VACruiser

Agree...we are avid cruisers and have decided not to cruise until we do not have to follow any social distancing, masking, testing requirements. I think that is probably not going to be until mid to late 2022. We just got back from an all inclusive resort in Mexico and it was fantastic. No testing to get into the country, the resort was operating at 50% capacity, very clean and safe. When hanging out by the pool no need to mask (there were tons of open chairs due to low capacity). Highly recommend this as an alternative. We never left the resort and felt safer there than in the US. 

I've already started my cancellation proceedings for my November 2021 cruise on Oasis as I'm sure this is going to be a requirement for future cruising events. My largest fear is to get on a ship and someone tests positive, whether false or true, and I get stuck in my room after paying a lot of money to go on a vacation. I'm out until all this gets sorted out.  I've already booked a house on a beach in South Carolina for August 2021 and this may now be the new vacation norm.
What ticks me off is even if I get the vaccine I will still have to take a Covid test prior to going on vacation and I bet also wearing a mask on ship too. And, that's why I'm not going to jump all these hoops just to go on a vacation that is supposed to be fun and relaxing...?
 

I've already started my cancellation proceedings for my November 2021 cruise on Oasis as I'm sure this is going to be a requirement for future cruising events. My largest fear is to get on a ship and someone tests positive, whether false or true, and I get stuck in my room after paying a lot of money to go on a vacation. I'm out until all this gets sorted out.  I've already booked a house on a beach in South Carolina for August 2021 and this may now be the new vacation norm.
What ticks me off is even if I get the vaccine I will still have to take a Covid test prior to going on vacation and I bet also wearing a mask on ship too. And, that's why I'm not going to jump all these hoops just to go on a vacation that is supposed to be fun and relaxing...?
 

I've already started my cancellation proceedings for my November 2021 cruise on Oasis as I'm sure this is going to be a requirement for future cruising events. My largest fear is to get on a ship and someone tests positive, whether false or true, and I get stuck in my room after paying a lot of money to go on a vacation. I'm out until all this gets sorted out.  I've already booked a house on a beach in South Carolina for August 2021 and this may now be the new vacation norm.
What ticks me off is even if I get the vaccine I will still have to take a Covid test prior to going on vacation and I bet also wearing a mask on ship too. And, that's why I'm not going to jump all these hoops just to go on a vacation that is supposed to be fun and relaxing...?
 

I've already started my cancellation proceedings for my November 2021 cruise on Oasis as I'm sure this is going to be a requirement for future cruising events. My largest fear is to get on a ship and someone tests positive, whether false or true, and I get stuck in my room after paying a lot of money to go on a vacation. I'm out until all this gets sorted out.  I've already booked a house on a beach in South Carolina for August 2021 and this may now be the new vacation norm.
What ticks me off is even if I get the vaccine I will still have to take a Covid test prior to going on vacation and I bet also wearing a mask on ship too. And, that's why I'm not going to jump all these hoops just to go on a vacation that is supposed to be fun and relaxing...?
 

7700 ppl die each day in the US in "normal" conditions....we don't shut down for that......500/day die in car accidents..we dont shut down driving...
 
CDC should still be pro-actively trying to help and encourage things to open back up and get to normal and realizing that its going to take time to implement and make all the changes required etc.

You won't regret it! We bought a place in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania in October 2019 thinking it would be a weekend place with a couple weeks in the summer. Instead I have spent abut 75% of the time since March at our mountain house! And now retiring in August so will be able to continue to spend a lot of time here. Even bought a 20' pontoon boat for the 28 square mile lake nearby so now I do my own cruises!  I am having the best pandemic ever! 

