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Everyone is out of sorts with a year plus of no cruising. Like kids who need a nap, we all just need a cruise before we will be back to ourselves.

Bring on the vaccine tourists! Come on Canada, get your beavers down here!

The CDC staff making up these requirements while they sat maskless in a bar must have been laughing their asses off.

90 or so responses and I can't remember ever seeing as much negativity as I just have? We got what we want! Now there is an avalanche of overthought, baseless, "what ifs" and could be's and.... Were supposed to be pumped. We knew all along that masks and vaccinations would be part of the deal and now the moaning surfaces? I thought this group was supposed to be steadfast cruisers. A week ago you didn't mind the masks and vacs but today you do? Stay on the beach if you wish but I'll be on an upper deck waving bye bye...

It's your vacation investment. You deserve prompt service.

The most exciting thing I saw in Cozumel was two Carnival ships crashing into each other.

Your logic makes sense from the Wal Mart perspective, meaning, if someone catches Covid at Walmart, it doesn't make the news, and it becomes a statistic for the county. Cruise ships are different because of the optics involved. You cannot have a cruise ship sailing and oops, there are 1, 5, 11, or 50 cases of Covid onboard, because the media will go absolutely bananas covering it as a "super spreader" event with non-stop helicopter coverage. Is that right? Of course not. It's not fair, and it's not what should happen. But it absolutely will happen. When there was that false positive on Quantum in December, that one case made the national news here in the U.S. for a Singaporean sailing. If you think they can ignore the media coverage, then it becomes even worse. Unfortunately, you start getting legislators and public officials involved because the media hounds them with "Why where they allowed to sail? Why haven't they stopped the cruise?" Nevermind the public relations black eye of perpetuating the "petri dish" stereotype. So you're absolutely right there's no reason cruising cannot resume immediately, but they also cannot restart without a great deal of safeguards in place first and then ease back on them slowly.

I couldn't care less if I were on a ship full of unvaccinated people (as it used to be). The risks are minimal, and those at greater risk should be vaccinated. I don't like the idea of this mass coercion into getting the whole world vaccinated (that's a another topic), we need to live with this like we do flu! Not making people scared of the 'unvaccinated'. There is now no reason in my mind why cruising cannot resume immediately.

I think we are all being cautious having been let down before.

Rumor is that Fauci will be at the port with his slide rule keeping an accurate count. Remember the CDC rounds down. So to be safe, Royal should achieve 100% because 99% rounds down to 90% which is below 95%.

Of the two mainland tours, I've done Tulum (2014-ish). Chichen Itza (which is the more spectacular of the two ruins) I did years ago (2003-ish), albeit when we were vacationing in Cancun, and when you could still climb the temple. Tulum was pretty nice. Like @JRT we got a partially guided tour and more than enough time to explore the ruins and have some fun at the beach. We did have to spend 30-45 minutes at the midpoint souvenir shop though - I don't like it, but I get it. Meanwhile, my brother and his wife did Chichen Itza off the boat a few years ago. They got back to the ship late (probably 45 min) but since he booked through Royal, the ship waited for them. I would say that if you do either of these two tours, you should book via the cruise line. Even though the Tulum tour will get you back to Playa del Carmen in plenty of time, the ferry adds an extra point of risk, so this is the one time where I'd say that it's worth paying the cruise premium for an excursion.

I'm sorry this is happening to you! If you have booked cruises, you can contact Royal Caribbean and ask for the cruises to be released back to you. If they say no, escalate it. You have the right to take them back. If you have FCCs (not applied) you can book new with another travel agency or direct. FCCs belong to you, not to the travel agency. Good luck!

It's easy for vaccinated to endorse a vaccine or don't go approach but this has significant impact to Royal's primary target audience - multi-generational families. That's why I think Royal will strive to find a solution that doesn't take this approach if at all possible.

Going onboard again next week. Will post more pics

This. I also think that the pandemic has changed a LOT since Summer 2020, or even Winter 2020. While at one point we all thought masks would be required, then vaccines arrived. At that point no one had access to vaccines, so we assumed masks and vaccines. Now vaccines are available to everyone over 16, and CDC has changed it's masking advice to not be recommended outside. So I don't think it's unreasonable to pontificate on what could/should be. A lot of us see that the pandemic is changing (read: getting better) quickly and think that policies and procedures should evolve along with it.

I don't have hard numbers but all my cruising friends got or are getting the vaccine SO they can sail. Myself a combo of that and I also saw the Bahama "thing" coming ... I work there frequently and this saves me an expensive test over and over. For the record I'm not overly "Pro Vaccine" but if it gets me on a ship then so be it. I'm not alone in that view...

