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I've come to realize I'd make a bad TA. Everytime a client asked for a cruise booking I'd be like... "That's a nice cruise. I better book that one too!". Then I'd be on cruises all the time and never available to service my clients.

If Americans are willing to drink something like Bud Light and call it beer then a few temporary symptoms from a vaccine are nothing.

Not to be outdone, the busiest cruise port in the world has entered the crew vaccine effort. There were four ships in port Saturday, two today.

New vlog. This is my take on the CDC's letter to potentially start cruising this summer.

I just make stuff up.

Now, if only the $18 deluxe beverage package would make a comeback!

Hey all! Clearly the Roll Call sub-forum is something that had a lot of pent-up demand! In the interests of making it easy to search for a particular roll call and add new ones into the forum with a consistent format, please be sure to follow these guidelines: First, always search for your sailing to see if a Roll Call was already created Easiest way to search is use the first word in the ship's name, the word AND, and the date enclosed in quotes (e.g., Vision AND "Aug 14, 2021"); this should properly limit the search and not give a lot of false matches on just the ship or date Don't worry about searching on the full ship name since every ship ends with "of the Seas" If you don't find it through search, try sorting the forum by title (see later posts in this thread for screen shots); it's possible your sailing is there but the entry was created with a different style subject line. If you don't find your sailing in the search results or after sorting, go ahead and create a new topic. Please try to use the following format so it's easily found through search: Ship Name a hyphen Departure date using the format month name (3-letter), followed by the day, then the year; this should help avoid confusion for members from countries where an all-digit date usually puts the day before the month. Examples: Aug 14, 2021 Jun 12, 2021 Jul 22, 2022 An optional itinerary name / description in parentheses This should let anyone easily find any sailing here, without having to guess what date format got used or which ship it's on. Examples: Adventure of the Seas - Jun 12, 2021 Vision of the Seas - Aug 14, 2021 (Bermuda and Perfect Day) Radiance of the Seas - Jul 22, 2022 (Alaska Southbound) Forum moderators / @Matt, if possible can you update the existing topics that include "ROLL CALL" or use a different date format so they're consistent? I figure better to ask this now while we still have a relatively limited number of sailings posted. ?

https://www.galveston.com/webcams/cruisevideocam/

I have thought about it forever...

Everyone needs ample quantities of water on a daily basis.

Hi @jupiter03. I *think* the idea of suggesting the above is that AFTER you get your cruise released back to you, you can then transfer it to a reputable agency. I agree; @Sharla or the other agents at MEI will not let you down. I hope this helps.

Astra Zeneca was not too bad, provided you survive the blood clotting.

Hubby and I should have second doses by end of July but as a fellow Canadian, my concern is actually more with being able to get in/out of Canada without quarantine. It is the border issue that concerns me more these day. I will be so thankful if I can cruise Allure in December without issue.

So I finally get to dream of a new cruise. My baby is going to college next year and my husband, my daughter and I will all have different spring breaks. I have roped my sister in law into going on a cruise with me... First one for me since our 2019 Europe cruise on vision. Since our last 2 cruises were on small ships, I'm ready for a bigger one. Looks like March out of Florida (decided not to look at liberty out of Galveston for the moment) my best bets are symphony or odyssey. I've never been on a quantum ship and since it's only a 6 day cruise I'm leaving towards symphony. Then the other twist is that I could try celebrity for the first time... Either either on reflection (the last solstice ship), Edge or Apex (the newest ship). I'm leaning against edge... Just so expensive. Also I'm still only emerald class so wouldn't get any good transfer perks and symphony would add 7 more nights to my C and A. I know cruise choice is all subjective but I'm curious on people's comparisons celebrity vs Royal, and quantum vs Oasis class. Jane

I'm thinking 8/1/2021.

Have Liberty in July. Hoping they can work out the logistics so we can go on the 4th. Watching the live feed from one of the YouTube Vlogs showing the two Carnival ships coming in now. Even though they are not RCCL it is a great day to see cruise ship arriving for the first time in over a year in port!

I agree with this but think it will be earlier. Two reasons: (1) The need for the cruise lines to start generating income is a significant drive of corporate plans and policy making on the mechanics of restarting. Getting crews back to ships is a routine evolution for them. The scale of the operation is just larger but the mechanics are tested and in place. (2) The actual numbers of ships that are going to pass through CDC's gates and start sailing in July, all things considered probably won't exceed 20% of all fleet capacity. That reduces the problems of (1) above and, I would think make the restarting, operation each line will be facing a lot simpler. On the increase in infections within countries the lines rely on for labor, I've not dug into this as thoroughly as I might but it's been my experience from the start of the pandemic that reporting of it's impact has been exaggerated and can frequently be misleading. I think this is probably the case in both India and the Philippines. My thinking here rests on the belief that RCL, for example, would not have stopped crew members of Indian origin from returning to work without a careful analysis of labor needs given restart plans. They've matched labor needs with availability carefully, I think. They can get to what they need from Eastern Europe and Asia. I also think that there is a tendency to take national COVID data and apply it as if every region in the country is experiencing the same level of new cases. That is never the case. Regionality is the hallmark of SARS2. I suspect that is true in the Phillipines and probably in India although India is a different beast. Some of that behavior is explainable, a lot of it isn't. The bottom line is that the cruise lines, having measured labor needs v. availability will get what they need to restart at some lelel that they calculate will be profitable. At first, the margins will be small so that proof of concept is obtained. As we move forward into late summer and fall, I can see 20% capacity moving to 50% and then 75%.

