New travel policy coming soon from Royal

[MoniMommy]

What happens if you use a FCC to pay for a cruise with a REFUNDABLE deposit and cancel BEFORE final payment. Will you get the FCC back to use on another cruise?

 

[psujmatt]

10 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You are able to apply the FCC to current cruises.

I might be having trouble reading but is this stated in the policy or FAQ? Or was it said in the webinar verbally? Or something you did? I hope it is true!

 

thanks

[Ourusualbeach]

10 minutes ago, psujmatt said:

I might be having trouble reading but is this stated in the policy or FAQ? Or was it said in the webinar verbally? Or something you did? I hope it is true!

 

thanks

It is standard for all FCC’s that are issued.  There is nothing in the FAQ’s that explicitly states that it must be applied to a new cruise.  This excerpt simply states that it can be applied to any cruise. 

 

 

Effective March 6, 2020, the new Cruise with Confidence policy allows our guests to cancel any cruise departing on-or-before July 31^st, 2020, up to 48 hours before departure, and receive a Future Cruise Credit that can be applied to any future cruise departing in 2020 or 2021.

[Ourusualbeach]

9 minutes ago, RETNAVY1996 said:

I am concerned about Royal.  On the Allure TA thread John posted that his wife had “101 fever, throat infection. Prescribed Z pack and nyquil.” and they were not quarantined.  He was out and about while she was the cabin.  Would have thought that Royal would/should have quarantined them at least for a few days to see what other symptoms came up.  If it is a normal cold I would have thought they should still have been told to stay in cabin.  Did Royal not quarantine because they are pinnacle?  

They were not quarantined because they were examined by a Dr. who determined it was an infection and treated it accordingly. 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[SherriZ366]

11 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You are able to apply the FCC to current cruises.

That's what important to me.  We have cruises booked through the end of 2021 (and beyond where this doesn't apply).  

[psujmatt]

27 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It is standard for all FCC’s that are issued.  There is nothing in the FAQ’s that explicitly states that it must be applied to a new cruise.  This excerpt simply states that it can be applied to any cruise. 

 

 

Effective March 6, 2020, the new Cruise with Confidence policy allows our guests to cancel any cruise departing on-or-before July 31^st, 2020, up to 48 hours before departure, and receive a Future Cruise Credit that can be applied to any future cruise departing in 2020 or 2021.

I hope you are right but the terms and conditions currently on the website say:

The FCC certificate’s value may be applied toward the cruise fare due on a new booking on the brand originally purchased.  

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-with-confidence

[SherriZ366]

2 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

We paid for our upcoming cruise in part with a cruise credit we had from last cruise.  If we cancel do we lose out on the credit?

Same for me.  

[SherriZ366]

1 hour ago, Maverick61 said:

Glad to see Royal did this.  But this part kind of sucks

 

13) What if I decide to cancel for the Future Cruise Credit and I already had an FCC on my reservation?

• You're in a unique situation, since you used a credit. Your original Future Cruise Certificate will be considered redeemed and used. You'll receive a new Future Cruise Certificate based on the cruise fare in penalty in your current booking. You're forfeiting your old credit, so you may want to wait to decide.We are optimistic that things will be more stable.

 

I have a cruise booked for May.  Used $900 in FCC towards the $2500 payment.  So if I understand this correctly, if I cancel I am out the $900 in previous FCC and only get issued $1600.  Am I wrong?

 

doesn't make sense to me especially since the original FCC would not have expired til the end of October.

 

I hope I am misinterpreting this.  If not I hope Royal reconsiders.  Right now I am not cancelling but if things get worse I may and it seems quite unfair to lose that $900 .  At a minimum the previous $900 FCC should be reinstated with it's original expiration date (October in this case)

I hope you're misinterpreting also.  We are in a similar predicament.  

[SherriZ366]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You are not wrong.  That is exactly how it will be handled. 

Are you sure?  I'm going to wait for the phone traffic to die down and push it higher if I have to.  We applied about $800 from a future cruise credit due to Hurricane Dorian cruise cancellation to our 4-19-2020 HM cruise.  

[Ourusualbeach]

8 minutes ago, SherriZ366 said:

Are you sure?  I'm going to wait for the phone traffic to die down and push it higher if I have to.  We applied about $800 from a future cruise credit due to Hurricane Dorian cruise cancellation to our 4-19-2020 HM cruise.  

