Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

[LadyZolt]

We were on Jeju Island, South Korea, today.  We went on an excursion to see a waterfall area and a Buddhist temple. I was thinking we might miss the cherry blossoms in Japan (next week) because of the timing and they might already be done, so I was pleasantly surprised to see dozens of cherry blossom trees here today.  They were absolutely beautiful! 

 

[Jimbo]

17 minutes ago, LadyZolt said:

We were on Jeju Island, South Korea, today.  We went on an excursion to see a waterfall area and a Buddhist temple. I was thinking we might miss the cherry blossoms in Japan (next week) because of the timing and they might already be done, so I was pleasantly surprised to see dozens of cherry blossom trees here today.  They were absolutely beautiful! 

 

Stunning, thanks for posting !

[pstone1]

38 minutes ago, LadyZolt said:

We were on Jeju Island, South Korea, today.  We went on an excursion to see a waterfall area and a Buddhist temple. I was thinking we might miss the cherry blossoms in Japan (next week) because of the timing and they might already be done, so I was pleasantly surprised to see dozens of cherry blossom trees here today.  They were absolutely beautiful! 

 

 

Beautiful! 😍 Thank you again for sharing your photos!

 

 

[ringers0815]

@LadyZolt we visited Jeju last year and loved it. Your photos bring back nice memories. Thank you for posting them.

[Plum Happy]

So, two ladies missed getting back on the ship while in JeJu.  Ship waited over 45 minutes.  I wonder if they will make it back on in Seoul?  Time will tell.

 

 

[CSHS1979]

John left the ship in Seoul to spend time with Bella and I. He should return in Singapore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, CSHS1979 said:

John left the ship in Seoul to spend time with Bella and I. He should return in Singapore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are they letting world cruisers come and go from the ship as they want or are they allowing it on a case by case basis?

[delmom18]

5 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

John left the ship in Seoul to spend time with Bella and I. He should return in Singapore

 

 

 I know all three of you are eager to spend time together!  Is Singapore when you get back on also?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[barbeyg]

@LadyZolt, thanks so much for the photos! Loving them. 😁

 

@CSHS1979, thank you for the update. 

[Jimbo]

8 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

John left the ship in Seoul to spend time with Bella and I. He should return in Singapore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is missing the Great Wall Of China 😞

[Merion_Mom]

6 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Are they letting world cruisers come and go from the ship as they want or are they allowing it on a case by case basis?

 

You have to submit a request, but it is certainly permitted.

[Ocean Boy]

20 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

You have to submit a request, but it is certainly permitted.

Makes sense since so many types of issues can come up back home in that amount of time.

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

Makes sense since so many types of issues can come up back home in that amount of time.

 

People sometimes just want to do other things, like go on safari or even do another cruise!  

[Jimbo]

6 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

People sometimes just want to do other things, like go on safari or even do another cruise!  

I would think for as much cruising as they have all ready done, to get off the the ship to go on another ship wouldn't be one of the other things they would choose.

 

Probably some for sure would wish it would end. Wonder if any onboard for the full cruise have regrets?

[Merion_Mom]

48 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

I would think for as much cruising as they have all ready done, to get off the the ship to go on another ship wouldn't be one of the other things they would choose.

 

Probably some for sure would wish it would end. Wonder if any onboard for the full cruise have regrets?

It may sound odd to you, but when the itinerary changed from Middle East to Africa, some people didn't want to do that, and are leaving the ship to rejoin at some later point.  And some of those people are choosing to find ways to visit the missed ports.

[Jimbo]

33 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

It may sound odd to you, but when the itinerary changed from Middle East to Africa, some people didn't want to do that, and are leaving the ship to rejoin at some later point.  And some of those people are choosing to find ways to visit the missed ports.

I do find that very odd unless Royal is forking back $$$ to those people that leave the ship and come back later? I'm pretty sure isn't it you leave and comeback at your own expense isn't it?  Like John just did?

[A&L_Ont]

16 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

I do find that very odd unless Royal is forking back $$$ to those people that leave the ship and come back later? I'm pretty sure isn't it you leave and comeback at your own expense isn't it?  Like John just did?

If you leave the ship on a 7 day cruise, on your own free will, it’s on the guest unless they have insurance.  Why would there be a difference for the world cruise?

 

If anything is more interesting it is being able to rejoin the ship in between the embarkation ports.  I do not know if that is a possibility or not. 

Edited April 5 by A&L_Ont

[Jimbo]

6 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

If you leave the ship on a 7 day cruise, on your own free will, it’s on the guest unless they have insurance.  Why would there be a difference for the world cruise?

