Engineroom Snipe

The cruise line states that they can notify you as late as two hours after the ship departs. You can possibly be in your room and then be moved at that time to the upgrade room unless you cancel before they accept your bid. Once they charge your credit card and accept your bid, you have no choice.

Bermuda is still requiring a $40 travel authorization (health visa) but has dropped the testing requirement. Bermuda is still requiring submission of vaccination proof or medical travel insurance proof. Many posters have suggested that it will stop requiring the visa before the next spring sailing season. My best speculation is that it MIGHT (I stress might) be discontinued after March 30, 2023, as their fiscal year is from April to March. This would also align itself with having a fiscal year contract with the company that created the travel authorization. I have a cruise next November 2023 which is stopping at Bermuda and thus my interest. I hope they drop it by then.

This could lead to another problem of the "favorite brands" being massively consumed and then go-out-of-stock. Adding yet another exasperation to the already tense situation. I read about a few cruises were specific whiskey and bourbon would not be available by the third day.

I guess you want some pot-stickers to go with stirring the pot 😁. Blessed are the peace-makers for they shall not get popcorn for the show. We lose much weight by being righteous, but now that I think about it, could I have some of that movie popcorn delicious butter on mine? 😋

Everyone, take a one day time-out. This in not war time in the trenches. Please, one deep breath and look upon this tomorrow. 🤔.

Everyone seems to forget that RCI would like its customers happy and coming back for more. Why would I not accommodate your request and make you a satisfied cruiser if possible?

And it just came back-up when I recently checked. 🤓

In case anyone needs to know, the website was down as about 10:00am EDST today. Still down as of 2:45pm EDST.

Everyone has their own level of understanding and I can see that you thought about your decision. If it works for you, that is all that matters. Everyone's situation is unique.

As always, you have nothing to lose by asking politely. I would approach the exchange with no expectations. You will come from the exchange with nothing lost and possibly something gained. Some will lecture you about how you booked a GTY and should take what you are given per the contract. This is a leisure activity. This is not a corporate takeover with lawyers on both sides sharpening their pencils and spreadsheets protecting their turf. Ask, if you get a no, nothing lost. You tried.

JC, my post was not in response to you or your post. Please accept my apologies if you thought such. It was a general comment about some posters who think those who do not wait until the last day to pay bills are fools.

Just a small little note: RCI had an outage that caused extreme stress for many customers today. Some were checking in, some where trying to do their final payments on the last day available. Food for thought, is it worth the stress of waiting for the final day for payment when some computer outages seem to be rather random and unpredictable? I for one would not want to risk my vacation for trying to save 2/365ths of an interest payment. Think about all of the money that one waste on so many things. This subject is a moot point to anyone who studies economics. How much money is lost by paying a bill two days early? I want a spreadsheet of a year's worth of bills showing me the efficiency of waiting until the very last minute to pay their bills and how much money was saved. 0.7% maybe? I want to see how the meager savings by waiting until the last minute is invested wisely and yields such significant results against knowing that the ultimate goal was achieved: my vacation is finalized and I am less stressed about the outcome.

Cape Liberty in September, the security screening lines seemed to be the limiting factor. If there were openings, the specific times did not seem to matter. Rather hit or miss depending upon the ebb and flow of arrivals. I would say that they were moving the cattle very well and a specific arrival time was never checked.

There used to be more possibilities of a last minute upgrade during the pandemic. One family member (especially children) would test positive for Covid one or two days before boarding or at the point of being in line at the port. I would enjoy your cruise in your designated cabin. Have FUN!!!

I think you make some good points. Banks, financial institutions, hospitals, and credit card agencies are more reliable because there are laws regulating their information in which they can be fined for malfeasance. RCI does not have those laws apply to them except for their publicly listed stocks. While its corporate home is in the USA, it is hard to fine them for lack of access to a website or your account. You can only sue them if you can prove that the lack of website or app damaged you financially. If RCI cancelled your cruise because you could not get to the website for final payment, that would be cause. If you are inconvenienced because they do not have a working website today but take your deposit tomorrow, no legal harm done. That said, I agree with most of your points. Whatever opportunity, good will, or possible monetary loss created by these outages; RCI finds it acceptable. As I read in so many threads of problems constantly reoccurring, if RCI wanted them fixed, they would be fixed. I think it all comes down to the financial bottom line.

