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This is an excellent article for everyone to share on their social media. Perception versus reality of cruise ships. Most all of us can relate to the measures taken to keep us healthy onboard. Now it’s time we let Joe Public know that ships aren’t the Petri dishes they’ve been led to believe they are. http://www.yourcruisecoach.com/cruise-travel-and-covid-19-perception-vs-reality/

I wouldn’t freak yet! It’s either good or very bad. Since Fain just put out another feel good video today, it can’t be bad. Let’s think good!

Can you imagine trying to sell a cruise ship right now ? LOL Talk about selling in an off market !!! It's probably more about getting out from under insurance, crew and operating costs than actually bringing in any cash. I noticed that in the Carnival article they mentioned "scrapping" which is harsh, but probably a reality.

I was thinking the same thing. Well, if my money wasn't tied up in refunds. . . ?

Wow, are you really suggesting the the CDC (the people who worked to stop the spread of Ebola, SARS, Swine Flu, Measles, Aids) are ENJOYING THIS????? I'm sorry but I cannot believe any human being would accuse them of such a horrible thing.

Grab your torches and pitchforks! https://www.marketwatch.com/story/norwegian-cruise-investors-can-blame-the-cdc-for-extended-cruise-suspensions-analyst-says-2020-06-17

Just saw this on Facebook

This is what I'm thinking. Some computers are accessing their cache before they peter out (see below). I'm thinking it's a hamster powering the system and he's worn out. His name is Peter.

I can't help but picture their "IT" as something out of a "Despicable Me" movie right now ?? ?

And all of us checking the web site over and over again are probably making things worse.....LOL....

I wouldn't worry about it. It's typical Royal IT.

I would absolutely go on a Royal cruise this weekend. But I would also not be stupid about it....just like when I went to the beach Memorial Day week. I would wear a mask when I am inside in crowded situations like boarding, going to the shops in the promenade, regularly use hand sanitizer after touching something other people touch, and of course wouldn’t shake hands and generally keep my distance from others. But I would still go to the pool, eat in the restaurants, and have a good time. My 4 teens would do what they are going to do and hang out with friends just like they do now when I’m home and when we were at the beach. I would tell them to be careful but realize they will only do so much. in terms of RCL, they haven’t said what they will / won’t do when allowed to sail again, but I’m sure we will be getting served in the Windjammer for a while. But it’s silly to think it won’t be modified once they do sail. Again, my key point here is that all other US travel businesses have opened or are opening...why can’t they? I do agree with some of the posts above that it’s rooted in taxes, number of jobs of US citizens Impacted vs non citizens, bad lobbying, etc. Plus all the negative press from the Princess ships.

I was checking pricing on some of my short term cruises and noticed that some of them have a nice, big military discount. It seems that they are showing up only on the really short term ones, but if you wanted to book now, get the military discount and L&S....well...could work. My Dec 6 Oasis cruise has a $675 military discount but the one the very next week (second half of my B2B) does not. Go figure. BTW, it seems that they are allowing the military discount AND the C&A balcony discount so that's a nice discount when stacked together.

