smokeybandit

covid counts in February will look much different than right now, just due to the quick hitting nature of omicron

The policy was changed, at least through the end of January. They'll still not offer the tests on board, but will cover the cost at the pier. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/12/26/royal-caribbean-will-cover-cost-of-international-passenger-covid-tests-january?fbclid=IwAR3flBxUJh9Sdp178iypJJXk5421Oo6v2oOAI7jTCyTJcjuU2Dy1RfDvBMs

There really is no average rate. It varies so much across ships, itineraries and peak/low season timing

Booking a cruise doesn't matter. Having a TA maintain your reservation is where the value comes in

That blogger hates the cruise industry. Not sure why he runs a blog about something he hates

Obviously I know the difference in roles, but I assumed the two jobs were pretty interchangeable. But it seems like Genie is a step up from suite concierge. Is that true?

I bet if you asked the parents, most probably got their kids vaccinated solely for the cruise.

May your stockings be full and your tests be negative

Are more and more ports really turning away ships though? Or just a few here and there that have on board issues?

The Bahamas rules have been for people entering the country via air. The cruise ship rules have just been 12+ needing a vaccination

Those itineraries are just so bad though

PCR tests can return a positive result so late because they're looking for the RNA fragments, which can persist long after the virus is no longer capable of replicating. Think of antigen vs. PCR in the hunt for fresh roadkill. Antigen test will pick up on the flesh (proteins that comprise the virus). After a while there's no more flesh left, so then the antigen test returns negative. PCR test looks for the carcass (RNA of the virus). It could be a deer hit by a car 10 minutes ago, or could be just fur and bones a month later. So yes it's a carcass, but it's not feeding any scavengers anymore.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-need-an-rt-pcr-test-before-i-cruise-where-should-i-go

This wouldn't have been avoided with lower capacities. Just a lot of bad luck and timing for those on those cruises that happened to occur right when omicron got its grip.

The 90 day positive thing is only PCR tests. Since you're vaccinated, you can take the antigen test and won't need to worry about it.

So ! Update time ! We now have 21 ships back in operation, 40,000 crew back to work all fully vaccinated and all now receiving their booster shots and over 50,000 to 60,000 guests a week sailing with us all fully vaccinated (over 12) and increasingly the 5 to 12 year olds are getting vaccinated. We have also been managing capacity from our start up in July with 20 to 30 per cent average load factors increasing approx 10 per cent a month to approx 70 to 80 per cent in December. Our normal year full year load factor is approx 110 per cent. (3rd and 4th berth occupancy which is normally kids) With a typical sailing having anywhere from 95 to 98 per cent fully vaccinated onboard population and all guests tested before boarding and all crew tested weekly with front of house staff now being tested every 3 days and everyone wearing masks the vast majority of the time, along with social distancing, sanitizing etc we now have a “positivity” rate way below the national rate and way below our big home port states such as Florida, California, Texas etc and way below Broward and Miami Dade in Florida the two counties that are home to of our biggest home ports of Miami and Port Everglades. So what are we seeing now ! With the new variant ! Please note this is my observation only and is not in anyway, any kind of medical or scientific or political statement. Just letting you know what we are seeing ! We are seeing increases in positivity rates with some ships currently close to 1 per cent (please note Florida positivity rate is 5 per cent which is pretty good relative to others) and recently Symphony of the Seas was in the media spotlight with 48 positive cases (mainly guests) which was less than 1 per cent of the onboard population (for example 1 per cent positivity rate is 60 people from a onboard population of 6,000). Also Odyssey of the Seas has 50 positive cases mainly crew with a onboard population of over 5,000 plus, so approx 1 per cent positivity rate. What else do we see ! 98 per cent plus of positive cases are with the fully vaccinated and 99 per cent plus are asymptomatic or with very mild symptoms often surprised they are positive at all. It really does seem as though the virus (if vaccinated) has morphed to something more like a mild cold ! (Second notice this is not in anyway a statement based on science but simply what we are seeing and hearing from our operations in this environment). As all this continues we see various destinations responding to their concern over the new variant which has resulted in isolated cases of ports closing temporarily for cruise access if either the destination or the ship has elevated positivity rates. On the good news side of things ! Guest satisfaction is sky high ! Lots of very happy guests enjoying wonderful cruise vacations in a safe (relative to any other options) and fun way. The crew (God bless them all) have been through all kinds of obstacles and difficulties and are now back doing what they love to do do and are now able to care for and support their families back home. So my hope is this really is the beginning of the end of this virus and what we are seeing is its morphing to fast spread and less harmful like the common cold ! (If vaccinated). So here is hope as we move into year 3 of this terrible period that 2022 will be the end of this all and life will return to a happy normal where we worry about stuff like kids schooling, car problems, bills and wot not ! And more importantly we look forward to happy times and glorious adventures across the oceans and seas of this beautiful planet. So to all of our Guests, Crew, Employees, Travel and Destination partners I wish you Happy Holidays and Merry Xmas and a happy, healthy New Year to you and your families. ---------------------------------------------- I think everyone can put to rest concerns of any cruises being canceled based on that

Based on that RC still wants to proceed, just they need a different partner to do it.

No extra OBC for any of my cruises. Though I see the DBP is $92!!!! for one of them. (Oh but I can get 50% off a 2nd DBP)

Just about all ports of call have been 4 at one point or another since cruising restarted.

Removal from the website just means they stopped selling cabins (even if temporarily if they're doing some cabin shifting). There's zero to read into in regards to cancellations.

This is the issue with Omicron. Rapid spread but mild if any actual illness. One study that just came out found that Omicron reproduces a lot faster in your airway, but a lot slower in your lungs. That makes total sense in why more and more people are testing positive but feeling fine. Just gotta wait it out. Based on other countries' data, it's a quick hit. No slow onramp or slow offramp. Just a big but brief wham.

I thought I read that a couple crew members tested positive during routine testing.

Actually it blows

I think "new" is "since cruising restarted" and not something recent.

This is a good first step but hospitalization numbers don't give a truly accurate picture since it's a mix of people admitted for covid treatment as well as people admitted for something unrelated to covid but then test positive upon admission during routine testing.