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Today was the time consuming process of filling in the gaps - cutting stones to match the curves of the pool, spa, and firepit. They have a little more to go plus finishing the sides and adding a couple steps. Now that we can see how much room we actually have to work with, we can start to think about furniture. It was a little hard to visualize when it was all dirt.

The reality is that PH authorities like Walenski, Fauci and others are not in the business of risk analysis. They are in th business of evaluating disease risk and then PH policy should spring from that ....... after the costs of various mitigation measures are evaluatged. The object is to maximisw bang for the buck. With SARS2 that never happened. It's that failure of the last two administrations to evaluate the benefits v. costs of a PH policy that has to be corrected going forward and I beleive it will be. The CDC, in the case of the cruise lines, fashioned PH polcy that clearly exceeded their authority given outcomes. That can't happen ever again. I think PH authorities can make a case that regulation of the cruise industry's health and safety procedures and protocols is needed to prevent profit from driving operations. But, there is plenty of regulation that's already on the books that could have been tweaked short of what happened from March 2020 onward for the CDC to fulfill it's regulatory responsibility. The NSO and now the CSO were way overboard, some of it legal, most of it not. We're left with the ashes that were once a vibrant, growing and important industry that contributed heavily to the global economy. It's shameful that it happened in the first place, moe shameful that it hasn't been corrected wholesale. That could have happend with a ruling from Judge Merryday and could still happen if mediation fails.

Disappointed but not surprised. I am not an anti vaxer but this seems like an unnecessary vaccine for teenagers where the risk is extremely low. I am not comfortable vaccinating my kids. Many feel differently and many feel the same. For those that feel differently a suite on Symphony in August will open up on Monday as I will be canceling. This was a rebook of our cancelled April 2020 cruise. For me it is time for a refund. Looks like we won't be cruising for awhile. For those who are vaccinated enjoy getting back to the open seas. Tip extra if you can, those poor souls have been out of work for over a year!

Vegas doesn’t need the blessing of the CDC to open back up. In addition, a few dozen cases in Vegas will be no big deal. A few cases on a cruise ship will be a catastrophe.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/05/22/royal-caribbean-has-submitted-its-first-plan-the-cdc-get-approval-test-cruises

I agree 100%. I fully expect accommodations for the unvaccinated that have been booked prior to vaccines being available. It would be a PR nightmare rivaling the $18 drink package to handle it any other way.

You can not extrapolate the Singapore experiences to North American cruising. Far, far too many variables between the 2 markets, passenger pool, and embarkation point Covid landscape.

I don't disagree with your implied position @JSB_Z51. The data so far demonstrates that unvaccinated children under 18 do not pose a significant health risk to vaccinated people. But the data that supports that view is not yet sufficiently robust to claim certainty. That's what virologists seek. They're not in the business of assessing the cost of a particular position. Again, first, this is what's been missing in assessing the value of a particular mitigation measure from the beginning. Is it lives saved? That's a hard one to argue against. Second, the need for certainty that virologists seek. I think all of us here would argue zero risk is unobtainable and unreasonable. Seeking for certainty in the data assumes zero risk that a hypothesis, in this case, kids don't transmit virus, is accurate. In statistics, there are ways of identifying degrees of probability. We're not clued into this and you can be sure data geeks know what the probability is. I've seen numbers below 3%. That means a 3% chance that if you go on a cruise with unvaccinated kids where one or more of them have COVID, your risk of getting it - just getting it, let alone getting seriously ill or dying - is 3%, or 97% chance that won't even happen. The risk of serious illness or death is infinitesimally small. So cruise lines look at this and evaluate the costs of the 3% chance that an unvaccinated kid causes an outbreak on a cruise and you have your answer to the question you ask. From a political POV, it would be catastrophic. The visuals would be very bad for business. Here, the lines are being as risk averse in this analysis as the CDC is too many of thiers. But this is the era we are living in where being reasonable about COVID isn't something that we see a lot of.

In refreshing my memory for the requirements of a test cruise, it's absurd there's a need for test cruises. The crew itself could fulfil all those requirements in a day.

My understanding is that Royal is requiring all eligible passengers to be vaccinated, right? Maybe they are doing the test cruises to make sure that children under 12 can cruise, without having to limit them to less than 5% of the passengers? (The rule is still that 95% of passengers need to be vaccinated in order to avoid test cruises, right?) I'm thinking that an Oasis class ship over the summer, even at 50% capacity, could have more than 5% (150-ish) of its passengers made up of children under 12. I also agree with the idea that they are testing all the new procedures that will be put in place when sailing resumes. I'm just happy that there seems to be bits of positive news every day!

Nice...I wasn't a big fan of handshakes even pre-pandemic. I would literally go to wash my hands after I met anyone new or anything like that... germophobe here so you can imagine what the pandemic has done to me ?

For the record, we have returned to handshakes in my office.

