Pima1988

My only fear would be ….weather. The weather has been mild for several years, however, it is not uncommon for a huge snow storm to come barreling into the area. Plus, it will be cold sailing out regardless for at least the 1st 36 hrs. Figure you will not hit NC waters until the a.m. of day 2, it is still going to be cool. I am just someone that does not like packing for multiple climates. Finally, my favorite thing about sailing out of Cape Liberty is going under the Verrazano bridge. There is nothing like it....looking up under the bridge as it barely clears it and hearing the wheels of the cars whizz by. No way at 4 p.m. when it is 40 some degrees would I be up there on the pool deck.

Nothing for me for our Symphony cruise. I believe the sale is for the sail dates of Sept to Dec. My 2020 cruise was cancelled, and due to work scheduling and land vacation issues we will not be able to cruise until our May 2021 Symphony.

I agree. I honestly would have no issue getting on a cruise ship the day after they were allowed to sail. However, I have a caveat. I must be able to drive to the port. I fly often. No way do I want to travel on an airplane and it is not just about the cleanliness of the plane, it is about the airport cleanliness. Ask yourself when was the last time you saw anyone wipe down the chairs you sit on outside the gate?

Leave Disney out of the scenario because Disney is Disney. You are comparing apples to oranges. The thing for you is the question when will Canada open up for the cruise lines? If Royal is back to sailing, but Canada is closed, what will the itinerary look like? Maybe RCL will say that they will not be going to NE/Canada and instead just go to Bermuda/Bahamas/Coco Cay. This happens a lot in the late summer/early fall. We were suppose to go to Bermuda, 48 hrs prior they emailed us and said we were going to NE. The point being is....if Canada does not open up, and RCL is sailing you can see your route change at the very last moment, are you still willing to sail with whatever they decide? They may decide to still go north, but just not Canada. They may decide to go to Bahamas and Coco cay.

On the Anthem you do go through a handwashing station. There is no way to enter without going through there and they have someone watching you. I have always seen the WJ manned and makes sure they do the WASHY WASHY with hand sanitizer if they don't have the station like Anthem Where I have an issue is the MDR, it also has a buffet for breakfast and lunch. I have never seen them monitor it like they do at the WJ. On our Anthem cruise, we all remarked about how is it at 1 buffet you are forced into a handwashing station, but at another they don't enforce you to use the sanitizer right in front of them before they take you to a table.

My husband and I had this conversation too only a few days ago. He was on the same page as you, whereas, I disagreed. We agreed that maybe the 1st month they will have less sailing, but for a different reason. Using myself as an example. I have been furloughed (mens specialty retailer). My paycheck is gravy for us. My husband is still working (tele-commutes 2 days, and in the office 3 days a week). I can't go back to work whenever that is and turn and say I am booked for a 7 night cruise in 3 weeks. It has nothing to do with fear or finances. It has everything to do with my job and once we get back up and running, we will be busy. Think of a retail store like a ship. We closed the store March 17th. Currently we are to re-open May 3rd. No employee, including mgmt. is allowed in the store during the furlough. It will be like opening a brand new store. The dust in our store will be amazing. We were suppose to do a winter pull-back (I.e. sweaters) on the 18th. That never got done, which means we have to ship all of that out, while at the same time receive all of the spring/summer merchandise. It will take at least 5 days of employees working all day to get the store back in order. We will also be inundated with customers the 1st few weeks . My boss is not going to let me say that just because my cruise was cancelled and I rebooked during the furlough that I should have it off, nor would I expect him. Use school teachers as an example too. Many cruise when school is out. Let's say we can cruise again mid-July. In NC they go back to school 1st week of Aug. That means they will not be re-booking. Now, here is the thing. There will be great deals running for short notice. The ships must expect that they will run at a higher rate, more like the break even occupancy of 75%. They need to bring the staff back, with the belief of business as usual, just like my retail company. We are not being re-hired piece meal, we all will be back on the exact same date because of the belief when the doors fling open, customers will be back. Here is where I got my husband, because he said people will have the fear of going on a vacay or even out to dinner. I said so.... how long will it be before you go to the barber shop? He said the 1st weekend I can, How long do you think it will take before women are at the hair salon? The day they open of course! Nail salons? Beaches? He got my point. You are willing to go back to your gym and work out for an hr. pick up a Starbucks coffee (drive thru), than hit the barber shop where you are 2 feet away from the barber and the person in the next chair, followed up with going to Lowes for mulch. Are you saying that will not be your 1st week after the stay at home is lifted? If the answer is yes, than I think you are at a higher risk than someone that drives to a port and sails. I am a woman, and I can tell you that the amount of hair on the floor is insane, even though they sweep it up immediately, it still lingers. As I stated I work retail. Do you think the shoe dept at Macy's wipes down every seat for you to try on shoes, let alone the shoes? Finally, look around the blogs and FB pages, everyone is complaining cruise prices have gone up. Why? My guess would be that those with the FCC are trying to rebook on ships/cruises that are still standing at almost fully booked. Cruise with confidence is through 9/20.

