Canadian-Cruiser

Honestly if my son was 5 not 4, we would be doing a NCL over RC.  But he is 9 months shy of 5 and so we are doing RC so he can join the 4 of us (2 adults and 2 kids who will be fully vaxed by December cruise) on our cruise.  The ability to be on a fully vaxed cruise with no masks sounds very appealing to many of us.  I know of friends who are now able to get their last child vaxed as they are 5+ looking into NCL and Carnival.

Someone above mentioned that Royal has it's ships catered more towards "family" sailing. I agree that the kids being vaccinated has everything to do with protocols. We have found a way with T/A's and some other sailings to have a more adult experience. 
We just cancelled two more sailings for January now that Royal extended their mandates through March, have only a few more booked through 2022. Will wait and see, haven't had a mask on in over 6 months, still won't pay to wear one.
 

In Nassau, many businesses require you to bring your proof of vaccination card and present it before they allow you entry. 
Not related to the excursion question, but shows how the Bahamas are strictly adhering to their protocols in an effort to prevent overloading their healthcare system. Hopefully, as time goes on, things can get back to normal.

""Now that they've authorized vaccines down to the five, we're looking at how that's going to affect us.""
 
Translation, "we're concerned if we require vaccinations for kids that we'll see more cancelations"

While it would be nice to have Royal cover it, I would in no way expect it either. If at some point they stop covering it for Canadians and other international guests, I would be ok with paying for it out of pocket as well. It is just the cost of traveling now.
 
That being said, there are some whispers that Canada might drop or change the re-entry PCR requirement soon so who knows. Playing it day by day. I am just so grateful I can drive over to DTW to fly on Delta again. 

My guess, and it is just a guess, is that by announcing these protocols at this time, it gives them time to resell cabins cancelled by those unwilling or unable to cruise under these protocols. 
Seems like a bold move a new CEO (and former CFO) might make............

I'm really hoping they don't create any new pediatric vaccine requirements. My kids pediatrician has already recommended against vaccinating my kids 7, 8yo so mine won't be unless his recommendation changes. I'm going to assume he's not the only one recommending against kids in that age range being vaccinated.

In our case we have 3 bookings in Nov 21 and Dec 21 that were all GTY and they assigned the cabins the same day they sent out the cruise doc's (30 days before)
I have never received cruise doc's without the cabin number...so far...

I found mention of it here: 
Prior to Disembarking
For cruises that are 5 nights or longer, kids will take a complimentary antigen test onboard before the cruise ends. Vaccinated guests who require a COVID-19 test for re-entry into their country may receive one onboard as well. Guests will be notified onboard about how to register for this test.

No cost on my cruise. 
Crew are from all over the world.  They themselves get tested during the cruise and new crew in quarantine get tested every few days.  Crew ending their contract require tests to fly home.  The testing company is very busy every day testing crew and then the last full cruise day they test guests in the morning.  They have this down and into a well rehearsed operation.
If a test were to come back inconclusive I'm not sure what they would do for a guest.  Retest them probably.

Just make sure you have the following with you when you get to the cruise port:
1. Your negative covid test results from at most 2 days before sail date.
2. Your vaccination card with the last vaccination date 14 days before sail date
3. Your passport OR photo ID and birth certificate
4. Your set sail pass
 
Other than that they can and will take your photo at the cruise port.

We cruise quite a bit so I make a lot of calls regarding repricing and normally I have not had any issues until a few weeks ago. I had 2 cruises booked thru the Casino (still RC) but when I called about new price the casino agent told me he did not have the same price as I was seeing on the RC website (I do a mock booking with same conditions to confirm the lower price) I kept insisting so he said that he would pass the information to his supervisor and in 24 it would be resolved. I called the next day and the new agent told me that she could see I spoke with the other agent regarding the price drop but no info on pricing or anything...I asked to speak with a supervisor and they told me that they checked and the price today was higher than what I paid so they could do nothing....
I was quite mad as between the 2 bookings the reduction was over $560US. I did not take a screen capture of the price drop because the first agent assured me it would be resolved in 24 hours...big mistake....it wont happen again.

I’d feel safe on a ship even without vaccine mandates and without masks as I’m vaxxed , but that’s just me. I understand the policies nevertheless.  

This will get all 4 of you on the flight and 3 of you on the ship. The 11 year old will require a PCR test before boarding I believe

+1 for the J&J vaccine.  Very low rates of side effects in comparison to the Moderna or Pfizer shots, plus you only need 1 shot.  I got my J&J booster last week and had absolutely no side effects.
Getting vaccinated is a personal choice and social and mainstream media have a big impact on people's views on its safety and effectiveness.  If people aren't vaccinated at this point, I feel it would be hard to change their mind.

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.

Our cabin attendant had 9 or 10 rooms to clean every morning and every evening and sometimes midday checks…because the ship was not at full capacity.  He told us when the ship is full he typically has 14-18!  I don’t care what anyone says but that is hard work and very deserving of a tip…perhaps even more so than the bartenders!

I had similar concerns and inquired with the executive office about this and was assured all elements of this policy extends to Canadians. So I am going to put my faith in this policy and hope for the best. Lol 

Yes, aside from school, we will pretty much stick to home the 2 weeks prior to the trip....halt on seeing friends and extra curricular programs.  Luckily, DH and I still work from home due to our office not opening up yet since covid. 

To fly even domestically in Canada you have to be vaccinated.   

I found this, but only for Air travel:
COVID-19 Traveler Information (state.gov)
 
 
Updated Requirements for Air Travelers to the U.S. due to COVID-19
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced a new Order for all air passengers traveling to the United States. Effective November 8, 2021, all non-immigrant, non-citizen air travelers to the United States will be required to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding an airplane to the United States.
Exceptions to this policy will be extremely limited:
children under 18 people medically unable to receive the vaccine emergency travelers who do not have timely access to a vaccine Humanitarian exemptions to this order will be granted on an extremely limited basis.
U.S. citizens and Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) who are eligible to travel but are not fully vaccinated will need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test one (1) day before their flight’s departure. U.S citizens and LPRs who are fully vaccinated will need to present airlines with proof of vaccination  and of a negative COVID-19 test three (3) days before their flight.
For additional information, please visit our FAQs for answers to questions about the requirement for proof of negative COVID-19 test or recovery from COVID-19 for all air passengers arriving in the United States.
The CDC recommends that you do not travel internationally until you are fully vaccinated. International travel poses additional risks, and even fully vaccinated travelers might be at increased risk for getting and possibly spreading some COVID-19 variants. Delay travel and stay home to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. If you do travel, follow all CDC recommendations before, during, and after travel.

No dining with anyone outside of your party as defined by your reservation. 

We should be thankful there are protocols that keep us safe, even if when we may be inconvenienced.  Anyone, even vaccinated persons like me, can carry the virus and infect others (although the % may be low).  Unvaccinated kids are especially problematic.  Now I'm sure you keep your toddlers out of harms way, but you don't want them to pick up the virus from someone else.  Yes, it's frustrating, but taking a Royal Caribbean excursion isn't really a bad thing...

Anyone notice that Royal now has a song/video added to the onboard rotation, similar to Wash Your Hands?  It explains that in order to continue going on cruises, you need to social distance... apparently you "gotta stay apart to be together..."
It's certainly not as catchy as Wash Your Hands.

I did read somewhere that the Bahamas rules extend to any ship traveling through their waters, even if the ship isn't docking there. Also, I imagine it's easiest on Royal to issue a blanket vaccine mandate just in case something required a reroute last minute, as is probe to happen, because otherwise they'd be left without ports to dock at potentially if they didn't require the vaccine.