Absolutely sure.  Royal makes clear note of this even cautioning you to  hold off making a decision as this will happen. 

 

13) What if I decide to cancel for the Future Cruise Credit and I already had an FCC on my reservation?

• You're in a unique situation, since you used a credit. Your original Future Cruise Certificate will be considered redeemed and used. You'll receive a new Future Cruise Certificate based on the cruise fare in penalty in your current booking. You're forfeiting your old credit, so you may want to wait to decide. We are optimistic that things will be more stable.

 

 

Please come back and report the outcome as many are hoping that there is room for interpretation on this however their wording is very clear. 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[SherriZ366]

5 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Absolutely sure.  Royal makes clear note of this even cautioning younto hold off making a decision as this will happen. 

 

13) What if I decide to cancel for the Future Cruise Credit and I already had an FCC on my reservation?

• You're in a unique situation, since you used a credit. Your original Future Cruise Certificate will be considered redeemed and used. You'll receive a new Future Cruise Certificate based on the cruise fare in penalty in your current booking. You're forfeiting your old credit, so you may want to wait to decide. We are optimistic that things will be more stable.

We are sailing on April 19 so I'm waiting until a few days before the cruise to decide (probably 3 days before as our night prior hotel reservations have a 48 hour cancellation deadline).  

 

Edited March 8, 2020 by SherriZ366

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, SherriZ366 said:

We are sailing on April 19 so I'm waiting until a few days before the cruise to decide (probably 3 days before as our night prior hotel reservations have a 48 hour cancellation deadline).  

 

Don’t cut it too close as it’s not really 48 hours prior.  It’s actually 63 to 65 hours.

 

its 48 hours prior to 12:01 am on the day the cruise departs.  On a cruise departing Sunday you need to call prior to 11:59pm on the Thursday. 

[SherriZ366]

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

Don’t cut it too close as it’s not really 48 hours prior.  It’s actually 63 to 65 hours.

 

its 48 hours prior to 12:01 am on the day the cruise departs.  On a cruise departing Sunday you need to call prior to 11:59pm on the Thursday. 

Good suggestion I'll probably give it 5 days -- we'll have a pretty good idea if we're going by April 14.   I have it marked on the calendar to start deciding on April 13.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, SherriZ366 said:

Good suggestion I'll probably give it 5 days -- we'll have a pretty good idea if we're going by April 14.   I have it marked on the calendar to start deciding on April 13.

Smart plan. 

[Boatsie]

57 minutes ago, SherriZ366 said:

Are you sure?  I'm going to wait for the phone traffic to die down and push it higher if I have to.  We applied about $800 from a future cruise credit due to Hurricane Dorian cruise cancellation to our 4-19-2020 HM cruise.  

...i’m In the same boat too!  Only I’d lose $2200 in FCC from Dorian that I applied to a cruise leaving March 28.  The original FCC wasn’t set to expire until August 2020...so I guess RCC will be able to pocket my original $2200 4 months early.

And I suspect even if they cancel this cruise, i’d only be repaid the money over & above the FCC and would still be out $2200. 

 

Maybe something to consider for all the people who are giddy about getting FCC by cancelling now.  It might not be such a great deal later on down the road.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Boatsie

[Maverick61]

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You are not wrong.  That is exactly how it will be handled. 

Thanks.  I was afraid of that.

 

Well I planned on waiting anyway til close to the cruise date in May to decide.  Hopefully Royal may reconsider this aspect.  It doesn't make sense to just lose the past FCC applied .  I can certainly see not extending the date of the original FCC (October in my case) but to forfeit it entirely doesn't make much logical sense.

[Bellamariya]

I cancelled my May 17th cruise today and was told it would take 4-6 weeks for the FCC to be issued. I have 2 cruises already booked but will probably use the FCC to book another once this virus issue has died down. 

[MoniMommy]

1 hour ago, Bellamariya said:

I cancelled my May 17th cruise today and was told it would take 4-6 weeks for the FCC to be issued. I have 2 cruises already booked but will probably use the FCC to book another once this virus issue has died down. 

You are more than 60 days out. Did you get half back to your credit card and half back as a FCC?

[Bellamariya]

18 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

You are more than 60 days out. Did you get half back to your credit card and half back as a FCC?

I had only paid the deposit, final payment was due today but I cancelled instead.  I was told to expect an email with my deposit back as an FCC in 4-6 weeks.

