Shari3

My opinion is RC cancelled primarily because they couldn't get the crew vaccinated in time, and Israel wouldn't sell them the vaccine.
Meanwhile, there has been a tremendous amount of progress back in USA with restrictions being lifted.
Enter the Gaza conflict, and RC has a perfect escape plan to cancel without calling out the Israeli government and/or their own inability to get their crew vaccinated as planned.
I think if this were February and covid restrictions in the US were still quite strict, that perhaps Royal only cancels a few sailings to buy more time to find a vaccine solution. But grass is starting to look green again in US.

A crew member on board.
 

At a Press Conference, Governor Hogan said he's lifting all capacity restrictions on Saturday.  The indoor mask requirement will stay in place till the state hits 70% of adults getting at least 1 shot (we're currently at 65%).
Also, the Cruise Maryland Terminal is opening back up while industry leaders work with the CDC for a restart.
In other words, Baltimore is ready, which should make those booked on Enchantment very happy.

Last week I received an email from revenue management letting me know that my March bookings involved a pricing error but they would honor the bookings.
I had two suite cabins booked, one for me and another for a family member.  To give you an idea of the error involved my suite would normally go for 234% more while the other suite would normally be 255% more each on a solo basis given our unique qualifiers (CAS status, age, state, etc).  Both suites have the capacity for 6 guests.  I had booked both suites with a single guest in each cabin.
I offered to let the bookings go.  An email exchange followed that turned into a game of phone tag as we both worked around busy schedules but we eventually talked on the phone.   
Revenue management was very clear I could keep the bookings and they would honor the pricing.  They requested the phone call to make sure I understood they would honor them.  I told her to cancel them.
I didn't feel right taking advantage of what was clearly a pricing error.  I knew it was a error when I booked it and give Royal a lot of credit for offering to honor the bookings despite the thousands of dollars they would lose by doing so.  
A family of four booked in one of these suites would have gone for 500% more than I was booked for.  Between the two suites it amounted to an error that would cost Royal over $10k in revenue if both suites were booked at capacity not to mention losses in gratuity and onboard spending.
Simply stated it didn't sit right with me to take advantage of the company especially during these dark times with so much lost due to the pandemic.
Call me a fool but I slept better knowing I did the right thing.
BTW - nice people in revenue management.  

You can be Passenger 57.
The guy who refuses to wear a mask ?

Double book people in the same cabin?
That would only happen if Royal IT made a mistake.  
On the flip side maybe I could get lucky and booked into the same cabin with a hot, single woman.  And I mean hot, not one with hot flashes.  

Bermuda is still our favorite island.  Tyna says she loves it more than when she went to Hawaii.  We've been there 3 times so far, there are more plans on the horizon.  Plus, one of these days, I'm going to go into work sportin those Bermuda Shorts with Tie and a sport coat.  If they can do it, I can do it.  It's an image that you'll never forget.  The photo attached is from 2016 when we went there for the first time on Grandeur.  He was there greeting passengers as they were getting off the ship.  I could work that look here..... just not in January.

They were there for me yesterday. Someone else on my April 2022 sailing has the same problem

Me: "This doesn't clarify it in the least".  LOL

90 or so responses and I can't remember ever seeing as much negativity as I just have? We got what we want! Now there is an avalanche of overthought, baseless, "what ifs" and could be's and.... Were supposed to be pumped. We knew all along that masks and vaccinations would be part of the deal and now the moaning surfaces?  I thought this group was supposed to be steadfast cruisers. A week ago you didn't mind the masks and vacs but today you do?  Stay on the beach if you wish but I'll be on an upper deck waving bye bye... 

Or ask for an exchange then keep the clean towel in your cabin until you need it so you never have to scan your seapass card to get one. 

My preferred approach is to take the pool towel from verifiably unused chairs and return them to the towel station. Scan the towel in on my SeaPass, too - just to be safe if someone in my stateroom forgets to scan one in during the cruise.

Nick Weir has been at it again, hinting at a Broadway show that's coming back to a vessel "at some point in the future".
 
 

In the spirit of keeping this to defining the "most" frustrating thing...
Inconsistency.  
Different ships, different crew members, different agents implementing the same thing differently.   From the suite experience on newer ships with Royal Suite Class, to one ship allowing Johnny Rockets with the UDP while another won't,  to a loyalty ambassador who implements their own version of the program rules and everything in between.  
Pick a policy, process or procedure and apply it equally across the fleet.  

