mayleeman

Let's change your intro to: "It is too bad that...." Finding it "difficult to believe" implies that you think it is untrue. I cannot imagine any reason someone would make it up!

It basically says that cruise lines are facing lots of supply issues. Among other things, a visa problem delaying crew arrivals for Carnival has caused them to close 2 restaurants per ship. Other probs include the uncertainty surrounding Baltic routes b/c of Russia attacking Ukraine, shortages of materials for new ships, and problems with booze supplies (sound familiar?). Nice general article but not much in-depth info.

Can we change the title to "Snark Thread"? 5 of the first 9 comments are snide. Are people having bad days all over? (Oops..now 6 of 10...)

I like the approach suggested by the OP. Lets say you paid for a Premium wine and they only have things at the Classic level. So they refund you the difference every time you order. Call it $5 per glass. After 4 orders a day, you not only get the upgrade fee back, but soon you are making money!

I think the precruise tests will continue not in spite of cases being milder, but because they are. The few cases that involve more serious symptoms, hospitalization, or death will stand out and become newsworthy. Precruise testing, and other screening, will discourage many people who suspect they are ill from trying to sneak aboard. The cruise lines will not want to have the rare extreme cases prove the truth of "one death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic."

"I'm tired of the restrictions so I think covid isn't serious enough to have any." Cruise ships need restrictions more than any land-based activity because if the infection spreads among the crew, the cruise will be horrible for everybody.

However, don't buy bamboo fabrics. Based on the invasion by over 1000 20 ft tall bamboo plants in our back yard, I am certain bamboo is evil and must return to whatever circle of ---- from whence it came.

I always felt that way, too. But on a snorkeling excursion, a rash guard will dry in less than 5 minutes in the breeze on the boat. A cotton shirt will stay wet and sog everything he sits on. I have also switched to synthetic golf shirts here in SC after a lifetime of cotton. They do dry out a lot faster.

@DCPIV That makes sense. I remember so much discussion at the time about refund vs FCC+bonus. It was absurd how X and other lines waited to cancel so many cruises until after FP. I didn't think the FCC bonus was at all sensible because I doubted cruising would restart in time. We lifted and shifted ours, but only because we had major penalty amounts from prior cancels so a refund would have been only about 20%.

You took it knowing there was an expiration date on the whole 125%. So how can you say you wouldn't have taken it knowing only part would be extended indefinitely? Your original choice obviously included an expectation you would be using it within the deadline. If you did not have that expectation, why didn't you take cash?

@Swampbabe So, if you answer "yes" to a close-contact-positive, they just test you at the port? When we had a close friend (with whom my wife spent 19 hrs the weekend before) test positive 2 days before our cruise, we were told that they would deny boarding if we answered yes, with no refund. So we scrambled to cancel before the 48 hr deadline. Never caught it ourselves. (Only took 6 months for the refund--hope yours is faster!) Still, like you, we were glad nothing we did exposed anyone. I commend you on accepting your disappointment with grace.

@bac513 Your 2 questions don't make it clear what your FCC was for. In the 1st one you refer to an FCC amount in excess of NRD and your 2nd post refers to an on-board issue. If you have an FCC as compensation for an on-board issue, it is governed by the terms set out in the FCC itself. It has nothing to do with the NRD FCCs that the new policy has now made non-expiring.

@JamieLogical Great travel journal as usual. Any sense of what, if any, covid or isolation incidence there was?

I think for kids, the entertainment would be more fun on Symphony. If you liked Oasis, you will love Symphony according to the dozens of reviews I have read. Just don't get a Central Park cabin if you want any air movement on your balcony!

