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Freedom dry dock. Xmas '24 cruise cancelled

bigeck

By bigeck,
in Royal Caribbean International

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bigeck

bigeck

Posted
Posted
ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING TRAVELS
 

 

 

 

Dear Guest,

We’re continuously working to improve our ships and the many amenities they have to offer. We’re taking Freedom of the Seas into dry dock for routine maintenance and exciting improvements. Unfortunately, this means your upcoming December 21st, 2024 cruise has been cancelled.

The time and effort you took to plan your cruise is important to us, and we apologize for the inconvenience. Every aspect of your time with us should be enjoyable, so we’ve put together some alternate options that we hope will work for you and those in your party.

Option 1: Re-book one of the following 2024 or 2025 itineraries departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida:

Freedom of the Seas:

  • October 20th, 2024 | 7-Night Western Caribbean & Perfect Day | sailing to:
    • Perfect Day at CocoCay | Labadee, Haiti| Falmouth, Jamaica | and George Town, Grand Cayman
  • October 27th, 2024 | 7-Night Western Caribbean & Perfect Day | sailing to:
    • Perfect Day at CocoCay | San Juan, Puerto Rico| and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
  • February 16th, 2025 | 7-Night Eastern Caribbean | sailing to:
    • Nassau, Bahamas | Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas | and St. Johns, Antigua

Oasis of the Seas:

  • November 16th & December 14th in 2024 or January 11th in 2025 | 8-Night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day | sailing to:
    • Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis | Philipsburg, St. Maarten | Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas | and Perfect Day at CocoCay
  • November 30th & December 28th in 2024 or January 25th in 2025 | 8-Night Southern Caribbean & Perfect Day |sailing to:
    • Oranjestad, Aruba | Willemstad, Curacao | and Perfect Day at CocoCay

What you’ll receive:

  • Your original stateroom category price will either be protected at your original cruise fare rate or reduced to the current cruise fare rate (whichever is lower). This excludes taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.
    • If your booking was already paid in full and your cruise fare rate decreases, we’ll provide you with a refund for the difference. You can expect to receive your refund to your original form of payment within 14 business days after we move you. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on your financial institution.
  • And, you’ll also be reimbursed for non-refundable, pre-purchased transportation change fees incurred (such as a flight, train ticket, or rental car).
    • We’ll cover up to $200 USD per guest for Domestic changes, or up to $400 USD per guest for International changes.
    • Please email your receipts and booking information to RoyalGuestRelations@rccl.com for review and reimbursement.

Option 2: Re-book any other Royal Caribbean International sailing

  • If you prefer to re-book another sailing not included in Option 1, we’ll waive any non-refundable deposit change fees.
  • Please know, you’ll be responsible for any difference in pricing for your cruise fare, taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.
    • If your booking was already paid in full and your cruise fare rate decreases, we’ll provide you with a refund for the difference. You can expect to receive your refund to your original form of payment within 14 business days after we move you. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on your financial institution.
  • And, you’ll also be reimbursed for non-refundable, pre-purchased transportation change fees incurred (such as a flight, train ticket, or rental car).
    • We’ll cover up to $200 USD per guest for Domestic changes, or up to $400 USD per guest for International changes.
    • Please email your receipts and booking information to RoyalGuestRelations@rccl.com for review and reimbursement.

Option 3: If you can’t find a new itinerary that works for you and choose to cancel, we’ll be sad to see you go. You’ll receive:

  • A full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare (including non-refundable deposits) and any pre-paid amenities to the original form of payment, within 14 business days – some international banking and financial institutions may have a processing time of approximately 30 business days.
    • If you used a Future Cruise Credit on this sailing, and you request a refund instead, we’ll refund any NEW funds paid above the certificate amount, and we’ll reinstate your original certificate.  
  • If you booked your airfare through Royal Caribbean International, it will be automatically refunded to you. However, if you booked on your own, please contact the service provider directly for your options with them.
  • Please note, if you choose this option, we will not provide additional compensation.

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to rebooking all guests, so we ask for your patience as we work to make this process as easy as possible for you. All moves will be completed by July 12th, 2023, and we’ll send an updated reservation confirmation with your revised details to the email address on file as soon as your reservation has been completely updated with the pricing fully adjusted. If you decide to go with Option 1 or 2, please call us at 888-281-9344 or contact your Travel Advisor by July 12th, 2023 And know, hold times may be longer than usual. If we haven’t heard from you by July 12th, your reservation will be cancelled.

If you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor immediately or contact us at: 

  • 1 888 281 9344 in the U.S.
  • 1800 754 500 in Australia / 0800 102 123 in New Zealand
  • In the UK only, by using our webchat service or by calling 0344 493 4005
  • All other countries, please visit http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contactus for your local Royal Caribbean International office phone number.

Thank you for understanding, and we hope you find another cruise with us. Whether you are celebrating a special occasion or looking to explore, relax, and recharge, we have no doubt your time with us will be nothing short of amazing.

