LizzyBee23

Seconding using the incognito browser for Royal.

25 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

The T&C they posted on facebook said there were 1125 grand prizes.

I think each prize is for two passengers, though... Or said in the parlance of this blog: 1 prize=1 berth

Wouldn't it be for up to 2200 passengers? I think they had three options listed.

I agree completely @JeffB, though I think I have less tolerance for the pseudo-laws written by the CDC than expressed above. I'm particularly worried about what may happen with boosters, etc, and that we may get into an unbreakable cycle with regular shots essentially required to get on a cruise. I worry about society's tolerance for risk in general, and what that means for my children. I was probably among the last to have free reign over my small town equipped with little more than my bike beginning in middle school, and that makes me sad. 

But anyway, all of that borderline-provincial reminiscing aside, if what @HtownHolly is going through is true (and she didn't just get an uninformed agent), this concerns me because it's yet another clumsy policy change that clearly wasn't communicated adequately to the people effected. Hopefully it gets clarified soon.

Wow, ok, so big changes to policy there: your sailing is below the threshold number of days, and vaccinated guests still need to arrive with a test. Also, the tests you procure for your unvaccinated child is essentially rendered meaningless (and unnecessarily costly) if they're doing a PCR test on site before allowing you to board. Also, that better be one of the 15 minute isothermal ones, or families will be waiting for at least an hour or two in the terminal for a result.

Just, ugh. And to think I just made the final payment and checked in for our Nov cruise.

For vaccines, the difference between Florida and NY state is only 6-7% in terms of initiating vaccination. That's why it's particularly troubling for me to read stories or opinions of people from largely blue states pointing smugly at FL and saying essentially that'll never happen here, because... reasons. It's also troubling to see the vax pass developments in NYC. To be clear, I think that's a world apart from cruises as you already have to prove medical fitness and establish that you are who you say you are to travel internationally, but I understand the worry that a level of surveillance like this is creeping into our everyday lives in ways that will be difficult to reverse.

I personally am glad this wave came when it did. It will be hard to justify lockdowns anywhere once Florida and the rest of the South is on the other side of the wave with very few changes to human behavior. Had the wave come in the northeast first and lined up more with some of the other expectations around flu season, I think we could have perpetuated the almost delusional stimulus-response mechanism of masks-peak effect for a bit longer. And of course, all of this is biased by my optimism that the situation in FL is decelerating when that may very well not be true.

All of that to say. there really isn't that much that separates the average Floridian from the average New Yorker. That's part of why all of the ire in the media sent in one direction is gross. There's also no "magic" percentage of vaccination that can predict when we can remove restrictions and get back to normal. We just have no idea what to expect, and would be better served by a big dose of humility.

It seems to me this is probably a way for them to write off a portion of the cost for test cruises as part of a marketing expense. I also wonder if the "winners" are on the hook for taxes given that it's a prize. I bet it's born partly out of the fact that following the CSO to the letter isn't necessarily required anymore, and the belief that treading this closely to something that could be construed as a revenue sailing will still be viewed by the CDC as voluntary compliance in spirit.

3 hours ago, danv3 said:

I hope more ports will impose such vaccination requirements since the lines (and Florida) are unwilling. 

Southern and Eastern Caribbean for the vaccinated, the Bahamas and western Caribbean for the unvaccinated. 

Only kind of a joke. Wonder what the market forces will be for this kind of thing over the short term. If it becomes too widespread, unvaccinated cruisers may eventually be stuck with 3-night and 4-night CocoCay/Nassau back-to-backs.

Have fun!!!

58 minutes ago, JasonOasis said:

I've had multiple COVID test all of them done at Walgreens here in Chicago.  Every time all I do is make the appointment and fill out the questionnaire.  Do I tell 100% of the truth on the questionnaire NO I don't.  When they ask is this for travel purposes I say no, when they ask have I been in close contact I say yes, when they ask am I symptomatic I say yes, they always say bring insurance card and an ID but I've never once been charged for a COVID test at Walgreens.

I'm I wrong for lying on the questionnaire well that depends on your point of view. The way I see it is like this the federal government is paying Walgreens and other pharmacies around the US to conduct COVID testing so as a middle class tax payer I've already paid for more COVID test than I'll ever take.  My thinking is this why should I pay Walgreens again when I've already paid the federal government taxes which they have already used to pay Walgreens. Walgreens does not get to cash in and double dip off COVID so I've never told Walgreens it is for travel purposes and I've never paid a cents for a COVID test.

I would be careful with this. At least at my primary care in AL, the doctor's note that accompanies test results will give different instructions based on how you answer those questions. If you were exposed and you are symptomatic, for instance, you're supposed to quarantine for a set period of time regardless of test results. I'd just hate for a statement like that to accidentally get in the wrong hands just to avoid the testing fee.

1 hour ago, ChrisK2793 said:

Thru Allianz, the Annual “All Trips Premier Plan” for two 51 year old adults and one 9 year old isn’t much different than what RCL charges for their insurance for just one cruise ….. below is the Total Annual Cost to cover all 3 of us on trips that last up to 45 days each  ….. one is 2,000 cancellation/interruption limit and the other is 5,000 limit …… also look how high the medical and emergency transportation limit is and that covered amount is per person per trip  ….

Wow, TIL. We actually have a lot (for us) planned for the next year, so this may make sense. Thanks you all!

