Sunny AZ Girl

New Quantum itinerary out of Brisbane for the TP:

The itinerary they sent me still shows  the Sydney itinerary and the letter says "similar itinerary", so I am now not sure about losing NZ?????

1 hour ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

 

Wouldn't that be great. Just waiting for bookings to open. Also have to figure out what the offer will be for the now cancelled cruises in Sept from Vancouver/Honolulu/Brisbane. 

I just got this from my TA.  We are losing the NZ ports:

We hope this email finds you and your family healthy and well.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be making schedule and itinerary adjustments to some of our late 2021 and early 2022 sailings for six of our ships. These changes are being made after tapping into market research as well as listening to feedback and input from guests and trade partners on opportunities for new adventures. But most importantly, we are applying the best available public health, science and engineering insights to deliver a safe and healthy cruise vacation. Regrettably, as a result of these shifts, your clients' Radiance of the Seas cruise has been cancelled.

The good news is, our sister ship, Quantum of the Seas, is heading to Brisbane, Australia! The even better news? She'll sail around the same time as your clients' original cruise and will visit similar destinations! So, starting October 21^st, 2020, to make this transition easier, we're automatically moving them to the April 11^th, 2022 Quantum of the Seas 16-night Transpacific sailing.

While we know they'll have a great time onboard Quantum of the Seas, their vacation is important to us, along with providing them the flexibility to make the best decision for them and those in their party. Below, we've outlined their options along with a few additional details.

Option 1: Stay onboard the Quantumof the Seascruise

• We're automatically moving them to the Quantum of the Seas sailing departing on April 11^th, 2022.
• Their current cruise fare paid will be price protected or reduced to the prevailing cruise fare rate (whichever is lower). This excludes taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.
  • If they were already paid in full and their cruise fare rate decreases, we'll provide them with a refund if there is any difference in pricing. They can expect to receive their refund to their original form of payment 45 days after we move them. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on their financial institution.
• Plus, we'll provide them with an Onboard Credit valued at a $50 USD for Interior and Ocean View staterooms or $100 USD for Balcony staterooms and Suites - because we know they were looking forward to sailing on a Radiance-class ship.
• And, if they booked their airfare through Royal Caribbean International, we will reschedule their flight for them. However, if they booked on their own, please contact the service provider directly for their options with them.
• Lastly, your commission will be protected

Option 2: If they choose to cancel, they'll receive:

• We'll process a full refund of any paid portion of their cruise fare to the original form(s) of payment for this booking, including any non-refundable deposit.
• Any pre-paid amenities will be refunded to the original form of payment.
  • They can expect to receive their refund 45 days after their reservation is cancelled. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on their financial institution.
• And, if they booked their airfare through Royal Caribbean International, it will be automatically refunded to them. However, if they booked on their own, please contact the service provider directly for their options with them.
• If you would like to cancel their reservation now, CLICK HERE by October 30^th, 2020 to avoid waiting on the phone. Once their request is submitted, we will get the refund process started for you.
• Lastly, you'll receive protected commission if the booking is paid in full only.

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to shifting a whole season of sailings and rebooking all guests, so please bear with us as we work to make this process as easy as possible for you and your clients. All moves will be completed by the below dates:

• October 30^th, 2020 for individual bookings
• November 18^th, 2020 for named group bookings
• December 2^nd, 2020 for unnamed group bookings

I just noticed that the itinerary I was sent still showed the old Quantum itinerary, so I am hoping the new one will include NZ.
 

We were booked on the April 15, 2022 TP out of Brisbane to Hawaii on the Radiance.  I just got this from my TA.  While I am ok with the change of date to April 11 and the ship change, I am disappointed in losing the NZ ports:

We hope this email finds you and your family healthy and well.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be making schedule and itinerary adjustments to some of our late 2021 and early 2022 sailings for six of our ships. These changes are being made after tapping into market research as well as listening to feedback and input from guests and trade partners on opportunities for new adventures. But most importantly, we are applying the best available public health, science and engineering insights to deliver a safe and healthy cruise vacation. Regrettably, as a result of these shifts, your clients' Radiance of the Seas cruise has been cancelled.

