When Royal Caribbean cancels cruises during its voluntary suspension, it usually offers guests the option of taking anything they pre-purchased and turn that into an onboard credit for a future sailing.

Not only does this simplify the process of getting a refund and then re-purchasing items for a different sailing, Royal Caribbean sweetens the deal with an extra 25% credit.

If you are thinking of taking advantage of Royal Caribbean's 125% onboard credit offer, here are the most important things to be aware of before you take it.

You can only qualify for the onboard credit offer if you take the future cruise credit

At this time, the elevated onboard credit offer is only available to those guests who opt for the Future Cruise Credit.

If you elect to use Lift & Shift or ask for a full refund, you will not qualify for the 125% onboard credit.

The bonus is only for money you spent

The 125% onboard credit offer only applies to money you spent out of your own pocket, and not any onboard credit that was used for the now cancelled cruise.

If you had onboard credit and used that to pay for Pre-Cruise purchases, you would only receive the offer only for the amount paid, not for the portion paid via an onboard credit.

The onboard credit is non-refundable

Once the onboard credit is applied to a new booking, it has no cash value and is nonrefundable.

Once onboard, any amount unused during the voyage will not be refunded at the end of the voyage.

You can use the onboard credit before or during your cruise

Once you get the onboard credit, it can be used prior to your cruise to purchase items, and/or you can wait to spend it during the cruise.

The onboard credit can be used for both pre-cruise purchases and onboard purchase, so there is no limitation on when you have to use it.

You have to decide to use it by a certain date.

You only have a limited time to decide if you want to opt-in for the 125% onboard credit offer. 

Once you reach the deadline, no adjustments can be made, and an automatic refund of the pre-cruise purchases will be issued.

For the November cruises that were just cancelled, guests have until October 16, 2020 to opt-in.

How the bonus is calculated

The bonus 25% onboard credit sounds great, but you should be aware of how Royal Caribbean determines the exact amount for you.

The new Onboard Credit is based on the amount paid, excluding any previously applied Onboard Credits, and will be based on a per person value.

You have until September 2022 to use the onboard credit

Once you opt-in for the 125% onboard credit offer, you have until April 2022 to apply it to a particular sailing.

You do not have to use it on your next booked cruise. Rather, it is like a Future Cruise Credit, where you can apply it as you see fit.

Once issued, the credit will be valid for use by April 30, 2022 onboard Royal Caribbean sailings through September 30, 2022.

The onboard credit is not tied to your future cruise credit

The good news is you do not have to apply the 125% onboard credit to the same sailing your future cruise credit is redeemed towards.

You can use their Future Cruise Credit on one sailing and their Onboard Credit on another.

In addition to canceling all of its November 2020 cruises, Royal Caribbean has also cancelled Quantum of the Seas sailings through the end of March 2021.

Sailings aboard Quantum of the Seas between December 2nd, 2020 – March 22nd, 2021 have been added to the list of cancelled cruises.

Quantum of the Seas had been scheduled to sail from Singapore between 2020 and March 2021.

Royal Caribbean's website has also removed all Quantum of the Seas cruises for booking until April 2021.

In a statement on Royal Caribbean's website, the cruise line explained the need to "assess" changes for Quantum.

"In preparation for our return to service, we’ve been making changes to our existing itineraries to ensure we meet the evolving needs of our guests and are aligned with any existing travel restrictions. Unfortunately, the following Quantum of the Seas sailings have now been cancelled as part of this change, while we assess our next move for this ship."

Similar to the other cancelled cruises, guests who had cruises booked on Quantum qualify for compensation options, although Lift and Shift is not available for Quantum.

• 125% Future Cruise Credit to book a new cruise by December 31, 2021 for sailings on or before April 30th, 2022.
• 100% Refund. You have until December 31, 2020 to request a refund and deactivate your future cruise certificate.

Royal Caribbean has big plans for Quantum of the Seas, setting the stage for her return to North America in summer 2021 to sail from the Pacific Northwest for the first time when she calls Seattle home in May 2021.

Quantum will join Ovation of the Seas next year and offer 7-night cruises to Alaska, leaving on Mondays.

Quantum of the Seas sailed for a brief period out of Bayonne, New Jersey when she debuted in 2014, but since 2015 has been sailing in Asia.

Royal Caribbean announced on Tuesday it has extended its voluntary cruise suspension by canceling all of its November 2020 cruises.

A statement on its website states all of its sailings are cancelled through November 30, 2020 and the new goal to restart cruises is December 1, 2020.

