smally

23 hours ago, philhar said:

The RCCL message about cancelling is very carefully worded ,it tals about refunding the cruise fare.I am booked on the 30th January and enquired about cancelling.

I was told you can cancel but your airfare is not refundable ,despite the fact that I booked it through RCCL.That is not a gesture to put people's minds at rest.

I really don't know what to do now.

They said that to us too initially. We are in the UK and had booked a package with RC for flights, transfers, 2 nights hotel stay and cruise. When we booked we specifically checked with our Travel Agent that cruise with confidence covered the airfare as well as cruise fare and they confirmed it did. When we decided to cancel RC said the airfare was non refundable (either to our credit card or in the way of future cruise credit) as it had been ticketed. We disputed this via our travel agent and ultimately RC agreed to a full refund of all we had paid. I was very disappointed that they tried to do this and that we had to argue our case. But relieved it got sorted in the end. I suggest you go back to them and ask for a supervisor and push for a refund. This whole situation has rather made me lose trust/confidence in Royal Caribbean to honour their promises and commitments to their customers to be honest.

We have cancelled our Jan 16 Cruise out of San Juan on Explorer. Risk of not being able to fly home to the UK after the cruise was a key factor in our decision.

7 minutes ago, chucknmarilyn said:

Why is it such a big deal to get tested at the terminal when you disembark or self test? There have been so many changes and disappointments over the last almost 2 years that I just don't understand why this is so major. I have two cruises booked in Jan- Feb that are not going as planned at all but I'll certainly be glad we can go 

The 'big deal' is that under the terms of our booking, we were to be tested the day prior to disembarking and, if positive, Royal Caribbean confirmed they would organise and pay for our quarantine and rearrange our transatlantic flights home.

If we disembark and then test at the terminal or airport there are 2 significant risks for us that weren't present under the terms we originally booked...

1. The test result may not come back in time and we may miss our transatlantic flight home which we would then have to rearrange at our own expense.

2. The test result may be positive and we would then have to organise and pay for our own quarantine and new transatlantic flights home. Royal state that they will do these things if we 'test positive whilst onboard'.

We do have travel insurance, but covid cover is limited as with most policies in the UK at the moment, so we would not have booked the holiday without the assurance that Royal would test us prior to disembarking and do all necessary to get us home. This assurance is confirmed to us in email, and we only found out that it no longer applies through this forum. RC did not advise of the change directly (even though they have confirmed that it is correct).

The holiday we booked has therefore changed substantially in terms of risk.

Our TA is still liaising with RC on our behalf. 

17 minutes ago, little britain said:

The bottom line is that the moment we step off the ship to be tested in some dockside tent, we are not RCIs responsibility.

Any positive results will not appear on their ship reports and RCI will no longer have that duty of care to pay for quarantine and return flights.

 

Exactly. I agree. And this is not the basis on which we purchased the package holiday with RC of flight, hotel stay, cruise and transfers. My last communication from RC confirms testing on ship prior to departure. They have not advised us of the recent change but have confirmed to our TA that we can no longer be tested prior to departure from the ship. We would not have purchased the holiday with this level of risk.

We have asked for a refund as they have changed the holiday and it is no longer the trip that we purchased. Currently advised that we can have a FCC for the cruise fare only - not the flights (that were part of the package holiday we bought from RC). This, despite the fact that we specifically asked whether cruise with confidence covered the air fare part of the holiday as well as the cruise fare and were told it did. We would not have booked otherwise. We are waiting for our TA to discuss with RC again....

I wonder if they actually are wanting us to cancel. That way they keep our cruise fare (if we get a FCC), and they avoid what may well be a huge number of people testing positive on board and needing to be quarantined before flying home (and the associated expense, which is supposed to be covered by them).

Or could it be that if we test positive at the airport they will deem us to no longer be their responsibility (as we have left the ship) in terms of quarantine costs. It's not what they agreed to when we booked, but I'm beginning to think it might be a possibility......

