What have they done to your Cuba cruise?

[Cruising89143]

This is the latest from RCI..

 

Latest Update - June 4, 2019 at 6:00 pm EST

We are aware of the new U.S. travel restrictions to Cuba and we are analyzing the details to understand the impact to future sailings.  We expect to know more within the next 24 hours and will communicate any changes as soon as we are able.  In the meantime, we are adjusting the itineraries of our June 5 and June 6 sailings, which will no longer stop in Cuba. We are communicating with our guests about those changes. 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

3 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

Did they announce what the itinerary changes will be?

The answer is listed in Posts 14 & 21 & 22.

 

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001

[BigHouseFootball]

I’m sure Royal can find some short  itineraries until 2021. 

[DrDani226]

3 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

The answer is listed in Posts 14 & 21 & 22.

 

 

Not the dates. The port changes. 

[DrDani226]

8 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

The notice (referenced above) indicates those things haven't been announced yet and won't be for up to 24 hours.

Actually it says “in the meantime” they are changing those itineraries. I thought perhaps someone from one of those sailings may have gotten information. 

[CruisingJoe09]

IMO, Empress is absolutely toast, and Majesty is also in danger. They are the opposite of the direction that RCI is going in. They only brought Empress back to do Cuba and I can't really see what market either could fill.

 

Not to mention - they could make some money selling these ships.

Edited June 4, 2019 by CruisingJoe09

[Cruising89143]

My money is on Coco Cay for those two sailings.

[Milwaukee Eight]

Majesty has a record of high maintenance costs. 

[twangster]

18 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Empress could be "re-purposed" to the Bahamas or Bermuda. That would let Royal rethink what they want to do with Independence and/or other larger ships that now go to Coco Cay.

 

Royal placed their AMPED ships in the short Florida cruise market, that's part of the strategy of wooing new to cruise.  Mariner, Navigator, Indy - all large ships for the short cruise market, all AMPED.

 

Dumping Empress and Majesty into that same market to compete with Navigator and Mariner goes against their combined Perfect Day marketing strategy.  Pulling the AMPED ships and replacing them with Empress and Majesty goes against the whole concept as well.  

[twangster]

Buh bye.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Royal placed their AMPED ships in the short Florida cruise market, that's part of the strategy of wooing new to cruise.  Mariner, Navigator, Indy - all large ships for the short cruise market, all AMPED.

 

Dumping Empress and Majesty into that same market to compete with Navigator and Mariner goes against their combined Perfect Day marketing strategy.  Pulling the AMPED ships and replacing them with Empress and Majesty goes against the whole concept as well.  

That assumes an existing ship already going to Coco Cay would be an option...which may not be the case. They could shuffle other ships from other current ports and move them to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale for runs that include Coco Cay.

 

When we see what happened with the "musical chairs" for Independence and other ships...it's fair to assume a number of options are on their "table" of consideration...including getting Empress or Majesty out of their inventory entirely.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

20 minutes ago, DrDani226 said:

Not the dates. The port changes. 

Again...they haven't announced anything regarding this change and they stated any other announcements could take up to 24 hours. Seems clear.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

18 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

My money is on Coco Cay for those two sailings.

Or Labadee...or Cozumel...or....

[CRUISEFAN0001]

What's pretty much a good assumption is that when any specific facts are announced...you'll likely see someone post them on Cruise Critic.😏

 

 

Edited June 4, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001

[MitzyG]

Dumb question...Does travel insurance cover this?   I know there's clauses for war, terrorism, weather (like hurricane and such).   Is there a clause for "what if the president decides that cruises can't go to the destination"?   (note that I have "neutralized" that statement dramatically...)

[CRUISEFAN0001]

3 minutes ago, MitzyG said:

Dumb question...Does travel insurance cover this?   I know there's clauses for war, terrorism, weather (like hurricane and such).   Is there a clause for "what if the president decides that cruises can't go to the destination"?   (note that I have "neutralized" that statement dramatically...)

Actually...that's a great question.

 

The answer is:  It depends.

 

Some policies include coverage for itinerary changes...so it all comes down to reading what coverage anyone's policy includes on this topic.