"After further consulting with our partners at Cruise Lines International Association and in conjunction with the CDC, we have decided to extend the suspension of sailings for our global fleet for all sailings through November 30th, 2020."

"Our goal is to resume operations on December 1st, 2020."

Cruise operations had been suspended through the end of October, but will now be extended an additional month.

In an email to travel agents, Royal Caribbean expanded a bit more on the impetus to extend the cancellations, "Our most recent plan was to resume operation on October 31st, 2020. However, to ensure we have ample time to focus on our healthy return to service initiatives, our global suspension has been extended through November 30th, 2020, with a plan to resume operation on December 1st, 2020."

Compensation

Guests affected by the cancelled cruises between November 1 - 30, 2020 have three options for compensation.

Lift & Shift: Select next year’s sailing with the same itinerary type, sailing length, stateroom category, and within the same 4-week window of the original cruise date, and you can take your existing reservation and move it to next year. Option expires on October 16th, 2020

125% Future Cruise Credit: To account for the inconvenience this has caused, guests are eligible for a 125% Future Cruise Credit (FCC) that is based on the total cruise fare paid at the guest-level and will be automatically issued on-or-before November 4th, 2020 — if neither of the other options is selected.

Taxes and fees, as well as any pre-purchased amenities or onboard packages will be automatically refunded to the original form of payment within 45 days from the cancellation date. 

If you previously opted to take advantage of our Cruise with Confidence policy, the 100% FCC will stand, and this new option is ineligible.

Additionally, if you redeemed your Cruise with Confidence Future Cruise Credit on a sailing that is now cancelled, their original FCC will be reinstated, plus 125% of any amount paid by the guest on the cancelled reservation.

FCCs for sailings in November will automatically be sent via email by November 4th, 2020.

Refund: If you prefer a cash refund, you can do so by requesting this option on-or-before December 31, 2020.

You can expect their refund to the original form of payment within 45 days from the cancellation date. 

If you redeemed a Cruise with Confidence Future Cruise Credit on an impacted sailing and would now prefer a refund instead, Royal Caribbean will process this request in the amount of any new funds paid above the original certificate and, in turn, will reinstate the Cruise with Confidence FCC for future use.

Cruise Planner Purchases: If you had purchased any cruise add-ons, such as shore excursions, drink packages, wifi and more, you could opt to convert your Cruise Planner purchases  to an Onboard Credit valued at 125% of the total amount paid. This offer expires on October 16th, 2020.

What's next for Royal Caribbean?

The latest round of cancellations likely come as no surprise to cruise fans, but the question of when cruises might actually restart again remains.

A few hours before this announcement, Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain did not rule out cruises in 2020.

Speaking at an industry event on Tuesday, Mr. Fain shared a sense of confidence that cruises could still restart sometime in 2020.

"We're going to start with test cruises, I think, and and then a few shorter cruises and and gradually build up as we build up our experience. But I do think that's going to start this year. I'm highly I'm highly optimistic."

Regardless of the cruise line plans, the U.S. Center for Disease Control "No Sail" order remains the most visible obstacle for Royal Caribbean to restart cruises.

The federal agency extended its cruise ship ban by another month, through the end of October, and there does not appear to be any signs that it could end.

The CDC has been adamant in its belief cruise ships are not safe environments during the current global health crisis.

"Cruise ships continue to be an unsafe environment with close quarters where the disease spreads easily and is not readily detected," is the direct rationale for why cruise ships may not sail.

Royal Caribbean, and the entire cruise industry, has been working on comprehensive new health protocols it believes will make cruises safer than any other form of travel.

Just today, cruise lines announced they would implement 100% testing, alongside over 70 new policies that will create a layered approach to keeping guests and crew members safe.

Fain believes a bubble approach to cruise ships could very well be the answer, with testing at the top of that myriad of protocols.

Eagle-eyed cruise fans have spotted what could potentially be the first Royal Caribbean cruise ship to test sailings.

The PortMiami vessel movements calendar lists Navigator of the Seas as in port two times in October, indicating the ship may arrive for a series of test sailings.

• October 15 to October 19
• October 24 to October 28

Each time Navigator of the Seas is at PortMiami, she is scheduled to move between different terminals. On October 17, from Terminal A to Terminal D; and then on October 26 from Terminal A to Terminal G.

This was first reported by CruiseCritic.

Test cruises without passengers

Royal Caribbean has said before it begins offering cruises to the public, it will conduct a series of test sailings to work through the variety of new health protocols.

Executives have said they will start slowly by training crew and embarking on a series of non-revenue test sailings, where Royal Caribbean can rehearse and we can validate the new protocols.

