JasonOasis

Even though you haven't gotten an invite yet look at the bright side these test cruises will benefit all of us because they will allow us all to get back out there on the open ocean enjoying a vacation we all disparately need. I'm happy for everyone who has or will get an invite for a test cruise because I'm looking forward to getting onboard Symphony of the Seas on October 30, 2021. I'm not sure if they will allow B2B at this time but once final payment date has passed I will be looking for a 7 night November cruise out of Florida as well. In years past I've seen some good deals and great room open up after final payment day due to the fact some people made the reservation but didn't pay. Hoping to cash in this year I have a few more FCC's I can use.

It is doable as long as you are off the ship by 10am-10:30am. That may sound unreasonable but cruise turnaround day as you know is hectic on Dodge Island there have been times where I had to wait 20-30 minutes for a taxi because taxi's have to sit in all that traffic just to reach Royal especially if you are at the new terminal at end of Dodge Island. The way I look at it is like this if you are off the ship by 10 am you should be able to collect your luggage and clear customs and immigration by 10:30am. At the absolute latest you will be in a taxi by 11am (probably sooner but 11am is worst case scenario), and arrive at the airport shortly thereafter. Depending on your airline you should be checked-in and have checked your bags by 12pm which gives you more than enough time to clear security. If you have TSA-Pre your wait time at MIA will be a bit shorter than those who don't have TSA-Pre, but either way you will make your 2:25 pm flight with time to spare.

The US has decided not to reciprocate. Meaning although fully vaccinated American's will be able to travel to Canada for nonessential travel starting August 9th, the US just announced an extension of the border closure until August 21 this covers all nonessential travel for Canadians. https://thepointsguy.com/guide/is-canada-open-for-travel/ Here we have another country opening its borders to fully vaccinate Americans but the US government refusing to reciprocate. This was an issue German Chancellor Angela Merkel brought up to President Biden in her most recent visit to the White House. Most of Europe has opened its borders to fully vaccinated Americans but the White House and the CDC refuse to reciprocate and open our borders to fully vaccinated Europeans and now Canadians. When does this madness end, there is no reason fully vaccinated Europeans and Canadians should continue to be barred from traveling to the United States. I don't understand what the US government is trying to prove by prevent fully vaccinated people from entering this country.

Exactly what I was I was thinking, they are not giving people a lot of lead in time and with air fares being as expensive as they are even for a domestic flight, it does make you wonder how many volunteers can drop everything on short notice and make their way up to Seattle or any other port where Royal is conducting a test cruise? I thought about signing up because I could work remotely for those few days but I never actually did sign up.

6 weeks mailing times... What is the post office doing?

If you don't like what one judge has to say I guess you appeal and find another. I wish this saga would just end, I don't understand why the CDC continues to fight this, when it is obvious cruise lines in this country know what to do to keep passengers safe while onboard.

Once again I would say wait till the last possible moment to make a decision. Although the entry requirement for Barbados appear to be a bit harsh believe it or not it is actually an improvement even for unvaccinated individuals. Every week more and more vaccine makes it way to nations throughout the Caribbean I reckon within 6 weeks if not sooner there may be another entry requirement update for Barbados making it even easier for people (vaccinated) to enter the country. I think with the next update fully vaccinated individuals will only need to show a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before entry and that will be enough to avoid quarantine all together. For those who are unvaccinated it will take a more time but I think by the end of the year if not before Barbados and (depending on vaccine distribution in the Caribbean) most Caribbean nations will allow unvaccinated travelers to enter their respective countries without the need to quarantine as long as they present a negative PCR test.

You still have about 60 or so days until final payment is due. If you are seriously considering Barbados I would suggest you begin researching their entry requirements. I know from being in the airline industry they just updated their entry requirements on July 15, 2021 for unvaccinated and fully vaccinated travelers. All travelers vaccinated or not are still required to present a PRC test taken no more than 72 hours prior to entry(rapid antigen test or any self administered test are not accepted). Upon arrival in Barbados you will be tested again even if you are fully vaccinated and will be required to take another PRC test and then quarantine for up to 3 days at a government approved quarantine hotel while awaiting the result of that test. If that test comes back negative then you are free to leave quarantine. For unvaccinated passengers they will be required to present a negative PRC test no more than 72 hours old and upon arrival they also will be tested again then half way into their quarantine they will be PCR tested a 3rd time. According to the government Unvaccinated passengers should expect to remain in quarantine at a government approved quarantine hotel between 10-14 days. Also you will have to cover the cost of all COVID test while in Barbados. These entry requirements may change again by December but I would say you need to take into account the entire picture. If you arrive in Barbados 1 day prior to set sail you are going to miss the ship because even if you are vaccinated they are saying quarantine will last more than 24 hours because they will administer a PCR test upon arrival. Breaking quarantine even for a cruise isn't allowed. If it were me I would keep both cruises for now stay on top of the entry requirements for Barbados and make a final decision at the absolute last possible moment. The cruise out of Barbados looks absolutely amazing but if there is no change to the entry requirements between now and December you might be in for a hassle just to get on the ship.

