VACruiser

I have really enjoyed this blog I think you have been extremely honest in a balanced kind of way weighing out the good and bad.  As others have said, we all know that this has not been the best couple of years for cruising and we as consumers have to weigh the Return On Investment for a vacation.

When it gets too hard to justify the money spent fewer people will book cruises and the lines will respond. But, RCL is still 45 Billion in the hole right now and they have to take that into consideration on ship occupation. I'd hate to be the CEO and CFO right now. Awesome blog I'll miss it when you're done.

One of these days people are going to start to realize that when you are vaccinated and boosted it is from a variant we already know of. When new variants come around it's all bets are off and you are not protected no matter how many shots you've had.

At some point we have got to treat the Coronavirus like just another virus that humans get from time-to-time. The good thing is that with every new variant it is getting weaker and we are buiding better immunity against it. 

One day it will change but not any time soon with our current attitudes treating this as if it is the plague.

10 hours ago, 10-42 said:

Even if I drank 12+ Diet Cokes a day (like I used to before I had bariatric sleeve surgery (only have 15% of my stomach/pouch now)), I wouldn't expect anybody else/everybody else to pay for my habit.  

There is a lady (close to 40 YO) I work with that drinks Diet Coke in a 24 ounce thermos that she fills with ice. She drinks at least two to three of those a day. I call her a lab rat and there are scientists that follow her around just to see what happens. On top of all that, she is a heavy smoker too - UGH!!!

^^^^I second and third that. Has way too much Personally identifiable information (PII)  involved in that form to give it away for a 15% discount. I don't think I'd do it for a 100% discount

12 hours ago, 10-42 said:

Attention:

Just a heads up for disabled Vets that haven't cruised out of Galveston in a few years, like me.  If you are used to getting free parking because of your service connected disability, NO MORE!  Their new policy is to give you a 15% discount and only if you are at least 50% disabled.  So, don't forget to bring/save some extra $$ to park with!  I guess your sacrifice isn't worth as much as it used to be. 

As you were!

https://www.portofgalveston.com/245/Disabled-Veteran-Discount-Program

I too am a retired US. Army veteran with a VA rating -  how do they know you are above 50% do you have to bring along your VA rating paperwork too or do they take you at your word?

It's not that they are wrong per se, it's more like hopeful and wishful thinking based upon business interests versus medical necessity. It's been true pretty much for the last two years. Cruise lines and restaurants have been the worst effected by all the so-called experts the past two years and RCL like others are just trying to survive the business environment.

ah yes, family...traveling with family can become very special at times.

and, that is where it starts to get cray-cray. Every country will have different requirements for what makes up current and what happens if you have gotten over Covid and what that means for this mess. If you had two shots, three shots, but you got Covid and recovered what does that mean and on and on we go...the possibilities can be endless. The current cruisers on this site are much more diligent than I would be on keeping up with all the changes so my hats off to you who can do that.  Me, in the mean-time, will head to the beaches in South Carolina until this gets sorted out

I now this is off topic a little but maybe @Matt can start an end of Vaccine Requirements pool and we can all kick in $5.00 a piece and whoever is closest to the date and time it is announced wins a free cruise at the Balcony level. 

Good question on the CWC - I think it has to come down to money and how much that costs the company versus customer needs. Unless you get a Covid Positive Test I'm not sure how many people are using CWC right now for different situations.  In my scenario I wouldn't even think of booking a cruise until the protocol changes and the vaccine is the thing of the past - and what I mean by that is a voluntary shot protocol that you can get once a year if you like; just like a flu shot was before all this started.

I would be shocked if the vaccine requirement will be lifted this year and I really think it will be quite awhile (2023-2024) before anything like that is even contemplated.  I'm only saying that based upon how much hubbub we had to do to get back to cruising and the current variant of the month that keeps occurring that is always right around the corner will keep the current situation intact. I'm in the boat (pun intended) where I've had the shots to maintain my job and my wife has not had the shots. When I floated the, hey I can go on a solo cruise I got quite the look so I'm on dry land for the foreseeable future.

When it changes I'll book a cruise as quick as my keyboard allows.

45 minutes ago, Matt said:

Yup

I have no issues with using a TA as I've used MEI on several cruises; however, the reason that is given by this Blog is basically that Royal is so screwed up that it takes too much time for a "amateur" to endure the pain of dealing with the corporation. Is that by design? I wonder some times.

As the OP said, he took lots of time with all kinds of personal pain to work through something that should be pretty straight forward that the best answer is to get a TA so they can take over the pain of dealing with the cruise lines. That's messed up for an industry that is supposed to run on customer satisfaction,

Fuel is one item that will have to dealt with but food costs are also soaring so that too will have to dealt with. Most economists are predicting a 3rd-4th quarter of this year to see the full brunt of inflationary values to hit the market. There is no way any business, much less cruise lines, not to pass on increases to their customers. I'm sure the cruise lines will have to bake that into cruise price increases. Fuel surcharges is not the way I'd expect them to handle it as it is too harsh for consumers to see. Better to raise the price of the overall cruise; kind of a take it as it is versus pay more now in an unexpected expense so we'll let you on the ship - too disruptive.

We might as well get used to higher prices for all things...there are lots of podcasts where they interview farmers on how their prices are increasing and they are going through the roof.  And, fuel and food touch almost everything in our economy.

As the old adage used to say, when the US sneezes the rest of the world gets a cold is still very true. We are just in the very edge of the beginning of inflation - sorry to have to say that but it is true. Economists are saying a recession will show by the latter part of this year but by then we will have lived it for the 2 quarters of negative growth and by then we will know full well it's here. Takes a while before the statistics catches up to the reality.

