SpeedNoodles

Can you pay gratuities with it? More spa treatments? It just irks me to no end to see a $110 bottle of champagne on board that I can buy on land for $35. LOL

They have to visit at least one Canadian port during the sailing, so if Canada still won't let cruises in then Alaska cruises are done for the season (unless it's an all-American line).

It'd be great if the Canadian gov't would just announce this so we can all get on with our lives (ha, ok, that sounds selfish. It just seems like it would be an easy thing to decide and announce if that's what they want to do).

Just bring one. You'll pay three times as much on board than you'd pay on land.

Was it a Casino booking?

There's not much difference in booking. Where they really come in handy is the service you get if you need to change anything or when there are problems. Would you rather sit on hold for 3 hours with Royal or have your TA do it? I don't find it at all easier to contact Royal directly. I don't have that kind of free time. I'd rather have her fight my battles for me.

No, sorry. I'm not much of a shopper.

Royal has secured enough financing to last quite a while now, so I certainly wouldn't worry about bankruptcy (so has NCL, actually). The promo now isn't bad - nice thing is if you book and the price goes down later you can reprice the booking at the lower fare. I recommend either booking through a GOOD travel agent, or at least transferring the booking to a good travel agent right after booking (if you want to jump on it now).

Yes, they do them on Alaska cruises ?

If only cigarette smoke on clothes smelled like BBQ!

I'm curious to see if our large casinos here will do away with their massive buffets or not. Hopefully someone (who isn't someone I work with) will report back, because I'm sure not going to go and check it out myself.

Frankly it's much scarier being airborne than being able to catch it from a surface. I can easily control what I touch, and I've made it a point to not touch high-touch surfaces with my hands for YEARS (you learn that when Norovirus spreads like wildfire through your workplace twice a year for 10 years). I cannot as easily control where and what I breathe.

I really don't see it this way at all. He's said all along that they have a team of people (including medical and epidemiologists) working on how they will handle the on-board and pre-board experience. American Queen can start sailing much sooner because they don't have to wait for foreign ports to open up. They may not even be subject to much CDC scrutiny. Royal knows they really can't start sailing yet (CDC hasn't indicated that they will lift the "no sail" order early), so they may as well use the time and figure out their strategy. They have the time to try to get it right the first time back.

Sure you can. It's called "small pox".

It might be comparing apples to oranges here in many ways, but it's interesting to see how some companies will be dealing with passengers and spaces once they get sailing again. https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22987-american-queen-announces-health-protocols.html?fbclid=IwAR3E_1qR-lIv4eCC4qbi2T7laDferhFIoLjoC1SaX7sP6ghcCnRN7pa7Z8Q

Some companies are not even offering refunds at this time, but rather only FCC , so imagine their frustration.

I think they meant once Harmony is in the Med (which probably isn't happening this year anyway).

The smoking area was port on Ovation, too, and I'm almost certain on Navigator and Mariner (which is why I typically only walk the starboard side of the ship when I'm up on the pool deck).

I think that it's almost a given that they will start doing this.

If you didn't prepay your gratuities it can be used towards that at the end of the cruise.

The over 70 rule was rescinded in April. I can't comment on what your government says about travel. "We know that our 70+ guests and those with chronic conditions are especially eager to understand what cruising will look like in the future. While subject to change, via the Cruise Lines International Association, we have confirmed that the previous restrictions were lifted in early April after cruise lines suspended service."

^^^^ winner

Had I known that on Monday I certainly wouldn't have bothered posting the article.

Good to know, now I don't have to call them (honestly, I wasn't planning to, I know they are swamped). ?