Corona Virus and Royal Caribbean

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, thjeepster said:

This is very good to know but I don't know what to do now!...We are booked an April 25th Cruise and paid a lot extra to get married on the ship thru Royal Celebrations....I don't know if they will follow the same guidelines.

I don't really want to change the date since we already have everything set....with all the wedding stuff, Items with the date on them, guests already booked also.

This is so overwhelming and stressful!

 

I'm cruising april 26th and not worried and I'm almost for sure older than you

 

 

[velcam]

https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/royal-caribbean-group-adopts-cruise-with-confidence-policy-allowing-cancellations-up-to-48-hours-before-sailing-2020-03-06

 

This will help you with your decision.  Good move Royal Caribbean 🙂

[karenemily]

My daughter started her first job n NYC on Sept 10. Yes...THAT Sept 10. The next day all hell broke loose.
 
I wanted her to come home, to our rural area...she would not. I had the TV on constantly...every time the “breaking news” music started, I froze in fear. I heard every media rumor, then the Anthrax attacks began. I was literally sick with fear.
 
I drove her crazy checking on her. I stopped doing things with friends. My husband called me “the Watchman.” He quoted from our faith “But that the Lord keeps the city, the Watchman waits in vain.”  
 
I didn’t care.
 
It was mid-November before a good friend confronted me. She reminded me that she was a divorced Mom with three young boys to raise when she was diagnosed with breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. She said that for two years she lived with THAT all enveloping fear...looking at every bump or spot..till she realized what she was wasting.
 
You can live with fear or live your life. All of life is uncertain. We have very little control.,. 
 
(Just chatted with her on the phone, by the way. The most fearless lady I know.) I turned off the TV. What real value did all that information do for me?  
 
A Cruise is a VACATION. It’s optional. If you are high risk, don’t go, if you will be miserable with fear, don’t  go.
 
But for me, I will do what I can...but refuse to exist as a Watchman. I won’t try to talk anyone out of justified concerns, but please don’t try to undermine MY peace of mind...or the way I choose to deal with the unknown, the uncertainty.  I’m not giving ONE more of my precious days or hours to that kind of anxiety. 
 
Been there. Done that.

Oh my gosh!!! Thank you for posting this!!! I am a worrier by nature. I think some of it comes from being a mom and some comes from being a pre school teacher and some is well honestly the devils way of trying to rock my faith. Reading your words were so completely comforting. We are not promised tomorrow. I am not making decisions for others and completely respect what they need to do to have peace in their lives.


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[zalusky]

They announce this today and our sailing date is tomorrow.  I called RCI (waited an hour) and the lady said call your TA.  I tehn asked about the general question of my sailing is tomorrow and you did not offer this policy till today and I would have called yesterday if I had known.  She say its shorter than 48 hours and I asked to escalate and of course waited another 20 minutes and she as usual when transferred me they hung up.

 

I  called my big box TA like 7:30 this morning and they said they would do an automated call back in 94 minutes.  3 hours later they called back and said sorry call back again.  So I called back again and its been another hour or two of beautiful music.

[dorifuta]

 

2 hours ago, cruisejess said:

Is the state notifying the other passengers from the cruise that returned 2/20?  Are they testing the crew?  Very scary.

 

Lol. Who knows? The state isn't telling anyone publicly ANYTHING about where these people live (aside from the county, and it is a very large county), what cruise line they were on, what port they sailed out of, or even what ports they traveled to. Just that they did Normal Life Routine Things for a bit until beginning to feel ill, which means who knows who might have been exposed, because the state isn't saying anything! 

[colesc15]

18 minutes ago, zalusky said:

They announce this today and our sailing date is tomorrow.  I called RCI (waited an hour) and the lady said call your TA.  I tehn asked about the general question of my sailing is tomorrow and you did not offer this policy till today and I would have called yesterday if I had known.  She say its shorter than 48 hours and I asked to escalate and of course waited another 20 minutes and she as usual when transferred me they hung up.

