MrB

First, get written notification from your spouse's doctor, with clear indications that this is a real-deal medical issue.
Second, this is why we need everyone else to get vaccinated - to cover those who absolutely in need of coverage. Our vaccinated response to this is "Sure. Real problem? We got you covered".

First, get written notification from your spouse's doctor, with clear indications that this is a real-deal medical issue.
Second, this is why we need everyone else to get vaccinated - to cover those who absolutely in need of coverage. Our vaccinated response to this is "Sure. Real problem? We got you covered".

First, get written notification from your spouse's doctor, with clear indications that this is a real-deal medical issue.
Second, this is why we need everyone else to get vaccinated - to cover those who absolutely in need of coverage. Our vaccinated response to this is "Sure. Real problem? We got you covered".

The personal insults are starting to fly, and I think we've discussed this topic at length. Shutting it down before it gets ugly.

Maybe you've gotten lucky I guess.

Bringing food off of the ship is a big no-no. Some ports even employ dogs to sniff out "food smugglers." 

Someone was willing to give a $1 million donation to the Governor to influence this issue. It may have backfired in this round, but you can deduce that this is far from over and that sometime in the near future big cruise ships will magically appear in Key West. Too much money involved.
If the citizenry of Key West doesn't want us there, and it voted 3 times to that effect, we should respect that. I say "thank you for your hospitality" and let's move on to another port of call. 

After being in hibernation for over a year, I've exhausted my supply of Royal Caribbean T-shirts!  Now more than ever before, I miss the on-board T-shirt sales.  Yes, they can create a bit of a mob atmosphere, but the patient and considerate guest can still enjoy the process and improve one's casual wardrobe.  Anyone else have thoughts?  

They are crewing her now. She’s in Cadiz in dry dock. 
 
In one of my Facebook groups 2 parents have posted their kids have been called back for the shows. (Hiro, hairspray and flight)

The problem is that there are too few TA cruises! ?

Port Canaveral? How to get to Port Canaveral for your Royal Caribbean cruise

My spouse and I started cruising on RCG with a Holiday 4 night trip from Port Canaveral to Coco Cay and Nassau a few years back. The port is local(ish), no airfare, easy drive. The timing was right (spouse has shutdown from Christmas to New Years). We looked on the Royal Caribbean website, booked the cruise without much comparison as we had no reference. It was not a cheap cruise, but within our budget at the time.
We specifically did not want a bargain cruise because we were "Buying Information". We wanted to know if cruising was for us (it is) and whether cruise pricing was worth it (it is). Had we gotten a bargain cruise, we would have been filtering everything through the bargain versus straight-up enjoyment. You are willing to put up with things or see things differently if you believe that you got things as a bargain.
The money spent on the cruise reflected that "buying information" ethos. 
We parked onsite as close to the dock as possible regardless of price. Awesome. We'll never park anywhere else on the short cruises. Longer cruises, we'll get friend or Uber to drive. We knew we didn't need the drink packages (non-drinkers). We purchased a photo package. Not worth it for us, but worth spending the money ONCE to find that out. Went on a couple of RCI excursions, found them to be OK at best and fun enough, but we found out we need to be very circumspect on excursions. We found out that spouse doesn't like Spa stuff. I wouldn't have guessed that without trying it out and spending the money. Well worth it to find out. We found the entire experience fantastic at full holiday price.  Because we paid full price and still absolutely loved it, we knew that the experience was worth it, especially if we could find the bargains in the future. We knew that the bargain was not driving the decision. For instance, 6 months after the 1st cruise, a flash sale came up on the same cruise itinerary and we booked it and went cheaper and had a great time.

My spouse and I started cruising on RCG with a Holiday 4 night trip from Port Canaveral to Coco Cay and Nassau a few years back. The port is local(ish), no airfare, easy drive. The timing was right (spouse has shutdown from Christmas to New Years). We looked on the Royal Caribbean website, booked the cruise without much comparison as we had no reference. It was not a cheap cruise, but within our budget at the time.
We specifically did not want a bargain cruise because we were "Buying Information". We wanted to know if cruising was for us (it is) and whether cruise pricing was worth it (it is). Had we gotten a bargain cruise, we would have been filtering everything through the bargain versus straight-up enjoyment. You are willing to put up with things or see things differently if you believe that you got things as a bargain.
The money spent on the cruise reflected that "buying information" ethos. 
We parked onsite as close to the dock as possible regardless of price. Awesome. We'll never park anywhere else on the short cruises. Longer cruises, we'll get friend or Uber to drive. We knew we didn't need the drink packages (non-drinkers). We purchased a photo package. Not worth it for us, but worth spending the money ONCE to find that out. Went on a couple of RCI excursions, found them to be OK at best and fun enough, but we found out we need to be very circumspect on excursions. We found out that spouse doesn't like Spa stuff. I wouldn't have guessed that without trying it out and spending the money. Well worth it to find out. We found the entire experience fantastic at full holiday price.  Because we paid full price and still absolutely loved it, we knew that the experience was worth it, especially if we could find the bargains in the future. We knew that the bargain was not driving the decision. For instance, 6 months after the 1st cruise, a flash sale came up on the same cruise itinerary and we booked it and went cheaper and had a great time.

