Mrs. Thomas

We are taking our granddaughters to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend and when I talked to them the other day they told me that they have workers that their only job is policing the social distancing in the water park as well as the hotel and etc.  They also have an app now and we can use the app to order and pay for food there.  I did rent a indoor cabana for our 2 days there just to have our own space.  They did say that the Hot Tubs are CLOSED due to not being able to maintain the distancing.  I feel like RCI will have to close the Hot Tub also as they are so small in comparison of the pools. 

@crisgold52 I was mostly meaning that I can't get a refund if they cancel again, instead of FCC. I almost wish I would have opted for the money and just did something else with it. However, I'm trying to have something to look forward to. This all HAS to end EVENTUALLY! We can all sit and be pessimistic about how things will go and it is easy to. But, there is that small ray of hope that since there are previous CDC and government officials on the panel that it will help/speed up the time frame of getting back into the water. They know the ropes of the CDC and can keep that in mind while working on the new policies. If we can't get going by Sept. 16, then maybe Oct. 1st. We cannot stop looking towards the brighter spots of hope.

I remember those days well and actually do miss them.  I was on Carnival once where they held a special crepe event with all of the fixings at 2:00 in the morning !!!  I just happened to wake right before then and said "hey I am hungry again".  I woke up Ceil and we went.  It was fun.  What we found is that most of the people there were from the ship.  Entertainers, singers & dancers, staff, etc.  Still it was a blast.  I had crepes with cherries and chocolate!  Yum...

Thank you for posting this! The article says that it may be safer than a vacation in London. With their crime rate, I would have to agree.

For me it was a close call, so if I did only what I needed to do to protect myself as you say, I am confident I would have not have been debarked.  Now I know for next time and yes, there are camera everywhere even if you can't find security.  There was however, no camera in the elevator!  Another bad experience as part of this was that I was interrogated by the police in Jamaica as I was released by the ship to them.  That was not at all fun either.  Please learn from me, just don't take that chance and call security!  On the good side (sort of) was that my sister and my wife's sister (who were sharing a room), chose on their own to leave the ship too and go to Disney with us.  In the end, we did get to enjoy our vacation...

I am for it.  I have a JS balcony, thus I have no problem lounging on my balcony.  Only exception would be that long walk to a car to get my drink.  
To me the issue I am seeing is the "chair hogs"  It is bad enough already with chairs slammed up right next to each other to the point you have to shimmy in to the lounger.  Imagine now if they reduce those chairs by even 25%.  What time in the a.m. will you have to be there to get a lounger at the pool?  4;30 in the a.m.?  
The upshot of this maybe RCL pool attendants might become more pro-active removing towels.  Before they didn't want to upset passengers that "hogged" the chair.  I would think now if they reduce the chairs, the non-hoggers will be pointing out to attendants at a higher rate and demanding the attendants remove the towels.  

I'm on that same sailing and the idea of moving it again just makes me ill. Since I used FCC I won't be able to do anything else. Not sure when I would try to do it for. The holiday season is out for us as we do a lot of things with family on land. Right now I'm just gonna keep that staring at the sliver of hope. "Some people" may want to make sure cruising happens by Nov. due to voting.

LMAO on this comment in total agreement.  
Our 1st cruise (10 night Med) was the exact opposite.  We were 27/28 yrs old.  It was the size of Enchantment.  They sold 50% of it to AARP.  It was the strangest feeling ever.  It actually felt like you were on your own personal yacht.  9 pm and the bars/dance venues were just a handful of passengers.  However, since this was back in the 90s, at 11:30 they all came back out again for the midnight buffet to take pics.  12:15 and the ship was silent again.  
I would never do it again even though it felt like my own yacht.  It just had the wrong vibe. OBTW I am now eligible for AARP.
 
 

I'd do whatever I needed to do to cruise, I've stated that before. I don't like people in my personal space unless they're invited...so I'd be thrilled. Elevators with too many people have always freaked me out. I will wait or use the stairs...just not sure how this would happen. Personally, if it's a packed space like an elevator or a venue I don't know how I'd feel on a cruise ship.
 

At least you were able to "save" the vacation and make the best of it, my wife would still be pissed. It's a good lesson and goes to show the no tolerance on a cruise ship. Although, it does make me wonder, what if he did confront you where you needed to protect yourself... hopefully that situation would have been different... Tough situation, while only a dress was ruined, what he did could have resulted in serious injury. 
 

I was going to try to point to a link to that old thread, but after 10 minutes of searching I had to give up.  Yes, it was out there before.  Embarrassing for me and I learned my lesson.  As you can imagine, I was not able to get any sort of refund for the unused portion of the cruise.  So what did we do you ask?  We went to Disney World !!!  True story after spending one night at the Montego Bay Riu Resort...

Ha, not sure actually.  The fireworks and sex were not witnessed by me, but rather a close friend of mine.  I was surprised to here it.  He witnessed two instances of public sex.

Hmmmmm social distancing. If that means less people in the Schooner Bar during music trivia, then hell yea. Less people means better odds for me to win those coveted Royal Caribbean key chains & highlighters ?

