Leaderboard

I'm not going back to delete posts, but this is your reminder THIS IS NOT THE FORUM TO DISCUSS IF THE VACCINE WORKS OR EFFECACY. Also, if you don't agree with someone else's take, leave it be. You're not going to convince someone here of anything, other than the best cocktail at the bar. Another pro tip, you don't have to get the last word! Leave it be. Going forward, I will delete and lock threads. "Why do you have to delete? Why can't you let us talk like adults" Because it ends up being a war of words, and everyone gets annoyed and upset. KEEP THE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT CRUISING.

So when the vaccine was being required, people who agreed with this said to those who didn't "Then you don't have to cruise" Well , I guess now the shoe is on the other foot now!

Thanks @smokeybandit! She's doing a much better job at this than I! I'll keep it up anyway, because it never hurts to get additional perspective. The cruise is going well. The skies are cloudy and we have a following wind. It's just kinda weird to have a wind so strong that it is outrunning the ship. Anyway, we had a great dinner in the MDR last night and they brought us a special cake for our anniversary. Tonight we do a proper celebration at Le Petit Chef. It should be fun. Today's "cruise compass" (Celebrity doesn't really seem to have a name for it) had instructions to sign up for our end of cruise COVID test. You could sign up for Thursday or Friday. We chose Friday because it is a sea day and we didn't want it interfering with out shore time. Meanwhile. I'm going to sit to sit outside and enjoy my balcony.

New Cruise Terminal Update Here's the division of work between the Port of Galveston and Royal Caribbean International (RCI): The Port will move things out of the way to clear the site for the terminal, and will bring utilities to the site. The Port also provides the parking, landscaping, roads, and dock repairs. RCI builds the terminal building and performs some improvements to the dock. At this time much of the physical work is continuing to be performed by the Port as they prepare the site for RCI's new terminal. Royal has limited physical work at the site at this point in the schedule as they complete the design and procure materials. RCI's construction will ramp up as the schedule progresses. At the moment it seems that things are progressing as planned. RCI Activities Pile testing was completed by RCI in May. This will allow RCI to complete the foundation design for the terminal. Design work continues. Procurement of materials continues. Port of Galveston Activities Bids are being solicited for improvements to the Pier 10 dock with some scope performed by Royal and some scope by the Port. Water line and sanitary sewer line construction contract of $1.65 million was approved by Port Trustees in May. This work will provide water and sewer service to the terminal and connects those lines into the City of Galveston. Working with utility companies (electrical and others) to relocate some of their facilities to make way for the new terminal facility. Continuing work to relocate certain structures and facilities from the new terminal area to other areas of the Port to make room for the new terminal facilities. Construction continues on improvements to Old Port industrial Road for better traffic flow. Design of roads and parking in the vicinity of the new terminal is ongoing. New Road Names The Trustees approved Royal Caribbean Way and Royal Caribbean Circle as names of roads in and around the terminal area. RCI had asked what the new terminal address will be. The Port didn't have an answer, so that prompted getting the new roads named.

I’m vaccinated and don’t give a flip what others do. In theory, I should be safe from possible exposure to an un vaccinated individual. I have no worries about being around the unvaccinated. Im good with that. Time to live life again and get my cruise on!!!

Some perspective, I live in Australia and can't legally leave the country; at least you guys in the US can fly out of the country. You can go to the Carribean, Europe and beyond. I have had several cruises cancelled, one was cancelled 22 days from departure date out of Japan. Royal didn't create Covid and I believe they are doing their best. I have a TA friend, and it is not just RCG, all lines have been cancelling close to sailing dates; poor lady spends her day organising credits and refunds for no income I can understand the frustration with the uncertainty as I have several cruises booked and it is impossible to plan your work, life, flights, etc with all the uncertainty. however it looks like positive change is rapidly happening and each day I read about more positive information

That is why they had mask riots and threats on the governors life in the great state of Michigan? guess we just have to disagree on this point. I will say though "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer and historian. have a pleasant rest of your evening and good health to you

I actually want to see a full 7-night cruise happen (no test cruises). One is vaccinated with no masks and restrictions, One is unvaccinated with masks and restrictions. Tell me which one is more fun and which one you'd rather go on.

