twangster

Plus the concept of test cruises is suspect at best. It's basically a boondoggle to give some CDC employees a free cruise in reward for their months and months of hard work.

The CDC has to be working on another update. The trajectory of the pandemic is improving daily. "The sky is about to fall" isn't sustainable messaging. Maybe the cruise lines have an inside track on the next big CSO update and the timeline for the one after that.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/05/17/carnival-active-discussions-cdc-restart-cruises-july Carnival hinting at July. Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy said in an interview with NBC Nightly News the cruise line is working with the CDC to gain permission to restart sailings in July, which will carry no vaccine mandate for passengers in order to sail. Celebrity has a big TA call tomorrow. They've added a second session on Thursday to handle the anticipated numbers of TAs.

I've always considered the lawsuit to be a longshot. If the judge does rule on the injunction in favor of Florida that speaks volumes to how far out of touch she has taken the CDC.

The following week is $3,349 NRD or $3,570 refundable if you have flexibility. It gets cheaper later in August too, as low as $2,659 NRD and those corner aft are available.

As @Neesa offered it can be cleaner to pay a deposit using a credit card and then keeping the FCC until just before final payment is due. I know it feels like you need to spend it now but it makes no difference and it's easier to track price drops. Fully refundable deposit is $3,843. Something else to consider.

Some 3rd party websites do a better job of breaking it down.

Having 3 guests unlocks the 5D balconies (including those aft ones) that normally 2 people alone can't book. That makes it hard to compare to a cabin for 3 with a cabin for 2.

Rules for FCC were improved in January. If any FCC is left over from guest 1 it can spill over and apply towards guest 2. FCC can never used be used for taxes and fees. It's better dealt with on the phone or by using a travel agent. Keep detailed notes how FCC was used. As far as the pricing, what's not evident in the screenshot is that even guest one receives some discount from the full cruise fare based on current promos. For example Guest 1 price $1,809 + $144.45 taxes and fees Guest 2 price $723 + $144.45 taxes and fees Guest 3 price $648 + $144.45 taxes and fees Total $3,613.35 Doing the math guest 2 is 60% of guest 1 (before taxes and fees) then guest 3 is less than either guest 1 or 2. Everyone pays the same taxes and fees (they are never discounted).

At some point when they are done milking the situation they'll want to be seen as great politicians who saved the people so they'll be eager to declare "mission accomplished". A lot of back patting will occur and babies will be declared safe to be kissed by politicians all over the country, again. At that point the PHE will end.

It's just contract verbiage to make it clear what could happen. The cruise line is not guaranteeing the itinerary as booked.

No one is not going to influence the CDC decision making process by breaking the rules. That hasn't worked on planes and it won't work on ships. All it will accomplish is to cause the CDC to find ways to keep more ships from sailing. It will only slow and prolong the restart effort.

Symphony is the newest Oasis class ship with arguably better shows on board and activities like slides. Allure is a fine ship but she didn't get amplified (refreshed) due to the pandemic.

Ask the Americans that are now banned from airlines if their civil disobedience was worth it. An airplane at 30,000' is not the place to push an agenda that involves violating the law especially while it is a hot issue. The same be said for cruises when they initially start up. When you board you agree to abide by the policies. Once they are 15 miles away from shore will not be the place to be civilly disobedient and ignore mask policies. This is exactly the behaviour that causes the CDC to pause and slow down. Protest peacefully outside your kid's school or favorite store if you want their policy changed. Don't board an airplane or a ship after agreeing to their policy and then force the issue in the middle of the trip. I hate masks. So glad my local grocery stores allow me to shop now without them. Having said that I am waiting to see what the cruise ship policies will be. If I don't like them I won't sail. I sincerely hope anyone who tries to sabotage a cruise restart by being civilly disobedient on board is promptly confined to their cabin and dropped at the first port of call to find their own way home then banned for life.

I suppose, but you have to be travelling well over the speed limit before the punishment becomes a ban from driving on roads again, so maybe not exactly the same.

Agreed. However you did admit to ignoring crew instructions and breaking federal law regarding mask use.

I imagine a number of excursion providers have been impacted by the pandemic. Some may not be around anymore. It may take some time to rebuild a complete shore excursion portfolio once cruising resumes. Be careful putting a lot of faith into a previous excursion catalog.

If it wasn't for the CSO we might never realize the extent to which the CDC is just making it up as they go along.

Looks like these guys are friends. New UV sanitation in the elevator.

As a first time cruiser on Royal this is a great place to start: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/getting-started

One big cat

Elevator ride...

Aft balcony view

This crew member must have been on since before the handover. This is an older post.

Anthem as seen from Odyssey while the two ships were in port together.