Sex in public is wrong.
I had to suffer through it twice on a plane and on every river cruise I have been on. On the plane it was in first and business class...those trying to get in the mile high club. During a cruise on the Danube this couple kept trying to invite people back to their room, I guess no one bit so they went at it in the Jacuzzi as soon as the sun set. During my UK, Nile and Mediterranean river cruises it was on the balconies. Why people, why?

I'm hoping my wife would've grabbed me as well, or that I would do something less violent, like grab the wheel chair and run off with his wife and drop her off on the other side of the ship 

Is the last part allowed as you dont say its against ship Rules? ? 
 

I recall reading your story in another thread, thanks for sharing again. What about your safety too! Clearly a bunch of people trying to live up to an image. I want to say I wouldn't have chased him down and went to customer service / called security / something but I'm guilty of acting first and thinking later; I'm sure my wife would have grabbed me so I didn't go running after him.
FWIW, the guy sounds like a punk who didn't expect you to confront him, why not toss the wine glasses when you had plenty of time to get out of the elevator... That's not only a cheap shot, but a cheap shot with a chance to get away. Also an idiot, I mean cruise ships are large, but not *that* large... You'd see him again.

Yeah, I agree.  Of all the RCL policies, this one I really hate!  They do not disclose any partial charters to non-charter passengers in order to protect the privacy of charter passengers.  Really, what does that mean?  What about my privacy?  I guess it doesn't matter...

Sounds to me like you did exactly what you should've, and exactly what I would've done as well. My biggest booking fear (no pandemic) is for it to be a chartered sailing that they didn't disclose. At least they dropped you off in Jamaica and not somewhere like Costa Maya 

OK, I'll bite.  Here is the very short story.  My family & friends found ourselves on the 2012 Freedom charter by the High Seas Rally group - essentially a bunch of bikers.  They accounted for over 2200 passengers on that sailing.  I would have never booked that cruise had I known and now always check (as best as possible) to make sure I am not booking a partial chartered cruise.  The majority of the cruisers were smokers (muster was horrible), formal night attire was mostly leather (picture backgrounds catered to them), fireworks on the ship (thought this was against ship rules), pirate banners on balconies (thought this was against ship rules), and even sex in public!  You get the idea.  Anyway on the way down to dinner in an elevator with my family, a drunk Rally member jumped into our elevator with his wife.  She was in a wheelchair, so he was carrying both of their glasses of red wine.  At every floor we stopped at he proceeded to invite waiting people into our elevator - even though we were pretty full.  He was drunk and having his own fun.  Anyway, a guy on the elevator (not us) tried to get him to stop, but he was not having it.  When we reached the floor above where we were having dinner, he got out with his wife AND as the door was almost closed he threw both glasses of red wine at us!   My older sister is very proper and very well dressed.  Unfortunately, she got most of the red wine on her dress.  I was pissed so chased him down, got into a fight, and the captain had us both dropped off at the next stop in Jamaica.  My mistake, I should have summoned security.  Please learn from my mistake.  So far, I have...

^^^^This!  is exactly why I love cruising so much.  It's about the only vacation that I can truly unwind and step back.  Saddens me even more that there is no start date in sight.  I tried to explain to my family the other night that for me, it's not just a lost vacation.  Cruising represents something far greater for me.

Yep, we've got a B2B on Symphony that starts 9/19...already preparing for the worst, but then again, SOMEBODY has to get lucky SOMETIME! ?
 

I agree. I dare say that most people need some time to relax. A "staycation" at home doesn't work for Moms, just saying. I need SOMEONE ELSE doing the cooking and dishes. I will gladly have a shirt made that says to keep your distance or wear a flipping pool noodle on my head showing the proper distance to stay back if it will mean that we can all get back to enjoying the open ocean.
@Cruisin4ABruisin I don't know if you have children, but it's not easy to even keep "normal" children "under control" all the time. All I'm saying is that people need to be forgiving and understanding that kids are kids. I can only beat mine so much before people call the cops.  

After reading the new post, I was wondering how many people will actually have a problem with social distancing on a cruise. I know many people have a problem with masks (PLEASE LETS AVOID ANY CONVO ABOUT THIS), but as I have found in my area, social distancing is an ok if not welcomed idea. I am a pretty social person, but I actually don't mind the idea of having to social distance. I know this will mean less people in the theater to watch the shows and dining may be more of a hassle. I'm not sure how this will work in the pool area though. Let's face it, pools aren't the best places for social distancing and kids (especially my youngest) aren't very good at it. I wonder what will happen with Adventure Ocean as well. I hope they keep it open because many parents use it to have an hour or two to themselves. So is social distancing a "no go" for anyone or is it a "no problem"?

I agree. I dare say that most people need some time to relax. A "staycation" at home doesn't work for Moms, just saying. I need SOMEONE ELSE doing the cooking and dishes. I will gladly have a shirt made that says to keep your distance or wear a flipping pool noodle on my head showing the proper distance to stay back if it will mean that we can all get back to enjoying the open ocean.
@Cruisin4ABruisin I don't know if you have children, but it's not easy to even keep "normal" children "under control" all the time. All I'm saying is that people need to be forgiving and understanding that kids are kids. I can only beat mine so much before people call the cops.