bobroo

+1 for the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor! I spent a wonderful pre cruise day and a half there last December.Plenty to do and see; all walking distance and I still left great restaurants and cool things to do on the table.

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???

I used a brand new self checkout to buy a case of beer over the weekend. As I left I said "That was so easy a high school kid could do it!"

I'd love to scuba in a minefield! But if they ain't real mines, I'll take a pass. I guess I'll have to stay with the same ol' stinging jellyfish to test my buoyancy skills. :0(

More alarming is how the top management is awarded shares as compensation and then turn around and sell portions of their holdings. It's not just Fain, all the top brass are doing it. I am not alleging anything illegal nor perhaps common practice in the executive world; but.....when you look back at this going on over the past couple months and in particular in February; a black eye would be describing it lightly. It's gross. The "I'm not taking a salary till September" or the "I'm voluntarily reducing my salary by 25%" is chump change compared to what these execs cashed shares in for in the month of February. Most posters on this board would not have to work another day in their lives for any one of the executive share dispositions done in February. All done while the Covid crisis was know and unfolding.

It's the exact same discussion. You are entitled to be as reckless and stupid as you want to be, but you are not entitled to allow your recklessness or stupidity to affect others. You've recently been on a beach in Florida? Been on a cruise? Went inside a retirement home? I'm sorry but that behavior is now endangering all these other people here.

Like drug testing, it's about what you bring into the work environment not what you did. Employers have superseding rights to keep their employees and workplaces safe. FYI, cruise ships also have superseding rights to keep their vessels safe. An argument that you would allow a cruise ship some type of examination or background information before getting on their vessel so that "you could go on vacation" yet not allow the same information or exam when you get back to work because somehow your rights have been violated(???)..... the court orders a summary judgement in favor of the defendant <gavel loudly hits wood> Next! And by the way, don't bring this frivolous garbage in front of me again.

@Ray One of the many long lasting outcomes of Covid- 19 is working from home and that for many companies it has been a positive experience. Forced en mass working offsite in many cases has turned out effective, adequate, and with great corporate cost savings. So I think a lot of people will never return to “traditional work environments”. From here on out a lot of firms will not require the same office space needs and the necessity of automobiles is going to substantially drop. So Royal Caribbean your $300M new Miami office building? It’s a complete waste. Again I apologize in advance, I know the above newsflash is going to be hard for many to take.

Being very honest, I think it’s only the people here on this board who want cruising to resume. Everybody else??? “Boy do I need a vacation!” Is NOT what they are saying.. It’s more like “I’d really like to get back to my normal routine of a work week, an occasional movie, a meal at a favorite restaurant, and to go shopping without the worry of death.’ I just don’t see a market for vacations anywhere in the near term. I apologize for the hurt feelings in advance.

So, I just read from a reliable news source that there may be more cancellations coming soon: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/04/15/expect-possible-decision-more-royal-caribbean-cruise-cancellations-week Is this telling me to book any ol' room on a cruise I just know is about to be cancelled; just so I can take advantage of the 25% of the 125% FCC?

Floating Dungeons???? Is that the group cruise with the pineapples on their doors? :0)

FYI. The quinceanera orientated companies do a damn good job of putting 1,000 passengers in cabins every week.

Why? Ships are freely sailing to/from the Bahamas today.

Criticized at first for their draconian quarantine, Puerto Rico has kept low infection and death rates. Today they are not entirely in-the-clear but they certainly look as though they have faired quite well compared to other US states. Notable comparison to states where Royal likes to port. Not to create a rumor, but as another poster on another thread suggested, modified itineraries of only Labadee and Coco Cay??? Small ships; Empress and Majesty??? Hummm.....this maybe begins to make a lot of sense. Jonesing to get back on the boat? I'd look to book out of San Juan.

We can always look to Canadians (and Canadiens) to keep both feet on the ground and give factual, balanced perspective. We appreciate your views and they are always welcome here. Don't let us Yanks get you down, you know how we can be...<wink>

IF......Royal were to ever modify the Crown and Anchor again ( and keep in mind the last time they messed with the system it was a cluster) I think they would use the Celebrity model. You receive points for each night of sailing and you also receive points for money spent while onboard such as an excursion, a drink at a bar, renting a cabana, or picture form the photo gallery. That being said, each level would require thousands of points if not tens of thousands. And the levels would need to be changed. Changed in name and more of them; particularly beyond todays D Plus. A "financial re-organization"/bankruptcy would be the opportune time to implement such a system. I would expect my new, imaginary system to sound favorable to passengers and the marketing to be spiffy but in reality would greatly favor Royal. Even with that bad news, Royal has traditionally has been cautious about taking away status. So who knows???

Public service announcement: there are all kinds of circumstances when you may receive cruise points that were not actually earned. Don’t fall in love. Your cruise points are audited for each crystal block and thoroughly audited for pinnacle status.

Absolutamente correcto!!! In my opinion it is only until a vaccine or cure is found and is widely available that passengers will be allowed their vacations on cruise boats. It's not widespread testing nor flattened curves that will convince the CDC and the Coast Guard and FEMA that 6,000 people will be able to get into a 1,000' X 250' area without endangering one another. Does this happen in 100 days? In 2020? In 2021? Ohhh....I don't think it's in the near term. Co-incidentally the widely available vaccine is also what Wall Street is waiting for.

If Royal were to ever sell C & A cruise points for $$$, the perfect time would be right now. Free money for just a few keystrokes. Jus' say'n

Hmm...interesting strategy.

Let me tell you how big of an idiot I can be. You jumped Tinker Toys? I tried to jump my sister once. And even worse than the real life Evil Knievel at Cesar's Palace, was my toy Evil Knievel not making the jump over my sisters head down our bedroom hallway. Evil and his cycles spinning rear wheel landed in my sisters hair. Hair that had been trimmed, but never cut. Past the middle of her back kinda hair. There was screaming, there was yelling, there were tears......and there were scissors involved. 45 years later and I'm sure I'm still not forgiven. (But she did allow me to pay for her trip down the Dragon's Breath zip line in Labadee last March...so maybe???)

I am guessing that maritime GPS isn't always 1,000% accurate and that's how these type of accidents happen. I've asked a few times during bridge tours but always get brushed off answer, so I assume it must be Royals policy not to talk about accidents, even if they are recent and widely known or involve a competitor.

I'm glad you brought up fuel cost @twangster. I'm assuming that there is contract pricing for most of Royals' diesel needs. As these types of contracts are often written, Royal would have to purchase a certain amount per week/month/quarter...whatever. This type of cost is reflected in the operating cost per month during shut down and is likely to be a big component. I'm guessing so big that once contracts expire, the monthly cost of operating a non-revenue generating fleet dramatically goes down. <fingers crossed> Like maybe....it's cut in half??? I dunno... I would like to hear some analyst ask about fuel contracts during the next earnings report conference call. How much might they make up the monthly cost, contract potential duration, and are these fuel companies requiring delivery? It would also provide insight to the plausibility of passengers paying for a fuel surcharge during a future cruise.

@twangster I wish I could hug you, this post is absolutely spot on!!!

I strongly disagree. You can't blame China if you also did not heed the advice from South Korea and the excellent job that was done there.