Balsam12

4 hours ago, minnie00 said:

is this true??? is the ship or the port??

 

n answer to the customs clearance question , RCI’s Radiance of the seas is currently doing an Australasia circumnavigation and was denied docking in Bali due to the Coronavirus. 

I believe it was RC's decision about Bali, not that they were turned away by Indonesia.

I'm actually happy about that, as we sail on Radiance 27 March. Between now and then, she is only visiting ports in Australia and New Zealand, so hopefully won't have any quarantine issues.

1 hour ago, UKWLDCruise said:

Empress is a special case but it seems to me that the main reason that UK and Australian based ships have non smoking casinos is the law banning indoor smoking in public areas/work places where they are home ported.  A little tighting of the Florida clean indoor air act perhaps.

I think you are very correct with that.

Funny, but I haven't seen any Australian casinos going bust because of the non smoking laws. The cruise industry in Australia also seems to be thriving.

It has been suggested before that similar laws wouldn't work in the US, mainly because the tobacco companies pay off the politicians.

I guess a side benefit is also that people are possibly living a little bit longer 🙂

7 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I disagree. CFAR is good for other reasons. You never know what might come up in your own life that has nothing to do with covered weather or medical reasons. You may have a wedding to attend that you don’t want to miss, or a hurricane may have rolled through and damaged ports but the cruise ISN’T cancelled, but you no longer want to go. CFAR is the only way you can back out and get airline costs and cruise fare back. 75% of $5,000 or $10,000 is a lot of money.

It sounds to me like the cover for pre-existing conditions would be the worthwhile one to get when you have only paid your deposit (if that's the only way you can get it).

As for the CFAR, based on what I read in this thread, I still wouldn't bother until final payment, as the cost of the insurance is likely to be more than your deposit.

3 hours ago, dlwfarm said:

 I didn’t have insurance.  

Here endeth the lesson.

I'm an ex-smoker, and people smoking doesn't normally bother me, but after three nights of visiting the casino, I had developed a cough that I haven't had for many years.

Thankfully, our upcoming cruise is out of Australia, where there is zero indoor smoking on any ship.

13 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Ok, it took a little leg work but I found an 11 night cruise on Royal out of Sydney and priced a balcony cabin at $3200. Insuring just the cruise a regular plan ranged from $161 usd to $435 usd ($243 aud to 656 aud). Then I had the website show me plans that included CFAR and pre-existing condition waivers and the plans ranged from $296 usd to $634 usd ($447 aud to $957 aud). 

Nice work, thanks for that.

Pretty much at least 3 times my cost. The policy we took was neither the cheapest nor the most expensive available, but closer to the lower end. I probably could have done it for about AUD 100 with less cover and a large excess.

Anyway, in Australia, taking out a policy before you make any payment greater than the cost of the policy has no advantage.

Even with a $200 non refundable deposit, unless we have paid for airfares or other such things, we wouldn't bother until final payment.

Thanks again.

9 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

The scenario where this might hurt you is if you decided you wanted to buy “cancel for any reason insurance.”

Another huge difference between Australia and  the US... Cancel for any reason insurance simply doesn't exist here.

Out of interest, it would be good to compare the cost of insurance between the two countries. US, where you can get cover for pre-existing conditions and cancel for any reason, vs Australia, where you get neither.

Our insurance, for two people on an 11 night cruise from Sydney to New Zealand with zero excess, cost AUD 146.

Can anyone say what a similar policy with CFAR and pre-existing conditions would cost in the US?

Just one question to the OP....

If you had a refundable deposit, why did you even bother taking out travel insurance until you made final payment? You were at zero risk of suffering any loss, so insurance seems to be redundant.

We have booked a cruise for October 2021, with a $1 deposit. I won't be getting travel insurance until the next payment is due in February 2021. If we have to cancel before then, I'm not overly concerned about losing our $2.00.

Edit: Just reread the OP , and saw the pre-existing conditions bit. I didn't pick up on that as it works differently in Australia. Here, if you want cover for pre-existing conditions, they simply charge you extra (if they will provide cover at all).

1 hour ago, twangster said:

 

For Aussies is the cruise planner all priced in AUD or is it USD as well? 

 

Is the drink package in the cruise planner subject to 18% gratuity during the checkout process like it is in North America?

Sailing Radiance in 40 days.

Cruise planner (at least when booked from Australia) is in AUD.

There is no 18% added to any Cruise planner purchases. This matches with Australian consumer law, where the addition of taxes, charges etc in addition to the advertised price is not allowed. If there are such costs, they must be included in the single price.

AFAIK, if you don't have the drink package, and buy drinks onboard, the 18% is added to the price of each drink. The same if you buy a drink that is above the package... you pay the difference + 18% on the difference. I can't confirm that 100% as we have never sailed without the drink package, and have never bought a drink above the package either.

We got our drink package for $65 AUD a couple of months back. I'm a Cruise Planner OCD type, and track prices on a daily basis, complete with spreadsheet. That was the fourth time we had cancelled and repurchased the DBP 🙂

13 hours ago, josephmz said:

 

Big mystery: When I printed out our boarding passes, I noticed mine showed Gold status. DW was Platinum. Now we have been married almost 51 years and I don't recall her disappearing for weeks at a time. So how did she reach Platinum?

 

Wives can be very sneaky at times....

The interesting point is that I thought married couples both got the higher person's C & A status by default? In which case, you should also have been platinum (not that you get much more at platinum than you do at Gold).

