Dad2Cue

We would always go 2 days before the cruise to play it even safer. It wasn't much of an inconvenience to be in Florida for 2 extra days in January as compared to being home. We have 4 extra days before our upcoming cruise with the idea of getting covid tested in Florida. I may even get tested before we leave home just to make sure. I'm vaccinated so I don't anticipate any problems. I would rather be safe than sorry. I can probably handle more days on the ground in Florida. However, currently I might be better off on a cruise ship as compared to being on the ground. I still have some time to figure this out.

For purchase on the cruise planner. Should I cancel it and ask for a free lesson?? I'm not sure if the $25 is for the two complimentary drinks or the lesson or the FreePlay. I just hope all the free stuff entertains me for at least an hour.

Hi Chris, I signed up for the LEARN TO PLAY: CASINO TABLE GAMES that costs $25. I will put my limited skills to the test with $25 in FreePlay. How is this considered FreePlay when I paid $25 to learn to play??? I'm the type of gambler who quits if I ever get ahead by a few dollars. Otherwise, I just plan on losing a certain amount of money and I try to see how long I can make it last. Sometimes $25 doesn't take long to lose so I was wondering if my lesson stops when I lose my $25 of FreePlay??? Will you still be on Odyssey In late January --- early February?? I would gladly share with you one of my two complimentary drinks that come with the lesson. I really enjoy your videos and will say hello if you are still on Odyssey the last week in January. You are doing great work and I especially like how you announce that the casino is open on one of your videos.

First ... I hope everything works out!!! Second ... should I be rethinking my plan for my cruise this coming October? My kids are adults now and we all all vaccinated but everything seems so "weird" as you say. This all sounds like something will go wrong but I still want to be optimistic.

My stuff isn't too complicated or lucrative for a TA. Also, I wouldn't want to create any additional burden for a TA. Maybe I shouldn't think of it that way. However, I have experienced enough hassle to know there is no way I would ever want to be a TA. I can't imagine what hassles a TA must be experiencing dealing with Royal and their clients. I know that I couldn't handle being caught in the middle like that. TAs must be earning every cent they make so I will praise them for all they do.

When will they extend the expiration date on a FCC? I already have two future cruise credits to use so I don't want any more. As this covid fiasco continues, the window for using the FCC is shrinking. I personally think Cruise with Confidence should be extended to the end of 2021. The expiration date on a FCC should be extended to the end of 2022 so it coincides with the double point promotion. All these dates and new deadlines are hard to keep track of. Maybe Royal will read this.

• The Cruise with Confidence program covers bookings that are booked on or before August 31st, 2021, that set sail on or before April 30th, 2022. • Future Cruise Credits are valid to book by April 30th, 2022 and sail by September 30th, 2022. Why can't these dates just be extended through the end of 2022 just to keep it simple? I tried to change a cruise date currently booked the first week of October 2022 ---I would like the exact same cruise but one week sooner in September 2022. I was told there would be a $200 change fee. However, I could cancel the cruise and get a 100% future cruise credit and then use the FCC to book the new cruise and there would be no change fee. I wasn't sure what to do so I left everything the same. Has cruise with confidence been extended? I was trying to make the above change before the July 31st deadline so it would seem that I have another month to think about it.

I'm on Allure for October 24th and I made the final payment 2 weeks ago. I don't know yet whether I'll actually go. Whether I have to wear a mask or not won't be the deciding factor. I plan to show up for the cruise no matter what. I'm vaccinated but I'm not sure what restrictions will be in place for the "vaccinated". I feel sorry for the "unvaccinated" and if that were me--I wouldn't go. The way I look at this---it will be a new experience and I will learn what it might be like to cruise in the new world we live in. If I don't enjoy the new cruising experience, that may alter my decision about cruises planned for 2022. I still wear my mask even when I go into places where is isn't required anymore. I'm basically a conformist so now I feel out of place when I wear my mask --- it is my choice though. I really don't care that much about what other people choose to do. I will second what @twangster says --- "At the end of the day follow your gut and do what you feel is right for you."

Those kinds of restrictions only apply to cruise travel. All other forms of travel including space travel have no restrictions. Wearing a space helmet is strongly encouraged.

I don't care other than Kate McCue is a superstar and we have something in common but it isn't superstar status.

Do these contracts renew every 3 months? So is there any way to verify who the captain will be say a year from now?

Sorry, I don't know the answer but I have a similar question and didn't want to start a new topic. I was wondering what ship Kate McCue is the captain of. I think it is a Celebrity ship but I'm worried that she may be reassigned after Covid. I have never booked a cruise on a Celebrity so I don't know how they compare with Royal so that is the second part of the question.