5 hours ago, gatorskin76 said:

I wonder if anyone will ever consider natural immunity in their protocols.  Would be a breathe of fresh air, imo.

as said above I'll try to stay out of politics...I'm not sure that is completely possible as Covid has become nothing but political as everyday life revolves around that very thing and the world we live in is very different than March 2020.  Will they ever consider natural immunity? Under the current protocols - I don't think so unless they say that you don't have to get a booster because you have had two shots and had Covid so a booster is not needed. I don't see any scenario where they give up on the shots in the near-term.

I'm in the category as I've had two Moderna shots and had Covid so I should have a high-antibody count but I would have to get tested to test my theory on that.

I think in the near-term that maybe the best we get out of it. If you have not had any shots you will be hounded every time you visit the doctor or need a medical procedure they will hold that over your head. I would hope that is not the case but that has been happening already so it's not unprecedented. 

May be we all get antibody tests before cruising and the highest count gets a Suite upgrade

3 hours ago, Zambia-Zaire said:

Yeah......protocols tend to never go away & they all will opt-in; pre-covid cruising is done forever. <smh>

Even though that is sad to see written I think you're correct that pre-Covid cruising is gone forever.   I have not been on a cruise since 2019...I was scheduled for one in March 2020 on Oasis when everything got shutdown.

I've been watching these protocols come and go and the one thing I have seen is they don't get relaxed much and they just shift the narratives. The cruise lines are trying to navigate these rules to make money, totally understandable, but we will not be close to even full cruises much less pre-Covid protocols again, if ever.

It's just sad I may never step foot on a cruise ship again. Yes I've had the shots, two of them, but I will not get a booster - I'm done.  Paying to go on a vacation to wear a mask is just not something I'm willing to do. Too many other places to vacation and spend my money. I'm still working for a couple more years so one vacation a year is all I get and it's got to be relaxing. Cruising to me now is just too stressful to just get on the ship.

I'd love to cruise again as I really miss it but...not looking good for VACruiser.

16 minutes ago, Jill said:

 

Becoming Diamond Plus was never a real goal until double points came along. Suddenly it became attainable so we are going for it. 
 

 

Because there will be so many new Diamond and Diamond + members in the future, due to the double point sailings, I wonder if the benefits will be watered down in the future to save costs?

I can't think they will WANT to keep all these protocols in place long-term with these types of quarterly earnings - "The company's earnings came in at -$1.36 billion, or -$5.33 per share. This compares with -$1.37 billion, or -$6.09 per share, in last year's fourth quarter." That would be financial suicide.  Once COVID becomes like a seasonal flu or cold they will drop them - they have to as they can't go for too long at those revenue points.

If this is about a mask conversation it is nothing more than a placebo to lessen the fear of humans. The best you can get out of it is that someone your talking to won't spit on you accidentally when talking to you. How do I know, because I have to wear a mask at work at all times and this gentleman that I speak to daily at work got Covid and spread it to me. I did all the right things based upon, yea Science, and still got it.

RCL can follow the CDC guidelines to stay in business, and I'm good with that, but to say masks are the panacea for the spread of Covid is like applying a  bandaid on a carotid artery bleed. It still gets around the supposed cure.

We are almost two years into this in American and a lot of the so-called people who say that they are Science act as if it is still March 2020. We've learned a lot since then but to get them to change is like getting a 5 year old to take and bath - it's difficult.

I am getting over Covid, probably the Omicron variant, and it has been about what has been said by others- mild cold symptoms, joint pain, and fatigue; but, was over after five days. On the 5th day it was like a switch was flipped in my body and it said, ok, you're done Omicron move along and I no longer had any symptoms.

My wife has had Covid, the Delta version, and that looked like something I didn't want, bad-bad cough and she still has some of it three months later. Interesting enough, I never got that variant and we are just two people living in the house alone. I was pleasantly shocked I didn't get it. @Curtis Kari I hope your wife gets the easy variant and gets better soon. 

I am shocked that Royal Caribbean has incongruent policies between ships and their websites.

It's not the virus itself that has a hold on the psyche of the population because we have lived with disease and viruses our whole lives. It's the over reaction of those in charge of us that has us scared and talking nothing but Covid19 as if it has the death rate of Ebola - it doesn't even come close.

As this is a cruise site, and I'm sure this thread will get locked soon enough, I'll keep the rest of my opinions on those in charge of the Covid response to myself.

I could only imagine what this would feel like if it occurred on Day 2 of the cruise vice the last day.  And, if I had to give up a suite like SpeedNoodles is talking about it would be more insult to injury. I would hate feeling like I am patient zero of a plague that is ravaging mankind and I'm the cause of it all. Of course this is not the case and the OP indicated that his family had little to no symptoms. I walk around daily with allergies so my symptoms often mimic Covid so unless I positive I would probably never know.

3 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

The cruise contract states, polices, port etc. can change at will. There was no bait and switch. 

You're correct it is not bait and switch it's an added cost to your vacation and if you are already on a tight budget it may tip over your plans. If you are traveling with a family of 4 the added cost is $840 and that is a pretty steep cost to add.

This is becoming a game of Whac-A-Mole as the ever changing rules of the CDC/FDA continue as the die-hard cruisers fight through the maze of ever-changing rules. It's now down to 5 year olds, oh not good enough - now #3 shot for boosters this year, nope not good enough, #4 and now your not-yet born baby must be given a shot ...where does it all end?  But, we just blissfully follow the ever-changing rules so we can get on a ship to float around the Caribbean with a drink in our hands. 

Orlando is a terribly busy airport. Even if you got there on time the notoriously long security lines can be your downfall.