JasonOasis

I posted something related to this topic in the Other Travel forum, under the heading American cancels 90,000 flights. A few weeks back American quietly announced they were cancelling 90,000 flights between August and the end of December. It was a pretty long post I would suggest just going to the Other Travel forum and read the post in its entirety. However that 90,000 flights equated to around 18,000 flights per month which is a staggering number in itself. As if 18,000 flights weren't bad enough just 3 days ago American, Delta, Southwest, United, Frontier, JetBlue all announce more cuts this time to their November schedule, with American Airlines leading the way. It was announced a few days go during the month of November American would now be canceling 28,607 total flights (that equates to around 953 daily flights American is pulling off their schedule), Delta was cancelling an additional 4,396 flights (around 146 daily flights), United was canceling an additional 900 flights (30 daily flights). Southwest and the other carriers have not yet released hard numbers but they are also announced additional schedule reductions through the end of the year on top of what they already announced back in May or June of this year. My advise is even if you booked your airfare using Air2Sea or a TA if your flight is impacted know your rights over the past 7-8 years the DOT strengthen the passengers bill of rights. Know your rights as a passenger, be your biggest advocate, and download the airlines app. I can not stress just how important it is to have the app on your phone. As a result of covid, the shut down, social distancing airlines have really poured a lot of money into their apps making them much more user friendly and you will be surprised how much you yourself can accomplish on the app never having to actually speak to an agent. If you can't get it done on the app call the airline directly or many airlines either rolled out or enhanced their text to chat feature.

Testing isn't the answer and testing doesn't stop covid because in incubation period for covid according to the CDC is now up to 14 days. During that incubation period an individual can still test negative. I don't know how long your vacation was in South Carolina but it is entirely possible that you had covid prior to the start of your vacation but were in the incubation period and developed symptoms as your vacation was winding down. This can and is happening on cruises there is no such thing as keeping covid off cruise ships the Delta variant was proof of that and vaccines were fresh when Delta swept through,. Then came Omicron which left a slew of infected individuals and now we have the BA5 variant. What do all of these variants have in common they all found their way onto cruise ships despite cruise lines requiring all passengers over the age of 2 to present a negative Covid test and requiring adults over the age of 12 be fully vaccinated. The idea that testing and vaccines will keep Covid off cruise ships has already been dispelled, and Royal will do away with the vaccine requirement just as soon as more destinations drop their vaccine mandates.

I think you are correct I think letting customers know Los Angeles, Galveston and New Orleans greatly simplifies things for unvaccinated guest because they don't have to navigate through a plethora of cruises trying to figure out which one they can take and what the restrictions are. Royal has simplified it by saying you can cruise out of these homeports unvaccinated the only restriction is you can't get off the ship at one port Grand Cayman, which doesn't effect cruises out of Los Angeles at all.

I agree with what you are saying but here is what we know Grand Cayman was one of the last islands in the Caribbean to welcome cruise ships back to their port. I know from working in the airline industry Grand Cayman since the beginning of Covid has had some of the strictest entry requirements for all arriving passengers. The Cayman Islands just dropped their mandatory mask mandate this past June 30th, who knows when they will drop their vaccine mandate. I understand why Royal isn't willing to wait for Grand Cayman to drop the mandate. However that is the only port of call on sailings out of Galveston and New Orleans where unvaccinated guest will have issues and have to remain onboard. All other ports of call on sailings out of Galveston and New Orleans are open to everyone regardless of vaccine status. This is also why Royal hasn't yet dropped the vaccine mandate for the Eastern Caribbean because with all the different entry restrictions for unvaccinated travelers that is a disaster waiting to happen, and in the age of social media it is going to be a public relations nightmare for cruise lines like NCL and Virgin.