As for why you can't book your specialty dining with a package online in the Cruise Planner, that one has always puzzled me as well. The only thing I can think of is that some venues fill up quickly, and if people could see the ones they want are full, they won't buy the package.

21 minutes ago, MzReid said:

Thank you Sail n Snow. The cruise is departing from Singapore and I'm hoping that language won't prove to be too much of a barrier to enjoying the entertainment.

You will find pretty much all Singaporeans speak very good English. They are also polite, well mannered and clean.

Their city is beautiful with much to see and do, so a few days there beforehand is always recommended.

11 minutes ago, MzReid said:

I'm also interested if anyone from Australia where English is their first language has been on a Culturally Enriching Cruise from Singapore. Like zeppgirl, I'm interested in the quality of entertainment on board. If I don't speak Chinese, will there be any entertainment that I can enjoy?

We did Singapore to Hong Kong on Voyager in March 2019.

There was a good mix of nationalities on board, with a large number from Germany. All announcements were made in English and German. I actually expected them to be English and Mandarin, but this wasn't the case.

No issues with anything "cultural" on our cruise, but as it wasn't a closed loop cruise, it may not have appealed to the locals as much.

All the triva and other things were done in English, and they actually ran some basic language classes if you wanted to learn some Mandarin. Only went to one show, and as stated earlier in this thread, it was dance and music based, so language wasn't an issue.

All this may be different for cruises Shanghai - Shanghai of course.

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

No, because you have already paid for it. They aren't losing money.

They may not be losing money, but when they sail with an empty cabin, they are missing out on more income. Not only from the fare, but also on extra money the passengers may spend onboard.

5 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

The announcements stated no video recording and no flash photography.  They also discourage use of large tablets as cameras since they block the view of other guests and have bright displays.  My conventional camera doesn't have that and I'm careful to be quick and mindful of fellow guests when taking pictures in shows.  

 

Liberty of the Seas is the only ship that I've encountered that explicitly states no photography so on Liberty I don't take pictures in the shows.

Thanks for that.

I do laugh at people using their flash at shows and concerts anyway 😀

One quick question.... I note you have posted pictures from the shows. I guess from that, they don't have any issues with cameras in the theatre?

6 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

What study is this. That percentage is ridiculous. Nothing here indicates how long anything was in the bottle or how long the bottle was empty or if the bottle was closed. You can store water in a gallon jug for years. Open it take out some water and close it. No added bacteria at all. Want to be safe. Fill it and put one super small drop of chlorine in it. No more bacteria. 

Also there is nothing to indicate WHICH bacteria was found.

29 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

This is also why I have mentioned people should consider buying cancel for any reason insurance.

This type of insurance is not available in most countries. From my reading, it is pretty much a US thing.

This could turn out to be rather interesting as the situation develops...

I understand that FCC doesn't work for the OP, but was the credit offered greater than the cost of the original cruise? If so, for some people that could be a win.

Personally (and I'm speaking in relation to Australian consumer law), I don't see how they can legally refuse to give a full refund. This is purely a decision by RCI to deny boarding. Were it me in the OP's situation, I would be seeking legal advice and contacting the relevant consumer protection authorities.

As much as I agree with their stance, they should be offering either a full refund, or FCC with added value/benefits.

5 hours ago, MichellePerth said:

That would not sit well with radiance fans. 

It would with Australian Radiance fans...

13 minutes ago, bigeagle12 said:

Like your responses .. POINTLESS

My responses were trying to elicit more information so that more assistance can be provided to the OP.

Yours, on the other hand, served no purpose other than to highlight you own pointless thread that was closed by a moderator.

Anyway, back to THIS thread, and if the OP won't give more information, they can't get any more assistance.

2 minutes ago, bigeagle12 said:

It was closed because the question was answered and did not require anymore BS.

Threads don't get closed because the question is answered. Those threads just die on their own.

Threads get closed when they're pointless.

9 minutes ago, bigeagle12 said:

I feel your pain.  People on here can be vicious and want to know all your personal issues.  I was attacked 2 weeks ago for a similar post everyone wanting to know the specific issue so they could help.  IT IS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS.

And look what happened to your thread.... it was closed by a moderator due to it being pointless. People can't help when they don't know the problem.

29 minutes ago, MLissa Jack said:

I beg your pardon - I don't need to share my issues with RC in this forum.  I was merely looking for assistance to make sure the email addresses I have been sending emails to are correct.  

 

Maybe if people knew the problem, they would know which email address is the best one to use.... 

If you email the CEO, he's not going to read it. Along with probably hundreds of other people who send emails to him, it will be read by someone much lower down on the food chain. They will then have to determine which department should deal with your issue, and forward it to them. Now another underling reads it, and determines who is the best person to respond, and forwards it to them.

If that person can't help you, they will forward your email to their manager. If the manager can't deal with it, it will go to the department head. If they can't deal with it, it will get to one of the CEO's assistants. From there, it might be brought to the attention of the CEO.

Anyway, it's your super sensitive issue, so you deal with it your way.

Well... if you're being as obtuse in your dealing with Royal Caribbean as you are here in CC, it's probably no wonder they're not responding. 

Up to 19 posts in the thread now, and still nobody knows what your problem is.

As noted by @twangster, the Rydges was previously known as the Holiday Inn. The name only changed about two weeks ago. I found this out because we are booked in to the same hotel for the night before our cruise. From talking to them, basically the only thing that's changed at this stage is the name. All bookings remain unchanged, and pretty much all the staff have stayed on.

We selected this hotel as it's the closest one to the Overseas Passenger Terminal... about 100m to walk, so we can just wheel our bags there 😀