LovetoCruise87

Need to vent a bit here. Our stop at St. Kitts later in the month was cancelled. Got the email notification that the cost of the excursion we had booked would be refunded to us, in 30-45 days. I said, I don't think so, 30-45 days is unacceptable. I called Royal last night and told them that I would like to cancel that myself, so as to get the ball rolling quicker. I was told that I could not cancel it, but that Royal had, and that was all that could be done. I pushed the issues and was then told that they could cancel it right then. Second part, I booked this excursion for my wife and I and our daughter, paid for all three on my card. Our daughter is in a different cabin than we are. The agent said that he could refund the money for my wife and I, but that they could not refund the money for our daughter until she calls in and authorizes it. That statement made absolutely no since as I did not need her authorization to book her on the excursion to begin with. Adding to that, I had just cancelled and rebooked an excursion on Coco Cay two weeks ago and there was no issue then. I was told that approval was needed to give that refund, so I was on hold, hold, hold until he finally came back and said he had gotten the approval for the cancelation and to refund what I had spent on our daughter. Long story short, I was on the phone with them for over an hour to accomplish something that could have been done in 5 minutes. Thank you for allowing me to vent.

Right now my wife and I have decided to mask back up again even though we are vaccinated. I have seen to many people that I know come down with CoVid and we want to do everything we can to make sure we have a negative test ahead of our Aug 22 sailing on Allure. We also decided not to be in large gatherings of people, church for one. Even at work we are both wearing masks now, as are the people that we work with.

From a USA Today article: Carlos Mercado, executive director of Puerto Rico’s Tourism Company, told The Associated Press that the government took several precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including allowing only those who are fully vaccinated to disembark.

I was wondering that myself. Does Royal just bite the bullet and sail at 95% or higher? Seems with them stating that everyone cruising an itinerary to St. Thomas needs to be vaccinated they are heading in that direction. They could decide to not stop at St. Thomas thereby continuing to have ships with a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated. Each day brings new problems and new requirements, but we will continue to be flexible with whatever happens with our cruise.

Since the itinerary for our Aug 22 sailing has changed and we are no longer going to St. Kitts but St. Maarten instead, any suggestions on great excursions? We've only been there once and just got off for shopping.

Also the way I read it, this was the officials of the US Virgin Islands implementing it. No cruise ships with unvaccinated passengers will be allowed to stop at St. Thoma

We are scheduled for Aug 22 with this itinerary. The only two excursion we have are St. Kitts and Coco Cay. So any change is ok with me. At this point we are not going to be canceling or rebooking. Too close and too excited to do that!

We were able to check in for our Aug 22 Allure sailing 32 days before.

I don't see it that way. The more testing, the safer the cruise will be.

As I've said before, we are all excited to cruise next month, and whatever protocols they have in place or add is fine with us. Just let me on the ship for a much needed vacation!

Our daughter works for a resort and she has said that housekeeping staff is down considerably and rooms are only being cleaned while someone is staying in them if they request it. Otherwise it's only after the guests check out. Cruising is a completely different story. I love seeing crew constantly wiping down things, offering sanitizer, basically keeping the ship very clean. With the new protocols in place I feel much safer on a cruise than anywhere else.

I agree with Matt. Royal is going to keep everything the way it is. They have already stated the reason for test cruising, so that they can have families on board. Sure it would have been very easy to go the vaccination 95% route, but that would have not allowed many families the ability to cruise.

Royal will not be changing their protocols, except for what was announced yesterday in everyone cruising 4+ nights has to have a negative test to board. I think Royal is doing an excellent job in protecting those aboard their ships and they should be applauded for it.

Well, I wasn't thinking that I wouldn't have to get a Covid test, but now I do, which I don't mind. The only downside is that insurance won't pay for it if it is travel related. Oh well. Cruise on!!!!

No concern what so ever about cruising. We will be on Allure Aug 22. I feel that with the health protocols that are in place, cruising is even more safe now than before the pandemic began.

That is very true. We booked an oasis beach cabana at the price of $1199 and the sale that just went off it was priced at $499. So we cancelled and rebooked it and saved $700!

Ans look at that, it's my favorite color!!

I can't even tell you when the last time I wore a tie was. I work in the medical field, so I get to wear scrubs, aka pajamas, every day. I will have to dust off a few for the upcoming cruise though. Now where is that video on tying ties?? lol

My wife accused me of being immature. I told her to get out of my fort.

Welcome to the blog! I don't have any useful information as my kids are adults. Just wanted to welcome you.

We had purchased an Oasis Lagoon Cabana for $1,199 just a while ago and then saw the sale at $499. Called RC and cancelled the cabana and rebooked it to save money.

Wondering if Royal will make any changes to the mask policy they have in place at the moment.

Me reading what the CDC says: download.htm

As a result, at this time, we will continue to exercise enforcement discretion by not enforcing the requirements of CDC’s Mask Order for ships arriving in, within, or departing from a port in Florida, regardless of whether or not the ship has chosen to follow the CDC’s Conditional Sailing Order’s public health measures on a voluntary basis. I may be a bit slow on the uptake here, but it reads that the CDC is not going to be enforcing it's own mask order. Opinions?

I guess the answer is to do whatever you are comfortable with.