[MoniMommy]

Can 1 person cancel and get the FCC or does everyone have to cancel? Dont see any verbiage which says that everyone has to cancel. I am on a kids sail free rate with 2 adults and 2 kids. If my mom cancels, she is the 2and adult. Would they reprice since with 1 adults and 2 kids, only 1 kid would be free? Or would she just get her fare back as FCC and everyone else's fare stay the same?

[Ourusualbeach]

10 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

Can 1 person cancel and get the FCC or does everyone have to cancel? Dont see any verbiage which says that everyone has to cancel. I am on a kids sail free rate with 2 adults and 2 kids. If my mom cancels, she is the 2and adult. Would they reprice since with 1 adults and 2 kids, only 1 kid would be free? Or would she just get her fare back as FCC and everyone else's fare stay the same?

everyone has to cancel.

 

Just like a normal sailing if one person cancels the room is repriced to a solo rate (basically 2x the cost of one person)

 

In your example  Mom would not get a FCC the one kid now becomes an adult

[Ourusualbeach]

38 minutes ago, RETNAVY1996 said:

But here is Royals policy, would think they would go safely first with everything going on.   “We have rigorous medical protocols in place to help passengers and crew members who feel unwell while sailing. Our protocols include professional medical treatment; quarantine of unwell individuals from the general ship population; and intensified ship cleaning, air filtration, and sanitization procedures.

Yes they are protocols which does not mean mandatory so unless you are a Dr who examined the patient you really can't say what should be done 

[CuseJeff44]

This may be a better place for this.

 

We've been wrestling with what to do out for our late June RCL cruise out of Rome. It's looking increasingly likely this isnt going to happen so last week shelled out a good chunk for a Nationwide cancel for any reason policy (i was actually a bit surprised I could still find out on a cruise out of Italy). Not so much for the cruise at this point, thanks to the new RCL, but for the $5K in airfare that is non refundable. I like that if, say, I decide its too risky for me, or my MIL does, the rest could in theory still go and I could get reimbursed (this isnt likely to happen of course).

 

That policy change actually made it easier for me to decide to actually MAKE the final payment, so thats good...

 

I would love for this to abate in Italy and use to be able to go, but considering I am mild asthma (not serious but at least elevates my risk slightly i presume) and my MIL is 67 (another slightly higher risk factor), wanted to ensure that if nothing else, I have the ability to apply that ~$4K i get back to the future rescheduled cruise whenever that may be. 

Edited March 8, 2020 by jlabramo

[Snit13]

I just read all 9 pages of this thread.  Ken, you have be so professional and patient with so many unnecessary questions.  I read and then made a copy of the announcement when RCCL issued it.  I fail to understand why there are so many questions when all are answered in black and white if you just take the time to read.  I have 2 cruises booked, one April 9 and one June 12 and have no intention of cancelling either.  I am in the extremely high risk group on multiple counts but I refuse to put the time I have left on hold in the event something might happen to me.  Though not normally a gambler, in this case I will take the gamble.  If the ship sails, I will be on her.  I am extremely happy with the new 48 hour policy as final on June Europe cruise is this week.  I am following John's TA post too and agree that the doctor examined LaLa and apparently determined she did not have anything threatening.  Do not see what their C&A level has to do with anything.

Also a shout out to MerionMom and Molly361 for their replies.  Keep up the good work Ken.

[MoniMommy]

Can someone comment on 13.

13) What if I decide to cancel for the Future Cruise Credit and I already had an FCC on my reservation?

• You're in a unique situation, since you used a credit. Your original Future Cruise Certificate will be considered redeemed and used. You'll receive a new Future Cruise Certificate based on the cruise fare in penalty in your current booking. You're forfeiting your old credit, so you may want to wait to decide.We are optimistic that things will be more stable.

So if I cancel my may cruise and apply it to a cruise in sep and things have not calmed down and I need to cancel again I loose the value of my FCC. Is that correct?

 

If that's true it sounds like I should pay in full for Sep cruise with my Credit Card. Then closer to sailing (maybe a week before) apply the FCC. Now my booking is overpaid so I will receive a CC refund that matches the value of my FCC. This way if things aren't stable and I have to cancel, I wont loose the value of my FCC? Does that sound right? I also plan to book a refundable deposit. Hopefully by June we will know how things are going with the virus.

 

Of course everyone makes their own decisions but State Department issued a travel advisory against cruising and warned that US citizens quarantined in other countries should not rely on repatriation filghts.