Oasis Cancellation-March 31, 2019

[Ourusualbeach]

22 minutes ago, cruisinforabruising said:

It’s such a huge maintenance issue that they need to wait 3 months to fix it. Let’s call it what it is. The oasis was scheduled to dry dock in 2019 for upgrades. They probably had an open spot for dry docking and that’s what they chose. Either way their alternative sail dates are absolutely awful. We had a booking for this oasis sail date.  We had 2 connecting balcony rooms. How do you offer a alternative that’s basically sold out.  I’m currently sitting on the Allure and even the staff here is baffled on how they are handeling the situation.  They don’t even have a Quads for families on the 3/31 allure sailing.  

Unlikely as the next 2 sailings before her transatlantic are still available for sail.

[lazydayz]

So we were able to switch our 3/31/18 Oasis booking to the 3/17/18 Oasis booking, which allowed us to add our three grands in an interior. The switch from a CP balcony to OV balcony cost $360 (we had a free balcony from Club Royale), but the triple interior was $2810.  Cost us some $$ but happy we can now sail on their spring break. 

 

Before I get too excited, does anyone know what is wrong with Oasis? 

Edited December 8, 2018 by lazydayz

[cruisinforabruising]

6 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

So we were able to switch our 3/31/18 Oasis booking to the 3/17/18 Oasis booking, which allowed us to add our three grands in an interior. The switch from a CP balcony to OV cost $360 (we had a free balcony from Club Royale), but the triple interior was $2810.  Cost us some $$ but happy we can now sail on their spring break. 

 

Before I get too excited, does anyone know what is wrong with Oasis? 

 

I know the Oasis was scheduled to be dry docked in 2019 so that they could upgrade/change the amenities. That’s my guess as to what’s going on. 

 

My my kids are on spring break the 31st which is why we booked that time frame. I just took my son out of school for a week this week (on the allure now) so I can’t take him out another week. This oasis cruise was supposed to be when I hit my diamond level. After their handeling of this I will probably give a few of the other lines a chance. 

[lazydayz]

1 minute ago, cruisinforabruising said:

 

I know the Oasis was scheduled to be dry docked in 2019 so that they could upgrade/change the amenities. That’s my guess as to what’s going on. 

 

My my kids are on spring break the 31st which is why we booked that time frame. I just took my son out of school for a week this week (on the allure now) so I can’t take him out another week. This oasis cruise was supposed to be when I hit my diamond level. After their handeling of this I will probably give a few of the other lines a chance. 

 

Sorry it is not working out for you and your family, maybe something will open up next week.  Enjoy the Allure. We love that ship. 

[jdg623]

We're booked on the April 7 sailing, so hoping whatever it is is fixed in one week! Just curious - was there an option given for fully refunding the cruise cost rather than booking an alternate cruise?

[Gatordad815]

Yes a full refund is an option, and looking like the only option that’ll work for me. I’ll hold out a few more days to see if any other options become available or if a room opens up on Allure, but I’m not holding my breath....

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, jdg623 said:

Just curious - was there an option given for fully refunding the cruise cost rather than booking an alternate cruise?

That’s usually the first option and RCI wouldn’t mind if folks took it. 

[teacherman]

We are also booked for that sailing on the Oasis.  I have booked 4 rooms for a family cruise.  Three are teachers and that is the only week they can go.  ALSO, I have paid over $5,000 for airfare from DTW to MCO.  Cannot get that money back from DELTA.  I have not heard anything about a cancellation.  I booked through Costco.

[flannbarr]

Would the refund of airfare be covered under trip insurance?

[Gatordad815]

I’m sorry to hear that Teacherman-you may want to check with your TA as it’s definitely cancelled. I genuinely feel worse for you than me because if you have to cancel altogether you won’t get any compensation for change fees on flights.

 

Allure does have rooms for 2 available right now, just not rooms for 4. If you happen to be all booked 2 to a room, I wouldn’t wait if I were you to start making your changes, as those are bound to go very quickly.

 

Sincere best of luck to you on this unfortunate situation.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, cruisinforabruising said:

It’s such a huge maintenance issue that they need to wait 3 months to fix it. Let’s call it what it is. The oasis was scheduled to dry dock in 2019 for upgrades. They probably had an open spot for dry docking and that’s what they chose. Either way their alternative sail dates are absolutely awful. We had a booking for this oasis sail date.  We had 2 connecting balcony rooms. How do you offer a alternative that’s basically sold out.  I’m currently sitting on the Allure and even the staff here is baffled on how they are handeling the situation.  They don’t even have a Quads for families on the 3/31 allure sailing.  

