crisgold52

Good news for European cruisers. I fear the US is still a ways away.

Even more than that, I'm guessing. My thinking on that part is that even if the ports' home state is in phase 3 or 4, there may still be regulations put in place by CDC or state / local government. It could be as extreme as limiting passengers to the port's state, or something like if you are not from the state and need to go there for embarkation, your own state also has to be in the same phase, or else you have to arrive early enough to quarantine for at least 2 weeks. At least in the very beginning.
The cruise lines are going to be beyond paranoid about any kind of outbreak, and after all the effort they've had to put into planning and preparedness, they may refuse to move forward without support from the CDC and/or local governments that puts them both in the same bed. They're already signaling pretty strongly that they've had it with all the BS and slow response after making herculean efforts to meet rushed timelines and rough demands. I would be very surprised if the cruise lines didn't take steps to ensure that, should something bad happen and the press tries to have another field day with "floating petri dishes", that the government agencies they've had to work so hard to appease take just as much heat and go down in the same flames.

Thanks folks.
We've actually decided to go for a refund now. Too much doubt over a March 2021 sailing, and we have another cruise booked for October 2021 with a different cruise line, so will use the refund toward that one.
Cheers

I just wanted to throw out there that maybe food consumption should be added to the spreadsheet.  I know whenever I have a drink package I typically eat waaay less due to being liquid full!  So put a few dollars back on the cruise lines side of the scale.
Side note, if I'm on a drink package I typically tip a bit if the bar tend goes above normal duties like remembering what I was drinking or coming around more often to make sure you are never empty.  I will say though when I've traveled through Europe that dining is much more enjoyable than stateside, due to the laid back atmosphere with the waitstaff not in a hurry to move the table along.

The people working on these ships are busting their butts doing whatever they can to make us comfy, happy, and entertained while working 16+ hour days, and I highly (and boy do I mean HIGHLY) doubt even half of us are even polite to them, so the very least we can do is tip.  
For what it's worth, I worked my way through college by waiting tables at a national chain diner where I worked 12 hour shifts not being tipped, being spit on, verbally abused, GROPED, and looked down on because "it's minimum work", so I get incredibly angry (it's been 13 years since I waited tables!) when I see this.  To you it may be just minimum work, but to them it's their lifeline and how they are feeding their families, and it sure as heck isn't your job to judge.  And that brings me to my next point, why are we looking down on grocery store clerks?!  They are essential workers where I live and are the reason why my grocery stores are open, therefore I can feed myself and my other half, and in my honest opinion, can't get paid enough considering the amount of harassment I see them get every time I get groceries the last seven months. 
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

100% in agreement, we tip on every drink..  I dont think $3.00 here and there makes a huge difference, not even on my bar bill.

Not RCI but wow Carnival Corporation to remove more ship. Now I wonder what ships will be sent to the scrapyard or sold to another cruise line not under the Carnival Corporation flag.
https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23505-carnival-to-further-accelerate-ship-exits-18-vessels-to-leave.html
 

I always bring along some small bills and tip often. While the 18% is spread out to all the staff, showing extra appreciation at a point of service pays just seems like the right thing to do with all that those folks have to do for relatively low pay. Never gotten bad service when I didn't tip but, if you do, it is noticed and feel like you get even better service. 

They sold the Key and drink/dining packages for all the cruises from March through now right up until they canceled them.  They certainly knew the ones over the summer weren't going to happen because they were in the process of sending the crews home while selling those add-ons.  I'd love to book a cruise (or any other vacation) but I'm not locking up my money with any travel related company until after they've restarted their businesses.  I realize prices may rise by then but I'm willing to pay more later to have extra "just in case" money around now.

If pre-boarding testing occurs, do you check your bags before or after.  If you're positive and you checked your bags, you'll have to waiting until they retrieve them.  

The web site still says show up two hours before your Arrival time?  So an 11:00 is really a 9:00 am? 

Seems that might be circumvented if they need to "meter" the people in and around the terminal.

So, for Royal, does this mean the Diamond and above will get to board early and the rest will be later? Interesting stuff as we get closer to cruising....when ever that may be. Just for good measure I will be wearing a face mask, rubber gloves and a condom. I'm not taking ANY chances!

There is no standard, decisions are made on a case by case basis.  This is unprecedented so there really is no way to know when or if they'll modify the itinerary.  

