nate91

The CDC has been slowly making things "better" with these updates to the NSO, then the CSO. However, the "better" has been in such small increments, it's like a student who got a 3% on a test. They then raised their grade to a 4%, and a few months later, the grade is at a 5%. Is it better? Yes. Are they passing the class? Nope.

At this rate, May 12th (or a few days after) will tell us whether or not we'll have 2021 cruises (and potentially whether cruise lines will exist in 2022).

I would look at previous Cruise Compasses (https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/serenade-of-the-seas/mon-2019-12-09-0000) and see what times the venues below host music at. If you like to go to bed at 9 pm cruise time, that might be an issue. But if 11 pm is fine for you it looks like it should be pretty quiet. 

33 minutes ago, twangster said:

I think we are all being cautious having been let down before.

This. I also think that the pandemic has changed a LOT since Summer 2020, or even Winter 2020. While at one point we all thought masks would be required, then vaccines arrived. At that point no one had access to vaccines, so we assumed masks and vaccines. Now vaccines are available to everyone over 16, and CDC has changed it's masking advice to not be recommended outside. So I don't think it's unreasonable to pontificate on what could/should be. A lot of us see that the pandemic is changing (read: getting better) quickly and think that policies and procedures should evolve along with it.

32 minutes ago, mjb1127 said:

True but how many people drive to the Port?

I would think that Royal can see which people usually fly and which usually drive by where they reside. (An Illinois resident likely flies if they're going to FL!) They can cross-reference that with Vision and Adventure sailings and see who is still booking. I agree that those who typically drive to the port likely won't go on Adventure or Vision right now. The question is, how much revenue would RC be leaving on the table by not requiring vaccines, or alternatively, by requiring them? It all comes down to profit, something cruise lines desperately need right now. Whichever option maximized profit, or at least projected profit (all vax, no vax, some of each) will win.

You'd better believe that all the cruise lines are carefully examining data to see how likely the population, particularly the population in the states with cruise ports (Florida) is to be vaccinated. Whatever capacity sailing begins at, they will want to maximize that and sell the ship out. NCL has already promised that vaccinations are required, so you may see RCI and Carnival try a different approach. Maybe having certain all vaccinated ships is a good possibility, but cruise lines have the data to see what their typical pre-COVID sailing demographic is, and compare that to publicly available vaccine administration data.

And as @JLMoran stated, the data on sales of already announced vaccinated cruises are another great piece of information. Combine all this together and I doubt they expect to launch all ships as vaccine required. I could very well be wrong though.

(Tried to do all of that without talking about anything political or examining vaccine messaging. Tough!)

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Include the casino.  Interesting idea.

I think the problem is some people don't want certain things.  Wifi is a good example.  A lot of cruisers don't want to be connected on a cruise vacation.  If they bundle it into the price everyone pays more including folks who don't want it.  

Celebrity went "All In" and in the process lost me a potential guest.  Pay more for stuff I'm not going to use?  No thanks.

Sometimes I cruise and I don't spend a dime more than the price of the cruise and gratuity.   If Royal went "All In" they'd lose me too.  

Some people LOVE wifi on a cruise. I feel it's one of the last areas in the world that I can really disconnect. So I would hate all-inclusive pricing. As for the drink package, I don't drink enough to justify the cost. An all inclusive sailing (Celebrity) would make me lose interest as well.

Something I think could do well is an all-inclusive RATE, that is not a requirement to be on the sailing. The rate has everything already included, but those of us uninterested could skip it. Overall, I doubt Royal will move to an exclusively all-inclusive pricing model, as the "budget" option of RCI's brands. It would raise prices significantly higher and not allow advertising low prices to get people on the ship. 

Are people really put off by the difficulty of booking wifi/drinks in the cruise planner after booking?

I would wager to say that guests on this sailing, at least the first few sailings, will be so happy to be on a cruise ship again they'll be willing to overlook quite a bit. But definitely not ideal for the long term!

37 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I believe that's just empty space there because the pools on the pool deck at above them, which probably eats into the space where rooms would be.

