pcvchristine

I have always enjoyed Labadee and looked forward to some anticipated updates.
The nearby village has prospered from the economic impact and employment in the immediate area.  Royal built a school in the village.  The issues of Haiti run long and deep.  It's more complex than we can get into here but this one little corner of the country is a small example of Haiti moving in a better direction, at least for this somewhat isolated area of Haiti.  It may not be perfect there but the local area is better off because of Royal's presence.   
Once all cruise lines are hitting on all cylinders again they'll need every port they can call upon to fill itineraries.  Looking down the road to brighter days Royal needs Labadee in the long term plus every other Oasis/Icon capable port they can find or build.  

I agree, i really think the concern on the board is largely for the crew and thier safety, closely followed by how it could affect peoples cruises on the Oasis in the next few weeks.  

Overall, it's really a bad look for the Royal.  You'd think they would have limited capacity more, dropped the price for the 3rd party, or some combination of both.  Time will tell if it comes back to haunt us all.

The Atlantis group has a very checkered past with their charters, with people dieing on sailings in the past.
That being said, while I would not think this is a good thing to do at all, here's another great example of the double standard cruise lines face.  
Large unmasked grouping outside is a problem?

Disney World recently
Bills vs Pats game last weekend

WWE Monday Night Raw earlier this week INDOORS

 

Unfortunately I feel this issue is negatively impacting folks with a valid medical reason because we have doctors that are willing to write notes for a small fee waiving mask requirements due to their political beliefs and greed.
This is an issue in Florida with mask requirements in school systems.  There are doctors who for $50 will write a note without ever seeing a patient, declaring the student has a medical reason to not wear a mask.  
Given how ridiculously easy it is to obtain a doctor's handwritten note it places companies like cruise lines in a very difficult position and it impacts the small number of people with a valid medical reason due to the fakers. 
Much like bogus service animal certificates impact valid service animals, bogus mask exemptions are impacting valid mask exemptions.

I've never smoked in my life and I am very concerned the new smoke free casino may be too hard to resist.  I'm running out to buy cigarettes. 
If I get addicted by my cruise I won't be able to use the casino.  Think of the money I'll save.

Exactly.
The ports aren't closing down to be azzhats to the cruise industry...heck, their local economies get hammered terribly when they can't do business.
The challenge these 3rd World nations have is that their healthcare systems really struggle with all of the issues related to the pandemic.
From what can be surmised in my part of the country (West Tennessee), the Omicron variant is a minor issue for the fully-jabbed citizens who are otherwise healthy. It's mostly those who already have several co-morbidities AND who aren't vaxed who are experiencing anything other than minor cold symptoms requiring hospitalization.
While I could be wrong, I would be surprised if the worst of this pandemic isn't behind us by the end of January.

We also have a cruise scheduled for 1/9. We just called Celebrity to cancel it. They gave us quite a hard time, not happy. Too many risks that can't be mitigated. Sure there are less than 1% of ppl getting sick on ships, but you can't social distance on a ship like at home. So chances are higher on getting the virus on the ship and going home with it. Also, the crew is getting sick, not the passengers. Let's not even start with the airlines, their ppl are sick too, another huge risk. We have to fly to our ports. Overall, it's a shitshow and you all are taking a huge risk. Ports, excursions cancelled, less crew. It really spoils the whole experience and we pay a lot for these cruises, I want #1 customer service.  If youre retired you can possibly get stuck on the ship, no worries. Miss ports, maybe, but not me. I pay for the whole experience not a stressful vacation. That's just me. TC

Some of these countries have 20-30% vaccination rates. Many don't have very much of a health care system during good times.  
It's a symbiotic relationship.  Cruise ships need ports as much as ports need cruise ships.  
Yes, the pandemic sucks. 

Guys, please don’t go politics, better to play nice poker on the ship and enjoy the warm weather 👈😎

Pre-Omicron in November, it didn't sound like Royal was going to mandate 100% vaccinated because of families https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/11/12/will-royal-caribbean-require-kids-be-vaccinated-order-go-cruise-ship

I need to understand what media you're referring to. All I've heard in mainstream media is that so far the majority of Omicron cases have mild symptoms.
What I'm hearing from my family in healthcare is different and more nuanced but basically - Omicron -  mild symptoms for vaxxed people. 