The results will be evaluated by independent observers before a few short sailings begin again.

If those test sailings go well, then short cruises with limited destinations and controlled shore excursions will be offered.

Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley recently spoke about the idea of using employee-only cruises first, "I said that the first cruise that we will operate through, Royal Caribbean International, will be an all employee cruise, a little bit like a shakedown cruise, because then we can test and take a look at in real-life operations all of the protocols that we're putting into place. And so our first cruise is going to be an employee cruise."

More recently, Royal Caribbean Group Chairman Richard Fain said on Tuesday that test cruises will be first, "We're going to start with test cruises, I think, and and then a few shorter cruises and and gradually build up as we build up our experience. But I do think that's going to start this year. I'm highly optimistic."

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain says his "optimism level is very high" that cruises could restart in 2020.

Speaking at the "State of the Global Cruise Industry" keynote event of Seatrade Cruise Virtual, Mr. Fain shared a sense of confidence that cruises could still restart sometime in 2020.

While Fain did not divulge specifics, he did say his confidence stems from Royal Caribbean's eagerness to get back to work, as well as the investment in using science to guide their restart plans.

"The Healthy Sail Panel report detailed look at 74 protocols, 74 recommendations that give us the confidence that it's safe to go back."

"We think we have a set of procedures that really put us in a position to say, yes, we have now come to the point where we can provide a healthy cruise."

In fact, Mr. Fain went on to say that he still believes cruises can restart this year.

"We're going to start with test cruises, I think, and and then a few shorter cruises and and gradually build up as we build up our experience. But I do think that's going to start this year. I'm highly I'm highly optimistic."

"Safer than your hometown"

Fain believes the nature of cruise ships allows them to control the environment more more than somewhere on land, and that is an advantage for the industry.

"Our objective when we started, was can we do this in a way that makes being on a ship as safe or safer than being in your hometown town."

"While there are there are special circumstances on ship that require special precautions, there's also something that no one else has, which is the ability to control the environment as well as we do."

Fain touted the recent announcement that it would implenent 100% testing of every person entering a ship, which is something that no other travel sector is doing.

Cruise lines working together

Another significant milestone Richard Fain sees is the entire industry working together to learn and innovate.

"We're all working in this together. We all are learning about COVID. We're all learning about the technology, the testing, the therapies. All of these things are coming together, working with the governments abroad, working in Europe, in the Caribbean, in Asia, in the United States, working with the CDC."

Mr. Fain was joined by the CEOs of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Carnival Corporation and MSC Cruises.  While some executives were willing to characterize the likelihood of cruises starting this year, Mr. Fain simply stated, "I don't like putting numbers on on things like this, but I am smiling."

When Royal Caribbean resumes sailings, it intends to test every single passenger and crew member.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain highlighted a recommendation of the Healthy Sail Panel to institute 100% testing of cruise ship guests and crew members.

Mr. Fain asserted that no other section of the travel industry has 100% testing, which separates Royal Caribbean (and other CLIA member lines) from the rest of travel.

"No other section of the travel industry, no other section does one hundred percent testing. In fact, no other industry in the world requires 100 percent testing. The closest anyone comes is the bubble that was organized to the NBA teams and that's been so very successful."

Fain seems very excited about the recent advances in testing and how much of it is offered.

"The improvement in our country's ability to test has been phenomenal," Mr. Fain explained. "The capacity for traditional testing has grown exponentially, and we now regularly seeing more than a million tests performed in a single day. That's unheard of."

Specifically, Fain believes the development of new test capabilities, combined with decreasing testing costs and speedier results is "staggering."

Vaccine vs. tests

To exemplify how important testing is and the advances made with them, Richard Fain went as far to say that he expects tests to have a greater impact on cruises than the vaccine in the short term.

"The advances are so significant that I believe in the near term we will see more benefit from testing than we will from vaccines in the near term."

Fain thinks the impact of a vaccine will take time, and in the meantime, new and better testing will make a quicker difference.

"Vaccines are the ultimate weapon against this virus and their development has been nothing short of amazing. But I do think it's likely that a vaccine will be available before the end of the year. But getting enough for widespread distribution is going to take probably until sometime in the spring."

"On the other hand, faster, cheaper and widespread testing will be much more impactful, much sooner. Widespread testing enables contact tracing, and it's the one two punch of testing and contact tracing that is so effective in limiting the community spread of the disease."

Testing can't solve the problem by itself

While testing is going to be a big part of Royal Caribbean's approach to ensuring cruises are safe when they return, it is not a silver bullet.

