Heymarco

Well, really appreciate the tip! I checked our itinerary for upcoming sailing and sure enough, last day is at CocoCay. Will be sure to schedule early, but if they try to keep us on, will also ask for that policy in writing. Seems like people are just making up Covid policies on the fly these days.

Would you rather have a picture of more than 5 people in an elevator, unxxed groups sitting in vaxxed areas at the ice show per Royal’s direction? Point is that protocols are impossible to maintain at higher capacity.

Well, really appreciate the tip! I checked our itinerary for upcoming sailing and sure enough, last day is at CocoCay. Will be sure to schedule early, but if they try to keep us on, will also ask for that policy in writing. Seems like people are just making up Covid policies on the fly these days.

Our day 7 happened to fall on the same day as CocoCay …… and I agree it was so stupid they wouldn’t let the kids off the ship after their test, but instead made them wait hours for results. They totally ruined the CocoCay day for about half the families on the ship.  We got lucky and were in the earliest testing group who got our kid’s results back quick and only lost 60 minutes of CocoCay time.
 
 
 

Why wouldn’t they let kids off at CoCay after getting tested? It’s only a re-entry requirement for US and you are still allowed to freely roam ship after taking test…

This doesn’t make sense for me either, our Coco Cay visit was Day 5, and we were tested on Day 7. 

I did an 80% capacity cruise at Thanksgiving. They are still trying to do reduced capacity in venues and follow protocols, but it’s more smoke and mirrors for CDC. In reality….

I did an 80% capacity cruise at Thanksgiving. They are still trying to do reduced capacity in venues and follow protocols, but it’s more smoke and mirrors for CDC. In reality….

I did an 80% capacity cruise at Thanksgiving. They are still trying to do reduced capacity in venues and follow protocols, but it’s more smoke and mirrors for CDC. In reality….

I did an 80% capacity cruise at Thanksgiving. They are still trying to do reduced capacity in venues and follow protocols, but it’s more smoke and mirrors for CDC. In reality….

This was the most consistent thing for us - sometimes push notifications worked, sometimes not. But checking the app for messages once an hour was the most consistent way to pass thoughts.

My wife and my daughter are on Odyssey right now. They're saying it looks like pre-pandemic in term of the number of people. 

Yes, but as with any 3rd party app that isn't a native part of operating system the app is at the mercy of the wifi connection to the ship and how the operating system manages that connection.  Some device operating systems reduce wifi use for 3rd party apps when locked to conserve battery while native apps like Apple iMessage continue to remain connected when locked.  That can limit or change app notifications.

This is pretty telling. If Odyssey is at 80% now, I have to imagine all the major ships (if not all the ships) will be at least 80% during the holidays. 

I am on Odyssey if the sea right now. Head count 3280.  It is 80% capacity which is probably the highest  capacity since pandemic.   I will keep my fingers crossed.  

I have not been on a Quantum class ship but understand they do not have Aqua theaters. Any possibility the North Star is utilized for a high diving performance on pool deck?
I would buy a ticket. 

Understood, but there were also paid time slots that were coming and going with nobody taking them. I was on the pool deck most of the morning of a sea day when the Extended Experience was offered, and there was an entire hour where it didn't go up at all. I really wish they would convert these to complimentary times, but also understand that the Extended Experience is about making money. 

I was more positive about it all before my cruise on Liberty. The protocols really need to be pulled back as capacity continues to expand. It’s not working well in current climate. 

Some sailings are showing sold out for that week, whatever capacity they decided to set it as. Here is an example from Liberty for Christmas week. This is same ship that did 80% for Thanksgiving. Demand is generally really strong around holidays.

Michael Bayley’s number was an average for all sailings, all month. It is certainly not a capacity cap. We say over 80% for some Thanksgiving sailings. Good luck!

I think this is spot-on. My assumption is most ships will be at near-capacity during the holidays. The ships are specifically designed not to feel crowded even when they're full (especially the Oasis class), so the ship simply being at capacity wouldn't worry me. But if they're still limiting capacity to certain areas, pools, etc., and staff is still limited, that could be dicey.

We’re on Symphony December 18. Someone in our Facebook group heard from someone on board today that they’re expecting 5,800 for our cruise next week. 😬
 
We’ve been on Harmony at full capacity so we know it will be ok but that was pre-COVID. I just hope Royal makes the necessary adjustments to other areas like entertainment and Adventure Ocean. 

I am booked on Symphony for 12/23 and either RC backed of on capacity or a lot of people booked in one day. I was checking for price drops almost every day thru November, all kinds of rooms available, then around the 1st of December when they first starting talking about Omicron, boom, interior and exterior rooms sold out and only a few Balconies and suites left. So I am hoping they backed off on Capacity. Will have a great time anyway. Just my 2 cents.

The more I read about this, it seems like the many of the ships will be over 75-80% during the holidays. While the industry desperately needs to avoid an outbreak or another setback over the holidays, they also have a lot of revenue to make up and there's just so much more demand during the holidays. It seems like they'll be cautious to an extent, but they're going to push it as far as it they can.
In general, I don't see why people stress about this so much. I was on a 100% capacity Symphony cruise over Christmas in 2019 and it honestly never felt that crowded. Other than on CocoCay (where the slide lines got to upwards of 45 minutes later in the day), I don't remember waiting long for anything or anything being too crowded. My only concern would be if they continue to limit access to things (pools, etc.) or have limited staff. If that's the case, I can see why increasing capacity could be an issue. 

Due to physical distancing protocols…ships have been limiting the amount of people allowed in the pools at one time. Same with the hot tubs. On the Anthem, the pool was roped off with just one opening so that the lifeguard could control how many people entered. As someone left, someone else could enter. They need to start re-evaluating that policy as they increase passenger load.