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April Distance = May Existance

Day five has now put us at sea steaming towards Cozumel. At one point, which was pretty cool to see, we sailed just off of Grand Cayman and could see all the ships anchored off shore. Random comment, I know. There wasn't much happening today so thought I would throw that tidbit in. The day overall was pretty low key and quite uneventful in comparison to that of the other four, which for us, was a nice change of pace. However, Einstein (what my dad use/still calls me when I do something stupid) decided to book a 830 haircut. So much for at least trying to sleep in an extra hour. I have this huge problem where I think I need to take advantage of every single second when we are on board. Which at times is good. And others... well, I think I could spare an hour or two. Like I think we were getting up earlier than we would for work. Actually I know we were because that is what Rebecca told/yelled at me every morning when the alarm went off after telling her the night before I wasn't setting one ??. Anywho... as to follow the theme of the cruise, the alarm goes off and I am off to a breakfast date with me, myself and I in the windjammer. And I am going to add that this was the first and only time I ventured into the windjammer all week... which was a travesty. I am not proud of myself and I promise to the windjammer faithful who are reading this, I will redeem myself on Odyssey in June 2021. From the windjammer I went to the Vitality Spa and could not have been more out of place. Truth be told, the spa has never really been a thing or appealed to me. But that beginning of cruise juju (and the mentality that money is no object once you step foot on the ship) got to me and there I was thinking I needed to get my ears lowered. So there I am, shelling out (I cant remember the amount) more than I probably should for the exact same haircut I would get from my guy Jay down the block for 17 bucks. Now this is no knock on the hairstylist or the experience itself. But as someone who once got $5 haircut at sport clips, I am more interested in just getting in and out. Also, my style of choice is far from high maintenance. I think the woman cutting my hair thought I was joking for what I was telling her to do - maybe even laughed at the fact how dumb I was asking to get a few snips here a few snips there and bang the job is done. But regardless there I was after, not looking like Ryan Reynolds (which I think I will every time) and a few bucks lighter. While I was getting beautified, Rebecca was heading in for her spa treatment... which I want to say was a seaweed wrap & facial? Don't quote me. But whatever she had, she loved it. Was tickled pink when she came up and joined me in the Solarium where we spend pretty much the rest of the morning and afternoon. We were actually pretty lucky to get one of those massive cabana like beds and boy did we make good use of it. A little sleep here, a drink from the bar there all followed by lunch in the solarium bistro. From the bistro, my memory is a little hazy. I think we again just ventured around the pool decks and lounged/soaked around in the hot tubs. The weather wasn't that great at times (windy, cloudy, etc.) but we didn't let it rain (literally and metaphorically speaking) our parade. Pretty sure we did a few round on the flowrider and the slides since the lines weren't too long with people wanting to stand in the wind. That was all then followed by our favorite mode of transportation down to the boardwalk, the ultimate abyss (where maybe a trip the dog house was taken). For the rest of the early evening there were no major plans or activities (I wasn't lying about this being a low key day), so around 6ish we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner which tonight was 150 Central Park. Before dinner we did some more wondering and visiting with some of our favorite crew members and then headed up to Central Park to make a pit stop in Vintages. Side note - we were shocked at how uncrowded Vintages was. On our last two cruises out of PR we were the only people ever in Vintages, but talking with the crew, they said that it was always a popular spot for the ships going out of Florida. So we were just kind of expecting more than 4 other people including us in there... especially in such a beautiful location. Ok sidebar over. So from Vintages we headed over to 150 Central Park, and had our favorite meal on any ship. We pretty much ordered the entire menu. And the mint cucumber martinis... dangerous. Was like you were drinking spa water. If the Vitality spa had these, woo wee I would be their best customer. But back to the meal. The whole experience was just top notch. The restaurant is beautiful and the service was the best we had all week... which is saying a lot because we never had a bad experience anywhere else. It was odd though, there was only maybe one or two other tables in the restaurant occupied by other guests. Our reservation was kind of later... I think maybe 8. But still just an interesting observation to callout. I think from reading other blogs and reviews, people seem to have stated that the quality has declined. I guess I cannot be a judge of that, but as newbies, we really enjoyed ourselves. But her are some not so glamours shots of our meal... This looks to be the beet salad for me, the scallops for Rebecca and we shared the short rib (also, by my attire, this looks to also have been the second formal night) Next course looks to be the lamb wellington for yours truly and lobster for Rebecca... with probably our third loaf of bread And now we are onto desserts... which I could not tell you what they were other than just down right delicious After dinner, we had reservations to see the ventriloquist, Ron Lucas of which was a great show. After words we caught the last few sets in Jazz on four. Now as I am writing this, I think prior to dinner this evening (or it could have been the previous night; the aerosmith cover band was playing in the aqua theater. Now like I previously stated, not a huge aerosmith guy. Love the roller coaster, band...meh. But we gave it the good ole college try at seeing them in the aqua theater & in the music hall. I am sure if you like their music, it would be awesome... because it was cool. But after one or two songs I was all Steven Tyler'd out. But for the rest of the evening we bounced around from a few different spots (schooner, globe & atlas, casino, playmakers, etc.). And we rounded things off with meeting up with our aforementioned friends we met on night three and all went to Blaze and attempted to do some dancing (at least that what we were calling it). Finally from there that pretty much brought the night to a close. The next morning will have brought us to Cozumel where I promise... there was a lot more action and excitement. So much so, two Carnival ships wanted to get in on the fun... ?

