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Unless something drastically changes, here is the outlook. The people that tested positive were isolated and treated. Not left to rot, like in 2020. People with close contact got isolated, tested, and most importantly...released after testing negative Everyone else went on with the cruise. The next sailing (and Adventure) are going as scheduled Glad to see things handled well.

We've docked in st. Maarten. It's hard to believe we are at the end of the cruise. ? We fly out this afternoon. Unless something happens, this will be my final post on this topic. It's been a great cruise and celebrity has worked especially hard to make it a success. I want to thank them for all of the hard work and bold step to be the first ones back.

Surprisingly close. The only things I noticed were: Dealing with the pre-boarding changes the week prior to sailing. My advice to anyone following me, read every email in detail. The repeats looked just like the important ones. The crew wore masks the whole time, but the guests didn't There were way fewer people on board. The buffet seemed very normal, but the crew served your food. In Barbados we had to go with a Celebrity excursion to exit the ship. All other ports were normal, but nearly empty.

I would not cancel a March 2022 cruise based on what's going on now. If current reporting is to be believed most Caribbean Islands are ramping up their vaccine roll outs. The islands with the highest vaccination rate at 60% of the population in the Caribbean are the Cayman Islands but they have banned cruise ship until 2022. The next three islands are Anguilla at 40% then Turks and Caicos at 31%, and finally British Virgin Islands at 26%. All other islands including the Bahamas and Jamaica are below 24%. While over in Mexico and Central America, Mexico leads with just 15% of their population being vaccinated. However all of these cruise destinations with-in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America are ramping up their roll out as more vaccine becomes available so we should see much higher vaccination rate come of March 2022. I wouldn't cancel the cruise right now, instead I would suggest you wait until final payment is due and if it looks like cruise lines are still performing COVID testing during the voyage as that date nears then you make your decision. Don't make a decision based on what you are seeing right now because things will get better as time goes on.

FOX Business did a very positive story. They’re calling it a success story and calling out the media who are freaking out. Dr Siegel calling this a great advertisement that the vaccines are working and we are getting on with our lives. He said he was ready to cruise.

March is a LONG ways away. I certainly wouldn't make any decisions for March based on what's going on now.

Cabin stewards are hard working people. I make sure that I pay my "optional" gratuity and always give another $60-$100 at the end of the cruise. There are times when I need something late at night. Maybe it's just a couple of wine glasses at 11pm. I know they have worked to clean my cabin in the morning and again in the evening. I am assuming that the steward is in bed at that time or getting a little "me time". If I call on the cabin phone to request these, they aren't going to roust my steward out of bed, are they? Surely they have on-call stewards for these types of things. In the past I have just let it go until the next day but there are times when getting a little something at night would be nice. I'm just trying to balance improving my experience with being a considerate guy. Steven

Covid had this peculiar effect of "viral interference" which shut down the flu and pretty much all common cold viruses except rhinovirus. My son was in school full time all year, and kids 10 and under didn't have to wear masks. There were barely any cold bugs going around, and zero flu. It was amazing (other than the shadow of covid) Now the cold virus is coming back and it's freaking people out because they forget what it's like to have the common cold.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/driving-directions-port-los-angeles-california San Pedro World Cruise Terminal100 Swinford Street San Pedro, CA 90731

We had a Central Park balcony and enjoyed it. We had our 2 girls with us so it gave us another sitting area. Only downside is you feel kind of close to your neighbors across the way. Didn’t enjoy the guy in his tighty whities each morning drinking his coffee lol Be sure to close your curtains when you’re changing

You all know where I stand with this, I never would hold out for Royal Up. Book what you actually want now and consider Royal up an extra treat if you want to play the Royal Up game. Also, I have found (pre-covid) that Royal Up works well with cabins where there is a lot of availability (ex. inside/oceanview to balcony) but for suites, when the availability is already low to begin with, the chances of actually getting something through Royal Up are much more slim.

Yes. If a specialty restaurant is open you can use the package there.

Matt has said if you know you want to upgrade then work with your TA don't rely on Royal up. Since you feel this is will be the only "ladies night" treat yourself and mum to what you can afford. Book now before it's too late.

