Ray

Simple fact is RC has to meet certain criteria to be able to sail.

One of this critetia will be the provision of medical services, they obviously met this criteria. 

Now should we blame RC or should we blame the medical staff? 

Even on land doctors, nurses etc make mistakes, they give the wrong diagnosis , not saying its right but it happens. 

If a doctor is saying someone is not that bad you are not going to medivac them off the ship. 

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Rarely do all the facts get published in cases like this.  A lawyer for a family is free to state just about anything or twist events in an attempt to pursue a settlement.  Statements made outside of courtroom can include blatant lies and misrepresentations.  I have no idea if that is the case here, but use caution when reading one side of the story.  

The tragic FOTS fatality is a prime example of this, where lawyers blamed everyone apart from the grandfather and it was only when cctv of the incident was leaked that grandfather changed his story and took responsibility for his actions. 

1 hour ago, Floski said:

I can't imagine

the rage these folks will see from people who flew in from the midwest, or like me - I

just drove 7 hours and paid for this hotel and I can't go because I have a little fever?

I can !!!! And i can ALSO imagine the rage if you or anyone else comes down with a virus be it covid or anything else and then finding out the person was ill before boarding but was allowed to board,  im 100% certain you would be complaining to anyone that would listen and quite rightly so.

1 hour ago, Floski said:

I don't disagree at all, but I definitely understand what Andrew is saying.

Heck, people pick up sniffles and a fever all the time; what happens if one of 

 

I think it has been forgotten that even before covid RC had policies in place to refuse anyone from boarding who had a fever or was coughing badly. 

2 hours ago, AndrewPunch said:

 The biggest one will be the denial of boarding if there is an issue/pre cruise testing.  We would be traveling from the midwest to Florida and who knows what will happen with the flying in a day early.  How is Royal going to handle the your kid has a fever, thanks for coming but the door is that way? or what?

 

 

Hopefully its thanks for coming but the door is that way! 

Distance doesnt come into the equation! if anyone is showing symptoms they cannot be allowed to board! Its that simple.

Imagine the bad press and lawsuits if it came out they knowingly allowed someone with symptoms to board who then infected others. 

Travelling from UK to PR in March if i got there and wad denied boarding due to symptoms i would be more concerned with getting medical treatment 

5 hours ago, cruisellama said:

Could use the influenza vaccine example.  We have it, many get the vaccine  yet for some reason they succumb.  

No one knows what variation of the flu virus is coming that winter so the flu vaccine that people recieve is just pure guess work in the hope it works. Most people will be ok however some as you point out will succumb even with the vaccine, simply because the vaccine given doesnt work with the virus.

IF as has been reported previously that covid is here to stay and vaccines will be yearly then its going to be the same lottery as the flu vaccine, take your pick and hope for the best. 

52 minutes ago, jticarruthers said:

I wish they would publish the proposed actual sailing schedule so that those of us that are willing to be guinea pigs could get in line.

I get why they cant/wont ... still no certainty from the CDC side 

Not Even when CDC say " ok you can sail" will they be able to say whats happening fully. 

1st cruises will in my opinion be to private islands as they can control everything, after that cruiselines will have to see which countries are not only open to visitors but more importantly willing to guarentee that ships can dock to disembark those in need of medical attention or who may need to self isolate. 

Guess it will only be once this is worked out that any new schedules will be released.

The most important part of the document is on page 52

That agreements must first be reached with countries and ports of call that will allow ships to enter and to disembark crew and passengers that have Covid-19. 

In other words if no caribbean island agrees to allow ships to disembark Covid-19 patients then there will be no caribbean cruises. 

So in reality if no country in the world agrees then there is no cruising 

8 minutes ago, captainjak said:

BINGO!  So she may have meant they are guaranteeing they are taking all the safety precautions as required by the government to be able to cruise again.

 

Having studied for 2 years to gain my Nebosh (HSE )certificate, im pretty sure this is what is meant but has been lost in translation 

21 hours ago, twangster said:

In reference to the "Safety Guarantee" reading the article it's not clear what "guarantee" she was referring to.  She was in the middle of reviewing an excursion from the ship.  

In the past if did your own thing at a port of call and missed the ship's departure you were responsible for any and all costs to continue your vacation from there, the ship won't wait for you.  When you book an excursion through the cruise line and the excursion returns late the ship will wait or they will pay the costs to reunite you with the ship.  They don't guarantee you'll enjoy the excursion, just your return to the ship.  Perhaps this is the "safety" she was referring to that comes with being required to take a ship excursion.

Given that the writer is Italian writing about a cruise in Italy it's possible the "guarantee" reference doesn't mean what it would to someone here in America.  She uses the word in another sentence in reference to the buffet:

"The waiters, in addition to face masks, wear gloves while preparing the dishes. An additional guarantee."

As we know wearing gloves doesn't eliminate any or all risk.  Gloves are a step towards mitigation but stop well short of eliminating all risk.  I don't think the cruise line is guaranteeing a guest has zero chance of becoming infecting, the writer chose a word that carries a different meaning in this part of the world.  

I think what is being referred to in the statement is the cruiselines Guarantee that it will do all it can to reduce possible hazards involved and try to reduce the risks for those that cruise.

By having passengers only using ships excursions they have eliminated the risks of people going off by themselves and mixing with whoever.

By having all crew wear masks and gloves they are reducing the risk of transmitting any potential virus.

So the cruiseline by taking such actions is Guaranteeing that it is doing all it can to reduce the risks, its all about ticking the correct boxes as required by government HSE when doing their risk assessment 

R Rate is what it was in April so they have came up with new rules, schools and workplaces are still open however we CANNOT visit other houses, can only meet 1 other household at a time outside with a maximum of 6 people. If this does not stop the trend then other more severe measures may be introduced, this includes a complete lockdown as has been recommended by scientists for 1 month possibly over xmas and new year. 

