twangster

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The CDC doesn't have the authority to dictate to individual states what to do. The federal government can't mandate shut downs, that power rests with individual states and governors or down to the city and county level. In theory that should work better as it allows more localized decision making. Given the current pandemic trends and numbers it appears that many states or areas are getting it wrong. No one is blaming the CDC for that, that's on the state, county or city government who formulated the response for that area. If the CDC had more power they would be more involved in areas beyond the cruise industry. It's not a double standard being implemented by the CDC, they simply are powerless to do anything but sit back and watch some states doing it differently compared to how the CDC would do it.

Rule #1 is always wait for the cruise line (or airline) to cancel. As soon as you choose to cancel you limit your options.

That'll be sorted out by schools going back. As soon as the first school kid dies and the lawyers get involved we'll get our first glimpse at how this plays out in court. Schools are at greater risk because each local school board is responsible to figure it out. The CDC doesn't review each local school board's plan. The argument will be that the district didn't do enough or their protocols were wrong. The cruise lines will benefit to a degree in that the CDC will be reviewing their protocols. If they aren't up to CDC requirements they'll be rejected. If the CDC blesses the plan and protocols all a cruise line has to do is prove they followed the plan approved by the CDC. Unless they fail to follow the plan they should have reduced legal exposure because it was good enough for the very tough and unfair to the industry CDC.

The CDC did publish requirements. Royal and most other lines ignored them or didn't follow them claiming ignorance. "Oops, we'll do it right next time" was Royal's response when busted. The CDC has been interacting with cruise lines this whole time. Just because it hasn't played out in the media on a daily basis for all of us to follow doesn't mean it hasn't been happening. One cruise line took time to read and follow the CDC requirements. They submitted a response to the CDC and they were approved to sail. That's one ship out of hundreds. Other cruise companies haven't tried to submit plans or respond to the CDC. That's on the cruise lines but that does not equate to the CDC saying nothing for 4 months.

Same. So many ways to make a pizza. Blue cheese crumbles on pizza = yum.

Perhap this is an example of why Canada has better control over the pandemic.

I don't think the CDC has been unfair. When you take the politics out of the equation the science supports restricting many activities including cruising. The CDC does not have direct oversight over all of them, the CDC can only provide guidance for things controlled at the state level. If states don't follow the CDC guidance that's within the rights for states to choose to do so, right or wrong will be determined in the history books. The CDC does have the ability to influence cruise ships. While I wish this wasn't the case the CDC is right to prevent cruising at this time. Without the ban, cruises would sail, there would be spread and deaths that occur and the media would have a field day all but putting the last nail in the industry coffin. Right now the CDC is saving the cruise lines from themselves and the inevitable outcome if they were to sail today. Other regions have managed to better contain community spread. As a result some cruising is beginning in a very limited fashion. The US isn't there yet. It will be at some point. When it gets there the work that cruise lines and the CDC are doing right now will allow us to be prepared for that moment. It won't be cruising like it was, not for several years. The CDC isn't to blame for the ban, Americans are. The CDC is just the messenger delivering a message we don't like. Don't shoot the messenger. We The People put us where we are with respect to cruising. We The People can get us to a happy place where cruising can begin in a limited fashion. Politicians will never agree and people who have a political agenda will make it political but at the the end of the day it's We The People that will ultimately move us to a better place.

That's sort of the point. I get it. People are tired of the current situation. People don't want to follow protocols, people want their lives back. If pro sports teams won't follow protocols for their million dollar jobs what makes anyone think cruisers who aren't being paid millions of dollars to sail will? Four additional Marlins have now tested positive and now two Philly staffers have tested positive after playing the Marlins. The role the stadium played isn't fully know yet but certainly appears like it could be the vector unless the Philly staff joined the Marlin team at the bar. Were all 17 infected Marlins and the 2 Phillies at the bar? Or did the Philly staff break protocol as well unrelated to the Marlins breaking protocol? That's probably worse. Baseball parks don't generate the virus anymore than cruise ships generate the virus. It's humans that bring it to these venues. Humans who want to live free despite the best protocols will do stupid stuff because they think they know better and it doesn't matter if they don't follow protocol. If professionals in very small groups can't get it done there is no way the cruising public in much larger numbers can. In this case they shut down the team and forced another team to cancel games until more could be tested. Now they are talking of the Marlins being placed into a bubble. Do you want to be on a ship that is shut down and placed in a bubble because a few cruisers didn't follow protocol? Another word for bubble is quarantine. "In a statement, Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said the team is "having a difficult time enduring this experience" while isolating and quarantining in Philadelphia." That doesn't sound like a fun cruise experience to me. Until a community can get get their numbers right there can be no cruising involving that community. The CDC knows this reality.