The good news is, our sister ship, Quantum of the Seas, is heading to Brisbane, Australia! The even better news? She'll sail around the same time as your clients' original cruise and will visit similar destinations! So, starting October 21^st, 2020, to make this transition easier, we're automatically moving them to the April 11^th, 2022 Quantum of the Seas 16-night Transpacific sailing.

While we know they'll have a great time onboard Quantum of the Seas, their vacation is important to us, along with providing them the flexibility to make the best decision for them and those in their party. Below, we've outlined their options along with a few additional details.

Option 1: Stay onboard the Quantumof the Seascruise

• We're automatically moving them to the Quantum of the Seas sailing departing on April 11^th, 2022.
• Their current cruise fare paid will be price protected or reduced to the prevailing cruise fare rate (whichever is lower). This excludes taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.
  • If they were already paid in full and their cruise fare rate decreases, we'll provide them with a refund if there is any difference in pricing. They can expect to receive their refund to their original form of payment 45 days after we move them. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on their financial institution.
• Plus, we'll provide them with an Onboard Credit valued at a $50 USD for Interior and Ocean View staterooms or $100 USD for Balcony staterooms and Suites - because we know they were looking forward to sailing on a Radiance-class ship.
• And, if they booked their airfare through Royal Caribbean International, we will reschedule their flight for them. However, if they booked on their own, please contact the service provider directly for their options with them.
• Lastly, your commission will be protected

Option 2: If they choose to cancel, they'll receive:

• We'll process a full refund of any paid portion of their cruise fare to the original form(s) of payment for this booking, including any non-refundable deposit.
• Any pre-paid amenities will be refunded to the original form of payment.
  • They can expect to receive their refund 45 days after their reservation is cancelled. Kindly note, refund times may vary depending on their financial institution.
• And, if they booked their airfare through Royal Caribbean International, it will be automatically refunded to them. However, if they booked on their own, please contact the service provider directly for their options with them.
• If you would like to cancel their reservation now, CLICK HERE by October 30^th, 2020 to avoid waiting on the phone. Once their request is submitted, we will get the refund process started for you.
• Lastly, you'll receive protected commission if the booking is paid in full only.

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to shifting a whole season of sailings and rebooking all guests, so please bear with us as we work to make this process as easy as possible for you and your clients. All moves will be completed by the below dates:

• October 30^th, 2020 for individual bookings
• November 18^th, 2020 for named group bookings
• December 2^nd, 2020 for unnamed group bookings

1 hour ago, MichellePerth said:

 I lifted and shifted to quantum in that same route in 4/22.  
 

im just curious why you folks chose radiance when you could have sailed on quantum at the same price.

59 minutes ago, emmy said:

I chose Radiance because I liked itinerary better.  I have been to many places in New Zealand and Radiance out of Brisbane went to ports there I had not seen. Radiance  out of Brisbane was the only sailing that went to Great Barrier Reef which I have not seen on my previous Australia visits .  Pricing was less For Radiance TP as  I did not lift and shift but simply transferred 2 existing bookings to these two Radiance sailings.  I have cruised out of Sydney two previous times and dates of Radiance worked better for us to add a visit as my daughter & SIL who live in Sydney. 

28 minutes ago, MichellePerth said:

 

Thanks for responding Emmy. I was really only referring to the TP.  I did the TP on radiance in sept 2019.  I think I’d prefer a larger ship.  With more to do.  More dining options.  It can get a bit repetitive with only 4 specialty restaurants and the menus in some of those are abbreviated compared to the same venues on larger ships.  
 