Thank you all so much for your advice. Thanks for the explicit directions too. I will definitely try this tactic if things don't get resolved in the next week. I often waffle between whether I'm being too demanding or being a sucker. I've been using the same TA since 2014 and we've had several successful cruises together. She was always very responsive. But ever since early 2020, it's been all downhill. So many problems, so many promises to be patient and she'll send updates. There were never any updates and I would feel like a sucker. At first I'd check every week, then every month. I understand that her business has taken a major hit with the no sail order and I don't want to punish her further, but this response was so terrible that I just give up. It's the straw the broke the camel's back. I did send her an email asking her to release the booking. She wrote back that she's just been overwhelmed by the hundreds of cruise emails she gets every day. (so..many...excuses) She then said she'll try to get to it today. By get to, I have no idea whether she means "release the booking" or "call royal for the F&S". Either would be good for me. Since it's Friday afternoon, I don't have much hope.

Happened once in the new My Royal Cruises format but worked second time using straight digits 8005551212 format IIRC.

Great question @Oliver. I'm assuming that once the new terminal opens, RCG would maximize that investment by sailing all of their ships from that new terminal. Since they would already be paying rent on it I don't think they would want to also pay rent on the existing terminal. I'm definitely with you on having a Celebrity ship in Galveston! That would be great. They could easily have a 7-night ship on both Saturday and Sunday, plus 4 and 5-night ship/ships during the weekdays. Prior to the Covid craziness, Carnival had announced a 4th ship for Galveston. I assumed that 4th ship would force Carnival to use both of the existing terminals, which they have done sometimes in the past. The Port also has a fourth cruise terminal in their Master Plan. It would be located at the current Del Monte pier. Del Monte's lease expires in 2023 I believe, and that would allow the Port to move them to another part of the Port. Harborside Drive from 10th Street to 27th Street would become "cruise ship row".

If the TA won't do it you can still reach out to Royal Caribbean and ask them. It's up to that TA if they charge any fees, but might be worth it to get rid of them.

Thank you all for your responses. I didn't realize Royal can just release these back to me. They made it sound like they are under a contract with the TA and that's why they can't speak to me or do anything I request, as it has to go through her. I'll try and see if I can get my TA to voluntarily release this one back to me so I can take care of it.

I had a similar experience back in 2019 with a rather large online company that I had used a few times. We booked a couple of cruises while on a cruise and told them I did not want that company to manage those bookings, however they did capture the bookings and notified me upon my return home. I decided to let it go and those bookings fell cancelled in 2020. Issues started in trying to lift and shift etc and like Jupiter03 responses were rare and confusing. After months of problems, I found out that you can demand the bookings be returned to RCI and then you can work directly with them any time. According to RCI the agency can not refuse if that’s your wishes. On the positive side, after all of that, I found Michelle Cunningham at MEI and the world of travel is a different place now. Through the entire disaster of 2020/2021 cancellations, rebooks, lift & shifts, FCC’s etc she was right there any time I needed her help. She answered calls, texts and emails 7 days a week (I mean even Sundays). Once you work with a pro like her it will reinforce how important a good TA can be. I hope you get things worked out for sure so you can resume enjoying your travel plans.

Is your TA with a large agency or a small shop? If it is anything other than a small shop I'd have a discussion with management of that company and request a new agent on their team. In extreme cases Royal will intervene but that's not an easy path to pursue.

I couldn’t agree more…I have 5 suites booked on the Oasis for August and if my grand children are banned I will be cancelling them all! The CDC needs to pull their thumb out of their mouth, get out of their fetal position, and stop imposing absurd requirements that are not supported by current information.

Just booked a Labadee cabana for a Christmas cruise. It's not much, but it's nice --for the first time in a long time--to have a glimmer of hope that cruise might actually happen.

This is interesting too: The surgeon general also stated that Florida residency will no longer be a requirement for vaccination in the state. He said any person currently in Florida who meets FDA guidelines will be eligible to get vaccinated “to ensure no COVID-19 vaccines are wasted.” This tells me that crew members can get vaccinated pretty easily.

Yeah, and that would be the exact scenario playing out for two of our three booked cruises. If our kids can't come, four other cabins would cancel in addition to ours. Anchor babies of a different sort. It is all a numbers game, so I would understand being on the wrong side of it. I'm more worried about getting back to normal generally (see above re: wonky risk calculus), and am fine if cruises are a little slower to the table. I truly am worried about the new return to normalcy conditioned on masks being worn indefinitely or continued school shutdowns until vaccines are available for a population that honestly doesn't need them with any urgency. Not to mention the ethical ramifications of rushing through the process of administering vaccines to children who don't suffer the ill effects of the virus while the elderly, vulnerable unvaccinated populations in other parts of the world suffer the burden of immeasurable loss and illness.