This saddens me because here in Chicago and throughout the suburbs we've heard of large clusters of individuals who were mistakenly given the wrong second dose by the pharmacy. This was no fault of their own they presented their CDC card and the pharmacist didn't read the card and administered the wrong shot as their second dose. Now these cruise lines are saying they can't cruise that's not right. If they are considered fully vaccinated by the CDC then that should be enough to cruise.

I think it will transition into same agreement the US has with Mexico where both American's and Mexican's can fly into both countries but the land border remains closed to nonessential travel. I'm with you I don't understand it but I think if the US - Canada border does reopen the only way nonessential travelers will be permitted to cross would be via air travel. I hope I'm wrong and there is a full reopening of the US - Canadian border but I must say confidence is low that border will open to nonessential travel on land.

My advise would be to buy in advance, if you know you want to do lunch at both Chops and Jamie's just buy it now because one thing is for sure prices will not be lower onboard.

During the cruise I would have to say Honduras, the last time we didn't even bother getting off the ship because the time before we were nearly robbed in Honduras. My second least favorite port is disembarkation because it means my cruise is over and its back to reality. Even after being on a cruise B2B for 14 days I still hate disembarkation day.

I would it is up to you and what type of experience your looking for. My husband and I have done cruises where all we've done is MDR and the food in the MDR is great. But there are times when we will go in specialty dinning, in fact our last cruise in November of 2019 we went all in with the ultimate dinning package. We had never done a cruise where we only ate at specialty restaurants we decided to spring for the ultimate dinning package. I don't know if I will do the ultimate dinning package again because personally I did miss the MDR, so in the future I would probably do a 3 night package and go to the MDR for the remainder of the cruise.

Cruising can resumes right after the fall foliage season ends. ? How many cruises are still leaving from or stopping in Canada in November?

Adventure of the Seas 2009

It would appear as though Carnival Cruise Lines will follow Royal Caribbean's lead, any passenger who is unvaccinated or does not wish to voluntarily share their vaccination status will be required to purchase travel insurance that includes medical coverage should they need to be disembarked from the ship. Also Carnival is saying unvaccinated passengers will be limited to certain areas of the ship they will not be able to experience all the venues and activities. This change is for all passengers cruising out of Florida, passengers departing from a cruise port outside of Florida will not be required to purchase travel insurance because adult passengers will not be allowed to sail if they are not vaccinated. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carnival-unvaccinated-policy-florida-royal-caribbean-cruise-lines-insurance/ Not sure why NCL doesn't just go this routes as well out of Florida.

You have to make your own decision based on the information you currently have. Like twangster already pointed out Royal is offering refunds (I don’t know if you book a fully refundable cruise or not no need to disclose) but if you didn’t book a fully refundable cruise and you have an issue with the new onboard mask requirements then now is the time to just pull the trigger and cancel your cruise. By doing that you might run the risk of not being able to find a similar cruise on another cruise line or if you do you’re probably going to pay a bit more because prices are sky high. If NCL’s policy works better for you then my suggestion would be don’t wait just pull the trigger and go with NCL. I’m in the same boat I’m considering canceling my October cruise on Symphony I will not as a fully vaccinated individual be forced to wear a mask on a cruise. Right now I’m looking to see what NCL or Celebrity has available for late October through mid-November.

I disagree there is a difference between wearing a mask to enter a store or to board an airplane and wearing a mask on a cruise ship any time you're outside your stateroom while moving around from venue to venue. I'm fully vaccinated have been for some time I've taken several vacations since being vaccinated in fact I'm on vacation now in New Orleans I can not fathom having to put a mask back on as a fully vaccinated individual even on a cruise ship. In my view either the vaccines work or they don't work. If they do work and I believe they do what was there original intent? There original intent was to prevent severe infections that resulted in hospitalization or God forbid death. We know the vaccines are working at least here in the US, because the number of people who are now requiring hospitalization and ICU bed are mostly unvaccinated individuals. The vaccines were never designed to prevent infection they were designed to keep people out of the hospital or worst the morgue, so fully vaccinated people should not need to wear mask. They have to stop moving the goal posts, we saw them move the goal post when it cam to testing now they are moving the goal posts again as it pertains to the vaccines.

