Jill

5 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

That has been my plan since March 2020 lol.

Problem is that now I am booking refundable land vacations in case the cruises don't sail so confusion is a real problem these days! 

Confusion for sure! I know my may symphony will be cancelled so now looking at moving my deposit to October. We have odyssey in October out of Rome, but that’s iffy so moving symphony to October gives us a backup plan. We’d move odyssey to 2022. Even if she sails, that’s a huge trip to not be able to explore on our own. We’d cancel before final. 
 

My head hurts lol 
 

14 minutes ago, JP0524 said:

I wish RCL blog would stop posting on social media articles that make it seem like cruising is still a possibility. Right now, it doesn’t seem like it ever will be. I think you should start dedicating your voice and forum to educating people how to contact both local and national legislators on how to air grievances against the CDC and cruise ban. It’s time for everyone to start speaker out. Posting articles about “Best excursions in Bermuda” or “Best way to get cheap drinks on board” is a waste of time right now. Start teaching myself and others how to fight back!

Contact the senators and representatives in the major port states. Florida and Texas are the 2 I’d start with and add in Alaska as their economy is about to get a second hit with no cruises. 
 

In the end, it may be worthless. 

On 2/12/2021 at 4:16 PM, KatyH said:

I would appreciate the link as we are booked on the Harmony out of Barcelona Oct 31, 2021 for a transatlantic. (fingers crossed)  We had hoped to spend a week in Italy prior to the cruise, Knowing we would need to get tested in Italy to cross the border into spain and get on a cruise ship

Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/itpvirusupdates/?ref=share

Well if RC follows suit, that’ll knock out my May 29 Symphony. Just hurry as my final payment is looming in the near future and I want to save @Sharlathe trouble of applying my FCC.

Just to add: I joined an Italy Covid 19 travel group on Facebook as we are booked on Odyssey in October. 
 

From what the residents in Italy are posting, there may not be any cruising/tourism with foreigners. Apparently they are still in a bad way. Everything closes at 6pm. No restaurants are open at night. Vaccination is expected to take 8-12 months. 
 

If you want the link to the Facebook group let me know and I’ll post. So far it’s had the best information regarding their current situation. 

Thanks. Still not showing up for any of my 3 cruises.  

For a few days now there is nothing available in the “Internet + more” in the cruise planner. Any guesses why? Could internet end up being included/complimentary because of the need to use your phone on the ship? 
 

Just thought we needed another topic to make guesses! Lol 

I had heard since neither Explorer or Allure (who also was at PC this week and had containers loaded) didn’t get their “makeover,” that they would receiving some changes at sea. 
 

I’m guessing it’s stuff in response to Covid changes. Ventilation, food service, barriers etc. 

I recently booked us on a 7 night Southbound on Radiance for May 27, 2022. Hoping for fewer kids lol. 
 

Highly, highly suggest watching @twangster live blogs. I spent the better part of a Saturday afternoon reading the Southbound blog. The train from Anchorage to Seward (port) looked so amazing and got us so excited for this trip. 
 

We will arrive a few days early to go to Denali. 
 

If you’re on Facebook, there’s a Royal Caribbean Alaska group that has some good tips too. I also suggest going on YouTube and search ship tours. I was kind of ho hum about going on radiance (I’m a big ship girl) but after watching a tour, she’s beautiful with lots of glass. Reminded me of our first Royal cruises on Song of America and Monarch in the early 90’s. 

When this happened to us, they refunded my deposit saying it was taxes and fees. FCC was re-issued. 

Well they only had 1 ship in the Med anyways. 
 

I do like that they mention Mardi Gras starting May 29. I’ve got Symphony on May 29. 
I’m not very hopeful though. Thinking my October Odyssey in the Med isn’t going to happen either. 

So they’re getting ready to start up again after holiday lockdowns in Italy have been relaxed. It’s a positive sign. 
 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5827/

If you’re on Facebook (or your kids are) this is a great group to join 

I can’t help with your questions but I know 2 different families that did this itinerary on oasis and loved it. 
 

