A really good CD makes a huge difference. We have gotten off one ship & gotten on another. You can tell the difference if one isn't as good as the other.
My wife is a TA, she has spent days on the phone with RCL on various Covid things. I don't think they even know what is going on. Even on our personal cancelled cruises it's a good thing we are Pinnacle, or it would have been much harder. Good luck
We were some of the last passengers off of a Celebrity cruise in March 2020. We had some fantastic cruises canceled due to Covid. We are thinking about taking a cruise in Sept. Not any of our friends who have sailed in the past year said any of them were the same as before. Most have said they were pretty bad & will wait to cruise again. Cruise lines got hammered after 2020 & will take a while to get back.
One of the greatest & not mentioned benefits is, getting problems solved. Had a major problem & was able to write Michael Bailey. Status gets their attention & gets things handled much easier. During the fiasco of the pass several years we were able to get thigs resolved.
It can take from 7 to 150+ days. All depends on if you get a newbie or an experienced person okaying the refund. It should be done automatically but not always the case.