bluewater1298

On 5/4/2024 at 4:55 PM, Wetmib said:

You are one patient person. Good luck and once it's resolved, enjoy the trip

Thank you! My patients is beginning to thin. But once on the cruise all will be forgotten....hopefully 😅

Update - I called today and finally received someone that seemed to know what she was doing. It took less 10 minutes. She said I would receive the max amount of $300 credit on my reservation. 

I didn't receive a conformation number, so I ask how soon it would be applied. She said to contact travel agent and they would confirm everything. Another phone call 🤦‍♀️

I called the travel company and that call took 45 minutes. Most of it was with me on hold while the agent was on hold with Royal Caribbean. Seems like nobody knew what to do. Finally the call ended with said $300 credit applied. I'm supposed to get an email with the new balance for final payment within the next few days. 

Hopefully it works out because they have already deducted the 15,000 miles from our card. I'll update if it doesn't.

Thanks for all the replies!

12 minutes ago, RosieRoo said:

I feel your pain. I find the whole thing confusing. We cashed in 75,000 points for a companion fare. Had to go thru the travel agent to get it done. By the time they finished deducting the discounts off my reservation (can’t use it with this discount or that discount) I would have been better off just cashing in the points for OBC. 

Thanks! I wish I had let the one person take the $225 off. That might be the best I can do. That is if I can find someone now to do it. It's crazy that you get so many different responses calling the same number.

Just looked at several cruises today with senior discounts. Most were $200+ discounts. I saw one that was close to $500. These were all on Balcony rooms. No discount on suites that I looked at and I didn't look at a holiday cruises. 

I’ve searched this many times and thought I knew how it worked until I called in for a redemption using 15,000 points for an upgrade on 4-8 night cruise (interior to ocean view max value $300). I thought if the difference between an interior and ocean view was $300 or over, you could get the max value of $300 off your cruise price. Now after many calls, I’m really confused.

First call - I wanted to verify what I thought I knew. I was told I needed to book the cruise first, have a reservation number and then they would apply it to the reservation. Also it could be book through travel agent, but I would need to call RC’s Rewards Redemption to get the points turned in. I could book any room category but the upgrade would only be the difference between interior and ocean view.

Second call - I had reservation # with ocean view cabin booked. I was told I couldn’t get the upgrade credit because I already had an ocean view booked. Was told I should have booked an interior and then they could have upgraded me to an Ocean View. I ask him to check with his supervisor but still got the same answer. I ended the call and tried again for a different person.

Third call - I was told it could be done with my booking. She said the difference was more than $300 and max credit could be applied but they would have to deduct $75 from it because of a promotion added to my booking from the travel agent. So $225 is the max I can get taken off even though the difference between interior and ocean view is way over $300. She said when she turned it in, they would first deduct $300 and then add $75 back on. I decided to wait and call again.

Fourth call - I was told they couldn’t do anything since it was book through a travel agent. I should call the travel agent and have them handle it. I booked it through an online cruise site. The first three people I talked with never mentioned me calling the travel site. They would put me on hold while they called the travel company to check pricing.

Fifth call - I call travel company and got someone that had never handle a rewards redemption and didn’t understand what I was asking. I ended call and thought I would check here before making another call.

Anyone have experience getting the upgrade credit taken off the cruise price? And how were you able to get it? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Final payment is a month away.

41 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

I enjoyed Reflection as well. That class of ship is simply stunning. I was reading a review today where sandwiches were spotted at Al Bacon! Oh my, that has some serious potential if it is as good as the sweets. I could skip the buffet all together 😄 

Oh wow! Can you imagine? Yes I will be looking for another Celebrity cruise in the future.

We set sail on Oasis this Sunday! Can't wait 😁 Thanks for all your info!

49 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

We've found since they've started the Royal Up program, we don't get our GTY cabin assigned until we've checked in. 

I booked a GTY balcony on a cruise two weeks ago for January 2025 and had my assigned room two days later. It happened the same way last summer when I booked for this April. I can't say it happens with everyone, but it has for me.

I'm not saying this will happen for you, but the last two cruises I booked with Royal, which were GTY rooms, they assigned my room number in just a few day after booking. One cruise was over 300 days out. As soon as you get your room assignment, you can call and change your room number to any available in that category. What I do is a mock booking to see what rooms are available in my category and then call and ask them to switch my room to the one I prefer. 

If you're LUCKY and get your rooms assigned quickly, you may be able to find a room that is available on both cruises and have them switched. But that's still a big IF. Hope it works out for you!

Thank you for your honest review. Even though I enjoyed sailing along, I agree, I would probably not choose this ship. I did enjoy our sailing on Reflection and would do another one on her or the Edge class. To be honest, if the itinerary was good, I would sail on Celebrity again just to enjoy Al Bacon 🤣 

Thank you again! Hope you have a beautiful Easter!

Until we sail again.....

9 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Oh no, that means you won't be able to follow live. 

I know! We need to do better at coordinating our sailings. 😂

Seriously though, I don't think your followers can wait that long for another review. Hopefully, living Florida you'll catch a good deal soon. And please, please let me know! It's such a joy to sail along with you!