Mr. Fain admitted that as helpful as it is, testing cannot solve the problem by itself. That is why the Healthy Sail Panel's recommendations take a variety of different steps to create a layered approach of several different operating protocols.

"Each individual step whittles away at the risk levels until you have architected a overall much safer journey."

"I compare it to a car. The brakes keep you safe, of course, and a seatbelt and you've got even better protection. Then add an air bag and you start to see the effect of a layered approach."

Fain believes a bubble approach to cruise ships could very well be the answer, with testing at the top of that myriad of protocols.

UPDATE: The answer is yes, Royal Caribbean has cancelled its November 2020 cruises.

In the days since the No Sail Order was extended, Royal Caribbean's primary competitors have each announced a new round of cancellations, so is Royal Caribbean next?

There has been no official word by Royal Caribbean on any new cancellations, but typically when one of the "big three" cruise lines has announced a new wave of cancelled cruises, the others have eventually followed suit.

Royal Caribbean currently only has cruises cancelled through October 31, 2020, although it has also canceled transatlantic, European and Australian itineraries beyond that date.

The dominos begin to fall

The first cruise line to announce changes was Carnival Corporation, when it canceled sailings from most ports through December 2020.

Carnival essentially cancelled all of its cruises, minus ships sailing from Port Canaveral and Miami in Florida. The line has not yet canceled November or December sailings from those two ports.

Earlier today, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. cancelled all of its cruises through November 2020, with three ships cancelled through the end of March 2021.

Both cruise lines made their announcements less than a week after the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) extended its No Sail Order through October 2020. 

An unconfirmed, but widely accepted, report claims the CDC wanted to extend the No Sail Order to February 2021.

Cruise line executives were scheduled to meet with White House officials last week, but the meeting was postponed.

What will Royal Caribbean do?

The big question is if/when Royal Caribbean may announce a new set of cancellations to match what the other cruise lines have done.

Royal Caribbean rarely gives any kind of warning when a new set of cancellations are going to occur, and there is no consistent pattern to when they have been announced.

Earlier today, Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain offered a video update that did not specifically call out any new changes to its cruise schedule, but did allude to some recent news impacting the cruise industry.

"Soon, we hope to have the opportunity to put our plans to the test. It's not going to happen overnight. It is going to take time for this process to work through."

"The process will be carefully evaluated by independent outside observers and then only on a ship or two at first, we hope to start sailing again."

Cruise fans are quite eager to know what the cruise line will do, with many having sailings scheduled to depart in less than a month.

"It’s less than 30 days from November 1st, and based on prior cancellations by Royal, we should have had Royal’s decision about November (at the very least) by now," writes S.Marie. "I would even be ok with Royal saying we are still waiting for the green light from the CDC but here are the ships we plan to deploy (or not deploy) for our start up phase."

"If I was a cruise line," twangster postulated, "I'd be hesitant to begin bringing thousands of crew back for two ships until there was an absolute green light from the CDC or CV Task Force that a restart is a sure thing."

CJS2766 exemplified the concern so many seem to have, "I'm also one of those that's supposed to cruise Nov 8... I wish we would hear something already, even though I know the realistic outcome."

Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain published a new video update on his outlook on testing, as well as the impact the new health recommendations will have on cruises restarting.

Following the submission of the Healthy Sail Panel's 74 health recommendations the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), Mr. Fain said the recommendations will serve to protect guests and crew onboard in a bubble type environment.

"The panel made seventy four specific recommendations towards accomplishing these two goals. By implementing the panel's recommendations, we intend to make our ships and environment a bubble, if you will, that actually presents less risk of transmission than in their home communities on land to get there."

"To get there, the panel proposed a thorough and layered approach of several different operating protocols. Wasn't just one."

One of the most important aspects of the recommendations is 100% testing of guests and crew.

"Most importantly, they recommended that we institute one hundred percent testing of everyone who enters the ship's guest and crew."

Mr. Fain was proud of the fact they are going to implement 100% testing, and noted the closest any other industry has reached with testing was the NBA's bubble concept.

Cruises can be done safely

Based on the results so far in limited cruises in Europe, Mr. Fain is bullish on the idea cruises can be offered safely.

"The cruises have been enjoyable, and more importantly, they continue to be safe."

"Our panel came away convinced that it could be done. Our leadership team came away, convinced that it could be done. And as we have met with government officials, our confidence has grown as well."

Cruises vs. CDC

Perhaps no other government agency has become so critical a focal point for cruise lines than the CDC, and Mr. Fain did speak to them during the video.

