swissyrescue

Our November 15 cruise was cancelled. My concern is that we're booked in one of the 2-bedroom suites. There are precious few of these on each ship. Not sure what they plan to do if there are no 2-bedrooms available on the Freedom (that's the ship we're being moved to). Won't find out until sometime between tomorrow & April 23rd. Although, interestingly enough, they say that if you want a refund, you're supposed to notify them by April 20. Kind of hard to do that if we don't know by April 20th whether or not they'll be putting us in a 2-bedroom suite on the Freedom. This is very frustrating. Awesome for the people in So. California that want to have Navigator there, but sucks that the rest of us are either being shifted or forced to cancel. Can't even repurchase a similar cruise for the same dates because, now, those dates are more than $1,000 higher than when we originally booked. I'm crossing my fingers it all works out okay. Guess I'll know soon...

Here's the email I received:

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Dear Guest,

The past year has been challenging, but we’re getting ready for our Royal Comeback. Over the last 12 months, we’ve worked around the clock preparing for our return. We’ve spent countless hours hyper-focused on developing new protocols and procedures, scheduling new itineraries, and adjusting and evolving our plans.

We recently announced our long-awaited return to the United States’ west coast with sailings beginning Summer 2022 onboard Navigator of the Seas. As we continue to review and analyze our Royal Comeback, we’ve made the decision to have Navigator of the Seas begin offering sailings departing from Los Angeles earlier than originally planned. Instead of Summer 2022, Navigator will now arrive to Los Angeles in November 2021. Regrettably, this means your sailing will be cancelled.

We know how much time and effort go into planning your vacation and apologize for the impact to your cruise. However, the good news is, our sister ship, Freedom of the Seas, will offer similar itineraries departing from Miami, Florida! So, starting April 14, 2021, to make this transition easier, we’re automatically moving you to the corresponding Freedom of the Seas sailing.

While we know you’ll have a great time onboard Freedom of the Seas, your vacation is important to us, along with providing you the flexibility to make the best decision for you and those in your party. Below, we’ve outlined your options along with a few additional details.

Option 1: Stay onboard the Freedom of the Seas cruise

• Beginning April 14, 2021, we’re automatically moving you to the Freedom of the Seas sailing departing on the same day as your original cruise. So, there’s nothing for you to do!

• Your new sailing will still offer the same beautiful destinations as your original cruise - just departing from Miami, Florida instead of Ft. Lauderdale.

• Your original stateroom category price will either be protected at your original cruise fare rate or reduced to the current cruise fare rate (whichever is lower). This excludes taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.

• • If you were already paid in full and your cruise fare rate decreases, we’ll provide you with a refund for any difference in pricing. You can expect to receive your refund to your original form of payment 45 days after we move you. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on your financial institution.

• If you booked your airfare through Royal Caribbean International, we will reschedule your flight for you. However, if you booked on your own, please contact the service provider directly for your options with them.

Option 2: Select a 100% Refund

• If you no longer wish to sail, we’ll be sad to see you go. We’ll process a full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare to the original form(s) of payment, including any non-refundable deposit.

• • You can expect to receive your refund 45 days after you submit your refund request. 

• If you booked your airfare through Royal Caribbean International, it will be automatically refunded to you. However, if you booked on your own, please contact the service provider directly for your options with them.

• Lastly, if you used a Future Cruise Credit on this sailing, and you request a refund instead, we’ll refund any NEW funds paid above the certificate amount, and we’ll reinstate your original certificate.

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to shifting an entire season of sailings and rebooking all guests, so please bear with us as we work to make this process as easy as possible for you. All moves will be completed by April 23, 2021, and we’ll send an updated reservation confirmation with your revised details to the email address on file as soon as your reservation has been updated. If you prefer to cancel your cruise, please call us at 888-281-9344 or contact your Travel Advisor by April 20, 2021. And know, hold times may be longer than usual. If we haven’t heard from you by then, you’ll remain booked on the alternate Freedom of the Seas sailing. Should you decide to cancel after our moves are complete, you will continue to be covered by our Cruise with Confidence policy.

If you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor immediately or contact us at: 

• 1 800 754 500 in Australia 

• 0344 493 4005 in the U.K. 

• 1 866 562 7625 in the U.S. or Canada

• All other countries, please visit http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contactus for your local Royal Caribbean International office phone number.

Thank you for understanding. We hope you find another cruise vacation with us. Whether you are celebrating a special occasion or looking to explore, relax, and recharge - we have no doubt your time with us will be nothing short of amazing. We look forward to welcoming you onboard.

Sincerely,

You can't pay the deviation fee until your cruise is paid in full. And if you want to select seats and/or upgrade, you have to do this research yourself beforehand. Then from those "acceptable" airlines, you'd have to figure out what routes you want. Then call Oceania and then find out how much it will cost to use those airlines.

So, it's not just "pay a fee" and you're done. There's a lot more to it than that. And, again, you cannot even start the negotiations/process w/Oceania until your cruise is paid in full. So, flight and seat availability are much more limited by that time.

Okay, slightly late responding to this thread. Yes, if Oceania travelers knew exactly how Oceania booked flights, what flights were available, etc. they'd be a lot happier and more likely to get decent flights.

However, as far as I know, there are no "guidelines" that I can refer to that explains to me the how/why of Oceania's flight choices, etc. And, which flights are available are subject to how many of those seats Oceania has available to purchase on a given flight (so what they have available in Feb might not be available for folks getting their flights in July).

What I have learned through experience:

1) They won't even offer you flight options until your cruise is paid in full;

2) They don't choose your seats

3) Certain airlines that they may put you on will not allow you to select a seat (some will, if you pay the addt'l cost, but Oceania won't assist you with this)

4) Certain airlines will NEVER allow you to select a seat (e.g., Swiss Air)

5) Codeshares are problematic, e.g., Oceania tried to put me on Lufthansa via a United code share. Neither United nor Lufthansa would allow me to select seats or even assist me w/customer service questions. Each airline would refer me to the other. I finally went back to Oceania, who also would not help me. Eventually, I paid an additional $100 to switch to a different airline and then THAT airline allowed me to select my seats / upgrade my seats.

6) Some of the fares that Oceania gets are so low (and the category so low) that you cannot even pay to upgrade to Priority or Extra seats within economy cabins.

I'm so happy that it worked out for you. It did, eventually, work out for me and my group as well ($275/pp in fees). However, I'm not convinced that there is any "easy" way for people to know in advance all of the potential issues there may be when booking flights via Oceania, nor what they would offer for a given trip, nor which deviations they would "normally" approve.

So, for those of you like me for whom it was a hassle to get decent flights/seats, you're not alone.

Direct link to the Prestige mattress:

http://www.globalresourceregistry.com/index.php?file=onearticoli&form_id_articoli=25&id=25