So Matt do you know what happens to my $5750 non refundable deposit if I don’t make final payment because I sure don’t. This is not RCCL making an itinerary change this is demanding that a 12 year old child be subjected to a vaccine that they don’t need as the science and empirical evidence shows COVID is not really a threat to children and if the adults are vaccinated then the unvaccinated children are not a threat to them. The requirement is unreasonable and irrational. This is my third attempt at this cruise and I’m getting a little tired of making interest free loans to RCCL whether it’s their fault or not. I ran a billion dollar/year engineering services business and if I treated my customers in the manner that RCCL handled this change I wouldn’t have had very many customers left. Major customer relations failure for obvious reasons. And NO, I don’t want FCCs, I want a refund… do you know what RCCL is offering because I don’t.

I received a phone call from Marsha this morning from Royal. I almost didn't answer the phone. Anyway, she informed me of my two options, 1-move to a later cruise in the summer to accommodate the time frame for the vaccine 2-Total refund including any airfare booked thru Air2Sea. I chose Number 2.

We are on this cruise. This is our third attempt on an Alaskan cruise after our 2 cruises in 2020 canceled. We had this cruise booked since last year and considered canceling it but glad we held off.

Just my $0.02 — With the change in vaccination policy plus the speculation of sailings not starting until August, I’m wagering that Royal is going to cancel all sailings that will be requiring vaccinations (and most likely reduced capacity, at least in the beginning), and replace them with new itineraries or direct replacements for the old ones. This is part of why I am waiting to use my FCC, rather than booking Freedom for October now. I have a sneaking suspicion that I did, it would be canceled and substituted with something else in a matter of a couple of weeks.

That’s looking gorgeous!

maybe try this from Amazon

They just took a break for lunch, and I went out to look at the progress. Think the deck guys would be willing to give the firepit guys lessons?

Not debating the vaccine, not being jumpy, happy for all who can partake in sailings, this is a path to sailing again, THEIR PRODUCT THEIR RULES. I truly get that if I wish to sail I must adhere to any and all protocols no matter what they are. That being said, I am just unclear as to the fact that since this is fluid and has changed since booking, may I receive my deposits back in cash? We may not be able to sail for some time, and that's okay I would not begrudge the companies comfort or litigation protection I will wait until I can abide by the rules in place. so @Matt on the home page the article states "on or before 01 August 2021" 16 and older need to be fully vaccinated, stands to reason then if that is a hard date I can sail with my unvaccinated 15 year old (covid negative test of course) departing PC (Allure) (if sailings are moving ahead) but then any sailing departing 02 August 2021 and forward must be vaccinated as this is when the 12 year old children need to be vaccinated? I get it very fluid, but I ask because it makes a difference. I paid for this sailing with FCC from four cancelled sailings, do you think since this is a big change (not an itinerary change for example) they would just refund my monies? I have three additional sailings November 2021, June 2022 and November 2022 I may have to pull the plug on, again just trying to understand. I have been a huge RCI supporter and wish them the best but I have a lot of $$ tied up here. I have my fingers crossed this isn't a protocol that is forever in place and that maybe it can be modified one day, I will be strategic when cancelling with this in mind. I know no one has a crystal ball just reaching out hoping for some thought sharing, thanks everyone.

The deck crew was back out yesterday and started by moving loads of the sand around the pool and onto the patio. They spread the sand out and used the vibration machine to settle it down. I thought it looked a lot like wet beach sand at this point, and my 9 year old agreed exclaiming, "Mom! It's just like Paradise Beach!" (Sigh, insert we all miss cruising emoji here ?) They then placed rods in the sand. Using the rods as a guide, they ran a 2x4 over the top to make sure everything was even and gently sloping toward the drains. By some magical witchcraft, the narrow gaps the rods left were filled in (I didn't see that part). Then...the first stones of the deck were laid in place! They worked until about 6:30 last night and were able to cover the patio to the pool and the corner section around the firepit and spa. These were taken right after the guys left, and they had just sprayed them down to help remove dust. The stones aren't as dark when they are dry. Either way, they look great to me! They came back about 9 this morning, and I'm excited to see what it looks like by the end of the day!

@Josh C Please charge your phone!!

Only if we get extra protocols imposed on us that we, the vaccinated, don't need. Protocols like masks designed to keep unvaccinated safe make for a cruise experience I am not interested in. Here on land masks are only for unvaccinated. I am good with that. I can grocery shop, go to a bar, eat dinner out, all unmasked. If all those establishments said I had to wear a mask just to keep the unvaccinated safe, I would not be good with that. How about if an outbreak occurs and 30 unvaccinated get infected? Does my cruise come to an end? If so, I am not good with that. I would rather see the unvaccinated kept off the ship so my cruise experience isn't potentially ruined by them. If the unvaccinated are putting my vacation investment at risk that is not okay. On the other hand if the infected get put off the ship somewhere and the party continues, I'm okay with that. See ya!

