How to lift and switch

[slvrbllt]

On 5/27/2020 at 2:43 PM, slvrbllt said:

Got my new invoices... 

Vacation Protection Plan went up $30 per room

Taxes and Fees went up even more than the agent I made the change with said (and I paid the updated charges at time of changing)

They are now saying that since we were in our 75% penalty phase at the time of change, we're continuing that penalty portion all the way through to next year.  (Oh, but it's okay, VPP will cover it 🤐).  

 

And on one of the rooms (for my mom so she has to call in separately), her amount paid wasn't correct.  

 

My thought is to call back again...unless anyone thinks I don't have a leg to stand on for the top 3 (of course my mom needs to get her amount paid corrected, that's easy enough to prove).

Got them to waive the increase in the protection plan, but not budging on the difference in taxes and fees...just an "I'm sorry you were told wrong."  

 

The cancellation thing is still there.  Upped to a supervisor who verified with an analyst, that that's just the way it is.  Because they waited to cancel my cruise until it's in the 75% penalty section, that's where it's going to stay.  

 

Yes, I could have gotten a FCC or full refund...no, I don't plan on changing my mind, but really?   I can somewhat understand from a business standpoint...kind of...maybe.  But it just strikes me as a punk move from a customer service standpoint.  Maybe it's just me.  Maybe it was the 3.5 hours on the phone it took to get that far.

Edited May 29, 2020 by slvrbllt

[lovemylab]

I fail to understand how so many of their staff haven't a clue how this program works.  I work for a large corporation that has multiple call centres (often with new staff). When a new program is rolled out the information is made available in an online procedure that is very easy to understand and follow.  A set of FAQs is also available.

 

We are still undecided about what to do with our Oct 2020 cruise that will most certainly be cancelled.   The more I read about L&S and the hassles involved, the more I think it will be easier to just cancel and take the refund.

[Ourusualbeach]

29 minutes ago, lovemylab said:

The more I read about L&S and the hassles involved, the more I think it will be easier to just cancel and take the refund.

I have found nothing but improvements in the last week and a half.  All the ones that I have done recently have taken about 5 minutes.  Staff seem to be a lot more consistent now in knowing the terms and what is allowed. A lot of the issues that you read about in here are people posting about their TA not knowing the facts, L&S’s done early on in the process when there was a lot of confusion and people with unique situations.  
 

I’m not saying that the process is currently 100% perfect but that from my experience  It has improved tremendously over the past week and a half. 
 

 

[firefly333]

46 minutes ago, lovemylab said:

I fail to understand how so many of their staff haven't a clue how this program works.  I work for a large corporation that has multiple call centres (often with new staff). When a new program is rolled out the information is made available in an online procedure that is very easy to understand and follow.  A set of FAQs is also available.

If not for cc I wouldnt know about lift and shift. Maybe once you are booked rcl doesnt tell you about new offers. I still have trouble believing it's real. 

 

If I didnt read here I wouldnt have known about it and even then I read a couple of weeks here. I would have liked rcl to send a email outlining it. Maybe that's why rcl employees dont know, they dont want to put it in a readable format because they change rules so often. I only finally booked a 2nd lift and shift a few days ago to make it a b2b out of a 2nd port from reading on here, it didnt have to be a cruise out of Galveston, just same itinerary. I was late to the party. 

 

It's almost too good of a deal to be true, so maybe rcl doesnt want to advertise it. I still feel like pinch me, hope its real and I get both of my lift and shifts. ... but it's all thanks to cc, nothing from rcl.

Edited May 30, 2020 by firefly333

[radarcruiser]

Was coming up on final payment date a couple of weeks ago for our August Alaska cruise so I called TA to apply a couple of FCCs from our cancelled April cruise.  Had a small additional balance which I paid.  

 

Yesterday I saw the Transport Minister decree for no cruise ships in Canadian waters until Oct 31, so we decided to L&S to the same Alaska cruise for August 2021.  My TA said we have to book a hold for that cruise and then request Celebrity for the L&S.  Complication is that one of our FCCs has not been applied yet.  

 

If it all works out as planned, I'm getting a 3800.00 total cost for next years cruise for an investment of 2400.00.  

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, radarcruiser said:

Was coming up on final payment date a couple of weeks ago for our August Alaska cruise so I called TA to apply a couple of FCCs from our cancelled April cruise.  Had a small additional balance which I paid.  