Stepping up from a JS will get you the suite concierge as a resource, all day access to Coastal Kitchen (JS is dinner only), access to the Concierge Club, Voom internet included and access to the Suite Sun Deck. There is an elevator to the suite sun deck within the SeaPlex you'll need to use though, the primary entrance involves stairs. My JS on this class have always had a separate shower. See this thread for J4 pictures: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/17677-anthem-jan-5-2020-11-nights-southern-caribbean-recap/&do=findComment&comment=182280

Same for unvaccinated people

Sort-of ....... as of yesterday, there were 85 motions from various parties logged on the court docket. If you've been following this thread you know they involve third parties entering Amicus briefs in support of the FL suit, objections to adding them from the defendants. requests to join the law suit (TX and Alaska) as co-complainants and objections from the defendants to such motions. There's also several technical filings involving court procedure that have no bearing on the arguments/facts of the case. The case has become complicated and you saw in Matt's posts above that Merryday has said, "there are a lot of moving parts ..... and I can only make one ruling." This signals to me that FL has crossed all the thresholds for Merryday to rule (e.g. standing). That is something HHS/CDC has argued against .If you go back to the original claim that was filed by FL it was under Administrative Procedures and Agency Actions. That probably makes it possible for Merryday to consider a rather narrowly defined case that might not take not account the harm FL, TX and Alaska claim as substantial economic harm. At the initial filing, I felt FL had a very strong case from the arguments we saw in filed motions. To wit, FL was never given proper notice or consulted. In response HHS/CDC lawyers filed their motions pointing out they did do both of those things. I thought this was weak sauce because, well, the didn't. They just charged right in, considered doing something or nothing and without consultation with the state PH or transportation officials closed all FL ports to cruise ship traffic. If that was it, FL wins. But it isn't and that became known to us as the motions and counter motions unfolded. HHS/CDDC claim that they acted within their authority given the PHE and granted in U.S.C. 42, section 245. The VSP is within those documents. I read all of it and at that point, felt the FL case had been weakened but still had life. Life came in the form of FL's response that cited the laws that regulate commerce within ports. It's here that I think a case can be made that the HHS/CDC didn't have the authority to do that without consulting both FL and it's involved agencies and the US Department of Commerce - a federal agency that should have been in on the CDC's decision to shut down legitimate commerce in the form of cruise ships. If this were a complete and accurate recap of both sides arguments, the CSO gets enjoined. But it's been pointed out to me that both the law and the spirit of the law help to inform a federal judges ruling. This is where I think it gets very complicated. I also think that as the case unfolded, even though the CDC was scrambling, they made a decent argument that the CSO is a reasonable path forward. We can argue the details but the spirit of the CSO has served a purpose and the cruise lines have complied. Timely? I don't think so and that equates to points in FL's scoreboard. Too arduous so as to make it as difficult as possible to get cruising started faster than the CDC wanted it to? Clearly it was They based this hesitancy to grant an unconditional restart of cruising, correctly defined as a potentially high risk of disease acceleration based on it's definition as a congregate setting. You can disagree with that, you can argue but, but, the Healthy Sail Panel!!!! Wasn't that just as good and much more workable? The ultimate agency to green light the industry once the NSO was lifted is properly the CDC ...... back to the original question - did the CDC exceed it's authority in implementing the NSO? I can see Merryday's ruling going either way. Certainly, his ruling is going to contain questions regarding the clarity of the applicable laws. He'll write in the form of a question, to what extent does existing law grant the CDC authority in a PHE and opine it's not clear. He'll add clarifying vague laws to make them clear is the role of congress not his. I think based on the economic damage the NSO and subsequently the burdensome CSO wrought on the travel and leisure sector of the global economy, because it was so extensive, economic interests WILL come into play although HHS/CDC has worked hard to argue they shouldn't. What else might come up is an opinion that there should have been better oversight through cross agency consultation at the federal level and that isn't covered in the current law - at least not that I can find. It's a tough case and I'm going to fence sit. Regardless the outcome, I think the cruise industry is well positioned to adapt to however Merryday rules.

It's already happening elsewhere! Read a story headlined something like "New respiratory virus overtaking the South. Here's what you need to know." It was talking about RSV. You know, the spectre that haunts parents of young children every flu and cold season. The most plausible explanation for it taking off right now is that it's spreading among adults (who are usually exposed every year or so, and it is nothing more than a week long nuisance) who have lost some immunity to it. The more adults who get it directly results in more children getting it, and thus more hospital admissions due to RSV. Another fun tidbit from the article that made me want to scream: the reporter attributed the rise in cases to "not wearing masks, and dropping social distancing measures". While technically true, it kind of glosses over the reality that the root cause is a disruption in the adult immunity that children depend on for a virus with no vaccine or easily administered treatments... A disruption caused by the measures they're trying to say saved children from the disease until now. I have never had faith the cruise lines would be treated fairly in the media, no matter if they had a near perfect track record with regard to COVID onboard. Every day we concede to operating within needless guidelines, we make it harder to get back to normal.

