dodgestang

No one knows....we can only make assumptions at this point.

Some good news coming out of CDC today......according to this news source

https://www.foxnews.com/health/cdc-now-says-coronavirus-does-not-spread-easily-via-contaminated-surfaces

4 minutes ago, Houndfish said:

I have a deposit on a November cruise with final payment due in August. My options seem to be to cancel and lose deposit, make final payment and take cruise if it sails or get a fcc if it is cancelled. 

Another question is will the Caribbean ports on the itinerary be open or will it end being a cruise to RCI private islands.

Time will tell.

Well silver lining (at least for me)....cruising to the private islands is preferable to some of the ports ;).

Especially if do enjoy the beach/water sport/activities.....

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

The only thing surprising about this is why did it take so long to announce what most people already knew was likely. 

1. Hold onto money as long as possible before having to start refund process and get as many final payments in as possible from people holding out hope that didn't cancel already.

2. Waiting a little longer than previous because they didn't want to make negative announcement on one day and then negative announcement about losses at earnings call only a few days later

7 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

not true

Well....it is only an assumption 😉

An assumption that can be extended 😉 maybe previous break even model/published info doesn't not take into account additional costs around covid-19 activities......like

cleaning efforts/supplies during sailings

decon between sailings

personnel requirements to support screening at various ports of calls

Unknown/TBD costs that may be assessed at various ports of call

1 minute ago, later said:

Strange how we all hear things differently. I never heard him say smaller ships first.

I would 'assume' these have lower total operation cost.

3 minutes ago, kastke said:

My understanding is once Royal announces a cancellation, lift and shift is no longer available for those sailings. 

Well if that's the case....they they are just protecting themselves right......

If I do a lift and shift now.....I get same pricing.

If I do a 'move my money to a new booking cruise' (which is essentially the same as a lift and shift without the same price guarantee) using a 125% future cruise credit it then turns into a small gambling dice  throw....will the room/itinerary have greater than a 25% rate increase for next year........but.........I already pre-booked the room to insulated myself from that and the rate was about the same.   I only did that for the one room...so my only exposure would be on the GS category.....I think that's a good gamble 😉

They way I see it you have 3 options.

1. Straight cancel (assuming you are fully refundable)

2. Lift/shift into next year

3. Make final payment, wait for cancel, and hope for a 125% credit to apply to bring cost down for next year.  Since you have not bought airfare yet you can wait on that till very close in.

It all comes down to if you can afford to tie up the funds for the sailing for almost a year or not to take option 3

10 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

1. Everyone wants to go on a cruise. I get that...............but the time isn't anywhere near that soon, be a realist?

lol.

The time to go on a cruise is whenever the boats sail ;).  So until it is cancelled...

Trying times for sure.  But at some point....someone.....somewhere.....is going to be the 'first' sailing when cruising restarts.  No one knows when, or who, or where yet.....

Just now, Jimbo said:

Wonder how that will go for you since you already got the 125% FCC on this sailing..........Highly doubt you will be able to go double dipping on that reservation if you think that is going to happen, I would just L & S it it the price in 2021 is much higher, whats teh price difference of the 2 sailings?

That is a possiblility.  The 125% covers about 50% of my 1st reservation so thinking I would end up with 125% again from April, plus 125% of what wasn't covered by that FCC and paid in cash.  Then I have a second reservation on the same sailing.

I don't see a big delta yet in pricing between the two (2020 and 2021) in the room category we sail in.

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Why wouldn’t they be able to lift and shift and price protected it. 

I certainly could.

I try not to say certain things on this forum anymore because literally someone who looked me up on the internet based on my user name and started sending hate mail to my personal email addresses.

But to put it bluntly....I don't want to lift/shift until after a cancel happens.  We have a Royal Suite and a Grand Suite reserved.  Getting a GS is easy so wasn't worried about getting into one if this gets cancelled, but the RS is a single room per sailing....so I want to make sure I protecting my room choice hence the reservation and not just wait to do a lift and shift after formal notice of cancel.

