WanderPam

I agree! I would book a sailing for next year with the current (really great) prices before they inevitably rise We are booked for Norway and Iceland June 2021 and have confidence we will be sailing, with or without a vaccine (which I do think will be available by then). Right or wrong, people won't keep living in this distancing bubble forever and I think will take the risks and travel in 2021. We are (relatively) young and healthy and would feel comfortable sailing, especially with the changes that I am sure will be put in place to make cruising even safer. But of course situations differ 🙂

1. Seeing Chichen Itza . Incredible and definitely worth the long day 2. Windjammer changes. Always been squeamish about the lack of hygiene in the past

I do this occasionally since I usually have the refreshment package. Its about $4-5 cheaper to get a shot of rum and add to your virgin colada than to order the alcoholic colada.

Late response but didn't see that this was answered. Smoking in casinos is definitely banned on sailings leaving from the UK. This made a huge difference to our enjoyment of the ship and casino during our colder sailing to the Baltic. We could walk through casino to the theater after dinner and didn't have the smell of smoke wafting into the promenade which we've noticed on other sailings. It was great for non smokers and the casino still seemed pretty busy !

Two of our many favorites. Akershus Fortress in Oslo with Explorer of the Seas in the background. And you just can't beat waking up to that first Coco Cay view!

We've done the opposite as most everyone else and keep downgrading! Started with Concierge class on our first cruise on Celebrity. Tried a balcony room on Royal and decided we didn't use it enough to justify the cost. Then we did a promenade view interior which I think is our perfect room. The price was great and we loved having the window seat for reading and people watching. We had an oceanview booked on a cancelled cruise and now next year we've decided to just try a regular interior room on Jewel. We are never in our room except to sleep and shower its just not worth it to us.

Thanks for the info! Really wish we had chosen Air Canada since we have international flights to book for next year. But we had a Swoop flight and they don't fly anywhere we plan to go until at least summer 2022 😞

Eventhough it seemed inevitable, still really disappointed we won't be cruising to Alaska this year. We will also probably be losing out on our airfare since we won't be able to use our credit 😞 But time to start thinking about booking alaska 2022!

I think maybe a mistake? Radiance is also back for I think all sailings in July and August. Since they either embark or disembark in Vancouver I'm thinking these are certainly cancelled! But I hope I'm wrong !

I agree with most of this. I will also add look at the complementary food venues outside of the Windjammer. Our first day or two on Harmony the crowds for breakfast and lunch were overwhelming for me coming from smaller ships. Once we started to explore other options (especially Solarium bistro and Park Cafe) it just improved the whole experience. Also I will say having a cabin on deck 6 was fantastic when the abyss slide was open we used it as an elevator! We actually found Harmony better to navigate than smaller ships surprisingly. The different neighborhoods make it easy to get your bearings.

We go back and forth on this. In general, if we are taking a Royal Caribbean excursion or plan to stay close to the port we leave our passports on the ship. We take them when we have organized an excursion by ourselves further from the ship. Its definitely a difficult decision but even with money belts etc in a lot of ports it feels safer to not have them with us especially in large tour groups that are easily targeted by thieves

I haven't been on an Alaska cruise yet, but even on our Mediterranean and Scandinavia cruises they had the 2for$20 sale and port Tshirts relevant to our specific cruise (along with the usual generic royal caribbean shirts). I assume alaska will be the same!

The only deal breaker for us would be if most ports are still closed or activities limited. We cruise for the destinations and wouldn't want a cruise of mostly sea days with only 1 or 2 ports. We have even been setting aside extra funds in case we have to quarantine upon returning. The mask issue is also not a concern to us. I wear one 8 hours a day at work...I'd rather be wearing one for 8 hours a day on a cruise lol.

Probably in the minority but really hoping the "lift and shift" doesn't replace the 125% back if they cancel our cruise to Alaska in August. We already booked an Iceland cruise for June 2021 so couldn't take advantage of lift and shift. Doesn't seem fair that we book our cruises years in advance and as a result would get no extra benefit if Royal cancels on us

Sailing out of Southampton on Explorer there was no smoking allowed at all in the casino and it was very nice to be able to walk through and play without being choked by smoke! And the casino seemed to still be packed every day. We sailed on Harmony and the smoke was terrible in the casino, but didn't seem to spread to the promenade. Celebrity Cruises also do not allow smoking in their casinos if you are willing to try another line 🙂