I believe that most of us avid cruisers who have developed an insatiable taste for it are letting the media’s view on COVID and the chaos in America's cities create a reality that is quite different from that of the cruise industry - especially RCL and its brands. I want to change your view to coincide more closely to how I think RCL sees things. Warning: This is a long post but nevertheless something to consider. Apologies in advance. if TLTR then stop here and don't. I'm a retired USMC pilot and later an EM Physician Assistant with 22 years of practice, now retired. I'm a consumer of abundant COVID (C-19) data, medical journals and scientific research. I live in Fort Lauderdale so I am being constantly bombarded by very negative C-19 national and local news that often fails to include context. It's hard to remain positive in light of that. But the medical and scientific facts paint a more hopeful circumstance for this C-19 pandemic than the social, print, and broadcast media paint. I’m an optimist! Certainly, reopening is causing more social contact and more new C-19 cases; that was anticipated by FL's public health and other government officials including Governor Desantis. I suspect that's the case in other regions and states. Despite the hand-wringing of Governor Desantis' political opponents, such hand-wringing being augmented by a politically hostile FL press, It's pretty clear that FL officials have decided that the benefits of getting residents of this state back to work outweigh the risks (so far) of more C-19 infections. State and local officials have apparently also decided that they can deflect the "blood on your hands" harangue from the press over reopening too soon or too fast. Other states are following similar paths in reopening and suffering similar backlash and doubts. Don't get me wrong. SARS-CoV-2 and the illness it produces, C-19, is serious stuff. But here are some things we've learned about it: It's a virus with the same natural pathogenesis (the way it evolves in terms of what we see in a human host with no immunity) as past pandemics like the 1918 Spanish Flu. It has a steep growth rate, plateaus then declines (the shape and length of plateaus and slope of the decrease will vary by region and be affected by controllable factors). It’s highly transmissible and therefore hard to contain – more so than anything virologists have seen in the past. COVID-19 deaths are dropping as states protect vulnerable populations and those that are vulnerable to serious illness alter their behaviors. See chart of FL's COVID deaths below. Global death rates are declining. Death rates tend to be one of the best indicators of the severity and decline or accelerations of a pandemic. The proportion of new infections since US reopening is dominated by the under 45 age cohort. This cohort, on balance, suffers only minor symptoms. Despite alarm bells being sounded in press rooms about hospital capacity "close to or at limits,” the facts don't support that headline. See your own state’s Public Health Dashboards US testing and contact tracing have improved over time, esp. in FL. It is likely that this will have a salutary effect on the spread of the disease in states that were early adapters. While the medical community won't categorically state that masks and social distancing reduce the spread of the virus because of a lack of controlled studies to confirm that hypothesis, the anecdotal evidence that these simple mitigation measures work v. the spread of SARS-CoV-2 is overwhelming. With that as a back-drop, back to my point - RCL is a business that depends on income and profits to survive. They unemotionally assess risks to their business model all the time and the impact of C-19, while unprecedented, is just one of them. There are things that are in their control - operating expenses v. income - and things that aren't - CDC's No Sail Order, Home Port and Port of Call openings, the pathogenesis of C-19 in regions where RCL has operating interests. Nevertheless, the need to generate income is going to be a primary driver in decisions to start operating. In my view, sooner rather than later. I also believe that the various ports that RCL and CLIA have to deal with will do the same kind or risk/benefit analysis our states are doing and conclude that for the sake of their economies, esp. the tourism industries, they have to open to cruise ships and deal with the downside potentials if and when they happen. To that end, Port Everglades is open and, according to an update on their web page yesterday is, "ready to welcome the cruise industry back and are prepared to welcome back guests with enhanced sanitation and social distancing measures in our terminals." Certainly, early returning cruisers are going to find potentially inconvenient mitigation measures in place, for example, strictly enforced and widely separated boarding times, proof of recent RT-PCR (swabs) negative testing before embarking or debarking from certain ports among many others that you have heard about (masks, limited capacity in the ships and in ships venues, etc.). Early return to cruising passengers are going to have to plan for and to be flexible enough to accommodate those likely mitigation measures along with itinerary changes, the possibility of being denied entry to a port of call or even home port if a crew member or passenger comes down with C-19, ship swap outs and changes in transportation to and from embarkation/debarkation points. If you are an early cruiser, you can also expect strict control measures for preventing C-19 or dealing with single or multiple C-19 infections on board should that occur. There will most likely be protocols for cruise lines for covering the costs of disembarking/transferring and quarantining C-19 positive passengers and crew both onboard and once ashore acceptable to home ports and ports of call - a huge task but one that cruise lines will figure out. Could they require passengers to carry travel insurance? I think that is entirely possible and even likely. If you get C-19 while aboard, you'll be quarantined, and I'd expect you will be required to debark at the next port of call at your expense/covered by your travel insurance. All of this is going to affect your experience in potentially negative ways. Get your mind wrapped around these if you plan on jumping in early. Some won't want to deal with any of this and if you don't think you can, now is the time to re-think taking at risk cruises and those are probably the ones through the end of 2020 and into the 1st and second quarter of 2021 - assuming decreasing risk of having to deal with the various inconveniences over time. My take is that "normalcy" - and even then it won't be like cruising pre-C-19 - will return in the 3rd quarter of 2021 (July - a year from now) and then only if a SARS-CoV-2 preventative vaccine - or at least one that has shown to protect against the most serious complications of C-19 - is available and scalable. That's the bad news ................OTH, I believe there's good news too. I believe the CDC's release of it's color coding system that applies to the ships involved in the cruise industries repatriation efforts is a harbinger of a color-coding system for ships that will have passengers aboard. I also think the CDC is closer to green-lighting cruise ship operations out of US ports than we think, and I use the no news is good news slogan as a basis for that view. I have no doubt that CLIA and other industry lobby groups are putting polite pressure on the CDC and the Trump administration to lift the no-sail order. They must be. There are more factors and benefits weighing for restarting RCL operations, as soon as things RCL doesn't have control over start moving favorably in their direction, than the factors against or risks of a C-19 infection occurring on one of their ships. From a corporate standpoint it is a choice between insolvency or solvency; bankruptcy or operational viability. The cruise industry, in varying degrees and based on a company's cash position, is getting absolutely hammered - probably worse than any and they have a right to bitch about it and haven’t at least not publicly. Behind the scenes? Absolutely. Carnival announced today it is selling or scraping 6 of its 8 Fantasy class ships in the next 90 days - that's a big chunk of change and as the vessels are actually sold or scrapped a sizable reduction in operating costs. We'll see these kinds of measures characterizing the cruise industries attempts to remain solvent while trumpeting such actions as injurious to any US agency holding the keys to restarting the gas turbines that will listen. My view is that across the industry generating income through sailings, even on a limited basis and as soon as possible, will be at the forefront and parallel any kind of cost shedding measures like Carnival just took. What about the risk of bad PR - something that popped up very early in the pandemic and was also highly damaging to the industry's rep and continues to be damaging? Dealing with bad PR if a cruise ship is found to have even one C-19 positive passenger or crew - something you have to believe RCL is planning on even now - is small potatoes compared to dealing with insolvency and bankruptcy. Think about that for a moment. Put yourself in the shoes of RCLs' CEO, Richard Fain. Corporations, especially one with the potential to generate 10s of billions in annual revenues, tend to survive. RCL will put its survival at the top of its list of short term corporate goals. I'm an optimist, I think RCL will sail, all things out of their control assumed to trend favorably, in August and on a limited basis. I think an early, limited start in the Caribbean has potential; I think the med, again on a limited/selected basis, has potential. We already know what regions are out for an August restart. Beyond that, it's anyone's guess..... you have mine. If Fain is to be believed, when RCL starts sailing again, while the experience will be different, it's likely to be as good as RCL can make it and I have no doubt it will still be overwhelmingly good. I'll enthusiastically jump right in with my mind and travel plans adjusted appropriately - Celebrity Equinox, 8n S. Caribbean, departs Fort Lauderdale August 1st, 2020..... a west bound translant out of Barcelona in October and a Holiday Cruise at the end of December.