Doubtful for two reasons: 1) there's nowhere this side of the pond where she can dry dock(other than the Newport News Naval Shipyard), and 2) Her amped upgrades aren't scheduled until after she does her summer European tour. More likely it is something that they need to accomplish while docked in PC or in Freeport. We're on her next month and will ask around and see if we can find out any details.

[lazydayz]

5 minutes ago, teacherman said:

We are also booked for that sailing on the Oasis.  I have booked 4 rooms for a family cruise.  Three are teachers and that is the only week they can go.  ALSO, I have paid over $5,000 for airfare from DTW to MCO.  Cannot get that money back from DELTA.  I have not heard anything about a cancellation.  I booked through Costco.

 

Call whomever you booked with. I got the email yesterday about 7 p.m. When I called Club Royale this morning, they knew what my options were and about the 200 OBC. 

[Clarea]

8 minutes ago, flannbarr said:

Would the refund of airfare be covered under trip insurance?

 

It can be, depends on the policy.  If it was Royal's Cruise Care, it would not be covered unless it had been an Air2Sea purchase.

[lazydayz]

8 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

It can be, depends on the policy.  If it was Royal's Cruise Care, it would not be covered unless it had been an Air2Sea purchase.

 

Another good reason not to buy trip insurance from RC. 

[payitforward]

3 hours ago, Gatordad815 said:

 

Same experience here...I hope your family finds an alternate spring break trip at a reasonable price and you have a great time that week.  That’s what I’ll be looking at trying to cobble together all day today. Sigh...

Gatordad,

I just checked, and adjoining ocean view cabins 9102 and 9104 are currently available on that Allure sailing. While I understand you won't have the balcony you had, perhaps moving to two ocean view cabins up front would be an option. I'm not saying it WILL be, but am just telling you those cabins are available. Maybe by calling back you'll get someone more sympathetic.

25 minutes ago, teacherman said:

We are also booked for that sailing on the Oasis.  I have booked 4 rooms for a family cruise.  Three are teachers and that is the only week they can go.  ALSO, I have paid over $5,000 for airfare from DTW to MCO.  Cannot get that money back from DELTA.  I have not heard anything about a cancellation.  I booked through Costco.

The letter that went out quoted the following: "They'll be reimbursed for non-refundable airline charges with receipts (up to $200 per guest for Domestic flights and up to $400 per guest for International flights)

"

 

Edited December 8, 2018 by payitforward

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

 

Another good reason not to buy trip insurance from RC. 

 

The good part about Royal's insurance is that the premium is not based on age.  So some (usually us older folks) can come out ahead buying Royal's insurance for the cruise and flight insurance from the airline.

 

Still, the big thing for me about Royal's insurance is what I consider to be inadequate medical evac coverage.

[Gatordad815]

1 minute ago, payitforward said:

Gatordad,

I just checked, and adjoining ocean view cabins 9102 and 9104 are currently available on that Allure sailing. While I understand you won't have the balcony you had, perhaps moving to two ocean view cabins up front would be an option. I'm not saying it WILL be, but am just telling you those cabins are available. Maybe by calling back you'll get someone more sympathetic.

 

Thank you for looking-very thoughtful and appreciated!

 

I actually did call back the Casino Royale number & talk to them as I generally find them more helpful. I did get a very sympathetic and friendly agent who tried to make this exact option work for me, but management wouldn’t split the reservation without charging full price for the second room which would have basically doubled the price of the trip.

 

I was at least appreciative to talk to someone who acted like he wanted to help me and was actually nice to me, unlike the horrible agent in the resolutions department I first spoke with. In the end, the only thing I feel entitled to expect is for people to act like they care about trying to make a bad situation better, even if it does’t ultimately make it better. I at least had this basic expectation met with the second call...

[Gatordad815]

9 minutes ago, payitforward said:

The letter that went out quoted the following: "They'll be reimbursed for non-refundable airline charges with receipts (up to $200 per guest for Domestic flights and up to $400 per guest for International flights)

 

Yeah but that’s only if they rebook. If they are forced to cancel all together, they get nothing. From the letter:

 

“Option 3: If you choose to cancel, we’ll be sad to see you go

 

• We will process a full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare to the original form of payment, including any non-refundable deposit. Please note, if you choose this option, we will not provide any additional compensation, including air reimbursement.”