 

I  called my big box TA like 7:30 this morning and they said they would do an automated call back in 94 minutes.  3 hours later they called back and said sorry call back again.  So I called back again and its been another hour or two of beautiful music.

I just listened to the webinar from royal, celebrity and azamara and they made it very clear in the webinar that they will not make any exceptions for people who canceled prior to today or for sailings within the 48 hours. 

[zalusky]

7 minutes ago, colesc15 said:

I just listened to the webinar from royal, celebrity and azamara and they made it very clear in the webinar that they will not make any exceptions for people who canceled prior to today or for sailings within the 48 hours. 

 

Basically they have screwed people on sailings for tomorrow.  Essentially they are saying this is effective for sailings starting Sunday.   Because even if I had known yesterday I could not have canceled yesterday.

 

This really lowers my "Cruise with Confidence" of them.  

Edited March 6, 2020 by zalusky

[The Fun Researcher]

By that logic all those that sailed last week also got screwed.  There’s always going to be a cutoff that makes somebody unhappy 

 

Dan

[JLDMED]

On 3/4/2020 at 6:03 PM, Les57 said:

Called  my TA as I heard that other Cruise lines are allowing passengers to cancel with a credit on any of their upcoming cruises, no matter where they are going. Was told that RCI has no plans on doing so that they know of and my paid insurance wont help me.   We leave in 2 weeks from Bayonne and will  most likely give up our rooms and loose our money, but it is better than the alternative. I will not subject my family to potential quarantine and death.   This is supposed to be a relaxed vacation. I realize its not RCI fault, but they know its a breeding ground for the Contravirus. I only hope that  RCI,  like other Companies are doing,  will do the right thing and offer refunds.  As a once a year Cruiser, I will take RCI off my list if they dont and I am sure they will lose many royal customers.  Profits before peoples safety!!!!   I hope someone in Management is reading this.  I am not saying cancel, but offer a refund or credit for those who want it. Or at least to those who have autoimmune issue or disabilities.  I am traveling with a severely  disabled daughter , if she contracts the virus or is put in quarantine, there will be a very bad outcome.  Please RCI do the right thing!!! 

Royal Caribbean just issued a "cancel up to 48 hours prior to sailing and get a future cruise credit valid through 2021" policy..  Its on the front page of their website.

Edited March 6, 2020 by JLDMED

[zalusky]

16 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

By that logic all those that sailed last week also got screwed.  There’s always going to be a cutoff that makes somebody unhappy 

 

Dan

Except they were before the announcement.  I am requesting to do something immediately after the announcement.

[Sunshine3601]

On 3/4/2020 at 9:03 PM, Les57 said:

Called  my TA as I heard that other Cruise lines are allowing passengers to cancel with a credit on any of their upcoming cruises, no matter where they are going. Was told that RCI has no plans on doing so that they know of and my paid insurance wont help me.   We leave in 2 weeks from Bayonne and will  most likely give up our rooms and loose our money, but it is better than the alternative. I will not subject my family to potential quarantine and death.   This is supposed to be a relaxed vacation. I realize its not RCI fault, but they know its a breeding ground for the Contravirus. I only hope that  RCI,  like other Companies are doing,  will do the right thing and offer refunds.  As a once a year Cruiser, I will take RCI off my list if they dont and I am sure they will lose many royal customers.  Profits before peoples safety!!!!   I hope someone in Management is reading this.  I am not saying cancel, but offer a refund or credit for those who want it. Or at least to those who have autoimmune issue or disabilities.  I am traveling with a severely  disabled daughter , if she contracts the virus or is put in quarantine, there will be a very bad outcome.  Please RCI do the right thing!!! 

Did you hear about the new cruise with confidence policy RCL released today?   You may cancel your trip by calling and you will receive a FCC to be used thru 2020 into 2021 (usually they are good for 12 months - not sure of that part) but this should be a big help to you and your family!    Stay healthy!

