justKirbo

Thank you O_K for this wonderful review. We'll be on the Ovation for the 9/9 cruise and this thread made me so excited. I appreciate the time you put into this.

So most memorable would be the one my mom died on. She technically was removed from the boat and died in Nice. Pretty sucky and memorable.

But our most memorable for fun reasons would be the WBPC on the Disney Wonder that we took with our twins. We had such a blast on that one. The neatest thing was they had a former PC pilot who gave daily talks and it turns out he was the one who navigated the sub my husband was stationed on when he went through in the Navy back in '92 or so. That was such a cool coincidence.

Our teens were 13 and 14 when we did two cruises on the Liberty and they loved all the amenities on that boat. They did rock climbing, water slides, ice skating, pools, plus shows, etc. They were never bored on that ship and it wasn't particularly new at the time we were on it (2018 and 2019).

I think older ships have tons for kids to do on them. We've always sailed by price, so we haven't even been on the newest and biggest yet (about to go on Ovation in September and looking forward to that).

Very pleased you started this thread. We'll be on the Ovation in September and I'm eating up all the info I can find (I've done the drop down menu already looking for recent Ovation posts and also noticed that there aren't many new ones).

We haven't cruised since 2019 and we're ridiculously excited to get back on a boat.

We asked for a refund on March 16th and I think we had a credit around the 25th for it. It was on our RC visa and we only use it for Royal deposits, so it was a $1000 credit. When I called to see if it had hit the card yet, when the automated thing read me the balance, it also automatically asked if I wanted a check sent to us (which I actually didn't know was an option, we were just going to use that card to whittle away at the credit). We got the check within a week or less.

2 hours ago, time4u2go said:

9,000 new cases in Florida reported today.

Plus 119 new deaths in FL.

1 hour ago, UKWLDCruise said:

The 14 days on return is one thing but as the UK is saying no travel outside the 57 approved places any travel/health insurance would be void for anyone going to the US.  Sitting on a soon to be cancelled October cruise myself.

Yeah, that's why I said they *could* travel to NY if they wanted. Going home, or dealing with an infection because of deciding to visit the US, those would certainly have an impact on whether or not someone *should* visit the US.

Personally, I wouldn't come to the US right now if I lived elsewhere. I currently live here and there is a travel ban on folks coming from here to visit other countries. I have no idea if that ban includes the residents of other countries trying to get home.

I'm sure you could go to NY anytime you want. You might have issues getting home, but you could certainly visit NY. What does your country require now for coming home from the US? If it's just a 14 day quarantine, you could come now or wait till December.

I don't think you'll cruise from FL in April.

6 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I sure wish you hadn’t started this. 
 

 

Can you tell me what this is supposed to be and where it's from? I'm showing that FL had 49 new deaths today and 63 new deaths yesterday. Thank you.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/usa/florida/

1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

My guess would be that 2 of the 3 states mention had a slow and weak response to covid - almost downplaying it, IMO - and are now in the midst of rising cases. The third state had a quick and strong response and kept it's curve flat until it started to reopen, only to see rising cases.

 

The former makes for a better news story than the latter. But again, that's just my guess / opinion. I don't want to say more for fear of thread deletion.

 

For the record, I see all 3 states mentioned a lot. And AZ as well. But I'm not keeping score. 😇

All of my news sources mention all four as well. Not sure what sources would only mention TX and FL but not the other two hottest spots. 

No, not for my family. We actually canceled our cruise we had booked for April of next year because we want to see where this all shakes out before putting more money out. We want to know what the procedures are. We want to know what ports are open. We want to know what cruise lines survived. We want to know what's happening with the economy. We also want to know if there will be big discounts if we wait for it to all start up again.

We love cruising. We haven't had nearly as many cruises as most of you all (our family has 49 nights on DCL and 22 nights on RCI), but we love it and plan on jumping back in after all of this is over. But until cruising starts again and we see where it's heading and what ports are still accepting ships, we're going to be over on the sidelines.

2 minutes ago, MoniMommy said:

How long did it take to get your refund?

We are outliers and emailed our TA on March 15th to cancel our cruise set for next year in April on the Liberty. The TA canceled our cruise the following day, the 16th, and I believe the credit hit our card on March 23rd.  We'd had the cruise booked for a year. (Also, the credit went on a card that had had a zero balance and the credit card company, when I called to check on the credit, immediately gave us the option to have a check sent to us, which we had done.)