Rumors are cheap and plentiful. Considering they recently put a lot of money into her when bringing her back in 2016 she is in pretty great shape. New galley, refreshed guest areas including the best Boleros in the fleet. I could understand her going to a cruise line in the family but scrapping her seems undue.

Royal has seemingly or it's been reported by some that they have been willing to manipulate FCC allocations in some cases. This appears to be more available when all the same passengers are sailing on the past and future cruise. What I'm trying to say is call them (or your travel agent) and see if they'll manipulate the FCC to work for you. If you don't get a cooperative agent on the first attempt, wait a bit and try again.

The FCC that was used should be reissued. It can then be applied to another cruise.

Not sure. Even Empress hangs way out in the slip (or did). Taken from near the aft of Empress: At some point as a ship gets longer and longer the physics don't work and there has to be a maximum amount of unsupported ship that can't be exceeded. The extra length of Vision class may be past that magic number. I know the Captain of Empress articulated that winds can be tough in this harbor and he expected a number of missed calls for Empress. A bigger ship with more hanging out into the harbor has to be a concern. It's amazing even Majesty got in there.

Like it or not there is a lot of evidence the current CDC position on cruising is the right thing to do at this time. MLB tried playing games with a lot of protocols in place, no fans present and masks required for all non-player positions yet we are starting to see outbreaks among MLB personnel. Between the two teams, the TV crew and the stadium crew there are probably something like 200-300 people present in a very large stadium. If they can't do that without an outbreak how on earth is a cruise ship supposed to avoid an outbreak? If there is one valid purpose for those areas in the US that are pushing the limits and reopening a lot it's that the world can learn from it. If any country or region tried to do the same they'd face the same results - more cases and more death. The good news is the death rate isn't climbing like it did with the March case count spike, at least not yet. If we can learn how to keep the death rate down while the case count is high that's a good thing.

As long as dock fees are reasonable I think most ships would prefer to be at dock rather than running their engines burning more fuel and navigating around other shipping or living on anchor watch. They might even be doing engine overhaul or maintenance. Ships this old require a lot of scheduled maintenance so now is a great time to get stuff done.

Explorer is part of the Voyager class while Liberty is Freedom class. Freedom class is basically a stretched version of Voyager class. It's like they took a Voyager class ship and welded in an extra section in the middle. The extra space in the middle makes room for a dedicated Sorrento's Pizza in the Promenade and an extra pool on the pool deck. On Explorer pizza is available at cafe Promenade. I like Voyager class. They are a perfect size while not being too big. They aren't small (bigger than anything in Carnival's active fleet up to this point) so they are a large ship while keeping the guest count to a reasonable level. Balcony cabins on Explorer are cove like in nature while Liberty has a more open balconies with glass. Explorer was suppose to go in for her "amplification" right when the pandemic started so it was cancelled. They had already been doing some things to her such as the cabins were already touched when I sailed her June 2018. Explorer was set to receive water slides in the amplification so that's a notable omission right now. Other differences - Liberty has a Suite Lounge while Explorer still has the interior Concierge Lounge, one of a handful left in the fleet. Generally speaking if you like Liberty you'll feel right at home on Explorer. The layout except for the extra section in the middle is very similar.

Quantum lacks a Diamond Lounge but there is a "Golden Lounge". It's not clear how they'll use that space outside of the Asia region. The upper Music Hall on Quantum has been made into a VIP Casino. On the pool deck where Ovation has "Fish & Ships" now, Quantum has "Noodle Shop". The layout is identical and if you were teleported back & forth between ships in many areas you'd have a hard time knowing which ship you were on.