Bloody idiots wont listen to whats being said and either go out partying or protesting etc ruining it for those that stick to the rules 

Great news

Hopefully our 6 month lockdown that was announced last night in the UK is not extented any further and we are able to get away somewhere other than the local supermarket  

Given the fact they booked through RC UK and T&CS clearly state that issues are dealt with in UK under UK Law this should not even be looked at by US Courts, simply because when this family booked cruise they agreed to all the T&Cs!

T&CS are there to protect everyone! We enter a contract of agreement knowing this and no court should overrule this as it will open up a precedent that will cause more harm than good 

Pizza and a beer ( No Corona from now on lol ) 

The Danube is the river cruise i would love to do

On 9/17/2020 at 4:09 PM, twangster said:

 With UK travel restrictions it's unlikely many Brits are planning to fly to America or the Caribbean to vacation this winter.    

Bloody hard to fly anywhere as they keep removing then re-adding countries to the red list..

Its safe to fly to spain so people book a vacation, then 2 weeks later its a case of " oh sorry spain isnt safe so you cant fly there now and if you are already there then you better get your ass back quickly" 

I just had to cancel my 25th anniversary vacation to budapest as they have added Hungary to the Red List.  

6 hours ago, twangster said:

Just curious as I have been told over and over tips are not a thing in the UK as if I'd be crazy to tip.

Tipping in UK is not expected, however you tip if you get good service or food etc. 

If service or food is rubbish you dont tip, if you decide it merits a tip you leave what you feel it was worth...no 18 or 20% just what you think it deserves.

 

As a taxi driver, what would a local normally tip you above the fare?

Again this depends on the service, a taxi driver who just sits in cab, doesnt assist with bags or luggage wont get as much as a driver who assists.

With regards locals tipping every customer was different. An old lady returning home from getting her shopping may tip £2 on a £5 fare the next one may round up to the nearest £ 

I once got £50 for a £2.40 hire as guy was just happy he didn't have to walk home in the rain 

Quote

What would a server in an Edinburgh restaurant expect to be tipped on a dinner in a typical full service restaurant?

As stated previously this all depends on the level of service and quality of food, We brits do tip but in our country tips must be earned not just expected.

What do you tip at a local pub for a pint? 

Nothing or just round up to nearest £ ! We Dont have to tip to get faster service as barstaff know whos next in line and if someone tries to jump q they will be pulled up for it.

Q jumpers are not tolerated anywhere

 

 

Not trying to provoke, trying to learn more for a future visit.

As said its all about the level of service you get and whatever you leave is a bonus so is appreciated 

11 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

This is also why I think wait staff around the world loves the US because we automatically tip.  

 

 

Got to disagree with this, now i am not saying everyone from the US does not tip , there are some who do and do so extremely generously however the majority do not as its a case of when abroad " do as the Romans do "  having worked many years ago as a taxi driver i can honestly say that most US customers were seen by taxi drivers   hotel staff and restaurants as being tighter than 2 coats of paint because there were no tips. 

Thing is it should not matter about tips, no one should need to rely on tips just to survive, companies on land and at sea should pay the correct wage and not rely on customers tips for their staff to survive 

11 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

This is also why I think wait staff around the world loves the US because we automatically tip.  

 

 

Got to disagree with this, now i am not saying everyone from the US does not tip , there are some who do and do so extremely generously however the majority do not as its a case of when abroad " do as the Romans do "  having worked many years ago as a taxi driver i can honestly say that most US customers were seen by taxi drivers   hotel staff and restaurants as being tighter than 2 coats of paint because there were no tips. 

Thing is it should not matter about tips, no one should need to rely on tips just to survive, companies on land and at sea should pay the correct wage and not rely on customers tips for their staff to survive 

Being Scottish i tried to work out how many drinks i could have had in the time it took to create the spreadsheet

Greenock ???? The only good thing about Greenock is the road heading out of it  

While a ship sailing out of Leith would be nice it really doesnt matter to me where Oasis, Freedom, Anthem etc are based, the most important thing for 2022 is that they are at Sea with passengers onboard

You could book a week in a spanish resort which you enjoy or you could book a week on a cruiseship which is a floating resort and each new day you wake up in a new country. 

Each new place we visit is a new experience and as our time on this planet is limited we need to make the most of them and venture out to experience new things! 

No point looking back in 20 yrs with regrets 

2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I find it very ironic (hypocritical ??) that SA is so anxious to have "foreign" cruise passengers in their realm drinking alcohol and gambling when they are (on their face, at any rate) so strictly against such perversions.  Of course, all you have to do is go across the King Fahd Causeway, to the other side of "The Umbrella of Allah", into Bahrain, and you're good-to-go, b/c Allah cannot see you on the other side of the umbrella.  Do whatever you want over there !!  I used to travel to that part of the world quite frequently for business and I find the double standards just too much.  No thanks....for now.

100 % Correct

I worked in Bahrain and from the Awali oilfield to my apartment on Amwaj Island it took me between 30 - 40 mins depending on time i left and traffic...apart from a Wednesday which was start of Saudi weekend and it could take on average 2 hrs ( worst was 4 hrs )

Hotel car parks were full of cars with Saudi, Kuwaiti and Qatari plates and yeah they were there to party...drink and prostitutes was just the norm for these guys and girls at the weekend, only rule that hotel bars had was that they couldn't enter wearing their robes. 

Thursday night was the worst as a lot of bars and clubs had promotions were woman drank for free the whole night and as that was the start of the bahrain weekend it was chaos at times! 

https://cruiseradio.net/with-cruising-back-what-we-know-about-masks-capacity-more/

Found this about life onboard