Symphony of the Seas - Update from onboard

[ticketsunlimited]

3 minutes ago, tbo said:

This really stinks -sorry to everyone who is losing their cruise. We are scheduled on 1/29 and now I'm wondering if we should just cancel and reschedule and save the hassle of dealing with it later down the road.

You will get better options if they cancel it.  The waiting game sucks

[nelblu]

I'm on the Allure Jan. 22 sail and if cancelled I'll forgo the 4x C&A points.😊

[Pratique]

16 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

You will get better options if they cancel it.  The waiting game sucks

This seems to be the case.

 

All the hoops to jump through, scheduling vacation time, planning flights, hotel, Covid tests, boarding pets...

 

But the writing was on the wall. This is a bad time to cruise, period.

[erinsmom03]

4 minutes ago, Pratique said:

This seems to be the case.

 

All the hoops to jump through, scheduling vacation time, planning flights, hotel, Covid tests, boarding pets...

 

But the writing was on the wall. This is a bad time to cruise, period.

 

I'm so sorry. I feel your pain. We were supposed to have been on Freedom this week, we cancelled last week. My husband wanted to wait and see if Royal cancelled. I finally couldn't play the game anymore. We moved our 4 night on Freedom to a 6 night on Allure in May. I hope you have good luck with your next pick! We will try again at the end of March. Hoping things will be better by then. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by erinsmom03

[Pratique]

3 minutes ago, erinsmom03 said:

 

I'm so sorry. I feel your pain. We were supposed to have been on Freedom this week, we cancelled last week. My husband wanted to wait and see if Royal cancelled. I finally couldn't play the game anymore. We moved our 4 night on Freedom to a 6 night on Allure in May. I hope you have good luck with your next pick! We will try gain at the end of March. Hoping things will be better by then. 

I was on the verge of cancelling for weeks, but decided to go for it even knowing the risks.

 

We can't travel out of state until late May due to our schedules, so it was either now or much later.

 

I feel bad for the folks who are already on airplanes or in Miami. On FB someone said they rebooked on Carnival for this weekend. 👍

Edited January 7, 2022 by Pratique

[D4]

24 minutes ago, tbo said:

This really stinks -sorry to everyone who is losing their cruise. We are scheduled on 1/29 and now I'm wondering if we should just cancel and reschedule and save the hassle of dealing with it later down the road.

You could just decide you’re not going.  And then plan to cancel it more than 48 hours before your sailing.  That way, if the cruise line ends up cancelling your cruise, you’d probably end up better off.

 

I really feel for all the people that took the CDC advice and cancelled their sailings for the 8th and 9th.  Because the people that didn’t cancel are getting a full refund AND full FCC since Royal cancelled the cruise.

[Pratique]

This is what I was doing this morning, so looking forward to getting away for the first time in two years. Oh well, stuff happens.

[BF125]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2022/01/06/royal-caribbean-moving-covid-positive-crew-vision-rhapsody-ships/9115818002/

[ticketsunlimited]

2 minutes ago, BF125 said:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2022/01/06/royal-caribbean-moving-covid-positive-crew-vision-rhapsody-ships/9115818002/

The whole process is ingenious.  I really hope they can pull it off without having to close down anymore ships.  They are definitely giving it their best effort.

[Cruising89143]

To everyone being affected by the cancellations I feel for you. Things must be pretty severe on board the ships for RCI to cancel with sail dates so close. As disappointing as it has to be hopefully all will be able to get rebooked at a later time when things are looking up. 

[Jimbo]

9 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

The whole process is ingenious.  I really hope they can pull it off without having to close down anymore ships.  They are definitely giving it their best effort.

I think it's pretty sad to tell you the truth just to try to keep things going.

How long can they continue this?

 

I guess after seeing todays cancellations, they really can't continue like this.

.

Sad, but more cancellations might be just a matter of time and no way of telling which ships or when.

 

Makes it really hard to make plans right now to go on a cruise. Maybe works fine for people who live in Florida and are retired but for the working person who needs to request time off for work etc., it's really tough.