This is going nowhere quickly.  It's time to move on.

I agree the July 4th statement by President Biden is not an open call for pre-2020 life to resume. However, it is a symbol.  A mile marker on the road to life moving away from the pandemic.  Obviously, the President's statement is really a call to action for vaccines so we can do that.
As it relates to cruising, I don't think Fain necessarily believes it's a 1:1 from a backyard bbq and Oasis of the Seas, but the notion that we want to move towards normalcy is what the statement is about.
I really don't think the July 4th is the basis of either NCL or RC's plans.  Their motives for getting permission to sail again is based on two tenants:
Safe protocols + vaccine requirements Double standard that every other form of travel is unhindered. The July 4th date is just icing on the cake.

I wonder what you have to do to be "sentenced" to a cruise ship ... is that like the old "white collar" country club prisons or something different ?
Maybe if we denigrate the CDC enough we get sentenced to cruise for life ?

Ever flown through the LaGuardia airport?  Pretty much a prison.  Small confined spaces, low ceiling, hot, smelly, packed with zero chance of social distancing.  Marked safe by CDC standards.  

Ok --- you asked for it.  For comparison ..... my wife's is on the left. 

Why does a vaccinated person care or need to know if another person is or is not vaccinated? I’ve had the vaccine so I don’t care if Joe Blow didn’t get it, because I'm protected. Just like I get a flu shot but many people do not.  
 
Sorry I for one oppose vaccine passports. What’s next? Let’s have mental health passports we should know who takes Prozac or other drugs used to treat depression, schizophrenic, manic depression or even Alzheimers. Majority of mass shooters took these kind of medicines. Right on label it says can cause psychotic episodes so hey maybe people on them should not be allowed in crowds. I know it's easy to say that absurd but it's a slippery slope we are traveling down. 
Or maybe Government will now use the excuse of general good to give us all kinds of injections!
Requiring a Vaccine passport means someone who is opposed to getting vaccine will Basically have no choice. A 25 year old women who may want children has to have a vaccine to participate in society. Even though no studies have been done on the vaccines effects on reproductive organs or unborn children. The FDA has not even approved these vaccines. They have only authorized them for emergency use. 
My Goodness it's frightening to see how easy people buy into the propaganda & fear they will give up their liberty and control. What's especially funny is so many now cry that you shouldn't need an ID to vote.....yet want you to show proof of a medical procedure! Where is the my body my choice crowd? 
I value your opinion This is just mine. 

I'm keeping this cruise-related, don't worry. CDC has confirmed (via a study of ~4,000 US essential workers who were monitored as they continued to work) that after two doses, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines both are 90% effective at preventing infection. And if you don't get infected, you can't spread the virus (not even asymptomatically).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/29/vaccine-effective-essential-workers-study/
The article goes on to talk about the study design and logistical challenges it faced (e.g., having to negotiate with UPS and FedEx to get thousands of sample kits shipped out and sent back in every week), as well as other potential challenges (e.g., the comparatively small number of participants, and compliance of participants with properly taking their own nasal swabs and sending them in on time each week).
But this is great news for the ship's crews and the upcoming vaccine-mandated cruses. Crew members are probably breathing a huge collective sigh of relief as they learn about this. And with such great prevention of infection, a ship that has nothing but vaccinated crew and mostly vaccinated passengers (i.e., most kids on board won't be vaccinated) is effectively a community with true herd immunity. I would sincerely hope it would also allow for elimination of mask requirements while on board, at least while outside on the pool deck and other very well-ventilated areas. Heck, given the studies that proved the cruise lines' ventilation improvements truly blocked airborne spread of the virus across the ship, it might even allow for elimination of masks throughout.
That light just keeps getting brighter, and it's not an oncoming freight train. It's the sun rising on a cobalt blue sea, with a ship sailing serenely across the waters.

This is from CLIA, and I think everyone here supports cruising restarting.
There is a difference between political discussion (left vs right) and what this is about.

Can we have that intern press the $18 drink package button again? ? No one really got to use it in 2020.

JUNE 19 Date
Junior Suite - $2994 for 2 people / Grand Suite - $4535 total - 2 people