But, but, but...THE WEBSITE! ?

well I sent a tweet to RCL asking what's up with the servers...

MAYBE THEY'RE PROCESSING ALL THE REFUNDS TODAY AND . . . nevermind.

Give it an hour or so. Usually problems like this clear themselves out.

The CDC won’t even express any interest in what the cruise lines are proposing. That’s not right. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/06/18/wall-street-cdc-blame-cruises-not-resuming-sooner

It says Advised, Key word, not required.

I have had thoughts about Royal having an art liquidation auction before they tow the Oasis class ships to some foreign soiled scrapyard. And the prices received being far, far less than what we have been told the art installations onboard are worth. I think Super Mario could pick up that million dollar spinning head on Harmony for just a thousand or two.

That caught my eye too. I suppose it's like donating that rust bucket car. It's gone the next day and you have a little tax write off. Here they might get some quick cash for the scrap metal and it's off their expenses list. Hey, if I had the cash I'd buy a used cruise ship... anyone want to go halvsies? LOL

I liked this and frankly could not agree more that it’s this simple. I don’t think at all they(CDC) mean to disrupt the industry. It’s just a position that is completely coming from a medical perspective. Just like if you work for a big company and the legal team is asked what to do and they give a very conservative opinion based on limiting liability....or the security officer gives an opinion based on protecting the company from hackers. But those folks are usually not the ones calling the shots and instead it’s someone who weighs the advice and ultimately makes a business decision that sometimes doesn’t follow the advice. The point here back to my original post is that if I can choose to take a vacation with my family to the beach and pool and restaurants While staying in a hotel in Florida, why not do the same things on a cruise ship pulling out of a Florida port? Its really the same thing from an exposure perspective and is a decision I am making