This thread is very interesting because it highlights differences in attitudes toward travel pricing. Long-time cruisers rail regularly against certain policies on cruise fares, but when a newbie questions something like a minimal or zero discount for kids or solo fares, those concerns are dismissed as naive and acting "entitled." The fact is, cruise lines have stacked the deck(s) to maximize profit with major penalties and unnecessary restrictions. We might accept those, but these in particular are ridiculous: --Why can't bookings be transferred to another person, by at least, say, 30 days before departure? --Why can't you simply transfer a booking before final payment to another ship without penalty so long as you pay any increase in fare? Both of those would involve at most a few keystrokes by cruise employees, so the expense is not the reason. Additional revenue is. My biggest complaint, of course after my 6 month wait, is the inability of cruise lines to be able to refund, or provide FCCs, as quickly as they charge purchases and fares. Solo fares obviously involve a need to make up for lost revenue from purchases. But it would be reasonable to expect a discount to allow for lesser consumption, and same with OP's thoughts about child fares. It may reflect a passivity over things that previously were unheard of. We as travellers and consumers have grown accustomed to all manner of fees for formerly included things. Those fees always have been added on to pad company coffers, and never have been accompanied by a lower base price. Luggage fees (somehow Southwest lives on), user and transaction fees...look at the add-ons to cable and cell bills, where most fees are now disguising costs of doing business. It is like new car invoices: document fee ($300 to $400?), advertising fee, and my favorite seen once--a "lighting fee." While there may be legitimate and reasonable explanations for many costs, it doesn't hurt to question some costs and to realize that over time we may be getting taken for a ride as well as for a cruise.

@Guppy99 If you that post as outrage, you are reading things into it I don't. I think the OP admitted their newness to the subject, and asked questions inviting others to chime in. The pricing can legitimately seem "crazy" to the uninitiated, just as it still seems crazy to me that my non-drinking wife has to pay the same fare under AI as I do.

I have never seen posts directed at children with animosity toward them. I have seen many comments about things children did (comments here and on RCCL), and those comments were almost always directly squarely at parents who make no effort to supervise. Sneaking diapered kids into pools, letting them wander in the buffet grabbing food, ignoring screaming like banshees... Yes, parents deserve vacations, but they need to be aware that the others aboard did not sign up to experience chaos! Frankly, I wouldn't have wanted our grandson aboard before he was able to actually understand what was going on around him. Back then, cruises were a respite!

My son was a TSA agent. He quoted Brent Spiner in Independence Day when he said the whole day would go by without him seeing outside: "They don't let us out much in here."

@tartana Besides the other reasons given, please also remember that Celebrity has to have staff specially trained and assigned to children in the event of an emergency, or god forbid, evacuation. A couple of small children may not consume as much on-board on a cruise, but they don't hear announcements, understand muster requirements, or move themselves without help. Yes, parents will usually take them but Celebrity is responsible for their safety. BTW, sorry your questions got deflected by someone who wanted an argument. I hope people are aware it wasn't you.

Just be aware that as you get closer, things may change a bit. Keep checking if you want to plan specialty dinners (Murano, etc) on nights that the app is showing meals you don't want in the MDR--they might move something good in.

Good luck. Years ago, I had a honeymoon from hell when we arrived in Bermuda for 4 days while the country was shut down on holiday for the cricket Gold Cup matches between (I think) India, England, Jamaica, and Bermuda. No cabs, restaurants closed, grocery stores closed...seemed like the whole island was camping on every inch of both sides of every road. Interesting but not fun when you blunder unknowingly into it! At least you can stay on board if you wish, and have something other than OJ and lunchmeat every day.

I hate news on a ship! It is one place I can almost avoid it.

Check out the thread from yesterday.

I wonder if the link to you will get removed automatically if you do not complete a booking when you don't actually make a booking. It might be set up to allow linkage of people in multiple cabins so that all the bookings don't have to be done simultaneously. My only experience of traveling in groups was through a Celeb cruise planner that my SIL made her rez with, and they had us linked to the others before we called. Goal was to alliw dining and excursions to be linked.

Why not cancel it, and help her make a new reservation for the excursion using a gift card you give her with an early "Bon Voyage" card?