It is a lot less confusing than NCL's policy where they are basically tell everyone regardless of vaccination status you are welcome to cruise. However, you the passenger have to figure out if you are allowed off the ship, what documents you may need as a unvaccinated passenger to get off the ship, do you need to test prior to getting off the ship, or if you are even allowed to board the ship at embarkation port at all. NCL is putting all of this on their guest to figure out, Royal for now is saying if you are sailing out of Texas or New Orleans and are unvaccinated the only port you will not be able to get off at is Grand Cayman and they are working with the Islands in the Eastern Caribbean on coming up with a harmonious policy that aligns entry requirements. Right now looking at the Eastern Caribbean and even if you don't have time to go through all the entry requirements for unvaccinated individuals just look at NCL's announcement it is hodgepodge of restrictions that vary form island to island that will undoubtedly lead to extremely frustrated passengers and frustrated crew. As anxious as unvaccinated individuals are to get back out there cruising I honestly think the steps Royal is taking will result is a better cruise experience for passengers than the steps NCL or even Virgin has taken. The headlines for both NCL and Virgin are more exciting than the headline from Royal, but if an unvaccinated passenger does not do their due diligence on an NCL or Virgin cruise they will be in for a world of frustration and disappointment especially if they are cruising the Eastern Caribbean. The frustration is foreseeable and avoidable if cruise lines would just take ownership of it like Royal is doing, instead of placing 100% of the ownership and knowing entry restrictions on the customer like NCL and Virgin are doing. I think people are getting caught up in the headlines, Virgin and NCL are allowing unvaccinated guest onboard but are not pay close attention to much of the fine print. Whereas Royal is taking a different approach in asking unvaccinated customers for a little more time while they continue to work with island in the Eastern Caribbean on coming up with a better plan that is less confusing for customers. However if you are unvaccinated and want to cruise with Royal, Royal is saying you can cruise with us starting in September out of Los Angeles, also out of Texas and Galveston but you will not be able to get off the ship in Grand Cayman.

Are you on the Adventure of the Seas September 1st sailing? I have a coworker who is going on that same cruise to Canada and New England as others have pointed out that is holiday weekend (Labor Day). Although I don't live in Boston or New England but I'm going to go out on a limb and say like here in Chicago Labor Day weekend is probably their unofficial end to summer. It is their last chance to really draw in massive crowds. After Labor Day weekend I imagine like here in Chicago things start to go down hill as tourist numbers start to drop off. Could it be that either Royal or the tour operator canceled the excursion because of expected crowds and drive times that would eat up a significant amount of time dedicated to the actual excursion itself? Cape Cod is definitely a popular destination I recommend you visit but not during your cruise, because you will want to spend a lot more time on Cape Cod than what the excursion has time for.

You are absolutely correct NCL will not have a hard limit on the number of unvaccinated guest they will allow onboard. However it isn't a free for all just yet and NCL is really putting the responsibility for knowing the rules on passengers. On NCL's website they have a hyperlink that unvaccinated customers should look at before they book a cruise because some destinations still will not allow unvaccinated guest. Destinations like Bermuda and others unvaccinated guest are not allowed to sail at all. Other destinations unvaccinated guest will not be allowed to disembark the ship while in port. While other destinations will allow unvaccinated guest to disembark the ship as long as they have presented a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours before embarkations, other require unvaccinated guest to not only present a negative Covid test but also a certificate of recovery. While ports of call like Puerto Rico require all unvaccinated guest to present a negative Covid test taken 48 hours prior to disembarking the ship in San Juan (NCL will administer the test to guest onboard but will NOT cover the cost of the test). In their press release NCL makes it clear it is the responsibility of each individual guest to make sure they can comply will all entry restrictions. What NCL does not address in their press release is if an unvaccinated customer books a cruise they are not allowed to set sail on will NCL issue that customer a full refund. Also imagine the chaos as unvaccinated individuals try to disembark the ship not realizing they are at an island where they are not allowed to disembark. I applaud NCL for removing the vaccine mandate but between now and September 3rd they need to find a better way to help passengers navigate this process because entry restrictions for unvaccinated guest vary from island to island. And to put that responsibility entirely on the guest to figure out I think will result in a lot of frustrated passengers. Also one last thing if you are unvaccinated and test positive for Covid onboard NCL will cover all onboard medical expenses for services rendered at their medical facility. However if the medical team decides to disembark you they will assist you with making land reservation including quarantine (some islands still require unvaccinated individuals to quarantine at a government facility) but NCL will NOT COVER any cost related to any land charges that unvaccinated guest may incur, including medical cost, quarantine cost, hotel cost, air fare, food and any other cost that may arise. If an unvaccinated guest is disembarked from the ship just like Virgin Voyages they are on their own. It looks like for both NCL and Virgin if a guest is vaccinated they are allowed to remain onboard and quarantine in their stateroom or in a stateroom near the medical facility. However unvaccinated guest it is entirely up to the medical staff whether or not they will be allowed to remain onboard or be medically disembarked.

