zeppgirl

On 6/26/2021 at 9:44 AM, DallasGuy75219 said:

Vision (and possibly Explorer eventually). I expect San Juan to be one of the last U.S. ports for sailings to resume from.

Hopefully things will be ok for my December cruise out of SJ. Crossing my fingers.

34 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

Just curious, what type of answer are you looking for? It is pretty certain that NJ will be very cold in December. The cruise will head towards warmer weather and then return to the cold weather. This is very likely why this itinerary is the best deal.

 

It just depends on what experience you are looking for and if it will bother you.

I had no idea of what to expect. I would think it would be cold, but wondering why they would put a cruise somewhere very cold.  Wasn't sure if I was overthinking it, but it sounds like it actually will be too cold.

thanks, we have seen where the port is in Florida and the Orlando one isn't in a prime location...I think we will pick another cruise but do appreciate the info!

I'm having internal turmoil because we are looking to book our next cruise. The best deal and the longest cruise is one sailing from Cape Liberty to Florida and the Bahamas. All looks good, except I'm concerned about flying to NJ in the winter and that the first few days and last few days of the cruise will be cold. Has anyone sailed from here in the winter and if so, how was your experience?

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

If you are referring to being able to get price drops after final payment in the form of OBC then yes that is going away.

 

Price drops before final payment will still be allowed

Yes, before final payment is what I was referring to.  I was confused with the wording. Thank you. 

Does anyone know if the best price guarantee is going away or will be continuing?  I'm a bit confused. Was looking to book a cruise for next year and have previously taken advantage of reducing my cruise multiple times when the price decreased.  But now it looks like either it is going away or just won't fall under the Cruise with Confidence program.

Site states "RCI’s “Cruise with Confidence” program is not available to bookings made after July 31, 2021." 

So no other rooms available and they want $11,000 for a balcony room for 4!! Yikes!

55 minutes ago, ATC cruiser said:

The blank area is probably a crew stairway and elevator. I’ve spent a cruise next to one of those before, I wouldn’t do it again. If you think the moving of pool chairs on the deck above is bad, wait till you hear the room service carts at 6am. 

Thanks!  I guess I can call them back and see if there's a way to move it. Not sure if we will have much choice though, as the connecting rooms were pretty limited:(

So I just spoke with Costco and my rooms had finally switched over. We were able to keep our inside promenade connecting on the Explorer, but the people we are traveling with haven't moved over yet so whether we go will depend on if they can keep their connecting rooms.

One question though- we are near a huge blank area on Deck 7. Anyone know what this is?  Hopefully not a loud mechanical area. 

Ok so a whole lot of non-information.

Called RC and they said they are unable to look at inventory currently, that it will take a day or two.  Then told I should call my travel agent anyway (Costco) to let them know so they can call me at some point.

I called Costco and was told that if the room is available, it should automatically move me to a similar room.  But she didn't think they would be able to look at inventory any time soon and suggested I call back in 2 weeks. Told her that the email made things easier if we knew by Oct. 30th, so they she told me to check back in 1 week. But she said normally we should be able to get the same type of room and in a similar location.  So we will see. 

On the phone with them now...will let you know.

Looking at the cruise now, we had connecting interior promenade rooms and I see ONE room available. So any idea what they do in this case?  I can call and make sure it's not due to category change or something, but that sucks...

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

Just read that the Explorer itineraries are up for sale even before moving people over, unless they removed them from inventory. 

That's another issue. Not sure our room will even be available. And we were going with 8 or so other families, so a lot hinges on availability.

I got the same email and am so bummed!  We got an amazing deal on our cruise.  So yes, we have the option to cancel, which is great, but it will cost so much more to book another cruise. So we either go and deal with it, or get the money back and move on.

What would you guys do in this case?  I don't think Freedom and Explorer compare at all and prefer not to go on an outdated ship.  I did so much planning before picking this cruise:(

A vaccine most likely...we are scheduled to go in June, but I am pretty sure that won't be happening.  I would love to go, but only if things were really safe.

Our in-laws want to take a Panama Canal cruise next Thanksgiving break.  I usually opt for the larger ships with more to do, but do like the itinerary on this one.  I would also love to join them, but am concerned with the size of the ship and whether there will be enough to entertain the kids, who will be 12 and 15 at the time of the cruise.  What are your thoughts?

We are scheduled to go on a med cruise leaving from Rome in June.  It's technically still on, but we aren't going anywhere...right now the governor has us sheltering in place and schools probably not going back until next year.  Trump is saying this will probably go until June/July.  So I need to cancel my flights, hotels, cruise.  I looked at pricing for next June and it's gone up a crazy amount versus what we paid.  We had a Haven spa suite and now it looks like we will only be able to get a balcony room.  Would you take the credit and just wait it out a while?  Or do you think things are going to book up as people start using their credit?  At this point there's no refund, even if they cancel, right?

so I checked with my MIL because they will be canceling her Hawaii cruise for next month.  She called NCL and they told her she had a year to book the cruise but could book it up until 2022.

oh wow!!!  This affects my in laws, who had a Hawaiian cruise planned early april.  Wonder how this will work.

I missed that as well...so that doesn't give us such a big window anymore.  Even if we rebook for next summer, it would have to be really early summer and that means we would have to wait until right before our cruise to rebook- otherwise we would not be able to go any other time:(

6 hours ago, AK Dreaming said:

I'm on the Breakaway April 23th and the Getaway June 18th.  I've been checking prices too because I would like to upgrade my cabins.  No movement.

I'm on the same Getaway cruise as you and likewise, prices haven't gone down.  They are still higher than when we booked by about $2,000 for two.

So questions I have...if we have $10,000 we spent on a cruise, can we split this up into more than one future cruise?  What about if we had 2 people going and now want to downgrade but take family of 4?  Or will it only apply to the 2 people on the original reservation?  If the cruise goes down in price, can I get the rest in OBC?  

1 hour ago, AK Dreaming said:

I'm on the June 18th Getaway also.  It is my understanding that we can still cancel for 2 more weeks and receive a full refund.  My question is will they refund the amount I paid for NCL insurance also.  I used points on from my NCL MC to upgrade and I figure I'll loose those.  Not that bad.

Thanks!  I guess we can see how things go the next 2 weeks.  I would really hate to cancel.  Would hope they would refund the insurance, plus anything else paid towards the cruise (like taxes/tips).  

3 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Just this year.  Back to 2 a year next year.

2 is what I would like to do each year.  Being a teacher with kids in school, there's only so many breaks we have (and the prices are always way more!)  

I agree, I love that this is in place.

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Long ways to go.  This just covered my cruise next week (still going) and my July Alaska cruise (hoping to go but to early to say for sure).  Still have 2 in November and one in December after that

You are living the good life!  Have fun and enjoy!  Good to have a back up plan in place, but so much can change day by day.