Snowchaser

Black Friday last fall was $5.99 for many sailings so there is a chance it may go lower.

Black Friday last fall was $5.99 for many sailings so there is a chance it may go lower.

Symphony beds are for sure the firmest I've had on any ship.  I like a firm bed and still I woke up a couple days a little sore from the the bed.

Symphony beds are for sure the firmest I've had on any ship.  I like a firm bed and still I woke up a couple days a little sore from the the bed.

Is it a surprise to anyone posting here that the lack of clarity on testing and vaccination requirements is missing?
If you're hoping a federal agency (i.e., HHS or the CDC) is going to clear all this up for US ports, forget it. Some important facts bearing on the questions posed here:
In the US and the European Common Market (goes beyond EU Member states) guidance on COVID mitigation measures has always deferred to state and local health authorities to make the rules. That has produced a patch-work of vaccine and spread of COVID mitigation measure requirements for public and private settings. It's a mess, has been for over 28 months and still is.
Lacking consistent guidance from appropriate authority, I don't blame the cruise lines for their disparate approaches to requiring vaccination or COVID testing to board a cruise ship..... the current environment allows each to his own and IMO, is being driven by liability and cost issues. Go with the flow. Outside the US........
Travel within the European Common Market has required keeping close tabs on each countries COVID related entry requirements. It wasn't easy as travel in Europe started opening up and I've traveled their 3x since cruising restarted in June of '21. Each time it has gotten easier as, consistent with the EUCDC guidance, most country health authorities have now dropped or local officials and businesses don't enforce straggler mandates (clearing passport control usually requires proof of vaccination - your CDC card works for that; it didn't in the past due to forgeries).
Just completed 27d of travel in Europe including a Rhine River cruise that transited the Netherlands,, Germany, France and Switzerland. Switzerland (not an EU member state) has abandoned all previous COVID related mandates. Our river cruise on MS Grace, among river boats in Tauck's line, carried 90 passengers, all Americans by design. To board you had to have proof of being "fully vaccinated" and your last vaccination could not be more than 270d old. Boosters are generally not required but the 270d thing almost guarantees you will need a 3rd or even a 4th shot.  No pre-cruise testing was required and I believe that is the standard for major EU member states and ECM states. Masks per local regulations but while we carried masks ashore (not required on board), no one in any of our ports of call were enforcing wearing them outside or notably inside including public transportation. 
If you are cruising from European ports in the next 90d or so, don't expect the situation to clarify wrt vaccination and testing requirements. That's because the EUCDC recommends but does not mandate anything so mandates vary by country. What I did find in Tauck's case is that what I was required to do on the ship and wherever we ported, including fly in and fly out airports was crystal clear. RCL would benefit from simply stating requirements that they are comfortable with placing safety above convenience for their European cruises, like Tauck did, and stick with them regardless of what the EUCDC is doing.
I get that it is frustrating for guests already booked on a cruise from European ports. Here's my take: Generally, you will not be required to test to fly into and enter EU or ECM countries. This is going to put pressure on Cruise lines that are still requiring testing to board to drop those requirements. Keep close track of this at your cruise line web site. If you end up needing to test, locate the testing sites at your departure and arrival airports and plan accordingly using the 2/3d pre-test time frame. I've used these on our first trip. It was accessible, simple and reasonably priced.
Generally, to enter Europe, you will be required to be vaccinated and your last shot cannot be more than 270 days old. Air travel in Europe is chaotic but manageable. Get your head straight that everything involving air travel is going to take longer and plan your connections accordingly. Connections under 2h isn't recommended. Within Europe, take the trains if you can to avoid the airport chaos.
On return to the states, I spent 4.5h in Schipol Airport in Amsterdam  checking in, dropping luggage and clearing security. There were thousands of travelers doing what I was doing and staff, already short of them, are just overwhelmed. If you can buy priority boarding as part of your Economy class ticket, do it... or fly Business where it's included. It will get you through throngs in line for security faster. On arrival, you'll have to clear passport control. Major European airports have this down. We went through Lisbon and Amsterdam. Note that when traveling within the Schengen region (e.g., like we did between Lisbon and Amsterdam, you do not need to pass through passport control. It was super quick from debarkation to exit. Expect baggage delays but they aren't awful.
On the first leg of your travel from the US to and EU country, book a seat close to the exit used for debarkation and get off the plain and head to passport control ASAP to avoid ques. They will be there, because your flight won't be the only early am arrival that requires passengers to clear passport control, but they seem to move fast. Boarding is a different story.  Be prepared for flight cancellations and use your airline's phone app to see what's available when your flight is cancelled and book it ASAP. Get the best travel insurance you can afford to buy. Happy European travel.  