Yep. If you look at where the rooms are not, and where the pools are, they coordinate. Nobody wants a room with a three foot clearance.

Although, looking at it now, seems as though a ladder from a balcony below could provide access to an upcharge "party balcony." Definitely wouldn't meet code for emergency exits, but fun to dream about!

Stayed on a Panoramic Ocean View on Explorer! Could not recommend enough! Nice to be in the newly updated rooms compared with others!

Man, if only there had been a recent period of severely decreased travel during which time runway work would have been ideal! If only...

So, just to summarize what's been happening:

Royal Caribbean starts moving ships to international Caribbean ports.

Norwegian does the same, AND releases their own plan for sailing in July to the CDC instead of waiting ("OK Teacher, here's YOUR homework!")

Carnival threatens to drop ALL US ports. 

Florida sues the CDC.

Some organizations in Texas ask Gov Abbott to consider taking action.

Alaska threatens to sue the CDC. 

Anyone else grabbing popcorn? I think things are about to blow up, in a very good way!

3 hours ago, Boltswin said:

Would love to see a few 9 night cruises, opposite the 5 nighters. Could easily add Acapulco and/or La Paz to the 7 day itinerary. But won't get greedy at this point, just glad to have West Coast cruises back in the mix. Hopefully ship #2 will be based in SD.

Ship #2? Have you heard something I haven't haha?

Random thought here: It seems clear that the CDC's plan, at least at this juncture, is to prevent cruising as long as possible. I wonder what the ramifications would be if a cruise line (RCI or other, or multiple) just decided to go ahead and have cruises starting on a certain date. The CDC doesn't have any sort of enforcement arm, so I'm guessing they would have to work with local police, maybe National Guard to prevent cruises from sailing if a company defies the order. Now, I seriously doubt that any cruise line would attempt this (and I'm not sure how many customers would risk travelling to the port against the CDC's order). This is more of an "I wonder if..." kind of thing. Any thoughts?

1 hour ago, JeffB said:

Look, I've said this elsewhere and probably in this thread as well. Those of us who have been loyal to RCG for decades and  who aren't getting any younger, our time in this world where we are still vital and active is ticking away. Meanwhile, we wait for the resumption of cruising from US ports. My take is that we're getting a raw deal on two fronts: (1) The CDC's unobtainable goal of requiring cruise lines to get the risk of COVID aboard their ships to near zero through a litany of complex and costly tasks. (2) RCG's lack of leadership in getting them eased and keeping their loyalists informed.

Admittedly, I don't know what is going on behind the scenes but this dance is ridiculous. It is becoming more and more obvious to me, anyway, that as time goes on this dance is being orchestrated at the corporate level. It is a marketing strategy to keep revenue flowing in through advanced bookings, sustained by falsely feeding our insatiable optimism that cruising is going to restart "very soon."  It amounts to stall tactics and should be called out. I'm calling it out.

I don't know about the rest of you but out of 7 planned cruises in the past year, all of them have been moved forward which means RCG has a lot of my money without any reassurances that I'm actually going to cruise in the next year.

Yes, I had options. Did many cruisers holding cancelled bookings ask for refunds?  Based on booking figures and optimistic outlooks for profits we get from corporate, Nope. Moreover, those predictions supported by investment analysts talking those profits up - propping stock prices up and keeping them tanking - makes it appear that folks pushing their chips forward to the next round of cancellations is a good bet. I'm seriously beginning to wonder about that.   

I agree completely. My attitude has shifted over time, and as such, I changed ALL of my FCCs into refunds. Based on what I'm seeing, there is no concrete plan at all, indicating a failure in leadership at the CDC level (definitely) and at the RCG level (seems likely).

I would LOVE to go on a cruise, but at this point, I don't know if cruises will come back soon, and I'm starting to think the cruise industry may not survive. Cruising will still be around, of course, but not as we know it today. I'm hopeful, but certainly not expectant at this point.

CDC: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help!" 

Terrifying.

