twangster

There is no government agency greeting domestic flights. You'll walk off the plane and do what you've always been able to do. Hail a cab, jump in an Uber, get on a bus, go on a train, etc.

Back to the OP's statement... Cruises will start in October! I'm just not confident what year.

Exactly. The spread we see in the form of cases today will drive death rates that are observed weeks later. Only time will tell if spread today equates to more deaths in the weeks that are coming. Hindsight will remain to be 20-20. The answer will be known a month from now. Spread among younger people observed mid-June led to: No change in the death rate An increase in the death rate A decrease in the death rate We'll be able to make the correct statement a month from now.

Be that as it may, spiking case numbers in any age group indicates that spread is occuring. Fatal or not will take much longer to determine. Hopefully it remains to be non-fatal spread. The reporting of deaths is impacting the way data is shaped. It many cases they aren't tallied on weekends which skews Monday numbers higher week after week. Being that its Wednesday as I write this the Tuesday numbers haven't posted yet but the Sunday no reporting effect can be seen week after week followed by the weekly Monday spikes. All those troughs are Sundays, the following spikes are Mondays. All we can really glean from this data is that it's too early to declare anything. We can't declare the numbers are falling, we can't declare they are raising either. In two or three weeks time we'll know better what the impact of events that took place a month or more earlier were. If we've reached the point where our at risk have already died off the numbers will display that in the long run. Then we can more fully reopen and infected individuals just have to deal with a nasty virus with flu like impacts times ten, but non-fatal. Then cruising can commence, once the numbers show that our most weak or at risk are already gone. This is basically what our approach has become. Right or wrong will be for the history books to decide. What's not clear is where can we cruise when we reach the point that cruising resumes? If nations in the Caribbean haven't seen their at risk already die off then maybe they won't want ships full of spreaders coming to their country. It might be less fatal for us at that point, but fatal spread for them. No one can predict where we'll be in October based on our current methodology. We'll know in December how we looked in October.

The same buses they have always used? The onus isn't on a carrier to enforce anything.

The Panama Canal is totally worthy of "dream" or "bucket list" designation. The world will likely never again see a project of this scale and impact.

I'll go. Might be safer than staying here in the U.S.

For some reason I think of decommissioning as being a military term but the point remains valid. Short of decommissioning I could see a form of cold storage. The form of storage that minimizes the operational aspects of the ship to the bare minimum to prevent it from forever being unable to return into service. In this manner they retain ownership of the ships and three or fours years from now they could bring the ships back into an operational mode to resume sailings. Putting half the fleet into cold storage this summer may become a requirement soon. A.K.A. "mothballing".

Completely understandable. Probably very smart on their part. I expect the Caribbean to do the same. Why would any small nation want thousands of Americans and the virus infiltrating their country?

No question in my mind he never saw it, but it's his office and it carries his name. It does reflect on him. I appreciate in the era of the current government it may seem acceptable to lie and make stuff up out of thin air but I had higher expectations for Royal Caribbean.

I made the mistake of sending an email to Michael Bayley over this issue. Today I received a response. I was booked in a two bedroom aqua theater suite on Allure before Royal moved me to Liberty without any communication. Here is the executive explanation why: "Given the closure of shipyards along with the disruption to the supply chain caused by this pandemic, the amplification of Allure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas has been placed on hold until further notice. This change does mean that the stateroom you were booked in – which we were planning on updating during this process – will no longer be renovated. As a result, your original stateroom’s capacity can no longer accommodate your party, and we’ll need to make a change to your stateroom. We’ve moved you to the best available stateroom, and your amenities will remain the same (as many as can be accommodated)." Apparently the three of us on my Allure booking could never fit into the two bedroom aqua theatre suite on Allure. Even had the terminal in Galveston completed on time, we apparently would have had to move because the two bedroom suites on Allure can't accommodate three guests. So you see it has nothing to do with construction delays in Galveston. The loss of Star Class by being forced onto Liberty in their eyes: "your amenities will remain the same (as many as can be accommodated)." This appears to confirm that Royal places no value in the Star Class program. It's worthless. It's a shame Michael Bayley knows so little about the ships in the Royal fleet.

Quantum has yet to visit Alaska so we don't really know what they'll do to her. On Ovation (sister ship to Quantum) they did convert a noodle restaurant to "Fish & Ships" when she came to Alaska for her first time. As far as Victoria and the impact of the PVSA or Passenger Vessel Services Act where the requirement for a foreign port is established into U.S. law, we don't know. The U.S. C.B.P is tasked with implementing and enforcing this law. Sometimes they have granted exceptions to violations and other times they have strictly enforced the law. We can speculate about what-if scenarios but that's all we can do. Coastal Southeast Alaska relies heavily on tourism and much of that comes from cruise ship visits. In a scenario where cruising was safe but Canada happened to keep it's ports closed it's conceivable there would be a lot of pressure and motivation to encourage cruise ships to visit Alaska. It's possible that a temporary waiver to the PVSA could be put forward. We just don't know.

