MuttMutt

I agree they are being given a whole lot more hoops and conditions to deal with.  Some of it is due to the outbreaks that have happened but when I was on Liberty of the Seas in October 2019 I didn't see that as being a problem.  Staff standing at the entrance to the area's with hand sanitizer and multiple sanitizer stations around the entrance of eating area's.  And from what I have seen about their recent run in Singapore they are doing things pretty well.  I am not a fan of the "contact tracing" since the bubble size is unknown and honestly if you play 7 degrees of separation on a ship with the people onboard as well as the crew you will probably be within range of most everyone at some point.  
 
Anyway I am currently in the process of trying to get my credit applied to a sailing in October 2021.  Got a quote already which is REALLY good.  Sadly they can't expedite issuing the credit but I do have the amount they are going to issue which is going to cover a large portion of the switch from the 5 to 7 night run on a larger ship and was able to make it so the travel agent can handle anything that is happening.  Going to figure a few things out from there but hopefully they can do a little bit of magic on their end and have me setup soon.

Actually already found the information so in before the mobs take the site to a crawl but thanks.  It's linked above, but here is the post.
 
 
 

It all depends on scheduling and optimism.  L&S puts it into next year plus or minus a month or two excluding holiday sailings.  That could get you a better deal than taking the credit.  But until the vaccine is around and successful it's possible that cruises longer than 7 days will be canceled.  The 125% credit can be used on any sailing so if another option looks better that may be good.  I am planning to go this route and then put a few more bucks down, if it's canceled again I get another credit that I can use for another sailing but after that it gets a little dicey.  You can only use the 125% FCC per person from my understanding which means 2 people traveling you get to use 2 FCC's but end up with a third and you have to push it to another point but have a little over a year to do so in most cases so still not awful.  Having children should theoretically add the number of credits you can use per sailing but don't quote me on that as the FAQ mentions something about per stateroom while other stuff said per person.
A full refund is just cash, if you need a little extra and don't want to try and wait out the suspension this is the way to go.  

Actually already found the information so in before the mobs take the site to a crawl but thanks.  It's linked above, but here is the post.
 
 
 

Ok for those impacted by the recent sailings being canceled you can get a 125% onboard credit but you have to make the request by December 16th.
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/until-when-can-i-request-the-onboard-cruise-credit is the information and https://rcgpcpoffer.questionpro.com/ is the link to make the onboard credit request.  Otherwise the cost of the excursions will be returned to the original payment.

To a put a positive spin on it, Royal has always proven to be optimistic. 
During hurricane season other lines cancel and Royal takes their time hoping the hurricane goes away.  The same can be said for the pandemic.  Other lines cancel but Royal keeps on hoping it goes away.  
Maybe one day this approach will prove them correct.

Yeah, I wish I had a dry suit on my last dive.  60 degree water and I hate to think what was in there for sure.  I helped a little while 3 vehicles were pulled out of the Missouri River just down from Kansas City.  I was looking at the map yesterday and cringed.  Their "water treatment(sewer)" plant was just up river.  No wonder the muck near the shore was so foul.
But hey, pulled a 80's Chevy Cavalier out that had been in the water since the early 90's, a Pontiac Fiero that was dumped around the early 90's as well and a Chevy 1500 club cab pickup that was from around 2000.  
In some of my home lakes I go on trash patrol's and clean up can's and stuff that have been in the water since the 70's and anything else I come across and can bring up.

Yeah, I wish I had a dry suit on my last dive.  60 degree water and I hate to think what was in there for sure.  I helped a little while 3 vehicles were pulled out of the Missouri River just down from Kansas City.  I was looking at the map yesterday and cringed.  Their "water treatment(sewer)" plant was just up river.  No wonder the muck near the shore was so foul.
But hey, pulled a 80's Chevy Cavalier out that had been in the water since the early 90's, a Pontiac Fiero that was dumped around the early 90's as well and a Chevy 1500 club cab pickup that was from around 2000.  
In some of my home lakes I go on trash patrol's and clean up can's and stuff that have been in the water since the 70's and anything else I come across and can bring up.