5 hours ago, MoniMommy said:

I am waiting for the return of a deposit. Thats probably just one bucket.  Still haven't seen a refund.

It was one bucket for us. We had a total of $1000 in deposit for four people in two rooms and when it was credited to our card, it came through as four credits of $250 each, one for each passenger. 

Thank you @island lady

2 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

My refund form also said May 22nd...but it was for the FCC option.  Getting cash refund would be 45 days.  

I'm actually thinking maybe I got it wrong because I'm not seeing what I thought I read anywhere. I must have confused what you have for the FCC option with the cash option. I should probably delete my other comment since I think it is wrong.

ETA I can't seem to delete or edit my previous post.

I think one of the links about the next wave of cancelations said they'd be refunding for those that wanted payment returned on May 22. I could be totally wrong, but having an actual date made me think the refunds might actually all show up by then.

23 minutes ago, cruisemeister8 said:

Speaking of which, how do you actually get THAT money back in your bank?  Do credit cards issue refund checks when you have a fairly sizeable negative balance?  Or do you just have to "spend" your credit card credit on other purchases, and then "save" your own money that you otherwise would have spent on said purchase?

We are some of the lucky ones that have been able to get refunded (but it was just a deposit on a cruise that wouldn't have sailed until next April). We use a Royal Caribbean Visa for only our cruise related stuff, so when the $1000 credit came through, it had gone onto a card that had had a zero balance prior. When I called the Visa company, they immediately gave me the option to have a check mailed to me, which I had them do. I received it just a few days later and deposited it into my checking account.

Personally, I hate paying interest, so I'd probably pay off the card rather than pay any interest. Then, once (if?) the refund went in, I'd just call and ask for a check to be mailed to me.

Good luck and I hope we're all sailing again someday.

Yeah, like others, I wouldn't worry that you'll be cruising. I'd cancel flights (if you have them) and hotels and all the other things because Royal will be cancelling your cruise soon enough. Also, were I you, I'd opt for the cash refund as soon as they tell you its canceled.

People, it's time for hockey! I need my Stanley Cup Playoffs before I can get myself into baseball season.

My opinion is that I wouldn't want to give any cruise line any more of my money because who knows if they'll even survive? I'd get a refund of whatever I could. At this point, if I had an un-refundable deposit, I'd probably try to get that, and only that, as a FCC and if that wasn't possible, I'd probably just eat the loss. I would not give them anymore of my cash.

I think if they survive, there will be deals to be had closer to sail dates.

That's what I personally would do. I'm sure that paying in full and then opting for a 125% FCC is what other people would do. 

16 minutes ago, BP99 said:

Hi,

Thank you for you reply. Glad you got your 100% refund which was a refundable deposit.

However, Most of the cruisers complaining made final payments on their cruise (what I call 

the BIG bucks- Thousands of $$$). After RCL (or Celebrity) cancelled their cruises

they offered a 100% refund that was to be given in 30 days. This was not stated as a "maybe in 30 days" So far (on these boards) I have yet to see anyone getting this. They are only getting other creative excuses either from the cruise line or their TA.

They broke their agreement. They had NO updates to anyone who filled out the

online refund. They also did NOT contact anyone that they even received the online form.

Silent. Many are (like me) out large sums ($5K to even 20K) and are worried that 

they may never see this money again. Several cruisers have posted that many can afford

the loss but many can't and their financial status should NOT play a role in this

discussion!!! Money is money! All they want is what RCL/Celebrity promised them.

In all THEIR (RCL) contracts, times are specific. They use them to the day in their benefit.

 

 

Yes. I am aware. I even said that my cruise that was refunded was nowhere near PIF date. I posted because some people *did* get refunds, just not for cruises that had been PIF. I also know that we were incredibly lucky to get a refund at all. Based on what I see here, we may have been some of the only ones that got a refund (my TA actually tried to talk me out of canceling because we got an amazing deal on the cruise next year).

I did ask our cruise friends if they got their refund and they have not. (I mentioned them in my post, they were scheduled to be on the same cruise with us but asked for a refund a few days after we did.) They seem to be in the same limbo as most other Royal cruisers.

I posted to say that Royal *was* refunding mid-March. Then it all seems to have ground to a halt. And my TA told us when we asked for the refund that Royal told them 7-10 days. Our refund came in a week. When I contacted my TA to say that our refund was processed, he then told us that we were super lucky and they were then hearing it could be 30-90 days.