I just did a similar itinerary on Anthem in January of this year. There was no tendering. You can read about my trip here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/17677-anthem-jan-5-2020-11-nights-southern-caribbean-recap/

We know so little about this virus and we’ve so severely under tested we know very little about where we really stand. In the scenario where there is no vaccine herd immunity is a possibility. Yes it can take years to reach a point where the herd might get to resemble where it was pre-virus. Absent of a vaccine this would be nature’s way of handling it, else the whole herd eventually dies. I'm not saying herd immunity should be a primary strategy to pursue but in a scenario with no functional vaccine if one can never be found it’s all we’ve got.

It's possible there may be no vaccine but there is the possibility that society will reach a herd immunity eventually if a vaccine is never realized. That's not guaranteed either. At some point there will likely be some level of balance reached where life can more closely resemble what it was like before CV-19. Until then the CDC is unfortunately doing the right thing with cruise ships from a perspective of containing virus spread. Theme parks are probably best to remain closed right now. Sporting events with large audiences in close proximity are probably best to remain closed right now. Music concerts and movie theaters are probably best to remain closed right now. Even if some areas are opening these items back up right now there is a lot of evidence to suggest that is not the best course of action from a public health perspective. So while cruise ships in North America are being kept from sailing by the CDC there is a part of me that acknowledges that is probably the right thing to do right now.

Historically yes but there were starting to be reports that the shortcut icon for water on the main screen disappeared with the latest update when they added a new "Royal" flavor. Soon after the virus stopped cruising so the jury is currently out on the matter.

I hear you. I have a cruise from Florida in January. Fingers crossed.

You need some of the super lubricant from Christmas Vacation. On the Abyss you sit on their mat that is calibrated for the ideal friction coefficient. I can't imagine getting stuck, it's pretty steep but their mat is engineered for the proper speed.

Puerto Rico is a very large island, one of the largest in the region. It also has sizeable cargo movements to the mainland and very good flight options. As Caribbean islands go it's a major population center. Since it is a U.S. territory the standards there more closely match those on the mainland. Unfortunately PR has already proven it will block cruise ships loaded with PR citizens from returning on a ship that left from PR. As a U.S. territory the CDC does have reach there. That means it won't work as a bypass to get around the CDC.

They may be taking the opportunity to test the app functionality while ships don't have guests on them. The chat feature has been promised to go fleet wide and this current situation is a great way for them to test it on a large scale across the fleet so that they can one day fulfil their promise to make it available everywhere.

The challenge to operating from another country in the Caribbean is resupplying the ship. The volume of supplies that get loaded on turn around day is massive. For many ports of call ships won't take on potable water due to questionable standards for water treatment and limited quantities of water. Many Caribbean nations collect rain water but they would never be able to supply a ship with potable water (not all ships have the ability to desalinate water on board). Food standards can be questionable in some foreign countries. When I lived on St Thomas virtually all food was brought in on barges, transferred to trucks and shipped to grocery stores. Often frozen foods had clearly partially thawed and been refrozen. It was quite interesting grocery shopping and very expensive due to the additional costs of shipping food. It was rather disappointing at times and very different compared to grocery shopping on the U.S, mainland. The cost of living is much higher on an island. St. Thomas is a U.S. territory, imagine the differences in standards in a foreign nation. Supplying a ship with fresh food and perishables on a scale to feed thousands for a week on cruise would be a challenge when operating from a small Caribbean nation and super expensive.

Oasis class is big. No matter where you pick your cabin there will be some walking to get somewhere. In that sense it doesn't matter where your cabin is. Deck 14 is convenient to the pool deck (up one flight of stairs) and the Windjammer but you may hear the music and activities that happen during the day from your balcony. Deck 9 is convenient to Central Park (down one flight of stairs). I enjoy Central Park and use it to transit forward or aft when needed as well as enjoying Central Park at night. Other than that it's hard to go wrong with any deck.

The million dollar question.

In it's normal role the CDC is a source of data that is available to decision makers. The CDC will always err on the side of caution because that is it's job to do. The CDC is just a cog in a bigger machine with other agencies also providing data that decision makers can use. Consequently everything it does is done with the intent of being overly cautious, consider only health. For the recipients of CDC guidance they can weigh that in the decision making process with other agencies whose job it is is to provide perspective from other viewpoints. A health organization is going to consider only health and put forth guidance that would keep everything closed. An economic agency is going to strive to reopen everything and get the gears of industry moving. Somewhere between the two viewpoints is the right thing to do. That is what every state is doing - considering all viewpoints and deciding their path forward. The problem is... the cruise industry in lumped under the CDC. There is no alternative viewpoint for a decision maker to consider. When it comes to the cruise industry the CDC is the decision maker. Given their directive to be very conservative and protect health at all costs that is the exclusive viewpoint that the cruise industry is forced to live with.

Radiance was slated for a "multi-million dollar" dry dock. They never did say what that meant. They could easily spend millions doing routine marine maintenance if they had to completely replace a generator or motor. Since they never qualified how much would go into guest areas we could only speculate. I think she has to get her periodic marine maintenance dry dock done. Without that they could lose their certificate to operate the vessel. So that much will get done IMO. That's all we know.