Okay...promise not type anything that will get me censored. 😉  Let me repeat, I    love this blog and interaction and would enjoy sharing a beverage with any of you....AND I    hope to.  Wouldn't it be great to share a bunch of in person laughs together??!!  Even ones that have different perspectives.  We would be on a cruise ship!  Nobody is in a bad mood on a cruise ship!
From the article:
"One of the calculations that we have is about 40% of all of the folks that are sitting on the byline. So people who've been waiting for the protocols to change."
I bet a huge part of the 40% they calculated are actually waiting for VAX requirements and Testing to drop. They are turning the valve a bit to see how much of it flows before taking the next step.  You can't continue to treat vax and unvax different for long.  I    think there is a HUGE contingent like WAAAYTOOO that won't bite until it is all dropped.  

Yep, most of the time there is a small reversible magnet to let the room steward know if your in or out. 

I completely disagree with you on the issue of testing for one simple reason according to the CDC as a result of the vaccines the incubation period for covid can now be up to 14 days.  And during that incubation period an individual can test negative for the virus and have no symptoms.  This is also a reason why I'm against post-cruise mandatory testing or reporting and why I say people who say they got covid on a cruise should be very careful making that statement.  An individual could have covid before they board the cruise, test negative, feel fine for the entire 7 night cruise then feel like crap right after the cruise ends.  Naturally they would think they got covid onboard the ship but the truth is they could have had covid before the cruise ever set sail but were in the incubation period which has changed from what it was in 2020 and 2021.
I think the vaccine requirement for adults will remain at least through the end of the year but pre-cruise testing needs to go away because it is not preventing covid onboard ships thanks to the longer incubation period.  Vaccines prevent serious illness and will keep a ships medical facilities from being overrun which is what the vaccine is supposed to do.
In my opinion anyone who is concerned about covid on cruise ships should not cruise at this time.

I would feel the same way I feel when I don’t test myself before going to a concert, sporting event, school play, the mall, going out to eat, flying to a destination vacation.
I feel healthy and fine to go on vacation no need to test.
 Royal Caribbean’s average client is aged 40. Outside of 65 and older, age 40 is the highest risk of dying at a 0.04% chance.  That is not even 1 percent! 🤣 Your chance of getting struck by lightening ⚡️is the same at 0.04% So in the highest risk group on average with traveling with Royal your chance of dying is the same as getting struck by lightening. (If we take out all the people who are hospitalized and fighting life threatening illnesses (I’m pretty sure they are not cruising ) those numbers go down even more. Not sure how much lower you can go when you are basically at 0% 
So yaaaa I would not feel bad if I caught covid and gave it to someone. They will  fare just fine 👍. 
 
Going to the pharmacy knowing I was going to be around elderly or immune compromised people who are sick that is where I would test first. Does anyone do that??? Nope.  What about before visiting the elderly in nursing Homes or visiting the sick in a hospital?  Do we test before that or make people test before that? Nope. Maybe we should have thought that one out a little better. The places where people were catching covid and dying is where we should have started with the forced tests.  
Bullying the cruising industry has been the biggest hypocrisy through this entire time covid has been around. I for one am glad to see the abrupt end to the CDC’s reign of terror on an industry that did not deserve to be bullied. the biggest waste of time and money that could have been spent on finding cures to those disease that put older people at risk or went to finding a cure for covid or went to protecting the long term facilities etc etc. But no we wasted it on testing healthy people who were not at risk and going away from the people that were at risk. 🤣 Good riddance! 

"Should" is on that page 125 times. "Must" appears once. It seems relevant that if cruise lines were to 100% follow the CDC guidelines requiring vaccination, they would need to require boosters (first AND second, for those who qualify). Considering how few Americans have been boosted, it seems unlikely that cruise lines will do this. So they may just throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, and just pick a couple things that are low burden for cruise ships (eg reporting of symptoms before entering the cruise, having a quarantine space available).

Nope.
Like countless other ailments of the past, present, and future.  Be it viral, bacterial, sprains, strains, etc..  There can be lingering effects that affect us for a time being or permanently.  That is/has/will what happen in life.  It's not new or unique.  Just because we don't test test test vax vax vax, doesn't mean we aren't taking things seriously.  That doesn't determine the definition of taken "seriously".  FOCUS on a healthy daily lifestyle that fortifies the body for battle....then we can binge and induldge on vacations!  😉

Missing Nassau is worth almost anything....

