KenCP

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/06/10/cruise-covid-celebrity-vaccine/
Onboard testing is working, and we are getting a glimpse into what will happen if passengers test positive will cruise is underway.  The cruise is continuing with the passengers in isolation and will disembark as scheduled.  Hopefully with the onboard contact tracing they will be able to keep it under control.
Fingers crossed for all the test cruises that will be underway soon.
 

Hey all!
Clearly the Roll Call sub-forum is something that had a lot of pent-up demand! In the interests of making it easy to search for a particular roll call and add new ones into the forum with a consistent format, please be sure to follow these guidelines:
First, always search for your sailing to see if a Roll Call was already created Easiest way to search is use the first word in the ship's name, the word AND, and the date enclosed in quotes (e.g., Vision AND "Aug 14, 2021"); this should properly limit the search and not give a lot of false matches on just the ship or date Don't worry about searching on the full ship name since every ship ends with "of the Seas" If you don't find it through search, try sorting the forum by title (see later posts in this thread for screen shots); it's possible your sailing is there but the entry was created with a different style subject line. If you don't find your sailing in the search results or after sorting, go ahead and create a new topic. Please try to use the following format so it's easily found through search: Ship Name a hyphen Departure date using the format month name (3-letter), followed by the day, then the year; this should help avoid confusion for members from countries where an all-digit date usually puts the day before the month. Examples: Aug 14, 2021 Jun 12, 2021 Jul 22, 2022 An optional itinerary name / description in parentheses This should let anyone easily find any sailing here, without having to guess what date format got used or which ship it's on. Examples:
Adventure of the Seas - Jun 12, 2021 Vision of the Seas - Aug 14, 2021 (Bermuda and Perfect Day) Radiance of the Seas - Jul 22, 2022 (Alaska Southbound)  
Forum moderators / @Matt, if possible can you update the existing topics that include "ROLL CALL" or use a different date format so they're consistent? I figure better to ask this now while we still have a relatively limited number of sailings posted. ?

That’s what should be happening, wit the protocols working.  Great to see. 

More than likely! Royal has sales as regularly as the tides. Some are Super Moon tides and some quite low. Keep checking and enjoy the fact that you are planning a cruise!

After having all cruises cancelled in 2020, and Anthem Transatlantic cancelled for 2021. I did lift and shift to Allure of the Seas April 24, 2022.
Maybe if cruising resumes before then we can book something in 2021, but not looking good for 2021 so far.

LOL. Willing to help in any way I can !

OCT 27th 2022 Allure. Three nights Mediterranean.

Michael Bayley just announced the retirement of Empress of the Seas and Majesty of the seas will be leaving the fleet.  I wonder if Vision of the Seas is next?

Michael Bayley just announced the retirement of Empress of the Seas and Majesty of the seas will be leaving the fleet.  I wonder if Vision of the Seas is next?

***Just heard back from my agent and it was a human error that my cruise was cancelled and all my purchases cancelled. 
Just got an email from Royal canceling my Anthem of the Seas Trans Atlantic April 2021 from New York to South Hampton.  Third cruise booked that has been cancelled, hopefully I will be able to do that one again in 2022.  
 

I'm sorry, but that gif is pretty funny

***Just heard back from my agent and it was a human error that my cruise was cancelled and all my purchases cancelled. 
Just got an email from Royal canceling my Anthem of the Seas Trans Atlantic April 2021 from New York to South Hampton.  Third cruise booked that has been cancelled, hopefully I will be able to do that one again in 2022.  
 

***Just heard back from my agent and it was a human error that my cruise was cancelled and all my purchases cancelled. 
Just got an email from Royal canceling my Anthem of the Seas Trans Atlantic April 2021 from New York to South Hampton.  Third cruise booked that has been cancelled, hopefully I will be able to do that one again in 2022.  
 

***Just heard back from my agent and it was a human error that my cruise was cancelled and all my purchases cancelled. 
Just got an email from Royal canceling my Anthem of the Seas Trans Atlantic April 2021 from New York to South Hampton.  Third cruise booked that has been cancelled, hopefully I will be able to do that one again in 2022.  
 

