MaritimeR&R

1. Oasis 8/22/21

2. Oasis 8/22/21 

3. Cancelled all my winter cruises for 2021.  Stuck in NY for the winter😞 or until it is safe for me to travel.

Definitely would like to see true Southern Caribbean sailings: ABC's out of Bayonne during Jan/Feb/ March.  There have been no longer sailings in Feb. and March for some time now.  Bahamas just aren't cutting it.  

I L&S'ed all my winter cruises to 2022.  I couldn't see making final payment for cruises (esp. those in January that were 11 nights) which in all likelihood would either not sail or be so riddled with "safety" rules that I would not be able to thoroughly enjoy myself.  

Cunard was set to resume operating in November 2020, but has now extended its pause in operations until 25 March 2021, at the earliest.

Queen Elizabeth will resume sailings on 25 March, while Queen Mary 2 will restart sailings on 18 April 2021. Finally, Queen Victoria will resume operations on 16 May 2021.

Hoping that Cunard's announcement isn't an omen.

"Cunard was set to resume operating in November 2020, but has now extended its pause in operations until 25 March 2021, at the earliest.

Queen Elizabeth will resume sailings on 25 March, while Queen Mary 2 will restart sailings on 18 April 2021. Finally, Queen Victoria will resume operations on 16 May 2021."

27 minutes ago, ssb said:

A number of us have LS from Jewel of Seas TA to Odyssey of Seas TA . Obviously a totally different Class of Ship . 

You are fortunate. It hasn't been the case for some people.  

5 minutes ago, Tall-Cruiser said:

I suppose one can do a L&S from a ship with 9N to a 8N on Odysssey? 

Don't count on it.  It really depends mostly on whether you are L&S to the same class ship. They have been fairly strict about the number of days, the class of ship and the time frame.

On 8/20/2020 at 3:09 PM, irish2005 said:

i just booked anthem of the seas for an 11 day trip on january 15 of next year. i have never been on anthem. so exicted

I lifted and shifted my January and Feb. 2021 sailings on Anthem as have most of the people I know who were planning on being on board her then.  With at least 4 out of the 11 days likely to keep most passengers indoors and the likelihood of having to wear a mask and social distancing, sailing then just didn't seem to be all that attractive.  

28 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Not sure about that. We did an Empress to Symphony shift that was upside down 7 grand.

 

The big holdback now is holiday sailings.  I got an Easter shift denied to Harmony.  

For me, I would have been perfectly happy to L&S to Anthem the following year, same time next year (would have been an add on to 3 already existing cruises, but they said, "no;" the sailing the following year was 9 nights. They added a sea day to the same 8 night itinerary and there were no 8 night sailings during the acceptable time period.  It amazes me how they can be such sticklers for certain things that are beyond the customer's control.

I thought Solarium Bistro had the best  grilled Salmon, better than the MDR or Coastal Kitchen: very moist and flavorful.  

I lifted and shifted from an Anthem 8 night to an Odyssey 8 night.  I was told they would have to have my price protection given "special approval" as my original Anthem sailing in a 2C- Oceanview with a Large Balcony  had a $500. casino certificate attached to it along with my solo supplement, a 30% reduction , a resident special, and my pinnacle balcony benefit which brought the sailing down to $827.92.  That sailing was going to PC, Nassau and Coco Cay. The Odyssey sailing is going to Aruba, Curacao, and Grand Cayman. The same cabin on that sailing is currently $2,936.36  The "special approval" took 6 days.  The phone call came last night at 8:30pm.  The representative made a big deal out of it, telling me "I am happy to inform you that after several supervisory reviews your "price protection" from your Anthem cruise to Odyssey has been approved."  

It appeared all along that they were most concerned about the amount I was paying for the cruise rather than the choice of ships.

5 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Were you on the Dec 8 cruise?  (I was not).  There is no mention of this on their Roll Call.

 

My understanding is that it began in January.  (when I WAS on board).

 

And yes, there was ugliness in the CL when some D+ were told that they were ineligible to be there.  Ricardo tried to calm them down, but they were on fire.  (Yes, I saw it).

 

Ricardo's comment on this topic:  It's a done deal, and we're just waiting for the new sign to arrive.

Was hoping you would see this as I know you were on board with me. Thanks for backing me up. -- Sophie

I just lifted and shifted 2 of my Anthem sailings that were to be this January a few days ago, so I won't be aboard her again until Jan 20  2022. I'll be doing 3 consecutive 11 night sailings, so I am hoping that if Ricardo is in his spot that someone has bought him some new, lighter, cologne and that the dust has settled firmly on this lounge benefit issue. 