[Pratique]

32 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

To everyone being affected by the cancellations I feel for you. Things must be pretty severe on board the ships for RCI to cancel with sail dates so close. As disappointing as it has to be hopefully all will be able to get rebooked at a later time when things are looking up. 

Still scratching my head as to why they waited until today to cancel sailings leaving tomorrow. Didn't they see this coming by, like, Tuesday or Wednesday? I think they did, but didn't want to pull the plug until their hand was forced. Just MHO.

[Kmermaid]

46 minutes ago, Pratique said:

This is what I was doing this morning, so looking forward to getting away for the first time in two years. Oh well, stuff happens.

I have 5 inches here in Philly suburbs

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

Still scratching my head as to why they waited until today to cancel sailings leaving tomorrow. Didn't they see this coming by, like, Tuesday or Wednesday? I think they did, but didn't want to pull the plug until their hand was forced. Just MHO.

 

It's a hard decision to make I'm sure -- the timing is never right but I agree you should have had more than one day's notice.  Were you able to cancel flights, hotels, kennel boarding etc. without penalties?  

[Pratique]

3 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

It's a hard decision to make I'm sure -- the timing is never right but I agree you should have had more than one day's notice.  Were you able to cancel flights, hotels, kennel boarding etc. without penalties?  

We lost on the hotel, it was too late to cancel.

 

The others we canceled. American Airlines issued a credit, no penalty, although the fare is refundable. I guess I either need to expressly request a refund or just hold onto the credit and use it later.

 

I'm just wondering how Royal couldn't see this coming a few days ago. Maybe they were hoping to minimize the number of FCCs they had to issue by waiting out the last minute cancelations from nervous guests. A warning to everyone, if they did it once they can do it again.

[livingonthebeach]

4 minutes ago, Pratique said:

We lost on the hotel, it was too late to cancel.

 

The others we canceled. American Airlines issued a credit, no penalty, although the fare is refundable. I guess I either need to expressly request a refund or just hold onto the credit and use it later.

 

I'm just wondering how Royal couldn't see this coming a few days ago. Maybe they were hoping to minimize the number of FCCs they had to issue by waiting out the last minute cancelations from nervous guests. A warning to everyone, if they did it once they can do it again.

 

I guess after NCL's eight cancellations, it opened the door for RCI to do the same.  If the number of cases keep going up as we're hearing from other unconfirmed sources, they might just cancel more sailings.  Hopefully they have the situation under control with just these preliminary cancellations - let's hope there are no more to follow. 

 

Did you book a non-refundable hotel?  Great that you got your airline credit!

Edited January 7, 2022 by livingonthebeach

[John&LaLa]

56 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

The whole process is ingenious.  I really hope they can pull it off without having to close down anymore ships.  They are definitely giving it their best effort.

 

Absolutely ingenious, but it's also following CDC guidelines. I wish them well.

 

Of course there's a certain group that call them Plague Ships and its only being done to save money. Oh well,  😥 

[Pratique]

2 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

I guess after NCL's eight cancellations, it opened the door for RCI to do the same.  If the number of cases keep going up as we're hearing from other unconfirmed sources, they might just cancel more sailings.  Hopefully they have the situation under control with just these preliminary cancellations - let's hope there are no more to follow. 

 

Did you book a non-refundable hotel?  Great that you got your airline credit!

The hotel cancelation policy was 24 hours on this room rate. Which was yesterday.

 

How is it that American Airlines can issue a credit to my account within seconds (yes I checked and it is already there waiting for me), but Royal takes weeks or months to do the same?

[ticketsunlimited]

38 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

I think it's pretty sad to tell you the truth just to try to keep things going.

How long can they continue this?

 

I guess after seeing todays cancellations, they really can't continue like this.

.

Sad, but more cancellations might be just a matter of time and no way of telling which ships or when.

 

Makes it really hard to make plans right now to go on a cruise. Maybe works fine for people who live in Florida and are retired but for the working person who needs to request time off for work etc., it's really tough.

