DandDM

Agree!

That's the plan

Thanks for the quick replies..guess it makes sense that Royal won't be putting big money into non-necessary ship modifications right now! Anyone know if they have a full bar set up, or just the little cart with five or six options? Cheers,

This is a bit early, but I've got some time to kill while in Covid isolation... Sailing on the Explorer next April for a Trans-Atlantic. Was surprised to see the ship still has the CL on deck 9...and furthermore, the deckplan for after its dry dock (directly before the TA, apparently) still shows that same lounge location. Sailed on Explorer a while ago and found the lounge crowded, dark and kinda depressing; had a drink package so never used it (other than coffee in the morning). Much prefer the deck 16 location on other ships in the class. Don't plan to get a drink package this time, so expect to use the lounge more. Two questions: 1) the future deckplans notwithstanding, is there any expectations (rumors) the CL Lounge might be relocated during dry dock? and 2) assuming it stays in the same location, are they offering full bar options and what are they doing to control capacity? Expect the TA to be chock full of high level C&A folks:) Cheers,

Yes. I started the original thread and still digesting the fact that Royal honored their price protection after six months!

Yes, I got your old cabin! Thank you so much for making it available - I will buy you that drink in the SL. LOL. I must have missed that side view CLS becoming open, or did you grab the Star Loft suite? Saw one of those last week. Had originally booked a back facing CLS as my wife was completely enthralled by the Aquashow on the Symphony. I'm not sure how much she would have been able to see, and have since read that the side cabins are more desirable, but heck, I'm just happy to be in the neighborhood!

Hi There. The OP here with an update that I think is unbelievable... Since January, I have been watching ship availability pretty regularly. A couple OS and Aqua suites opened up and were quickly gone. However, this morning, I did my regular check and a crown loft suite was available; first one I've seen since this all started. I questioned if it was even worth my time to make a call, but decided to do it so called by 'big box' TA. ROYAL HONORED THE PRICE PROTECTION FROM JANUARY AND GAVE ME THE CROWN LOFT SUITE!!!! It was actually pretty easy, no negotiation or tense discussion, just the request, approval and payment. Confirmed it is showing on my reservation. I'm on cloud nine...way to go Royal Caribbean!! Cheers,

Shoot, realized I never provided the promised follow up. Quick recap - my wife was on first cruise, then my brother joined me for the second segment. Had the paperwork done before boarding and when on board, asked both the concierge and GS if there was anything special I needed and they said no, it would be fine. I got my new card and an 'in transit' document before leaving that morning. We waited as long as we could and were one of the last to disembark. Ended up walking into town and had a late breakfast. While eating, got a text that my brother had arrived; he went through the regular boarding process with zero issues. When I got back (about an hour after brother had boarded) lines were very long, but asked around and flashed my 'in transit' doc and was directed to an alternative line that was very short. Only unique thing was that the young couple in front of me were bringing back growlers full of beer. There were also B2B and they said they were specifically told they could bring the beer back on board...while I was curious how that turned out (I bet security won) I buzzed around them and got back on the ship. So very uneventful in the end, not a big deal! Cheers,

Now I’m curious…say you use all your voucher drinks during the day and want to visit diamond lounge with friends. You can’t choose to pay for a drink?

I removed the second person from a reservation last week; the fare did not reprice and nothing else changed. (current cabin fare is $3k more than originally paid)

TA got it fixed; now I have the reservation under my name only at the same price and perks as original booking, with only the second set of port fees removed. Without CC, would not have known I could do this! Thanks again.

Once again, I really thank everyone for the nice thoughts, encouraging stories, and advice! Quick update - although I had said that I'd wait until closer to final payment to make the change (in case I decided to add someone to the reservation), it was bugging me so decided to get it handled now. Called my big box TA, and initially there was some concern that her portion of the non-refundable deposit would be forfeit, but Royal agreed to 'waive' that (not totally convinced that a waiver was required, but...). Was told that all else would stay the same so I authorized them to make the change. However, when reviewing the final terms over the phone, they referenced $250 OBC instead of the $550 on the old booking. Another call from TA to Royal, and after being on the call for two hours (total) the rep I was working with had a technology meltdown, so now waiting for a call back on a resolution. Regarding OBC, originally reserved the cruise on board, and got $300 obc for that. The original confirmation shows that as $150 for pax 1 and $150 for pax 2...so concerned now I might lose the $150, but that still doesn't explain the rest! (another $200 was for having to move the original cruise date due to a cancelation, and not sure where I picked up the $50...). Will update when resolved. Thanks,