Personally I like St Lucia, it is simply stunning in my opinion

I wonder if people have read the fine print (and that isn't directed at you personally so please don't take it as a personal attack). There seems to be separate rules at Virgin for vaccinated verses unvaccinated sailors. While Virgin is allowing unvaccinated passengers onboard that 10% is based off the total number of passengers booked not the ships capacity which we know Virgin is struggling to fill their 2 ships even the one currently sailing in the Caribbean. Sailors as they call them can book online or call sailor services where you will informed if you can actually sail. If they've already hit their 10% limit and you call afterwards you won't be allowed to sail. Secondly on Virgin Voyages if you are unvaccinated you are required to present a negative covid test taken within the previous 24 HOURS or you must test at the pier. Thirdly you must fill out a questionnaire that is sent to you 24 hours prior to boarding and even then Virgin Voyages makes it clear you or someone in your group could still be pulled for and screening by the ships medical personnel and if the medical personnel deem you at high risk for contracting covid they can deem you unfit to sail and deny you boarding at the pier. Speaking of groups lets say the group is unvaccinated and all of you arrive at the pier at the same time all TOGETHER and Virgin deems one person unfit for travel the entire group will be denied boarding. The only way to avoid this outcome is if you all arrive seperately and have no contact then only the person deemed unfit for travel will be denied boarding. Forthly and this is the kicker should you as an unvaccinated guest become ill onboard with covid Virgin Voyages will not cover ANY related expenses and they can medically disembark you. While Virgin will not require unvaccinated guest to purchase travel insurance unvaccinated guest need to know they are on their own with no financial assistance from the cruise line should you get sick during the voyage. Lastly Virgin Voyages is highly recommending that unvaccinated sailors wear a mask while onboard the ship except for when they are on a outdoors or in their cabin. There is a lot to consider before taking a cruise on Virgin if you are unvaccinated because there is no guarantee that you will actually get on the ship and secondly if you test positive during the voyage Virgin is letting you know you are on your own.

That is correct an antigen test is acceptable as long as it is administered or supervised by a medical professional regardless of vax status or length of cruise.

If you choose to book a non-refundable cruise and don't buy any type of trip insurance than you are accepting the risk that comes along with that type of booking. None of us knows what life will throw at us but when you book a non-refundable trip you are accepting a certain level of risk.