Just stumbled onto this website. 1200 ports listed worldwide. Tons of info! 
 

https://www.whatsinport.com/?fbclid=IwAR1GE6QBofWu5rKCjall1AZP9u8MUlDvBUKKnDCexN_6KcToQgdhgwHzm9I

Perhaps the most intoxicated I’ve ever been was on sovereign. Way back in 1998. Stopped at key west. Hit up Sloppy Joe’s, Margaritaville then back to Sloppy Joe’s. Ended up with a Polaroid of me sitting with a boa constrictor around my shoulders, an iguana on my lap and a parrot on my head. Only $20 for the pic

I’m just here to say @Sharlarocks!

21 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

A step in the right direction, but they really need to extend longer IMO.  At least until summer 2022, or allow us to stack them.

I really hope they extend to at least May of 22 so my Alaska could be covered. 
 

Not sure my May symphony will go and not sure what my October Odyssey in the MED will end up looking like (ship excursions only, vaccine requires to fly) so that would leave my May 2022 Alaska but it’s currently outside the FCC Dates. 
 

I’m seriously considering pulling the plug on my FCC and requesting a refund. I’ve got to decide soon. 
 

I’m ok walking around the ship, getting from point A to point B. Not ok wearing it on the pool deck/outdoors. That’s just ridiculous, especially in the hot Caribbean. 
 

For my end of May symphony, I don’t mind doing the ship excursions. We always go to the beach so just use the excursions to get there. 
 

My October Odyssey in the Mediterranean is another story. I’ve got the excursions booked but may cancel before final payment. I want to freely explore. That’s a once in a lifetime trip. 

3 hours ago, steverk said:

I question if the cruise lines would voluntarily require the COVID vaccine, but I'm pretty confident that the CDC will require it to board a ship and the cruise lines will have no choice but to go along with it.

I hope the vaccine drops the cases to "0" by 3Q21 so we can do away with it quickly.

This is why I’m considering turning my 125% FCC back to a 100% refund. I’ve got 3 booked and will not take the vaccine. Guess I better hurry up and decide. 

Considering that over 40% refuse to take the vaccine, that’s a big chunk of the population the cruise lines can’t really afford to disenfranchise. It’ll be interesting for sure to see what happens. 
 

For me personally, my immune system has already “attacked” me twice. First was Graves Disease in which my immune system destroyed my thyroid. 
 

4 years ago I had a grade 4 severe reaction to a cancer immunotherapy that almost killed me. My immune system went out of control and attacked all my muscles resulting in severe muscle wasting. 
 

I don’t want to inject ANYTHING that might stimulate my immune system. 
 

My days of cruising may be over if it’s mandated. I’m not willing to risk any more immune related adverse events. 

If they’re going to extend FCC date (past April of 2022) I hope they do it soon. 
 

If my late May symphony gets cancelled, that only leaves my October Odyssey to apply my FCC to and the FCC is more than the Odyssey price. 
 

I do have a May 2022 Alaska but right now, that’s beyond the FCC sail by date. 

So is it safe to assume that test sailings are the month of December? Per the conditional sail order RC has to give 60 days notice to the CDC after test sailings before they can take paying passengers. 

We’ve got a 9 night on Odyssey with overnight in Athens for October 2021. 
 

I had the same concerns as you doing a brand new Q class and not being on the ship enough to “see” the ship. However, this 9 night has 2 sea days. The first one is the first day so between embarkation day and the next day at sea, that’ll be good for exploring the ship. Our last sea day is day before last. 
 

This notion of not enjoying the ship is why we didn’t go with a 7 day oasis class. 
 

We will be doing a 3 day land tour of Rome after the cruise. We originally were going to do Rome before but with COVID this year I fear getting exposed at the crowded tourist traps and testing positive at the pier. So land tour is at the end. 
 

Total time of vacation will be 2 weeks. 

On 11/25/2020 at 4:42 PM, RBRSKI said:

Time will tell and we shall see!

The supply chain is not there on islands. Everything is shipped into these islands making those items super expensive. The infrastructure is simply not there and no one has the money to put such infrastructure there.  Cruise terminals that accommodate thousands of people are not going to happen.