Many of the tour operators pull employees from other part of the state (or country). They often need a place to stay (think dorm) when they're in the operating areas. So there's a whole "chain" of support that needs to be re-established and a short season may not make it work financially. I met several in Scagway that actually lived in Anchorage and some in Ketchikan who lived in Seattle. Also a few mainland US retirees who RV up to Denali area and work the resorts for the summer. The many of the locals are "owners" of the business but rely on non-AK employees.

for my corkscrew it goes in my carry on, and I usually hand carry it through the security check point, of course I have removed that very very dangerous 3/4 inch knife blade that is on it. Never had a problem since removing that very dangerous 3/4 inch blade for over 6 years now

This is great news especially for people who are vaccinated because even if you come into contact with a COVID positive person or the cruise deems you've been in close contact with a positive person its doesn't mean the cruise is over if you are fully vaccinated. Contrast that with the MSC where 2 passengers tested positive but with a totally different outcome. In both cases the protocols worked but in two entirely different ways, for fully vaccinated (Celebrity) your cruise vacation can continue once you test negative, but in the case of MSC even though according to USToday only 2 passengers tested positive they are reporting MSC removed not only the to positive passengers but their families which tested negative as well as people deemed in close contact even though they all tested negative except for the two original passengers. The reason MSC took these extraordinary steps and removed all those passengers was because none of them were vaccinated. The protocols worked in both cases but I'm sure the people on MSC who were deemed in close contact (not members of the family or part of their traveling party) were not happy that their cruise vacation was cut short. But because they were unvaccinated and the cruise line didn't want to risk it by allowing them to remain onboard.

If you want a suite and it's within your budget, get it now. Don't wait until the end.

We just booked the Hotel Intercontinental, club access floor, for Christmas Day. When I spoke with the hotel concierge, they said that the concierge club will be open serving refreshments and a breakfast on the 25/26th. So, I canceled our reservations at the JW Marriott Marquis and shifted to this better hotel, in my opinion. Thanks @Lovetocruise2002 and @WAAAYTOOO. @WAAAYTOOOconfirmed my feelings with Marriott, as we too have felt the same with a decrease in concierge lounge service over the years.

JS has also a bath/shower combo on some of the ships Waiting for the upgrade is a gamble. For my5 nights on Odyssey Of the seas which was booked on a JS (and canceled) I got an offer of minimal 1900 $ PP to upgrade to 2 bedroom GS ... So it seems comparing to the TA offer it's not such a good gamble ...

I mentioned this in the roll call thread, but most of us that booked Adventure cruises back in March or April were under the understanding we'd have to get PCR tests 5 days before the cruise because The Bahamas required it. Then The Bahamas dropped the requirement for vaccinated people. So it's not completely out of left field. However, if you're booked on the 19th, there's definitely a bit more scrambling to contend with.

A zillion years ago this site was really helpful for figuring which hotels were on Priceline/Hotwire https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/biddingfortravel/

? we missed your ranting too while you were away so rant away lol

I laugh whenever they put a wristband on me anywhere. "I can totally get out of this", I tell them. And I can. LOL

If you’re at all concerned, this App is awesome for blocking out noise. We use it every time we travel. You’ll sleep like a baby!

that is not what i have either seen or heard, know of a number of healthy people that died as a result of covid. Probably will never convince you of that but did feel i need to say it. Hope you are able to cruise in the near future and your will be as enjoyable as mine will be, remember my thoughts on what you or anyone posts 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.

Everytime @Matt says how many days until your next Royal Caribbean Cruise

I'm not a fan of any shuttle services. Most hotels in Miami are so close to the port that your best bet is to order a Lyft or Uber when you are ready to go on your schedule and the cost is usually reasonable.

Schedule showed berth 92 Port of Los Angeles.

Both the Harmony and the Symphony have a Hot Tub on the Suite Deck (Sometimes referred to as the Afterdeck) Neither the Allure nor the Oasis, even post-amplification have the Hot Tub. I have not seen an attendant on the suite deck on the Anthem either. There is a door to the stairs leading to the deck that may be closed and require a Sky or Star class sea pass card to open.

