Odds of April 11 Tampa Rhapsody

[JamesEM]

I canceled my AK cruise in May, RCL has been sending crew home, probably will take some time to gear back up. 

[Kimba_83]

2 hours ago, UKWLDCruise said:

I have an October cruise from Boston to Tampa and I am almost giving up on that one so no chance for April

I'm booked on that ship, too. Don't think it's gonna happen. 

[Kimba_83]

8 hours ago, Florida native said:

What are my odds. Itinerary---  Key West--Bars Hotels beaches closed, Grand Cayman closed  60 days

next two Ports Cozumel, Porta Maya  Mexico closed 30 days. I guess that leaves me with a 7 day at sea cruise.

Should be a blast.

I'm pretty sure there won't be any cruises over the next few month. A lot of airlines have already cancelled all flights until summer, ports are closed, concerts are cancelled over the summer. Travelwise this year is over. 

[Starry Eyes]

We are booked on Harmony on 4/12.  I do not expect it to sail, but I will wait for RCI to cancel.

[OceanSea]

I’m just waiting for my May 3rd cruise on Oasis to be canceled 😢 but I’ve rebooked same cruise for next year.

[Milwaukee Eight]

Since you asked I would bet NO. 

[PhillyFan33579]

Zero percent chance. 
 

We have cruises booked in May, July, September and October. Only cruise I am fairly optimistic might actually happen is Harmony in October. 

[elephant98]

I’m booked on a 4/11 sailing on the Symphony.  I called in a week ago to complain when I noticed that Royal had changed its “30 day suspension” to something like 27 days, which left our Easter weekend sailing on the calendar.  I spoke with a Royal customer service agent who assured me our cruise was going to be canceled, and she gave me the option of asking for a 100% refund instead of the 125% FCC.   I hard a hard time believing her information was accurate, so I called back and confirmed with a different customer service agent that our 4/11 sailing had been canceled and that our request for a 100% refund was pending.   Both customer service reps told me I would receive my refund in up to 30 days.

 

Do I believe either of them?  Not really.  Neither gave me a cancelation confirmation number.  (They said it will be my current booking number). Both refused to give me a badge number to identify themselves.  And, I have yet to see any public information stating that Royal has canceled any cruises beyond 4/10.  

 

Do I think the 4/11 sailing will actually happen?  Not a chance.

[Starry Eyes]

50 minutes ago, elephant98 said:

I’m booked on a 4/11 sailing on the Symphony.  I called in a week ago to complain when I noticed that Royal had changed its “30 day suspension” to something like 27 days, which left our Easter weekend sailing on the calendar.  I spoke with a Royal customer service agent who assured me our cruise was going to be canceled, and she gave me the option of asking for a 100% refund instead of the 125% FCC.   I hard a hard time believing her information was accurate, so I called back and confirmed with a different customer service agent that our 4/11 sailing had been canceled and that our request for a 100% refund was pending.   Both customer service reps told me I would receive my refund in up to 30 days.

 

Do I believe either of them?  Not really.  Neither gave me a cancelation confirmation number.  (They said it will be my current booking number). Both refused to give me a badge number to identify themselves.  And, I have yet to see any public information stating that Royal has canceled any cruises beyond 4/10.  

 

Do I think the 4/11 sailing will actually happen?  Not a chance.

Interesting.  Still, I think I will wait for a public announcement before acting on my 4/12 cruise.  Retired and living within easy drive to port, I feel no pressure to act now. Others might feel more time pressure.

[LXA350]

As it seems at the moment cruises can earliest commence during May and more realistically as of begining of June. Also here time will tell, at this stage the peak of the curve was not yet reached which likely will be in april and then it depends on how fast new cases will go down to have total active cases reduced etc. Taking China as a benchmark two months need to be given, hence for the US roughly it would be all of March and April, with things getting under control during May. A simmilar trend we could see in Europe.

Edited March 21, 2020 by LXA350

[molly361]

2 hours ago, elephant98 said:

I’m booked on a 4/11 sailing on the Symphony.  I called in a week ago to complain when I noticed that Royal had changed its “30 day suspension” to something like 27 days, which left our Easter weekend sailing on the calendar.  I spoke with a Royal customer service agent who assured me our cruise was going to be canceled, and she gave me the option of asking for a 100% refund instead of the 125% FCC.   I hard a hard time believing her information was accurate, so I called back and confirmed with a different customer service agent that our 4/11 sailing had been canceled and that our request for a 100% refund was pending.   Both customer service reps told me I would receive my refund in up to 30 days.

 

Do I believe either of them?  Not really.  Neither gave me a cancelation confirmation number.  (They said it will be my current booking number). Both refused to give me a badge number to identify themselves.  And, I have yet to see any public information stating that Royal has canceled any cruises beyond 4/10.  

 

Do I think the 4/11 sailing will actually happen?  Not a chance.

Strange that they would offer the 125% FCC on a cruise that has not (yet) been officially cancelled.  AND by 2 different reps

[torpeedo]

15 hours ago, Florida native said:

What are my odds. Itinerary---  Key West--Bars Hotels beaches closed, Grand Cayman closed  60 days

next two Ports Cozumel, Porta Maya  Mexico closed 30 days. I guess that leaves me with a 7 day at sea cruise.