We're in the same situation. It was confirmed to us when we booked in November that Royal Caribbean would provide a test on board prior to our return to the UK if it was needed. Now we suddenly find ourselves needing to organise our own test in San Juan with only a few hours before we take a transatlantic flight home. We have cruise and flights booked through Royal Caribbean as a package. We fly out from UK on 14 Jan and cruise on 16 Jan. I have organised and paid for the pre flight and pre cruise tests and don't have have problem with that because I was aware it was our responsibility, if required, when we booked. I am amazed that Royal Caribbean would make a change to the arrangements for getting us home like this and that they haven't even emailed to advise us, I have only found out through reading this post. I wonder if we would be entitled to a refund if we decided to cancel? At the moment, as I understand it, we can cancel up to two days prior to our holiday, but only for a FCC, not a refund. Very disappointing customer care/service.

We are flying out from Heathrow on a Friday in January and boarding Explorer in San Juan on the Sunday. We have booked 6am tests at Heathrow with Xpress test on the morning we fly out as our cruise tests. We have also booked antigen tests on the Thursday near home as our 'flight' tests.

If it were me I would spend the time in the New Forest. Brockenhurst is a 15 minute train journey from Southampton and provides direct access to the Forest - free roaming ponies, beautiful countryside, walks and cycling (cycle hire readily available). Last time we were in the area we ate at the Forest Park Hotel in Brockenhurst and it was really very good. We plan on staying there in the future. Brockenhurst also is not far from the Dorset coast/beaches - Keyhaven, Highcliffe, Mudiford Quay etc and the lovely coastal town of Lymington.

Another alternative would be a couple of nights in Winchester, which is a lovely city. But the New Forest would be my choice in the summer, especially with children.

We used Romecabs for our transfers to the port from Rome, and then back to the airport post cruise. They were reliable and professional. There were 8 of us so we had a minibus and from what I remember they were a little less expensive than Rome in Limo (who are also great - we have used them for private excursions previously).

4 hours ago, little britain said:

@smally you've obviously never been to the Plaka area of Athens which is absolutely full of restaurants, cafes and bars....my favourite…

We have been to the Plaka area of Athens. - but it isn't where I personally would choose to sit and watch the world go by.  Athens is a busy city and I find the other ports much more relaxing. 

We have been to Kotor and Santorini several times. If it was a straight choice between the two I would opt for Kotor. They are both beautiful. The sail in to Kotor is spectacular. Santorini is lovely but can be crowded and the queues to get back down to the ship from Fira can be horrendous - sometimes 2 hours and are unavoidable unless you opt to walk down the donkey track. We have done this twice and it is not for infirm or the faint hearted! 

Having said that, our other favourite ports from your options are Mykonos and Dubrovnik. Both are beautiful and lovely to wander around in a leisurely way - no need for expensive excursions, early starts  or the like. You can walk the walls in Dubrovnik and swim in the sea behind the harbour. Lovely shops and restaurants.

Mykonos is very relaxed. Lovely little shops and restaurants. Lunch at Nico's is our favourite.

We cruised from Venice with our boys when they were 23 and 21. They loved the 2 nights that we spent there pre cruise. 

Athens we have been to twice - again with our boys. The Acropolis is interesting but for us was part of a full day tour which started early and was all a bit arduous for our boys.

My choice between Athens and Venice would be Venice.

We haven't sailed on any ship bigger than the Independence, but have sailed on both Rhapsody and Brilliance with our boys. I prefer Brilliance and for our boys the preference would definitely be Brilliance. They aren't hugely sporty but did miss the sports court on rhapsody for an opportunity to kick/throw a ball around with friends. In mid September the Rhapsody had very few other passengers their age. 

Yes, your boys will both be of legal drinking age in Europe. There are lovely pavement cafe's/bars in Mykonos, Santorini, Dubrovnik, Split and Venice. Not so much in Athens. I've never been to Souda so can't comment and our trip to Zakynthos was not on a cruise, so again I can't really comment.