Thanks again for your insight. 💐

Agree with Emmy on the TP.  It was for the itinerary.  Also, we had friends already booked on the Radiance, which is a big factor for us.  We did a TA on the Brilliance.  We like that class of ship.  Don't get me wrong, we also like the Quantum Class, so the itinerary and friends is what sold us.  On the Brilliance TA we had more sea days in a row than on this cruise and we were never bored.  And we don't do specialty restaurants more than a couple of times a cruise, so that is not a big factor for us.

13 hours ago, geoff2802 said:

Not sure if this has been reported already...  It appears that Radiance is being replaced in Brisbane for the 2021-22 season. 

The Brisbane port bookings are now in the name of Quantum of the Seas.  The first entry is on Oct 30, 2021 which is consistent with this ship's departure from Honolulu on Oct 14,  assuming New Zealand is skipped.  This is followed by regular entries in the port calendar throughout the season.  The last entry is on Apr 11, 2022.   

https://www.portbris.com.au/Operations-and-Trade/Shipping-Schedule/  

 

Radiance' arrival in Brisbane was on Oct 8, so the first few cruises of the season may be cancelled.  

 

In addition, many of the cruises are now shorter (not surprising).  This is particularly true of those having south pacific islands itineraries;  these appear to have been split into 2 shorter cruises and/or just shortened.  Perhaps they're planning on domestic only cruises (also no surprise).  

 

If Quantum moves to Brisbane, which ship replaces her in Sydney?  

Of course it could be a different Q-class ship going to Brisbane.  I haven't looked for other tell-tale port entries yet.  

We just booked the Radiance TP in April 2022 from Brisbane to Honolulu.  It was a Lift & Shift.  I will be really bummed if this is changed!  I am also wondering how it would affect the L&S?  I would hate to lose the great price we got with that.

18 hours ago, Wine-O said:

Yes, waiting until 1 October to check and reprice existing reservations.  🍷

Our B2B in October 2021 out of Rome has never been lower than the original price we got from our TA (group pricing).  I had her check it when others were reporting getting price drops. 

For those of us with kids long grown and on their own the KSF sale is a red banner to stay away!  We got caught with that on a 5 night Caribbean B2B following a Transatlantic.  After the peaceful Transatlantic it was culture shock when the next group boarded!!  We found out it was not only KSF but a good Florida resident discount. Actually, the kids (and there were tons of them) we mostly well behaved.  But the parents.......😱

We did a L&S yesterday.  We thought it was last minute, but then it was extended right after we got the confirmation.  We did not think our sailing would qualify for the  L&S as it was not the same itinerary (Tokyo to Seattle in May 2021 vs Brisbane, AUS to Honolulu in April 2022), but it did.  We knew we would not be going on the May 2021 sailing, so were waiting to cancel to see if it would be canceled by the cruise line instead.  We had a non-refundable deposit on that cruise.  When we found out we had friends on the same sailing who did the L&S we decided to do it, too.  We were able to retain the fantastic price we got on the Tokyo TP and transfer it to the Australia TP.  Maybe it applied because they were both Transpacifics, even though the ports were different?  At any rate, I am happy about the change.😁

We just did a Lift & Shift yesterday from a sailing in May 2021,  to a sailing in April 2022.  Everything is confirmed.  Now we are just hoping the world settles down before then!

6 hours ago, sbtagent said:

Maybe somebody asked this question, but I do not like to search 26 pages:

I booked a standard balcony cabin, and suddenly I notised the size of the cabin is comparable to our first cruise with Sovereign, and 6 m2 smaller than those standard balconies on Oasis class, It looks as if you want that size, you have to book a cabin with large balcony. 11 m2 for 3 People is very small. I checked both the american and the Norwegian home page of RCI.

Our standard balcony cabin on Ovation was quite roomy and very comfortable.  This class of ship has very roomy cabins, so I think what you read is wrong.

We are booked in another standard balcony cabin for 23 nights next year and looking forward to it!