I have enjoyed this discussion. I don't see this as a privacy issue. To me it is about the foundation that the United States was built upon and about discrimination. Are we going to have different rights for the vaccinated and the non vaccinated? I don't know about the created equal part but the last part should be valued and protected. The second paragraph of the United States Declaration of Independence starts as follows: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

I have mine booked for August 29, 2022 on Quantum. Originally it was booked for August 30, 2021 but that cruise on Quantum was cancelled. I did a lift and shift to the 2022 cruise. My wife knows that this cruise is for our anniversary so it won't be a surprise. What she doesn't know is that I used a sizable FCC from another cancelled cruise and splurged on our first ever Grand Suite. We did an Alaskan cruise several years ago. Alaska was great but that cruise happened in May so it was somewhat cold and was snowing in places. I'm hoping it won't be so cold in August. If it is, I'm thinking any Quantum class ship will be ideal. We have never been to Sitka, or Icy Strait Point but our future cruise will do Sitka this time. I think you will enjoy either cruise.

It isn't an election year plus covid isn't so new anymore. I am somewhat concerned that cases will spike again. Last summer without a vaccine cases went down too. Was it because of the mitigation strategies or a seasonal variation in cases?? It never seems like there is one factor at play in anything related to the medical realm. The cause and effect scenarios are always multifactorial. I do wish this would all go away and we can get back to normal which includes cruising. However, I think we all will need to adapt to a new normal. The vaccine will likely be part of the new normal too. The sooner we all can adapt the better ... otherwise the forces of natural selection will be at work.

My brother had a Boardwalk balcony and complained about the noise. I enjoyed a Central Park balcony as a quieter alternative. I like an Ocean View balcony but there isn't much to look at except for the ocean. If I want to see the ocean, I go to the top deck or somewhere else. I especially enjoy the sunrise, the sunset and pulling into the ports but not necessarily just to look at the ocean.

I have more than one cruise booked and some are "old style" and some are "new style". I can't forget the old style because I still see that on some cruises. TBH, I don't really like either one. Maybe if it was consistent it would be better.

I have nothing against NJ for some cruises. A Bermuda cruise with a stop in Boston on the way back was great. A New England/Canada fall cruise sometime in the future is on the bucket list. However, where I live it is cold in the winter especially in January and February. There is something nice about getting on a plane and flying to Florida in the winter. We usually spend time in Florida before and after the cruise. NJ isn't quite so appealing in the wintertime.

I think he just means everyone's cruise will cost more to accommodate the people who are eligible to be vaccinated and choose not to be. That's how it usually works. This is already happening I think when I look at the cost of future cruises. I'm curious about this statement which he doesn't elaborate on. I wonder if once the ship is out to sea they will start asking, start testing and start restricting?

What does it take to shut down a single cruise for an outbreak of norovirus? I think it is about 2% of the guests onboard the ship. Say there are 4000-5000 guests on average so only 80-100 people "reporting" gastrointestinal symptoms and the cruise ship goes back to port I believe. I agree, just a couple of cases of covid found during the daily testing on the people who aren't vaccinated will shut everything down again. It won't really matter if people are reporting symptoms or not if they are testing. I'm thinking about 5-10 positive tests and my cruise will be toast and future cruises will likely be cancelled again. I personally wouldn't want to be the person contributing to the number of cases found onboard a cruise ship. I'm vaccinated so hopefully I won't be. If I'm one of the "breakthrough cases" at least I can say I was vaccinated.

One could argue that is the same as asking. I just hope the majority of people voluntarily provide proof. Somehow I don't think the new verbiage "strongly recommended" will be enough for many people but I could be wrong. I can envision a plexiglass tunnel disguised as a slide that leads off the ship! Personally, I don't have too many worries but the financial risks for Royal could be enormous. I can see a person who wasn't vaccinated suing Royal because they caught covid while on a cruise.

How will Royal know if they can't ask who is and who isn't vaccinated? This all seems silly to me because supposedly nobody will know who is vaccinated or not. It will just be a personal choice about what people want to do to protect themselves which is fine with me. It just seems more likely that there will be outbreaks of covid on cruise ships and then we will likely know who wasn't vaccinated.

Is this the same kind of conditional agreement/understanding that changed the No Sail Order to the Conditional Sail Order? I no longer have a vested interest in this because my Quantum Alaska---August 2021 cruise was cancelled unconditionally.

What survey??? Maybe it was the email that seemed like a survey that I just deleted. It seemed like a satisfaction survey---did it ask about vaccination status? I'm not sure what the demographics are for Royal guests but my guess is that the older age of the spectrum is well represented. I think the percentage of "older" people who are vaccinated is quite high in the United States but 90% seems like a stretch. The other factor is that people who want to cruise are probably more willing to get vaccinated in exchange for some normality. It would be interesting where Royal got that number. I think it is an overestimate to promote a return to cruising but I don't really know.

I learned early on that FCCs were a pain in the a--. Now I take refunds whenever I can. Refunds aren't any better because they can happen in dribs and drabs and make no sense at all. I have had mistakes that worked in my favor so I guess that overall I can't complain. I may even owe Royal some money.