icf75

9 hours ago, JasonOasis said:

That is exactly what it sounded like to me.  His comments on unvaccinated passengers did lead me to believe those to choose to cruise but are not vaccinated may incur higher cost and more restrictions once onboard the ship.

I didn't take it as he was trying to twist customers arm into getting vaccinated.  Instead I took as he is letting customers know if you choose to not get vaccinated and choose to take a cruise you will be responsible for covering all additional cost needed to make sure Royal prevents a COVID outbreak onboard one of their ships.  So basically he is giving customers a choice while making them aware of the financial responsibility they will incur if they choose to cruise unvaccinated.

Im interested how it affects UK children who may not be eligible? Additional costs/restrictions?

12 hours ago, CGTLH said:

There would be no additional cost for children who are not eligible for the vaccine.

But still restrictions? This will make them stand out like a load of Lepers! I don't want my children being ostracised for being un-vaxxed

As Fain has said this

He added that there would be no additional costs for children who are not eligible for the vaccine.

Do we think this will apply to UK children who most likely not be eligible by my cruise date?

Not what this says?

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that prohibits businesses and government agencies in the state from asking people for proof — digital passport or otherwise — of a COVID-19 vaccination.

If in Florida RCL are not able to ask the vaccine status of passengers, how will they know?

But its also the procedures on board for the un-vaxxed that I don't want my children to cruise under.  I also suspect they will be looked upon as disease spreaders by some!

If this applies "The move comes after Florida passed a law that will fine companies $5,000 each time they ask customers if they are vaccinated against the coronavirus"

How would RCL determines someone's vax status?

Assuming the policy of children over 12 need to be vaccinated to cruise lasts forevermore, and my children wont be getting vaccinated (until the trial period is over)

Because of this rule and over procedures on board for the great unvaxxed, it looks as though I will be cancelling my Aug 22nd cruise on Allure.  Therefore I'm guessing I will only be offered a fcc?

Now here is the issue, I will possibly never be able to cruise in the near future due to the vaccination policy, therefore there is literally no point re-booking with fcc.  In this instance would it be not be reasonable to request a cash refund?

1 hour ago, Leroyr55 said:

My only concern would be several unvaccinated passengers testing positive and ruining the cruise for everybody else. 
 

You are aware that vaccinated people can still get it?

Hypothetically, if the vaccination rules apply to children for next year as well.

How will I ever be able to get my money back? 

20 minutes ago, Matt said:

The only protocols we know of are what they announced for Adventure from Bahamas.

For summer cruises, it looks like vaccination will be optional. Things can change, and Royal has promised updates for protocols and rules later. Not sure when.

Standard cancellation rules apply, unless you take the 100% FCC from Cruise with Confidence so you can book something else down the line.

So am I right in thinking there is no way I can get a full cash refund?

Would I be right to assume these new conditions will be in place for my 22nd August allure cruise?

If so and as my children will not be vaccinated, will rcl offer me a cancellation with 125% fcc? As this clearly was not the policy when I booked. Or will they use the ‘we reserve the right to change conditions’ clause?

11 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

Those of us on Adventure of the Seas in 9 days still don't have the covid protocols yet.

The good news is that Allure will have hopefully passed her test cruise and you have a reasonable hope that your cruise will go.

It may well go but I need to know 30 days prior as that’s when I need to cancel the alternative accommodation I have booked.

So I’m due to sail on Allure 22nd August. I was told by rcl that I would receive the latest cruise conditions 30 days prior. How can this now happen when the test cruise is after that date?

Im travelling from the UK (hopefully) and will have unvaccinated children. I need to know the policy before 30 days. I also would like to know what the on board experience will be like, masks etc.

36 minutes ago, Matt said:

Yes and no.  You're right that the lines obviously want to get their fleet going and you know, make money.

But, they've said all along their restart will be slow and methodical. Part of this is the logistics of getting crew onboard and vaccinated. Then there's the supply chain and restarting that, among other restart costs/logistics.

Based on comments from Fain, I expect there will be some ships still not sailing by the time 2022 rolls around.

So am I right in assuming, that if Allure does not carry out a test cruise fairly soon my Aug 22nd cruise is off?

Does every ship need to do a test cruise?

Edit:  Sorry, post above beat me to it!

3 hours ago, Jim S said:

Well it looks like we will not be booking any more RCI cruises, at least for the foreseeable future. Our TA contacted RCI and they confirmed that the new TC’s that I posted earlier in this thread will be in force for all future cruises for at least another 12 months. Looks like P&O, MSC and Cunard will be getting our bookings from now on, as they are all taking a much more reasonable and realistic approach to the pandemic situation.