 

Yesterday I saw the Transport Minister decree for no cruise ships in Canadian waters until Oct 31, so we decided to L&S to the same Alaska cruise for August 2021.  My TA said we have to book a hold for that cruise and then request Celebrity for the L&S.  Complication is that one of our FCCs has not been applied yet.  

 

If it all works out as planned, I'm getting a 3800.00 total cost for next years cruise for an investment of 2400.00.  

 

 

You do not have to put a hold on the cruise that you want to switch to.  

[radarcruiser]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You do not have to put a hold on the cruise that you want to switch to.  

TA said category was getting scarce and she didn't want us to get shut out while it was processing.

[weejasser]

Is it the belief now that Cococay isn’t essential on both itineraries to allow a L&S or did Littlestar80 just get lucky with the call centre.

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, radarcruiser said:

TA said category was getting scarce and she didn't want us to get shut out while it was processing.

Ok that makes sense.  I took your original post to mean that it was a requirement. Still not sure why they had to do this as they could have just called yesterday and shifted it.  The FCC can be applied to a shifted cruise. 

[Blizzard54]

I still have a couple L&S's to complete.  I am being held up by one of my TA's.  It is an online agency that is taking forever to get it done.  The agent I am dealing with was not informed on the rules and has been passing it around internally.  I can not complete my other ones until this one is done. I am putting together an S2S and B2B. 

[firefly333]

What's a S2S

 

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

What's a S2S

 

Side to side. Same as a B2B but different ships 

Edited May 30, 2020 by Ourusualbeach

[Dennis#1]

52 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Side to side. Same as a B2B but different ships 

S2S - Never heard of this term.  Learn something new every day.

[firefly333]

15 minutes ago, Dennis#1 said:

S2S - Never heard of this term.  Learn something new every day.

Yea I just called both b2b, even if different ship. Never heard it called this either

[Ourusualbeach]

23 minutes ago, Dennis#1 said:

S2S - Never heard of this term.  Learn something new every day.

There are some on here that really like to correct people if they use B2B incorrectly.  Doesn’t make a difference to me, as far as I’m concerned it’s a B2B.  The cruise line doesn’t even use B2B...they use consecutive cruise. 

[Dennis#1]

Stay safe and healthy.  Have a great day.

[livylotte]

Booking from the UK I was convinced something would go wrong with the L&S manoeuvre I've just done.  I booked Allure for this August and then L&S'd it to Odyssey next August.  I've had to make a couple of phone calls because only 2 of the 3 cabins I booked made it in the shift  - RC called it a glitch.  |It's now a week later and 2 new invoices have just popped into my in box.  I am delighted and slightly relieved to report back that they are both correct to the penny.  Still waiting for the invoice for cabin 3 but that'll probably be a couple of days behind due to the earlier delay.

Phew!!

[the happy organiser]

On 5/17/2020 at 10:38 PM, taglovestocruise said:

When using L&S you are price protected and OBC in still applied. We did the L&S a couple of days age going from Allure 2020 to Harmony 2021.  Harmony prices were about $1500 more for the same cabin but L&S stayed the same. You must stay in the same Category, we tried to go from a 1C to a 2 C and were told no. We had no problem getting the same cabins for the B2B. Cruise planner purchases are not switched, we got a email the next day from Royal stating or cruise planner purchase was canceled and a refund to our cc would be applied. 

I have done exactly the same as you....Allure to Harmony - Med August 21 now on Harmony 

[Sherri914]

After a lot of back and forth on my end trying to decide to cruise or not to cruise this coming November, I decided to L&S.  When I first planned this cruise, it was for Allure, November 2020, which would've been post-amplification.  I got an amazing deal on a CP Balcony room w/ the extra large balcony - you know... the ones that aren't advertised that way.  And the cruise was almost 2 years away at the time.  Then they decided not to amp Allure just yet, so we transferred to Symphony, same itinerary, still November 2020, and I was even able to get the same exact cabin.  Cost was a little more - I think around $300 more than Allure - but the different dates made a huge difference in the airfare prices, so we made up for the increase by what we'd save in airfare costs.  I'm not afraid to cruise.  If I weren't still working, I would be happy to be on the first cruises out of Florida to the Caribbean honestly.  But I can't chance being held on a ship for 2 additional weeks if there were to be any sort of outbreak of COVID during the cruise. 