Like many I have concerns sharing health related information with private companies yet I can see why cruise lines need to understand what they they are dealing with as they strive to find the optimal protocols to implement on board from one sailing to another. One solution is to implement different protocols for those that to choose to share their vaccine status. Anyone who doesn't vaccinate or chooses not to disclose their status can sail but with more protocols. Daily temperature checks, onboard testing every few days, tracelets, ideally no masks outdoors but masks while in transit indoors moving between cabins and dining for example. This can accommodate families of all ages. To differentiate they could do what they do with certain youth Seapass cards - print them vertically. If you choose to share your fully vaccinated status you would get a normal looking SeaPass and face fewer protocols. No daily temperature checks, no testing on board, no tracelets. Between the tracelet and the SeaPass card crew will know what protocols are required for each guest. Fail to follow your assigned protocols and off you go at the next port of call. I can already hear pushback to the idea of differentiating between guests but the alternative requires they assume no one is vaccinated and all Singapore protocols apply to everyone. I don't want to sail like that, that's not why I chose to vaccinate. I should not be penalized because someone else hasn't vaccinated.

As the thread evolves we see many different perspectives which is a good thing. The challenge facing the cruise lines, in as much as they can implement a policy within the framework outlined by the CDC will be arriving at an approach that satisfies the most while keeping the company safe and in operation as the virus evolves and new variants come into play. On one extreme we have going back to the way it was with no protocols and no requirements related to virus mitigation. I'm not sure the CDC is going to allow that approach at least until Nov. 1 nor do I think any cruise line will attempt this as there is great risk to the brand and cruising in general should an outbreak, even a minor outbreak occur. On the other extreme they have to go with Singapore like protocols as if there is no vaccine so that they don't have to ask the question "are you vaccinated or not?". Any guest can be accommodated, any age, at entire ship of unvaccinated can sail. Protocols would include daily temperature checks, masks outdoors, testing every few days, distancing and capacity controls, contact tracing tracelets - all the protocols that allowed ships to sail safely without vaccines. You can argue all you want why it should be one or the other but somewhere between the two extremes will be an approach allowed by the CDC that will be acceptable to many (but not all) potential cruise guests while minimizing the opportunity to feed the media frenzy an outbreak will induce.

I've come to realize more and more that this is essentially my position, especially as cases continue to follow a seasonal trend despite containment efforts. It seems obvious to me that this is here to stay, vaccine or not. A lot of the arguments we're using right now to frame the problem will set us up for a future where we can once again be told to put our lives on hold if cases begin increasing again (as they likely will this fall). The only argument that has any lasting power is essentially the one you made: COVID is here to stay, people have the power to make choices which will limit their personal risk to a great degree (IE vaccines), and we are prepared to care for the ones who come down with serious cases of the virus. I also think the coming fall will be a bell weather of sorts for future cold/flu/COVID seasons. The earlier than expected and more severe onset of RSV cases in Australia suggests that we may have inadvertently done harm to young children by locking down and depriving them of the opportunity to get infected and train their immune systems with commonly circulating viruses. If we have a worse than normal flu season, I can forsee a future where an emboldened CDC uses the last year of experience with COVID to continue recommending some of the same precautions that exist today.

I'm vaccinated. I'll feel safe wherever I am, especially knowing everyone who isn't vaccinated boarded with a negative test.

Good point. Azamara offered overnight port stays, more immersion, and with the smaller ships could access smaller less traveled ports. I don't see Edge 1.0 & 2.0 class being able to do that. Quickest way to achieve return on investment is collecting a higher fares - which is the path they're showing with Beyond. Twangster's Beyond observations are spot on when comparing to SS fare base for similar length cruises. Certainly has me rethinking whether I would book Beyond (unless there's some price contraction). One of the keys to stellar service is higher crew to passenger ratio and while Celebrity is very nice, its still a mass market line. Butler service in Retreat level is not as personalized as Star Royal Genie. As I rant, I would like to point out the Edge class "infinite" balcony rooms are a disappointment to those who have sailed with actual open balconies. That design is somewhat a step back from early year Celebrity marketing of maximizing balcony options to passenger. Marketing to a new generation, but the older generation has the $$ at this time (at least for a while longer).

Im travelling with a 13, and 17 year old who more than likely wont be vaccinated ( my wife and I are). I also do not want my children vaccinated whilst the vaccines are still officially under trial. I can only hope that for this summer they allow children on board with a negative test. If after that cruises are for vaccinated persons only I will no longer be cruising!