I am wondering if the rule to take ship sponsored excursions only will apply to RCI when it begins to cruise in Europe again?  I can see the wisdom in this as they can assure a controlled environment, especially in these early stages, but would be disappointed as we are huge fans of independent excursions.  As a matter of fact we are currently booked on a B2B Greek Island/TA on the Odyssey in October 2021 and we have already booked independent excursions in all ports.  I have organized three of them with quite a few people on our Roll Call participating with reliable operators and would hate to have to cancel them.  But, if that is what we have to do to keep everyone safe, we will.  

BTW, I am a Respiratory Therapist in Arizona and have been in the thick of the front lines for months now and understand how dangerous this virus is to everyone.  We have a 20% ICU survival rate.   I will support any efforts to prevent the spread.  I wear a mask 12+ hours a day and am in an N-95 for 2-3 hours at a time (a surgical when not in direct patient contact).  I am 67 years old and a cancer survivor, and many of my co-workers are asthmatics, etc.  We do it because we are willing to do it to protect ourselves and others.  If we can do it, so can everyone else.  If you absolutely cannot do it for any reason you should not go out in public.  Period.  Off my soapbox now.  

14 hours ago, happywhencruising said:

I live in Portland. Visitors and locals like Dimillo's on the Waterfront. Avoid Boone's.

We enjoyed Dimillo's when we visited Portland this October.  It worked well for our group and we were able to make reservations in advance.  Nice views.

I would recommend Visit a City when planning any DIY itinerary, in conjunction with the Rick Steve's books.  We have done this several times.  You use one of their suggested itineraries depending on your time allotted and interest and then customize it to work for you. It gives you maps, opening hours and descriptions of attractions.  It is operated by Viator, so there are tours you may or may not choose to include in your day.   Once you have completed your itinerary you can download it and use it offline as you make your way through the city.

https://www.visitacity.com/

Good to know.  Thank you for posting this.  We will be watching for developments as we anticipate our planned 2021 vacation to Italy & Greece. 

We spent a week in Tuscany a few years ago and had a wonderful time!  We visited the small towns and villages in the area from our AirBnB villa and then spent a night in Florence before flying to Barcelona for a TransAtlantic cruise.  We had one day to tour Florence (we did a self directed tour using a customized Visit a City itinerary) and we loved it.  However, we loved our countryside villa and the small villages we visited even more.

Next year we are planning 5 nights in Rome and one night in Civitavecchia prior to taking a 9 night Greek Island cruise (with an overnight in Naples, so we can do both Pomeii and  the Amalfi Coast) with a Trans-Atlantic B2B.  We are spending 5 nights in Rome since we have never been there before and plan to only take half day tours for the most part with plenty of time to just enjoy the ambiance of Rome.  We have learned that Italy can be tiring with hills and plenty of uneven surfaces and stairs.  We aren't getting any younger (We will be late 68 - late 71 on this trip!) and we enjoy it all the more when we can sit at a sidewalk cafe and watch everyone who is in a hurry scurry past us as we slowly enjoy a cappuccino or a gelato.😎

I just sent an inquiry to PK Travels for a tour for 2021.  My question is whether we should stick to the 8 hour Athens Tour or should try to combine the Athens and Corinth Tour in a 9 hour day?  This will be our first visit to Athens.

We are also interested in this tour through PK Travel in 2021.  I just e-mailed for information.  We actually had booked with them about 4 years ago, but had a family emergency and had to cancel the cruise.  Our experience with them in the booking and cancelling process was very positive.

On 3/29/2020 at 8:12 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

I had a very similar experience on the Barcelona HOHO -- very crowded; very long waits to get on a bus once one got off at a stop.  

 

Same is true for Rome, where using one makes even less sense. The very slow traffic in central Rome combined with a number of inaccessible (pedestrian-only) areas mean that you cannot stay ON the bus and see some of the most iconic sites -- you have to get off. And once off, it can be difficult to get back as succeeding buses are often too full to allow returning ticket-holders to board.