If I was choosing between your two options with my boys then, on balance, I would choose the Brilliance cruise. 

Hope that helps!

I've been having a problem for the last few days too. Maybe it's a UK thing. I can't get into manage my cruise on my laptop using chrome or safari even though I have cleared my browsing history.  I can get in on my phone though. Very strange.

We did this in the early afternoon at the beginning of September and my mum, who is 79 managed fine. Just regular rest breaks at various points in the shade.

I was tracking the prices in the UK and noticed that the 3 cruises that I was interested in increased in price by several hundred pounds per person at the beginning of September. I wondered what was happening, and then saw theat the all inclusive offer came out within a day or two. So it gave the impression that the drinks package had been thrown in for free -when actually prices had already been increased to cover it. Very annoying for you and I don't like their strategies one bit.

We sailed on the Independence in June and the Diamond Lounge does still have an outside area - it overlooks the sports court. I don't know whether the suite lounge has any outside space, sorry.

Seven of us went to Chops on the Navigator last year for my sons birthday and we took his girlfriend who is a vegetarian. She was able to choose a vegetarian dish from the Giovanni's menu which she really enjoyed - along with Chops appetisers and sides

Seven of us went to Chops on the Navigator last year for my sons birthday and took his girlfriend who is a vegetarian. She was able to choose a vegetarian dish from the Giovanni's menu which she really enjoyed - definitely not a windjammer experience.

We were on the Rhapsody two years ago with our boys, aged 20 and 18. They missed the sports court of the bigger ships, and the lively night life, and we missed the champagne/R bar, but we still all had a great time. We were on Independence this last summer, which we really enjoyed, but we're back on the Rhapsody in September from Venice. We and they know it won't be as lively as the Independence but we are all still really looking forward to it because the ports are so much more interesting. As long as you manage expectations it will be fine.

We have cruised from Southampton in July& August several times - each time we had our boys with us and we have tolerated the numbers of teenagers on board (they have loved it!) Its not ideal though, so we'll avoid UK school holidays now that our boys are older. Aug 31 will be fine as it falls outside most UK school holidays

We flew did this in March this year for our 25th wedding anniversary. We flew LHR to Miami, couple of hours at the airport then on to San Juan. Coming home we flew San Juan to JFK, New York, short turnaround then on to LHR. Our flights were with American Airlines, booked through the RC website along with the cruise. Both the cruise and the flights were good prices. I think the flights were just less than £600 each return.

We loved the Southern Caribbean cruise - 10 nights on Adventure. Well worth the long flight!

Thanks everyone, I'm feeling happier about this after my initial panic. I have emailed C&A - no response as yet. Ours isn't an upgrade - we have paid the published price for the JS so that isn't an issue for us. Don't think I can really ditch my hubbie for the triple points, he wouldn't be happy!

Thank you . I rang Crown and Anchor, and the woman I spoke to said she needed to check whether double points would apply as it was a short cruise. She came back and said that we wouldn't get double points, as the minimum number of nights for that was 7. I was very surprised as I hadn't heard of that previously and it was different to what we were told on board. And my travel agent is saying that Royal Caribbean have told her we will get double points.

I thought Crown and Anchor representatives were normally knowledgeable and accurate with their information - and she did go off and double check!

Do you get double points if you book a 3 night cruise in a Junior Suite? We were told when we booked on board that we would, but I have just double checked with crown and anchor and they are saying the cruise needs to be a minimum of 7 nights to get double points. Our Travel agent has rung Royal Caribbean and they say that we will get double points but now I'm feeling very uncertain. We are 5 points away from Diamond membership - hence the Junior suite on this occasion. If we aren't going o get double points we would not be taking this cruise - we would do a 5 night cruise in a balcony instead!

UK travel agent is telling me that Rhapsody is going into dry dock for 2 weeks end Aug/beginning of Sept 2018, for refurbishments, and starts sailing again on 8 September - the cruise we are booked on.

Calling them from the Uk costs a small fortune. I have emailed and am waiting for their response. Later cruises are still listed.