sunlover12

Our final payment for a 10-day cruise in March 2021 was extended from 90 days to 60 days out. 

We've stayed in both. Like Mura, we prefer the PH because of the larger size.  That's important to us.  The butler is a nice perk but that's not the reason we book a PH.  Another advantage of a PH is that you can book the specialty restaurants earlier than with an A1.  You're much more likely to get the times you prefer with a PH.

DH gets the prestige package but I don't drink $60/day to make it worth it for me.  I pay as I go. 

Enjoy your cruise. 

2 hours ago, Qruzon said:

The smaller regatta class ships are some 30,000 tons.

Much will depend on what the itinerary will be.

We are booked from San francisco to miami April 22.

I expect relative smooth sailing since most of the trip is close to shore

 

We took that cruise a few years ago on the Regatta in the reverse direction,  Miami to San Francisco.  The seas were rough between Cabo San Lucas and San Francisco but not enough where we needed to take our dramamine. The rest of the trip was smooth. 

I'm starting to think that they've changed the rules on this sale. I booked a cruise in February 2020 for a March 2021 sailing.  This was during the President's Day sale when they were advertising the 4 cat upgrades. There was availability in every cabin category on my cruise and it was one of the ones listed for the sale.  O told me that you cannot upgrade to any Penthouse suite from any cabin category.  They said the sale does not apply to Penthouse and above.  Period.  The rules on these sales can be ambiguous and it does sound like they change as they go along, especially now.    JMO

Thanks to all for sharing your experiences on this. 

10 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

What Cat were you booked in?

 Usually  if in an A cabin you go to PH

If in B  you go  to an A  

The sale did not allow me to upgrade to a PH from any category.  If you want a PH suite, you have to pay the price listed.  At least that's how it was for the sale back in February.  I've noticed on O's website for the current Labor Day Sale it says "up to a 4-category upgrade".  With all the changes and uncertainty in the past 6 months, who knows, maybe they've relaxed the rules. 

6 hours ago, Queen of DaNile said:

Exactly. Depends on how many "sub-catagories" there are and what's available on the specific sailing. With the July 4 sale we got a P3 for the price of an A-1. 

You got a good deal if they upgraded you to a PH.  I booked a cruise during the President's Day Sale in February when they were advertising a 4-category upgrade. They told me that I couldn't upgrade to a PH from any category. The highest upgrade they would allow would be to an A1. 

That was when ships were still sailing and before all the uncertainty started. It sounds like they're getting less restrictive on the rules now.  

37 minutes ago, the more ports the better said:

Hmmm, Is that why we don’t have things like small pox and diphtheria anymore.  You’ll always have a few outlier patients but many many vaccines are 95% to 99.5% effective and our trial has been a complete success as have the other two.  
 

+1

I agree with that.  The MMR vaccine also has a 97% effective rate.  I believe that school districts require it and that's why we don't hear about outbreaks anymore.  I think many of us on this board are old enough to remember classmates getting measles and mumps before the vaccine was manufactured.  The influenza vaccine is not as effective, as we all know, but it does provide for some protection. I can only speak for myself but in the last 12 years I've been getting it, I have not been getting sick.  It's too early, of course, to know how effective the Covid-19 vaccine will be.    JMO   

Once the vaccine has been widely distributed,  I think that all cruise lines will be requiring passengers to get the vaccine in order to do any cruising.  Same with airlines.     JMO, of course. 

47 minutes ago, ORV said:

While probably right it should be stated that this is only your opinion and not a rule that has been put in to effect yet. 

Yes of course it's my opinion.  None of us know anything yet so everything is speculation.    JMO

Didn't mean to mislead anyone.  

3 hours ago, pinotlover said:

 

By next summer, if Covid-19 is still active, there will be numerous accurate 20 minute tests( and less) to determine if a passenger has the virus. If they do, they will be denied boarding. Additionally, by next summer, it is highly predicted that a vaccine will be available for those that can , or choose to, 

take it. For those that don’t, they will remain safely hunkered at home as neither airlines nor cruise ships will allow them to board.

I absolutely agree that the vaccine will be required to board a cruise ship and an airplane. Everyone will be carrying a yellow vaccination card.  I'll be ready for it.  We have a cruise booked on Regatta in March 2021 and I know there is a strong probability it will be cancelled because the vaccine will not be available then.  People who aren't willing or able to get the vaccine won't be allowed to travel.  

You'll be able to make specialty dinner reservations before the B1 category and you will get an expanded GDR room service menu for lunch and dinner. 

You'll get 3 free bags of laundry which I don't believe is available to the lower cabins.

CC deleted 2 of my posts on this topic. I don’t know why.  I was talking about airline seating.  Wow.

I’m going to be off of here for awhile. Good luck to everybody and stay healthy. 
 

18 hours ago, Petoonya said:

 

.So I spoke to a second agent who had the info right at her fingertips. There WILL be testing in the terminal and all that will be required is to arrive 4-5 hours before flight time. Directions on where in the terminal to get the test will be given when checking bags. 

Thank you for posting this valuable information.  If all goes well, I'll be on United's SFO-PPT in March. 

11 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

None, as of now.  I've been reluctant to cancel any of my existing cards, even the one I rarely use, because the reduction of available credit lines, even if you don't use them, can have an impact on FICO scores.  I'm not sure how big the impact would be but the available credit reduction could be significant.  But then do I care 🤔?