Sincerely,

Aurora Yera-Rodriguez
AVP | Guest Experience
Royal Caribbean International

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Bocker3

Bocker3

Posted
Posted (edited)

Very strange -- Freedom only has 4 sailings available from Nov 2024-Feb 2025.

Those are:

Nov 3rd - 6 nts

Dec 29th - 8 nts

Feb 16th - 7 nts

Feb 23rd - 6 nts

 

Seems like the Dec 29th is next to get chopped -- but that would leave over 3 months for dry dock??

Very peculiar

Edited by Bocker3
correct date
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bigeck

bigeck

Posted
  • Author
Posted
3 minutes ago, Bocker3 said:

Very strange -- Freedom only has 4 sailings available from Nov 2024-Feb 2024.

Those are:

Nov 3rd - 6 nts

Dec 29th - 8 nts

Feb 16th - 7 nts

Feb 23rd - 6 nts

 

Seems like the Dec 29th is next to get chopped -- but that would leave over 3 months for dry dock??

Very peculiar

I've checked a few times and every time it's different 

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Bocker3

Bocker3

Posted
Posted

I booked a B2B for Feb/Mar 2025 when it looked like a Dry dock was scheduled for Nov/Dec.  We sail on 2/23/25 and 3/1/25.  We got some amazing rates for JS and same cabin for both, so hopefully they stop with the disappearing sailings.

 

But, man -- I can't believe how upset I'd be if they cancelled a Holiday Sailing on me.  They are losing a bit of $$$ with that decision

 

Mike

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Anton

Anton

Posted
Posted

I have a Freedom booking that I was going to move since I sensed this was coming, and it was for a JS for half the price of what a JS is going for now on the optional sailings.    Maybe I'll win this one.  Now for my agent to call the confused call center who won't have any idea about this change or how to apply the rebookings.

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Anton

Anton

Posted
Posted

Just be aware that the last sentence "If we haven’t heard from you by July 12th, your reservation will be cancelled" means exactly that.  They will cancel it and keep all non-refundable deposits if they don't hear from you.  They won't refund them.  This happened to me last year when I foolishly assumed that not calling to specifically tell them I wanted Option 3 meant they would just cancel and refund.  My agent called when no refund showed up and that's what they told her.  Then the supervisor graciously said he would make a one time exception in my case and approved the refund.

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Onvacationmn

Onvacationmn

Posted
Posted

We have been trying to sail Freedom since the 2019 drydock and keep getting stymied. Due to kids in school, only the December 28th sailing worked for us and we got a killer deal compared to current list price. I called an hour ago after receiving the email and had a new booking confirmation within 20 minutes. Now to keep an eye on airfare and hotels. 

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bigeck

bigeck

Posted
  • Author
Posted
31 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Wow these offers sure aren't what they used to be 

If they do hold out to the letter, I will get an Oceanview balcony for £1475 on Oasis.

Currently £2450. I'll find out tomorrow when I call

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bigeck

bigeck

Posted
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26 minutes ago, Anton said:

Just be aware that the last sentence "If we haven’t heard from you by July 12th, your reservation will be cancelled" means exactly that.  They will cancel it and keep all non-refundable deposits if they don't hear from you.  They won't refund them.  This happened to me last year when I foolishly assumed that not calling to specifically tell them I wanted Option 3 meant they would just cancel and refund.  My agent called when no refund showed up and that's what they told her.  Then the supervisor graciously said he would make a one time exception in my case and approved the refund.

I'll call tomorrow. Might take a few times to get the correct result though. My Scottish accent doesn't help

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FionaMG "Live from...." Rare

FionaMG

Posted
Posted

I lost the December 7th sailing, which had Saint Lucia and that was the real draw. None of the alternatives have it, so not sure what to do. I will have to have a good think about it tonight.

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Jimbo

Jimbo

Posted
Posted (edited)
45 minutes ago, little britain said:

It’s not only The Grinch… but now RCI cancelled Christmas 🎄!!! 
Bah humbug! 

They don't dare cancel the New Year.....otherwise they won't be able to raise cruise prices even higher in 2024..........

 

Their motto now is "sky's the limit" on cruise prices.

Edited by Jimbo
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Anton

Anton

Posted
Posted

I am moved to the February 16 Freedom in the same JS I had on the cancelled cruise. My agent said there were no problems with the change and the RCI agent was up to speed on what was going on.  Port and tax increased a little.

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cruiseguy1016

cruiseguy1016

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm wondering what the drydock is for. Freedom came out of Amplification drydock in March of 2020 just before COVID. She only had one cruise before the COVID shutdown. There are certainly ships in the fleet that are more in need of a drydock than Freedom is.

Edited by cruiseguy1016
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little britain "Live from...." Rare

little britain

Posted
Posted
44 minutes ago, cruiseguy1016 said:

I'm wondering what the drydock is for. Freedom came out of Amplification drydock in March of 2020 just before COVID. She only had one cruise before the COVID shutdown. There are certainly ships in the fleet that are more in need of a drydock than Freedom is.

Interesting… 

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