What have they done to your Cuba cruise?

[Jam0610]

On 6/6/2019 at 9:58 PM, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

That is not right.  That is not what they promised.  Call and ask them to fix it.  Should (emphasis on SHOULD) be an easy fix.

 

 

That is nonsense.  Cancel if you like, but not because "Empress is too small a ship to cruise open waters."  Just nonsense.

May be "nonsense" but for us the decision to sail on a smaller/older ship was based entirely on visiting Cuba. Without Cuba we simply cancelled. TA still advised ship is small, and moved us to a another cruise, in Oct.

Trusted her for over 20 years, no reason to stop now.

[not-enough-cruising]

13 hours ago, euro trash said:

not true under the 12 OFAC declaration just check off support for the Cuban people book your flight and hotel in Cuba from the USA, flights leave to Cuba every day from all US major cities you can fly into Cuba today if you wish via Miami as an American.  

I truly believe "most" Americans would have to fill out the OFAC decelerations fraudulently to go, but that's just me. Tourist isn't one of the qualifying reasons.

[Merion_Mom]

On 6/7/2019 at 7:38 AM, Jam0610 said:

Just trusting my TA who we have used for over 20 years. Felt we would  have a better time on a larger ship. Once Cuba was no longer available, rather plan something else.

Is a shame, we really were looking forward to the stops in Cuba.

 

 

 

45 minutes ago, Jam0610 said:

May be "nonsense" but for us the decision to sail on a smaller/older ship was based entirely on visiting Cuba. Without Cuba we simply cancelled. TA still advised ship is small, and moved us to a another cruise, in Oct.

Trusted her for over 20 years, no reason to stop now.

 

 

As I said, you have every right to cancel and certainly should make yourselves happy with the cruise of your choice, but it is total nonsense that the Empress is not fit to sail in open waters.  Trust your TA all you like, but her statement is ridiculous.  

[Maverick61]

17 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I truly believe "most" Americans would have to fill out the OFAC decelerations fraudulently to go, but that's just me. Tourist isn't one of the qualifying reasons.

Agreed - people and in particular the cruise lines were abusing the people-to-people travel exception.

Tourism is not and has never been a qualifying reason

[vacationlover_mn]

3 hours ago, Maverick61 said:

Agreed - people and in particular the cruise lines were abusing the people-to-people travel exception.

I agree... Everyone I know who went there, did bare minimum “people to people” things (all of them did the car tour thing for a few hours), and then spent the rest of the time doing normal tourist stuff.  In fact, my one friend went with a tour company that basically advertised minimizing tours so you could maximize your beach time.

[Tom47]

We had a people to people event every day of our Pearl Seas cruise to Cuba.

[flczr]

On 6/8/2019 at 10:06 AM, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

 

As I said, you have every right to cancel and certainly should make yourselves happy with the cruise of your choice, but it is total nonsense that the Empress is not fit to sail in open waters.  Trust your TA all you like, but her statement is ridiculous.  

We cruised on Empress to Cuba two years ago. And we loved it small not over crowded and plenty of places sit and watch the sea from. 

[TravelerThom]

On 6/9/2019 at 3:10 AM, Maverick61 said:

Agreed - people and in particular the cruise lines were abusing the people-to-people travel exception.

