May 2021 cruises

[shelby2002]

We're booked to go on the Independance of the Seas 5/22/21 sailing and it's an 8 night and has not been on the web site for over 4 months to book and probably will not happen.  I'm just confused as our final payment is due on 2-21-21 which is Sunday and I really don't want to pay the final balance when we know it is not going to sail and would like to book a land vacation, so at this point what are our options?  Thanks for any help or guidance anyone can provide.

 

[firefly333]

Downgrade to the lowest category before making final payment assuming it's less.

[Scoobydobe7]

1 hour ago, Heymarco said:

Assuming you booked a nonrefundable deposit:
 

1. Cancel on your own now and get full deposit back as Future Cruise Credit, part of Cruise with Confidence. No cash refund option.

 

2. Make final payment and then wait for cancellation. At that time you will have option to:

A. Full refund

B. FCC for 125%

C Limited lift and sift to same sailing a year later, plus or minus 1 week.

Plus or minus 1 week??? Not to many sailings (at this point) doing 8 night cruises in 2022...never mind within a week (before or after) time frame...Are you sure those will be the guidelines to lift and shift??

Edited February 19, 2021 by Scoobydobe7

[Ourusualbeach]

8 minutes ago, Scoobydobe7 said:

Plus or minus 1 week??? Not to many sailings (at this point) doing 8 night cruises in 2022...never mind within a week (before or after) time frame...Are you sure those will be the guidelines to lift and shift??

Those have been the only options offered so far. 

[Ballwin Babe]

We are in the same situation.  However, we begrudgingly made the final payment since we do want a cash refund.  Too many bookings/cancellations for me to continue to monitor.

[Ballwin Babe]

I just wish they would announce SOMETHING!!!  

 

[island lady]

That is their typical way of doing it.  Cancel just after they know everyone (that still had hope)...makes final payments.  Keeps their bank accounts looking good with those "short term, no interest loans".  😣

 

Me?  I had already doomed (but not officially cancelled) May cruise going from Honolulu to Vancouver which is totally not going to happen with Canada shut down, plus length of cruise (11 nights) and has been off website for months.  But of course they still wanted final payment. 

 

Not wanting yet another FCC voucher...it was really the only option for me.  I cancelled on final payment due date.  Will find another cruise to add that amount to.  

 

Something not mentioned here, just recently we are now allowed to "stack" vouchers on a single cruise.  Was not allowed before.  Makes getting the voucher a bit more palatable.  

[MiniChunks]

15 hours ago, shelby2002 said:

We're booked to go on the Independance of the Seas 5/22/21 sailing and it's an 8 night and has not been on the web site for over 4 months to book and probably will not happen.  I'm just confused as our final payment is due on 2-21-21 which is Sunday and I really don't want to pay the final balance when we know it is not going to sail and would like to book a land vacation, so at this point what are our options?  Thanks for any help or guidance anyone can provide.

 

 

We paid our 4/11 cruise in full the day before final payment in January because we had an NRD rate. 48hrs after we paid, they announced the cancellation. This varies widely, but we had our refund within a week. If you have a non-refundable deposit, you don't have much choice if you want your money back. 

[ipeeinthepool]

14 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Downgrade to the lowest category before making final payment assuming it's less.

 

An interesting approach to reduce the amount you need pay to get your deposit back.

[jelly.roll]

There is a chance we could still cruise in May, and more likely in June. First, Royal has announced that crew will need to be vaccinated and is considering requiring cruisers to have proof of vaccination or antibodies test. This should be convincing to the CDC that the cruise can be done safely.   

Secondly, in an article in the Wall Street Journal, heard immunity can happen by April. 

We’ll Have Herd Immunity by April.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/well-have-herd-immunity-by-april-11613669731 : Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the public about the good news.

[kwokpot]

3 hours ago, jelly.roll said:

There is a chance we could still cruise in May, and more likely in June. First, Royal has announced that crew will need to be vaccinated and is considering requiring cruisers to have proof of vaccination or antibodies test. This should be convincing to the CDC that the cruise can be done safely.   

Secondly, in an article in the Wall Street Journal, heard immunity can happen by April. 

We’ll Have Herd Immunity by April.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/well-have-herd-immunity-by-april-11613669731 : Covid cases have dropped 77% in six weeks. Experts should level with the public about the good news.

There absolutely no chance whatsoever you can cruise in May. None,None None

[Hoopster95]

[dswallow]

Historically Royal Caribbean rarely times an announcement of cancellations for sailings that have not yet reached the final payment required date. So there's simply never been any reason to hope or expect that sort of timing. You'll just about always need to make final payment if you want to have an option of a cash refund. Canceling yourself before Royal Caribbean makes such an announcement lets you get a Future Cruise Credit for your deposit amount, avoiding losing any non-refundable amount and avoiding any change fee. But that's obviously only usable towards a later cruise. But you don't need to make a final payment to be able to get a future cruise credit. Of course, if you're aiming for a 125% future cruise credit, you'll almost always have to have made final payment, too.

[cruise wizard]

Our 2 cruises in May have been paid by FCC's.............so I guess that we will just get "roll-over" new FCC's. Take $$$$ out of right pocket and put it in the left one................and the beat goes on!!!!!

[island lady]

12 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

Our 2 cruises in May have been paid by FCC's.............so I guess that we will just get "roll-over" new FCC's. Take $$$$ out of right pocket and put it in the left one................and the beat goes on!!!!!

 

Hi Gary!  🙂  

 

I have a mix with our three booked May cruises.   

 

Canceled the obviously doomed May 5th, 11 night TP from Honolulu to Vancouver on final payment date.  Take the FCC voucher refund for deposit on that.  Not willing to make final. 

