r/FATcruises

This is a question to see if others have experienced this severe of a penalty to requesting to move to same cruise the following year or another similar cost cruise has gotten this response.
I booked for explora 3 aug10-25 for cruise through a TA that’s a virtuoso agent. I now have a work conflict that may or may not cause my to move trip earlier/later or shorten trip (it’s 2 BTB cruises) I was told there was a 50% cancellation fee on total cruise price. I said I never requested cancellation but instead moving date of cruise. I’ve put down a 25% deposit. My TA has said I can’t move date, shorten trip, or cancel without the 50% due. That’s 18k that is the “fee”.
My agent says explora has the strictest policy on any change but this seems totally weird to me! Like I haven’t cruised yet and I’m already very disappointed with pre cruise customer service. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?? Any advice?

Ryan Walker typically reviews hotels and makes high quality videos. He just did a Four Seasons Yacht review and for extremely high prices with the à la carte system it seems very … disappointing. However, I’m sure some things are them working out the kinks.

This comes after many influencers and travel outlets posted how great it was which were likely comped sailings.

No hot tub seems like a wild design choice.

I've had my eye on some Oceania itineraries for about a year now. We normally cruise Princess, but the opportunities to see parts of the world Princess doesn't sail to is very tempting. Any insights about what to expect if we make a change? Thinking about taking a short "sample" trip before we commit to 20+ days.

For those who have been on both, which did you prefer? Hoping to convince the wife to try an easy Caribbean itinerary on one of these

I’ve done some research. Azamara often stays longer in port and has AzAmazing evenings. Windstar has the marina platform and a smaller ship.

Let’s assume cost and itineraries are comparable. Just looking for some personal experience.

Thanks!

Debating between Seabourn and Regent for Alaska. 5 couples, very active, in our late 50's -Early 60's.Seabourn has two sailings that go to Glacier Bay, while Regent does not. I'm sure we would be happy with either line but for those that have done both, I'd appreciate the feedback.

I've sailed RSSC 3-4 times now and like the product, even the one time the ship we were on (Voyager) crashed into the pier in Civitavecchia and made us miss our Pompeii excursion!.

BUT

I'm really not sure if the RSSC value proposition works as well for us anymore especially since they got rid of the included business class airfare for international. And now that Oceania is adult only, that is a HUGE plus for us. We never really ran into kids on RSSC that were a problem but it is certainly not impossible especially on cruises over the holidays or week long in the Caribbean. Oceania seems to capture 90% of what we like with Regent, and we've met a few people on RSSC that said they actually preferred Oceania.

For those of you that sailed both, I'd like an honest pro/con between the lines? I really like the open bars on RSSC but to be honest most of the drinks we have are nothing fancy, wine and mix cocktails. Perhaps the odd highball but the requirements are not top-shelf by any means. Thinking about Panama Canal, *maybe* Trans-Pacific but this is still super early days.

Flying into Vancouver for 2 nights pre-cruise. Could extend to 3 or 4 nights pre-cruise but don't want vacation exhaustion before we embark. All running within 100/125 dollars a night of each other on Amex FHR. Deluxe Double Fairmont Pacific Rim, Deluxe double Rosewood, One Bedroom Azur. Landing at 6:45 pm first night. It is really just one full day in Vancouver. But convince me to go Earlier. I currently have a really fabulous 4 night stay booked at Fairmont Pacific Rim.

Wondering if due to the expedition nature of the cruise it isn’t as fancy at night?

Planning on bringing chinos and collared shirts/sweaters for the evening. Maybe a casual blazer.

Thanks for any advice.

I'm hoping for some advice or reassurance. We're on Silversea Silver Ray arriving in Barcelona on October 29. I just arranged flights through Silversea last week for a 1:30pm flight out and received notice today that the flight time had been changed to noon. Will I have any problems making that transfer and checking in for that flight assuming the ship arrives on time? I checked and there are three other cruise ships arriving that morning.

Has anyone used luxuryonlycruises for cruise booking (explora or otherwise)? I see this along with panache cruises listed in cruisecritic search. Are they reliable?

Any specific travel agency that’s great wrt luxury cruises? I normally book through my CC company as travel agent for 8x points. Appreciate any input. Thanks