Independence UK 2020 sailings cancelled

[CRUISEFAN0001]

4 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

In the EU a standard travel insurance covers only sickness or other defined circumstances on the customer’s side. If the travel provider cancels he has to reimburse the customer but not the insurance.

Well that's quite a limitation. Change of itinerary is one of the criteria available in some travel insurance policies in the U.S. If the EU doesn't allow the same thing...that is both highly surprising and disappointing.

 

EXAMPLE:

 

Definition: The supplier/itinerary change benefit reimburses you for pre-paid event or activity expenses when a cruise or tour supplier makes a change in your covered trip itinerary that prevents you from participating in that event or activity.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001

[Saab4444]

8 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Well that's quite a limitation. Change of itinerary is one of the criteria available in some travel insurance policies in the U.S. If the EU doesn't allow the same thing...that is both highly surprising and disappointing.

 

EXAMPLE:

 

Definition: The supplier/itinerary change benefit reimburses you for pre-paid event or activity expenses when a cruise or tour supplier makes a change in your covered trip itinerary that prevents you from participating in that event or activity.

 

 

 

 

Of course I don`t know all EU insurance options but the US "cancel for any reason" policy is not known to me in Europe. The basic idea is to cover the traveller in case of issues on his side like e.g. sickness, death or unemployment but not if he changes his intention to travel or if something happens in the travel providers responsibility. If the travel provider is not able to deliver he (or his insurance) is responsible which makes sense I believe.    

[CRUISEFAN0001]

11 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Of course I don`t know all EU insurance options but the US "cancel for any reason" policy is not known to me in Europe. The basic idea is to cover the traveller in case of issues on his side like e.g. sickness, death or unemployment but not if he changes his intention to travel or if something happens in the travel providers responsibility. If the travel provider is not able to deliver he (or his insurance) is responsible which makes sense I believe.    

Makes sense indeed. Having a personal travel insurance policy can address not only the cruise cost, but also the corresponding costs such as air, excursions, etc.

 

In the U.S....when "shopping" for travel insurance, cancellation and evacuation coverage are among the most sought-after.

[cublet]

1 hour ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Referring to Anthem taking on the former Independence routes (some for the first time).

Hello,

 

Not so really. Anthem has always been coming to the UK - or at least has been since November 2018 when I made my bookings. I have also not seen any mention of changes to the original itineraries - my three are as booked in November.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[CRUISEFAN0001]

17 minutes ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

Not so really. Anthem has always been coming to the UK - or at least has been since November 2018 when I made my bookings. I have also not seen any mention of changes to the original itineraries - my three are as booked in November.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

Anthem coming there for the past 6 months is hardly an established set of cruise itineraries. Anthem has taken on some of the previous routes done by Independence. Some of the speculation in other threads is that one of the new ships will be moving to Southampton as a longer-term ship in that port. Guess we'll all see...planning to do something out of that port in 2020 ourselves...so monitoring things closely.

[cublet]

1 hour ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Anthem coming there for the past 6 months is hardly an established set of cruise itineraries. Anthem has taken on some of the previous routes done by Independence. Some of the speculation in other threads is that one of the new ships will be moving to Southampton as a longer-term ship in that port. Guess we'll all see...planning to do something out of that port in 2020 ourselves...so monitoring things closely.

Hello,

 

You are making two slightly different arguments: (1) Anthem replaces Independence even though it was already planned to come to the UK; (2) Anthem 'replaces' Independence on some itineraries even though it was already doing them. For as long as there has been two ships sailing from Southampton they have shared the same itineraries just dropping or adding a different port along the way in order to claim it's a 'New Itinerary'. There are very few possible itineraries out of the UK with a  maximum 14 day duration on which any ship could (but none does) claim a monopoly: Canaries with or without Africa, Madeira or Azores; Mediterranean (West or Italian); Baltic; Fjords; Iceland with Eire or Northern Ireland - a quick scan of the 'Europe' brochure tell you that.