I doubt it will impact the cruise lines very much regarding seasoned crews. I do agree that it may be a bit of a hodge podge depending on how they bring the lines back up. For example, Lady G is retiring, many of those members will already be wanting to find a new ship. Thus, they may transfer over to Explorer which is a totally different class, in turn that means they have to learn a new ship. Yet, that being said the cruise lines constantly change over staff at different times. It is not as if they all come on 1 ship at the same time. Your waiter may have just arrived for the 1st time on your sailing, but their assistant maybe half way through their contract. I would think one other issue regarding the crew, which ties back to hodge podge would be maybe the cabin attendant that worked for NCL or Princess now wants to work for RCL or vise a verse. Again, it maybe the 1st few cruises to get it right, but there it is. I recall talking to our waiter on one of our cruises. He said it took him many yrs to get onto RCL. On top of that, as we all know in any corporate world, a lot has to do with networking. I can't recall what town he lives when not contracted, but he stated that he got his job because his cousin put his name up after he had worked on a smaller cruise ship in Europe. It took him 5 yrs to get there. He had a cousin now on the same ship. He placed his name forward. It took 5 yrs for him to get enough seniority to place this cousin's name forward. The point is it is very competitive to get hired on by these large cruise companies. If anything they will be fighting for a contract. Many of the cabin attendants, waiters, bar tenders, etc. do this to support their families, including extended families back home. If you read the obituary of the Symphony crew member that died you can easily see that. He spent his money supporting his family in a much higher standard than they could have had he stayed in his country.

@WAAAYTOOO We have done the cabana and beach bed at Coco Cay, but have yet to the Beach Club (our Oasis sailing was cancelled), so at this price we grabbed it. ~ We decided that if it stayed at 110+ pp we would do the beach bed. Hence, when we saw it at 79 we grabbed it. We like to splurge, but we have a limit on the splurges with each cruise. This will be our 1st time to Labadee and OSJ, so our splurges are on excursions there.

My 5/2021 Symphony sailing is at $79.00 It came up today, and we booked it. Our motivation is/was that due to all of these cruises being cancelled and the FCC something like the beach club will be quick to sell out. Our sailing will also be going to Labadee, thus with the same thought process we picked up the clamshell (lounger for 2), it was cheap. That is the beauty of having a 0% interest credit card that gives points and OBC from RCL.

Interesting article. It is a long read.https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-carnival-cruise-coronavirus/ Here is a snippet why I won't cruise Carnival. Since 2016 the company has failed 3% of CDC ship health inspections—three times worse than rival Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., which fails 1% of inspections. In an interview, these statistics seem to surprise Donald. “What? We fail health inspections?” he says when asked about them. After gathering his thoughts, he adds, “I would say, though, that we do not have a record in any shape, form, or fashion of being unhealthy, of guests on our ships being more ill than in other travel venues, period, let alone other cruises.” Three times as much as RCL and the leadership was unaware of that fact. The other part of why I am opposed to Carnival. In 2017 the U.S. Department of Justice fined Carnival’s Princess line a record $40 million for dumping oil-contaminated waste at sea and falsifying official discharge records to cover it up. Last June, Donald himself entered a guilty plea on behalf of Carnival for violating the terms of its settlement after authorities discovered that its ships kept on dumping even after the 2017 ruling. “We acknowledge the shortcomings,” Donald told a Miami judge. “I am here today to formulate a plan to fix them.” He would head into 2020 committed, he said, to changing the company’s tendency to cut corners on safety. In essence, under this leadership prior to CoVid they openly admitted legally of illegally dumping and falsifying their records as late as June 2019

MKMAJ1. I have to be honest, we keep sailing on different ships, and so maybe I am wrong regarding the floor location I believe it is on the same deck as the WJ. It is maybe an 18 by 18 lucite square that looks straight down. Every RCL ship has little discoveries on their ship, and once you do multiple ships it becomes a blur. IE On Anthem they have in the Solarium door that takes you out like a bridge, you have to know it is there and how to open that door. Otherwise it looks like just a glass door. My husband will say I am navigationally challenged. It took me 5 days to figure out the shortcuts, whereas, he figures it out on Day 1. IE. We would take 1 staircase, go down multiple floors, cut through the casino, and than take a staircase up to the MDR. We never use the elevator unless we see the stow away piano player. Yes, that is a thing. One other thing that I love about the Anthem regarding their WJ. You are forced into a hand washing station. Nobody can enter without washing their hands. Deck 10 is great. Mid ship is great.