I have an Oasis of the Seas cruise on 7 November 21 and I'm wondering if that will occur? Honestly at this point I'm not caring too much about it anymore. I've had two cancel thus far, (I wonder who has the record of cancellations on RC Blog), so I guess this one maybe the straw that broke the proverbial cruisers back if it gets cancelled too.  If it happens again I think I may be done with cruising for quite some time and will spend my money elsewhere. I know it is not the cruise lines fault,  but it is a waste of years planning to get close to the cruise and the emotional ups and downs of am I going on vacation or not to have it cancel and leave me scrambling for something to do. Also, my wife and I's vacations have to be planned out at work so as to set-aside in advance to ensure we both have the time off for the cruise.
We shall see but I figure April or May is my mental cut-off to go figure out what we're going to do for vacation for 2021. We have a CLS for this cruise, our first time cruising in a CLS, and really want to go; however, if it seems there is going to be all these rules it will take the fun out of the cruise and it would seem more prudent to just give up.
What scares me most is getting on a cruise and someone testing positive and we get locked in our room in a heavily controlled environment for our yearly vacation and everything gets ruined not to mention of getting quarantined past my worked allocated 10 days of vacation - that would be very bad.
 

I have an Oasis of the Seas cruise on 7 November 21 and I'm wondering if that will occur? Honestly at this point I'm not caring too much about it anymore. I've had two cancel thus far, (I wonder who has the record of cancellations on RC Blog), so I guess this one maybe the straw that broke the proverbial cruisers back if it gets cancelled too.  If it happens again I think I may be done with cruising for quite some time and will spend my money elsewhere. I know it is not the cruise lines fault,  but it is a waste of years planning to get close to the cruise and the emotional ups and downs of am I going on vacation or not to have it cancel and leave me scrambling for something to do. Also, my wife and I's vacations have to be planned out at work so as to set-aside in advance to ensure we both have the time off for the cruise.
We shall see but I figure April or May is my mental cut-off to go figure out what we're going to do for vacation for 2021. We have a CLS for this cruise, our first time cruising in a CLS, and really want to go; however, if it seems there is going to be all these rules it will take the fun out of the cruise and it would seem more prudent to just give up.
What scares me most is getting on a cruise and someone testing positive and we get locked in our room in a heavily controlled environment for our yearly vacation and everything gets ruined not to mention of getting quarantined past my worked allocated 10 days of vacation - that would be very bad.
 

And that would be fine. I don't need cruising to define my life, I USE IT for enjoyment.
When it is not enjoyable, move on.

Covid-19 is a strain of the many cold and flu viruses we humans can get on an annual basis. Even if a vaccine can be developed for this one strain, the virus will mutate like all other viruses do. People have to start to understand this will be with us forever as just another virus that can make you sick. We are going to have to live with this beast. However it got into humans will be debated for years but the one thing we do know is it is not going away anytime soon. ?
 
I ventured out for a Flu vaccine last year because I knew I was cruising in March 20 on Oasis and low and behold I get the flu 5 days before the cruise and had to shift my cruise to Dec 20 on Harmony which now I have subsequently cancelled with a refund.  I got Influenza Type A and the vaccine last year was for a different strain. It’s going to be like this in the future with the many different strains that will mutate. 

You can also hit them up on Twitter or Facebook and you will get a response. In my case I had waited 60 days for a refund and called my TA who in turn called RCI to find out my refund had fallen through a big dark crevasse (my visual anyways) and got lost. Once that was determined I got a refund within 5 days. 
 
I have learned in the cruise world having a Travel Agent is almost a mandatory only because the cruise lines can be very hard to deaI with and I think it’s almost by design. 

You can also hit them up on Twitter or Facebook and you will get a response. In my case I had waited 60 days for a refund and called my TA who in turn called RCI to find out my refund had fallen through a big dark crevasse (my visual anyways) and got lost. Once that was determined I got a refund within 5 days. 
 
I have learned in the cruise world having a Travel Agent is almost a mandatory only because the cruise lines can be very hard to deaI with and I think it’s almost by design. 

