you see a good price on another category after final payment, but sometimes a sale is specifically “for new bookings only.”  In that is the case, you may not be able to get that “new booking rate” for your “old booking.”  
 

I think you should call and ask your category.  Don’t be embarrassed; it is a very reasonable question.