To my knowledge, the only room service available is regular room service (food). I'm not sure you actually could order a glass of wine at 11:00 unless you are Star Class...but I could be wrong. Food ? Absolutely. For that, they use dining room personnel so they would not bother your room steward.

Hi Guys, Does the unlimited dinning package include Speciality dinning on embarkation for lunch. Thanks in advance for any info. John ?

Prob right, my cruise is Western Carib anyway. Cozumel, Roatan and only Carib fest is Perfect Day so maybe easier. Just the idea of having my ten year old tested multiple times.

Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corporation will push ahead with a return to cruises this summer despite two guests onboard Royal Caribbean's Celebrity Millennium ship testing positive for COVID-19. https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/cruise-lines-say-no-change-on-sailing-plans-after-new-covid-19-cases-1.6062225

Not necessarily true... you can have COVID more than once (in rare cases) and with the variants of COVID that exist, including the more contagious variant "Delta" now found in 6% of new cases and causing a surge in cases in the UK, those odds increase. Depending on which vaccine you had, they are only protective 60%-88% of the time for this Delta variant. This is why there will likely need to be a booster shots similar to seasonal flu shots. Bottom line is that the protocols are working and that is the take home message for everyone to have confidence in cruising. ? I know I have confidence to cruise in August on my Allure sailing! Taken from RC website, if you test positive at least you get a refund and they arrange and pay for you to quarantine and get home: +++++++++++++++ Q What costs are covered in case I test positive for SARS-CoV-2 during the cruise? A If a guest who followed our protocols tests positive during his/her cruise and is required to quarantine onboard, is removed from the ship mid-cruise or denied reboarding as a result, the impacted guest will receive a full refund. Additionally, Royal Caribbean will cover the cost of onboard medical treatment and any required land-based quarantine for that guest, and will arrange and pay any additional costs incurred by the guests for safe travel home.

The Key would not be worth it.

The best thing that can happen for the cruise industry is for both ban to be overturned in court. then we can be back to sailing all ships from all ports just as soon as the can be staffed.

Long summary of today's hearing. Merryday was very prepared to call the bluff of the CDC when they used very outdated data or misleading studies to try to prove their case. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article252007683.html

I’m not talking about the immunisation history.. but there is a ‘digital certificate’ that appears which you can download to your phone, etc once you have had the second dose.

Once you go suite, it can never be beat. Signed, Someone who fell into the suite trap

it’s not really “My Time Dining” anymore if you can’t eat until 7pm or later ……. Especially if you take it thinking you can eat at 530 or 6 like before and then don’t find out until you get on the ship that your earliest choice is 7pm

So, I have been fortunate enough to do a few of the Singapore cruises over the past couple months and was able to experience the OLS and the deck 8 GLS. A few differences, but my overall vote goes to the GLS. I just disembarked this morning and thought I would share a few thoughts while still fresh: Main level interior of both rooms basically feel the same size The main level primary balcony is much bigger in the GLS (of the differences, this is the primary reason I preferred the GLS vs OLS) Main level split bathroom of OLS is probably nice if traveling with a larger group, but there were just 2 of us so that wasn't an issue for us Upstairs bathroom is much bigger in OLS (with double sink), but both have showers of similar size with dual shower heads Side balconies of OLS definitely add more natural light but they are small and really only adequate for 1 person to enjoy; again, perhaps nice for larger group allowing for spaces if anyone wants to get away for a while ? The noise from 270 in both rooms didn't bother us as we were often out during show times; definitely heard it a few times, but it wasn't an issue I am actually going on another sailing in 3 weeks and will be in a deck 10 middle GLS. Once we return, I will share any differences between deck 8 and deck 10 middle GLS.

We did it on Anthem. The sofa turns into a double bed but we also had a rollaway as well. The only caveat other than the lack of privacy already mentioned is that I don't believe the upstairs bed can be split into two beds and remains a single king bed.

Yes but keep in mind that it is a loft, so you will be lacking some privacy. It has two bathrooms but two adults will have to sleep in a sofa bed on the lower level. There is also nothing to separate the two levels other than a curtain. If you are fine with that, Star class is amazing.

Is it possible to fit 4 adults in a Grand Loft Suite? Not sure why but a grand loft suite is cheaper than a 2 br GS, and we get star class benefits.

You will love 8724. We were in that suite on the first half of our B2B in Feb 2019. GREAT suite. The only negatives were the noise (which I mentioned already) and the long walk, but you have a long walk no matter which suite you choose ! We had Yen Lee as our Genie. I don't know if she will still be there when you sail, but she is a great Genie.