Should be a blast.

 

Zippo.  Don't cancel your cruise, let them cancel it so you can get a full cash refund back to your card instead of the FCC.  I you want an FCC you will probably be offered that option but I'm holding out for the cash!

[time4u2go]

58 minutes ago, LXA350 said:

As it seems at the moment cruises can earliest commence during May and more realistically as of begining of June. Also here time will tell, at this stage the peak of the curve was not yet reached which likely will be in april and then it depends on how fast new cases will go down to have total active cases reduced etc. Taking China as a benchmark two months need to be given, hence for the US roughly it would be all of March and April, with things getting under control during May. A simmilar trend we could see in Europe.

China did it in two months with a strongly enforced lockdown. I'm not sure that will happen in the US

[FreQuentKruser]

We're booked on the Liberty April 12, we're in the  70 year old group and our doctor already said she won't sign the medical form, so we know we cant go on that cruise but we still don't want to cancel for FCC yet, we're waiting for RCCL to cancel.

[flyguyjake]

39 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

China did it in two months with a strongly enforced lockdown. I'm not sure that will happen in the US

That's right, total lockdown including physically locking the buildings so people could not leave. The entire country wears face masks so the person to person aerosolized infection is much lower. Doctors stayed in quarantined facilities after their shifts, they did not go home to their families during their outbreak. The steps China took, no other country has. It will be very interesting to see how the US handles this and if their version of "safer at home" really works. Meanwhile 7 states still have ZERO restrictions. Many countries think CV is a joke and aren't taking it seriously either.

[firefly333]

South korea also checked your credit card transactions to make sure you weren't doing other activities. We also couldnt get by with this, like to keep kids not partying on florida beaches.

[lbjen]

It’s not really about which ports are open, it’s about whether it’s safe for so many people to be in close proximity like that. That’s really what it comes down to. And of course whether they think enough people will show up for them to break even on their sailing costs. People who want to see normality returned quicker need to follow the advice given and tell their friends/family to do the same. We wouldn’t be in this situation now if more people had been a little less selfish 3-4 weeks ago. 

[Hypo]

Rhapsody just got underway from Tampa.  Looks like no passengers on board.  Where is she going?

 

[JPSemprini]

According to MarineTraffic.com her destination is anchoring west of the bay. 

[Snit13]

14 hours ago, flyguyjake said:

 Some Governors just aren't taking this seriously. It's really a shame the Federal Government didn't just shut down the entire US for 3 weeks. We would have had a much better chance at attacking this head on instead of from behind like we are now.  Be safe, self quarantine as much as you possibly can.

Unless I have forgotten it would not be legal for the Federal Government to shut down the entire US.  I do believe certain rights are reserved in our constitution for the Federal Government and certain rights are reserved for the States.  That has been reported many times of the past weeks if you are watching real news.

[Snit13]

11 hours ago, Kimba_83 said:

I'm pretty sure there won't be any cruises over the next few month. A lot of airlines have already cancelled all flights until summer, ports are closed, concerts are cancelled over the summer. Travelwise this year is over. 

Sorry to read your report from Germany.  We have reservations in Germany in June.  Waiting for RCCL to cancel our cruise and flights before we cancel our hotel reservations.  Received an email from Eurail yesterday extending the validity of our passes by 6 months.  Best of health to you and all.

[Snit13]

5 hours ago, molly361 said:

Strange that they would offer the 125% FCC on a cruise that has not (yet) been officially cancelled.  AND by 2 different reps

They could see the writing on the wall.  lol.

They cancelled my April 9 cruise and I doubt any cruises will sail before June 1.  Don't cancel, wait for RCCL to cancel you so you get the options in writing.  They sent my email around midnight for the April 9 cruise so look for it in the morning.

[voyager70]

4 hours ago, time4u2go said:

China did it in two months with a strongly enforced lockdown. I'm not sure that will happen in the US

 

Yet they didn't disclose the severity until it was a full blown crisis.

[JPSemprini]

We just cancelled our airline reservations but are still booked on 4/12 Oasis sailing out of Miami.  We had a guarantee Jr. Suite which got upgraded to a Grand Suite (which would be our first time in such a cabin!).  The whole thing was comped by the casino so the FCC vs cash debate is moot.  I'm sure we will get future casino offers once the emergency situation is over.  I won't cancel the cruise until close to the deadline with the hope that if they cancel they just might give us another suite.  In any event, we will not be sailing on Easter.  

 

Based on the responses in this thread, most of you agree that cruises won't begin until much later.  Does anyone think that RCI hasn't already made that decision?  I understand their reasoning, but if that is true, does anyone else think it's pretty crappy of them to delay announcing it? 

[elephant98]

2 hours ago, JPSemprini said:

Based on the responses in this thread, most of you agree that cruises won't begin until much later.  Does anyone think that RCI hasn't already made that decision?  I understand their reasoning, but if that is true, does anyone else think it's pretty crappy of them to delay announcing it? 

I imagine part of it is wishful thinking, part of it is following what Carnival is doing, and part of it is Royal’s preference to have you cancel and settle for a FCC.