 

I was just going to say this but you beat me to it. I haven't canceled any cards for two reasons.  1)The United miles that I earn with my Visa card do not expire and 2) canceling cards and then opening up new ones later down the road could affect your credit score.  Credit utilization and average age of your credit cards have an impact on your score.  The $95 annual fee is worth it.  My DH and I each have one of these cards and we use them  for almost everything.

10 hours ago, susiesan said:

I suspect you are connecting in SFO, coming in there from ORD if you live in  Madison, WI. I originate in Kansas City and have a 5 hour layover in SFO before the flight to PPT on UA. We would need to get our tests done in our home cities and have results before we board the first leg of the flight. Without the negative test we would not be allowed to board. The clinic near SFO won't help us.

We'll be arriving in San Francisco a day early. We'd have time to get the test done there.  United's flight to PPT is early afternoon, 3 times a week,  so we don't want to take a chance that a flight from ORD on the same day would be delayed.  There is a United nonstop from MSN to SFO but it arrives after the flight to PPT departs.

52 minutes ago, Petoonya said:

Just like Pinot I think United will also have a deal worked out with a clinic by the time they start flying to Tahiti. There are two clinics doing them now within 3 miles SFO that United might utilize again just like LAX. Mills Peninsula Hospital's and Go Health Urgent Care. My son lives in Hillsborough about a mile from Mills Peninsula- had a COVID test two weeks ago and results in 2 days.  We won't have 2 days but bet anything by then a COVID result is available in 30 min. Depending on traffic both are a 5 to 20 min Uber ride away from SFO.

Thank you for this information.  I'll be following this closely.  We have a cruise booked in March.  Flying to Papeete on United from SFO.  We booked the airfare using miles which can be redeposited if necessary.  I really hope this all works out because we have never been to Tahiti and have been wanting to go for a long time. 

17 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Which airline?

United

8 hours ago, Redtravel said:

I've done ot both ways. You can also split the Olife with air or without air.  With all the uncertainty now, I would suggest booking your air from the cruise line. That way, should the cruise get cancelled, you get it all back from the cruise line. 

There is a very good chance you would get a refund from the airline too.  We just cancelled a non-refundable airfare to Europe that we had booked for October and got fully refunded.  We booked it on our own. We've never had the cruise line book an airfare for us so I don't know how that would work if you had to cancel. 

7 hours ago, reps23 said:

  We actually booked this cruise the last time they had a 4 category upgrade and are now in a A3 cabin but am thinking of moving up to a Penthouse if available.

 

I don't know if you're thinking of upgrading to a PH using the 4 category upgrade on their holiday sale but I just wanted to say that you can't do it. I asked about it when I booked during one of the holiday sales and the highest level you can upgrade to is an A1.  

We book our own air because we like to choose the airline and the flight. We always take the air credit but that's us and it's a personal choice. We just booked a ticket to Papeete, FP for March 2021 on UA using FF miles. It cleaned us out of miles but it's very costly in real money when you're flying to the South Pacific. 

Enjoy your cruise!

12 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Maybe they mean the spike this month in cases

https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/index.htm

Just guessing though

He was referring to states who opened early and we were not one of them.  We were on a statewide lockdown until the end of May and now we are only partially reopened.  The spike in cases is mostly because anyone who wants to be tested can get the test. 

21 hours ago, jagoffee said:

You might want to check out WI to test your theory.

I live in WI and I'd like to know what you're talking about. 

19 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

What 2 States are you talking about not wearing masks?

Utah and Nevada.  

I’ve been on a cross country road trip helping a family member move.  Eastern State to Western State. It seems the farther west we go there have been too many people not wearing masks. Walked into a very busy convenience store the other day and not one person was wearing a mask except my husband and I and the store clerk. No social distancing at all. We could not believe it and got out of there quickly.  These 2 states are seeing spikes in the number of cases.  Makes me wonder what people are thinking or if they bother to read or watch the news. 

2 hours ago, clo said:

My reply was to Tutuma who didn't seem to understand what "reliable" really means. We will not fly or get on a ship until or unless there's solid vaccine. If that means all intl. travel is over then that's what it means. We've done pretty well, having set foot on six continents.

At some point, you have to ask yourself what risks you are willing to take vs. not seeing your loved ones. In my case, my children and grandchildren live cross-country (Wisconsin to Southern California).  That is the reality for ME.   So if I want to see them I have to either drive 4 days or get on a plane.  I'm going to get on a plane and follow all the safety guidelines even if there is no vaccine.  I haven't decided yet if I'd get on a cruise ship without a vaccine but I might.  I've been to six continents too and all 50 U.S. states but I'm certainly not going to hunker down at home and tell myself I'm done with long distance traveling. 

I would be in favor of eliminating WJ in its current form.  Replace it with a staff-served buffet. Some cruise lines have always been doing it this way.  Royal Caribbean would have to have more staff to do this but it would be much safer.  We did not go to WJ often - maybe one time during the cruise and never for breakfast when it was the most chaotic. Hundreds of people touching the same serving utensils, or actually touching the food with their bare hands,  is a recipe for bad things happening. 

51 minutes ago, clo said:

No. It's the people showing up armed to terrorize not protest.

You are getting your states confused because that did not happen in Wisconsin.  Please do some research before you make derogatory and false remarks.  Thank you.