twangster

Agreed. We need a dogpile.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/03/26/florida-governor-calls-cruises-be-able-restart-florida

Exactly. The CDC is undermining their own best practice protocols and the vaccines. They are basically saying none of that stuff works.

Governor roundtable discussion at Port Canaveral this morning. Several cruise line execs with seats at the table including Michael Bayley. Live streams available on some Orlando news outlets.

My cruise tracking spreadsheet grows more complex every year. The double points promo has my spreadsheet on fire. The price per point right now makes it a great time for any CAS ladder climbers out there!

The "floor" operating costs of warm layup don't include higher fuel consumption or numerous medical staff who are not inexpensive positions or the hundreds of crew required for guests or the additional supplies required. As guest count increases so do operating costs. More crew, more food, more fuel compared to sitting at anchor running on one engine with no guests on board. It's pretty obvious that to have 10 guests on the ship with the increased fuel sailing somewhere, crew and supplies they would lose more money compared to sitting at anchor empty of guests. it's equally evident that with 5,000 guests they make a boat load of money compared to sitting at anchor empty of guests. Somewhere between 10 and 5,000 is a point on a graph where they stop losing more money compared to remaining at anchor. None of us know where that point on the graph is but Royal does.

What is harder for us cruise guests to see are the economics of each ship involved. Newer ships have economies of scale but they also have a threshold below which it wouldn't make sense to operate. If the cutoff to break even is 2,500 guests as a SWAG on either ship, can they sustain that load over two months every week? Maybe they can reach that load on the first two cruises but can't sustain that load for the entire "season" every week. Operating the ship but losing tens of thousands each week doesn't make business sense. I'm not saying that is the forecast but it's an unknown that is really hard for us mere guests to understand.

Probably hoping to sail with established cruises. Something may be in the works for Harmony based on circumstantial evidence. Ships in that region are Jewel, Anthem and Harmony. Jewel is spoken for. Anthem and Harmony are options but may have limited ports to call on in the UK due to size.

Doesn't appear that CAS discounts are loaded for the test cruises.

See also these blog posts: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/07/27/how-stay-touch-someone-your-royal-caribbean-cruise https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/10/31/royal-caribbean-wifi-guide-internet-sea

You know your habits and how you use your phone, we don't. Do you lock your phone in the safe while cruising? Are you looking for calling to keep in contact with elderly parents or young children at home? Do you use your phone to check news, watch security cameras at home, check work emails, watch cat videos, etc. ? When you are off the ship at a port you are probably doing something so you might be able to get by without being constantly connected. Once back on the ship you may be sitting by the pool on a sea day and more likely to use your phone. Only you know your habits so choose wisely because the AT&T plan could end up costing you high data charges while on the ship.

Contrast the AT&T cruise ship plan with buying a ship internet wifi plan or "Voom" as it's called. With Voom your phone connects to the wifi on board, you login into your paid Voom plan and you have 24 x 7 internet access on your device included. If your phone supports wifi calling (most do) you can also make wifi phone calls just like at home. Same phone number, calls in or out are just like at home. With wifi calling your AT&T phone uses the internet as it's "cell tower" and it follows your home plan which for most of us means unlimited minutes of talk time.

Ships have a mini cell tower on board operated by a company called Cellular@Sea. The purpose of AT&T's Cruise Ship package is to use your phone on the ship's cellular tower much like you do at home. The monthly fee covers a bucket of minutes for talking but does not include data. The $50 plan allows you 50 minutes of talking included but then the overage is $2 per minute. Typically each call is billed at a minimum of 1 minute so a quick "Hi, I'm fine. Gotta go. Bye" is a one minute phone call even if it lasted 7 seconds. All data is billed at $2.05 per megabyte. That's the gotcha. Most smartphone are constantly using data to see if you have new emails, or to check for new notifications, or by apps just checking in the background. Even when your phone is locked and sitting on the table it occasionally uses data. At home you probably don't care because you likely have lots of data included. If you are paying $2.05 per megabyte you'll quickly learn how much data your phone consumes doing very little and it won't be a cheap lesson learned. The benefit of the AT&T plan is you don't have to buy a ship wifi internet plan.