This morning we checked out of the Oyster bay resort and boarded the ship! Pictures below. I'd recommend the Oyster Bay resort. The room was small, but well decorated and comfortable. The boarding experience went better than I expected. They had a small warehouse set up for check in. It was air conditioned and had someone playing steel drums. They also gave out citrus water. So all was comfortable. With only 500 or so people on this cruise, the ship feels more like a museum than a cruise. I've seen more crew members than passengers! Anyway, everyone is excited to be back on the ship. The muster drill was much easier now that we have Emuster. However, they had to make several announcements to make sure everyone checks in at their station. The complementary internet is surprisingly slow. It makes uploading pictures difficult and video is out of the question. If you need something better, you'll have to upgrade to the stream package. In other news, Rhapsody of the Seas and Vision of the seas are docked along side our ship. It's great to see them again, but they need a good coat of paint.

This morning, there was a crew filming from a drone. Rumor is that they were from Good Morning America, so I guess our cruise is getting attention. ? Last night we went to the show and they showed a great video to celebrate being the first ship back. The wife got a great pic with the senior staff all on stage. I'll upload it as soon as I can get her out of the jewelry store. ??

I love "unite around common interests and agree to disagree sometimes" but we also need to understand when we agree or disagree those are called "opinions" which we should respect.

Not a scientific study by any means but allow me to share my experience. My whole household got it except for me who continued sleeping in the same bed as my wife and was in very close contact at the height of when it was most contagious. Ate off my kids fork and plate too. I seem to have some form of natural immunity and am rocking antibodies. Why would I want a vaccine in the short term? That's my real life experience. Why would I want to give the vaccine to my family right now? There isn't a one size fits all approach here. Reading these comments,, Snark toward those we disagree with just fuels the division. At the end of the day we all want to get back at it. Unite around common interests and agree to disagree sometimes.

Agree with @Jill. I have no position I wish to articulate here on whether or not people who want to cruise should get vaccinated. I do believe the concept of choice in most matters should prevail. The RCL news that the company will not require vaccination to board and sail on one of their sailings (not from Seattle .... yet) is probably a smart choice ..... and I have no doubt it is a calculated risk as I posted elsewhere. RCL has run the numbers. Anecdotally, we know the risk of transmission aboard a sailing with a hybrid passenger manifest is low, not zero but low enough. We also know that a single infection aboard any sailing could result in outcomes we fear. OTH, RCL seems to be betting on damage control that will prevent bad, yet predictable outcomes, i.e., rigid protocols for containment and passenger handling should a single infection be discovered. I can argue that the path RCL and most cruise lines have followed - compliance with the provisions of the CSO - should isolate the lines from those potentially bad outcomes. That's the bet it would seem. I'd also argue that RCL, and others, want to sail out of FL because that's where the money is and have chosen a conciliatory instead of confrontational path with Governor Desantis. Could RCL challenge the Desantis prohibitions in court and prevail? I'm almost certain they could ...... but why muddy the waters and tie up operations for months doing that? This is decision to not defend the high ground. Looking around the US at state's plans to incentivize vaccination, e.g., tickets for a concert featuring a popular music group were $89 for those vaccinated and $999 for those unvaccinated. There is not doubt that RCL has figured that onerous protocols (yet to be published!!!) for the unvaccinated compared to complete freedom for the vaccinated will produce somewhere around a 90% vaccinated passenger manifest. Smart move. I wonder what Celebrity will do with it's July and August sailings aboard Edge from PEV? I'm booked on an August sailing.

Best news I’ve heard all day!!

