dswallow

It always was the case that you might need to leave the ship to re-clear US Customs/Immigration, as it was based on staffing levels whether or not they would come aboard to clear B2B'ers aboard the ship. You also usually were given a card identifying you as an in-transit passenger to be able to stay off the ship and be able to return freely anytime before all-aboard time, if you wanted.

But you never had to pack up and actually take all your luggage and belongings off the ship, and then only come back at some pre-scheduled time window.

Talk about disengaging the brain before thinking through a policy change.


 
 

It always was the case that you might need to leave the ship to re-clear US Customs/Immigration, as it was based on staffing levels whether or not they would come aboard to clear B2B'ers aboard the ship. You also usually were given a card identifying you as an in-transit passenger to be able to stay off the ship and be able to return freely anytime before all-aboard time, if you wanted.

But you never had to pack up and actually take all your luggage and belongings off the ship, and then only come back at some pre-scheduled time window.

Talk about disengaging the brain before thinking through a policy change.


 
 

Talk about disengaging the brain before thinking through a policy change.


 
 

Talk about disengaging the brain before thinking through a policy change.


 
 

This is excellent news, and likely exactly what several of the cruise lines were hoping would happen in other countries after St. Thomas made their announcement not too long ago about the requirement. Plant the seed, watch it take root and grow.

Just because you're clueless and/or inconsistent about one thing doesn't mean you're not an expert at others. ?

Cape Liberty is now specifically listed for protocols:

Getting Ready to Cruise | Healthy & Safe Cruises | Royal Caribbean Cruises

But to summarize, things are basically the same out of all US ports, except for a few sailings left to depart Florida in August, and a couple sailings possible out of Florida ports at the end of of October. After that, nothing is really completely certain yet.

No, it's generally that you are told to wait a bit after recovery.

Cape Liberty is now specifically listed for protocols:

Getting Ready to Cruise | Healthy & Safe Cruises | Royal Caribbean Cruises

But to summarize, things are basically the same out of all US ports, except for a few sailings left to depart Florida in August, and a couple sailings possible out of Florida ports at the end of of October. After that, nothing is really completely certain yet.

This is excellent news, and likely exactly what several of the cruise lines were hoping would happen in other countries after St. Thomas made their announcement not too long ago about the requirement. Plant the seed, watch it take root and grow.

It would appear there are just 5 of 69 sailings departing before November 1 and not back in port before September 3 from Florida ports that don't visit a port in The Bahamas between September 3 and November 1.
Odyssey, 10/23/2021, from Ft. Lauderdale, 8 Night Southern Caribbean Cruise | Royal Caribbean Cruises
Serenade, 10/25/2021, from Tampa, 5 Night Western Caribbean Cruise | Royal Caribbean Cruises
Serenade, 10/30/2021, from Tampa, 5 Night Western Caribbean Cruise | Royal Caribbean Cruises
Symphony, 10/30/2021, from Miami, 7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day | Royal Caribbean Cruises
Odyssey, 10/31/2021, from Ft. Lauderdale, 6 Night Western Caribbean Cruise | Royal Caribbean Cruises

There are 9 more sailings from Florida ports that aren't affected by this protocol change because they end before September 3.

Website now also updated for September protocols.
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/do-i-need-a-covid-vaccine-to-cruise-what-counts-as-proof
 

@dswallow, Between here and the Oasis Oct 10th facebook cruise group, I am glad to see your posts.  Your conclusions seem decently drawn and well written. Thank you.

You should pay attention the news in The Bahamas. Everything they are doing is working towards getting the population vaccinated, encouraging vaccination, and tying reopening of things to vaccination. The latest messaging is about getting hundreds of thousands of vaccination doses just recently and completing nationwide vaccination plans soon. It is a consistent, repeated message. This change is just one more part of that to provide a cohesive, consistent protocol going forward, especially through the current spike of infections that appear to be coming from the Delta variant right now.
And seriously what do you really believe this change is going to do? This change is going to make Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines remove unvaccinated people who could other get vaccinated; they're not going to move a ship to a different port; for shorter cruises, there isn't another port in most cases that's a practical alternative. And there's really nothing like CocoCay either, in which Royal Caribbean has a big investment, and certainly must have a profit motive too because every single thing they sell there or sell to do there is a Royal Caribbean product. No way they want to go to St. Maarten instead, or any other port.

By Royal Caribbean's own admission there can't be more than 10% of passengers in total unvaccinated right now if as they claim all ships are in practice sailing 90-95% vaccinated anyway. If we're talking a 30% occupancy, we are possibly considering 10% to represent 200 people in total aboard an Oasis Class ship at first. No idea how many of those are under-12's, or even under-18's. But it's likely not representing 200 adults. So maybe they can't accept 25 or 30 adults; maybe even 50 adults. So boo-hoo they have to sail with 1,950 people instead of 2,000.
This change simply has no practical financial effect. And if anything, it's likely welcomed if in any part the requirement from The Bahamas provides an actual out on the Florida state law that NCL is fighting and other lines are kinda/sorta/mostly working around by making it highly inconvenient to sail unvaccinated if you could be vaccinated anyway.
 

This is excellent news, and likely exactly what several of the cruise lines were hoping would happen in other countries after St. Thomas made their announcement not too long ago about the requirement. Plant the seed, watch it take root and grow.

FYI, the Bahamas Emergency Order does permit exceptions based on medical contraindications for vaccination.

Sure, but we're talking about how to deal with large numbers of visitors; you try to get the most bang for the buck and minimize entry of infectious people; you may not get them all, of course, but this approach likely gets more than not having this approach does, with pretty minimal impact, even. Just because a few problems could still get through doesn't mean you just toss your hands in the air, close your eyes, and let them all through.
 

This is excellent news, and likely exactly what several of the cruise lines were hoping would happen in other countries after St. Thomas made their announcement not too long ago about the requirement. Plant the seed, watch it take root and grow.

Emergency Powers (Covid-19 Pandemic)(Management and Recovery)(No.2)(Amendment)(No.8)Order, 2021 - Office of the Prime Minister (opm.gov.bs)

Like closing the barn door after most of the horses have already disappeared. But I still think it's a long-overdue and necessary step.

Like closing the barn door after most of the horses have already disappeared. But I still think it's a long-overdue and necessary step.

You have no idea what you're talking about when you're calling this sort of thing "discrimination." And nobody said people who are medically unable (including those not of age yet) to get vaccinated would be excluded. You're just trying to create unnecessary panic, too. Right now, coming from outside the US, one must present proof of a negative test for COVID taken in the prior 3 days. This would simply create a requirement for proof of vaccination or proof of being unable to be vaccinated for a qualified reason.

We are in a pandemic and people are dying or suffering significant medical trauma that could last a lifetime right now. And it is necessary to use all available tools to put a stop to it while we can do so.

You have no idea what you're talking about when you're calling this sort of thing "discrimination." And nobody said people who are medically unable (including those not of age yet) to get vaccinated would be excluded. You're just trying to create unnecessary panic, too. Right now, coming from outside the US, one must present proof of a negative test for COVID taken in the prior 3 days. This would simply create a requirement for proof of vaccination or proof of being unable to be vaccinated for a qualified reason.

We are in a pandemic and people are dying or suffering significant medical trauma that could last a lifetime right now. And it is necessary to use all available tools to put a stop to it while we can do so.