I sincerely hope that you all get your refunds before Royal sails off into the sunset. It's horrific that they are using your monies as interest free loans.

2 hours ago, BP99 said:

Sorry, it's based on what I read on these boards and yes there are a few that DID

get a refund from their credit card company by filing a dispute. Also many got

refunds for taxes and fees, drink packages etc. but not for the cruise.

Also, there many be cruisers who got a 100% but have not reported this

on these boards. 

We did get a 100% refund but it was for a trip booked for next year. When this all started to go down, my first thought was bankruptcy. We had a cruise on the Liberty scheduled for April 4th (I'm pretty sure that was the day) of 2021. Our friends and I had scheduled it when we got off the Liberty last year. I emailed my TA on March 15th and they canceled our cruise on the 16th. We had two rooms reserved with refundable deposits, so RCI had $1000 of ours. The credit went through on our (RC) Visa on the 23rd, I believe. I contacted the Visa and they mailed me a paper check that I deposited in our bank. 

I did email our TA to let them know we got our refund (he'd asked me to) and he said we were some of the lucky ones and he was hearing it could be up to 90 days from some lines.

But it was a future cruise that was not near its PIF day.

Our friends that were going with us, they used Costco as their TA and I'm pretty sure they have not received their refunds yet. She didn't call right away because the wait times were so long. I'm not sure if that's why we got our credit and they didn't or not. They also had a DCL cruise scheduled for this month (either to or from Hawaii, I can't remember which) and DCL canceled their cruise and they got full refunds credited to their card within the week of DCL canceling.

On 3/16 my TA canceled a our Liberty cruise scheduled for next year in April (actually, a year from tomorrow 😞 ). We had two rooms reserved and had had the reservation for a year (we made it while on the same cruise last year). The credit hit our RC Visa on 3/23 and I called the credit card company and had them issue me a check, which I cashed the second it arrived by USPS. It was for two rooms, four passengers, $1000 total.

I'm wondering if future cruises not yet at their final payment date are getting refunded quicker.

I did email our TA to tell him it'd gone through, he asked us to do that, and he said he was happy for us as they are being told that refunds will take 30-90 days depending on the cruise line.

I hope everyone that opted for a refund gets them soon.

49 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Similarly, everyone’s response is the correct answer—- for them. It’s a bit disheartening to read others invalidating others responses or actions, with absolutely no information about the other person’s particular situation. 
 

mac_tlc

I hope my fears weren't taken as invalidating anyone else's response or actions and I sincerely apologize if that's how they read.

I worry about what's going to happen and for us, I needed to get our deposit back. That was the right move for us. I actually like seeing that others are determined to ride it all out with the cruise lines because we have been lucky enough to have taken eight cruises with our children and all but one were amazing (my mom died on one, that was awful, but it wasn't the cruise line's fault and we didn't give up on cruising). I think cruising for us, was a perfect vacation and I hope it survives for others to enjoy.

The right decision for us was to cancel and to move forward in life taking other kinds of vacations for the foreseeable future.

12 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

If someone doesn’t have enough cash in the bank to sustain them for at least a few months in the event of a job loss, why are they risking that money by spending it on a vacation? I get it that people have lost their jobs and expected to have income they no longer have, but if you don’t have enough money in the bank to cover your bills for 90 days until you get your refund, you probably shouldn’t have booked this trip in the first place.

9 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I also know some people need the money; also understandable, though I have my own personal judgement about whether someone should have spent money on a vacation if they can’t afford to wait 90 days for it. But all that aside, it boils down to: is a 90 day wait illegal? If not, maybe someone should try to change that law. I don’t care enough about it to be the one to do it though. 

Wow.

This is a totally wow moment for me.

Our world and our economy are disintegrating in front of us all.

We pay cash for our vacations. We have enough to live for a year without work. HOWEVER, now that I'm not working, there is no way we want that much money tied up with a company that will perhaps not even be able to provide that vacation. Now that I'm not working, we want to make sure that we have money set aside and saved. I don't need to give a giant corporation a loan. I'm grateful we got our deposit back because I think there's a chance a lot of folks won't get their money back. 

You saying folks shouldn't vacation unless they can afford to give a loan to a massive corporation that may go bankrupt is rich indeed. People are losing their jobs and they are scared. I think it's lovely that you are doing so well, but many others aren't.