 

[MitzyG]

Just now, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

 

Some policies include coverage for itinerary changes...so it all comes down to reading what coverage anyone's policy includes on this topic.

 

 

Thanks...I read about itinerary change, but I didn't understand what it meant (I guess I never imagined this scenario).   I did have a change in 2003 when we were supposed to go to Turkey and Athens Greece but anti American sentiment in Turkey caused lots of cancellations and an itinerary change.   I never thought to cancel because I guess we really wanted to go to the other destinations and had never been to any of the places on the itinerary so any place was "new".

 

I just bought travel insurance and tried to prioritize which risks I wanted to cover.   Now I know that if cruise destination is important, I'd better check for itinerary change.

[Ms BumbleBee]

I just cancelled my Royal Up bid LOL.  I can just see "winning" with a mass exodus of travelers probably about to occur LOL.

 

At least I found something to laugh at.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

2 minutes ago, MitzyG said:

 

Thanks...I read about itinerary change, but I didn't understand what it meant (I guess I never imagined this scenario).   I did have a change in 2003 when we were supposed to go to Turkey and Athens Greece but anti American sentiment in Turkey caused lots of cancellations and an itinerary change.   I never thought to cancel because I guess we really wanted to go to the other destinations and had never been to any of the places on the itinerary so any place was "new".

 

I just bought travel insurance and tried to prioritize which risks I wanted to cover.   Now I know that if cruise destination is important, I'd better check for itinerary change.

You're welcome. It appears you at least have the option for a possibility of coverage with your travel insurance. Hopefully, that works out for you.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

38 minutes ago, twangster said:

Buh bye.

So you're saying Vanna told you that Pat will decide the fate on one final spin (WOF)?

[DrDani226]

28 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Again...they haven't announced anything regarding this change and they stated any other announcements could take up to 24 hours. Seems clear.

I’m not trying to be argumentative, lol. However, we are talking about changes being implemented for tomorrow. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to believe the people in that sailing will know sooner than that. What’s the harm in asking the question?!

[MitzyG]

6 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

You're welcome. It appears you at least have the option for a possibility of coverage with your travel insurance. Hopefully, that works out for you.

Honestly...I'm not going (thank heavens).   It just makes me think twice about certain destinations, at least while a certain leader is in office.

 

As an example, the insurance I bought for a diff trip said that they'd refund me up to $500 for the excursions I missed (then again, the announcement is BEFORE people left...so maybe not).   It talks about terrorism, weather related disaster, destruction of the "destination" building (I assume this is more referring to the hotel you were going to stay at).   It doesn't say anything about coverage "in case the government now says you can't go there, but you could when you booked the trip".   

[CRUISEFAN0001]

1 minute ago, DrDani226 said:

I’m not trying to be argumentative, lol. However, we are talking about changes being implemented for tomorrow. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to believe the people in that sailing will know sooner than that. What’s the harm in asking the question?!

No worries...if I was in those shoes...the ants in the pants for an answer would be vigorously causing itching for answers. 🙂

[CRUISEFAN0001]

6 minutes ago, Artemus said:

ORIGINAL POST UPDATED / DELETED.

Looks like we can move on from the political dialog.

 

The goal is to help people. Plenty of folks will have to change their plans because of the Cuba travel ban. Hopefully as many of those people find good alternatives and have minimal financial impact. Wishing everyone the best.

Edited June 4, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001

[CruisinCanuck63]

From another thread and poster don731:

 

From a TA:

 

Cuba Travel Update - Just in from Royal Caribbean - The Majesty of the Seas sails tomorrow and was supposed to go to Havana. Will now go to Costa Maya. It would now appear that all Royal Caribbean sailings to Cuba have or are being rerouted from having any stops in Cuba..

Per Royal Caribbean - Passengers on the sailing tomorrow on the Majesty of the Seas are getting a refund in the value of 50% per stateroom of your cruise fare paid as a credit to your onboard account. And, if you have any pre-paid Royal Caribbean International shore excursions for Havana, you'll also receive a refund in the form of a credit. You may use these credits anywhere onboard and if you don't use them, they'll be refunded back onto your credit card on file.

Will update as we get word from the other vendors.