 

It was so hard to pull that trigger yesterday, but after 1.5 hours on hold waiting for C&A rep to pick up, I was able to lift and shift to the same cruise, same ship, same itinerary, same week in 2021!  It was tough watching my countdown clock go back up to over 500 days again.  😞   I will say, the rep who helped me was AWESOME.  She was careful to explain L&S and how the fare and OBC is transferred but the taxes and port fees will vary somewhat from my original cruise.  I was sad that the L&S would mean losing my double-sized balcony because when I looked online, that room wasn't showing as available.  But the C&A rep said it was open and booked me in.  So I'm very pleased at the whole process.   They were great when I transferred from Allure to Symphony, they were great when I moved from Symphony 2020 to Symphony 2021!   

[blueridgemama]

I tried to find my answer but there are so many pages to sift through so I apologize if this is a repeat question.

Can you use Lift&Switch to move a  2021 cruise to a 2022 cruise?

[molly361]

6 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

I tried to find my answer but there are so many pages to sift through so I apologize if this is a repeat question.

Can you use Lift&Switch to move a  2021 cruise to a 2022 cruise?

Yes as long as it is one year plus or minus 4 weeks

[bamdoo]

Can I Lift & Shift from a March 2021 8n Western Caribbean from Miami (no CocoCay) to a March 2022 8n Southern Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale (No CocoCay)?

[firefly333]

53 minutes ago, bamdoo said:

Can I Lift & Shift from a March 2021 8n Western Caribbean from Miami (no CocoCay) to a March 2022 8n Southern Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale (No CocoCay)?

I see you want to lift and switch from a 8 day from Miami western to a 8 day southern from ft Lauderdale.

 

I was not allowed to lift and switch from ,leaving from new orleans to a cruise leaving from Galveston. Had to be new orleans to another out of new orleans and that was with almost identical ports.

 

My guess is you would have to find another 8 day from Miami, or move the Miami cruise to one from ft. Lauderdale, and then do the lift and switch to another ft worth cruise ... assuming they would overlook the differences in western and southerm

 

With the cwc you can move the miami to ft Lauderdale, but time is running out. And then maybe do a lift and switch, but I'd look for one with more similar ports. Once you switch, then after a while lift and switch.

 

But I wouldnt count on miami lifting to ft. Lauderdale.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2020 by firefly333

[Ourusualbeach]

53 minutes ago, bamdoo said:

Can I Lift & Shift from a March 2021 8n Western Caribbean from Miami (no CocoCay) to a March 2022 8n Southern Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale (No CocoCay)?

Miami to Ft. Lauderdale isn’t an issue.  The issue would be the southern to the Western. They seem to treat Southern separately than the Eastern/western in many cases.  Things have changed in the last week as Revenue has issued a list of acceptable switches.  Cruises that were allowed to be switched a week ago are now being denied.  The only thing that is now consistent is that all the agents are working off the same list so you will get the same answer no matter how many times you call unlike previously when you could ask 3 agents and get 3 different answers.

[slvrbllt]

On 5/29/2020 at 5:00 PM, slvrbllt said:

Got them to waive the increase in the protection plan, but not budging on the difference in taxes and fees...just an "I'm sorry you were told wrong."  

 

The cancellation thing is still there.  Upped to a supervisor who verified with an analyst, that that's just the way it is.  Because they waited to cancel my cruise until it's in the 75% penalty section, that's where it's going to stay.  

 

Yes, I could have gotten a FCC or full refund...no, I don't plan on changing my mind, but really?   I can somewhat understand from a business standpoint...kind of...maybe.  But it just strikes me as a punk move from a customer service standpoint.  Maybe it's just me.  Maybe it was the 3.5 hours on the phone it took to get that far.

Has anyone else run into the cancellation penalty still applying if your cruise was cancelled and you did L&S?  Was contemplating calling again tomorrow to ask about it.  

 

Backstory:  Our July 12, 2020 cruise was cancelled on May 20.  We did L&S to July 4, 2021, but instead of now having a new cancellation schedule and only the NRD be at stake until final payment , we have a note on our invoice that states "The booking is currently subject to USD 1852.25 cancellation penalties at time of this booking invoice 29 MAY 2020. This amount may increase based on the cruise penalty schedule."