vistapat

To return to the original question:  No, I wouldn't consider such a cruise.  For me, much of the joy of cruising is seeing people of differing ages, ethnicities, and outlooks on life.  If I could only cruise under your conditions, it isn't for me and probably isn't safe for anyone who did it.  And yes, I am a senior, well over the upper age limit you suggested.

Pat

I had decided to grow out my short hair before the pandemic hit, so I just cheerfully let it grow until it got about where I wanted it.  Just when i was ready to get it trimmed and shaped, the governor closed the hair salons again.  So...I cut it myself.  I don't know if anyone is old enough to remember the haircut on the boy from the Buster Brown shoes ads, but that will give you a good idea of what I look like.  Hope the salons open again soon, but I'll take Buster Brown over risking opening too soon🤕.

Pat

We have one cruise in early May of 2021.  We'll book with Southwest as soon as they open the date (they're currently open to January 4, and will open to March 10, 2021 on August 27th.  We're seniors, so RCCL will have to have their stuff together a lot  more than they do now, or we won't take the cruise.  We can't risk it.  But I will book the air as soon as I can, since I can cancel it and get our Southwest points back.  Hope springs eternal!

Pat

Our first (and last) experience of a JS on Brilliance was a disaster.  Unfortunately, on Radiance class all of the JS cabins are under the pool deck.  Ours was apparently under the area of the Windjammer where food/equipment was brought up, and we heard metal pans and trays being moved (and dropped!) into the late evening and beginning again at about 4:00 or 5:00 AM.  Never again!  If you do decide to book a JS, at least try to be as far aft as you can to avoid the kitchen noise.  Of course, then you might have the deck chair noise😝.

Pat

Thanks again, Ken.  I forwarded the above information to the agency head in case he wasn't familiar with it.  It's an agency that books group cruises for a special interest segment of the market, and all this may be outside his comfort zone.  However, he did get the cruise booked, and let me know today that the FCCs had been applied, like yours, within 24 hours.  So, it's all good.  Again, thanks for helping us all keep as up-to-date as is reasonably possible these days.

Pat

We booked a cruise for next year with our travel agent today.  The cruise was part of a group booking, so the agent spoke to the group rep about using the FCC for the deposit (the agent had never heard of it).  The rep came back and said that it couldn't be used.  I sent the agent a copy of Ken's post, and the head of the agency spoke with the group rep.  When he quoted the FAQ item, she was able to look it up and agreed that it was applicable.  The group rep, the agency head, and the travel agent were all unaware of the change in policy (why am I not surprised?).  The group rep did emphasize that it sometimes took several days to apply the FCC, and it was possible that Royal could cancel the booking for lack of deposit.  My agent is going to track the booking and make sure that the deadline for deposit doesn't pass (it is 5 days from now).  We got a very good deal on the cruise with the current perks, and I'm glad I insisted on them using the FCC.  Because of our age and medical issues, we don't want any cash involved with this cruise until it comes time for final booking, when we can take a good look at the situation and decide whether to go.

Thank you, Ken, for keeping us up to date.

Pat

1 hour ago, vistapat said:

Was there any mention of extending the expiration date on the transferred FCC?

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

No.

Thanks for the reply, Ken.  We're obviously in the category that cannot sail without a doctor signing Royal's form, and there isn't any way a doctor could say, "No, this patient doesn't have any of these conditions", since it wouldn't be true.  And the form I saw didn't seem to leave any place for an explanation that the conditions were well under control.  I would be happy (well, not happy, but willing) to pass the FCC on to our son and daughter-in-law, but they will have their own FCC from Celebrity, and would probably have difficulty cruising twice next year before they expired.  So, yes, a way for Royal to seem as though they're making concessions, while still making sure their purse strings are firmly closed.

Pat

Was there any mention of extending the expiration date on the transferred FCC?

56 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

No dedicated host on this forum since January.  They only look here when someone reports a post. 

You really appreciate and miss Bob (Clarea) the most at times like these.

Would I take 80% cash refund versus 100% FCC?  In a New York minute - and I live in California!

Pat

Mapleleafforever, I would have a hard time arguing with you about that, though I think they would have had to put a time limit on them no matter what.  They represent an unfunded liability, and Royal have to have a way to account for it.  I've already mentally kissed the money goodbye, and if that turns out not to be the case, I'll smile a lot.

Pat

Was looking at possibilities in September, 2020; October, 2020; and December, 2020.  In my opinion, the most likely cruise for us to take is in January, 2021, simply because I'm not confident that the situation will have stabilized before then, and we're in a high-risk group.  To be honest, I'm not completely sure we'll ever be able to use the FCC from our cancellation.

Pat

DH and I are booked on Liberty on April 26th.  We had fully intended to take this cruise (we're past final and into 75% penalty territory, had reserved dining and shore excursions).  But DH will be 79 just after the cruise and has three significant underlying medical conditions.  We just can't take the cruise, so we called our TA today to start the cancellation process.  We started talking about cancelling late last week, and expected to lose most of our money.  So we're beyond excited at the RCCL offer of a cruise credit.  We hope that circumstances will permit us to use the FCC, but just the possibility of salvaging our investment makes us extremely grateful.  Bottom line is - THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO DO IT!