Edit: I can't believe I didn't know the rates were so reasonable per annum. Just finished up buying an annual policy for our family of four.

1 hour ago, Ray said:

100% correct

I mean why should we worry about or test children or healthy looking people just to see if they have the virus but are not showing any symptoms!  its not as if a healthy person or child carrying any virus  can pass it on to others who may not be vaccinated! 

Yes the above is sarcasm!!!!! 

Also if some are not being tested then those that are would probably complain, say they are being victimised and contact their lawyers 

We now have evidence that vaccines don't stop transmission by enough to get rid of COVID. In light of that, I do not understand how anyone can support a notional return to sailing that includes testing healthy people (vaccinated or otherwise). If you hold that passengers present a health risk to the ports they visit (which may be true), then we shouldn't be visiting those ports without rigorous PCR testing regardless of vaccination status. Otherwise testing like this offers a sense of security where there is none, and comes at a high cost.

Wow, I guess my reply wasn't liked... I'm not sure why anything that is critical of the way things are unfolding is getting deleted. This is directly relevant to cruising, and a huge area of uncertainty as the rest of us continue to consider booking.

I consider the idea that an unvaccinated child, who is a loosely defined close contact but otherwise healthy, at low risk, and *PCR negative*, could trigger a response like this to be absolute overkill and will prompt me to cancel our remaining cruises for 2021 if it remains business as usual. I also question how it can possibly remain business as usual, and wonder if guests will eventually be left to take the 14 day quarantine period in a foreign country on their own. 

Moreover, I hold we need to begin mentally preparing ourselves for the long view where we treat people as healthy unless they, well... Need medical intervention. The current protocol *are not working* if this is the end result.

9 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Hmmm.  I dunno.  I do know that the annual travel insurance policy we purchase does cover such events (I had to have that verified) but some travel policies may not.

Putting that down on my list of life goals: travel so much that a yearly travel insurance policy makes more financial sense than a per trip one.

I'm not sure how long RCL can keep this up. Not sure what will happen first: we collectively learn to live with COVID and stop testing healthy people, or they stop doing anything more than 4 night cruises.

On 7/29/2021 at 4:16 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

I think this is a great idea since it seems that the vaccinated are turning positive just as often as the unvaxxed (on cruises).  I also believe that everyone will eventually be required to provide insurance protection.  Royal cannot continue to fly everyone who tests positive home in a private jet !

Would an insurance policy really cover a healthy person who is positive for COVID? Under no circumstances could that be construed as an emergency for the passenger... Just a matter of optics for RCL.

On 7/16/2021 at 5:25 AM, twangster said:

Don't forget their sage advice not to kiss chickens recently.  That was a close call.  

People are literally "rescuing" wild squirrels and bringing them indoors on my nextdoor feed. We do collectively make some dumb decisions from time to time.

20 hours ago, MrMarc said:

It will be interesting to see how this case proceeds.  It may well continue on a 2 track course, with the Trial Court continuing to proceed while the Appeal also proceeds, or the focus may shift to the Appeal and the Trial Court proceedings slow down.   If the Trial Court were to procced to a final judgement, it would make this appeal moot, and start a whole new process.  The other option is to allow the appeal to continue to get an idea of how the Court of Appeals feels about the issues.  I know a lot of you do not agree with me, but I think this is a win for the cruise lines at this point.  They can continue with the plans they had made based on the CDC's rules, they keep a level playing field for all the companies, and they can blame everything on the big bad CDC, even if it is protocols that they would have enforced under the HSP guidelines.  I own a small business, and it was a lot less complicated when I wasn't the one deciding what rules to have.  I promise you, it's better to have someone else to blame.

Couldn't congress also do something about it?

You forgot the part about all 3000 guests being disembarked.

That's highly selective. Hospitalizations are low relative to case count and just about as low as they have been at any point in the pandemic, which begs the question... So what? Another true thing: more kids are hospitalized for RSV right now in my state than COVID, yet we're not talking about testing and isolating adults who carry it to protect kids.

Cruises requiring vaccinations will still have virus on board, roughly commensurate to the degree of community spread at the time of the cruise. We either accept the current iteration of COVID as the latest cost of being human and move on, or this never ends.

3 hours ago, cruisinghawg said:

RC protocols are working to this point. 

Working as in accomplishing something or just "working"?

It still highlights the absurdity of saying things like "cruises around the world have been sailing with no issue" when these are the conditions some are operating under.

Exactly! It's part of the reason all of the celebrating over cruises being "successful" in Singapore rubbed me the wrong way.

A danger of a zero covid strategy.

5 hours ago, cruisinghawg said:

Are we willing to give up a freedom to cruise? Can we not see that this statute guarantees my right to shop at my local grocery store without pulling out a passport and showing the bouncer at the door? If this prevails what freedom will we lose next? All the cruise lines tried to work with both the CDC and the state of Florida except NCL. It just looks like they are sitting on the floor like a petulant child kicking their legs and screaming "mommy I want, I want my way".  

I'm sympathetic with this to a degree... I'm worried about anything that could essentially require you to establish your identity in order to function as a private citizen going about your life. It has the potential to become state-sponsored surveillance of citizens without cause so quickly that it is not even worth discussing in my book.

However, you already have to establish who you are and provide relevant certifications of your own health to travel internationally. I think the case against a vaccine requirement for travel is diminished by that fact.