Motorman23

13 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

 

Believe it or not, it's kinda' late in the game for finding a hotel priced less than $200 (~€187) per night in October.  I would be happy to check my usual sources if you provide your exact dates.

Sorry, I didn’t detail my dates, I’m looking for 2025 but assumed pricing would be similar. Too early to get exact pricing just trying to get my ducks in a row…

Hello, I’m hoping someone has some helpful suggestions for a decent hotel with a bar/restaurant in Rome that is kind of mid range price (up to $200 usd per night) in Oct. I’ve looked at the nicer locations like Spanish steps and Trevi fountain areas but they are out of my price range, I see that hotels in the Termini area are less expensive. It also seems that transportation to the sites is easy via bus or metro. I’ve looked over many pages of reviews in CC for hotels but don’t see a lot of reviews for Termini. Is it a safe area? Does anyone have any experience with a mid priced hotel in the Termini area with a bar and breakfast and decent services that they have stayed in and would recommend?

Yes, Bring a snow shovel…

On 9/28/2022 at 3:44 PM, ButterflyGirly said:

Do you know if this would this include retired LEO?

Yes

Three out of nine of our family group on the July 8 Oasis cruise tested positive within 24 hrs of leaving the ship. All were boosted and tested negative to get on the cruise. My wife and I wore masks while being out in public she got it, I didn’t. Based on the feedback I saw from our group postings about 10% ended up positive post cruise.

On 8/24/2022 at 11:28 AM, cruisinfanatic said:

so you actually get 8 days worth on 7 night cruise???

No, the person is mistaken that said you get drinks on the day you get off. You get them on the day you get on until the last full day on the ship.

You won’t be able to make any show reservations until you get on the ship but it does allow you to link reservations for multiple folks. You must have the Royal application on your phone to do it, the WiFi is free for reservations.

1 hour ago, tigerwilf said:

Leaving from Cape Liberty on Anthem. Does the ship sail out past the Statue of Liberty.

Yes, kind of, you can see it from the port side as you leave the port but it’s a bit away , maybe one or two miles or less, still very visible though.

Does everyone realize the article posted by the CDC was released in March of 2020 and the only updates to it are the extension dates of the no cruise rule?

23 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

It was out there somewhere.  Might have been the EU "plan", I think it talked about separating people by age to attend events and such onboard.

The EU plan is insane, pool separation suggested distance: 4x4 feet. Good luck in that! https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/07/01/eu-cruise-requirements-covid-19-screening-face-masks/5354654002/

18 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Reopening is not causing the spikes. The blatant disregard of mask and social distancing is causing the spikes. A couple of weeks ago, we were at a reopened resort. While people were constantly reminded to wear masks, most didn't. And those "best buddies" that were doing virtual happy hours for the past three months were drunk and hugging each other, sharing whatever they brought with themselves. It was pathetic. 

 

RCI won't go "belly-up". But how fast they reopen will be totally dependent upon the passengers on the initial cruises. And if they behave like those on our flights and at the resort, then opening will be veeeerrrrryyy slow. 

You are 100% correct. It’s the me, me, me philosophy about wearing masks. Las Vegas may be closing casinos because employee infection rates are rising and guests won’t wear masks. Here in NY we were dropping to all time lows until last week when bars reopened in upstate and no one stopped the over crowding and lack of masks at the bars. Gov Coumo Was not happy and may be shutting down the bars down if they don’t get on board. Until we get a vaccine or 100% compliance with masks and distancing the virus will rule.

14 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Looks like after today's notice from the CDC and CLIA we have a lot of CC members who guessed wrong on August and September.

 

Would anyone like to guess again when cruises might start up. I'm still sticking with April 2021

 

If you would like to take another crack at it, please just post the month and year.

I agree But only if the vaccine is available Jan 2021.

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Heard the CLIA announcement yesterday on CNBC, which is precisely why I posted what I posted. Since RCL has not done anything to update their travel advisory (other than to put a sentence at the top saying in effect they are trying to figure out what the CLIA decision means), I thought it was appropriate to post what I posted. Sorry I violated your position of superiority about everything.

Royal plans to release updated itinerary info this coming Tuesday. As of today Royal has removed all cruises except Asia through September 15 from their website so I think we already know what Tuesdays announcement will be. 

On 6/5/2020 at 4:20 PM, joelheather said:

According to a press conference held on Thursday in NYC. A spokesperson for the port authority was taking questions from reporters.  A question was asked about when non commercial ports will reopen and someone from the PA standing  by the podium said no passenger ships until 2021 from NY & NJ. 😡

What press conference? Where are the reports?

Just checked, mine goes back to my very first 3 day cruise on sovereign of the seas in June 2000.

18 minutes ago, LisaLeone said:

Thank you for your responses.

 

To clarify, yes, final payment is May. The cruise is in August. I have no intention of paying additional money. I was asking for specific guidance from TAs because they have expertise in this area. I used a TA because I got the best deal. And it's been many years since I have consumed Kool-Aid.

 

Biker19, you are most likely correct!

As my own TA, I have recently repriced, rebooked, and cancelled a number of my own cruises (I only handle my own and my family). As others have mention as long as the cruising power system is on line (which isn’t always the case) I can cancel a cruise in just a few minutes.

Just got mine for an August 1 cruise that I cancelled two weeks ago.

FYI, I just received a credit card credit for 1 of my 2 rooms that had a refundable deposit for an August 1 cruise that I cancelled two weeks ago. They are indeed refunding deposits but it is taking time. I’m still waiting for FCC on two other rooms that were non refundable but they state on the web site that it could take 30 days. I did not call them, they just refunded it. Still waiting for room 2 perhaps I’ll get that in the next few days.

mike

2 hours ago, LINDAE3213 said:

Anyone have experience with credit card disputes concerning multiple cruises.