1 minute ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

It’s called keep the cash flow coming. Cancel after final payment. 

Yeah.....fully expected that.......final payment has already passed....so everyone on the Aug 2 sailing is committed.....but......the rest of the month hasn't based final payment......so yeah.  😞

1 minute ago, kwokpot said:

I don't understand why you can't cancel the hotel?

Because if I cancel the hotel.....and then sail....I need to get a room again.....which may or may not be available....which may or may not be the same great price I reserved at.

Just now, Jimbo said:

You can move the 2020 booking right now to the 2021 booking, not price protected but you can move your money to it right now, and the $100 per person change fee is waived. There was no need to lay out another $1000 for that deposit.

Seem to be missing the key point in the decision process......if the cruise isn't cancelled...we are sailing ;).

So I can't lift/shift because it is not cancelled.

I fronted the room reservation on a fully refundable...we are/were sailing in the RS which there is only 1 of on every boat....so I reserved the room in case.  If 2020 gets cancelled, I will shift into 2021 and cancel place holder.  If 2020 sails.....later on we can decided if we will go again in 2021 or not so the depo approach seemed like the best option,

Just now, kwokpot said:

Why can't you do those things? Your cruise is not happening. You just have to wait for them to formally cancel the cruise, then you can request a full refund. 

I can not cancel my hotel and change my flights until the cruise is formally cancelled.

As for the cruise itself...like I said...I cancelled all the cruise planner items.....and I plan to move the cruise to 2021...but only if it is cancelled.

1 minute ago, Jimbo said:

Never was......what are you thinking?

Thinking I can't

1. Cancel any hotel reservations

2. Alter my air fare bookings

Until I get formal cancel from Royal for Alaska on Aug 2.

So stuck in a terminal pattern for longer while other lines have bagged it formally.

The state itself is saying they will open on Friday this week.

The border between CA and US is officially closed for non-essential travel now through mid July

Vancouver, BC has not made any formal announcement about their opening timeline for cruise ships/non-essential travel

Obviously I do still want to go ;)....but I have also made arrangements (plan for the worst, hope for the best right 😉 ).....I fronted a 1k deposit for a sailing same time in 2021 with the room I want so that I won't lose it when I need to do a lift and shirt as well as cancelled all my cruise planner items for this year to get a faster refund...and plan to rebuy if we do sail......but the ambiguity is what is killing me....and many many many many others.

We always swam in the indoor pool both times we were on Anthem....easy to get a seat, less sunburn risk, bar was closer to the pool......

Ugh....not looking good for Alaska on Aug 2 then.........but now we have to wait another month or more to find out it seems

15 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

You must have missed the news that 2021 bookings are ahead of 2019. That number factors out the FCC and L&S bookings.  Stock is back up over $43+ today. 

Yeah...and I'm mad ;).   I cashed out my weekly profit on Friday expecting an announcement over the weekend of the next round of cancels instead it started the day up over 10% in pre-marketing trading.   Well you know what they.....you go crazy trying to time the market 😉

19 hours ago, zekekelso said:

There is a real possibility that RCL will fail if they can't bring back cruisers and their sweet, sweet money.

They may disagree with your going in assumption

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/rcl-eyes-2020-loss-21-booked-position-within-historical-ranges-pricing

Well.....this thread always takes such interesting turns ;).

etrade has not hit me with any fees....but.....I am not selling then buying same day......I bought, held for a week or two, then sold.....then bought 3-4 days later.....then sold a few day after that.....then bought again....so saying 'day trader' is a little tongue in cheek

39 minutes ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

But way up from the low when I purchased. 😎

It wasn't going up fast enough for me....so I bought it, sold it, bought it back, sold it again...and then bought it again 😉

Hoping for another little bounce up so I can cash out again......I'm turning into a day trader....gonna be killer on my account come tax season

recieved the email today confirming all the cruise planner items have been cancelled from my cancelled April 16th cruise....I haven't called CC to see if refunds were processed yet...but it is positive progress.