Just got off a long call with Bank of America, and I am not happy. I just had a bunch of refunds applied to my card for the canceled cruise planner purchases I'd made for my now-canceled Vision sailing, along with a refund of the port fees and taxes. All told, the total in refunds is more than my last statement balance. Every single other credit card I have will apply refunds or other credits against the outstanding statement balance. But this is apparently not B of A's policy. They are telling me that unless I were to receive the remaining cruise fare credit and get my outstanding balance down to zero before the close of this statement on June 13 (which I know won't happen) I must make at least a minimum payment or be assessed a late fee. And if I only make the minimum payment, I will still be assessed interest on the remaining balance. I never pay interest or leave unpaid balances, but even if I did decide to just make a minimum payment (which would more than offset whatever interest charges would accrue), B of A is still forcing me to give them an interest-free loan to avoid penalties, just so they can pay me back at their leisure when my balance goes into credit territory. I can understand if I had paid off the card months prior and then the cruise was canceled / refunds were issued. But this is all within the same statement cycle and their policy here is total BS when they know they have competition from other card issuers who always apply credits against the statement balance. If you were thinking about getting this card, this is another big reason to not get it. And you can believe that once this is all settled out and my balance is at zero with everything they'll then owe to me paid back, I'll be canceling this card and I don't give two spits about what it might briefly do to my credit score.

Technically, yesterday (June 5) - Celebrity Millennium out of Saint Maarten. Celebrity is close enough ? You can follow along on Billy's site: https://www.cruisehabit.com/first-cruise-back-today-we-set-sail-first-time-over-year -celebrity-millennium-day-one

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/06/01/italy-coronavirus-reinfection-rare-study/7201622226074/ https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210428/Recovered-COVID-19-patients-show-signs-of-long-term-immunity.aspx https://gizmodo.com/good-news-natural-immunity-to-the-coronavirus-may-last-1846008252

There was one recent study where researchers studied pre-covid blood samples of kids and found antibodies that would work against covid. More research into that might help explain why kids are much less affected

I’m vaccinated and trust the vaccine to keep people from getting Covid, but I don’t 100% trust it won’t cause side effects down the road, so I don’t feel anybody should be forced to take it …….. My Body, My Choice, and all ….. if a potential passenger has “compromises”, even if the ship is 110% vaccinated, they probably shouldn’t take a cruise. There’s lots of other things, including norovirus, that can take them down on a cruise. In every day life you’re going to be around people who aren’t vaccinated, why should that bother you if you’re vaccinated? Just a reminder, the CDC considers between 70% to 80% of people vaccinated or having had the disease to be enough for herd immunity for pretty much every disease out there. There could be many people who’ve already had Covid among the unvaccinated. Myself and my spouse both got Covid in between our 1st and 2nd dose of Pfizer. Our 9yo son who’s not vaccinated also already had it with no worse symptoms than a sore throat and a fever for 12 hours. I was willing for us to get this experimental vaccine, but I will NEVER let my son get any vaccine that hasn’t been studied for side effects for at least 5 years or more. I totally and completely understand why some people would choose not to get the vaccine and I don’t feel they should be treated any different that anyone else. It goes back to my original point, if you believe the vaccine works and got vaccinated, other people’s personal choices of what to do with their own body shouldn’t make any difference to you. If you’re so sick or have so many pre-existing comorbidities that you can’t be vaccinated, then you shouldn’t be on a cruise in the first place, because Covid isn’t the only thing you’re susceptible to.

My hospital did not mandate vaccines when we started getting them in December. We have, however, been served notice recently that there will be a 100% vaccine requirement by January 1, 2022. Those not vaccinated will no longer have a job, or admission privileges (as the case may be) The mask mandate in healthcare facilities (at least in TX) is controlled by the Texas Medical Board. I no longer have to require masks to be worn in my office, however the hospital is a 100% mask zone, and will be until at least mid year 2022.