She is due for a technical drydock to get routine mandatory marine maintenance performed. I'm guessing shipyard availability has been impacted by the virus with some work taking longer and schedules for a number of ships being impacted. The changing availability of space in shipyards is likely causing new plans to be considered for all ships, i.e. cargo, container, tanker and cruise ships. The dust may not be settled on a Liberty shipyard visit in July so they may be waiting for greater confidence in the plan before committing to a change.

Can I nominate this for Post of the Day? ?

Had my 2nd Moderna poke yesterday. Woke up feeling like New Years morning, x 2. Fever, whole body aches, headache.....But, this grass isnt going to cut itself, and my wife won't quit calling me a baby....so time to pop some Advil and get moving...

I don't think so... I fact-check you! ha ha

When I grow up, I want to be just like @twangster. I want to know things!?

I'm going with August 1st purely because I'm hoping to be on Symphony on 8/14. ? I do think they will be working like crazy to save some of the summer sailings. This is the first time I am allowing myself to be even mildly optimistic.

Just as long as your infant is 48 inches and 75 pounds! ? God Bless your wife!

I, too, have been working with Kathy and highly recommend her. She worked very hard yesterday to get my Odyssey OTS cruise set up.

I used to be addicted to the hokey pokey. Then I turned myself around.

I'm so sorry you are having that experience. I had mine at 2pm one day and had to work a 12-hour shift from 6pm-6am that night, so I was crossing my fingers that I wouldn't get run over since I'm the supervisor on duty and had nobody to relieve me if I got sick - my plan was to hope the crew could run itself and just lay down of the floor of my office all night. Luckily, I was spared and never had any reaction from the 2nd. Here's hoping you feel better very soon.

I think it applies to both. We booked excursions in CocoCay, St. Thomas, and San Juan, and my 4-year old daughter was free for all of them today. She was charged a few months ago.

Disney will do whatever it wants and DeSantis will have to find a way to embrace it. He doesn't have any relevant control over cruise lines despite what some of his staffers have suggested. In fact it's not clear how private business would make out in a court of law if any large business tested the limits of governor EO powers or even a hastily thrown together bill that piggybacks on another bill to get it done quickly.

It seems so random. First shot left with me a sore arm like I worked out too much that day. My 2nd dose of Pfizer yielded nothing. Every twitch I thought "is that a symptom?" but then I realized I'm just getting old. I was like... did they give me a placebo? Trials are over, right? I was disappointed... no time off work.

Celebrity has introduced "Always Included" so pricing now includes basic wifi and a classic beverage package (basic beer/wine/liquor but not top shelf beer/wine/liquor). That accounts for some of the higher pricing you may be seeing now. Celebrity is an upscale cruise line so expect similar food maybe just a wee bit better than Royal but more importantly expect an upscale customer base. While not kidless, expect fewer families with kids. It's a little more of a refined product if that makes sense. Odyssey being the newest ship is subject to new ship pricing. Symphony and Harmony both still feel new. Different production shows but if you haven't been on either ship all are good on both ships. Other than that there are minor differences between the two sister ships. You can't go wrong with any of these ships.

I've seen suggestions that if the first shot hits you more than the second, then it's possible you had covid at one point and never knew it.

The bottom line is that she needs to be responsive to you and she has not been. Don't overthink this. She obviously has something that is preventing her from giving you her full attention.

I paid a fish to come over to re-key my guitar, piano and drums. He was a professional tuna.

I know!!!!!! I went to the beverage package page to make sure LOL

Sorry to hear you're having a rough time with shot #2. But take comfort that at least it's not this... ? https://m.tiktok.com/v/6955324892459928837.html?u_code=di5idi3bfja18b&preview_pb=0&language=en&_d=di5jf3k5gceh76&share_item_id=6955324892459928837&source=h5_m

Not quite the walk in the park I thought it might be. I'm a rough tough kind of sea farer. Wrestle sea serpents and eat clams while still in the shell. Mid day poke yesterday. By bed time little disoriented and arm a touch sore. About midnight it rocked my world. Every joint muscle, organ, bone giving me grief... Feel like I went sky diving without a parachute. 17 hours later It has not let up. Not trying to scare. Just be planned in a way that gives you a couple days to shake it off...

Add an air horn, or flashing red light, maybe even a small electric shock? Chair hogs need to be embarrassed. Next time they ask for a pool towel, they would be given one with a porky image.