I'm just a casual forum reader and rarely get drawn into many topics but you seem to have some sort of vendetta/bias towards the U.S that is largely based on personal opinion.  Currently the percentage of people who have or have had Covid stateside is ~1.76%, no where near 10%.   Different countries have implemented different strategies for containment and it is what it is.  Cruise protocols will be implemented and those who wish to travel will be obligated follow those protocols or not travel.  Ultimately if you are uncomfortable with the rules in place stateside, you have to do what's best for you and your family and then decide if you want to cruise from a U.S port. 
 

To me there's not really much to discuss about it.  I'd imagine that as part of any lead up to sailing resuming that they'll announce what will happen if you're denied boarding, similar to how they did in the last couple of sailings before everything shut down.  Likely a FCC or refund for the cruise fare.
It'll be up to people traveling to make the choice, do they want to accept the risk that they could get denied and have to make their way home and lose the costs associated with travel, or if they want to take advantage of one of the CWC options.  I fully agree that we'll likely see some irate people if they get denied boarding, but I want the lines to be strict about it, and I have no doubt they will be.  People will have to accept that's a potentiality and that there will be some additional restrictions if they decide to take a cruise.
One of the things that gave me a little more confidence was seeing MSC deny reboarding to a group that went away from their excursion group, they were willing to put the health and safety of the rest of the passengers and crew above inconveniencing a few.  Cruising, like everything, will be a bit different for at least awhile (although I hope some changes stick around for good) and with leisure travel we're going to have to accept that there's a chance it won't happen and if it does that it'll have extra restrictions on it.

I got it too and suggested they hire Matt Hochberg to completely redesign and implement a new website.

The PVSA violation is only a $800 fine.  Just add it to the cruise fare and away we go!  Alaska here we come...

The actual PVSA says $798 here:
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Sep/PVSA-ICP.pdf
"Non-coastwise-qualified vessels The Passenger Vessel Services Act September 2019 9 U.S. Customs and Border Protection that transport passengers between coastwise points will be penalized $300 for each passenger transported and landed on or before November 2, 2015 and $798 for each passenger transported and landed after November 2, 2015."
As far as visiting a country but not getting off I'm not sure CBP would accept that.  Technically as soon as a ship is within territorial boundaries they are subject to laws of that nation as if they landed.  There are exceptions that allow transit through territorial waters by international convention so in cases where a ship must transit through a nation's territorial limits to get somewhere else that is permitted and not counted as if the ship at that moment is subject to the jurisdiction of that nation.  Visiting a pier but not debarking is a gray area in between transiting and visiting. 
If a nation doesn't "clear" the ship and process passengers as visitors regardless if they don't debark then there's a strong argument those guests never visited that nation. 
Today, or up to this point, you might not get a physical stamp in your passport when you visit Canada but your passport is marked electronically that you entered Canada and CBP can see that when you return as they share data with Canada.  Would Canada be willing to allow a ship into port, process all guests as visitors but deny then debarking privileges?  I'm not sure Canada would sign up for that.  Why would they?  If Canada has closed a port due to health concerns why let a potential "plague ship" reach the pier at all?  Once a ship has been admitted to enter a port, if a medical emergency is declared that nation can't just close the port and force it off the pier.  Japan got stuck with a COVID ship very early on in this manner.   
Canadians are nice people and all, but I'm not sure they are going to bend the rules with no benefit and only risk just so Americans can vacation to Alaska on a cruise.
This idea seems to be accepted in certain European cruise itineraries that did exactly this "touch & go" recently but that's within Europe.  Something tells me that CBP wouldn't accept that here in the U.S.A. or that Canada isn't going to allow a ship from a country that doesn't have control of the virus to enter it's ports.

Saw posts today that Miami commissioners are ticked off at CDC for dragging feet...

Don't do it!

This is just temporary, they may only do later check-ins for the first couple of sailings. They may be doing it to gauge how things will occur. There is a strong possibility that they will be doing rapid COVID testing, so a 2:30 check-in would allow plenty of time for people to be properly vetted. As they get back into the grove of things, early check-ins should be back.

Since I'm cheap when it comes to onboard expenditures,  I shy away from cruise line shore excursions.  Any itinerary that has more than, say, 3 ports or greater on a sailing is gonna be viewed unfavorably by me if I can't get off the boat for an hour without buying an excursion.  
St Peterburg is probably a good (or bad)?  example because most nationalities can't get off the ship without a Russian VISA unless they are on an excursion booked via the cruise line.  Cuba was the same before the feds put the kibosh on those sailings.  

If you attempt to reply to any topic it will present a link to sign in.  IOS appears to be the same so it's not an Android thing.
On a Galaxy Tab it looks like the PC version so no issues there, just a phone thing that I can see.  

Matt looks good, nice and clean looking.