It took over 75 days to get my refund for my last non-cruise so the sting is still very real to me. It would take a lot of time and forgetting the last experience for me to give RCI any money. I swore I would never give them money until they start cruising again and at the moment I’m standing by that. Count me on the I’m on the #nomoneyRCI train. We’ll see how long that lasts when the 2022 cruises get posted in the fall. 

It took over 75 days to get my refund for my last non-cruise so the sting is still very real to me. It would take a lot of time and forgetting the last experience for me to give RCI any money. I swore I would never give them money until they start cruising again and at the moment I’m standing by that. Count me on the I’m on the #nomoneyRCI train. We’ll see how long that lasts when the 2022 cruises get posted in the fall. 

Not starting well. 10 out of 750 crew tested positive after testing negative leaving their country.
 
http://crew-center.com/10-crew-members-aida-cruises-test-positive-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR0N94ctuFDGqHYClnXNMz5_3D2Z9GZOIpDmHaQaEW2LtWV8V2tjBoPzfDk

I really liked Key West on a stop I had on a Carnival ship. But, if you happen to be there during one of their interesting festivals in the fall you will be in for an eyeful of things you wish you’ve never seen. ? 

I really liked Key West on a stop I had on a Carnival ship. But, if you happen to be there during one of their interesting festivals in the fall you will be in for an eyeful of things you wish you’ve never seen. ? 

I wonder what the profit margin is for a full ship versus a well socially-distanced ship say around 50% capacity? A company has to make money to operate and I’m quite sure operating a Oasis class ship is an extremely expensive venture. They may start like this, just to get going, but as time goes on, money must be generated heavily to pay back all these loans cruise companies have been borrowing to stay operating. 
I know this is a cruise blog, and people on it have a high level of tolerance for cruising under extreme conditions just to get going, but I have to think it’s still a minority portion of the ship.  To get back to making money they need new people to try cruising and getting the ships back to a high profit margin. Either more people cruise or they raise the prices for cruising. Something has to change in order for the company to become profitable again and that’s going to be tough with social distancing which probably equates to lower people numbers on ships. 
 
We shall see but I do love the business aspect of how this is going to work. 

At 15 i would have made my daughter sunbathe in nothing less than a sleeping bag ??? 

I think all this refund/FCC shenanigans is Royal winning a battle but overall may just lose the war.
 
I’m still waiting on a cruise refund and some FCC. It’s on my count, day 45, and it’s been all quiet on the Russian front. I’m frustrated with what they are doing but I do understand it. They are hemorrhaging money with no revenue incoming so they are trying to hold unto the money for as long as they can as that is their near term target; but, it angers me as a consumer that they are doing this and it makes me question my need to go cruising in the future. How many people are like me that are thinking the same thing.
I spend 7+ thousand on cruises all together so add lots of my mind-set up and they we lose loyal cruisers who will find other ways to spend their money. There are lots of resorts and vacation places vying for that money. I used to look forward to emails from Royal announcing new sales but now I just delete them knowing that all they want is more money to hold unto and not return in a reasonable fashion if it gets cancelled. They have hurt their loyal base. It’s to bad they have chosen this route - understandable, but not prudent. 

Going to be more contraction.  Would expect a shedding of the ships with higher operating/maintenance costs.   Even when we start up again, its not going to be a full fleet.  The loyalists will return, but those who've never sailed are going to stay away a couple of years.

I’m still waiting on a refund for a cancelled cruise and I’m in the 40+ days mark. But, 90 days is just criminal in my mind. How would it be if I took a cruise and paid RCI 90 days after the cruise - I don’t think that would work but it sure seems to work in the opposite direction. No where else would this be allowed in commerce. I can add all kinds of analogies but I’ll leave it with - criminal!
I have a cruise scheduled for November 2021 but I’m hanging by a thread here and extremely disappointed with RCI on this issue. I’m about to scrap it all and just start doing land based vacations...I’m still hanging in there but some days it is just an irritant. 
 

push me ^^^^^ and all will change!!!!

push me ^^^^^ and all will change!!!!