Think Twice Before Booking Royal Caribbean

[Jimbo]

55 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

I understand what your saying but cruise lines are trying to financially recover so I think they would be very careful what they disclose (CDC seems to like to "inflate" scenarios).  I don't think cruise ships that are experiencing outbreaks are broadcasting numbers while cruising for fear of starting an all out panic (and risk major cancellations).  Just my opinion.

If it's happening they should just do the right thing and report it. Plain and simple.

14 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Or it could be that the cruise ships just aren’t experiencing any outbreaks.

Then report that, no outbreaks. That would be nice to hear too rather then nothing.

 

Are they afraid if they report No outbreaks on a sailing, someone will get off the ship and say hell no that is  not true. They know of so and so was tested and was positive.

 

So  by saying nothing, that makes me think there are still positive cases onboard, just like there are still positive cases on land.

 

But unlike on land there isn't 4 or 5000 people running around in close quarters for a week eating and mingling together so close to each other.

Edited May 6, 2022 by Jimbo

[orville99]

23 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Then report that, no outbreaks. That would be nice to hear too rather then nothing.

Why? they don’t report incidences of flu, Noro, or any other gastrointestinal or respiratory illness until or unless it meets or exceeds the level required by authorities for reporting. Why should this be treated any differently?

[Jimbo]

5 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Why? they don’t report incidences of flu, Noro, or any other gastrointestinal or respiratory illness until or unless it meets or exceeds the level required by authorities for reporting. Why should this be treated any differently?

Wonder how levels by authorities of reporting compares to the CDC in the US ? Differently probably because more have died from Covid in the same time span as from the Flu or Noro.

[JKHawaii]

Apparently, the Voyager was pulled from the 2023 Baltic cruises in favor of the Serenade.  It's been hard to fill the 7-night Voyager cruises this summer, due mostly to the removal of St Petersburg from itineraries.

 

Sounds like essentially, the OP wanted to do a "lift & shift", the program that died 1 Feb 2021.

 

Doing a quick check, there are online options for the 7 May 2023 Serenade TA for a suite guarantee with free gratuities for about $4500.  There are oodles of Jr Suites available, as pointed out previously, and you may even get a lucky upgrade.  So if it were moi, I would collect the refund from RCCL and re-book online.

 

Of course, I guess it's a moot point, due to the OP's sad farewell to RCCL.

 

As for me, I always think twice before booking ......................... and then I book anyway ................. shame on me!

 

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, orville99 said:

And yet, when we booked Oasis for August 2017 it was not an "Eclipse" cruise yet. Once RCL figured out that they could tweak their route that week so the ship could experience the total eclipse (it was spectacular BTW), they doubled their prices. Unlike that hotel. our price didn't change one penny from what we originally booked.

 

They had to pay for Bonnie Tyler😉🤣🤣

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, pinnacle_king2023 said:

the people on the phones need better training... 

 

On Geography?

[John&LaLa]

56 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Or it could be that the cruise ships just aren’t experiencing any outbreaks.

 

Guess you need to define outbreak

[John&LaLa]

 

 

53 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

For real?  In our 10 years of sailing Royal, we have not had a single cruise modified.  No change of ports, dates, nothing.  The only two that were impacted were those cancelled due to covid March and July 2020 

It's like we're sailing different cruise lines.

 

 

We've had a lot, maybe 20%

 

Lots were hurricane related, political unrest, Noro, drydock changes, redeployments, winds at Coco Cay, covid, etc...

[John&LaLa]

47 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

If it's happening they should just do the right thing and report it. Plain and simple.

Then report that, no outbreaks. That would be nice to hear too rather then nothing.

 

Are they afraid if they report No outbreaks on a sailing, someone will get off the ship and say hell no that is  not true. They know of so and so was tested and was positive.

 

So  by saying nothing, that makes me think there are still positive cases onboard, just like there are still positive cases on land.

 

But unlike on land there isn't 4 or 5000 people running around in close quarters for a week eating and mingling together so close to each other.

 

Not a fan of the Nanny State mentality 🙄 

[John&LaLa]

13 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Wonder how levels by authorities of reporting compares to the CDC in the US ? Differently probably because more have died from Covid in the same time span as from the Flu or Noro.

 

Living in the past. Deaths seem to be under flu levels now

[orville99]

20 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Wonder how levels by authorities of reporting compares to the CDC in the US ? Differently probably because more have died from Covid in the same time span as from the Flu or Noro.