[Gatordad815]

7 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

Still, the big thing for me about Royal's insurance is what I consider to be inadequate medical evac coverage.

 

EXACTLY. This is the reason I would never buy it! That’s the one thing that could potentially bankrupt me if I needed it, so I need a policy with adequate coverage!

[The Fun Researcher]

I would NOT do Disney World during spring break.  Just asking for frustration.  You'll pay more for a more crowded week making it harder to do pretty much anything in the parks.

 

Dan

[payitforward]

11 minutes ago, Gatordad815 said:

 

Yeah but that’s only if they rebook. If they are forced to cancel all together, they get nothing. From the letter:

 

“Option 3: If you choose to cancel, we’ll be sad to see you go

 

• We will process a full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare to the original form of payment, including any non-refundable deposit. Please note, if you choose this option, we will not provide any additional compensation, including air reimbursement.”

Thanks for that. I wasn't reading far enough thinking everyone was looking to rebook. My fault completely.

[Gatordad815]

3 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

I would NOT do Disney World during spring break.  Just asking for frustration.  You'll pay more for a more crowded week making it harder to do pretty much anything in the parks.

 

Dan

 

I’m familiar with the nightmare of crowded Disney, but we have annual passes & my kids are small and accustomed to being at the parks when they open, enjoying the lighter morning crowds, and leaving after lunch to go back & hang out at the hotel pool, so the crowds won’t ruin the trip completely for us. 

 

I can can get a very nice 1000 square foot condo with resort pools at Bonnet Creek for about 1/3 of what I spent on the cruise, and the thought of hanging by a beautiful pool with elbow room all week isn’t unappealing to me, so it’s not a horrible option for our family.

 

But I definitely agree with and echo your general advice, and would tell out of towers who don’t visit Disney regularly and would have to spend a fortune on flights, hotels, park tickets and food to STAY AWAY! You’re right, crowded Disney is a nightmare!

[Gatordad815]

2 minutes ago, payitforward said:

Thanks for that. I wasn't reading far enough thinking everyone was looking to rebook. My fault completely.

 

Yeah I was dismayed to read that and it made me feel really bad for folks who have booked flights and can’t change trips to a different week because of Spring Break.  At least if I have to cancel I’ll be made whole financially since we drive to the port, but for others this is going to be a much bigger problem and I genuinely feel for them....

[The Fun Researcher]

2 minutes ago, Gatordad815 said:

 

I’m familiar with the nightmare of crowded Disney, but we have annual passes & my kids are small and accustomed to being at the parks when they open, enjoying the lighter morning crowds, and leaving after lunch to go back & hang out at the hotel pool, so the crowds won’t ruin the trip completely for us. 

 

I can can get a very nice 1000 square foot condo with resort pools at Bonnet Creek for about 1/3 of what I spent on the cruise, and the thought of hanging by a beautiful pool with elbow room all week isn’t unappealing to me, so it’s not a horrible option for our family.

 

But I definitely agree with and echo your general advice, and would tell out of towers who don’t visit Disney regularly and would have to spend a fortune on flights, hotels, park tickets and food to STAY AWAY! You’re right, crowded Disney is a nightmare!

 

The AP's make all the difference for you, cost wise.  That plan is crucial of showing up at rope drop and leaving before the crowds get nuts, but if you have AP's you know the ropes.

 

Hope this all works out well for ya.

Dan

[Gatordad815]

12 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Hope this all works out well for ya.

  
Dan

 

Thanks Dan. While it’s frustrating and disappointing, it’s not soul-crushing or a financial burden, so it’s all good. We were fortunate to be on our first family cruise in May 2018 on Oasis (if that one would have been cancelled I would have been devastated), and again on Oasis last month, so this was scheduled to be our third Oasis trip in under 12 months. We are fortunate to live in driving distance, so no flights to deal with. I’ll substitute Disney or something else fun & my kids may be a little disappointed but they’ll soon forget and have fun whatever we do.

 

I really feel for families who are doing that once in a lifetime family cruise during a spring break week that can’t be changed who have been planning this for 2 years and who are going to lose a lot of $$$ on non refundable flights and other travel expenses. Royal Caribbean should really be offering some more options during the same week for those poor folks who are in a much more disappointing situation than our family.