Just seen this change posted on another site. I guess the protesters last year has made an impact, thus another location to cruise from has been chosen. "Dear Guest, We’re really looking forward to welcoming you onboard Rhapsody of the Seas. Before we set sail, we have important itinerary information to share with you. There have been increased concerns regarding the future of cruising in Venice, Italy due to port congestion and the ability to control port traffic. And, while it’s not yet clear how cruise operations will be affected there, it’s important to us that we continue to do everything we can to provide you with a great experience and plan ahead, whenever possible. We know how much time and effort go into planning your vacation, so we’ve proactively made the decision to change the homeport for Rhapsody of the Seas for the upcoming Summer 2021 season to ensure there’s minimal last-minute impact to your cruise. As a result, instead of Venice, we’ve changed our departure and arrival ports to Ravenna, Italy – a city located just a couple hours south of our original cruise port. We’re terribly sorry for any inconvenience caused by this change. However, to ensure you have the smoothest experience possible and that you still get to experience Venice as planned – we’re providing complimentary shuttle services before and after your sailing. Below, please find our revised itinerary, as well as shuttle service information for your sailing. Day Port of Call Arrive Depart Sat Venice (Ravenna), Italy 6:00 PM Sun Kotor, Montenegro 12:00 PM 8:00 PM Mon Corfu, Greece 9:00 AM 3:00 PM Tue Athens (Piraeus), Greece 12:00 PM 8:30 PM Wed Mykonos, Greece 7:00 AM 5:00 PM Thu Argostoli, Greece 11:00 AM 7:00 PM Fri Cruising Sat Venice (Ravenna), Italy 5:00 AM Boarding Day: • If you’ve booked flights to Venice, either independently or through our Air2Sea team, you’ll head to the complimentary shuttles waiting for you at the Arrivals area of the Venice Marco Polo Airport. Once you arrive, we’ll have teams waiting at the airport to help guide you. Shuttles headed to the ship will depart about every hour beginning at 8:00 AM, with the last one departing at 1:30 PM. • If you pre-purchased transfers through us, you’ll board your transfer instead of the shuttle, and they’ll take you directly to the ship. Departure Day: • Once you’ve debarked and collected your luggage at the pier in Ravenna, proceed to Customs. • Next, you’ll be directed to board either our complimentary shuttle bus headed to the Venice Marco Polo Airport, or to board your pre-purchased transfer headed directly to your next destination. • Shuttle service will begin at around 7:00 AM and will depart about every 30 – 45 minutes based on guest departures from the ship, with the last one departing at 10:00 AM. The drive will take us around 2 ½ hours, depending on local traffic, so be sure to dress in your most comfortable gear, and feel free to relax on the scenic drive over. If you or anyone in your party requires the use of an accessible shuttle, just let us know when you arrive to board the shuttle. We’ll take care of the rest! And remember, if you complete online check-in prior to your cruise, you’ll have a smoother boarding experience. This can be done starting 90 days prior to departure. Don’t worry though, we’ll send you a reminder to complete it closer to your sailing! Your vacation time is important to us, and we want to make sure everything is perfect! Thanks for your cooperation and understanding. We look forward to welcoming you aboard! Sincerely, Aurora Yera-Rodriguez AVP| Guest Experience Royal Caribbean International"

Dude I have been trying to book that 2021 Nov Allure

That message dates back to mid-March....

I get the same. Chrome, incognito <-- is there another way to use Chrome? Developer tools shows lots of "unable to load" and most of it looks like front-end stuff (Javascript, jQuery, css, etc) ... probably took their website offline, my guess being 5PM EST it wasn't intentional, especially since we all know Royal loves to test their code in production :) LOL

My thought is book the cruise and hope for the best. Let's say it gets cancelled, there's usually enough warning you could do a vacation home rental or something a little more local.

Okay, as George Costanza said "It's not you! It's Me!" ? Or was that Jerry?

Carnival needs to scrap the ship in Jacksonville. That thing is ancient and a rust bucket. I've not been on it but many friends have locally and it leaves little to be desired.

I just checked into a cruise on Grandeur in Feb 2021. It's a 12 day over President's Day...what an awesome Military discount !!! Of course, who knows if Grandeur is ever going to sail again...but still a great price on this cruise. The amazing part is that they are stacking 4 discounts on this one. I'm tempted to do this one just b/c it is such a great deal...over 50% savings and it has nothing to do with the casino !!!

New: Independence of the Seas; April 1, 2021 Changed: - Replaced Anthem of the Seas, December 5 2021 with Oasis of the Seas, December 5, 2021

I have cruise planner purchases from May that I still have not gotten back yet ! Now, these were included in a total cruise cancellation but still. "C'mon, man" (to quote our former-VP).

