DDaley

Though this blog is the one place I go to get real info, I do follow and see chatter elsewhere. Yesterday I saw  a few posts fro people who supposedly have friends in the game that were asked to be ready to come back late this month and early next month. Normally I dismiss stuff I have no way to verify but two of the reports came from people who got crew departures correct some time back. I made mention a few weeks ago when I booked another spring run I was making small talk about upcoming cruises likely to cancel. The agent was probably the very best I ever had  the pleasure of dealing with. She was adamant that my Harmony in November would be sailing... Who knows... The extensions will eventually end . First trips will eventually happen. I see no reason that we can't be at that crossroad now???? 

Positive news for sure.  
I also saw similar posts and boy do I hope they are right.  Until official I've now instructed the dog to cross his claws in addition to me crossing my fingers and toes.  The dog didn't look pleased.

Carnival enforced arrival times, or at least did several years ago when I last sailed them.  They needed to enforce times to help justify the sale of the "Faster To The Fun" pass program.   
Looking back they basically created chaos in boarding then sold FTTF as a means to bypass the chaos they created.  Pretty effective as well - FTTF was always in demand but capacity controlled so people would search day after day hoping to buy it so that things like check in time could be ignored.    It was one of big differences I noted when I switched to Royal.  Bigger ships, more people, no chaos.    
While Royal hasn't needed to enforce check in time up to this point, it's not going to be earth shaking now if they do.  Other lines have done it for a while.

DCL Fan – Disney Cruise Line Information Port of Galveston CEO Says Disney Cruise Line to Sail at 70% Capacity, Enforce Arrival Times
 
 Tom Bell 9 hours ago During a recent Board of Trustees Meeting for the Port of Galveston, Port Director and CEO Rodger Rees shared information from his talks with Disney Cruise Line, including ship capacity goals and other operational changes. The Disney Wonder sails from Galveston several months each year.
Rees told the Board that, while 30% capacity seems to be the “break even” point for most cruise lines, Disney has told him that they intend to sell up to 70% of their cabins for each sailing.
Disney also said that they would begin enforcing port arrival time windows in order to control crowd levels inside the terminal. Guests have been required to choose an arrival time for years, but those arrival time windows have not been enforced at most terminals. Enforcement of those arrival times may also force ships to leave port later in the day.
Port Canaveral CEO John W. Murray also talked about enforcing arrival times at a recent meeting, adding that cruise lines would need additional time for COVID-19 testing of guests.
Rees said that the cruise line has talked about ways to bring fresh air into the terminals, rather than recirculating the same air through air conditioning units.
Finally, in the most promising statement about cruising, Rees said, “I believe that the cruise lines think they’re close.”
The Disney Wonder has its next cruise from Galveston scheduled for November 20th, however Disney Cruise Line has not confirmed with they will once again begin sailing.
Source: Port of Galveston / DisneyCruiseLineBlog
 
 
Tom Bell
 
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Categories: Latest, News Tags: dcl, Disney Cruise Line, Disney Wonder, Port of Galveston Leave a Comment DCL Fan – Disney Cruise Line Information
 
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I would think a vaccine should be widely available by early 2021. News of the Russian vaccine that did not go through stage 3 testing that is now being done in US and the UK on other vaccines (3 in the US alone), highlight that all 76 study participants developed antibodies to the virus that causes Covid-19. None suffered severe side effects. 
 

My personal thoughts are that we are getting close to a breakthrough that will lead to a restart of cruise ship travel in North America.
Cruising will restart slowly probably with just a few ships doing short cruises.  If that's what you have booked once the breakthrough occurs you may be in luck. 
They have stated time and again it will not be a light switch turning on with all ships heading to sea.  If you have booked a longer cruise I'm less confident we'll see action on those itineraries this year.   
Since I fly to cruise my booked cruises tend to be longer ones so while I'm hoping not many more cancel on me, I will likely have some more cancellations in my future.
This is just my gut reaction, I have no inside knowledge or proof.  

Wanted to bring this back up and get peoples thoughts now with more information available such as rapid covid testing, some cruise lines starting to sail in Europe, CDC travel updates, etc. 
Currently with most RCL cruises cancelled until Nov. 1, when would you think we will hear about the next round of cancellations... or even better, a statement about confirming some cruises will actually happen as part of a phased in approach? As of today... that would put us about 60 days out for sailings. 
I am starting to think that we might have a chance for a small number of sailings to happen between different cruise lines. I think its just a matter of having one carrier make that call... and the rest will follow. (fingers crossed)

I watched the Port of Galveston Trustees meeting today and heard the following items of interest:
The Port Director stated "Royal Caribbean insists they will begin construction on Cruise Terminal 3 on April 1st (2021)." Other Cruise Terminal 3 updates: The design of roads and infrastructure for the East End Cruise Corridor is ongoing.  This includes roads to Terminal 3 and roads to a potential future Terminal 4. Design of utilities to support Royal Caribbean's Cruise Terminal 3 is 90% complete. Traffic study is 90% complete.  The study will recommend upgrading Old Port Industrial Road to accommodate traffic to Cruise Terminals 1 & 2, and using Harborside Drive for traffic to Terminals 3 & 4.  The traffic study determined that a lot of vehicle traffic arrives at the port from hotels along the beach, and it seemed to be a surprise to some Trustees that people spend the night in hotels the night before a cruise. As I speculated back in April, the Port is planning for a "potential" Cruise Terminal 4 in their planning and design.  Nothing has been announced about a 4th Cruise Terminal. I announced earlier this year that building permits for Cruise Terminal 3 were already approved by the City of Galveston. The Port Director participates in online meetings with other Ports and the major cruise lines.  What he's hearing: Most COVID precautions will be similar to what we are already doing on land. The main focus is on getting on and getting off the ships: keep people with COVID from getting on... and if someone does get COVID while aboard the ship then get them off ASAP. CDC is finally talking to the cruise lines. Disney will limit the number of people in the terminal by enforcing check-in arrival times.  They will limit ship capacity to 70%. The Port has signed a contract with Lyft that charges passengers $2 per pickup and $2 per drop-off.  Uber has declined to sign such a contract and has been informed that they (Uber) are not allowed in the Port. I will also post this information in my other topic titled All Things Galveston.