It is a good thing too; they probably needed your payment to get the electricity turned back on to the computer server. 😁

I am one of those IT, Electrical, Electronic type with degrees in each and advanced in some. I am not sure if this is a glitch. In most cases, a planned outage is preceded by an advance notice. "The following website applications, xxxxxx, xxxxxx, and xxxxx will not be available from date & time to date & time." I do not think they want to advertise that their sites will be down for patch maintenance, so they optimistically pick an arbitrary low volume period during the month and have at it. They are going to get complaints if they advertise the shutdown. If they do not advertise the shutdown, they are going to get complaints. I think they just buckle the seatbelt and click the restart screen knowing the complaints will be coming. If management did not want it to happen, they will have to spend more money. Otherwise, they would have to have a "hot-site" redundant system which would duplicate the costs of the current system but only be utilized 1% of the time (estimated on 8 out of 720 hours per month usage). If you want full redundancy, get ready for ticket prices to go up and I do not want to give them an excuse, 🤐

RCI is doing everything it can to enhance the excitement of boarding their vessels. This includes wondering if you can check-in, get your upgrade, pay your final 90-day deposit. That reminds me, many cruisers commented that it should be only paid on the day due. This is a good example of why it might behoove a final payment one or two days BEFORE due in case the system goes down. Just some more stress to make that vacation seem more relaxing. RCI likes to raise the stress level, so the cruise seems more relaxing. 😄

The additional stress created will make your cruise vacation feel more relaxing. 😉 Just like RCI raising the UDP prices and bringing them down. The IT department is trying to make themselves more important by breaking it only to fix it and be the heroes! You will need another cruise just to relax you after this booking. 🤣

Currently, app shows first cruise but cannot find 2 and 3 that were previously listed. No access on web. I have gone through this about once a month on the web for a period of 8 to 20 hours. Normally on a Thursday or Friday. I too agree that they have to take the server offline to reboot security patches.

On Oasis in September, I remember programming on channels "14-28" seem right but with wrong numbers. I did not see any foreign language channels.

There are multiple threads detailing GTY rooms which include great detailed discussions about Royal Up. Many of the threads do not always reflect the thread topic name and can quickly move into other discussion areas. Read the ones with "Guarantee, GTY, Royal-Up, or Upgrade" in the topic area.

Nelblu, Up until my RCI 2014 cruise, there was a standard operating procedure. Everyone was issued and filled out a declaration even though a majority did not exceed the limits and did not need them. They walked through customs and sometimes they were asked to show it and sometimes they were just allowed to walk through. A bit of hit or miss to say. They have not done this for many years. The legal standards are the same today as they were since I started cruising in 1988. The following addresses bringing in alcohol. I did a quick web search. Bringing alcohol (including homemade wine) into the United States for personal use (cbp.gov) Unless purchased in the Virgin Islands or specific Caribbean Countries, only ONE liter can be bought without being subject to duty and federal excise tax. Never will you hear a ship salesman tell you that if you buy more than one bottle, you will have additional duty to pay. I believe that just about everyone who has bought alcohol onboard ship has violated the law because I rarely see anyone just buy one liter at point of sale. These purchases are stored until your last evening onboard before you leave. I do not think they can be drinking THAT much alcohol in a twelve- hour period and walk-out on two feet. Are these people stopped before disembarking the ship? I do not know. They are liable and cannot contest the duty regardless of anyone on the ship informing them they are required to do so. Again, there are no standard ship procedures on the RCI cruises I have been on recently. I need to research and educate myself since I am going into international waters and visiting foreign ports.

I know that using a biological weapon like alcohol in a water gun to paralyze your enemy might be a bit extreme, but the fight is short-lived, and everyone is smiling in the end. There are no winners or losers, just peaceful co-existence. 😌.

I will load mine with good quality Scotch. This way you can soothe your ego as you lick your wounds after your inglorious "wet" defeat. 🤣.