@MKMAJ1 We love sailing out of Liberty. Have you looked into Celebrity? That is RCL's sister company. Points you earn are transferable.

We are loyal to Royal. Our TA put it the best. Carnival is a 2 star hotel, NCL is 3 star and RCL is a 4 star. Anthem is unique in soooo many ways. JMPO, but here are the Pro's and Cons. PRO: 1. The terminal runs like clockwork. 15 -20 mins from checking in to having your 1st cocktail in hand. The ship only clears the bottom of the Verrazano bridge by @30 feet. You literally will be able to tell each brand/make of the car as you pass under it. The Solarium is OMG amazing. Probably my favorite, especially since it has the bistro connected to it. Great photo op is sitting on the swing. Loved the fact that they have 3 distinct pool areas. Solarium, indoor and outdoor. Love the little secret floor if heights don't bother you. There is a cut away that looks down about 8 or so decks (can't recall how many decks). If sailing in a group and have a balcony, the dividers come down. This means you can actually have a larger balcony per se for the entire group and use the balcony doors as a way to knock on the others door instead of going in the hallway with your sea pass or WoW The 270 is where they hold the acrobatic show, the Quest and where you get the Kummelwreck. It is a great option for lunch. If you go late, close to end of lunch you can watch them practice the show. The WJ is amazing bc it actually has outdoor seating. Not many of the RCL ships have outdoor seating in the WJ. Did late traditional seating and had no time confliction with any show. Love and Marriage, Comedy, 70's party, The Quest, etc. We Will Rock You is one of the best shows on Royal CON: This is a ship where you really need to pick your cabin impo. We sailed as a group and booked last minute (6 weeks). To get 5 balconies connected left us with limited options. Okay 1 option. We were deck 12 and 1 cabin away from the bridge. Cool bc they would wave to us, but traversing the ship was long. Our sailing was suppose to go to Bermuda, but due to a hurricane they sent us to NE/Canada. Did not feel any true motion. Not a fan of the Esplanade. Sea days it just felt cramped. We had perfect weather, pools open. 80-85 degree days. I could not fathom what it would be like if it was raining. Add in the days where they do the sidewalk sale and I felt like I was doing the bump. Not a fan of the location of Schooners. My husband and I are a huge fans of that bar. However, the location does not offer a sea view and it is located next to the photo shop. It was always packed. Not a fan of The Gift show. Lastly, my SIL cruised with us LY on Adventure. (Anthem cruise was my family, Adventure was hub's side) She is top tier for NCL. I heard for 9 months about NCL this, NCL that. She walked on the ship ready to prove NCL would have been a better choice since both sail out the NY/NJ area. By Day 2 she was sold on RCL. She even said, okay, you win RCL is better. Our cruise was 8 nights to the Caribbean out of Liberty. Never on any NCL cruise did she see as many cleaning staff as she did on RCL. Her exact remark was every time I enter a bathroom the staff is exiting. Every time I go out a door to a deck, somebody is wiping the doors (this was last July b4 CoVid19) Our cabin attendant cleaned/straightened our cabins 3 times a day. Morning, sometime in the afternoon and then fold down service. Day 3 she received champagne and chocolate strawberries compliments of the casino. She only does slots. I think she won 500 by that time. Her response is I sail basically free with NCL due to gambling and they never gifted me anything. Tied to cleanliness, her pet peeve was we spent the day in the Solarium. We all had the bev pkg. She would get up and go into the hot tub with maybe 20% of her drink in the glass left. Came back and the drink was gone, they re-clamped the towels, placed her book at the foot of the lounger. She was …seriously, I wasn't done with my drink. However, they have soo many attendants roaming that no sooner had she sat back on the lounger somebody We only ate in the MDR 3 nights out of the 8. (Day 1,2, and 7) She was shocked that on day 2 our waiters asked her if she wanted to have XYZ wine again tonight with dinner. Remembered all of our drinks. Dinner was done, and the waiter turned and said would you like the same drinks as last night for dessert. (Specialty coffee and different alcohol sides...i.e cappuccino and amaretto for me, cap and baileys for hubby, espresso and sambucca for BIL, etc.). She had done an NCL 1 yr prior on a 12 night Med sailing with NCL. The wait staff never recalled what she drank. The spa. We girls did a mani/pedi on one of the sea days. It was pre-purchased prior to the cruise. She turned to me on day 2 and said, I am going to see if I can ask them to a gel mani fill, but if they are like NCL the answer will be no. Women will understand that this is a long process. She went to the spa and they were turning people away wanting to book apptmts. She said to the receptionist after seeing you say no to people in front of me, I am sure I know the answer, but....They turned to her and said no problem. Finally, RCL is known for rock hard beds. SIL never had this problem on NCL. I told her the day we embarked tell your attendant to give you a mattress topper and extra pillows. They not only re-do her bed day 1 while we were at dinner, but bc she didn't tell them what type of pillow she wanted they brought her 3 different types. Hope this helps.