Good morning. Just got off the phone with travel agent and inquired about removing wife from booking. She had no hesitation in stating that I could remove her from without triggering a re fare. After talking further, decided not do to this yet, just in case I decide to add someone else (have until late July for final payment). We did not engage Royal on the call. It may seem odd, and its primarily emotional, but I would be more comfortable removing her from the booking. I guess I'm concerned about questions that may come up, or things showing up in the cabin with her name. Thanks again for all the feed back and support. Dustin

Have a few minutes so thought I'd share my recent experience (not bad) at Canada place boarding the repositioning cruise on Discovery Princess. Had a super early flight and efficient trip on the sky train from the airport, so arrived at around 7:30 AM. Learned that the porters taking bags wouldn't be ready for us until 8AM, and at that time found them down at a parking area two floors down (a very nice port worker helped us figure that out). Wandered around and loitered in the hotel lobby until a little after 10 AM and then got in line outside a large conference room a floor up and across from the security area. Would guess that there were about 50 people in line in front of us and maybe another 100 behind when boarding started. While waiting in line, a worker announced a few times that everyone must show evidence of a 10:30 check in before being allowed in. Of course, when I pulled up the Medallion app, my green lane check in at 10:30 was not there. I got it back to green but was unable to bring up the 10:30 check in nor have it show my boarding pass. My buddy's app was working fine. Soon after 10:30, the line started to move, and when we got to the door, I started to explain that the app wasn't working, and the nice lady just waved us through. Steered to the right for the Elite line and only a minute or so wait to get to a person to check in. We had our medallions ready and covid tests printed and were checked in in less than five minutes. This is where it got a little weird. They steered us around the room, then right back into the hallway. After a little confusion, figured out that we were to walk back through the complex, down the escalator, and back to the security area. When we got there, it wasn't open yet, but after another few minutes, that line started moving. There were maybe 20 people in front of us at that point. I was wondering how they knew that we had already checked in...if I hadn't known any better, very possible that we would have immediately lined up at security when arriving, expecting to check after. Anyway, got through security, went through customs, then to the waiting area. Very few people were waiting, and there was a small section reserved for suite and elite guests (I think) behind a curtain wall. They had coffee and other drinks with fancy glassware waiting for us. Grabbed seats in the front row and by the time I went to the restroom and got a cup of coffee (didn't even get to finish it!), saw some people headed for the gangplank. Joined them and by walking past the photo trap, was surprised to find that we were one of the first to board! Time stamp on the boarding photo I took was 11:08, so 38 minutes from start of check in to being on board (not including the three hours we lurked around the terminal and hotel before that). While a bit of an odd morning, have no complaints about the process and found everyone at the port to be very helpful and friendly. Cheers,

I ordered it on the Discovery Princess a few weeks ago and was very disappointed. Might have been slightly under the influence, and clicked in the medallion app that I wasn't enjoying the dining room. The waiter was at my table within a minute or two and I got a chance to let him know my thoughts on the desert.

Thanks for the info, Ken. I always thought the opposite was true! Will call tomorrow - now thinking that I will inquire as to what would happen if I removed her from the booking first and see what they say.

Appreciate the advice and thoughts on solo cruising. More than once I had decided to cancel this cruise, but people said not to make any big decisions so I put it off. Glad I did because now I can see the cruise happening, but also have a lot of emotion about it. Reading other threads about sailing solo and building confidence! thanks,

Thank you; much appreciated!

Thanks; this is very helpful!

I've seen a number of threads related to this in the past, but haven't really paid that much attention...so I hope I'll be forgiven for starting a new thread! My wife passed away and we had two cruises booked (actually three, but went on the first earlier this month with my brother). The next cruise is in October and I want to try it solo, however, if I do a mock booking today, the same cabin type is $3k more than I'm paying (also have some healthy OBC and booked under double points promo). From what I have read, understand that I could technically keep the same reservation with my wife as a 'no show'. However, because she is deceased, I'm having some ethical concerns, plus not sure I want to go through the process of doing her online check in. Here are my questions: 1) Is there any chance that if I call and get a sympathetic agent, they would remove my wife from the reservation without repricing; or would I be limiting my future options once they know the facts? 2) If I do proceed with the reservation for both of us, would I have to go through the on line check in for her? 3) Reading some other posts I found through a search, seems like an option could be to swap my brother's name into the reservation, then have him be the no-show. Any benefits to that? 4) Finally, the other cruised booked is a TA next April. With a 'no show' in October, would that cause an issue for the April cruise? Thanks in advance. Dustin