Momof4crazytocruise

Liberty now has a couple cases too. 😔
https://www.galvnews.com/news/free/article_86f5f92d-7792-5520-b8f7-3e1b9742bb19.html

Magic!
Seriously, they just shove the two beds together. Never had an issue with a gap forming. Perhaps the mattresses are joined together.
I'll defer to @Lovetocruise2002 because she inspects her stateroom like she is in an episode of CSI.

Hi everyone, I know we get heated debating which dessert is the best one to order, or if a balcony room is worth it, but let's keep these basic rules in mind when chatting here.
No profanity No personal insults No political discussion No debating religion A good joke about Canada, is always welcome.

I'm now trying to upgrade one of my booked cruises. The money I'm saving on train tickets, going out, lunches, dumb purchases will hopefully go towards a balcony. yolo.

If we get one (unclear as I am too lazy to the do the math) - we may book something to replace our Galveston Allure cruise that just moved at least a year out. I am curious what the ship shuffle is going to look like after all of this. Allure was supposed to replace Liberty out of Galveston. If Allure isn't coming because the terminal can't accomodate her, will they keep Liberty here? Give us another Freedom Class? We wait and see. But I will need something between our Odyssey cruise in November and Allure at LEAST 2 years from then. Or, I could put a down payment on the new roof we need. Priorities and all. 
 

This source says 51 people on oasis tested positive. Not sure if anyone can confirm. 
 
https://crew-center.com/oasis-seas-14-crew-members-test-positive-covid-19

Ok from disappointment of May 10th Oasis cruise cancelled back to excitement because we rebooked Oasis Sept. 6th and we went for a Central Park balcony. We just wanted to try this category. Man this guy, this guy John Ames from MEI is incredible. He looked, saw one cabin left and just booked it for us. I told him what we wanted, he saw it was the last cabin and booked it for us. Excited again! I can't say enough about John from MEI!

https://presscenter.rclcorporate.com/press-release/89/royal-caribbean-extends-global-suspension-of-cruisingrnnbsp
There goes our Alaska trip!

Include a Purell wipe packet in the silverware napkin roll at the Windjammer so you can wipe your hands after handling all the serving utensils.
 

Voice tech is fiddly and frustrating with general-use cases, never mind specific ones like you mention. Lost track of how many times I've asked Alexa what the overnight low is supposed to be, and I get some weird dictionary definition instead of the temperature forecast. I think this kind of feature, while cool, would end up disregarded by most passengers.
I'm assuming with auto-open / close doors, you mean the kind with a motion sensor (like the exit to the pool deck), rather than a button next to the door like they have on the bathrooms. I would guess that there are regulatory, privacy, or other reasons (HVAC conservation?) that they still use the push-button you can hit with the side or back of your wrist.
Speaking of regulatory problems, I don't think they can legally force someone to buy travel insurance. Exhibit A is the Affordable Care Act, which included an insurance mandate; the Supreme Court recently called the mandate unconstitutional (a little more complex than this, but that's the end result). If the ACA, an act of federal legislation, couldn't legally include a mandate that people buy insurance, you can bet a cruise company will be sued out of doing it as well. And that's just here in the US. No idea what international law would say about that.
Clearly you haven't tasted the end result of a beverage made at the Bionic Bar. 🤢

Include a Purell wipe packet in the silverware napkin roll at the Windjammer so you can wipe your hands after handling all the serving utensils.
 

Mine's because I have 4 kids and you have to be freaking crazy to cruise with 4 kids. 

Could be a sign of an extended pause or simply they are worried if an extended travel ban continues airlines may stop flying international routes and then a lot of crew will be stuck here.
Typical crew visas don't allow taking up residence in any country so Royal could find themselves having to keep crew on ships for an extended period yet there are regulations with respect maximum time any crew can stay on a ship at sea.  They could find themselves stuck between a rock and hard place so maybe better to send them home.    

Interestingly enough, I just bought our travel insurance policy on our cruise planned this fall, figuring rates may skyrocket soon. There was an add-on option for coverage in case of insolvency. I opted to add it on.

Do not think that is a worry at this point - but I get why people would be concerned !  they are a great and very supportive company

@twangster, thank you! I had never even known this existed. Not that I am ever leaving MEI but still very good to know. I appreciate your time in explaining this, just WOW!

One way to know if you were paying the agent commision from the start - who charged your credit card?  
The travel agents I use now don't charge my credit card.  The line item on my credit card invoice comes from Royal Caribbean.  When I pay the deposit, it is charged by Royal Caribbean.  When final payment is made it is charged by Royal Caribbean.  The travel agency simply passes my card number to Royal who charges my card.
When you are working with a travel agency that is using some tricks to offer lower rates some of the charges may come from that travel agency.  If any portion of the total cost of all charges appears to come from someone other than Royal Caribbean you are probably dealing with one of those agencies.   They use group rates or other wholesale commission reduced rates from Royal and then they themselves charge you some portion which is effectively their commision and profit.  I avoid these types of travel agencies.
Here is the other reason to avoid these types of travel agents.  You see the cruise as costing $X - the total of all charges.  Royal offers the cruise to the agency not at $X but at $Y.  The travel agency turns around and sells you the cruise at $Y + $Z where $Z equals their commision and profit. 
$Y (they're cost) plus $Z (their commision and profit) = $X what you pay.  
When a cruise is cancelled and FCC is offered, Royal calculates the FCC based on what they sold the cruise for.  In this case they sold the cruise (to the agency) at $Y.  That is the number Royal will use to calculate the FCC.  You are thinking the FCC will be based on $X - what you paid.  Wrong.  You get FCC based on the agency rate, not what you paid.  
When you work with a travel agency like MEI they don't play this game.  Royal charges your credit card for all amounts so Royal will see all of your payments and that is what Royal will base any FCC on.  Royal pays these types of travel agents their commision on the back end that you never see.  Royal typically takes care of travel agencies in times of mass cancellations.   They can't afford to upset thousands of travel agents who sell other cruise lines as well. 
However when certain travel agencies that use commision reduced rates are involved with mass cancellations Royal doesn't treat the the same because there was no commision.  These travel agencies resort to not refunding the charges they made directly to your credit card as a means to retain some commision or profit. 
This is why these types of travel agents should be avoided.   Cheap rates look appealing and when everything goes as planned you save some money.  However when things go awry you don't get all the money that other people get who used more reputable travel agents.

I hope they let the crew enjoy Coca Cay.  It would be a shame if it sat empty for 30 days.  

Something to keep in mind.  A cruise ship cannot “make” fresh water unless it is underway.  I’m sure they probably all have plenty of water, for now, but if they need to make fresh water, they will have to sail around.  So chances are these ships are going to have to move about, from time-to-time in order to make fresh water and reprovision.  It’ll be an interesting ballet to watch.

So they're going to wait it out there? damn! That would be an awesome place to stay moored up to for 30 days 

I think Carnival has greater impact from this.  It was the Carnival brand and Princess name dragged through the mud in the media.  With more ships to fill they really need to entice customers back.  Royal does as well but Carnival's exposure is greater.   

Are you sure the phone flipped the image and that you haven't just had several Krakens and this is your view? 🤪

Mine's because I have 4 kids and you have to be freaking crazy to cruise with 4 kids. 

Mine's because I have 4 kids and you have to be freaking crazy to cruise with 4 kids. 

Mine's because I have 4 kids and you have to be freaking crazy to cruise with 4 kids.