Tourism is not and has never been a qualifying reason

I cruised to Cuba 2 years ago with Celestyal Cruise Line, not sailing from a US port. Nevertheless they would sell to US passport holders only with an included full schedule of P2P activities. No attendance was taken, but as far as I could tell everyone showed up for every activity. Cuban trips have had premium prices; there are lots of cheaper places to go to sit on the beach and drink; why would people pay premium prices if they are not going to avail themselves of the opportunity to learn about Cuba and its people?

~~~~~~~~~

As far as the size of the ships: Empress and Majesty were among the largest cruise ships in the world when they were built; only QE2 and Norway (ex France) were significantly larger. These ships have not gotten smaller, it is just that current cruise ships have gotten much larger. These ships are many hundreds times larger than the Santa Maria, the Mayflower etc, which manage to sail in weather far worse than is typical in the Caribbean. 

[Heather1972]

Has anyone who used MYVEGAS for their Cuba cruise been told the 50% discounted fare OBC would be issued as casino credit and use it or lose it??  One person in a FB myvegas group posted that’s what they were told. I don’t know if the person they spoke to at Royal Caribbean was confused or what. 

[steveru621]

On 6/8/2019 at 10:02 AM, not-enough-cruising said:

I truly believe "most" Americans would have to fill out the OFAC decelerations fraudulently to go, but that's just me. Tourist isn't one of the qualifying reasons.

 

True.

Travelers must cite the reason for travel when checking in for their flights. They include: family visits; official government business; journalistic activities; professional research and meetings; educational activity and religious activity.

Others include public performances, clinics, workshops and exhibitions; support for the Cuban people; humanitarian projects; private foundation, research and educational institute activities; the import and export of information; and authorized export transactions.

[Retired LEO]

Club Royale is now offering free cruises on the Majesty and Empress for the next month. A lot of empty seats to fill.

[Heather1972]

I called Casino department and Oshane assured me that OBC is NOT only casino credit, but for anything - spa, casino, ports, etc.  

[Heather1972]

I don't know if it was this thread, but someone was looking for a cabana at Coco Cay. Cabanas for Coco Cay have opened for the June 24 cruise.

[gkbiiii]

18 hours ago, Heather1972 said:

Has anyone who used MYVEGAS for their Cuba cruise been told the 50% discounted fare OBC would be issued as casino credit and use it or lose it??  One person in a FB myvegas group posted that’s what they were told. I don’t know if the person they spoke to at Royal Caribbean was confused or what. 

I spoke with Club Royale and that is what they told me.  It looks like we are all good to go, with at least $400+ cashback credit. 

[Heather1972]

3 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

I spoke with Club Royale and that is what they told me.  It looks like we are all good to go, with at least $400+ cashback credit. 

 

They told you it was casino credit or use it anywhere credit?

[gkbiiii]

1 hour ago, Heather1972 said:

 

They told you it was casino credit or use it anywhere credit?

On-board credit, which you might have a 5% fee to use in the casino.  It is usable anywhere on ship etc., as well if you have money left over they will give back to you in cash.

[Big_Country]

On 6/10/2019 at 1:28 PM, Retired LEO said:

Club Royale is now offering free cruises on the Majesty and Empress for the next month. A lot of empty seats to fill.

Got my notice today for a free cruise for 2 on these ships. If i did not just return from Alaska on the Radiance I would jump all over it.

[sabrecatz]

On ‎6‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 7:30 AM, Heather1972 said:

 

They told you it was casino credit or use it anywhere credit?

Hey Heather could you update on this after you cruise Thanks ! I will be sailing in July so just wondering

[Heather1972]

30 minutes ago, sabrecatz said:

Hey Heather could you update on this after you cruise Thanks ! I will be sailing in July so just wondering

 

Sure! 

[The Grumpus]

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 9:07 AM, LBumb said:

We are still going on our cruise

switched Cuba for Bahamas 

disappointed but I love cruising. Will still be awesome

We are still going on our cruise as well. This cruise is for a friend's 50th so destination is secondary.

 

Interestingly though, there were no Junior Suites left to book on our cruise before the switch to Nassau, but now 19 are available. Just shows many have cancelled.

[belugos]

Well.. bad news for those (like me) who booked throught the club royale. After being told over the phone AND confirmed in writing (email from ClubRoyale) about the amount we would received, we got the the ship and discovered the OBC was for less than half of the 50% of the cruise fare they told us. 