The biggest kicker in the vaccine mandate debate is that more and more studies are showing that natural immunity from recovering from covid is just as good a the vaccine. I know the CDC allows for a 90 day window prior to a cruise, those who have recovered from covid in the last 90 days is becoming less and less

Lot of strong opinions here for vaccinations, being unvaccinated, allowing personal choices or allowing the goverment/companies to mandate their policy on you. I support choices as long as your choice which is different than mine doesn't infringe on my choices. Couple of thoughts. Do you all read what you post? Just because you disagree, doesn't make the other person a jerk bully or ignoramus. Quite the opposite, you become those things. When did this country become so risk adverse? This virus depending on age group generally averages out to a fatality rate of less than 1%, you surely take greater risks elsewhere in your life just about every other day At this point if you are vaccinated you took a calculated risk in terms of unknown long term side effects At this point if you are unvaccinated you are taking a calculated risk in terms of getting the virus. If your vaccine works, why do I need one? If your vaccine doesn't work, why do I need one? At the end of the day, our love of cruising brings us here. Enjoy life, live and let live, be kind and agree to disagree sometimes. I will get off my soapbox now. Happy cruising at some point, tip big for the poor souls who have been out of work for so long and help to make our memorable vacations.

Welcome to the message boards! First and foremost, while we all love Royal Caribbean, they are a for-profit company. Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves of that. Back to your point, I'm not sure that is the case. Yes, Royal took their sweet time before announcing July cancellations...well beyond when other lines cancelled their July cruises. However.... They did announce the return of a number of ships. The notion "they know" it wont sail is not accurate. I do think there's some truth that certain ships might be almost certainly not going to sale, but most of the fleet is in this state of flux where they are looking for how to get ships approved for restart. I'm not sure any of us would have predicted last week that the ships that were announced for restart would actually restart in July. The breadth of their restart plan was a pleasant surprise to me.

Love It!

I'd happily read 10 blogs from those onboard

Some more pictures

Well, vaccinated people are pretty much 'virus proof' and get to live a normal life. Those willing to voluntarily show they have been vaccinated may get access to areas closed to those who are not. Those that are not vaccinated take their chances and potentially will have to face the consequences of their decision, what ever that might be. There is your freedom. You get to choose.

Agreed, and this thread is locked.

https://cruise.blog/2021/06/live-celebrity-millennium-onboard-and-unmasked

Ever-changing COVID regulations on the entire cruise industry have been absolutely crazy since Day 1. Royal (like all of the other cruise companies) has been doing everything they can to interpret wacky CDC decisions which seem to change almost daily. While I get the frustration to have vacation plans altered at the last minute, the cruise industry is truly hamstrung by poorly-crafted rules enacted by various governments trying to navigate the pandemic. I don't blame anyone for wanting refunds in lieu of FCCs, but the good news is that the announcements this past week truly offer a light at the end of the tunnel. Happy sailing to everyone! ?

your opinion!

-You mean would I cruise if I wasn’t vaccinated? No. I would not go on a cruise unless I was fully vaccinated. I believe that would be irresponsible. Spoiler: It’s been well over two months since my second moderna shot, so the question is moot. -If you mean would I cruise with unvaccinated people? Yes. I know this is a crappy attitude, but I honestly don’t care. After 35 years of retail, the way people acted during the pandemic kinda broke me. I just want to go on a cruise.

I can see the voluntarily show proof of vaccination or come be tested daily and Oh btw un-vacinated have to eat in this dining room at this time, no other option. you can only attend this show where masks will be required. There will be a special bar where the computer know you can get a drink that also requires masks, al other bars you are locked out of. By Royals own admission based on those surveys i have filled out a couple of times now, 80% percent of their customer want vaccinated cruises and even more 90% say they are already vaccinated. When will our country QUIT trying to make itself accomidate the minority and proceed with what the majority want.

One reason I don't like product-centric rewards cards. That's why I have an Amazon visa. Always something on Amazon to buy with the points.

I'll keep an eye out for him. And he's right, we are at 580 people on a ship with a capacity of over 2000. Great for us. Not so great for celebrity

Isn't this a cool way to commemorate the return to cruising?