 

Will pay in full the 5/10 cruise on Mariner I booked (much cheaper 4 night I booked as replacement when I knew the TP would not go).   Want the cash back on that.  Not due until 5/24 being a short cruise, which is the same day as my RCI Visa statement, so will pay that day and let them roll with that for a month until they refund.  😉  Probably will be refunded before I even have to pay it off in 30 days.  Hah...I am like them..."short term, no interest loan".  Paybacks!!  😈

 

5/30 cruise is like you...paid for with FCC.  Will take the roll over FCC.  

 

 

[mtggal]

On 2/19/2021 at 9:40 AM, island lady said:

That is their typical way of doing it.  Cancel just after they know everyone (that still had hope)...makes final payments.  Keeps their bank accounts looking good with those "short term, no interest loans".  😣

 

Me?  I had already doomed (but not officially cancelled) May cruise going from Honolulu to Vancouver which is totally not going to happen with Canada shut down, plus length of cruise (11 nights) and has been off website for months.  But of course they still wanted final payment. 

 

Not wanting yet another FCC voucher...it was really the only option for me.  I cancelled on final payment due date.  Will find another cruise to add that amount to.  

 

Something not mentioned here, just recently we are now allowed to "stack" vouchers on a single cruise.  Was not allowed before.  Makes getting the voucher a bit more palatable.  

We have the same itinerary booked, sailing May 5.  We applied an FCC so now we wait.  And wait. And wait.  

[island lady]

3 minutes ago, mtggal said:

We have the same itinerary booked, sailing May 5.  We applied an FCC so now we wait.  And wait. And wait.  

 

Give it another week or so, then call CS and ask if they have it.  You will need reservation number for that cruise. Sometimes it's just the email that's slow or no show.  Most times the agent can find it and then you can apply to another future cruise.  That's what I will do if I don't see anything soon.  And now that we can stack them (recent development), I can add to any of them I have booked for later in the year or into 2022.  

[cruise wizard]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

Hi Gary!  🙂  

 

I have a mix with our three booked May cruises.   

 

Canceled the obviously doomed May 5th, 11 night TP from Honolulu to Vancouver on final payment date.  Take the FCC voucher refund for deposit on that.  Not willing to make final. 

 

Will pay in full the 5/10 cruise on Mariner I booked (much cheaper 4 night I booked as replacement when I knew the TP would not go).   Want the cash back on that.  Not due until 5/24 being a short cruise, which is the same day as my RCI Visa statement, so will pay that day and let them roll with that for a month until they refund.  😉  Probably will be refunded before I even have to pay it off in 30 days.  Hah...I am like them..."short term, no interest loan".  Paybacks!!  😈

 

5/30 cruise is like you...paid for with FCC.  Will take the roll over FCC.  

 

 

 

Don't you just love the "cruise merry-go-round"?????

 

Our next "hope-to-cruise" will be on Allure 8/15 & 22...............I know - good luck with that!!!! Our B3B on Brilliance out of Boston in September looks to be a washout - RCCL hasn't cancelled them YET, so it is a "wait and see". We did a L&S on our Serenade Alaska B2B for this June to 2022 - almost the exact same dates and have our same cabin (maybe some good news)!!!!!!

[Ballwin Babe]

RCCL has an update call with Wall Street scheduled for tomorrow.  I suspect that investors will demand to know specifics about when they intend to resume cruising.  A confirmation of May 1 (unlikely) or some future date.   It may be that we all find out the fate of our near term scheduled cruises tomorrow.

[Ourusualbeach]

17 minutes ago, Ballwin Babe said:

RCCL has an update call with Wall Street scheduled for tomorrow.  I suspect that investors will demand to know specifics about when they intend to resume cruising.  A confirmation of May 1 (unlikely) or some future date.   It may be that we all find out the fate of our near term scheduled cruises tomorrow.

Rarely on these calls do they ever discuss any specifics.  Don't forget that their statements apply to 3 brands which all may be different.  Besides the fact that they do not know specifics.

[Ballwin Babe]

Their cash burn rate is $240M per month.  If I were a Wall Street analyst, I would need to know when they are planning on generating EARNED revenue (vs. prepaid/deferred revenue).  

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, Ballwin Babe said:

Their cash burn rate is $240M per month.  If I were a Wall Street analyst, I would need to know when they are planning on generating EARNED revenue (vs. prepaid/deferred revenue).  

They would love to know that as well but in all honesty they do not know.  Too much is riding on what government agencies and foreign governments do.

[Ballwin Babe]

Not trying to be argumentative, but why have other cruise lines (ie Princess and NCL) made an announcement about extending their date, beyond May 1, to resume cruising (with the same uncertain regulatory environment)?  Granted, their dates may or may not pan out, but they haven't left their investors with the notion that they intend to resume cruising on May 1, 2021.  

[Ourusualbeach]

5 minutes ago, Ballwin Babe said:

Not trying to be argumentative, but why have other cruise lines (ie Princess and NCL) made an announcement about extending their date, beyond May 1, to resume cruising (with the same uncertain regulatory environment)?  Granted, their dates may or may not pan out, but they haven't left their investors with the notion that they intend to resume cruising on May 1, 2021.  

They are off by 30 days...not a big deal in the grand scheme of things and they don't even know if that will stick..

 

I'm pretty sure after the investors have heard 3 earnings calls and at least 9 resume to sailing extensions where every guess so far  has failed that they are not expecting to get any concrete answers.  The investors know that staggering the sailing dates is not an accurate representation of when sailing will actually resume but instead a maneuver to retain cash flow and manage cancellations

Edited February 21, 2021 by Ourusualbeach

[Ballwin Babe]

It IS a big deal when one has an international, 12-day cruise scheduled for May 9, having paid the full amount due, and waiting for clarity on the issue.  All indicators are that the Odyssey with NOT be sailing on May 9, yet we know nothing.