lambdabeta

Single use gloves don't necessarily offer all the protections required.  At some point you have to take them off and touch some of the things you touched when you had the gloves on.  Many viruses, germs and bacteria will transfer to or from gloves just as they do with skin. 
Skin is pretty good at keeping stuff from entering the body, that's what it does 24 x 7.  The problem isn't so much getting something on your hands but what you hands do once "contaminated".  Touch your eyes, mouth, nose, etc. and that is how many people become infected with something.  It didn't seep in through the skin on your hands.
If the food tongs are contaminated that will transfer to your gloves.  You carry a plate full of food, a glass of water and utensils to a table.  It doesn't matter if you have worn gloves to get to this point or your hands.   Assuming there was a contamination prior to this point if your gloves or hands are contaminated at this point, so is your glass, your plate and your utensils.  
Now you have to take off the gloves without further contaminating you.  Your unexposed hands grab the water glass you carried with your contaminated gloves.  They are now contaminated.  How about the salt and pepper shakers?  The table surface, the chair you grab and pulled out to sit down.  
Incidentally touching your face is fine IF your hands are clean.  If you just washed your hands touch your face, no problem.  It's only when you have been touching things like door knobs or railings that you shouldn't touch your face.
If everyone wore gloves all the time around the ship the slogan would become "Wash your gloves it's the right thing to do..."

The dates of the current policy are more likely to change than not.  Wait and see is hard but right now patience is the best strategy to navigating this entire situation both an land and at sea ?

I you want to change it, you should be able to.  If you want to sail as planned, I would watch for notifications and closely monitor this board.  The good people here know things before they happen sometimes.

We are loyal to both Carnival and RCCL.  In this case, Carnival wins hands down.  We cancelled and rebooked our March 21st sailing on the Breeze before it was cancelled but after options to rebook were announced.  We took a slightly more expensive cruise.  Carnival transferred all of our cruise fare, deposit, taxes, and prepaid gratuities with no questions asked.  We just have to pay the difference which is about $100 each. 

So in the end this policy or program is sneaky and not fair. I LOVE Royal but this program is a lot of BS. I don't like it and I do not think its fair or is it what it initially sounded like it was. We are gonna ride it out see if our Oasis cruise May 10th goes on.  

Great topic for people to respond to.
When do you all think the cruise lines will be back up and running, "business as usual"?  Once the suspension ends, it will probably take some time for the itineraries to be rescheduled and the destinations to clean up from this mess before they welcome tourist back into their countries. 
I suspect this is going to hurt the industry for at least 3-6 months. 
I'm doing my best to get "real" people's opinions and not pay any attention to the circus my husband is watching on tv.  LOL!  

Nope. I work in healthcare as an ICU RN. Wash your hands and dont cough or sneeze on people. Viruses come and go.

Look into https://www.trinityreservations.com/ for park & cruise packages with free shuttles to/from the port.  
We can get to Cape Liberty in about 3 hours but have been stuck in traffic on 95 (as well as alternate roads) at all hours of the day and night and don't want to deal with that on the way to a cruise.  I would rather chill at a hotel closer to the port the night before and take a shuttle at a price close to the cost of parking at the port.
If you see the Ramada in Newark offered, it ticks all the boxes we look for.  Nice property, secure parking, free shuttle, restaurant on site offers good food at reasonable prices.  There are other properties in the area that would work as well. 

Are the beds comfortable? Does broccoli taste good? Is that new movie any good? Is 11pm too late to stay up?
The answers are going to very subjective. Just because some say one thing doesn't mean that will be your experience.

I just bought the key too, again, we were getting voom, nice lunch when we board instead of lining up for the buffet, having not to drag my wine, soda, carry on around till the rooms ready! Plus can board early, not wait in lines, breakfast and off the ship when you want, etc the math works, got the $16.99. 

It makes sense to me.  The math works.  It amazes me the number of people who have decided The Key is not worth the money.  I am of the feeling it is worth the money if you value your time and the other things it offers.   We think The Key is worth it and we bought it for $21.99.  I am hoping there is a further sale but if there is not I am fine with what I paid.  I wish the people who have never used The Key because they don't think it is worth it would stop judging those of us that do.  Everyone is different.  What I value is different from what someone else does.  I get it.  However, your opinion on the value is not relevant if you haven't experienced the benefit.

I agree, you should be given the option to cancel without penalty. Has this been offered?

At the very least, they should refund your money. If they don't, I would dispute the charge with your credit card company.  

I just bought a bunch of old timey clear plastic straws to take on our Brilliance/Oasis S2S but I fear I will do exactly as KJones did and find out it’s too much of a hassle to carry them around.  

I brought a box of plastic straws and used a grand total of zero ? it was too much of a hassle, IMO, to carry them around all day or to have to go back to the cabin if I decided I wanted a drink. I ended up just dealing with the paper straws. If they end in the drink started getting a little soft, I just flipped the straw ends to make it last a little longer.