I doubt these companies have the ability to spend money on upgrading their ships and private islands when they aren't operating. They are just trying to survive at the moment.

@jticarruthers, yes, but most cruisers are not Diamond + and that is what RCL is banking on right now at that price. Plus, other things when it comes to the price. IE. My hubby and I are not Diamond and will not be for a while even though we sail every 9 months (7 night + cruise balcony). I think I am more of a consumer they are banking on at that price than you....no offense. I am loyal, I am purchasing the middle of the road cabin. I get every a.m. an iced coffee with an extra shot of espresso from the starbucks (cafe latitudes) on our way to the MDR for breakfast. Don't know the actual cost, but lets say 6 - 7 bucks Breakfast we always ask for the squeezed OJ. Can't stand the fake stuff. Guessing $3. I am officially at $10 and I have yet to eat breakfast. Husband hits the Gym after breakfast. I go to the Solarium. He hits the freestyle machine to fill his cup with a Powerade, I grab a bottle of H2O. It is now 9:00 a.m. and we are at $13. 11 a.m. rolls around and we hit the bar for a cocktail...He is a Lava Flow fan. Me I will stick with margarita on the rocks. BAM we are at $26. Always ask for a bottle of H2O, BAM 29. I never order another cocktail until I finish the bottle of water 1st. Lunch @ 12:30. Be it in the MDR or WJ we get a soda. Now I am at 32...again I don't know how much a soda goes for, guessing it is $3 a pop. Back to the solarium @ 1:30 after lunch and grab my 2nd cocktail for the day. I am now at 45. Mind you only 2 alcoholic bevs all day long. Still following my rule, I also get another bottle of water. I am at 48 and it is 1:30 3:30 I call it a day at the pool to hang on the balcony. Hit cafe latitudes and get myself a frappucino. I am at $55. Hubby refills his cup with Cherry Coke Zero. He is at 51. We always do a pre-dinner cocktail. At 68 now Dinner glass of wine, followed with a cappuccino and amaretto shot. At @ 95. (total alcohol bev = 5) Off to show and get a bottle of water. I am at 98. Show over and I get 1 more bottle of water. 101. Granted that is a sea day. Yet, you can see how someone like me can easily be a losing money maker for RCL. Additionally, I think I ran low on the numbers. My SoS cruise is also hitting both Labadee and Coco Cay, that means I am using the package 2 of my port days. I have 2 sail days. I am only at a non RCL port 2x on my 8 day cruise. Those port days also are unique. I will stop at OSJ from noon to 10 pm. We will be eating breakfast, lunch and dinner on the ship. We will get off the ship after lunch, back on for dinner, off SoS after dinner, back on for the late show...IOWS will use our alcohol pkg that day too. St. Thomas is a short day in port, depart at 4. That means again, we will be back on the ship by 2:30 or so. Using the package again, because as we walk off the ship we will walk off with a couple of bottles of water. Get back on, change and hit the Solarium bar/pool for sail away. I get that 84 for my cruise is OMG compared to when we paid 57 prior. I am not saying I will buckle and pay for it, but I do get the rise in cost. I also believe it will come down since they need to make cruising affordable again, and $1600 for a 7 night cruise on top of the dining package, excursions like the Coco Cay Beach club pass, plus the cabin will price them out of the market.