If I am reading things right, in order to sail with children 12 and older they must be vaccinated? Okay, so is the company going to refund my four after this date sailings? My daughter is 15 and while vaccination isn't off the table we want to wait for additional education before we give her this vaccine, so clearly our sailing 01 August 2021 is a no go. I paid with my FCC's please, will they be issuing refunds now? As an adult I am vaccinated, but I want to do my due diligence not be forced into something before I am ready. Thoughts? Anyone in the same boat here? @Matt am I understanding this correctly?? @Sharla what now?

Since this is the policy I think RCG should offer either a lift and shift or full refunds to people already booked but who for personal reasons have decided against getting vaccinated. Other than that RCG is basically forcing people to choose between canceling their cruise and perhaps loosing some of their money or making them get vaccinated just so they can cruise and not loose their money. For anyone who is currently booked on a RCG cruise between July and I would say perhaps December RCG should offer them options because being vaccinated against COVID was not a requirement when they booked their cruise, fair is fair.

@JeffB, I'd like to get my deposit back and wait till we're more comfortable cruising with our 2 kids. But that doesn't seem like a possibility at all, so it's either cancel and I will lose the $1000 plus not sure if they will make me pay another $400 OR rebook to a future date and have them keep the money towards that including tacking on that same $400 to that reservation.

Still promoting November sailings as of today

I've seen numbers well below 3% Plus on a cruise ship, the odds if you being in close and continuing contact with a child in a crowded unventilated room is pretty much zero to begin with. The odds of a child testing negative then spreading covid on a cruise ship is pretty much zero. 0+0 is pretty much still 0.

Just my opinion, but to me the “suite area” on Labadee isn’t all that special or nice. I’d much prefer any general area on Cococay over it. We didn’t spend much time at all in the “suite only” area when on Labadee.

Feb 26th for us. Will be a B2B. Hope you all enjoy the trip!?

Yeah, that’s my thought. Prepare for the worst case scenario (over 5% unvaccinated) hope for the best (under 5%) again, just an opinion, I have no verifiable insight.

I'm glad you're seeing progress and hope Friday's appointment goes well!

Check out the Roll Call section. Looks like there is at least one sailing in August with a few 'bloggers' taking the trip.

Not sure that it is, it's not a requirement from the other cruise lines sailing on UK only trips, not even Royal!! Apparently (according to a Celebrity rep on Facebook, always a reliable source) it was posted in error, the final requirements for cruising have not yet been agreed. Booking a cruise during a pandemic isn't good for the blood pressure

Test cruises are a CYA. Cruise lines would be nuts not to do them because you never know how things will change in the future.

My first visit there was on Admiral's Emerald of the Seas back on a 3-night sailing on May 22, 1987. Again on July 3, 1987. And again on August 21, 1987.

This requirement is old and outdated. Changed to no test if vaccinated quite some time ago.

Matt, I have no problem with the rules changing, I have a problem with not effectively communicating the changes, and failing to provide information about the implications, alternatives and remedies. I have a final payment due on Monday and RCCL has effectively cancelled my cruise without telling me what the remedies are (e.g. refunds). This was a family cruise for which I booked 5 grand suites and three of the five are negatively affected by the rule change and I will need to cancel all 5 because I don’t intend to cruise without 60% of my family. I have no insight as to what remedies are being offered. I’m sorry, but RCCL blew it in terms of customer relations. There is no defense!

just a quick check on my part, i sure there are better and cheaper ones to be found. I will just store mine with my passport, never leave home without it.

I just booked Alaska for this coming season and there was an alert at top of the booking page saying required proof of vaccination, if i remember was also in statement before clicking for paying deposit. I for one am darn glad they are requiring it makes me feel even safer.

And before we paid the deposit on our upcoming Adventure sailing, our travel agent let us know that being vaccinated was a requirement. Yet another reason for a good travel agent

i just dont know how you can require a Vaccine to cruise, no other vacation spot does this....june 1st Vegas is going back to Pre Covid. you cant survive on vaccinated people only.... there isnt enough people vaccinated

I am curious to see what happens with this... Whatever gets us back to cruising the fastest is my preference.

They are crewing her now. She’s in Cadiz in dry dock. In one of my Facebook groups 2 parents have posted their kids have been called back for the shows. (Hiro, hairspray and flight)

Three men are stranded in a boat with 4 cigarettes and no way to light them. So they toss the 4th cigarette overboard, which makes the whole boat a cigarette lighter.

What do you call a pencil with erasers at both ends? Pointless

no we just give them special sea pass cards and make them wear funny hat when they leave their cabins. Consequence for no compliance is to walk the plank, i mean gangway where the ship will leave you at the next port of call. Hey don't laugh that isn't anymore ridicules than the CDC's mandates

I hope you can go .... then I'll know we're good with our September 19th Oasis Cruise.