MissDaisyofTexas

Well said.  I agree with each and everyone of your posts.  
It sucks, but is is what it is, and Royal is doing what is best to keep everyone safe...even if it means cancellations and angering people.
P.S. - For us, the stricter protocol is a plus in helping us decide whether to go or cancel.

I posted this to another forum but I think I’ll post it here, also. I don’t like masks…I don’t think anyone really does (with the exception of Batman and the Lone Ranger) but it is what it is. The cruise industry is still transitioning from total shut down to taking baby steps…all while under the microscope of unrelenting scrutiny, fair and unfair, of the media and political appointees. I knew this transition would be flexible and fraught with change, for good and bad, and decided I will enjoy my cruises.
 
It’s not only the passenger’s health being protected…but it’s the crew…and with the crew, the business.
Remember, the crew has to wear masks virtually all the time. Especially when near passengers. They are all completely vaccinated with the addition of boosters and they have to remain on the ship. Shore leave is cancelled. Any infection would likely be carried aboard by a passenger or contractor. As the Hotel Director just told me…if one crew member gets infected, then contact tracing results in a whole group or section of the crew being quarantined as a precaution. That’s what happened to the entire entertainment crew on the November 8th cruise…and that spilled over to the November 14th cruise. Doesn’t matter whether they have symptoms, test negative, are asymptomatic or not. If he loses a few to infection, then the amount of crew being quarantined multiplies. With that comes a lack of personnel to operate a cruise. Cancellations would follow.
As masking is supposed to be good at stopping the infection (droplets) from leaving an infected person…it’s makes sense to me that they try this reasonable step to protect the health of the other passengers in general…and the crew…and the business.
Inconvenient but understandable. Just my opinion.

Not sure why people are so mad with this. Very little is being changed in comparison with what they already had. 
The only difference is that you can't take your mask off once seated for an indoor entertainment. Not a big deal. Everything regarding outdoors is still the same. 
I'd prefer cruise companies to keep sailing rather than have an enormous amounts of omicron outbreaks and CDC shut them down again. 

I totally understand why everyone here is upset, but I wish you would just step back and understand why they're doing this. They're fully aware there are people out there like you who would be upset about this. They have plenty of people calling them right now complaining. When they made this decision I'm sure they had a pretty accurate approximation in mind of the revenue they'd lose over the next few weeks by instilling this policy. They know they will lose bookings over this. They've baked that into this decision.
However, their (very) educated decision -- as the people who lead this industry and know more about it than we ever could -- is that this policy will do more to keep cruising (and the public's perception of cruising) safe than the negative effect of people cancelling right now. I understand also that some people here think masks do not work. Unfortunately for those people, RCI listens to their full-time medical staff, who are medically trained doctors whose full-time job is to evaluate the efficacy of masks and other safety measures on cruising. It's a pretty specific job that they dedicate their life to. And those educated individuals (along with other business executives more concerned with finances and long-term viabilty of the company and industry) have determined this policy will help them continue to cruise safety. 
The executives at RCI don't give a crap about politics. They care about what's going to allow them to succeed now and years and decades into the future. That's why these decisions are made. 
That said, I think anyone with a cruise between now and Jan. 5 should absolutely be provided the opportunity to make changes to their itinerary if they don't wish to cruise under this policy. 

I don’t know guys but half the time I forget to take my mask OFF!  So used to wearing it now, I barely notice it.

Just remember: This isn't about you or your vacation. This industry cannot stomach a huge outbreak right now. It could kill them if they can't continue to prove that cruising is safe. We should understand that they know more about this than we do (these cruise execs have spent their lives focused on this for the past 22 months), and if they think it'll help they're probably right. At least more so than we can claim to know.
They are FULLY aware that people don't like wearing masks and that it drives down demand to make people wear masks any more than they have to. They know this will cause people to cancel. So obviously they feel this is necessary or they wouldn't do it. 

I booked spring break 2022. Prices are better than I expected for that week!

I booked spring break 2022. Prices are better than I expected for that week!