It really depends on where you are at and the time of year for doing the training dives.  A lot of people choose to do the pool and classwork (even though it's mostly online) at their local shop and then do a referral so they can do the open water dives wherever.  It ends up costing a little bit more but you will have nice water to do it in.  
My certification in Oklahoma was in a pond that was about 25 feet deep.  Basically just deep enough that you really need to worry about equalizing and buoyancy control.  Cost was around 350 at that shop and the only rental was mask, snorkel and fins which they will give you a credit for if you purchase gear through them.  Personally I would just buy a set of fins on Amazon along with a decent glass lensed mask and snorkel before class.  You just have to make sure that the fins are for SCUBA and not snorkeling or freediving which can be a pain.  I am also of a different mindset for gear than most people, I have rebuilt a ScubaPro MK5 and 109 that I put on a pony bottle as well as a MK20 and a G250 that I use for my main stuff and working on my Gen 4 Air2 right now, I get TONS of flack about it because it's "life support" equipment.  I can work on hydraulic systems and not have leaks or issues and have done much more intricate and dangerous things as well, a regulator is basically a hydraulic system and tearing it down give me a huge understanding advantage over someone else because I KNOW how it functions.
An advantage of doing the pool work and certification at home is that if you have difficulty with things like equalizing or using the gear you will be able to try again until you get it right.  PADI has a do it till you pass successfully program.  If you are on a ship you will be more stressed to try and complete things and then if you have a problem you may have to take another cruise to be able to complete things.  I was doing advanced certification in Jamaica and there was a young lady doing open water certification who had issues equalizing and spent most of her time on a boat while her boyfriend did dives alone.  Once you pay someone for training you are more than likely not going to get a refund but can "come back any time" to try again.  Not saying this to scare anyone but it's something to think about.  At the very least doing the pool work at home is worth it just because of that.  But if I had the opportunity to do things again I may have opted to take a trip to an island and do my actual open water dives at full depth in the ocean instead of in a pond.  The advantage I have had though is I am not afraid to get into low visibility water either.  Over the summer I was doing lake cleanup in Ardmore, OK at lake Murray and vis is often just about 6 to 8 feet.  Some people will have a hard time switching between low vis and high vis dives without some practice. 
But I have to agree that booking a cheap inside room and not much else is a good idea if you are going to do the certification on board.  And get all the online classwork done as far in advance as possible and be sure to go over everything right before the trip and possibly during while you are getting some down time.  BTW I have all the offline english training video's if someone wanted to watch them on their own.  Just PM me for info if you are interested.  

Very cool.  Would be awesome to see sometime.  Then again I would love to go into the hall and be there during the building process as well.
The best thing I will get to see is the SV Seeker launch which should be sometime next year.  If you haven't heard of it this guy in Tulsa, OK is building a 74 ft long boat in his front yard.  Bolted the anodes on it myself last week.

You can go look in your purchase history and see what you paid previously.  You will have to look through and expand the purchase you made to see exactly what you paid at that point.  This will all be in your trip planner section.
Can't help more right now since my internet is having issues and can't log in properly.

Dives on Adventure of the Seas for Feb 5th 2021 are more than I already paid.  
Internet access is the same as has been shown previously, same for the unlimited onboard dining, and the drink package.
Overall not impressed but no different than I expected.

Yeah, looks like I was correct and not long after they made an announcement either a lawyer or the CDC themselves made contact and said it doesn't work that way.
 
I am also guessing they will probably prioritize Crown and Anchor members over general public.  Why do I say this, well if you have been on a cruise with them you know some of how things work and are less likely to do things that will cause issues.

Well in a way I was able to check in. Or at least it said I was done. The app still fails but the website processed through late last night. Was not able to pick a check in time but only my check in is complete and my companions is not yet. The final page does have some interesting information though. 
 
 

Didn't buy the drink package on my first cruise.  Honestly I am not a big drinker to begin with and with the things that were happening in my life at that point I don't think it was a great idea.  I did carry my insulated drink container and the staff had no issue filling it up for me at meals.  Hopefully even with the new protocols they can do that for me on the next one.

Didn't buy the drink package on my first cruise.  Honestly I am not a big drinker to begin with and with the things that were happening in my life at that point I don't think it was a great idea.  I did carry my insulated drink container and the staff had no issue filling it up for me at meals.  Hopefully even with the new protocols they can do that for me on the next one.

Well a little bit of good information.  Looks like some conditional provisions have been met.
 
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/crew-disembarkations-commercial-travel.html
 
Currently Grandeur of the Seas is the only ship marked as "Red"
Personally I see the timeline for stuff to be something to the effect of having all the facilities and such onboard and in order by the end of December, then being allowed to do some "test" sailings in early to mid January.  Not sure from what I have read but I am thinking the CDC will require each ship to go through a test and do simulations where all crew have the ability to deal with the simulation directly and not just observe.  Then the 60 day window starts which would kill everything till at least mid March if not further with the new administration in the drivers seat.  
 
Then again with the new admin in place I can see attempts at forcing nationwide shelter orders in place.  IMHO that will cause a major revolt and some things could change even more drastically after that.

Well a little bit of good information.  Looks like some conditional provisions have been met.
 
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/crew-disembarkations-commercial-travel.html
 
Currently Grandeur of the Seas is the only ship marked as "Red"
Personally I see the timeline for stuff to be something to the effect of having all the facilities and such onboard and in order by the end of December, then being allowed to do some "test" sailings in early to mid January.  Not sure from what I have read but I am thinking the CDC will require each ship to go through a test and do simulations where all crew have the ability to deal with the simulation directly and not just observe.  Then the 60 day window starts which would kill everything till at least mid March if not further with the new administration in the drivers seat.  
 