The stock market is closed today, for Good Friday.

What do you call a sheep covered in chocolate? Candy Baa Have a safe and healthy Easter?

Simple. Matt sent you.

One of the reasons my husband keeps me around! ? ?

From yesterday's Times, in my news feed today: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/coronavirus-live-updates.html Bet you dollars to donuts that those European transmissions were by airplane and not cruise line. But will the Times, or any other news publication, or any scientists, say that? I realize that cruising wasn't even brought up in this article, but that's kind of the point. This would be a chance to at least suggest that the pointless dog-pile on cruising was the canard that all of us have been saying it is. Cruising became a scapegoat for easy spread of the virus, instead of pointing the finger at all forms of mass (sometimes intercontinental) transportation. I want this stupid, pointless stigma against cruising to be dropped all gosh-darned ready! And on a separate note from this particular article -- if I have to hear the phrase "floating petri dish" in association with cruising from a medical professional one more time in a news broadcast or video add-on to an article, I may well scream out loud at them as much as I want to slap stupid people I see on TV. And no, for those of you who've gotten to know me, I'm not drinking Zinfandel. This is two bottles of Belgian Tripel talking. ??

Only if you use your stay-at-home voice while telling them. Inside voice that is...

What jokes are allowed during stay-at-home orders? Inside jokes.

Floating Petri Dish sound like the perfect name for a new Quarantini. Time to start working on the recipe! ????

If you are a US registered vessel you can do a cruise to nowhere. It’s just that it’s waaaytoo expensive an regulations-onerous to be a US flagged vessel !

I did that in summer of 1988 ( I was 8 years old) on the Queen Elizabeth II, we left NYC for NOVA SCOTIA and back. Something short in between their normal transatlantic sailings!

Okay, so this is just their take on the CDC's latest guidance. What I don't understand is why Business Insider felt the need to single out RCCL and Carnival in their headline. Now I'm even more annoyed. ?

Only in Bahston - or if you're having a drink at the Ahhh Bahhhh

Makes a lot of sense given the dozens of flights between NYC and Europe daily. From an airline perspective, NYC is the European gateway while major airports on the West coast are Asian gateways.

… and airplanes are flying petri dishes; the subway is a rolling petri dish; and the Atalanta/Valencia Champions League game that contributed to the Italian and Spanish covid-19 explosions was a petri dish in a bowl.

I think I need to change my name to WAAAYTOOLLD . I know for a fact I did a cruise to nowhere out of NYC back in the mid 80s, I want to say it was Carnival. We did this right before we went back to college in the summer. Went up to Cape Cod, did not dock, came back to NYC. It was cheaper than renting a hotel room at the Jersey shore for the weekend!

Do you expect anything less from CNN?

Its not as concrete as it seems. Read between the lines. If the emergency is declared over, this gets overturned.

Praying for you Joe, I know how long you've been looking forward to this fabulous cruise with your family.

Yet we still operate airlines and get in a "tube" for hours with other people. That is how this spread around the world, and continues to be.

If you need another example to help...

Yup! $89 for our 7 night Symphony January 2021!! No way!! We bought for the same cruise 1 year prior and it was $57 and very worth it. I like specialty coffee and water bottles too so a few Boleros coconut mojitos so it wasn’t a waste. Just bought it for our December 2020 Allure at $55.