No. For me and realize many will disagree and think I am crazy, I want to go on a cruise as I did before this mess happened. I always felt th ships were cleaner than most hotels and amusement parks but what do I know. My family has been through Covid and ready to move past all this nonsense. I also never want to words social distance gain. Get me on a ship with a drink of the day.

In the US we remain under the CSO until the gov't lifts it, it expires, or is overturned by injunction. Ships can sail if complying with CSO. There are a number of test cruises on the schedule (high probability they will go). There are some cruises scheduled that are CSO compliant through vaccination requirements (hence CSO compliant), but the state gov't is setting a local condition that prohibits that option (so low probability they will go). There are also cruises scheduled for Alaska, but they too must sail under CSO requirements (Will Washington state levy anything that inhibits sailing? Don't know.) If the cruise line plan to adhere to CSO requirements- high high probability of occurrence. So booking a cruise which is not going to meet (or can't meet) current CSO or local gov't requirements is low probability of occurrence. Probability of sailing goes 100% after CSO expiration. Planned for 1 Nov 21 (but not a certainty). Other options - book on a cruise that is sailing outside he CDC pursue. Non-US embarkation ports. High probability of occurrence (sailing underway). I don't fault RCL for continuing to book these low probability cruises to fill up the schedule. Up to the consumer to weigh what's known and the risk of what we don't. We know we're under CSO. I believe RCL owes the consumer better disclosure. An example: All these non-compliant cruises should be marked with an asterisk * stating, "The scheduled cruise is currently not aligned with federal or state sailing requirements..." Maybe that would help folks decide on whether to take the plunge. Caveat emptor!

Up, up and away!

After lunch I headed over to Exploration Tower. The tower was partially closed due to the pandemic but the observation deck is open. Since it's not fully open there is no charge for the observation deck. Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday only at the moment. Time for a quick selfie...

I’m sorry but if you were not sick and wearing a mask, you were never protecting others especially if you previously had Covid or vaccinated

We are excited as were booked on Indy out of miami July 3 2021 and just had our reservation moved to same type of room at no extra cost on Odyssey for that same sailing date out of Fort Lauderdale.

I highly doubt Royal made a Willy Nilly decision. They’ve done their research. (Surveys) They know their protocols work (Singapore). They have the ability and have said they will disembark a positive case along with their travel party and pay for them to get home etc. If enough cases (threshold) are onboard, the cruise will end. This is what people are most worried about. However, it appears Royal has done their research, has followed the science their panel of experts has presented and feels this is low risk. Remember, ships will be reduced capacity at least until November 1. Royal has said their survey results have 90% vaccinated or planning to be vaccinated. After the last 15 months, they know the risks of this decision and obviously feel it is low. I do see however fairly strict protocols for those who are not vaccinated and it will be these protocols that will weed out many of those people. Many do not want to cruise with masks, period. They will wait a bit longer until masks are waived for everyone. I do not think this is as big a deal as some are making it out to be.

They can be used on existing cruises per Supervisor Fernando in Guatemala City.

Thank You for giving me a CHOICE, and I will pick number Two please. It really should have not been this complicated! I think if getting the vaccine wasn't shoved down peoples throats and where allowed to coexist on a cruise with vaccinated people, I think many of those un vaccinated passengers would be compliant with the rules imposed upon them.

I think what others have said is probably accurate, but technically speaking, Royal hasn't released health protocols yet for U.S. sailings announced yesterday.

Nothing says they have to ask. Just apply a policy to everyone and make an exception to those who voluntarily provide proof.

I wonder how this will pan out. It seems like DeSantis is being a huge bully. If private businesses choose to have requirements that they believe will either keep customers safe or improve conditions, the state should not interfere. If anything, this seems like a higher level of governmental influence, which governers like DeSantis have been against. It's purely political grandstanding to get him on the Republican presidential ticket (IMO). All that being said, it does seem like RCL could make some arrangements for people who are unvaccinated, which may require more mask wearing and/or daily testing.

I wonder how many formal nights on that cruise. 14 days??? There's going to be some serious sunburns.