 

Right now Royal owes me money for 3 different things.

 

1) cxld March 29th Freedom cruise $3750

2) cxld Empress May 2021 cruise -deposit of $750 

3) cxld Oasis Oct 2020 cruise - deposit of $400

 

I am more concerned about pt 1 ...but if I file dispute only for pt 1 and money finally gets refunded for pt 2 or 3 how will Capital One distinguish which cruise the money got refunded on.  So the question ...file for all 3?  

 

I created a spreadsheet to keep track...my deposit for Freedom was feb 1 2018....long long time ago.

 

My Oasis was originally for 5 people at $100 each  but then the May 4 nighter got cxld we flipped to an Oct 7 nighter and 1 person dropped out so the refund for that person shows feb 2019 for $100.

 

Thankfully it is all on 1 card  my capital one.

 

I was told by my TA last week ( after I emailed Exec office) that Royal would refund my Empress deposit this week.  Nothing came yet so I plan to call Capital One on Monday.

 

The freedom cruise got cxld march 13th by Rccl..I requested refund march 14th..and as we all know the 30 days has passed.. screenshot saying refund to original form of payment in 30 days. Etcetc  Last week TA told earliest this refund would come is 1st week May.

 

So again...no way to dispute just 1...I need to dispute all 3 to have the full total out there...esp as refunds posted here mention multiple refunds in small random amounts.

 

You cant just call your credit card company and dispute a charge for services not rendered. It requires you to demonstrate that you have attempted to resolve the issue with the vendor (Royal). So.... start writing letters and keep copies. They have 60 days to respond.

The Fair Credit Billing Act — a federal law passed in 1975 — gives you the right to dispute charges in case you are dissatisfied with the transaction through a process called Claims and Defenses. You must file a report on a disputed purchase within 60 days of the statement date on which the charge appeared. Before you officially report your issue, the law requires you to try and work out the disagreement directly with the merchant. See if they are willing to provide you with a refund or some sort of store credit.

Here is a link to help you prepare your letters and documentation or you can just wait the 30 days that Royal said it may take to issue you credit. https://www.valuepenguin.com/disputing-credit-card-purchases

Mike

Just curious, we have 10 of us traveling in August and rented 3 beds at chill beach how do they assign them so you can be near each other?

On 12/28/2019 at 12:19 AM, nicstress said:

I have a daybed booked for January so I will report back. Last time I got a pretty good deal on a Cabana at Columbus Cove and loved it!! Trying something different this time because I'm with a different group of friends and they are ziplining so I'll be close and can watch them. 

I would be interested to find out how the day bed area is laid out. We got two at chill beach for August, how do we make sure they are close to each other. Can other people stop by to visit or do you need wrist bands to get into the day bed area at Chill Beach?

thanks in advance, Mike

Travel insurance for medical is especially important if you are on Medicare from the US. Medicare part A, B, and D will not cover services on any cruise ship or port that is more then 6 hrs from the US. Some medicare advantage plans may have more extensive coverage so they need to be evaluated separately. https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11037-Medicare-Coverage-Outside-United-Stat.pdf

Advantage plans: https://medicarepartc.com/medicare-advantage-traveling/

Mike

16 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I have not heard that.  But, I will check for you.

 

I will say that on our TA last November from Rome we had 3 European ports of call on our itinerary and weather caused them the want to hurry out of the Med.  Our itinerary was changed to 2 Canary Islands and St Martin.  We did not get any taxes of fees back.  I know the European ports are bound to have had bigger port charges.  

I was on that cruise also, we only booked it because we had never been to Portugal or the Azores but we still had nice times and decent weather but no refunds. I asked why and was basically told to read my contract, all they have to do is start in the posted port and end at the posted port. Oh, well still a good time.

Mike

15 minutes ago, PCWalton1 said:

2 in 20 cruises. 

The upgrades were an unusual program and was based on someone wanting or needing your room and willing to pay a higher price then you paid for it. Then royal found an empty room they hadn’t sold or were not likely to sell in a higher category and you were awarded an upgrade. It was usually waitlisted people or families trying to get rooms together. Ultimately they didn’t loose any money by moving you. Now they decided to just let money be the deciding factor on upgrades. My wife and I had 1 upgrade in 28 cruises. I a willing to place a low bid for an upgrade esp if I have an inside room that was purchased at the lowest possible fare. Im not sure what Barnum would think because I don’t care.

3 hours ago, KLMB said:

I had this as the first option on my recent Anthem cruise.  I did not bid on it because I thought the spacious ocean view from the deck plans were only larger balconies and not cabin space. I had a balcony.  I did bid max on the next two choices JS and GS.  Nothing was accepted.  My humble thinking is that most of the time the upgrade will be only one level (which they considered spacious ocean view to be).  Also I was cruising New England which always sells out the suites and none had been available for quite a while before the cruise. I did not officially get my rejection until late evening the night before the cruise.  Until I read through all the posts I had been expecting something, but realized from others' experiences it wasn't going to happen.  Will I ever bid again, probably.......    Does anyone know of an bid accepted to a cabin greater than just one "step" up?

I was just awarded a balcony from an inside room for my upcoming repo on Serenade. A number of us went from inside to balcony for what the system called a weak bid. That is a two step upgrade. Strangely when I got the email to bid, the min bid for the balcony was lower than an ocean view with just a window, no balcony.