Or the CDC is worried about a worst case scenario, that probably won't happen, but could.  They have to act proactively, not reactively.  I think that the warning will itself help by lowering capacities, which I think it is fairly clear were increased too fast, and get the cruise lines to start taking their own protocols more seriously, since I don't think they were and were becoming more complacent.  Flame me if you want, but at least consider how such a warning could prevent things escalating to a shutdown or effective shutdown due to lack of ports.

What I really cannot figure out is why we continue to see posts like this everywhere.  It's not like the poster doesn’t know about the purpose and various opnions on masks.  Some people agree with you, while others (like me) do not, although those words are not nearly strong enough to express the depth of the disagreement.  No one on these boards is going to change anyone's mind.  I am willing to argue about it much more than most, and even I am tired of it and realize the futility.  In my opnion your opnion on masks is wrong at every level,  but you do you.  Just not on a cruise ship until the rules change.

We live in Missouri and we wear masks all the time. At work, at the grocery store, everywhere... I cannot believe that we are still doing this "I can't bear to wear a mask" thing. This is a highly transmissible, deadly virus... I do not think that wearing a mask is too much to ask to try to keep people safe. If that courtesy is too much than cancel your cruise. Have you not flown the past year? We flew earlier today and they were very clear, if you don't want to wear a mask then don't fly, period. End of discussion. The same could be said for cruises...

She'll have to go faster than that to get to Port Clinton in Lake Erie!

On the Anthem they have deck six forward closed…I saw it on the Oasis also…but it’s part of the protocols. They keep a section closed and sanitized to be available for quarantine purposes only. Also, whenever new crew members come aboard to start their contracts (which happens regularly) they quarantine them there as a precaution. That’s also part of the protocols.

Sailed on Odyssey of the Seas, 18Dec2021.  Overall, I think the protocols were fine.  I had recently been on Anthem over Thanksgiving with the mask off in vaccinated areas, and this was the first all masking cruise.  It was not as bad as I assumed it would be.  Social distancing was pretty much impossible and areas such as 270 (for disco night) or Music Hall (at all times).  It was not a problem for me, but if there were people who are bothered by close proximity to others, this would have been an issue. 
On a particularly busy night (night 7) in music hall, we were standing next to tables marked 'unavailable for social distancing' on deck 4.  A bar waiter came over to us and asked us to move, because "pictures of non-social distancing were posted on social media as a 'look, Odyssey is having massive outbreak and they are not social distancing'".
Fact was that the captain was very forthcoming with information about covid and explained why the ports would not allow us to disembark.  I do not blame the ports for these decisions, and the captain and crew made the best of it for us.  No complaint overall.  Great cruise!  

Here's the end result of this thread
 
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/12/27/glad-we-decided-stay-cruise-says-passenger-royal-caribbean-ship-week?fbclid=IwAR3ER9nl5-__vckdxsDVH3QyKm5FEKn5l51s2fpWIEIXmwFdL9pA7kOCZJ4

This. It’s my first royal cruise. I was ok with the updated mask protocols. I’ve noticed Americans are more mask compliant than foreign guests. But to get on board and have no shows and little entertainment, especially for kids (mine is vaccinated). Plus losing a port “due to health & safety” is making this a sub par experience. And royal isn’t offering any accommodations to try and make up for it. It feels like they are tired and defeated. We have another royal cruise already planned next year but we are already talking about cruising on a different line. 
 
Should also mention that we are not really getting any Covid outbreak on the ship info from captain or crew. Maybe we are lucky there isn’t one? If there is, no one is saying anything. Just typical follow the rules reminders. 

I can see being disappointed.  I can NOT see being upset.  This isn't 2019, and things have changed dramatically even in the past 10 days.

My math tells me that this just doesn't make sense. I would think you would have to use a % of the population, whether it be passengers, crew or both. There could be some wide variations with that scenario.

@Matt's sassy on his birthday!  😉

Do you think RC will refund a portion of your money due to all these changes? not just the port fees, which should be done regardless, but the whole experience has been lessened.
I think RC needs to rethink the capacities again. I don't know why they rushed into increasing capacities in the middle of winter. This is when people get sick. And then you have all the holidays where people get together.  keep it at a lower capacity and wait until end of January to start increasing things. 

Just need to establish a standard of efficiency with both guests and crew.

Another, seemingly less popular option, is that the one person who is not vaccinated could go down to CVS or Walgreens and get one J&J shot in the arm 14 days before the cruise departs.  Everyone gets to cruise and your father's vacation is great.