Thoughts, impressions, and observations for the World Cruise.

[island lady]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

Good.

 

I think I am more stressed at home playing "catch up"....scheduling yet another remodel project, doctor appointments that get shoved off when we are gone too much, yard work, reorganizing and repacking...etc.  😉 

 

[BonTexasNY]

10 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Hmmm...do you want me to do that?  I guess I could if anyone would be interested?.  😉  I just now  packed at least one bag....my water bag.   😄 

I am!

[orville99]

4 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

I think I am more stressed at home playing "catch up"....scheduling yet another remodel project, doctor appointments that get shoved off when we are gone too much, yard work, reorganizing and repacking...etc.  😉 

 

In other words, “Monday”.  Retirement is busier than when we were working😱

[ringers0815]

@kernow and @Jimbo, life is continuing normally onboard. There was a lot of talk right after the town hall but it seems to have died down a bit. People still seem very happy with the cruise. At a show a few days after the town hall, the cruise director mentioned option 1 in his remarks and people cheered so based on this it seems it might be the preferred option of at least those in the theater that night.

[doghog]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

Hmmm...do you want me to do that?  I guess I could if anyone would be interested?.  😉  I just now  packed at least one bag....my water bag.   😄 

I would be interested in your cruise if you have time to post. 🍷

[island lady]

22 minutes ago, doghog said:

I would be interested in your cruise if you have time to post. 🍷

 

Aww...thanks.   I mentioned your comment to your bro...he was all for it.  I guess he puts up with it more than I thought.  😄 

[suzyluvs2cruise]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

In other words, “Monday”.  Retirement is busier than when we were working😱

I have more on my calendar now than when I was working.....and that's a good thing. 

[BecAus]

6 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Sounds like way to much stress for the way we like to take vacations.

 

6 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Agree. I have less stress working.

 

Sure, I can see how you might think that but this was never a normal vacation as I don't usually take 3 month vacations.  And the FWC's who booked the whole thing weren't looking for a normal vacation either.  Of course this adventure is not for everyone!

I look at it now that it's opened up some opportunities for us. A Safari is not something we would otherwise have done.  We will now spend a few days in Rome as that was the one stop I was really struggling with in how to see it all in one day.  My husband has been there before but I haven't.

 

From Ringers0815 reply it sounds like the cruisers are continuing on as normal with their cruise and this is just another small bump in the road for them so that is great to hear.

 

We are looking forward to hopping aboard in Dubai and joining them for part of their journey!

[Oceansaway17]

3 hours ago, ringers0815 said:

@kernow and @Jimbo, life is continuing normally onboard. There was a lot of talk right after the town hall but it seems to have died down a bit. People still seem very happy with the cruise. At a show a few days after the town hall, the cruise director mentioned option 1 in his remarks and people cheered so based on this it seems it might be the preferred option of at least those in the theater that night.

well that is good to hear since the ship is in a nice part of the world.  The whole 2nd segment sounded the best to me.

 

So, who is voting besides the WC group.  Will the whole 3rd segment get to vote too.  And what about the smaller segments.   It sounds like headquarters has a lot of work to do.   I for one would pick the one with less sea days.

[ringers0815]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

well that is good to hear since the ship is in a nice part of the world.  The whole 2nd segment sounded the best to me.

 

So, who is voting besides the WC group.  Will the whole 3rd segment get to vote too.  And what about the smaller segments.   It sounds like headquarters has a lot of work to do.   I for one would pick the one with less sea days.

As we are not affected (we are on the LA to Brisbane mini segment) we don’t really have any information on who gets to vote (other than the full cruise passengers).  

[ringers0815]

Beautiful sail away from Honolulu.

 

 

 

 

 

[Jimbo]

8 minutes ago, ringers0815 said:

Beautiful sail away from Honolulu.

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome pics, looks wonderful !

[Hoopster95]

deleted

Edited February 21 by Hoopster95

[BecAus]

6 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

So, who is voting besides the WC group.  Will the whole 3rd segment get to vote too.  And what about the smaller segments.

As far as I am aware it is just the FWC's and the full S3 guests who get to vote.

We have the webinar in about 15hrs which I believe is open to the same group of people (I think it is in the theatre onboard) which is going to hopefully answer a lot of the questions that we've submitted so we can make an 'informed decision' about which option is the best one to choose.

I could be wrong but I 'think' they said the Captain will have the final say.  I don't really know what that means - in the unlikely event there is a tie 🤷‍♀️

[CSHS1979]

12 hours ago, ringers0815 said:

@kernow and @Jimbo, life is continuing normally onboard. There was a lot of talk right after the town hall but it seems to have died down a bit. People still seem very happy with the cruise. At a show a few days after the town hall, the cruise director mentioned option 1 in his remarks and people cheered so based on this it seems it might be the preferred option of at least those in the theater that night.