I have cruised both from Seward to Vancouver. Millie in 2017 and Radiance in 2019. Millie: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/5211-alaska-recap-celebrity-millennium-june-2017/ Radiance: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/9160-radiance-of-the-seas-alaska-southbound-83118/ Millie was before her revolutionization. Both are great ships and similar in size as both were built to the original Panamax standard. I cruised Celebrity because on that occasion I was booking a suite. On Celebrity (or X as some refer to it) a suite comes with better perks compared to Radiance suites. All things being close to equal and since I had never sailed X I picked Millie. The only disadvantage was not earning Crown and Anchor points. On Millie suites have a dedicated restaurant and access to a lounge, plus it came with 4 perks, OBC, gratuity, beverage package and internet. Put it all together and Millie represented better value dollar for dollar, suite to suite. I can't think of much to complain about on either ship. In both cases I booked the train from Anchorage direct and the itinerary was identical. Mille was a bit more refined. No need to sign out towels, slightly better food in the buffet, suite restaurant on Millie (Luminae) was excellent, like Coastal Kitchen on the bigger Royal ships but better. Radiance helipad was public where it isn't (or wasn't) on Millie. Unless the CAS points are a big factor for you I suggest checking out Millie since she has been refreshed now and it will give you an opportunity to try X, to see what you like or dislike. I had a great cruise on her and I'd go back for the same reasons anytime all things are close to equal.

Trading stock is legalized gambling. Should you bet on red or black? Even or odd? Will the dealer go bust with the next card? It's probably too early to predict what will happen with Royal. NCL is in more precarious financial shape so they may be a canary in the coal mine for us. If NCL goes into bankruptcy it will have a chilling effect on Royal stock even if Royal doesn't follow them into bankruptcy. Might be a good time to invest more, or it might be a sign that it's time to jump ship.

If they hold true to past years then the fall may see more cruises released.

Majesty is Royal's second oldest and second smallest ship. It left the fleet then came back for Cuba since Cuba can only take small ships. When Cuba tourism was blocked by the US government they placed Majesty in NOLA to do something with her. She is dated in places like carpet and decor in areas and being an older ship she has small cabins with very few balconies. Conquest class is larger but doesn't really have a lot of the newer bells and whistles either granted there are some water slides on them while Majesty doesn't have slides. I find the Conquest class ships to have pretty gaudy decor like someone was paid to go on a wild acid trip and decorate the ship. Majesty isn't like that but her decor distinctly places her in that generation and you'll feel like you stepped back in time to the days of classic cruising when you board her. This class of ship was a game changer when they were built and at one time they were the largest cruise ships in the world. These ships changed the cruise industry in a good way forcing all other lines to step up their game. Two sister ships, Monarch and the class namesake Sovereign were just sold to a scrap yard this month. You'll find everything you need for a good classic cruise experience much like Carnival's Fantasy class. It wouldn't be fair to compare a Fantasy class ship to a Conquest class ship and it isn't fair to bring Majesty into that comparison either. Here is a trip report with photos from Majesty last year: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/14968-the-magic-of-majesty-august-2019-and-then-again-in-october/ I'm being a little tough on Majesty to set expectations. Know what you're booking. Having said all that she is a good ship for a good old style classic cruise experience.

A lot is riding on these early cruises. If they can pull off a few without issue it will speak volumes to the world. Inevitably there will be a case so we'll have to see how it plays out in the media. Cruise ships didn't create CV-19 nor are they immune anymore than a land based movie theater, wedding, political convention, etc. yet a single case from an early cruise will garner attention that hundreds of cases from a rally or wedding wouldn't.

Jewel has a couple Southern Caribbean routes from Galveston including Cartagena and Colon. I haven't seen Liberty doing these runs.

Another reason to buy the drink package - Muster 2.0.

Airlines face the same challenge hence the wild and crazy safety briefing videos and the reason for the Royal Caribbean spy version of the safety briefing. Many people stand at muster on their phones or talking amongst themselves despite instructions not to. They aren't paying attention either. Come emergency time you may regret that choice.