 

 

When Merion Mom mentioned the itinerary changed from Middle East to Africa and some people were doing other things, there was talk about some compensation. Just curious  to how that is working for the World Cruise? Unlike a regular 7 day cruise that mostly likely  would never happen. So there is a difference.

Edited April 5 by Jimbo

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

When Merion Mom mentioned the itinerary changed from Middle East to Africa and some people were doing other things, there was talk about some compensation. Just curious  to how that is working for the World Cruise? Unlike a regular 7 day cruise that mostly likely  would never happen. So there is a difference.

Gotcha, I thought you were just talking about just John having to come home.

[CSHS1979]

11 hours ago, delmom18 said:

Is Singapore when you get back on also?

 

 

No, I return in Barcelona

[CSHS1979]

14 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Are they letting world cruisers come and go from the ship as they want or are they allowing it on a case by case basis?

 

Usually you submit a trip interruption request. Not a big deal, but port needs to have immigration agents available. 

 

John was an emergency request, and they made it happen

[CSHS1979]

5 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

If you leave the ship on a 7 day cruise, on your own free will, it’s on the guest unless they have insurance.  Why would there be a difference for the world cruise?

 

If anything is more interesting it is being able to rejoin the ship in between the embarkation ports.  I do not know if that is a possibility or not. 

 

With the Africa change, Royal offered to refund your pro rated fare for the days you wanted to miss. Plus you could leave your stuff in your cabin. Very generous. 

 

For those staying on, Royal refunded 25% of the affected daily rate. It was given in a refundable OBC. Showed up today.

 

John needs to call Royal and see how his was handled since he closed his account yesterday

[LadyZolt]

As mentioned, Royal is refunding 100% of what you paid per day for the days you elect to not be on the ship due to the itinerary change. My husband and I are getting off in Dubai and doing some things in Europe for the 42 days between Dubai and re-joining the ship when it gets to Ravenna, Italy, on June 20th.  I know of some others who are leaving permanently in Dubai and Royal will refund the whole of Segments 3 and 4 for those.  I heard someone call this a "Get out of jail free" card -- which it is!  Usually, you'd have to go through insurance to be reimbursed, and you'd have to have a reason that the insurance considers valid unless you got the more expensive "cancel for any reason" policy. So, this is quite generous of Royal and there are a fair  number of full world cruisers making other plans. I do think the majority are staying on for the Africa segment, and they are now looking forward to Royal releasing excursion information (hopefully within a week or two) so they can make plans.   

 

Yesterday, we were in Incheon/Seoul, South Korea and we went to the DMZ, so I don't have a ton of photos, but here are a few.  The focus in South Korea is to remember what happened in the war and they hope someday for unification between North and South Korea. The photo of the bridge is called the "Bridge of Freedom" to those who crossed it to enter South Korea, and it is called the "Bridge of No Return" for those who opted to go back across to North Korea because they have family and homes there as those people were never seen again in South Korea.  The last photo is looking at North Korea from the Dora Observatory.  

 

 

[Jimbo]

2 hours ago, LadyZolt said:

As mentioned, Royal is refunding 100% of what you paid per day for the days you elect to not be on the ship due to the itinerary change. My husband and I are getting off in Dubai and doing some things in Europe for the 42 days between Dubai and re-joining the ship when it gets to Ravenna, Italy, on June 20th.  I know of some others who are leaving permanently in Dubai and Royal will refund the whole of Segments 3 and 4 for those.  I heard someone call this a "Get out of jail free" card -- which it is!  Usually, you'd have to go through insurance to be reimbursed, and you'd have to have a reason that the insurance considers valid unless you got the more expensive "cancel for any reason" policy. So, this is quite generous of Royal and there are a fair  number of full world cruisers making other plans. I do think the majority are staying on for the Africa segment, and they are now looking forward to Royal releasing excursion information (hopefully within a week or two) so they can make plans.   

 

Yesterday, we were in Incheon/Seoul, South Korea and we went to the DMZ, so I don't have a ton of photos, but here are a few.  The focus in South Korea is to remember what happened in the war and they hope someday for unification between North and South Korea. The photo of the bridge is called the "Bridge of Freedom" to those who crossed it to enter South Korea, and it is called the "Bridge of No Return" for those who opted to go back across to North Korea because they have family and homes there as those people were never seen again in South Korea.  The last photo is looking at North Korea from the Dora Observatory.  

 

 

Wow very generous of Royal  indeed. Getting all of Segment 3 and 4 refunded for leaving the cruise is amazing !

@A&L_Ont

[A&L_Ont]

5 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Wow very generous of Royal  indeed. Getting all of Segment 3 and 4 refunded for leaving the cruise is amazing !

@A&L_Ont

A great offer!