 

John is campaigning for option #2

[CSHS1979]

Random pics of 2 days in Honolulu 

No particular order. Some from cell, others from Canon

John did whales on day 1 and walked around day 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chef Ronald came back yesterday😁

 

John put him on the phone for me🤩

Edited February 21 by CSHS1979

[BecAus]

3 minutes ago, CSHS1979 said:

Random pics of 2 days in Honolulu 

 

15 minutes ago, CSHS1979 said:

John is campaigning for option #2

Beautiful pictures!  Thanks

 

I thought he might have been from a couple of posts I've seen from him.  I thought #2 for us originally but I'm not too worried either way now as we plan to get off in CT either option & rejoin later.

I think my husband thinks there might be too many sea days to CT on option 2.

 

[Saab4444]

Serenade starts to look very rusty again on the first picture above! I guess I will cancel my expensive mini segment of the World Cruise in August, not worth the money anymore…

[Ocean Boy]

6 hours ago, BecAus said:

 

I could be wrong but I 'think' they said the Captain will have the final say.  I don't really know what that means - in the unlikely event there is a tie 🤷‍♀️

I think it means the choice is already made.

[Ocean Boy]

17 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

I am!

So am I.

[pstone1]

4 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

 

Chef Ronald came back yesterday😁

 

John put him on the phone for me🤩

Good to see Mo as well!  😍  Thanks for sharing the photos!

 

[Jimbo]

4 hours ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

John is campaigning for option #2

Care to share his reasoning for that choice? Others have thought option #1 was a clear winner.

 

I'm thinking the ports on number #1 aren't that great and the 50% Obc or refund will sure come in handy later in the cruise.

 

 

 

[xpcdoojk]

I was looking at a January 2021 cruise way back in 2019, and actually put a deposit on it or got close to doing so.  It was on a smaller ship (not RC), it included 2 weeks mostly around South Africa, and a week visiting the falls, etc.  I think I remember needing to get YF shots.  I think they are recommended only for people less than 60.  We didn’t get them.  Covid happened and the rest is history.  Probably never get there now.

[Etta1213]

On 2/19/2024 at 7:31 AM, time4u2go said:

Lol am I the only one that couldn't care less if I stayed in a cabin (and bed) where someone had died?

This made me chuckle when I saw😃 your @time4u2go name!

[Tatra603]

On 2/19/2024 at 8:17 PM, Tatra603 said:

Just received this from RCI Executive Office:

 

 

Thank you so much for your email and please accept my apologies for the delay in getting back to you. My name is Kaitlyn; I work in the Executive Office of Royal Caribbean. I am pleased to respond on behalf of our executives.

I am sorry to hear that the cancelation of this sailing has negatively impacted your vacation plans. I understand how frustrating and disappointing this can be.

Many factors go into to deciding whether we offer any form of compensation or price matching when a sailing is canceled or redeployed. We also have to make certain we’re remaining consistent and fair to all guests equally impacted by these changes. At this time we are offering guests to cancel and to receive a full refund paid or rebook any sailing at the prevailing rate. If you are booked under a non- refundable rate, we are waiving change fees.

While we understand our guests frustrations with not having alternative options, we must remain firm in our decision to offer the option to fully refund or move to a different sailing at prevailing rates. I apologize for any disappointment this may cause.

Please know, for further information, I unfortunately need you to contact your Travel Agent that was assisting you with this reservation. Any financial information needs to be discussed with the agency as we are not able to discuss, per the privacy contracts between Royal Caribbean and the Travel Agencies associated with us.

Again, thank you for contacting us with your feedback.

 

Thanks to everyone who has been supportive of my vain and ultimately futile attempt to get some level of clarity from RC via my email to RC Executive Office and M Bayley.

Fwiw, I've fired a short email back to them after this rather unempathetic and formulaic reply to my original email (post 4038).

 

Thank you for your reply.

 

Unfortunately, you have failed to address the main question.

 

Which is, if RC are determined to 'remain consistent and fair to all guests equally impacted by these changes', then why have those of us due to embark in Dubai not been given first option to book the new itinerary, in our original stateroom, before it goes on general sale? It should be easy enough to do.

 

I (and many of your customers in the same situation) are very disillusioned by the way RC has treated us. Many loyal RC cruisers online have vowed never to sail with you again if you continue with this baffling and unfair oversight.