I understand what you are saying however it isn't a dictatorship where the cruise line dictate to these Island nations their list of demands. It is more like a partnership between the cruise lines and the nations in the Caribbean. You say the revenue is enormous (and it is) and they will alter policy. However, if there is one thing the pandemic has shown it is the resiliency of the islands of the Caribbean. These islands survived more than a year without any revenue from cruise lines all their tourist revenue came through tourist flying to their nation on aircraft. For some people the ship is the destination others choose a cruise not based on the ship but based on the islands the ship will visit. Start removing ports of call and cruise lines could start loosing passengers who choose their cruise based on destinations served. Removing ports of call to try and teach a Caribbean Island nation a lesson or show them who's boss could absolutely backfire. And just like the nations airlines step up service to the Caribbean when cruising was suspended they would have no problem add that capacity back to their schedules to accommodate tourist if cruise lines start dropping ports of call. Lastly your suggest of dropping ports may work from May through October, but what about November through April? The fall/winter timeframe is when a majority of Carnival, NCL, Royal, Celebrity, Princess, Disney, Holland America Line, are all sailing to more destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico than at any other time of the year. If cruise lines start dropping/altering ports to get islands to alter their policies they will run out of ports of call to visit from November through April. Only so many ships can visit a port at one time so dropping ports hurts the cruise line especially seeing some of these larger ships have a limited number of ports in the Caribbean they can actually visit. The answer is for the cruise lines and these island nations to work together toward a mutually beneficial deal where everybody wins without one party drawing a line in the sand because they think they are holding all the cards.

I'm not sure that is correct. From the beginning Royal was 100% onboard with testing all passengers over the age of 2 years old but they were not one of the cruise lines who wanted a vaccine mandate. Royal took steps to demonstrate with the right protocols unvaccinated individuals could sail the same as vaccinated. The cruise line that was desperate for a vaccine mandate was Norwegian Cruise Lines which took the extraordinary step of actually banning unvaccinated individuals (children) from all their ships when cruising resumed because at the time there was no vaccine approved for children under the age of 18. Norwegian propped themselves on a really high pedestal because they were the only major cruise lines in the US sailing at 100% fully vaccinated and tested and they tried to use it as a selling point that they were the safest cruise line sailing from any US port. That was until the Delta variant brought them back down to Earth in spectacular fashion with a major covid outbreak on one of their 100% fully vaccinated cruises in early fall of 2021.

It isn't supposed to get cold at least not like the refrigerator in your house. Those fridges are designed to keep items cool, not cold and I've always found that they've done their job at keeping bottle water, beer stuff like that cool. They are not designed to keep food cold (at proper temperature) or for holding medication that must be kept cold.

What did your original cruise documents show that were emailed to you? Did you make the booking here in the United States, Europe, South America, Australia, or Asia? If you made the booking here in the States perhaps the person didn't understand or even know about Golden Junior Suites. I understand you requested a golden junior suite but is that what they actually booked you into? Were you actually downgraded or was the mistake made when you booked and the representative booked you into a regular junior suite instead of a golden junior suite? Royal does have a lot of representatives and some don't know aspect of Royal and that is no excuse representatives should know everything about the line they work for. But I wonder if the mistake was made at actual booking where the representative didn't know about Golden Junior Suites and mistakenly booked you into a regular junior suite and did actually charge you for the golden access and somehow it was overlooked by both parties when the cruise documents were emailed out to you. The reason I'm asking what your original cruise documents stated is because the junior suite is the same size no matter the deck but the location of the Golden Suites is different and that may be the reason they couldn't help you when you called back is because all the Golden junior suites were sold out.

I don't know if you have a yearly subscription to Clear or not. If not Clear cost $189 dollars per year (they raised their prices in 2022, the blamed inflation). MIA does have Clear stations but only at select number of checkpoints. There may or may not be a Clear station at the terminal your are flying out of. On the other hand TSA PreCheck only cost $85 dollars and is good for 5 years. Even with as much as I used to travel before covid and the limited amount of travel I do now I don't think Clear is worth the cost. In most cases Clear only saves a person 1 or 2 minutes verses TSA Pre. Last week I traveled to Atlanta on my way home their was a line for both TSA Pre and Clear. The people in the Clear line probably got through security 2-3 minutes faster than I did. The problem with Clear is the same problem TSA Pre has which isn't checking your documents/ scanning your face, the problem that causes the backups is people and their bags going through the actually screening x-ray process.

My husband also does not eat seafood, we went to Hooks on both Symphony and Wonder and they have more than just seafood on the menu.

