psujmatt

It was surprisingly fun watching people I’ve never met transit the canal and others talk about! Thanks. 

Finally got the last increment of my money back from March 29 Cruise that was cancelled March 13 and I requested March 16 or so!  Travel agent had to call and RCI had to do a “manual” refund or something like that. 

My new “agent” (first I’ve heard from

anyone since March) at the online agency I will no longer use misread my email and cancelled both my Allure sailings.  My wife wanted this “solution” so I won’t try to undo the cancellation (I wanted to wait and see), but it is frustrating that the agent screwed up and RCI didn’t offer better deal upfront. Good luck to all those trying to get the same deal/room on a different ship/cruise/departure port. 

1 hour ago, lovescats5 said:

I agree, twangster.  We will not take a room on Liberty because it has nothing we want at this time.  Not to mention we picked Allure because of the cabin, A1, and Liberty sure doesn"t have one of those.  What a nightmare for all involved.

we also have a 1A room.  Will be interesting to see what they offer.  Unlikely to be please given ship and itinerary change.  It maybe the largest suite will change my mind haha

58 minutes ago, psujmatt said:

update.  Received 80% of the final payment back now. The part I have not received doesn’t match any number I can figure out. 

another note, I’ve checked my credit card account everyday, and the credit that showed up today (June 6) has a date of May 30, so I guess the bank sat on it a week. 

On 5/30/2020 at 9:39 AM, psujmatt said:

Summary again: Royal cancelled March 29 cruise around March 13.  Requested refund around March 16.  April 26 deposit and taxes/fees were refunded.  Nothing since then. At what point t should I really be concerned they’ve “lost” track of my big refund???

update.  Received 80% of the final payment back now. The part I have not received doesn’t match any number I can figure out. 

7 minutes ago, Monthend said:

So bummed. Royal cancelled my March 29 cruise March 14 and still waiting for refund. After 45 days I disputed the charge with credit card. One for the deposit and one for final payment. Heard back a week ago that Royal claims they refunded the deposit. Turns out they were confused because the credit was for cruise planner purchases. Back to the beginning with the deposit. Today I received an email from credit card that Royal claims they refunded final payment. Again this was credit for cruise planner purchases.  This is getting crazy. Why are some people receiving credit and not others. Makes no sense. They can see that they issued credits for cruise planner items but can't see they owe me for the cruise

 

what ship on March 29? We were going to be enchantment March 29.  Still didn’t get our final payment back. Got deposit and taxes/fees.  

Summary again: Royal cancelled March 29 cruise around March 13.  Requested refund around March 16.  April 26 deposit and taxes/fees were refunded.  Nothing since then. At what point t should I really be concerned they’ve “lost” track of my big refund???

On 5/15/2020 at 8:14 AM, pineapple666 said:

Is there anyone who got their down payment/deposit refund first, and still waiting for the rest of the refund? Or if any one could share their time line on how long does it space out will be appreciated too.

yes.  I posted somewhere that I got my taxes and fees in one transaction and deposit in another.  Three weeks since then and still no refund of final payment. 

9 minutes ago, CentralNY1 said:

I received a partial refund on April 22nd and nothing since then.  Called RCCL yesterday and was told it was "In Process" and they couldn't give a timeframe on when I would see the rest of the funds.

Similar here. Cruise cancelled by them around March 13, refund requested around March 16, got taxes and deposit back April 19th but nothing since (final payment not refunded still).  Tomorrow I might ght call them and demand that back (Not that it will help) and cancel at least two more of my remaining three reservations. 

FYI: I just received one credit equal to taxes and fees and one equal to our deposit, but not yet the larger final payment.  March 30th Cruise, RCI cancelled it around March 13 and I requested refund around March 16.  Never received an email.  

On 2/19/2020 at 11:04 PM, tcfc424 said:

Cruised in 1400 and loved it.  Booked in 1700 for November and then was able to get 1400 for a couple w/kids sailing with us.  Best kept secret, I think, they're huge.

tcfc424

we had 1400 booked for Thanksgiving at one point but gave it up for connecting ocean views at less than the half the price.  That was a tough decision though! Hope we all get to go and your friends enjoy “our” room. 

I’m definitely regretting using a big online agent.  No responses from them at all. Have around $7000 in cancelled cruise plus deposits over the next two years.  Want to get some of that back especially as some are on Allure from Galveston (not happening it seems). 
 

Also can’t believe Royal can’t do refunds more automatically on ones they cancelled.  Not even email confirmation yet! It really seems they don’t want to refund money or can’t despite credit lines they drew. 
 

If travel agent and royal both continue to do nothing, when is it worth seeing if credit card company protest/refund route works?

27 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It is standard for all FCC’s that are issued.  There is nothing in the FAQ’s that explicitly states that it must be applied to a new cruise.  This excerpt simply states that it can be applied to any cruise. 

 

 

Effective March 6, 2020, the new Cruise with Confidence policy allows our guests to cancel any cruise departing on-or-before July 31^st, 2020, up to 48 hours before departure, and receive a Future Cruise Credit that can be applied to any future cruise departing in 2020 or 2021.