Pat

Ctr + F5 and holding it down for about 30 seconds worked.  Thanks, fred30 and hallux.

14 hours ago, hallux said:

 

Happen to see my post #11?  Those keystrokes work in all browsers.

1 hour ago, fred30 said:

I think Firefox is Ctr + F5 to Refresh.

 

 

Will try Ctr + F5 since shift + F5 did not work.  Not near that computer at the moment.

Pat

46 minutes ago, scooter6251 said:

 

Mine is like this too.  For 2 days with Latest version of Firefox

This 👆.  On a desktop PC, also running latest version of Firefox.  It's been about 4 or more days for me.

Pat

We are on Liberty for the April 26th Western Caribbean cruise, and the itinerary shown on the website is the reverse of what is shown in our cruise planner and calendar.  This is apparently Royal IT's newest wrinkle for making us crazy, but I am personally confident that the original itinerary showing in the cruise planner is correct. 🤣

Pat

We were on Ovation last August/September sailing roundtrip from Seattle.  We participated in the Port of Seattle free luggage transfer program described here:  https://www.portseattle.org/page/cruise-guest-services-and-accessibility  

The service worked perfectly for us.  We left our luggage out the night before as usual, and didn't see it again until we landed in San Diego on Southwest.  It was all there and in perfect order. I highly recommend this service.

We then used Seattle Express to get to the airport.  We had previously used them to get from our airport area hotel to the port, so we booked them to take us back to the airport as well. At that time the roundtrip fare was $30.00 per person, or $16.99 one way per person.  Their buses park right in the main dropoff/pickup area, and we waited only about 10 minutes for the bus to fill and leave the port.  We were at the airport by 9:30 or so, and could probably have been there earlier if we had tried to be off the ship earlier.  They did say that if you wait later to get to the bus area, there might be a little longer wait since the buses would be en route either to the airport or back.

Pat

Just now, John&LaLa said:

 

Lack of Corona's

GROOOAAAAN111

1 hour ago, stevea36 said:

 The price is not plus tax, but plus gratuities of 18%.

 

Steve

The price of $79.00 per person includes gratuities, unless you choose to add more when you are at the restaurant.  So it's basically $79.00 out the door.  You can make your first reservation for either the first or second night, depending upon the time you want being available.  When you get to the ship, you can go to any of the specialty restaurants and make your reservations for the week, again dependent upon the times you want being available.  We've never had any problems getting the times and the restaurants we wanted on Liberty, and even made a change midweek when we found we preferred one restaurant more than another.  We'll be on Liberty in April and will again have the 3-night package.

Pat

We just returned from our Ovation cruise yesterday.  We took Seattle Express from our hotel near the airport to the cruise terminal to board the ship, and then on our return, from the pier to the airport.  Round trip fare was $30.00 per person. The bus trip each way was about the same amount of time as a taxi would have been.  You are dropped off at the pier just near the luggage drop off point for either Royal Caribbean or Celebrity, and the pickup when you return is at the same place.  It was so nice to walk off the ship (without luggage, just carry-ons - we used the Seattle port luggage service) and just stroll up to the bus without fighting lines or crowds, get onboard, and be driven to the airport.  They were exactly where and when they said they would be and the return trip to the airport was very smooth.  We walked off the ship at about 8:15, went through customs (about 1 minute - no lines and no forms to fill out), were on a bus, a short wait for it to fill up (less than 15 minutes) and off we went.  We arrived at the airport at about 9:30 or so.  They did say that if  you left the ship after 9:00 or 9:30, the wait for a bus would be longer (up to 45 minutes was the estimate given), as all the buses would be enroute either to or from the airport already.   I would definitely use them again.  BTW, the one-way fare would have been $16.99 per person.

Pat

2 hours ago, cruisegirl1976 said:

you will be fine.. we didn't have an issue finding a cab in Miami even on the morning of the Super bowl.. so the day before you will be fine 🙂

From your lips to.......well, you know.  Thanks for the encouragement.

Pat

3 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

You should be OK in the morning.  Uber might have surge pricing.

I'll pay what it takes not to miss our flight!  Thanks, Bob.

Pat

Our cruise actually ends on February 1, which is the day before the Super Bowl.  Our flight home is at 11:25.  Do you think there will be sufficient cabs/Uber/Lyft available that morning, or will they be in use elsewhere?  I'm not a football fan, so it never occurred to me that the game might be that weekend.  Now I'm starting to panic a bit.🥺

Pat

2 hours ago, norway olin said:

I am on Symphony today, Jul 17.  NO  luggage valet offered.

Well, dang.  But thanks for the heads up.  Our cruise isn't until the end of January - maybe they'll have it by then.

Pat