 

Cublet

 

 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

7 hours ago, cublet said:

Hello,

 

You are making two slightly different arguments: (1) Anthem replaces Independence even though it was already planned to come to the UK; (2) Anthem 'replaces' Independence on some itineraries even though it was already doing them. For as long as there has been two ships sailing from Southampton they have shared the same itineraries just dropping or adding a different port along the way in order to claim it's a 'New Itinerary'. There are very few possible itineraries out of the UK with a  maximum 14 day duration on which any ship could (but none does) claim a monopoly: Canaries with or without Africa, Madeira or Azores; Mediterranean (West or Italian); Baltic; Fjords; Iceland with Eire or Northern Ireland - a quick scan of the 'Europe' brochure tell you that.

 

I'm not making any arguments.

 

Just pointing to the fact that Anthem is picking up some of the missing cruise slack.  Royal just underwent a number of ship location reassignments in recent times, and more are rumored under consideration. Those included some European changes as well as others. 

 

We're carefully watching the updated options out of Southampton, UK since we would like to do a 10 or 12 day from there in 2020.

[LeDemonBlond]

I did get our credit in the e-mail this evening. We had booked an inside mid ship cabin for a 2 week med cruise. Total price was  $7,300 Canadian excluding tax. I was hoping that it would be around $1,800.  And it was. It was $913 for me and $919 for my wife. We have to use by July 31st, 2020.

 

Disappointing the trip was cancelled but I feel the credit is generous and were looking on how best to take advantage.

[Alohaaloha]

1 hour ago, BobbyOrr said:

I did get our credit in the e-mail this evening. We had booked an inside mid ship cabin for a 2 week med cruise. Total price was  $7,300 Canadian excluding tax. I was hoping that it would be around $1,800.  And it was. It was $913 for me and $919 for my wife. We have to use by July 31st, 2020.

 

Disappointing the trip was cancelled but I feel the credit is generous and were looking on how best to take advantage.

Our email arrived last evening too.

We have had £1200 GBP to be used by May 31st 2021.

We have already booked Anthem so will use that towards the booking.

[Milwaukee Eight]

On 5/12/2019 at 5:07 PM, notladjr said:

The other day just before Royal Caribbean announced keeping Indy in Florida because of anticpated demand for Coco Cay I had just read a passenger review of Coco Cay where they said it was very nice but with just one ship there the wait for the big water slides was something like 1 1/2 hours. Now granted this is an anecdotal report but if true how in the world are they going to be able to handle the added passenger count from Indy to the ones they had already planned on going there???

I understand Harmony ported in Coco Cay and don’t recall hearing issues. HOTS has almost 3x the amount of passengers. 

[shopaholic6]

9 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I understand Harmony ported in Coco Cay and don’t recall hearing issues. HOTS has almost 3x the amount of passengers. 

 3 x the amount of passengers of what?

[Milwaukee Eight]

Deleted 

Edited May 14, 2019 by Milwaukee Eight

[Milwaukee Eight]

1 hour ago, shopaholic6 said:

 3 x the amount of passengers of what?

Actually, I should have said a1/3 more passengers, HOTS more than Indy. 

[ReneeFLL]

On 5/10/2019 at 10:16 AM, peterhof said:

Losing 2 Diamond members is in fact a bonus for RCI, as there are so many now, that they have been obliged to introduce Diamond lounges on all new ships and to those that are refitted. On the Navigator for instance, nightly happy hours for Diamond and above, happened in the public Ixia lounge at the end of the Royal Promenade and was a comfortable experience.

 

Loyalty definately does mean a lot to RCI and to every line afloat and they always give extra than what is expected whenever they have to cancel a cruise. Just see what the 2019 Oasis TA booked passengers got after they were forced to have the ship repaired through no fault of their own. Cancelling a cruise this far in advance is not like cancelling one that was scheduled for a few weeks later. Giving a 25% bonus on top of a full refund, plus stumping up for any non returnable flight and transport costs, is I think very fair indeed. On top of which they said that anybody booked on next years Indy TA to the UK would have the option to transfer to the Anthem, probably getting a complementary upgrade I bet!