So would these apply to my aug 21 Allure from Port Canaveral? As I contacted RC yesterday and they had no info for me??

Have just spoke with RC again and they maintain that these terms could change

Just a thought, but what happens when a case is detected on a ‘fully vaccinated’ cruise? 

Also cases are irrelevant if the vulnerable are vaccinated. The sooner the CDC, media et al push this narrative, the sooner we can all cruise together. Both Vaccinated and the ‘great unwashed’.

I note the article states US guests (because of the current travel restrictions). Does anyone know what Celebrities policy is for non-US children and vaccinations?

2 hours ago, johnt83 said:

I am disappointed that Royal Caribbean didn't go the vaccinated route. Forget the test cruises, I don't want to be on a cruise with people who aren't vaccinated, because the reason they probably didn't get vaccinated is NOT because of health reasons or religion or whatever. They are just anti-vaxxers and have all these dumb theories about the vaccine. Plus the risk is higher of an outbreak if you mix vax'd and unvax'd... it may backfire for Royal Caribbean and they may regret not going the vaccinated route. We will see. Luckily my next cruise isn't until November so hopefully things are better by then in terms of all this craziness.

I would happily cruise with 'the great un-vaxxed'.  Just as long as I could cruise, the risks are minuscule!"!

I'm just a bit frustrated that RC cannot even give me a date as to when I will know what the conditions will be for my Aug 22nd cruise (specifically vaccinated children).  Being a UK traveller 30 days notice of the requirements is quite short notice, and I have a lot of money tied up in this trip.

45 minutes ago, Ian T said:

Tony at La Lido Loca has picked up on a recent change to the RC FAQ on the subject that now indicates that the requirement applies only to sailings from Seattle or the Bahamas by virtue of specific reference to these sailings (where previously - I am led to believe - it referred to all US sailings).

I appreciate that this does not help those booked on those sailings who may still have unanswered questions, but it does suggest that, as @JeffB has opined above, RC is not intending for this to be a long- or even medium- term protocol.

 

I was also told this by an RC agent today. She was expecting news about Florida ports imminently.

“They have provided steps and options for 3 ships already, all citizenships, therefore even for UK guests those options would apply. However, they are still reviewing all other ships (departure ports) and will be providing us with more information soon.”

If all else fails, ive just booked a villa in Cape Coral with a 115hp pontoon boat as my Allure replacement 

18 minutes ago, Matt said:

Where is your ship sailing from? 

My understanding (which could be wrong) is if you or your kids are old enough to be vaccinated, they would need to be vaccinated in order to cruise. The fact you may not have access to the vaccine does not appear to be an excuse to be able to sail still.

But if you are sailing from UK, minimum age is 18, and if your kids are less than 18 years old, they could go on the cruise unvaccinated (provided you and any other adults got the jab).

Its Port Canaveral, my slightly optimistic spin on his comment, is that technically my children are not eligible for the vaccine as they are not old enough to have one in the UK.

7 hours ago, JeffB said:

@smokeybandit, I take your point. I acknowledge the extremely low risk of un-vaxed under 16s of transmitting the virus but it is, nonetheless possible for this cohort to become infected and transmit the virus to other unvaccinated PAX. That's a risk Fain seems to be betting on the come line that (1) he will meet the 95% vaccinated requirement in a reduced capacity circumstance, e.g., for 3000 guests on a mega-ship normally accommodating 6000, you'll need to have less than 150 under 16s. (2) He won't have to deal with a scenario where kid # 151 has to be turned away. 

If this is the path he is actually going down, not only does he have the risk of even one or two infections happening on a ship but he has to deal with the eventuality that he'll get swamped with under 16s without a defined path (that we know of) of how is going to deal with that scenario. I think that's dumb compared with Celebrity's - albeit less likely to have that many kids aboard - approach. I suspect he knows more about where the CDC is actually going with the CSO than we know about because, he and the people around and advising him are not dumb. 

Surely if the adults on -board are vaxxed, the possibility of an unvaxxed child passing it to a vaxxed adult and then becoming symptomatic are miniscule?  This is how it will have to be in the future, its just a shame the CDC cant deal with this as the low risk it is! 

9 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Fain's video today didn't seem all that concerned about meeting the 95% threshold (in the context of kids who can't yet get the vaccine).  He said, "on these cruises [cruises with higher numbers of kids]  we may not reach the 95% threshold, but  but even here, the vast majority will be vaccinated."

I don't know if that means they expect some waiver for when the numbers are close to 95% but not there, or the test cruises will be done on ships on family-heavy routes.

Im hoping it means us UK travellers whose children wont be eligible for a vaccine can still cruise!