I LOVE the Celebrity Edge, and I'm sure I will love Apex as well since they are so similar. It's just a unique ship, one you don't really understand until you experience it. All staterooms include WiFi, gratuities, and a beverage package, so the price can be reasonable when you compare it to Royal Caribbean. Celebrity is a little more elevated.

Your best time to score ideal pricing is the week they open future dates. I was under $4,400 for two guests total on a 7 night Caribbean cruise in the UP plus I had $400 in NextCruise OBC. Given the cost of UDP, DX, Voom and gratuity that are included it was a steal. Such a shame it was chartered.

Crew is getting their vaccinations.

Even if not in a suite, there are more dining options. Four main dining options: Normandy (French), Cosmopolitan (American), Cyprus (Med), Tuscan (Italian) - all included. As the MDR consists of 4 separate venues/themes - they're a little more intimate, less noise as guests are spread out between the 4. There are specialty dishes that go with the themes. You can rotate across all of them or just use the one you favor. Eden Cafe - breakfast and lunch, . Oceanview cafe - buffet like the Windjammer, Mast Grill, Specialty - Terrace Grill, Fine Cut (Steak), Le Grand Bistro (French), Eden (comes with entertainment), Le Petit Chef (dining with table special effects), Raw on 5 (Seafood), Magic Carpet dining (lunch/dinner - weather permitting). Aquaclass gets you BLU and Suite gets you Luminae. Both of those are also on Reflection. Reflection has a single 3 level MDR.

Starboard will provide superior nighttime views, hence the name.

These are private business's and are national companies that will have a policy made from their home office. As a general rule, private business's can impose rules for their customers - an example would be a restaurant that requires ties and jackets. These rules will likely stay as long as the CDC rules require masks. I applaud the state of FL for pushing the issue though, My fear is that the mask wearing will continue long past when it should.

Reactions really are all over the map. My whole family got Pfizer, and all of us have had different reactions after the second shot. Mild chills and aches that lasted half a day for my mom and nothing more. For me it was fatigue, mild fever, and my whole body ached for an entire day. While my wife had bad chills that came and went along with mild body aches, and my younger daughter had a fever so bad she sweated through her pajamas and sheets that night, and then felt basically fine the next morning. My older daughter is the real outlier. She contracted Covid back in January, had a relatively mild case that cleared out after a week and a half. She just got her first shot of Pfizer this past Monday, and said it knocked her out for the whole next day with symptoms that were like having Covid all over again. Hopefully her second shot will produce little to no reaction.

I'll waive hi as we get off, missed you by that much...

I had saw the all included, but couldn't figure out if it was just aqua class and what the differences were. I think i have finally figured out that when I add up the drink pkg, wifi and any excursions to symphony or harmony, it really makes them about equivalent to Edge. But like Joe pointed out, I only get my points if i do royal not celebrity. Ahhh.....fwp! I have only been on allure, so either symphony or harmony would be awesome! Odyssey wasn't bad, but was one night less, so that is less appealling. Jane

It's not absolute, all federal control or all state control, it's a combined or shared function. There are differents areas of jurisdiction. Ships are subject to some city and state regulations such as the ability to serve or tax alcohol or operate a casino on board while in port. Local taxation and regulations apply down to the city and state level but foreign flagged ships are also governed by international maritime treaties so a local ordinance related to something like ADA regulations can't be applied to a ship that is in port. For example if a ship doesn't have a wheelchair ramp into a restaurant that meets local code requirements they can't cite the ship like they could a local business but if a city or state has alcohol regulations those can be applied to a ship in port. Both NYC and Texas have different alcohol regulations that are well known and discussed on cruise forums that apply to cruise ships until they leave and clear territorial boundaries. Florida has them too but they are less impactful so not as frequently discussed. Carnival charges local taxes on a per drink basis while in a US port even if a guest has a drink package. Royal factors these taxes into the bigger picture and doesn't charge them on each drink for guests with a drink package but if you read the terms and conditions of the drink package they could. They do charge them to a guest if you don't have a package and buy each drink as you go. In both cases taxes are remitted but handled different by company policy. This is also one of many factors why ship stores or casinos are closed in port. Some local city or state regulations do apply. Local law enforcement is usually present in any given US port and you will often see both federal and local authorities in their own watercraft policing the movement of vessels within a port. For example you may see US Coast Guard and county sheriff patrols working side by side in their own watercraft. Many aspects of shipping (all shipping, not just cruise ships) falls under federal jurisdiction. Public health inspections for example. A cargo ship galley is subject to public health inspections. Imagine if public health of shipping was left to each county. Each county has its own unique code that can be different compared to another county in another state. It would be very challenging for a cargo ship making calls in different ports to meet different county health code in each port they visit. The solution was to make this a federal responsibility. When it comes to shipping most laws have grown from cargo, container and tanker forms of shipping and cruise ships get painted by that same brush because they are a ship.

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!

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