Yes, buy as soon as you are comfortable with the price point. Cancel and rebook as necessary. The only caveat: refunds are taking waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer than the charge. For example I've now been charged twice for the same excursion, but have yet to receive the refund on the first booking. It's been over 45 days now. If you don't mind your money being tied up, go for it. I'm still waiting on over $3k in refunds. I filed a dispute with RCCL Visa/BOFA last week.

It was my understanding that they would roll it together in one. For our March sailing that was cancelled, we had applied an FCC and when we got back our new FCCs, it was rolled. I’ll have to see what happens to my August Oasis sailing that I am pretty sure will be a bust because we took our March FCC and applied it to that.

There are other things to consider. The CDC wants to keep infections under control, there job is to protect the public. Not businesses.Theme parks, restaurants, hotels etc are immovable targets. These place are also on US soil meaning that as long as they can post guidelines, the rest falls on the public. You do have every right to choose to go to the beach, Disney and stay in hotels ...at your own risk. I just read that these places have no liability if you catch COVID. The people who probably caught Covid from/at that Jackson bar has no one to blame. Cruise lines have to be careful because they are a moving target. 1000s of people from different places, visiting other places with 1000s of people who could be potentially infected and multiplying. Another reason is like the other poster said, no body is lobbying for the cruise lines. Though there are port jobs, taxes, and other incentives to consider....they just don't contribute enough to the US to be deemed necessary. How many jobs would keeping places like Vegas, Disney, United, and the Hyatt cost the economy by being closed? Finally I said this before, I think it is because cruising is negative. The general public has declared cruises nasty; they won't bat an eye to a mask-less rally but a floating petri dish is nothing but a cesspool of disease. If it true that the CDC has been shooting down all of NCL plans, that means they might be siding with the public.

Could have been embarrassing! Fortunately it was just my kids...who unfortunately overheard a nice set of new vocabulary words. ? I'm sure they'll wait to repeat them until we're at grandma's. ?

Hmmm, based not just on this articles but all the ones since posted....anybody else wonder if the CDC is going off of public opinion? Overwhelmingly the opinions are negative. When you read the comments on planes, theme parks, and hotels the opinions are positive...despite a negative article. The fact that NCL said they have submitted actual protocols but were denied speaks volumes.

Finally ... a published article with some truth!

I've followed the same approach. My remaining concern is that I have some in the "uncertainty" zone currently that might be Lifted and Shifted or rebooked if cruising doesn't resume on time ... and I really lament losing a good deal ?

My only concern with waiting until cruising begins again is that I fear prices on things like dining and drinks packages will shoot up once cruising resumes. There have been some incredibly good deals on drinks packages recently so I went ahead and bought when they were low. I fear they will jump once cruising starts again.

Love all those suggestions, and the one from @rjac too. All very appropriate. NOPE is my standard answer on forms when they make a field mandatory and I don't want to answer it ?

Depending on whether there was company in the house at the moment, that might have been the better of the two possible outcomes for something being torn off! My wife just got a cocktail shaker with jigger. Told her that just means that I now have to go out and buy some sour mix, anejo tequila, and the other ingredients to make a Mango Melon 'Rita like in Boleros!

I think the issue might be very simple : If you ask CDC as an health organization they will tell you that the best way to fight the C19 (or any other virus) is to close everything , everyone will stay at home and the army will bring the food and water. few weeks/month like that and everything will be OK. On the other hand you have the local business and others organization that are pushing to open everything so the economy can recover. Theme parks = lots of local jobs and taxes at the parks/hotels/restaurants/laundries and many other business. They have someone to shout and push on their behalf. The cruise industry dose not have this , they do not pay taxes in the US and the number of local jobs they provide are limited. That is why the CDC allowing other things to be open while keep the cruise shut, Its not because they hate cruising they just could not keep all the other things close ...

I may be making them again tonight for this very reason. Woke up to a fridge that had stopped working, and this afternoon my shorts got caught on a kitchen cabinet door handle...ripping it right off the hinges. ?? On the bright side, yesterday I got a $2000 price drop on our January cruise. Bring on the drink package!

Pretty sure that the CDC has more important things to do, than answer your personal question of when you can drink a labadoozie again...

You mean we finally get to eat food that hasn't been touched and put back by kids and some disgusting adults? The amount of things you can observe in just a minute or two in the buffet line (anywhere not just a cruise) is absolutely disgusting.

Mentioning me usually gets worse pricing!