I love that NAV is coming to LA, as that's close to me in Arizona. However, hearing "the news you've all been waiting for" and then this is kind of like having a house that's flooded and living in a hotel, having the contractor fixing the house call you and leave a voicemail saying, "I have the news you've been waiting for!" and then telling you that he found a ten dollar bill in your still-flooded kitchen. Thanks...but you hyped it up WAY too much.

It would certainly be a strange way to announce it. Maybe RC plans to announce it simultaneously on all channels at 12 eastern tomorrow?

Honestly though, I doubt it's a restart. It's hard not to be pessimistic at this point, with the CDC releasing nothing since October.

Thank you both for your help! I think I'm just going to take the refunds, as I feel that the crystal ball as to when cruising will return and what it will be like gets fuzzier and fuzzier as time goes on. Then I'll have maximum flexibility.

That's what I was afraid of. So if I use a $1000 FCC on a remaining cruise balance of $900, I will be issued a separate $100 FCC that can only be used on one sailing with no other FCCs allowed on that sailing, correct? This essentially negates the usefulness of the extra 25%, at least for me, and makes me think I may need to convert my FCC's back to refunds before it's too late. 

Also a bit concerning is the lack of extension of FCC usage, as far as I'm aware.

Hi all,

I have a very specific FCC question that I hope someone can answer. I've been trying to find an answer for this on the blog and could not. This article:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/06/26/you-can-combine-future-cruise-credits-instead-of-separately-being-reissued

tells how I can combine FCC's. My question is, if I have a cruise (CRUISE 1) that has been paid for partially in FCC, and partially by credit card (let's say $1000 FCC and $500 cash for total cost of $1500 cruise), and I have another entirely separate FCC for say, $700, from an entirely different cancelled sailing (CRUISE 2), is this article saying:

1. When CRUISE 1 is cancelled, the $1000 FCC will be combined with $500 cash to made a $1500 FCC, entirely separate from my $700 FCC from CRUISE 2. These two FCCs will have to be applied to two separate cruises in the future and cannot be combined (I'm guessing this is the answer).

OR

2. When CRUISE 1 is cancelled, the $1000 FCC will be combined with the $500 cash AND is able to be combined with the $700 FCC from CRUISE 2, giving me one SUPERSIZED FCC of $2200. 

I'm guessing it's option 1, but I wasn't entirely clear on how the combining worked. I have a few FCCs and am struggling to figure out how to use them by the deadline. Option 2 would give me more flexibility, as I have FCC's that are larger than the final payments needed for my 2021 cruises. 

Thanks for your insight!

Fond memories of this morning when I had my finger over the mouse for the drink package at $44 a day on Oasis 12/6. I guess I'm glad I didn't now!

5 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Deliberate ambiguity allows for control.

Well stated. And the changing goalposts that a few have mentioned. I refrain from politics here, but the fact remains that much of this cruise shutdown and pandemic in general, has become more politicized than a health related situation should be. I have seen many organizations, governmental or otherwise, use this as an opportunity to gain more power, and I'm afraid the CDC is one of the organizations that sees the pandemic as allowing them to have broader powers than they had before 2020.

Depending on which ship you're going on, I would say two cruises. On many ships the Junior Suites are just a small bit larger than the balconies, and many of the newer ships (Oasis and Quantum class) have huge balcony cabins. Unless you want a specific benefit of the Jr. Suite, such as the extra points or the bathtub, I say go two cruises!

Cruise planner and everything is working properly for my 12/6 Oasis cruise. Attempting to stay positive..but it's getting more and more difficult!

16 minutes ago, RBRSKI said:

Crew has already started to fly into Florida for quarantine.  While in quarantine, Royal zoom's what's it's gonna look like on the ships and what new responsibilities each crew has to follow.  Crew boards ships week of the 16th for at least three weeks of testing.  Bam first cruise passengers board ships no later then 12/7.   

Ok, that's my perfect world!!  lol  And I hope you all know this is just my crazy thinking of how I think it should shake out!!!

@RBRSKI, would you be willing to amend the date on this? I have an Oasis cruise on 12/6 that I would really like to sail!