4 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I am officially booked again. That countdown though ouch 😫 😳.

 

We'll be sailing on Harmony that same week but in a different direction. Hope you find something sooner. Don't work too hard. 

11 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

It was an exhausting travel day but we made it to my mom's around 330 so probably an easier day back than most people, especially as there seemed to be a lot of Canadians onboard.

 

I plan to wrap this up tomorrow with our travel day as well as my final thoughts. I also have the pictures from Cartagena to share still. 

 

Thanks again for following along!

Yes! I'm interested in how the shuttle back to the hotel was. Would you recommend doing it that way instead of parking at the cruise terminal?

And please let me know when you sail again! After our cruise in April, we have several land vacations scheduled so I probably won't be lurking on these boards until the fall.

Thank you again for wonderful review and for all the food pictures...especially at Al Bacon!

Take care!

I'm sure they will refund it in some way. I have added OBC from my points through my visa rewards card and what I didn't spend they credited it back to the credit card they had on file....which wasn't the rewards card. Unless OBC is listed as nonrefundable then they have to refund what is unused.  If you're the one adding the OBC then it should be refundable.

Any unused OBC will be refunded to the credit card on file. So don't feel like you need to spend it all.

Thank you for a wonderful review and letting us sail along! Safe travels to your mom's house and then on to yours. Like I always tell my children (who are your age) "Let me know when you get there!" 

I guess you can say your last day onboard is interesting. I'm sorry you haven't enjoyed smooth sailing. Hope your mother is doing ok.

34 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

 

 

For the first time since probably 2015, I don't have anything booked 😪 😲. Even during the 16 month hiatus, I still had cruises on the books just didn't know which one would sail. 

 

I'm intending to book 1/24/25 on Adventure of the Seas but I'm having trouble applying the cruise next certificate I bought so I am going to place a call on that when i return. If I can find a quiet time at the next cruise desk I am going to see if they can assist.

 

I will probably sail before then, my birthday is in October and my friend wants to do Utopia of the Seas for her birthday im September but nothing on the books at the moment. 

I hope you find a good deal before Sept. I have become addicted. You even got me out of lurk mode. 😜 This is really sad. 🥲

I still laugh 😂 about how we met when boarding the Reflection and I didn't know it was "Mr Live Review" himself I was talking to. I have to say you're a stand up guy in person and also in your reviews. Glad to know you!

6 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Back in the room for the evening and turning in.

 

Tomorrow is our final day on this 12 day cruise and I'm already sad it is ending but happy for the opportunity to enjoy the past nearly two weeks.

 

Good night. 

Oh no! 😲 It can be over yet! This makes me sad too. 🥲 I have so enjoyed this sailing and all the drooling.🤤 You really are great at doing live reviews. When is your next cruise?

21 minutes ago, mduffy1834 said:

Think it was about $25 for chairs/umbrella - our friend had to go into the store to purchase so I was not there.  Taxis were plentiful, both coming and going.  Very enjoyable day, in spite of the rain!

Thanks! Can't wait to get there! It's such a beautiful place.

13 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

My mom got one she liked the tarts better. 

I don't think anything is better than their tarts. 

1 hour ago, jam19872016 said:

Got my free scoop of Gelato and stopped at al bacon for a slice of cake.

 

 

Those praline eclairs look good. 🤤🫠 Thanks for the picture.😃

On 2/25/2024 at 5:16 PM, mduffy1834 said:

We ended up going to Sapphire Beach - lovely, comfortable, warm water, great restaurant.  A little rain, but did not "dampen" our spirits.

 

Glad you enjoyed your day. We love Sapphire Beach and have stayed in the condos before. We plan to go there is a few weeks on a cruise stop. This will be our first time going there as a day trip.

Do you remember how much chair and umbrella rentals are? Also how was it getting there from the cruise port? We thought of using the local bus but I'm not sure how much of our time it will take.  Thanks for any information you can give!

11 hours ago, peanutzmom said:

I’m sorry you have bad memories of your first visit. St. Martin is our favorite Caribbean island! We’ve done several land vacations there and always look for cruise itineraries that include it. We personally prefer the French Side and take a taxi to Orient Beach any time we cruise into this port.

Thanks, I'm hoping for a better memory this time. After reading reviews and watching webcams, I'm more optimistic. I get what you're saying. St Thomas is our favorite island and we always look for itineraries that include it. And we do land vacations there as well. My biggest disappointment about this cruise is I booked it for the itinerary. It had St Thomas along with both of RC's private islands. We cruise at least once a year and I've never seen this itinerary before. We usually only get one private island if any on an itinerary. Never two. So with St Thomas and two private islands, this was going to be my dream cruise. But still, I do understand the situation and I'm going to make the best of it. And maybe I'll return with St Maarten on my favorite's list!

11 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Very tasty. The bread to filling ratio looked off but it was not. It had cream cheese on it and it paired very nicely with the beet.

Yum! I may have to make one myself. Never heard of it

Beetroot sandwich looks interesting. Please let us know how it is