 

I totally disagree. The Oasis was a mechanical issue that needed to be fixed while Royal chose to cancel on use so they could make more money. I do understand it's a business, but why did Royal give them a 100% FCC while they only gave us a 25% FCC. Originally they were saying it was only going to be on what we had paid (for most of us it was just on the deposit) which amounted to very little. When there was such a backlash they finally relented and agreed to give us just a 25% of what the total cruise would have cost us. 

 

I wouldn't count on that complementary upgrade you're speculating about. They are almost completely booked with everyone trying to scramble to find a replacement. BTW, you can't compare the itineraries or ships, they are totally different. I live 5 miles for where the Independence was to leave from and now I have to fly somewhere. Are they going to pay for my flight to get me to where the cruise will leave from? Of course not!  So how is that fair? The Independence this year isn't an option since I have 4 more cruises this year on Royal which I'm considering cancelling. I could go on and on, but it just makes me madder.

 

Have you ever been in one of the D lounges when it's crowded? Probably not or maybe you yourself are happy to see them go because you don't like the crowded lounges either. At times when it's so crowded they won't even open the Viking Lounge (or other available space) to help the situation. Often when they do they don't seem to care if others that haven't earned the C&A status also get free drinks.

 

YOUR COMMENTS ARE SUCH A JOKE. SO AGAIN TELL ME HOW THIS IS FAIR! 

Edited May 14, 2019 by ReneeFLL

[peterhof]

32 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

I totally disagree. The Oasis was a mechanical issue that needed to be fixed while Royal chose to cancel on use so they could make more money. I do understand it's a business, but why did Royal give them a 100% FCC while they only gave us a 25% FCC. Originally they were saying it was only going to be on what we had paid (for most of us it was just on the deposit) which amounted to very little. When there was such a backlash they finally relented and agreed to give us just a 25% of what the total cruise would have cost us. 

 

I wouldn't count on that complementary upgrade you're speculating about. They are almost completely booked with everyone trying to scramble to find a replacement. BTW, you can't compare the itineraries or ships, they are totally different. I live 5 miles for where the Independence was to leave from and now I have to fly somewhere. Are they going to pay for my flight to get me to where the cruise will leave from? Of course not!  So how is that fair? The Independence this year isn't an option since I have 4 more cruises this year on Royal which I'm considering cancelling. I could go on and on, but it just makes me madder.

 

Have you ever been in one of the D lounges when it's crowded? Probably not or maybe you yourself are happy to see them go because you don't like the crowded lounges either. At times when it's so crowded they won't even open the Viking Lounge (or other available space) to help the situation. Often when they do they don't seem to care if others that haven't earned the C&A status also get free drinks.

 

YOUR COMMENTS ARE SUCH A JOKE. SO AGAIN TELL ME HOW THIS IS FAIR! 

It beggars belief why some people, many of which are lucky enough to be able to afford to cruise many times every year, do just that, instead of holidaying ashore. There are thousands of package holiday companies all offering a place to vacation, that nothing like this would occur. However, lots of them go bust every year, whereas cruise lines rarely do.

Why don't you go to a lawyer and get them to write a letter to Royal in your behalf?

[Saab4444]

6 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Actually, I should have said a1/3 more passengers, HOTS more than Indy. 

Not all days in summer are filled with ships in Cocoa Cay so they can easily schedule Indy on empty days.

[eastender]

Do you think Indy will be doing Coco Cay on 7 day or shorter cruises from Ft Lauderdale? When is the schedule coming out?

[kruzerci]

26 minutes ago, eastender said:

Do you think Indy will be doing Coco Cay on 7 day or shorter cruises from Ft Lauderdale? When is the schedule coming out?