NFL, NHL, NBA and Major leagues have all been in the same situation.  They have had to make some tough decisions to postpone some games hear and there but have made the best with the hands they were dealt.  Musicians and Broadway actors have had to do the same JIMBO.  One thing they have all attempted to do is keep the brand as productible and entertaining under the circumstances.  All while keeping people safe.  

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

The hotel cancelation policy was 24 hours on this room rate. Which was yesterday.

 

How is it that American Airlines can issue a credit to my account within seconds (yes I checked and it is already there waiting for me), but Royal takes weeks or months to do the same?

 

So I take it you didn't book your air through Royal's AirtoSea?  Wonder how long the wait is to be refunded air tickets from RCI?  Wow what a bummer for you all around.  Hope you get a great deal on your next cruise to make up for all this. 

[ticketsunlimited]

12 minutes ago, Pratique said:

We lost on the hotel, it was too late to cancel.

 

The others we canceled. American Airlines issued a credit, no penalty, although the fare is refundable. I guess I either need to expressly request a refund or just hold onto the credit and use it later.

 

I'm just wondering how Royal couldn't see this coming a few days ago. Maybe they were hoping to minimize the number of FCCs they had to issue by waiting out the last minute cancelations from nervous guests. A warning to everyone, if they did it once they can do it again.

You shouldnt have any problem Pratique getting your hotel refunded with your trip insurance.  The whole thing is a nightmare.  I could very well be in the same situation on the 29th with Odyssey. The insurance definitely makes me sleep a little better. Hoping they can stop the bleeding and outlast this Omicron variant.

Maine has peaked and was the only state in the nation coming down yesterday but we were also the fastest going up so lets hope the rest of the country trends down.

[Oceansaway17]

1 hour ago, Pratique said:

This is what I was doing this morning, so looking forward to getting away for the first time in two years. Oh well, stuff happens.

 

You can watch PTZtv and see the nice ships sailing out of various ports.  sorry I know this is all I can offer but I am having fun at least and so can you.   Oh and I also shoveled 2 inches today.

[Pratique]

17 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

So I take it you didn't book your air through Royal's AirtoSea?  Wonder how long the wait is to be refunded air tickets from RCI?  Wow what a bummer for you all around.  Hope you get a great deal on your next cruise to make up for all this. 

No we always book direct. I avoid relying on Royal for anything I don't need them for.

 

13 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

You shouldnt have any problem Pratique getting your hotel refunded with your trip insurance.  The whole thing is a nightmare.  I could very well be in the same situation on the 29th with Odyssey. The insurance definitely makes me sleep a little better. Hoping they can stop the bleeding and outlast this Omicron variant.

Maine has peaked and was the only state in the nation coming down yesterday but we were also the fastest going up so lets hope the rest of the country trends down.

The only insurance we had was Royal's, which seems to only cover costs paid to Royal and for delays or interruptions after the trip has begun. The airfare was refundable and we took our chances with the hotel. Half of it were points and the other half cash.

 

Our governor in NH said yesterday that there is not enough data to see a trend in the cases. It looks flat right now but it's incomplete because of the holidays. In any event, they are going to start focusing on hospitalizations because there are too many home/self tests not being reported.

[Pratique]

4 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

 

You can watch PTZtv and see the nice ships sailing out of various ports.  sorry I know this is all I can offer but I am having fun at least and so can you.   Oh and I also shoveled 2 inches today.

Normally I enjoy watching PTZtv but right now I'm not in the mood to. Too painful. It has been a long two years since we last sailed and it will be at least another four or five months. Likely more. But I had fun with the Ariens. It was only a few inches today, more fun to blow it when it is really deep.

Edited January 7, 2022 by Pratique

[Oceansaway17]

2 hours ago, tbo said:

This really stinks -sorry to everyone who is losing their cruise. We are scheduled on 1/29 and now I'm wondering if we should just cancel and reschedule and save the hassle of dealing with it later down the road.

wait for them to cancel and see what you get.