Thanks for making it easier to digest! First and foremost, I am sure all of us want our country and world to get thru this terrible virus! Oh but it's gonna be a long wait for all of us that really love to cruise!

How bad can a flight be, not to be worth $11?

Some may be outraged by the pricing, others just write it off as business. Either way, if it's more than you're willing to spend, don't buy it. RC will then have to decide whether or not to drop the price, based on supply and demand.

I may have already said it but worth saying again- thanks so much for this blog! It's super appreciated during this time!

It's curious to me why one cruise line in particular was hit harder time and again. Granted Royal hasn't escaped all COVID-19 cases but there is one line that clearly has been hit harder over and over again. Things that make you go hmmm.

The $1B per month claim for Carnival to keep operating is interesting. While Carnival has a larger fleet now you begin to see the magic of operating mega ships and how CCL and RCL differ financially. Last year CCL corporate had $20.8B gross sales with $2.99B of net income. That makes expenses roughly $17.8B or $1.4B per month. Granted that is extremely simplified. Last year gross sales for Royal were $10.9B of which $1.88B became net income. That makes expenses roughly $9B or $750M per month. Granted that is extremely simplified. Royal's gross sales were 52% of Carnival's yet Royal's net income was 63% of Carnival's. How can that be? In part it's because of mega ships, but in simple terms Royal is more efficient and generates more revenue per guest with a much smaller fleet. Carnival PLC has just over 106 ships versus RCCL with half that. The cost to idle a mega ship will be close to the cost to idle a smaller ship. Minimal fuel to putter around, cost of minimum bridge crews and marine department will be marginally higher for a mega ship compared to a small ship. While the hotel department crew counts are much higher on mega ships much of those crew are going or have gone home. Normal monthly expenses include fuel consumed at normal cruise speed and supplies to feed roughly a hundred thousand guests among other things. With ships slowly idling around and with the dramatically lower cost for oil right now their fuel costs are significantly lower. Fuel is one of the larger operating expense during normal times when ships are running at cruise speeds. Now? Not so much, comparatively speaking. While revenue is dramatically lower right now so are operating expenses. With crew contracts ending and crew going home what's left are the marine department crews and bridge officers. Consequently employee costs are down and there are fewer crew mouths to feed by the tens of thousands across the fleet. It's very interesting that CCL is claiming their floor to operate right now is $1B per month. That suggests they have shed $400M in monthly expenses. RCCL has lower expenses because they fewer ships to float right now, roughly half as many ships across all brands. On the surface using CCL numbers Royal would shed $200M per month in expenses for a fleet half the size. Fain and other executives are also cutting their salaries through September. The magic question is what Royal's minimal cost to keep the fleet floating around and cover land based employees that are retained during this period? Until this year's SEC filings occur that's anyone's guess but let's call it $500M per month as a SWAG. With the secured credit to date that should last at least through the end of the year.

Not true. Entirely depends on the crew as well and their Visa status. If they are D1 Visa holders, no matter the ship, they have NOT departed the US from a port if they just go nowhere. They have to go to another foreign port. Its different if they are an all American crew or a permanent resident crew. Immigration Law is in play here as well.

Yeah, just a rehash of the CDC news... nothing new... the full article also singles out NCL. It also barely touches on the low stock prices of all 3 companies and concern over ability and time frame to recover from all of this... https://www.businessinsider.com/carnival-royal-caribbean-banned-from-sailing-up-to-3-months-2020-4

Y'all are fun!

I was speaking to a friend of mine who was a former Hotel Director on Oasis. He’s taking a break after 20 years at sea and is now on a river boat in the PNW. Anyhoo, Carnival came up in conversation as they are the line (well princess) that really started this mess. He told me they were transferring crew from infected ships to other ships in the fleet. Incredibly negligent. Add this to the others mentioned in the article and it makes you wonder about the integrity of the line. How many times in this forum have Carnival ships come up mentioning the lack of maintance on their ships? We were ported next to one in October in Nassau. It was full of rust. The ship looked so old and unkept. I looked up the ship on Wikipedia and the ship was newer than Mariner. We have a Carnival ship here out of Jacksonville and it just looks tired and worn out. So the question remains: are they too big to fail? I guess time will tell. I’ve never sailed them and have no desire to ever.

