Sticks5315

Loved that video! We are scheduled to go B2B on 12/05/20..............hope it works!

31 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

How is this related to Apex?

Our next cruise, Dec 5-12+Dec 12-19, is on Apex so it seemed like a logical place to start asking. I couldn’t find anything online about it. We are divers. Many ports they do not have dive excursions, which is fine if we can use other operators.If we can’t dive or explore the ports, it doesn’t make much sense to go.

Does anyone have info on how the shore excursion protocols will work? I read some of the lines(MSC I think) wouldn't let passengers back on after going to shore if they didn't use the ships tour operators. Does that mean we can't go to shore and shop, have a drink etc. unless we are with a ship tour. That doesn't;t sound very inviting to me. 

On 5/23/2020 at 6:22 PM, Spellykins said:

 

Sticks5315, would you recall whether the wine pairings are additional cost to the Chef's Table dinner? I'm interested in booking it for my solo TA next May and wanted to know if the listed price includes the wine pairings or if I should budget extra for that. Thanks from this newbie!

I believe the  Chef Bolud dinner they charge something like $65 for wine pairings. The Verve Cliquot champagne dinner the wine/champagne was included I believe.

4 hours ago, Shawnino said:

 

Emphasis mine.

What advantage do you see in that vs. cancelling with the option to re-book if/when things settle down?

We got what appears right now to have gotten a really good deal. With the additional liquidity I think they will endure. We will re-evaluate before we make our final payment, however.

We are booked on the Apex in the Caribbean this December and plan to make it! As for all this litigation, I am not an attorney, but I believe Royal Caribbean is incorporated in Liberia. Very few of the employees are US citizens.  There may be some greenmail attorneys get a few bucks out of them but given my limited knowledge of maritime law from financing some vessels many years ago, I don't see the litigants getting a lot of traction on this CV-19 issue. Lastly, we were on a Celebrity ship in March, 2020 and the crew there was scrubbing that ship from sun up to sundown and bow to stern. It was spotless and we felt very safe on board! More so than at the airport coming home. 

I would like to add a couple of thoughts to perhaps stir the pot. First, not only did Royal Caribbean go to the capital markets for a couple of billion, Carnival(the largest of the three) did also at a very steep price as well. The folks that manage these top tier investment banks are generally very bright and must believe they have a sound investment. ( I do remember Lehman Bros. so there are exceptions.) Secondly, NCL is incorporated in Bermuda which I believe is where they would have to file a bankruptcy action.  The bankruptcy  code in Bermuda may be substantially different than it is in the US.  

When Bahamar, the casino resort, in Nassau, Bahamas got in financial trouble one key investor tried or did file a bankruptcy action in the US but the Bahamian court wouldn't' have it.

I am keeping my deposit in place for my February 2021 cruise.  I think that is enough of an investment at this time! My instincts tell me they will survive.

My wife and I recently did a 10 day Auckland to Sydney cruise in a Sky Suite. We very much enjoyed Luminae and ate there every night with two exceptions. Celebrity offers Daniel Bolud curated Chefs Table dinners with wine parings which are really wonderful. They also offer a Verve Cliquot champagne dinner. We have done these on prior cruises and enjoyed the food, wine and company immensely. There is of course an additional fee which we felt was well worth it.  We will do them on upcoming cruises. Historically we have stayed in a Veranda suite and ate in specialty restaurants every night which was less expensive than upgrading to the Sky Suite.   

16 hours ago, Pushka said:

Was that Solstice? A fit healthy 70 year old Australian died from Covid on 26 March after being on that cruise. 

That is too sad! I do feel bad for his family. We received an email from Celebrity, after we disembarked, that a passenger who disembarked in Dunedin, NZ had tested positive. But there was never any communication regarding the gentleman from AU. We were told by a "reliable" source that they were testing for Covid 19 on the ship and there were no positive results from those tests. With a 2-14 day incubation period it is hard to guess where the transmission occurred.

Nonetheless, it did appear the staff was working very hard to keep sanitation levels to the highest standard.  

My wife and I were on a Celebrity cruise from Auckland to Sydney March 10 thru 20. We were getting lots of texts and emails from family at home about the panic pandemic. We really felt much safer on our ship. The staff was wiping down something every minute of the day or is it seemed. They had staff all over the ship with hand sanitizer. We did not eat in the buffets but really felt like Celebrity was doing everything conceivable to maximize hygiene levels on board.  

Received the remainder (Cruise portion) of refund yesterday for a 3/20 cruise. Requested the refund on 3/23. I received the shore excursion/specialty dinner portion about a week ago. Thank you Celebrity! 