[pthjudy]

10 minutes ago, JLDMED said:

Royal Caribbean just issued a "cancel up to 48 hours prior to sailing and get a future cruise credit valid through 2021" policy..  Its on the front page of their website.

I know that tours and internet etc will be put back on your cc if you cancel. What about a bid you made on Royalup if it was accepted? CC or OBC?

[reallyitsmema]

3 hours ago, Les57 said:

Thank you RCI for doing the right thing  and offering everyone to cancel within 48 hours with RCC applied to future trips!!

To those who were following, we did purchase insurance at time of booking,  as it was not cancel at anytime, it was worthless unless we actually were ill prior to the trip.

 

Again, Thank you RCI !!!!!

 

36 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Did you hear about the new cruise with confidence policy RCL released today?   You may cancel your trip by calling and you will receive a FCC to be used thru 2020 into 2021 (usually they are good for 12 months - not sure of that part) but this should be a big help to you and your family!    Stay healthy!

 

You quoted a post from two days ago.  The OP already thanked Royal Caribbean today for doing the right thing.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, pthjudy said:

I know that tours and internet etc will be put back on your cc if you cancel. What about a bid you made on Royalup if it was accepted? CC or OBC?

I would assume FCC , it is part of your cruise fare. 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

 

You quoted a post from two days ago.  The OP already thanked Royal Caribbean today for doing the right thing.

Please excuse me I was not aware the OP had already thanked RCL for doing the right thing.    I just wanted to let her know in case she did not hear about the new cruise with confidence policy.    Just trying to be nice and help someone!   

[flyguyjake]

21 tested positive on Grand Princess. 19 crew and 2 passengers. Ship bring brought in to a non-commercial port.

[flyguyjake]

Pence just said that elderly should use common sense and caution when planning any cruise vacation. wow

[Sunshine3601]

1 minute ago, flyguyjake said:

21 tested positive on Grand Princess. 19 crew and 2 passengers. Ship bring brought in to a non-commercial port.

Just saw that too!    Scary time for everyone onboard.   They are all in my thoughts and prayers.     

Can't wait to see what Pence says about this latest event tomorrow.   

I am 90% certain we will cancel our cruise for later this month but will wait till 2 or 3 days before to make our final decision unless it is made by RCL or others.    Not doing anything about the other 5 cruises we have booked for 2020.    I am hoping that by spring/early summer this all is behind us.   I feel really bad for all the travelers with plans for spring break and Easter / Passover they all have some tough decisions to make especially if they fall into the high risk category.     The virus doesn't scare me it is getting quarantined that I would hate.

[flyguyjake]

1100 crew members on Grand will be quarantined on ship. Passengers taken off to Military bases for quarantine.

[firefly333]

22 minutes ago, flyguyjake said:

21 tested positive on Grand Princess. 19 crew and 2 passengers. Ship bring brought in to a non-commercial port.

I just posted this to another thread. That's what I got, but they said it pretty fast.

 

I'll wait and see what they do with the 2 pax and crew. Crew not american most likely so who is responsible idk. Yea they just came out with this.

[firefly333]

13 minutes ago, flyguyjake said:

1100 crew members on Grand will be quarantined on ship. Passengers taken off to Military bases for quarantine.

Interesting, hadnt heard what they were doing ... wondered about crew.

[flyguyjake]

Pence & experts are basically telling ALL elderly and those especially with serious underlying health conditions.

DO NOT TRAVEL. Also avoid crowded environments.

[flyguyjake]

https://time.com/5794374/coronavirus-seniors/

[hazence]

That’s not what was said. They took pains to clarify the difference between an underlying condition like high blood pressure and a SERIOUS underlying condition like chronic.lung disease.  Dr Fauchi even stepped up to the microphone to further clarify that point. 
 

It’s common sense!  

 

 

 

 

[flyguyjake]

9 minutes ago, hazence said:

SERIOUS underlying condition

um that's exactly what I said. "serious underlying conditions"