The wait time for passports has come down significantly from where it was at the height of the pandemic. If you are 6 months out I would strongly suggest you get passports. It is never a good idea to leave the country without your passport, even if you are taking a cruise you are still leaving the US, get and bring your passport.

I'm wondering what does your original cruise documents say? When is your set sail date? Your stateroom or category of stateroom if you were booked into a suite guarantee would be on your original cruise documents. What ship or class of ship were you booked on where they are now sold out until 2024?

I never thought to do something like that. You have peaked my interest in make your own resort for a day. This is why I love the blogs because I never would have thought to do something like that.

I've cruised out of NJ with Royal multiple times doing the Orlando/Bahamas cruise and I will say this the first cruise I ever took out of NJ on Anthem we went to Universal and there simply wasn't enough time to actually enjoy the park. All the other times we sailed on that cruise we've done our own shore excursions but have never again done Universal because it takes at least an hour (more if there is traffic) just to get to Orlando and there are no price cuts on admission to these theme parks simple because you show up at 1:30 or 2 pm. I wish Royal could get into port at Port Canaveral around 7 or 8 am and still leave at 9 pm then I think it would be worth it but a 12 pm arrival and a 9 pm departure does not give you enough time at all if you are going to Disney World or Universal.

So let's take this a bit further and say for example on a 7 night cruise your stateroom or suite is only cleaned 2 or 3 times max during those 7 nights. Should you still pay ( cruise line charge your for) gratuities for the additional 4 nights if you received no service at all from a stateroom attendant? Now think about how that might effect stateroom attendants overall pay. This is such a mirky issue because there will be people who will question why they are being charged 7 nights worth of gratuities if they are only getting service 2 or 3 times during a cruise and that would put a tremendous amount of financial pressure on stateroom attendants pay. After the am cleaning I put the sleeping it off sign out because I don't need the turndown service at night. But if this becomes a trend industry wide cruise lines would either have to raise the hourly pay for stateroom attendants or they will have a really hard time filling those positions because people may start to balk at the idea of paying for services they aren't actually receiving which means stateroom attendants would see a drop in pay.

I understand why they want to do this part of it is probably their desire to go green but I think the real reason they want to do this is because of staffing shortages. I'm a clean person I even will partially make the bed, not as good as house keeping but I will make the bed after I get out of it (my mother instilled that in my as a child), but I like having a clean stateroom/suite, I like having fresh towels every day, in my opinion it is part of the cruise experience. I'm back to traveling a bit for work not as much as I used to before covid but I do travel for work. What I've notices is hotels say they are not cleaning rooms every day because the customers don't want it but when I've talked to housekeeping they absolutely hate not cleaning the rooms everyday because when they do clean the rooms they have to spend almost 3 times the amount of time cleaning a room than they would when they were cleaning it everyday. And of course management is breathing down their necks to get the rooms clean and back in inventory. Post pandemic there have been hotel rooms that I've walked into where I walked out and went back to the front desk to demand a new room because the room wasn't clean like it should have been. Again I don't blame housekeeping they are working their butts off, I blame the hotels and it has nothing to do with going green or less contact and everything to do with money. In some regards the cruise experience has already been diminished and in my opinion that is part of the cruise experience and I don't want to see cruise lines follow this trend.

Is this what you used when you uploaded your vaccine information to Royal when you checked-in online? If that is the case I would still bring this document. Your original question was would they accept a picture of the card on your phone and the answer to that is no you have to have the physical document whether it is a card or the alternative document the state issued you at the time. Whatever physical document you have been issued you need to bring with you a photo on your phone is not good enough. Hopefully this answers your original question.

I've done multiple cruises since the resumption of cruising in the US and we've always brought the physical card with us and every person we've seen has their card with them as well. You can roll the dice if you want to, but if you really want to get on the ship without running into issues I would suggest you bring your actual vaccination card with you.