Do you mean would I test myself regardless of the cruise line policy?
 
Pre-covid I never got a complete health test before I went on vacation, I don’t test myself before I leave my house each day, so would I test before a cruise if the policy no longer requires it? I guess time will tell. I really don’t know at this point. 

Do you test yourself before you fly or before you go the Disney World or before you walk into a concert or your stay t your hotel. No! Wouldn't you want to know if you were contagious? The reality is No no one tests these days for it. Only cruising is being harassed and its absurd! We should not have to test to get on a boat!  if you don't have to test to get in a tiny airplane and sit like sardines for a few hours with recirculated air. We should not have to test to go on a cruise. 

To question #1, yes, just as I "roll the dice" every day when I go to work, Target, etc.  
To #2, no, if I was not feeling sick, boarded the cruise, and then later found out that I was infectious, I would not feel guilty.  

Have some perspective, covid today isn't covid of 2020. I have 4,500 employees, in 2020, a few died and about every 20th one to get covid was hospitalized, Many were in the ICU, it was no joke. In 2022, I've had over a thousand catch it this year not a single hospitalization. These last few weeks at any one time 100 have it, 10 a day come back, 10 go out, I give them all free 2 weeks of paid leave if they test positive and it does not come out of their regular leave balances so as to not encourage people working sick so it is not under reported and I get daily reports. In January this year  me and my three Moderna shots, wore a mask, still caught it. Wife got it in June, same shots. So why would I give a a darn about covid, masks, or tests, we caught it six months apart, had our shots at the same time, still shared a bed while we were sick, still kissed goodnight and didn't even give it to each other either time. Just stop the testing, I'll walk into a covid ward and kiss everyone there, nothing can stop it and I am not afraid of it. Even the head of county USC hospital in Los Angeles (the furthest from right wing conspiracy theorists you can find), in a county reimposing masks said that almost nobody in the hospital with covid is in the hospital because of covid. It's over!
 
P.S., my employees are about 65-70% vaccinated, in 2022 there is no discernible difference in their odds of catching it or how serious it is based vaccine status or mask wearing or prior infection, not in catching it or catching it twice. What was true on 2020 and 2021 is not applicable to 2022 My study, because of workman's comp is in depth and is as big or bigger than other studies you read online and from my data, nothing stops it and its no big deal if you get it. If you are on death's doorstep or scared to death, stay home. It's endemic and it is the common cold now, let's move on, nobody was wrong and nobody was right, stop blaming but do accept that it is over.

Deluxe drink package person here but I also like the Freestyle machine cause I can get my Coke Zero fix with lunch. 

A U.S. based cruise we the dress our best for formal nights and the wife always has to get photos.  Cruising out different ports in Europe we typically pack light, due to using more public transportation pre and post cruise, so it's casual for dinner every night. 
 

Deluxe drink package person here but I also like the Freestyle machine cause I can get my Coke Zero fix with lunch. 