16 hours ago, Fmitchy said:

Question? Do you think more customers are canceling then booking future cruises. 
We had  $500 on Apex for 7 day January 2021. My wife and I just have a funny feeling that the Cruise industry might be changing for ever after the dust clears. January 

21 is not that far out. So Today I called and canceled our trip and the Celebrity rep was kind of rude and non empathic, she just said $100 each cancellation fee , and we a 12 month $300 future cruise credit, when I asked her to just leave it, she said it was to late and she just canceled the reservation and could not bring it back , if she did the perks where gone. We where thinking that if we might want to go away next winter that we could wait and see what’s happening that the cruise lines might need to lure back there customer base with attractive new deals? Is it possible that elderly seniors might give up on the cruise Vacations due to new medical restrictions? It could really be differ t cruising in the near future, We are in are early 60’s and have always enjoyed cruising and the overall experience. We just did the princess Sky in January right before the Virus. 
any thoughts on future pricing? 

The employees at the call center(s) are certainly getting a lot of grief from customers that want their money back. For the employees, they are being told what to say. I was originally told On March 23 (Celebrity cancelled cruise on March 18) I would have a cc refund in 10-14 days. I called on April 8 and was told my credit was processed and it’s was with my bank. It wasn’t. I never received a credit from Celebrity. Customers get upset and angry when they are told things will happen with their money that don’t happen. The people at the call center are doing and saying what they are told. I am sure they struggle to keep a positive attitude with the enormous volume of refund/FCC complaints.

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

hcat- In a way this is like a pyramid scheme.  The cash collected by Celebrity from those of us paying deposits now is being used to refund people owed their deposits.  The cycle continues.

You are correct! If you look at the financial statements for all the cruise lines that are publicly traded they all do it. You pay in December for a March  cruise, they use the money in December! If you really want to help them book a handful of cruises and pay in full up front! If you can rally enough people to do that they will have the cash for refunds.........just saying......I already have deposits on seven cruises and am still owed for a cancelled March cruise. I have done my part.  

• It looks like Celebrity parent co. Royal Caribbean ,  got a payment deferment agreement from a long term debt hold holder Euler Hermès which is a subsidiary of Allianz, an insurance co. The Securities & Exchange Commission filing indicates the debt was from long term financing for a couple of ships. If you look at the RCCL financial statements you will see they show customer deposits owing of over $3billion. They show cash on hand of about $250 million. Essentially they collect cruise fare deposits and use them to fund current operations. Revenues run about $900 million per month. So we paid in December for a March cruise, but they use those funds to operate their business in December. Pretty good business model until a pandemic comes along. All the cruise companies do this.
• If the CDC shortens their no sail order these guys will probably be fine. I find it ironic that the CDC announces the 100 additional days to their no sail order on April 10 and then on the following Monday, April 13, our various government leaders are scrambling to see who gets the privilege of announcing if and when the economy will re-open.
•  

I am going to dive in here because I am waiting for a sizable refund from Celebrity and noticed the RCCL, Celebrity and now Azamara boards all have the same customer concerns. From what I have read RCCL did arrange new lines of credit and drew down a total of $3.4 billion in cash from existing and the new LOCs. I have deposits on a couple of upcoming Azamara cruises. My primary concern is the refund for the cancelled March 18) Australia cruise and shore excursions  scheduled to sail March 20. My issue is I keep getting different stories from Celebrity(Azamara parent). First, I am told 10- 14 days for refund. Then I am told the credit is with my bank(bank says no), then I am told another10-14 days. Now I am reading it is 30 business days(isn’t everyday a business day for cruise companies?).

We love these guys (Celebrity/Azamara) and have a total of 7 upcoming cruises booked with them thru 2021. But, I really don’t like getting answers that aren’t accurate.

When they create expectations(10-14 day refunds twice) then not to deliver on them is unacceptable. 

Some posters are indicating Celebrity told them it would be 30 business days! Isn’t every day a business day for the cruise companies. They will take your money (new reservations/cruise payments/shore excursion bookings)everyday. They normally Cruise everyday. This 30 business day timeline is another diversion. In the cruise industry every day is a business day. 

Duplicate 

Lots of interesting comments on this thread. My wife and I were on a B2B on Solstice when the second leg, sailing March 20, was cancelled(March 18), as well as some shore excursions on the first leg. The shore excursions cancelled from the first leg were credited to my Visa pretty quickly. When I called, March 23 to ask for a refund for the second leg I was told 10-14 days to credit my Visa. When the 14 days were up I sent an email and got an automated response that it might take a week for a reply. I called again and a young man told me my credit had been processed and it should be with my bank but the banks were busy so it could take the bank a couple of days.  I talked to the bank yesterday and they had no record of it. I got the reply to my email indicating my credit would appear in 10-14 days.  RCCL( Celebrity parent) just drew down $3.4billion from two lines of credit. I hope this delayed credit card processing isn’t a precursor to something more severe. Their staff should be providing consistent and credible responses. That’s not happening. I am not confident Celebrity is being transparent and forthright with us.