 

I would assume shorter. But would love to see 7 or 6/8 nights. 

 

I would have expected them to release the itineraries shortly shortly after the cancellation of the UK sailings. Fingers crossed it is soon, I’m eagerly waiting to book. 

[Bloodgem]

Not sure how true it is, but I was once told by a TA that when RCI cancel an itinerary they normally release the new itinerary 2 - 3 weeks later. 

[molsonschooner]

3 hours ago, kruzerci said:

 

I would assume shorter. But would love to see 7 or 6/8 nights. 

 

I would have expected them to release the itineraries shortly shortly after the cancellation of the UK sailings. Fingers crossed it is soon, I’m eagerly waiting to book. 

I am hoping for 7 nights, to take over Allures schedule like she did back in 2015

[Suzy Huntley]

I was booked to sail on the Independence to the Norwegian Fjords in May, an itinerary I've wanted to do for ages. I'm so disappointed! I'm trying to find an alternative for next year - does anyone know when the next 'all inclusive' deals will be released? I'm assuming the FCC will be deductible for any cruise fare even if drinks package are included?????

[little britain]

1 hour ago, Suzy Huntley said:

I was booked to sail on the Independence to the Norwegian Fjords in May, an itinerary I've wanted to do for ages. I'm so disappointed! I'm trying to find an alternative for next year - does anyone know when the next 'all inclusive' deals will be released? I'm assuming the FCC will be deductible for any cruise fare even if drinks package are included?????

RCI UK launched drinks included on all ex UK sailings on Anthem today.....book by 31/5

[ReneeFLL]

On 5/14/2019 at 3:48 PM, peterhof said:

It beggars belief why some people, many of which are lucky enough to be able to afford to cruise many times every year, do just that, instead of holidaying ashore. There are thousands of package holiday companies all offering a place to vacation, that nothing like this would occur. However, lots of them go bust every year, whereas cruise lines rarely do.

Why don't you go to a lawyer and get them to write a letter to Royal in your behalf?

 

First of all your comments make no sense once again. How does any of that relate to what I said earlier? I was disagreeing with the fact that you said that loyalty means so much to Royal.

 

Secondly, why would you suggest that I contact an attorney? I never said what they are doing is illegal. I was saying that they are treating us completely different than the Oasis passengers. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to what they do.

Edited May 16, 2019 by ReneeFLL

[vickiw0318]

I was one of the passengers effected by the cancellation.  My family had three cabins booked on a North Africa/Canary Islands cruise in June of 2020.  We had both corner afts on Deck 7 (and a neighboring one).  We were all excited about what was to us a different itinerary.  We are now booked on the Brilliance for a British Isles cruise.  Our future cruise credits arrived today and have been applied.  Now, I am waiting for the refund of the deposits we paid.  I had to pay them again when I rebooked.  Since I leave tomorrow to fly to England for an Indy cruise that leaves on Saturday, I wanted to get it all done.  My only hitch was having to pony up the full deposit for my cabin since I had booked onboard the Mariner and paid a reduced deposit.  I was told that I couldn't keep the level because it was only good for onboard bookings.  Guess I could have raised a stink saying that it wasn't my fault that I wasn't booking this onboard.  My onboard credit transferred, but my daughter's did not.  She didn't have a whole lot though.

 

It all turned out about the same.  The deposit refund will come in a couple of days so the credit card bill will "get paid".  And, we will have fun on the Brilliance cruise.

 

The prices for the 2020 Indy cruise were high and it did not appear that the cabins were selling when I would recheck prices.  Guess it was a good marketing move, but....

[Alohaaloha]

I had the same happen with my deposit for Anthem having to be paid before my deposit from Indy was refunded. I called yesterday to see how long it was going to take to refund and the agent said two weeks from the date of cancellation which was May 9th for us. I was hoping it would be before we sail on Friday so the new deposit would be covered by the old deposit refund- not so it seems.