"The CDC, and other regulators, have been working on this for a long time. We're grateful for the CDC's focus on health and for the time they and their observers have spent on this important topic with the Healthy Sail Panel."

Furthermore, he touched on the meeting with White House officials on Friday that was postponed.

"Many of you know that we were scheduled to meet with the CDC and the COVID-19 task force on Friday on this very subject. Unfortunately, the unexpected announcement of the President and various White House officials testing positive caused that particular meeting to be postponed."

"But the lines of communication remain open and we expect the dialogue to continue productively."

Restarting plans

Mr. Fain also reiterated the basic plans for getting cruises back up. He did not provide a timeline, only saying they are ready to do so and hope it happens soon.

"Soon, we hope to have the opportunity to put our plans to the test. It's not going to happen overnight. It is going to take time for this process to work through."

"And we propose to start slowly by training our crew and embarking on a series of non-revenue test sailings, where we can rehearse and we can validate the new protocols."

The results will be evaluated by independent observers before a few short sailings begin again.

"There'll be short cruises at first with limited destinations and controlled shore excursions."

"But as we learn and as the science continues to improve, we will expand."

The bottom line for Mr. Fain is Royal Caribbean Group believes in getting it right and taking their time to address the issues, rather than rushing back.

"We've told you from the start that we understand the importance of getting this right. We've told you that we won't rush, we won't cut corners. And we are still committed to making sure that we do it right. "

There are not many details about Royal Caribbean's next new Oasis Class cruise ship, but we can confirm one specialty restaurant that will be onboard.

Izumi Teppanyaki will be available onboard based on a social media post by the creator and mastermind behind Izumi specialty restaurants.

Chef Travis Kamiyama posted on social media that Izumi Teppanyaki will be added to the fifth Oasis Class ship.

Izumi has become one of Royal Caribbean's most popular and most widespread specialty restaurants, many new ships and ship refurbishments having an Izumi location onboard.

Izumi hibachi is a teppanyaki-style restaurant, which is sometimes referred to as a “Japanese steakhouse."  Made famous by Benihana restaurants, the experience combines cooking and service into one fun performance.

Izumi's teppan style dining has become a big hit with guests, and newer Izumi locations have seen more space dedicated to the hibachi side than the traditional sushi side of the restaurant.

On the other four Oasis Class ships, Izumi is split into two restaurants: the sushi side and the hibachi side. It is unclear yet if that setup will continue on Wonder of the Seas, or if the layout and/or location will change.

Wonder of the Seas will not join Royal Caribbean's fleet until sometime in 2022 and will sail from Shanghai and offer sailings around Asia.

Royal Caribbean has not released itineraries for Wonder of the Seas to book, nor indicated when exactly in 2022 Wonder will start sailing yet.

Happy Sunday! It has been a busy week of Royal Caribbean news, and we have it all summarized for you in this round up.

The big cruise news this week was the extension of the No Sail order through the end of October 2020.

Prior to this extension, the "No Sail Order" was set to expire on September 30 at midnight, although Royal Caribbean and all the cruise lines have already voluntarily cancelled its cruises through October 31, 2020, with the intention to possibly resume November 1.

The CDC announced it would be extended an additional 30 days, although there is a report circulating that the CDC wanted to extend it longer, but the White House overruled them.

Royal Caribbean News

• The ability to cancel or defer a cruise without penalty has been extended until November 30.
• Royal Caribbean released itineraries for the redeployed cruise ships.
• A scheduled meeting between the cruise lines and the White House has been postponed.
• Why did the CDC extend the No Sail order?
• Where Royal Caribbean cruising is right now.
• Royal Caribbean is offering Kids Sail Free for the first time during summer.
• Top 5 things that Royal Caribbean had planned for 2020 but are now delayed.
• How to know if you should buy a dining package.
• Should you use porters to take your luggage when going on a cruise?

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 374th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where James shares the important lesson of being flexible on a cruise.

James started off his cruise with a major storm and an accident, but did not let these speed bumps deter his ability to have a great cruise vacation.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

New RCB Video: 5 things you can buy for a cruise that aren't worth it!

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — 5 things you can buy for a cruise that aren't worth it! — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

What it's like to be a on cruise ship with no guests

Royal Caribbean's cruise ships are still operating with limited staff onboard, and a lot of people are curious what life is like onboard without passengers.

While Royal Caribbean cruises are currently shutdown due to the current health crisis, its ships remain ready for when cruises resume. So what is happening onboard while there are no cruises?

Captain Johnny Faevelen is the Master of Harmony of the Seas, and shared what the crew are up to onboard, and what sort of things they are doing while the ship is not conducting any cruises.