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Has anyone had to change cruise dates due to reserve duty?


wrcjr98
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My mother in law booked a "family cruise" of 3 cabins for a family cruise. The date that she booked for is during a weekend that my husband has reserve duty. My travel agent called, and said that Royal Caribbean would not change our date. However, when my husband called, they said as long as he provided a letter from his commander, they would "consider" letting our group change to a different sailing.

I wondered if this had happened to anyone else, and what their result was.

Thank You!

Cindy

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technically the only cabin covered would be the one the servicemember is booked into.

 

it would be far easier for your spouse to request to make up his drill weekend on another date.

 

That is what I was afraid of, but I thought our "saving grace" may have been that his mother booked us as a "group cruise".

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That is what I was afraid of, but I thought our "saving grace" may have been that his mother booked us as a "group cruise".

 

only if Mom is the one drilling.....

 

Most COs are quite amenable to making up drills/UTAs. as long as you get your X number a year you should not have any issues towards things like Retirement and 'good' years. just don't wait until the day before.. or worse.. AFTER to make the request.

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only if Mom is the one drilling.....

 

Most COs are quite amenable to making up drills/UTAs. as long as you get your X number a year you should not have any issues towards things like Retirement and 'good' years. just don't wait until the day before.. or worse.. AFTER to make the request.

 

I'm confused by your post?

No, his mom isn't in the Air Force, she is the one who booked the cruise as a group cruise as a gift for us, and his daughter and her family? My husband is the one in the Air Force.

My husband's commander did give him a letter stating that it is mandatory for him to attend December's drill, so, hopefully we can transfer our date.

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I just wanted to post the results of my dilemma. Royal Caribbean agreed to move our cruise to a new date with no fees. However, they can not move his mother or his daughter's cabin. My husband's commander will not allow him to make up the time missed another month, and he can only miss one drill per year. We had hoped to save that in case of an emergency. But he is going to go ahead and use his one absence for the cruise.

I believe I have learned my lesson to purchase travel insurance from here on out.

Cindy

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hate to say it but your husbands CO sounds like a real douche. I've been in the guard for almost 2yrs, 4yrs active before that(all AF). My unit is pretty lenient on drill weekends. Unless the entire unit has a mandatory class, exercise or trip planned for that particular weekend then there's no reason he couldn't make it up another time. I can't even count how many times I've gone in during the week to make up a drill I couldn't make on the scheduled weekend. And being a December drill at that, it's mostly a wash. Most of the weekend is filled with b.s. holiday parties or retirement ceremonies. If I were your husband I'd be looking into a transfer to a different unit as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy your trip.

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Hate to say it but your husbands CO sounds like a real douche. I've been in the guard for almost 2yrs, 4yrs active before that(all AF). My unit is pretty lenient on drill weekends. Unless the entire unit has a mandatory class, exercise or trip planned for that particular weekend then there's no reason he couldn't make it up another time. I can't even count how many times I've gone in during the week to make up a drill I couldn't make on the scheduled weekend. And being a December drill at that, it's mostly a wash. Most of the weekend is filled with b.s. holiday parties or retirement ceremonies. If I were your husband I'd be looking into a transfer to a different unit as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy your trip.

 

Funny you should mention that, he actually contacted 2 different units hoping to transfer! Wish us luck!

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  • 4 months later...

I agree your hubby's CO sounds like a total A hole. I have known people who were able to do some online work/classes (military) that would count as a drill and they could do this from home or somewhere else.

 

I hope he is able to change to a different unit without a CO jerk.

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  • 7 months later...

I have been in the Air Force reserves for 6 years, and have never heard of anyone being denied a request to use an alternate UTA (Alternate Drill weekend).

 

Whenever our Drill Weekend schedule comes out, it has a list of Alternates, one each month. We can utilize these alternates in lieu of the primary with at least a two week notice.

 

Also, if we wanted to come in on UTA (Drill) Status sometime during the week, it is very doable since there are people working there M-F.

 

I think that the commander you talked to doesn't know work arounds, or like aforementioned is a DB.

 

Let me know if you have questions! I'll be happy to answer!

 

**UTA = Unit Training Assembly**

Edited by Thompsolonian
Break down an Acronym.
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