Protocols? I don't want to hear about any more stinking protocols!

Anyone can create it. I say go for it!

I haven't seen that Royal has published updated protocols to the extent that Celebrity has and all of this is subject to change, but their protocols are here: https://www.celebritycruises.com/health-and-safety For shore excursions the current policy as of Mar. 25 2021: We strongly recommend our curated shore excursions which extend the highest health and safety standards. Most experiences are outdoors and guests will be encouraged to stay with their group at all times and maintain physical distancing. Buses will be at reduced capacity and will be sanitized frequently. For Guests looking for a more intimate experience, Small Group Discoveries will be available and for those who would prefer to tour with their family or group, Private Journeys will be available. We’re working closely with local government to comply with their requirements. Royal does not appear to have updated their protocols and they can be found here: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/shore-excursions-health Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, guests are currently only permitted to book and participate in Shore Excursions which are selected and approved by Royal Caribbean Group (“Approved Shore Excursion”).

Celebrity protocols as they are known today. https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/ITK/Healthy_At_Sea_Announcing_Return_To_Sailing.pdf https://www.celebritycruises.com/health-and-safety FAQ https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/CEL_Healthy_at_Sea_FAQs.pdf

Air + Always In for St. Maarten details. Note two Canadian airports - Toronto and Montreal (Trudeau) are "gateway" cities.

Some more details including insurance requirement for St. Maarten St. Maarten Travel Requirements: https://stmaartenehas.com/travel-requirements/ Greece Travel Requirements https://travel.gov.gr/#/

I have to imagine a number of local tour companies have either gone under or their employees took jobs in some other field to support their families when the pandemic hit. It could take some time for tour operators to come back once cruising restarts.

Agreed. Royal is one cruise line. There are many others including some smaller US companies that have to keep their larger ships grounded. The CDC isn't punishing all cruise lines because one ship is sailing from Nassau.

https://cruising.org/en/clia-action-center TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Help Restart the Cruise Industry! Yesterday, CLIA called on the Biden Administration and the CDC to lift the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) and allow cruising to be on track to resume sailing in the U.S. by the beginning of July 2021. Today, we get to work—and we need your help! Please visit the CLIA Action Center to email, call, and/or Tweet at your elected officials in the House and Senate and tell them to urge the Biden Administration to lift the CSO. Our announcement was a big step, and the journey is just beginning. We have our work cut out for us, but the facts are on our side. • Since the industry’s voluntary suspension one year ago, cruise lines have been prevented from operating in the U.S. even as public health conditions have improved and other sectors have opened or continued to operate throughout the pandemic. • Over the past eight months, a highly-controlled resumption of cruising has continued in Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific - with nearly 400,000 passengers sailing and additional markets scheduled to come online in the spring and summer. • The industry’s enhanced public health measures are working, with fewer than 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 onboard CLIA member cruise line ships since resumption started last summer, based on public reporting. • More than 300,000 jobs have been lost in the US due to the suspension of cruises. The majority of those impacted are independent business owners or individuals employed by small- to medium-sized businesses. • Restarting cruises as part of the broader travel industry will provide a much-needed boost to the U.S. economy - with the cruise industry supporting nearly 450,000 American jobs and contributing over $55.5 billion annually, prior to the pandemic. • An early-July resumption is in line with President Biden’s forecast for when the US will be “closer to normal.” • There is no such thing as ‘normal’ without cruise ships! The cruise community is a vital part of the travel and tourism economy and should be afforded the same opportunities to begin to recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic. It will take every single one of us to be successful. The Time is Now. Will You Join Us? JOIN US!

Actual footage from the 2021 @Lovetocruise2002 summer vacation training session this past weekend.

I think RCG is really hoping that the CDC comes around. Maybe not lifting the CSO but moving it forward. The hope for 2021 Florida cruises is still very much alive so they don't want to cancel established cruises only to have the CDC suddenly wake up.