I hope you are right but the terms and conditions currently on the website say:

The FCC certificate’s value may be applied toward the cruise fare due on a new booking on the brand originally purchased.  

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-with-confidence

10 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You are able to apply the FCC to current cruises.

I might be having trouble reading but is this stated in the policy or FAQ? Or was it said in the webinar verbally? Or something you did? I hope it is true!

thanks

First, I’m glad they are offering something.  Second,  the fine print mentions for a new reservation.  I’d like people to share here if they get Royal to apply it to a future reservation that already exists but has a refundable deposit on it.  We have some great prices on cruises this and next year, such that even with the potential FCC we’d lose out by rebooking at current rates.   I’m not saying they should since the fine print is there, but they might to avoid losing a refundable future cruise.  Who knows.  They are probably too busy now to handle anything extra!

there really is no time we can book a cruise in that window that works and has a similar price and itinerary(unless we fly).   
 

thank you

Thanks for the information.  In a typical RCL IT bug, I had checked my family of four (same cabin) in with the app a few weeks ago including scanning passports. Then for a few weeks the app said my itinerary wasn't available.  Now when I look at it on the web site, my info and my DW's info are gone (thinks we used a "naturalization certificate" instead of passport).  My kids both have expedited.  To top it off, all four of us had a different "boarding time" (I was 230, DS 12, DD 1130, DW 200).  

I changed the boarding times to be the same and will try rescanning passports when I am home!

To those on board, sorry to hear of your issue.  That’s disappointing and ridiculous.  To those on board, is there currently free “soft serve” “ice cream” available on Enchantment? I don’t see it on deck plan, and while I found a post from 2005 saying it was removed, I also found a post from 2016 saying all ships had it.  Thanks!

On Liberty the smoking is so bad in the casino that my family couldn’t tolerate being in the photo area. On Indy many years ago it was really bad in the Promenade even near the stairs to the casino.  Didn’t notice this on Liberty. Both ships much worse than the Princess ships we’ve been on.  Carnival Breeze seemed pretty bad but the Breeze was laid out in a way we often had to walk through the casino (or detour around it). 

I don’t have a severe allergy but found the main dining room staff to be excellent at accommodating food sensitivities.  The ordering ahead isn’t the most convenient but often the chef will even come up with special things that aren’t quite on the menu.  

Just note on Liberty that the height requirements for the water slides are much higher than on some other lines, for example Carnival, so make sure you and your kids know what they'll be able to do.    Even the tiniest slide (not including the diaper area) had a limit of 42", and our 4-yo and another we met were quite upset that there were no slides for them, but there were for both bigger and smaller kids.

Edit: official link https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/are-there-restrictions-for-pools-water-slides-or-flowrider

I pulled this information from a blog post somewhere into the planning documents for our cruises.  I don't know how up-to-date it is:

The Tidal Wave slide on Liberty of the Seas has a max per passenger weight of 250 pounds, and a combined raft weight of 450 pounds.  Guests need to be at least 100 pounds and 52 inches tall to ride.

The Perfect Storm water slides require guests to be 48 inches tall to ride.  There are weight maximums as well, which seem to vary depending on the ship.  On Liberty of the Seas, guests may weigh a maximum of 300 pounds. On Adventure of the Seas, guests may not weigh more than 250 and 220 pounds (depending on the slide).

Splashaway Bay's water slides require kids to be at least 42 inches to ride.

A few months ago on Liberty of the Seas, I was searching cruises on my phone with the free connection to Royal Caribbean site and finding prices cheaper than was NextCruise was showing on some cruises, with both places showing non-refundable rates.

Just back from another Liberty of the Seas cruise and this time we were told that the hard ice cream in dining room does have egg in it. I guess they changed providers? The sherbet does not have egg.  

Also, all the pasta on the ship has egg in it according to head waiter.  All the pizza, too. Kids camp dinner at first told us they could not accommodate allergy (pizza is main food every night) but I I asked a second time and they said they can substitute food if you tell them an alternative. 

On several competing cruise line's websites, you can easily see the price for 4 people in a cabin at the top level search. 

Is there a way to do this on the Royal Caribbean website that I am missing?

For example, if I want to search for cruises in November on certain ships, when it shows the itineraries, I can also select the number of people per cabin and see the pricing for those types of cabins.  On Royal Caribbean's website, I cannot see a way to do this.  All the pricing is assuming 2 per cabin.  To see the pricing for 4 in a cabin, you have to select each itinerary, select the number of passengers and room type, etc., through many clicks.  The ability to see the pricing for 4 to a cabin at the top level is important, because often the cheapest cruise for 2/cabin is not the cheapest for 4/cabin, due to availability of cabin categories and such.  The two big travel agent websites I've used also do not provide this search capability.  I know RCI seems to have a horrible IT department, but perhaps this time I am missing something?

Thank you

When we were there in May 2019, they were very strict that the lounge chair were only for people ordering food and or drink.  The pool itself was free. However, there isn’t really anywhere to leave your stuff if you don’t have a chair.