Irrelevant. The past is not prologue

 

[orville99]

10 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

 

 

We've had a lot, maybe 20%

 

Lots were hurricane related, political unrest, Noro, drydock changes, redeployments, winds at Coco Cay, covid, etc...

Us as well - I’ve lost count of how many. Heck we’ve had four already post restart.

[orville99]

18 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Guess you need to define outbreak

Actually, outbreak has a CDC definition, as does every other communicable illness. Jimbo is conflating incidence with outbreak, and the two are completely different.

Edited May 6, 2022 by orville99

[Biker19]

58 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

So  by saying nothing, that makes me think there are still positive cases onboard, just like there are still positive cases on land.

They are not saying nothing, just not specifics - a very general snap shot of what's going on is listed on the CDC site -updated almost daily.

[orville99]

21 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

They had to pay for Bonnie Tyler😉🤣🤣

They paid way too much. Her voice was pretty well shot.

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

They paid way too much. Her voice was pretty well shot.

 

That's why the 😉🤣🤣

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, The Fun Researcher said:

For real?  In our 10 years of sailing Royal, we have not had a single cruise modified.  No change of ports, dates, nothing.  The only two that were impacted were those cancelled due to covid March and July 2020 

It's like we're sailing different cruise lines.

 

????   Apples to oranges.  Your reason to think twice isn't even close to what the OP is talking about.

Dan

Well that's nice after 10 years but you also unfortunately are not really close to what the OP is talking about as well.

Edited May 6, 2022 by jean87510

[orville99]

16 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

That's why the 😉🤣🤣

But the eclipse party on the helipad was a nice touch.

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

But the eclipse party on the helipad was a nice touch.

 

Pins and Suites🤔

 

Our old neighbors, Carl and Bridget were on that trip. Booked early like you. Do you know them?

[orville99]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Pins and Suites🤔

 

Our old neighbors, Carl and Bridget were on that trip. Booked early like you. Do you know them?

We were in a suite, but it wasn’t that crowded out there (When the totality happened I was lying flat out on my back taking pix, and no one stepped on me😇)

[Mapleleafforever]

8 hours ago, zeroed said:

There’s always Carnival. Lots of value there. You can get all the Wobble, rust, fist fights, twerking and drug arrests with them that you just can’t get on Royal. 
 

What have I been missing all these years of cruising with Royal!?!?!? 

[HBE4]

20 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

In a nutshell

 

OP books sweet deal on a TA from FL to Europe. 

 

Royal cancels that cruise to redeploy 2 ships

 

Royal then deadheads Serenade from Tampa to Miami to create a new transatlantic voyage. Can now raise prices

 

Royal then notifies OP the cruise is cancelled, and offers an entirely unequal replacement 

 

OP discovers the real replacement cruise, loves the itinerary, but can't book a GS now, and JS's are twice the cost of previous GS

 

OP then calls Royal, hours later, they still refuse to honor old terms

 

OP then creates a thread here to vent.

 

I agree, it sux, but not sure I'd never cruise Royal again.

 

FWIW, I had a similar situation in 2019 when I think Navigator TP got moved to Ovation.

 

We did get $1,000 FCC, so that's different 

 

 

 

Nice recap. I agree with your assessment: "it sux, but not sure I'd never cruise Royal again". 

 

I might think twice and maybe explore a few other lines before returning to Royal but never say never.

 

Now, how did this turn into a covid discussion which means this thread will be locked shortly?

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Apples to oranges.  Your reason to think twice isn't even close to what the OP is talking about.

we had one bad experience. OP had one bad experience. Not apples to oranges.

1 hour ago, The Fun Researcher said:

n our 10 years of sailing Royal, we have not had a single cruise modified.  No change of ports, dates, nothing.  The only two that were impacted were those cancelled due to covid March and July 2020 

It's like we're sailing different cruise lines.

 

Our November 2021 RCI cruise had an itinerary change. So, does that prove to YOU that it wasn't a different cruise line?

[Itchy&Scratchy]

57 minutes ago, JKHawaii said:

Sounds like essentially, the OP wanted to do a "lift & shift", the program that died 1 Feb 2021.

not really. It appears that their cruise was not entirely cancelled, but had a major change to the itinerary instead. And OP loves the new itinerary. So, why not give him/her a chance to keep the new and improved cruise instead of just cancelling their reservation and offering them to switch to a different cruise?

[Jimbo]

36 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Actually, outbreak has a CDC definition, as does every other communicable illness. Jimbo is conflating incidence with outbreak, and the two are completely different.

Never said anything about an outbreak because as far as I have seen, nothing is being reported one way or the other. Just be transparent. Report what is happening or not happening?