Guest services has NO idea what to do.. just told me to contact Club Royale... I emailed club royale, and got no reply... then called them (Im still on the Majesty as I type this) and the 1st person there told me"oh.. you use points so you qualify for ZERO dollars in obc.." I explained to her that this was nonsense as there was already a decent credit, just not the correct amount.. she did not belive me, and I had to forward her the email from Club Royale... still, no solution.. told me to wait.

I then sent a Twitter to RCCL.. someone replied to me quickly, and it has been 2 days.. they still have no idea.. just keep telling me "we are trying to get more info on this matter and will get back to you shortly". Today, they sent me a direct message via Twitter telling me they would credit me 200 pp in casino money.

 

Club Royale keeps telling me to contact Guest services, and guest services has no idea of what ClubRoyale is (a man at the desk kept looking at me like I was an alien explaining extraterrestrial affairs).

 

We were told if we cancelled, we would get the full cruise fare... and if we took the cruise, we would get 50% of the cruise fare as per invoice, which would have been 826.00. 1st day of cruise, we noticed a 197.50 obc per person.

[FirstCruise2331]

We were due to be on Majesty on 11/2. We had considered just going with it and taking the discount (which is very fair in my view), but our friends travelling with us can no longer go, so we decided to look at other options. Managed to switch to Allure on 11/3, just means an extra night in Ft Lauderdale (we are flying into Miami transatlantic on 11/1). 

 

Our original itinary included an internal US flight and land based vacation for 3 nights post cruise. In switching, the overall cost comes in cheaper and we get to go again on the beautiful Allure!!

 

Good luck to everyone with their plans, disappointing the way it turned out but just have to do what's best for you and try make the most of it. 

Edited June 13, 2019 by FirstCruise2331
Typo

[BethKel]

14 hours ago, belugos said:

Well.. bad news for those (like me) who booked throught the club royale. After being told over the phone AND confirmed in writing (email from ClubRoyale) about the amount we would received, we got the the ship and discovered the OBC was for less than half of the 50% of the cruise fare they told us. 

Guest services has NO idea what to do.. just told me to contact Club Royale... I emailed club royale, and got no reply... then called them (Im still on the Majesty as I type this) and the 1st person there told me"oh.. you use points so you qualify for ZERO dollars in obc.." I explained to her that this was nonsense as there was already a decent credit, just not the correct amount.. she did not belive me, and I had to forward her the email from Club Royale... still, no solution.. told me to wait.

I then sent a Twitter to RCCL.. someone replied to me quickly, and it has been 2 days.. they still have no idea.. just keep telling me "we are trying to get more info on this matter and will get back to you shortly". Today, they sent me a direct message via Twitter telling me they would credit me 200 pp in casino money.

 

Club Royale keeps telling me to contact Guest services, and guest services has no idea of what ClubRoyale is (a man at the desk kept looking at me like I was an alien explaining extraterrestrial affairs).

 

We were told if we cancelled, we would get the full cruise fare... and if we took the cruise, we would get 50% of the cruise fare as per invoice, which would have been 826.00. 1st day of cruise, we noticed a 197.50 obc per person.

 

 

Any update on this?  I booked through MyVegas (essentially through Club Royale from my understanding), as did at least one other person on this board (hello Heather!)

 

We got the same information, via calls and emails, about the OBC.  The letter very specifically told us the dollar amount we would be getting in OBC, and that it could be used for anything, and that any leftover funds would be credited back to our card.  

 

This was my fear - that once folks using MyVegas / Club Royale points would get on board, the "deal" would change.  

 

Keep us posted - thanks.

 

 

[belugos]

As off now, no updates. Just a bunch of 'we are trying to get more info on this matter...' but no concrete answers. 

Sadly this is day 4 now. The last message I got from rccl was that once they correct the obc amount, if unused, it would be credited to my. Credit card on file. But between what they promise and what happens in real life there is a fine line, as I have learned. 

Edited June 13, 2019 by belugos

[gkbiiii]

Thanks a bunch, they promised me $845 and am waiting for written conformation.  This is my problem with Club Royale land VS on-board casino/front desk.  It is always crap like this!