I hope you fared better than I did, but I would not count on RC bending over backwards to accommodate you.  One of my sailings did not have a 2022 matchup from the same (an easy drive for me) port.  If I am to keep the credits that I had applied to it (from the casino) and the booking rate (18 months ago), I have to incur the additional expense of transport to the airport (2 hrs away), a hotel for at least one night (it's wintertime), airfare, transport to the cruise, and then, the expenses to come back home--an extra 1100-1200 dollars out of my pocket. Basically, it was an ,"Oh, well," on their part, associate and supervisors. This cruise was part of a B2B which for next year went from an 11/8 to an 11/9 (an extra sea day was added.) They wouldn't budge.

3 minutes ago, yogimax said:

That's so interesting.  I have never witnessed a confrontation in the CL.  My experiences with Ricardo Mock also showed that he could care less when people walked into the lounge.

As I said, he was polite. I tend to stay as far away as I can from him when I am in the lounge as he wears so much cologne.  It either gives me a headache or an asthma attack. You can smell him for 15 minutes when he walks up or down the starboard hallway to the elevator.

18 minutes ago, yogimax said:

Ricardo Mock?

Yes.  He was quite patient. The guests were the unruly ones.

16 minutes ago, yogimax said:

That is just about when the policy began.

 

Sadly, they were not not being truthful.  They gave the explanation that access for D+ to the CL would vary from cruise to cruise.  It did not.  It was a blanket policy.

Though there were some sailings on some ships in Dec. that still allowed access for the most part, it began with sailings after Jan. 1, 2020.  I believe that the only reason officers on board Anthem were so forthcoming about the change in policy  was because some of us in the CL had witnessed several very loud/nasty interactions between passengers and the Concierge when those guests had walked in with other people and were politely directed to leave and utilize the Diamond Lounge, with the Concierge referencing the letter in their cabin.

Boarded Anthem Jan 5, 2020 and was told by two different officers at the Suite/Pinnacle cocktail party that going forward D+ would no longer have access to the present lounge (CL) and that it would be renamed to an SL at its next drydock.   It is my understanding that those aboard Anthem on the remaining sailings before the Covid19 Pause  either notified that D+ would not have access to the CL.  The letter/email stated it was due to large numbers of D+ C&A members, but, to the best of my knowledge through discussions with other C&A members, those same letters/emails were sent/given to passengers on every ship from Jan 1, 2020  onward that still had a CL. I boarded Serenade Jan 31st, 2020 and was there until March 4. Every sailing on that ship received the same notification.  I think it is very likely D+ have seen the last of the Lounge currently labeled "Concierge."

23 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Is replacing the CL sign with an SL sign count as an enhancement?

On 7/21/2020 at 3:48 PM, lenquixote66 said:

Yes.I see that nobody who voted no posted why they said so.

There are some people who have extreme allergies to certain medications and may be hesitant to take a vaccine for which the  side effects have not been thoroughly studied for an appreciable amount of time.

2 minutes ago, ATC cruiser said:

Depends on your definition of the word soon. Since final payment for December cruises would be sometime in September. My prediction is September 30th.

I agree. 

"With the continuation of travel and port restrictions due to global health concerns, Holland America Line is extending its pause of cruise operations and cancelling departures on all ships through Dec. 15, 2020." 

I wanted to know why, given Fain's statements why the 10,11, and 12 sailings scheduled for either Anthem or Vision starting in Dec. were not cancelled yet.  The response I got was that "the situation is still very fluid."  It should have been that the deposits and final payments for those sailings is too much money for RC to part with right now.  According to an article I just read RC has billions in refundable deposits and about 800 million in NRD; it would appear they are doing their very best to lock in those deposits and where possible,  extract the final payments from those passengers.  If we are to believe Fain, and acknowledge the viewpoints of others in the industry. There is nothing "fluid" about these sailings taking place. 

I went to the RC FB page and directly asked why Caribbean cruises that were 10,11, and 12 nights in Dec, Jan, and Feb. were not cancelled yet (Anthem and Vision) as they surely don't fit into what M. Bayley said would be the likely scenario once cruuises resume ( an employee only cruise first; followed by 3 to 5 night cruises probably to Coco Cay.) The response I got was that "the situation is still very fluid." I see nothing fluid about it.  The first 12 night sailing is Dec. 7th. Anyone with a NRD has their options limited.  

7 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

That was always my understanding from all the pre cruise chatter. Maybe @Merion_Mom can weigh in 

I will check with her. She's younger than me and may have a different recall.