 

On 3/29/2020 at 11:31 AM, euro cruiser said:

I've said this before on these boards when the subject comes up, I think that HOHOs only make sense in newer, more spread out cities like New York, Barcelona, etc. but even then, it comes down to how well they are (or are not) managed regarding crowding.

 

 

My recommendation for the HOHO bus in any city is to ride it in the complete circuit (without getting off) on the first day to get an overview of the city,  After that, either go back to the places you want to see on your own or use a 2nd day ticket to go back to your highlights.  You can judge on the first day if you would like, what the lines are like to actually hop on and hop off the bus on day 2.  We have actually wasted a 2nd day ticket rather than wait in lines.  It was still worth it, as we really enjoyed the first day general orientation with the narration of the area.  I have not been to Rome (yet), but would probably forego the HOHO bus there entirely as it looks like it is rather compact.  Sometimes a walking tour can do the same thing.  

We are looking forward to October 2021.  Hopefully Europe will be ready for cruises by that time.🤞

48 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I do think there will be some close in bargains. I'm not booking until next year and crossing my fingers about the doctors note. The doctors note will be my issue personally

That is also my concern.  My DH will be 71 before our next cruise in 2021, but he is in perfect health at this time, not even on any medications.  That could change, but I am reading that doctors are refusing to sign that note due to liability concerns.

19 hours ago, 20165 said:

1000% agree and very true in regards to the last recession.  I dont think people will be beating down the cruise line doors to cruise, with the exception of people on this board, but we are a small percentage of cruisers.  Cruise lines are going to have to calm peoples fear of that many people being in close proximity before things go back to normal for them.

Agree also.  From what I am hearing from the people who aren't normally cruisers like us, they are afraid at this point to get on a ship.  The media has the general public equating cruise ships with floating cesspools. I predict it will take at least a couple of years for RCI to bring in the new cruisers it has been marketing to in mass quantities.  In the meantime, they are going to have to depend on those of us who are repeat cruisers to fill the ships at discounted prices.  Unfortunately for them, we tend to be low onboard spenders.  But, once people stop hearing about cruise ships with massive infection rates and quarantines they will probably start to book  once again & prices will once again start to rise.  I for one volunteer to help the cruiselines reassure the general public that cruising is safe once this is all over!🙋‍♀️

I cancelled both a Celebrity cruise and a RCI cruise a couple of weeks ago (not related to the virus, but after the 30 day suspension).  The Celebrity refund hit my account within a few days, the RCI refund took about a week later.  But I got both back fairly quickly.  

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

I suspect right now RCI views giving us a drink that cost them probably less than $0.25 to be a pretty damn good investment for what we fork over in return for getting on the ship.

Plus, we will be the ones who are first to get back on their ships!  You can bet that the untapped population that seems to have been RCI's focus in the last few years are not going to consider cruising as a vacation option for quite some time due to all of the negative publicity surrounding the two Princess ships that were quarantined.  Many people now consider cruise ships as floating petri dishes.  My DH is 70 and healthy (no medications), but I am concerned that we will be unable to find a doctor willing to sign that waiver.

My DH will be 71 by the time we cruise next in April '21,  He is in perfect health at this time.  Hopefully, he still will be.  But if doctor's are refusing to sign the letter at that time I am not sure what we will do.  Airfare will be available soon.  I don't plan to book anything until the virus threat is a memory only, but that will put a lot of people in a bind.  What if you are all set to go and a week before departure you can't find a doctor to sign this form?  Hopefully, Royal will rethink this once the hysteria dies down.

I cancelled two cruises - one on Celebrity and one on RCI.  The Celebrity cruise is gone from my cruise planner, but the RCI is not.  Different travel agents.  I have not yet received a refund from either and that was over a week ago. I.m not surprised as I am sure their backlog is horrendous at this time.  I a concerned that RCI has not received the cancellation from the second TA yet.  I will have to follow up with the TA, I guess.