SpeedNoodles

Mask tans lines are better than a mortician's make up job.  

I agree.

The big joke among people who know me is why would I want to go on a cruise ship surrounded by people when I don't like crowds?  It's hard to explain to someone who has never been on a cruise that, with just a couple exceptions, I can always find plenty of personal space.  

 

I SO agree.  It was easy for the airlines to feign concern when nobody was flying.  But once people started flying again all of the pretense fell away without another thought.  To be fair, I think the cruise lines will do the same thing once they can, but at least on a ship you have a chance to distance if you want to.

A couple U.S. based airlines have moved past the distancing concept.  They are back to normal seating.
People at a pool outdoors or a house party indoors for a couple hours are spreading it.  It's a lottery right now.  Pick the right seat on a plane next to someone who is asymptomatic and you'll probably be infected by the the end of the flight.  The airline industry needs to be grounded.  They should just stop pretending.  
At least on a cruise ship the maximum time I spend next to a stranger is at a show or muster drill.  I can choose to skip a show or leave 10 minutes in.  Stop the shows and that's solved.   In the WJ I can be in and out in 20 minutes, if I take it to go 1/3 of that.  
Walking through a grocery store isn't the primary source of spread.  That's kind of what a cruise is like.  Walking past people but not sitting beside them for hours and hours.  That pretty much is an airplane ride.  
On a plane I'm stuck next to a stranger with no escaping it.  If they start coughing or sneezing all I can do is scream inside.  Every time you board a plane it's spin the wheel and see if you get the virus.  It's much safer on a ship.

Of interesting note, do you know how TA’s check for price reductions? No, they don’t have a software program that monitors their customers pricing; they do it through mock bookings at royalcaribbean.com just like you and me.
 
We all need to appreciate our TAs more.
 
 

I have a spreadsheet that I use to check for price drops so that I don't  have to do an actual mock booking every time I check.  

The alerts I get only tell me if the price has dropped or raised since the last time they sent an alert. Never once, when they have sent a "price drop" alert, has the price dropped below what I've paid.  Part of the problem may be that you can't set what you paid.  You only choose a category type.  Well there's several different categories of oceanview balconies - you can't choose "2D", just "oceanview balcony".  Glad it's worked for you, but I've found it completely useless.

The alerts I get only tell me if the price has dropped or raised since the last time they sent an alert. Never once, when they have sent a "price drop" alert, has the price dropped below what I've paid.  Part of the problem may be that you can't set what you paid.  You only choose a category type.  Well there's several different categories of oceanview balconies - you can't choose "2D", just "oceanview balcony".  Glad it's worked for you, but I've found it completely useless.

Its really a 2 step process, because as you observed, you have to see the discount on the right category.  I get an alert, then I go to the cruise line website and go the the mock booking process for the same room type I currently have.  If I see a reduced price, I call the TA or the line and execute the discount (or in another case, was able to get an upgraded room).  So the CL alert just gives you a generic ping so then you need to dig down to see if its real.  I only will use the cruise line website after that because its verifiable with the agent.
 
Its easier to use it as a filter/alert so you're not logging into the website and doing mock bookings every day.
 
 

I have used  Cruiseline.com (aka Shipmate) but never once in a 18 months monitoring 6 sailings was it ever remotely accurate.  I check what I paid against current prices on Royal Caribbean's site.  Since I book through Royal it's the only price that is relevant to me.
 

I have used  Cruiseline.com (aka Shipmate) but never once in a 18 months monitoring 6 sailings was it ever remotely accurate.  I check what I paid against current prices on Royal Caribbean's site.  Since I book through Royal it's the only price that is relevant to me.
 

Which are you? hehe
 

You'd just have to keep checking back.  There's never any saying when you'll get the best deal.  If it's something you know you want to do, just book it and check back for price drops frequently.  The best deals I've gotten on shore excursions have occurred when there weren't any advertised cruise planner sales going on - they just randomly dropped and I snagged them (at a price I never saw go that low again).  It can really pay to check frequently.

Which are you? hehe
 

Which are you? hehe
 

I have used  Cruiseline.com (aka Shipmate) but never once in a 18 months monitoring 6 sailings was it ever remotely accurate.  I check what I paid against current prices on Royal Caribbean's site.  Since I book through Royal it's the only price that is relevant to me.
 

Yes. I recognise that this situation has been thrust upon them too and from all of the interactions I have had with them over the past couple of months (and there have been a fair few!) I do genuinely believe they are working hard to adapt to the regular changes to the process rules and smooth out the wrinkles that it is creating for guests, often seemingly with not a great deal more info to go on than we have, which is why I make a conscious effort to cut them slack even if I am fighting the urge to scream on the inside.

I have used  Cruiseline.com (aka Shipmate) but never once in a 18 months monitoring 6 sailings was it ever remotely accurate.  I check what I paid against current prices on Royal Caribbean's site.  Since I book through Royal it's the only price that is relevant to me.
 

I have used  Cruiseline.com (aka Shipmate) but never once in a 18 months monitoring 6 sailings was it ever remotely accurate.  I check what I paid against current prices on Royal Caribbean's site.  Since I book through Royal it's the only price that is relevant to me.
 

I have used  Cruiseline.com (aka Shipmate) but never once in a 18 months monitoring 6 sailings was it ever remotely accurate.  I check what I paid against current prices on Royal Caribbean's site.  Since I book through Royal it's the only price that is relevant to me.
 

I was at Coco Cay when it wasn't windy, until it suddenly was and it took a while (and a flock of staff RUNNING to it) to help bring it down.
Good times, good times.

Keep your hands off our Brilliance, Raven!! Lol!

Have just had some good news...
We are booked to travel with another family on a 12 night Southern Caribbean sailing on Anthem in December 2021. For a long time the family in question were (just like me when I didn't know better - shame on me! 😟) refusing to consider a cruise, saying it's just not for them.
Anyway, fast forward to just before the COVID-19 bomb dropped and they finally relented and agreed to join us. Not only are they now excited about going on their very first cruise despite all that is currently going on but, with the help of Michelle at MEI, they have just bagged a $1,400 reduction on their fare by re-pricing in this weekend's sale. 🙂
I am taking it as a good omen! 😇

Congratulations!!! (read:  omg, men are so annoying).

I respectfully disagree. H1N1 was nothing like this. Ask any doctor, nurse, or respiratory therapist. in any hospital who is treating Covid-19 patients.