Ugh. Attention to detail is key for any contractor. Not a ringing endorsement, and surprising after all the other work that seemed to come out so well up to that point. I hope this doesn’t escalate into anything major, and that this particular subcontractor steps up his game for the rest of the project.

I have to admit, the thought of watching an unvaccinated getting busted in a cruise terminal with a fake card is oddly appealing to me. Too late to use Cruise With Confidence. You literally lose the entire cruise cost.

One unvaccinated person infected on a ship will blow up in the media and end up costing cruise lines hundreds of millions should the CDC step back in and declare them closed again. Just the bad press from a claim of an infection from a cruise will cost all cruise lines a hit to stock prices and a drop in bookings. That's a direct hit to their bottom line. The absolute last thing any cruise line can afford is a case or claim of a case aboard a ship. I respect everyone's individual choice for or against getting a vaccine. I also respect a business having the ability to establish policy to protect itself from a crazed media eager to see it fail. To that end I hope cruise lines establish a vaccine requirement. They need to do so to protect themselves. I'd really like to see a common sense policy of 100% vaccinated crew and guests with masks only required until you step your first foot onboard the ship. At that point the mask comes off and the party begins. I understand this will impact families with members that can't or choose not to vaccinate. Unfortunately until this virus has moved past society that is an unfortunate outcome. Once protocols are no longer used anywhere on land they can be removed from ships as well. At that point all are welcome back on board just as they will be everywhere on land. Cruising is NOT a constitutional right and businesses must be free to take whatever steps are necessary to operate and protect their brand. For those that choose not to vaccinate, including friends I have, that choice comes with consequences like not being to enjoy a cruise. That is your right to choose, don't take this personal, it's not meant to be an attack but I'm ready to cruise and the safest way to make that happen as quickly as possible is to require a vaccine.

I just had a vision of someone hacking into the system and randomly ejecting people from their loungers. "There's the guy who cut in line at the WJ last night... gaboing"

I completely agree, and I was talking about this with @MelKaps last night. The issue, as I see it, is cruise ships are incredibly under the gun not to have even ONE case onboard. Media is waiting with baited breath for a case so they can jump on the "ANOTHER COVID OUTBREAK AT SEA" train, followed up with the "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING" trash. There will absolutely be a certain level of health theater onboard, because they have to do every little thing they can to mitigate the chance of a case onboard. Dollywood just rolled back their restrictions, but no one cares when there's a case there because it's not gonna get clicks/views like "CRUISE SHIP PETRI DISH DISASTER" stuff. It's the sad reality cruises are in right now.

I should add I have zero TA background. However, as retired Engineering, Tooling, & QA management with Boeing, I have learned how to not accept bad work, then to get resolution. At 36,000 Feet, you are very happy that I did.

I could see Canadians lining up, actually.

Our favorite thing we did in Cozumel was saving baby sea turtles. I believe they only offer it during certain times of the year but it was really cool.

Why do people say “break a leg” when you go on stage? Because every play has a cast.

There are more people in this photo from the weekend than a full Oasis class ship. There are more people in this stadium than 14 full Oasis class ships. No masks, no social distancing, no COVID....No cruise ships. The CDC aren't the only losers out there.

I have three right now: Odyssey of the Seas - Nov 15-Nov 20 Odyssey of the Seas - Nov 20 -Nov 28 Freedom of the Seas - Nov 29 - Dec 3 I've contacted my travel agent, @StephanieH, to change the second Odyssey booking to one on the Radiance. That's one more ship to cross out on my bucket list. I haven't given up on my desire to sail on all the Royal ships in the fleet. The Radiance bearing the name of the class makes it extra sweet. OFF-TOPIC: What do you call a ship after which a class is named? A flagship?

Interesting reading from the posted agenda for next Port of Galveston meeting. Section C.3. Port Directors report (PDR) PDR attachment - One slide shows Royal Caribbean Terminal Update - the due diligence period is waived, hard contract now. However extend final completion date and rent start date 3 months. Business section F.11 - attachment shows a proposed 2nd amendment to RC new Terminal ground lease. Here is the entire agenda with links https://www.portofgalveston.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04272021-394?html=true (Note: PDR last slide also shows 2 Carnival ships & Crew returning to Galveston May 2, 2021.) @Galveston Steve, just saw your update posted above. Thanks

As we both know, works great until you realize there aren't enough local tourists to pay the bills ?

You know cruising is about to restart when @CGTLH appears.

And there might be less instances of rudely pushing in front of you with motorized scooters. Nah, those rude people will still find a way to be rude.

You mean the "private" tables for two might no longer put you even closer to other couples than sharing a large table with them does?