I actually have two bookings to compare! 
This was 6 nights in Cancún. My comparable OA class reference point is a 4-night to Cozumel in a OVB which was about $1.5k cheaper than the resort. 
I also have 6 nights in Jamaica booked because my booking from this year needed to be moved out a year. A 7-night OA class to Coco Cay in an OVB is about $1.8k cheaper than that resort, too! 
So affordable, cruising is always the best choice!

I actually have two bookings to compare! 
This was 6 nights in Cancún. My comparable OA class reference point is a 4-night to Cozumel in a OVB which was about $1.5k cheaper than the resort. 
I also have 6 nights in Jamaica booked because my booking from this year needed to be moved out a year. A 7-night OA class to Coco Cay in an OVB is about $1.8k cheaper than that resort, too! 
So affordable, cruising is always the best choice!

I actually have two bookings to compare! 
This was 6 nights in Cancún. My comparable OA class reference point is a 4-night to Cozumel in a OVB which was about $1.5k cheaper than the resort. 
I also have 6 nights in Jamaica booked because my booking from this year needed to be moved out a year. A 7-night OA class to Coco Cay in an OVB is about $1.8k cheaper than that resort, too! 
So affordable, cruising is always the best choice!

I actually have two bookings to compare! 
This was 6 nights in Cancún. My comparable OA class reference point is a 4-night to Cozumel in a OVB which was about $1.5k cheaper than the resort. 
I also have 6 nights in Jamaica booked because my booking from this year needed to be moved out a year. A 7-night OA class to Coco Cay in an OVB is about $1.8k cheaper than that resort, too! 
So affordable, cruising is always the best choice!

I actually have two bookings to compare! 
This was 6 nights in Cancún. My comparable OA class reference point is a 4-night to Cozumel in a OVB which was about $1.5k cheaper than the resort. 
I also have 6 nights in Jamaica booked because my booking from this year needed to be moved out a year. A 7-night OA class to Coco Cay in an OVB is about $1.8k cheaper than that resort, too! 
So affordable, cruising is always the best choice!

I just went on an old fashioned land vacation at an All Inclusive and the greediness at the buffet DOES still exist even when the servers are hand serving each guest. I stood behind a woman for what felt like eternity as she had the server select/unselect different items until her plate was as high as 3 meals worth of food. 
With the resorts at 30% capacity, chair hogs are a thing of the past, though! All my pictures make it look like the place was empty. Can I hope to get on a cruise early on at 30% capacity? It was heavenly! 

I just went on an old fashioned land vacation at an All Inclusive and the greediness at the buffet DOES still exist even when the servers are hand serving each guest. I stood behind a woman for what felt like eternity as she had the server select/unselect different items until her plate was as high as 3 meals worth of food. 
With the resorts at 30% capacity, chair hogs are a thing of the past, though! All my pictures make it look like the place was empty. Can I hope to get on a cruise early on at 30% capacity? It was heavenly! 

I just went on an old fashioned land vacation at an All Inclusive and the greediness at the buffet DOES still exist even when the servers are hand serving each guest. I stood behind a woman for what felt like eternity as she had the server select/unselect different items until her plate was as high as 3 meals worth of food. 
With the resorts at 30% capacity, chair hogs are a thing of the past, though! All my pictures make it look like the place was empty. Can I hope to get on a cruise early on at 30% capacity? It was heavenly! 

Pictures are great but for this we need video.
 
 

haha! I have found that a Vitamin Water from the Windjammer guy mixes perfectly with vodka for port-day cocktails. 😋

having read this thread that is less than a day old, and digesting some of the opinions expressed as well as observing some of the actions in my community, I can easily see why we in the USA have the highest infection rate in the world. 
Which is to bad because we definitely won't be returning to cruising until that rate is much lower and somewhat under control.  I so want to cruise, but I want to do it safely with very low risk.

Here's another thread that's going to get locked.

I cant believe they make me wear clothes to dinner. Where is my freedom.

I think you have this backwards. If you're so selfish that you refuse to get tested when everyone else is required to, then maybe you shouldn't be on the ship to begin with. 

No I don’t only care about myself but thanks for telling me about myself, your opinion is appreciated. I care about our freedoms. We don’t do all of these things for the flu that has been around forever and that is basically what this is. There is no science that proves otherwise. At this rate maybe they should make someone stand in the bathrooms too and watch you wash your hands so the norovirus isn’t spread. You want them watching your child go to the bathroom?  Where does it stop??  And please don’t throw out the fake science provided by CNN and the same scientist who said the world was going to blow up 20 years ago from global warming. Oh right, they had to change the term to climate change because their theory of warming was proven wrong. 

Your premise is flawed... You're not being "forced" to do anything. You would not meet the requirements to enjoy the company's products and that means you stay home. It's really that simple.

@twangster I just keep this tab open year round now, I guess. I opened it around March getting excited for my May Oasis cruise... which was pushed to November which got Lift and Shifted to November 2021. But ONE DAY I WILL SAIL HER DAMN IT, and until then these pics really brighten my spirits! That Solarium, siiiiigh. 
Can I ask how many Twangster blogs we've lost to the pandemic?