I must drink faster than you guys! ?? 
We brought silicone straws for everyone in our family on our cruise back in September, and stopped using them after the second or third drink. We didn't have any issues with the paper straws. My son is a very slow drinker and had no problems with the paper straws disintegrating, and my "super taster" daughter even said they didn't change the flavor of the drink at all.  It became a hassle to keep up with the silicone straws, so they were taken to the room, washed, and packed away. Turned out to be a waste of money for us.

What if it were the reverse?  What if people blocked off tables and chairs in the buffet area very early so they knew they’d have a good place to eat breakfast and lunch?  No one would assume it would be ok to leave people with no place to eat! Why is it ok to leave people with no place to sit/lounge?
i bring a tote bag to the pool deck and have no problem putting my things near the pool or hot tub as I use them so as to not hog a chair.  If we all just used items as we needed them, there would be fewer issues.
note: short trips to the bathroom or to grab a beverage should not require abdication of a chair.

@cookie10*,
I'm really curious what your reasoning is that makes as @WAAAYTOOOmentioned, not following the posted rules about loungers ok? Is it simply the first come, first served mentality? Rules don't apply to you and your family? 
Unfortunately, the rules have had to be implemented, because of people like you. 
During the course of a cruise, strangers become a "neighborhood"  for a short time and civility and courtesy should follow, just like at home, not left on the dock when you board.

That’s not my experience on the Oasis class on sea days. It’s quite challenging to find chairs. 

It's not my experience on any class on sea days.  If you want a chair that is not in constant direct sun on a sea day, then you need to be at the pool before 9 am.  And even at 9 am, in my experience, most chairs are already claimed.  The chair saving is insane, and people have no courtesy whatsoever.      

I would go to towel station and ask, “Can I remove towels from chairs that no one has been in for 30 minutes?” They will say yes. You remove towels, if person comes back you tell them towel station said to remove. Then they can take it up with the towel station. 

I usually bring $20-30 in singles, depending on length of cruise, and figure one $5 for each time I plan on using a porter and have an excursion (times 2 of us).   Then I add about $40 in tens, depending on how many excursions or taxis we need to take.  Rest is in $20s.  I do not tip a $1 with every single drink.  Many times I'm walking up to the bar, asking for a beer, and walking away.  I have my singles for the bars I hang out at all the time, to reward the bartenders that actually make me mixed drinks or something that requires more than handing me a can.  LOL   

I hate that this is happening for you on your vacation. You were just trying to do a nice thing for family. I'm always made fun of by friends and family for being a meticulous over-planner... 
I am also a staunch negotiator. I rarely accept an answer from the first person I talk to (unless I'm happy with it). Having worked in a call center (I sold insurance at USAA), and worked front line service for Wells Fargo... I can tell you with almost 100% assurance that the first person you talk to will not (and most likely doesn't even have the authority to) provide you assistance. 
You are off to the right track with the management, and with the descriptor on the advertisement during the Royal UP bid... I would agree... THEY are partly responsible. I'm sure there are legal disclosures and fine print which muddies the water... but the picture and descriptor ARE misleading. 
I DO think that the whole $860 back is a stretch. (it never hurts to ask... but I would not push it if the answer is 'no'). To be fair... they are in a Junior Suite, and while a king size bed would be nice... the truth is... it really is just two twins pushed together (you can't really sleep in the middle and spread out unless you enjoy sleeping in a dip). I think about $200 would be my minimum I would accept. (That's about 20% of the total cost of upgrading + the difference in gratuities). Keep pushing the incorrectly labeled advertisement, throw in a little Better Business Bureau threat (It DOES seem a little like 'bait and switch'), and just reiterate your desired loyalty to RCCL, the fact you are frequent suite cruisers and would hate to have a circumstance like this be the reason you move onto a different cruiseline. Think of what minimum offer YOU would be willing to accept, and try to keep the fact you are leaving in a few days to have fun with family in mind; I'm confident if you focus on the positives here, you will come out on top. 
Let us know how it goes! 

I suggest you take it to social media.  I think you should complain on Twitter and Royal's Facebook page.  If it was a computer glitch than you are not the only one it affected.  If you can find others and you all complain on social media you may get them to honor it.  It worked for the Deluxe Drink package glitch in July.  People bought the drink package for $18 knowing it was a mistake and when Royal said they would have to cancel it and rebook people took to social media and complained. Royal caved and now people have the deal of a life time. 
BTW, according to the clause you quoted Royal was supposed to cancel your booking.   If they won't honor the original price then you should at the very least get your entire deposit back without penalty based on the clause they are using to change the price because you didn't approve the booking.  Good luck.  

Yes, you still have to make reservations for each show you want to see.  Where the Key helps is with the actual seating.  Rather than having to show up 30-40 minutes ahead of a popular show's start time to get decent seats, you will have seating reserved for you in a "prime" seating area up to 15 minutes before curtain.