I'm guessing the new dates of cancellation will be coming very soon...probably within the next couple of days. I don't see # 1 or #2 (above) changing so that leaves #3. So the question is....does the 100 days start on April 9 or March 14 ?

Unclear when the 100 days starts to run. It was set to be re-published in the Federal Register (re-starting the 100 days) but it seems that it has possibly been withdrawn (meaning they may be further revising it): Editorial Note: The agency has requested this document be withdrawn from publication after placement on public inspection. The document will remain on file through close of business on April 13, 2020. A copy of the agency's withdrawal letter is available for inspection at the Office of the Federal Register. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/10/2020-07677/no-sail-order-and-suspension-of-further-embarkation-notice-of-modification-and-extension-and-other

This is about 10 days old, but... (no, I am NOT a fan of either not-so-Big Blue or THE!!!!! Ohio State University)

I wish all of my cruises were to nowhere, though my wife prefers port heavy itineraries.

What works for some doesn't work for others. I'll admit, we probably wouldn't get the coffee & water without a package. Soda, maybe a can a day. However we do quite a few pool side drinks and plenty at night. We are also diamond members. So for us it works but $65 is about my breaking point.

Solarium! I also enjoyed the top deck aft between the two Flow Riders- beautiful aft view and there’s a bar right there.

If Royal were to ever sell C & A cruise points for $$$, the perfect time would be right now. Free money for just a few keystrokes. Jus' say'n

At $65 a day you are talking 9 beers a day for me to break even ... i dont do coffee, i usually dont do mixed drinks, etc. .... as a Diamond i get 3+ free beers a night ... the convenience factor isnt enough to bite on that. At $50ish ... i'm all about the convenience and come close to break even.

I would just say that if the price is too high, don't book it.

I noticed the prices have gone down so I called for a price adjustment and the new price was $654 less. In October 2019, I booked a balcony room on Symphony of the Seas 7 day cruise for October 2020 for $3262.16 and now it's $2608.16. I notified my friends who booked a stateroom and they were also given $600 price adjustment. RC representatives said to keep checking back and they will price adjust until final payment is made. For those who have cruises scheduled for the later part of the year I would call for the price adjustment.

It's a Junior suite. We have stayed in this hallway before on Mariner. We loved it. Quiet, calm and the rooms are "newer" so it feels better.

You are very welcome. Yes, I do think the Chops lunch on embarkation day is worth the money. I don’t know if you can make a cruise planner reservation for embarkation day or not, but even if you cannot, I’m sure you can go on a walk-up basis and pay on site. I would recommend you go fairly early if you do it that way. I think they’re usually open until 1:30 or 2:00. It’s a very special, relaxed way to start your cruise. They normally open at noon.

I love how you call yourself "fat". We real porkers hate you guys who do that.

Day 7 – Last Sea Day A very sad day….last sea day. This is the day where we had to start packing and enjoy every last minute on the ship. We had great weather the entire cruise so it was nice to still be able to sit out on our balcony. Since we didn’t get much wind back there, sitting in the sun was very nice. We only had plans to do the back stage tour and bridge tour. I had already done the back stage tour so I only opted to do the bridge tour. Yen met us in the afternoon with one other Star Class group to do the bridge tour. When we got to the bridge, there was a bar set up for us with soda and champagne….talk about feeling like royalty! It was very interesting to hear how they dock, how the ship sails itself and the tutorial on the radar. The bridge definitely has an amazing view. After the tour, we asked Yen to join us for dinner at Chops. She said she was unable to but would join us for dessert. Dinner was amazing and we enjoyed having one last opportunity to eat at Chops. Of course, all of our drinks were waiting for us. Yen joined us for dessert and surprised us with a birthday cake for some of us celebrating milestones this year and the restaurant sang us Happy Birthday. This is our group with Yen.