My spouse and I started cruising on RCG with a Holiday 4 night trip from Port Canaveral to Coco Cay and Nassau a few years back. The port is local(ish), no airfare, easy drive. The timing was right (spouse has shutdown from Christmas to New Years). We looked on the Royal Caribbean website, booked the cruise without much comparison as we had no reference. It was not a cheap cruise, but within our budget at the time.
We specifically did not want a bargain cruise because we were "Buying Information". We wanted to know if cruising was for us (it is) and whether cruise pricing was worth it (it is). Had we gotten a bargain cruise, we would have been filtering everything through the bargain versus straight-up enjoyment. You are willing to put up with things or see things differently if you believe that you got things as a bargain.
The money spent on the cruise reflected that "buying information" ethos. 
We parked onsite as close to the dock as possible regardless of price. Awesome. We'll never park anywhere else on the short cruises. Longer cruises, we'll get friend or Uber to drive. We knew we didn't need the drink packages (non-drinkers). We purchased a photo package. Not worth it for us, but worth spending the money ONCE to find that out. Went on a couple of RCI excursions, found them to be OK at best and fun enough, but we found out we need to be very circumspect on excursions. We found out that spouse doesn't like Spa stuff. I wouldn't have guessed that without trying it out and spending the money. Well worth it to find out. We found the entire experience fantastic at full holiday price.  Because we paid full price and still absolutely loved it, we knew that the experience was worth it, especially if we could find the bargains in the future. We knew that the bargain was not driving the decision. For instance, 6 months after the 1st cruise, a flash sale came up on the same cruise itinerary and we booked it and went cheaper and had a great time.

My spouse and I started cruising on RCG with a Holiday 4 night trip from Port Canaveral to Coco Cay and Nassau a few years back. The port is local(ish), no airfare, easy drive. The timing was right (spouse has shutdown from Christmas to New Years). We looked on the Royal Caribbean website, booked the cruise without much comparison as we had no reference. It was not a cheap cruise, but within our budget at the time.
We specifically did not want a bargain cruise because we were "Buying Information". We wanted to know if cruising was for us (it is) and whether cruise pricing was worth it (it is). Had we gotten a bargain cruise, we would have been filtering everything through the bargain versus straight-up enjoyment. You are willing to put up with things or see things differently if you believe that you got things as a bargain.
The money spent on the cruise reflected that "buying information" ethos. 
We parked onsite as close to the dock as possible regardless of price. Awesome. We'll never park anywhere else on the short cruises. Longer cruises, we'll get friend or Uber to drive. We knew we didn't need the drink packages (non-drinkers). We purchased a photo package. Not worth it for us, but worth spending the money ONCE to find that out. Went on a couple of RCI excursions, found them to be OK at best and fun enough, but we found out we need to be very circumspect on excursions. We found out that spouse doesn't like Spa stuff. I wouldn't have guessed that without trying it out and spending the money. Well worth it to find out. We found the entire experience fantastic at full holiday price.  Because we paid full price and still absolutely loved it, we knew that the experience was worth it, especially if we could find the bargains in the future. We knew that the bargain was not driving the decision. For instance, 6 months after the 1st cruise, a flash sale came up on the same cruise itinerary and we booked it and went cheaper and had a great time.

My spouse and I started cruising on RCG with a Holiday 4 night trip from Port Canaveral to Coco Cay and Nassau a few years back. The port is local(ish), no airfare, easy drive. The timing was right (spouse has shutdown from Christmas to New Years). We looked on the Royal Caribbean website, booked the cruise without much comparison as we had no reference. It was not a cheap cruise, but within our budget at the time.
We specifically did not want a bargain cruise because we were "Buying Information". We wanted to know if cruising was for us (it is) and whether cruise pricing was worth it (it is). Had we gotten a bargain cruise, we would have been filtering everything through the bargain versus straight-up enjoyment. You are willing to put up with things or see things differently if you believe that you got things as a bargain.
The money spent on the cruise reflected that "buying information" ethos. 
We parked onsite as close to the dock as possible regardless of price. Awesome. We'll never park anywhere else on the short cruises. Longer cruises, we'll get friend or Uber to drive. We knew we didn't need the drink packages (non-drinkers). We purchased a photo package. Not worth it for us, but worth spending the money ONCE to find that out. Went on a couple of RCI excursions, found them to be OK at best and fun enough, but we found out we need to be very circumspect on excursions. We found out that spouse doesn't like Spa stuff. I wouldn't have guessed that without trying it out and spending the money. Well worth it to find out. We found the entire experience fantastic at full holiday price.  Because we paid full price and still absolutely loved it, we knew that the experience was worth it, especially if we could find the bargains in the future. We knew that the bargain was not driving the decision. For instance, 6 months after the 1st cruise, a flash sale came up on the same cruise itinerary and we booked it and went cheaper and had a great time.