My TA has always taken care of my purchases. LY my SIL created havoc for our TA. We were sailing as a group, and her friend backed out. Instead of telling the TA, she directly called RCCL. RCCL cancelled everything on her cruise planner. SIL calls me freaking out and mad. I immediately called the TA. TA rebooked everything for her. She actually landed up saving us more money bc although we purchased everything on the Black Friday sailing, the Chefs table and 3 night dinner prices had dropped, so she cancelled and repurchased for everyone in the group. She did contact us 1st to inform us that our credit card on file would show a refund and repurchase.

Agreed, but I would add that if you have kids this might be an ideal time to go depending on their age. IE. Teenager may have more kids to socialize with during the cruise.

Now we know why your moniker has 1912 in it.

Yep it has been @Ogilthorpe I want to say I did that cruise in 86, maybe 87?

@Matt31 That is the thing. Dust will need to settle, and the US govt has now shut the cruise industry for 100 days. We can't see right now the fall out from the port industry.

I think I need to change my name to WAAAYTOOLLD . I know for a fact I did a cruise to nowhere out of NYC back in the mid 80s, I want to say it was Carnival. We did this right before we went back to college in the summer. Went up to Cape Cod, did not dock, came back to NYC. It was cheaper than renting a hotel room at the Jersey shore for the weekend!

We are all cruisers. I am shocked that @Matt has not banned me for saying he was the code word.

This is going to be interesting to see how it pans out. Unlike a decade ago with that same questions loomed over the bank and auto bail outs, or 19 yrs ago after 9/11 and airlines, the big key is that these cruise lines are not US companies per se. HOWEVER, many US cities have economies that get a bump from the cruise industry indirectly. Here are a few: KEY WEST. Yes, people go to the Keys for vacation and fun, but not at 6-9K a day (2 cruise ships) Think of not only the artisan shops, the excursions, the hop off, hop on buses, but port fees, long shore men, pilot boats, etc. Cape Liberty. They can exist no problem, but again, if you have sailed out of there you know that the parking lot alone is pumping a huge amount into their city taxes from a business tax rate. They have to employ at least 100 people just outside of the terminal, i.e. people directing you to a lane to drop off luggage, porters to take your luggage and those directing you into a parking lot. Let alone, the porters waiting for you to debark and take it back to your car, or in processing you at the terminal. RCL fails, those jobs are gone. Anchorage AK. I lived in Eagle River for almost 4 yrs. it is right outside of Anchorage. The cruise industry is huge in Anchorage. Captain Cook Hotel makes it living due to cruise lines. Princess cruises of course has their private train to Denali. That port would be hit hard. Portland Maine. Same as Key West. Charleston? Even small ships like Lady G or Enchantment docking brings in $$$ to their economy. Galveston Texas....seriously, any of you going there for vacay if it wasn't tied to a cruise? Yet, that state is getting $$$$ into their infrastructure from not only port/tax fees, but even hotels bc cruisers come in a day 4 Ever noticed the day of embarkation the forklifts of food being brought on? Local area companies are supplying the products. It trickles down. You think there are chickens laying eggs on a ship? If I recall correctly from my Caribbean galley tour, they only take on new produce from specific ports. IOWS, they load up on food while we load up on our 1st cocktail! Do you think any back up part that the terminals need do not employ local companies for paint supplies, replacement lightbulbs, cleaning supplies for their terminals? My point is, that I could hear a lot of politicians starting to scream if they don't somehow help the cruise lines even though they are not a registered US company. Now expand that even more. RCL has headquarters in Miami. How much did they spend building that new terminal? How about TX building their new terminal? How about NCL and CCL and their impact? I can easily see our MoCs fighting to bail them out in some manner. Hence, I believe they will not fail. Maybe, not as much as they may want, but they will bend for the economy.

My last one to get the thread rolling....yeah kind of a tp joke

This is my 2nd favorite...you can only relate to it, if you are at least my age.

Since we have a corny joke thread and I don't want to hijack it I thought how about memes. Here are my favorites so far.

Not a corny joke, but this meme did make me laugh