Then again with the new admin in place I can see attempts at forcing nationwide shelter orders in place.  IMHO that will cause a major revolt and some things could change even more drastically after that.

Planning for my second cruise Adventure of the Seas, Leaving Galveston on Feb 5th.
Here is hoping that things settle down and a vaccine is available before then.
 
First one was last year October 20th on Liberty of the Seas.

Pretty self explanatory and I am sure a lot of people will be in the "cause it was somewhere to take a vacation" group but I have to wonder if there are others with different reasons.
For me it was something I always thought would be interesting but would never be able to afford.  Then when my wife passed away it became something to get me out of the house and keep me from pulling my own hair out literally.  About a month after my wife passed and was cremated I received part of what was left of her burial policy and didn't know what to do with myself.  My wife was from Jamaica and we had talked multiple times about getting on a cruise and then stopping in Jamaica and dropping off a power chair because she was having a hard time walking.  I took the same route we had looked at which left from Galveston, TX and went to Cozumel Mexico, Georgetown Cayman Islands, and then Falmouth Jamaica where I dropped off a couple bags because I was going to be back in Jamaica a couple months later.  When leaving Jamaica I stood on the deck as the ship was leaving and cried long and hard because my wife didn't get to see home again.  The whole time we were married we were supposed to go down and were supposed to have been give the trip by her aunt as a wedding gift but it was never the right time.  
 
My first cruise had only been planned for a couple months but having something to look forward to helped me keep going and in a way my next one is slightly similar.  The day I booked the next one I felt like I have a little something to look forward to doing and started planning and reading to be ready to go.  In a lot of ways to me it's more the trip than the destinations though being able to be in good water for diving will be a big advantage.

When I was a kid my first ever cruise was short I can’t even remember what islands we saw or the name of the company if it is even in existence combined with a few days at Walt Disney World in FL.  Unfortunately did not get to go on another one until I was married and the 2 of us along with my mom took an Alaskan cruise on Radiance out of Vancouver. Our next was with Norwegian on Pride of America in Hawaii.  We have also been to the Western Caribbean on Allure and to the Bahamas on Majesty.  Our Western Med on Explorer this summer was an cancelled.  We booked for next summer on Vision which is slightly longer and goes to some of the same ports and some different.  Hope we will be able to go,

One of my wife's good friends kept bugging us to go with her on their annual family cruise they take with all her brothers and sisters. We kept telling her we would be a "fifth wheel" on their trip but she kept at it. Finally the wife relented when another of her good friends said she would go and she cruises all the time. Sailed on Celebrity out of Miami to the Eastern Caribbean and both decided this was the vacation style we were looking for. Never have looked back and now go 3-4 times a year to make up for vacations we never took.

Pretty self explanatory and I am sure a lot of people will be in the "cause it was somewhere to take a vacation" group but I have to wonder if there are others with different reasons.
For me it was something I always thought would be interesting but would never be able to afford.  Then when my wife passed away it became something to get me out of the house and keep me from pulling my own hair out literally.  About a month after my wife passed and was cremated I received part of what was left of her burial policy and didn't know what to do with myself.  My wife was from Jamaica and we had talked multiple times about getting on a cruise and then stopping in Jamaica and dropping off a power chair because she was having a hard time walking.  I took the same route we had looked at which left from Galveston, TX and went to Cozumel Mexico, Georgetown Cayman Islands, and then Falmouth Jamaica where I dropped off a couple bags because I was going to be back in Jamaica a couple months later.  When leaving Jamaica I stood on the deck as the ship was leaving and cried long and hard because my wife didn't get to see home again.  The whole time we were married we were supposed to go down and were supposed to have been give the trip by her aunt as a wedding gift but it was never the right time.  
 
My first cruise had only been planned for a couple months but having something to look forward to helped me keep going and in a way my next one is slightly similar.  The day I booked the next one I felt like I have a little something to look forward to doing and started planning and reading to be ready to go.  In a lot of ways to me it's more the trip than the destinations though being able to be in good water for diving will be a big advantage.

@MuttMutt what a touching story. I'm so sorry about your wife.
I was never interested in a cruise at all. It just never appealed to me assumed it would be boring, etc.
My wife's sister who also never been on a cruise asked us to join her for a 3 Day Country Themed cruise to the Bahamas. Great, Country Music & a cruise, I wasn't a fan AT ALL of the idea. However, my wife (then girlfriend) wanted to go so we went. 
I still wasn't a country music fan (still not) but instantly fell in love with cruises. When we got back I booked a 5 Day Cruise to Bermuda on Explorer out of Bayonne. That cruise solidified both of our love for cruising and Royal Caribbean. However, we did stray to NCL once and plan to again in the near future. We would like to give NCL a second chance on their newer and larger ships. (Was supposed to be next year but with credits locked up with Royal, we will be on Oasis instead).