We're booked on a Tauck River Cruise from Amsterdam to Basel Switzerland that starts July 13th. We fly from Miami to Lisbon Portugal on July 10th (Arrival date +1), have a day in Lisbon then fly from Lisbon to Amsterdam arriving a day before the cruise on the 12th. Board on the 13th and sail at 4:30pm. There is lots of uncertainty with travel, COVID and Monkey Pox surges in Europe. The way to avoid anxiety over these things is to research them. I thought I'd share that with you.
TRAVEL: I have both anecdotal and first hand knowledge (friends who are aircrew flying internationally) of what's going on inside airports and with flight cancellations. There's a lot of frenzy and hype in the media about flight cancellations and disruptions to air travel. Regional flights both in the US and Europe are being affected by personnel shortages at the airlines themselves and every supporting activity for flight ops (e.g. baggage handlers, fuelers, caterers, security and customs).
Airports are swamped with travelers and airport check-in C&BP, security, food and coffee services have long lines. Sundays are the worst, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Thursdays better. In most cases, you are going to have to check in at the service counter along with your bags for international flights. Just the way it is these days.  International travel is less affected mainly due to the smaller numbers of flights per day of international flights. If you haven't booked already leave days, not hours between connections. That way, you can rebook a cancelled international flight the next day as the airlines flying international rarely have more than one flight per day to European destinations from the US. Leave 3h from the time you arrive at the international terminals to departure time. If it so happens things go smoothly that's bonus. If not, you're ready for it. If you're flying regionally in Europe be prepared for you're flight to be cancelled. Check your airline's booking site before you go and know what subsequent flights you can book if you're original flight is cancelled. Importantly, download the airline's phone app and get familiar with using it before you have to use it. Rebooking a cancelled flight to a later time is going to be time critical.  Using the phone app is almost always better than trying to find a airline CSR.  Have an international voice and data plan for your phone service. Make sure you know how to set your phone up to roam if this is something you don't do on the regular. Below is a very good link to check up to date COVID related travel restrictions including what countries do you need proof of negative COVID tests, proof of vaccination, visas and specific declaration forms. Yes, it has gotten much easier to travel in Europe since March, 2022 but things can change quickly, check, check and re-check before you go. In addition, your airline web site will probably have a decent section that allows travelers to check arrival and departure requirements for their European itinerary.   https://www.iata.org/en/youandiata/travelers/health/
INFECTIOUS DISEASES:  Let's get this out of the way right up front. Fear mongering about Monkey pox is rampant. It's in the mainstream press (at least claims are vetted) and in Social Media (not vetted and notoriously inaccurate). My reference for this assessment is from the EUCDC (link below):
Monkey Pox:
Reports of confirmed infections are rising in Europe.
Increased case numbers are modest and are concentrated regionally (by city or locale) opposed to wide spread.
The virus predominates in men that have sex with men. It is in this cohort, no others, where the virus is increasing the most.
The virus does not cause serious symptoms in most individuals with symptoms lasting up to 2w but usually clear in 7d. Symptoms include high fever and isolated or multiple pustular, 1cm or less skin lesions. Persons with competent immune systems will have isolated lesions.
Spread of monkey pox is from contact with the pustules or fluid left on bed clothing or towels. Prolonged mouth to mouth contact can transmit the disease. It is not transmitted by airborne means and rarely from contaminated hard surfaces (toilet seats, counter tops, etc.).    
COVID:
Reports of confirmed cases are rising in Europe. Attack rates (Rt) vary by country and region)
So far, as in the US, case counts are not overwhelming medical facilities and recent 7d averages have remained flat.
This is the link to the EUCDC's web site. I encourage you to take a look around within it. It has very good sections on Monkey Pox and COVID. From the information you'll gain you can make your own risk assessments for your travel particulars and take considered and appropriate precautions for your travel party accordingly:
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en
If you have questions or see something that is incorrect in this posting, PM me and I'll sort it out.
 

When some folks, like me, say that they just continue to live their life, I don't think they are saying that others that do things differently aren't.  For me, I'm just trying to live life like I've been accustomed to, pre-pandemic.  I believe, and I know it's true for me, that I can live my life without being in fear.  I'm not risk adverse.  On the other hand, I don't believe those that do fear certain things are bad people, chickens, whatever, not one bit.  I just chose to live a little differently.  I understand that there are those that have immunodeficiency issues and are old (like me).  I also believe that if other people, who feel differently than me, should protect themselves and not blame me for not believing in the same protective measures as they do.  I just want to live and let live, I just want to cruise, cruise, cruise, and cruise some more.  Did I mention that I want to cruise?  Yes, I just want to cruise.  No matter how you feel about this issue, I'd enjoy sitting down with you in the Playmakers and have a Kraken with ya.  YMMV

47,000 people tested positive in the US this past Saturday, June 25.  
Just saying, being on a ship or on land makes no difference.
I choose to just live my life

I try to drink as much alcohol as possible while on a cruise ship.  I haven't had COVID post cruising.  There is a moral to that story, somewhere!
Seriously though, I get sick after just about every vacation, including COVID once, whether on a cruise ship or a trip to Las Vegas or......  I'm not really a big drinker other than on a cruise.  I just don't worry about it.  I try to be a social butterfly, I don't avoid elevators that have more than X people in it, I don't wear masks if I don't have to and I avoid activities/places that require a mask.  I just don't care because it is almost a sure thing that I'm going to come down with something when I get home.  I'm sure I have what they call "Long COVID", I seem to permanently have a runny nose/sniffles.  I've been like that since I had COVID back in circa 2020.  

With the questionable state of the world economy my opinion is that no option will be left off the table to keep bookings up.  This would definitely apply to finding work-arounds to get unvaccinated back onboard to keep profits up, nothing drives policy change more than the mighty dollar.

Gosh, I've never even seen Cats but now it's my least favorite!