I'm not entirely sure that I understood the OP but I think they are saying that they were not allowed to combine 2 casino offers.  If that is what they told you, then you were given bogus information.
Both Dan and I are Prime members and usually get identical offers on clubroyaleoffers.com.  We have always been able to combine our offers, which bumps you up one cabin category and then either get a "free" cruise (which is never free...there are always taxes, ports fees and gratuities to pay) or you can upgrade to a higher category with a casino discount. And OBTW, if your offers say "$100 free play", then you will BOTH get $100 free play on the combined offer.
There is one rule regarding combining offers.  You can combine certificates so long as they were earned on the SAME sailing or they are the SAME online offer.  You canNOT combine certificates from different sailings and you cannot apply more than 1 certificate/offer to a cruise except as I described (same sailing/same offer code).  You cannot combine an online offer and a certificate from a sailing. Basically, you can only apply 1 casino discount per cruise except for the certificates/offers that are the "same".
Regarding the issue of a second cabin, in the past, Club Royale has extended SOME offers to a second cabin but not always.  We have never tried to do this so I really am not familiar with how it works.
My recommendation is to get a good travel agent that has experience dealing with the casino.  It matters.  A lot.  If you have not yet booked your offer, I recommend you contact Michelle Cunningham ([email protected]) as she is the best at dealing with the casino.

I don’t see anything in the “rules” that would prevent this.  Frankly, I’ve thought of doing this myself.

I have gotten refunds for My Vegas on board credit for 2 cruises, which were free to begin with.  Royal refunded my credit card the on board credit!

Well, has anyone seen a photo of @twangster?

I've been certain for years that Royal employees both monitor and ask occasional questions here to A) Make sure the blog is responding in a factual, and "Royal appropriate" way B) test the waters to see what public opinion is.
 
Why else would random people ask such stupid questions???

It's a fair observation, but it's just the nature of any message board. One of those "comes with the territory".
As someone who answers the same question repeatedly for a living, I can tell you it's just the way it is. And there's nothing wrong with (politely) referring someone back to an existing thread as well to dig for the answer.

::::: edited for the sake of my reputation points here :::::

Canadians have to go to the UK to get flights home.  As per the rules of the CDC Royal would have to arrange private planes to get the Canadian crew home.  It was cheaper to sail them to the UK and put them on a direct flight to Canada. No crew arriving in the US can use commercial flights to make their way home.  That is why all the cruise lines are using ships to take then crews to countries where the governments are letting the cruise lines use commercial flights.
From CDC:
1. The cruise ship operator must transport those disembarking directly to non-commercial transportation, which includes industry-chartered private transport, industry-chartered private flights, or personal vehicles (no rental cars, taxis, or ride-share services). Cruise line operators must further guarantee noncommercial transportation to their respective homes or new duty stations consistent with all applicable laws and guidance. Those include, but are not limited to, national, federal, state, and local public-health guidance as well as state and local stay-at-home orders.

I've got an update coming to the blog in the next hour or so about refunds and how long it's taking...

If you ever have the opportunity to take a behind the scenes tour this is often a topic addressed.  
Sea water in a port is never used or taken on board because it can be contaminated with local surface runoff containing a myriad of contaminants like fertilizer, oils and human or animal waste.  Everytime it rains all those things are picked up and carried into streams that eventually flow into the ocean.  The general wisdom is to never take on water even to fill swimming pools until a ship is X miles from land.  Often territorial boundaries are used like the 12 mile limit.
At the same time ships process wastewater.  During the behind the scene tours they explain the advanced water purifications systems and will generally make a reference to cleaning waste water to the point that it is as good or better than drinking water, not that it is used for that purpose.  When it has been purified to this degree it can safely be put into the ocean but only away from land, they can't dump anything while within territorial limits so it's always done at sea.
There may also be an immigration aspect.  Crew work visas allow them to visit briefly but they are not tourist visas that allow them to stay for longer periods of time.  By returning briefly to international water they reset any immigration limits on crew work visas.  I haven't fully researched that so it may not be a factor in play during this time.