I always park on property because off property doesn't save that much money, and I absolutely hate the tram service they provide.  Specifically, they are not run enough and I have no interest in waiting in a line for a bus.

We've been waiting for months for clear CDC guidance. Well, we got it. Personally, I think it's great. It can turn cruise ships into the safest places on earth. Literally.
The guidance is not without its issues:
First, it might mean no children at all. There is no vaccine in the US approved for under 16, but that could change. This means Disney cruises are dead in the water, along with the the raison d'etre of a lot of the infrastructure on Royal ships.
Second, those who can't get vaccinated for real medical reasons may not be able to cruise. My impression is that's what the 5% pax slop percentage is for, but management of that 5% is going to be crazy. It might be easier for the cruise line to say 100% vaccinated or no go. Exceptions like this are tough to manage, especially in the first cruise out of dock.
Third, I have no idea what those people who have not been vaccinated will do. I have outlandish ideas of what might be attempted, but that's all they are at this point.
What are your thoughts on the guidance? I'm excited, vaccinated, and ready to go!

I'm betting the cruise contract has some verbiage that covers them when a government changes a rule or regulation.
But I'm not a lawyer and don't play one on TV. 

"CDC Guidance for US cruises- 98% Crew, 95% Pax vaccinated. Are you OK with that?"
I'm fine with it, in fact I prefer it but I'm also OK with the alternative the CDC has laid out. Given a choice, I'd choose a sailing where vaccination is required to board.
 

My position on this is more to the 100% for both guests and crew. I realize that shuts out some including kids, but in due time they will be eligible for vaccinations as well. As for the folks that choose not to get vaccinated that’s certainly their right to choose but sometimes those choices come with consequences. You can’t have it both ways and put a struggling industry and other folks in jeopardy because you made a personal decision not be be vaccinated. Fair or not, jeeeze folks “fair” isn’t really a grown up word so stop trying to ruin cruising for everyone.  One case is all the CDC will need to put the brakes on again!

Health Canada (our version of the FDA) just approved Pfizer for 12+ this morning.  Bring it on.  Now I don't have the leave my kids behind in the dust, but I totally would have ?

I'd like to see 100% vaccination mandatory for adults At this point in the US you are choosing to get COVID if you choose not to take the vaccine and that's fine with me, just sit on the sidelines so we can all return to living. Have a 50 year old in the ICU today...if they ever wake up I bet they'll wish they got vaccinated. 

We've been waiting for months for clear CDC guidance. Well, we got it. Personally, I think it's great. It can turn cruise ships into the safest places on earth. Literally.
The guidance is not without its issues:
First, it might mean no children at all. There is no vaccine in the US approved for under 16, but that could change. This means Disney cruises are dead in the water, along with the the raison d'etre of a lot of the infrastructure on Royal ships.
Second, those who can't get vaccinated for real medical reasons may not be able to cruise. My impression is that's what the 5% pax slop percentage is for, but management of that 5% is going to be crazy. It might be easier for the cruise line to say 100% vaccinated or no go. Exceptions like this are tough to manage, especially in the first cruise out of dock.
Third, I have no idea what those people who have not been vaccinated will do. I have outlandish ideas of what might be attempted, but that's all they are at this point.
What are your thoughts on the guidance? I'm excited, vaccinated, and ready to go!

I would agree with this. New(ish) to cruising, only used RCI to date, great experiences. Due to timing, itinerary, and maybe wanting to see what's out there, we booked a cruise on Princess. The website experience there is muuucchh better. We can plan all our activities, extras (food, drink, others), and excursions from one step-by-step page after booking. The room details, invoicing, and payments page is clear and available.
Princess had to change ships - new one not finished yet, due to "things" in the last year or so. They rebooked us just fine, but our cruisin' buddies were relocated pretty far away. Telephone service was great, rebooked everything in one call. Note: RCI telephone service has always been great when we have had to use it. I would call that about even.
Still love RCI, especially as they are big in our home port of Port Canaveral. Princess is Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale), which is further away.