Even on a Transatlantic sailing Royal still has to comply with all local laws. Hopefully once the ship is in international waters they will make an announcement onboard relaxing the mask rules but don't expect to see any changes before then. As long as that ship is in territorial waters they must comply with each specific countries rules which adds to the confusion for passengers. Keep your fingers crossed I think you will see a relaxation of the policy and more of an alignment with the US onboard mask policy once the ship is in international waters.

Has the Australian government or even the New Zealand government ever stated why they will not at the very least allow cruising to resume from Australia or New Zealand while restricting cruising to citizens of these 2 countries? We have seen these types of cruises work in Singapore where only Singapore residents can cruise so why can't the governments of these two countries do the same? These cruises could potentially be restricted to Australian and New Zealand ports or they could be cruises to nowhere. I feel sad that it appears as though no progress has been made to help Australian's and New Zealanders get back out on the open seas.

You are absolutely right. Royal needs to invests large sums of money in IT, in today's environment even if there was no COVID customers expect better from a company the size of Royal Caribbean. Recently I paid off one of my upcoming cruises using FCC's I conducted the entire transaction online, it then stated no balance remains on this reservation. A few days later maybe 5 or 6 days later I decided to sign in and see how much remained outstanding a different cruise and me not paying attention clicked on the wrong cruise I had the wrong reservation number and up pops the cruise I know I paid off with FCCs showing $1200 dollar outstanding balance. I had to snatch myself real quick because my blood was about to boil, and I called the loyalty desk the first agent stated she couldn't help me and transferred me over to a different department. The new agent could help but she was like since you used 2 FCCs the computer decided to apply the full amount of the first FCC but not the full amount of the 2nd FCC and we will re-issue you another FCC for the remaining amount in 30 days. She stated there must have been an IT problem or glitch. She could see in her system both FCC certificates, she could see my selection to apply both there were no name changes no funny business but RCC computers decided nope not applying the full amount of the second FCC. She had to transfer me over to a manager because a manager was the only one who could override and apply the full amount of the 2nd FCC to the cruise. She kept saying you will get another FCC in 30 days and I kept saying I don't want another FCC I want the full amount of the FCC already used applied to the cruise I selected. I'm glad I clicked on the wrong cruise and entered the wrong information I still can't explain how I did that but if I hadn't I would gone on thinking my cruise is paid in full and there would have a $1200 dollar outstanding balance because Royals computers decided not to apply the full amount of the 2nd FCC.

In a different thread dealing with cancelations I posted both Australia and New Zealand advised airlines they would not be reopening their borders before 2022. The airline that I work for just this week pulled flights to both Australia and New Zealand off the schedule through February of 2022. During normal times the airline I work for operated their most robust schedule from November through April. If for instance both these countries do remain closed through February of 2022 then my guess would be yes the entire 2021/2022 Australian and New Zealand spring/summer cruise season is done. Even if Australia were to open in March of 2022 Royal Caribbean's busy season basically begins to wind down by the end of April as some ships then begin making their way either to Asia or over to Hawaii on their way up to the Pacific Northwest for the Alaska cruise season. Who knows what Royal will now do with those ships temporarily, we will all have to wait and see maybe something from the West Coast..

It is my understanding both Australia and New Zealand have at least told airlines their countries would remain closed for the remainder of 2021. The airline I work for just this week removed flights to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and New Zealand from their schedule through February of 2022. Those flights were supposed to resume on October 29th 2021 but now the suspension will continue through February of 2022. Australia was supposed to reopen in March of 2021, then it was pushed back to July of 2021, that was pushed back to October of 2021 and now it has been pushed back to February 2022. Qantas which is Australia's top international airline has blasted the decision (that is putting it nicely) but there is nothing they can really do. According to some of worlds top business journals some are now estimating Australia and New Zealand will not fully reopen until 2023 because both countries have adopted a zero COVID policy. In fact Sydney and several other Australian cities on the Pacific side on Australia just went back into lock down because 15 COVID cases were detected. Australia also just last week reduced the number of citizens who can come home that number is now down to just over 3000 passengers per week world wide not just from the U.S.. Australia still has citizens who still haven't ben able to return home they've been stranded outside their country since 2020. So the flights operating to SYD out of LAX and SFO are really transporting Australian citizens home (those who can afford it) but no tourist are allowed in the country. My advise for anyone looking at cruising out of or taking a trans-Pacific cruise to Australia or New Zealand would be this don't plan or book any cruise to/from these countries before 2023 perhaps even 2024.

Working in the airline industry I can tell you Singapore is still closed to all Americans, the last update I saw hinted that Singapore may not reopen its borders until 2022.

Fall over board