ted52

I don't think you'll be sailing in November so I would personally just wait it out. If you are uncomfortable with that eat the $100

10 hours ago, Cruiseallday said:

What are requirements the CDC came up with? Why wouldn't the CDC purplish them if that's the case?  Do you have some inside info that the rest of don't?  We can agree to disagree on this. These nothing wrong with that. Like is said if you can fly on an airplane with 300 other people elbow to elbow then they can find a way with the cruise ships. I guess since the CDC is waiting to hear from the public on what we think they should do, we and the cruise lines shouldn't expect hear anything anytime soon. 

Flying on an airplane imo is not the same as being on a cruise for 7+ days with thousands of people. We have to consider liability and safety of all crew and passengers involved. I want to get back to cruising just like everyone else but there is so many things to consider which the CDC and cruise lines are taking into consideration. Cruises are a small city moving from port to port. Let's also talk about the Caribbean for a second. Most of these islands have seen extremely low infection rates and in many islands the cases that they did have were from foreigners imported. I'm sure there are many ports that simply do not want cruises to sail there until it is safe.

On 7/27/2020 at 5:38 AM, VACruiser said:

I have a Crown Loft Suite (CLS) planned for November 21 on Oasis of the Seas that I booked in 2019. After the most recent sale came out this week I priced another cruise for a CLS for April 22, and to my surprise, I noticed that the price had risen $1300 dollars for the exact same specifications. Sorry if I’m late to the sad-party but has this been the case on all cruises going forward? 
 

The difference in price was $5400 to $6700 with the exact specifications. That’s a pretty big jump in price. 

I think prices are elevated because people got back the 125% FCC. IMO, cruise prices will remain high until we set sail. Depending on how many are actually willing to get on the ship when we resume that will dictate the price. RCCL is also trying to get as much money as possible right now from those that don't know better. I wish the CLS on Oasis was $5500 for me!! Was looking for a new booking and saw that prices were super high. 

On 7/27/2020 at 12:53 PM, MustCruise said:

Thanks @ted52 - I guess this is part of my process to determine my comfort level. I'm reading as much as I can online, but value the feedback of this community as well. 

Totally understand! Just wanted to highlight that your comfort is what's most important. I know you will make the best choice. 

On a conference call hosted by Royal Caribbean employees (TA partners?).  They just said that they imagine we'd hear more about protocol and policies by September but that's not a hard fast rule. I  imagine we'll won't sail til at least Jan 2021. 

You have to be comfortable with what you are comfortable with. Only you can know what risk you are willing to take. 

With that said personally, I think Royal's stock has plenty of room to continue to go down before it goes up. Then of course possibility of Chapter 11 but no one has a crystal ball. If you had told me in March that cruises would be canceled into the fall I would have said you were crazy but here we are.

Do what feels comfortable for you.

I love this so much! Great work Royal. Now for compliance. 

I also stand corrected. I said this would never happen because of how strict maritime laws can be. We all know that the party can not go on without everyone attending and paying attention to the muster drill. I am happy the industry is allowing adaptability to compliance.

20 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

What I don't understand is if they are going to cancel into 2021, just do it so we can make other holiday arrangements instead of being kept in limbo!!

While it stinks for them to keep the customer in limbo there are so many other factors at play here. They also need to think of their investors. Plus if you cancel too soon and things drastically change then what? I at least would start looking into other holiday arrangements if I were you. 

I see 50% capacity. Every other room is booked for one sailing and then it switches for the next sailing. This would ensure that there's a full sailing time in between rooms being booked and that those rooms can be deep cleaned. 

On 7/16/2020 at 6:33 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

1.  Since the program has been retitled Unlimited Dining Package (versus Ultimate DP) it has been possible to go to more than 1 specialty location per meal....so yes, you should be able to grab something at Izumi and then later, go to a different restaurant. There is one caveat and that is that the restaurants are based on availability so they must be able to accommodate you.  The best plan is to make reservations ahead of time so that you’re not disappointed if they aren’t able to fit you in.  I feel this is going to be even more important with reduced occupancy (social distancing) for a while.  My guess is, reservations are going to be absolutely required and more difficult to come by.

2.  Yes, Johnny Rocket is included.

Good point with the reduced occupancy. I am hoping that Royal rolls out to go from specialty restaurants. I know you can get it on a one-off basis but it's not common. The more people opting to eat on their balconies or in more public areas (pool deck etc) the better!

2 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

Our March cruise on Harmony has a very good price for the waterpark.  It's typical "low" price is $105 CAD and today I noticed it's at $86 CAD.  Considering it's March break with lots of kids, that is a very good price.  But now getting less and less optimistic for March, especially out of Florida (plus if passport offices don't open soon, we have another problem).  Not sure whether to put more money into Royal with the uncertainly (although we have 5 cruises booked).

Are others continuing to purchase cruise planner items? Or are you holding off with the current unknown state?

US Passports resumed a few weeks ago. Still no go in Canada? It took me almost 4 months but my renewed passport arrived.

not surprising. Hopefully, she can sail in 2022/23

1. My first time in Cozumel we got a later start around 10/11. We ended up walking in town and renting a jeep for the remainder of the day. Had amazing fish tacos!
2. E-muster sounds amazing but I don't see that happening unless they figure out a way to police people watching it in their rooms (and actually watching not just background noise) . It is a requirement that everyone MUST watch it so they have to be pretty strict I would imagine. 

On 7/10/2020 at 6:55 PM, AshleyDillo said:

Not sure what ship you will be on, but Izumi will do sushi in to-go containers.  Playmakers, Johnny Rockets, and Portside all had to-go boxes as well.  Playmakers was especially awesome for swinging by to grab a snack to eat while watching an aquatheater show.

Wow, I didn't know that! This is helpful. We are on Oasis. Pretty excited as we have both been on Allure (me twice) so I'm interested to see what the amplification on Oasis looks like. Before the amplification it's my understanding that Oasis and Allure were pretty much the same. 

On 7/6/2020 at 5:57 PM, AshleyDillo said:

I was able to do it at Chops.  I did have a reservation though and had to convince them to let me do it to-go.  They kept trying to seat me despite my not being dressed for it.  Finally they relented and 5 minutes later I had my food on a plate with a room service lid and rolled silverware.  I would suggest you make a reservation and then go down a bit early and explain that you want it to go.  They don't have trays, so you'll have to carry stacks of plates if you end up ordering the full meal.  I was only ordering a steak to-go, so it was a little easier.

Awesome news, thank you! our balcony is on 8 so will have to carry a lot but not too far

On 7/6/2020 at 7:02 PM, USCG Teacher said:

I would say that this is prudent advice for any sort of special request: time is your friend. Giving the staff a heads up not only increases the likelihood that they'll be able to accommodate you, it also reduces the stress level on them.

Thank you! I will definitely make a reservation. 

Will the specialty dining restaurants allow you to take out a meal? I am planning for a 60th birthday dinner for my mother next year. Would love to arrange for chops on our balcony one of the nights (and by arrange I mean we bring it up to our room ourselves) We are doing UDP so will also have the opportunity to visit many of them throughout the week