gogopeach

You can check out the healthy sail center for all your pre-cruise testing details:  Pre Cruises Testing | Royal Caribbean Cruises
We ordered the approved Covid-19 AG Card with eMed Telehealth Service for our pre-cruise tests.

They accept PCR and antigen BUT not self-tests. You need either a BINAX-Now, ID-Now or a "proctored" (via video link) self-test.

They do accept the rapid PCR tests. 

I agree with @twangster on this.  The price is set by what people will pay.  I also think there are ways to bring down the "total cost" of the trip to help offset the pricing of individual items.  I think many times, people look at the price of individual components in a vacuum and lose sight of the total cost.  We once had some family that freaked out about the cost of the cruise in Florida and we compromised on a cruise from New Jersey, but then the flights to New York were at least double what we would pay to Florida, losing the savings on the cruise and getting worse port stops.  

For us, we "require" the Refreshment package.  We have a price point that we "like to get" at $23 per day, and anything less is amazing (we recently got it for $17!)  To ensure we can get the package, we always book the cheapest room we can, regardless of category (generally it's Inside GTY).  We also typically don't do excursions and explore on our own (harder during these times). 

At the end of the day it's all about choice and what you can live without on the cruise.  I also think that too many people want to "break even" on each thing. We both get the Refreshment package and I certainly break even (i drink a ton of coffee 🙂 ), but maybe not her since she could probably do with just the soda package and then pay for bottled water, but we like the convenience of prepaying for it and then not having a bill at the end.  
Happy cruising!

Like just about anything in life WE set the price that companies charge for packages like this.  
If people are willing to pay they'll keep charging that rate.  If collectively WE don't buy something at their price point they will eventually lower the price.  
As long as people are paying they will continue to accept people's money.
The deluxe drink package isn't required to have a great cruise.  If the math doesn't work for you, don't buy it.

We are so disappointed! We've been looking forward to this trip for a year. Six of us were supposed to be going on Jewel of the Seas. Frankly I would feel safer on the ship than in Walmart! This is so insane!

We was very disappointed our cruise on January 29 th on the Jewel was canceled, we was still going, but had concerns about not getting in at ports, waiting three hours here locally for a covid test  and hope you test negative, then keeping a mask on inside all the time, which was no problem if that’s the rules, we was flying into Ft Lauderdale, it’s cold in Cincinnati area, we think we are now going to keep flight, rent a car and spend a few days in Key West, one of our favorite port stops. This was our third cruise that was canceled, we was meeting our cruise friends from Napa Ca. That we met a few years ago on a cruise, plus two other couples, that’s what is so disappointing. Good luck to all the cruisers, we will try again in the fall is our hope.

We just landed in Miami 2 hours ago after 12 hours of travel through snowstorms from Vancouver to find our Symphony sailing tomorrow is cancelled. Literally got the notification at the second wheels touched down. Obviously disappointed but we knew things are crazy and anything was possible. First reaction was let’s see if we can get on another Royal cruise sailing in the next day or two. Unfortunately Royal has all sailings through January frozen for new booking and no one at customer service was any help.
Ever the optimist, my wife got on the phone with Norwegian and long story short, we are boarding on Norwegian Joy in 17 hours. What a wild ride!! 🤯

Our cruise is on the list... Gutted at the moment. 

You also have no idea if anyone's positive or not since Disney requires no testing either. To me, that's more alarming than someone's vaccination status these days.

All Omicron cases on ships are reportedly asymptomatic or mild symptoms.  A sore throat for example.   
No hospitalizations have been reported from a ship case of Omicron.
If anything needs to change, governments around the world need to view a positive Omicron case very differently than other variants.  
There may be more variants in our future.  Communities and societies around the world need to do better understanding when to freak out and when to stay the course.  

41 out of 1.1 million going to the hospital.
 
I wonder what the pre-covid hospitalization for any cause rate was. Probably not much different than that.

Alternate title: Thousands do exactly as millions do every day on airplanes and travel, albeit with better protocols

I get that Royal wants to offload cost and burden of those tests. This is understandable, but they should meet clients halfway. Charging over $ 210 per PCR test simply disguised me. 
Worksitelabs near airports are doing those test for $90 and still making money. 
Royal could find/negotiate less expensive solutions for their clients who travel from far to cruise with them. Adding over 840 USD for family of 4 on top of expensive flights is discouraging. 

The amount of people that have issues with wearing a mask astounds me (not specifically here..but reading general comments on social media). Just wear it and be grateful you can actually cruise. Some of us are still waiting.. 

so you wear a mask a tad longer...

Straight talk:
If you are flying to the port, wearing a mask while indoors onboard the ship will be the least of your problems. 
 
Masks are mandatory while in airports and planes.  With layovers and delayed flights, the travel day can be very long.   
I don’t see mask mandates going away any time soon. 
 
With your knowledge of how wearing a mask affects you, I think some really intense reflection of whether this is the best time for you to travel is warranted. 

I don’t particularly care to get into any discussion of the pandemic/politics/science/mask mandates, etc.  Cruising at any time is a luxury and is much more so during current times.  I want to cruise, so I agree to follow the rules because I know I am able to follow them.   Those who can’t or won’t follow the rules should find another way to vacation. 

Most of us understand the advantages of booking excursions through Royal.  They include convenience and piece of mind that the ship won't leave you behind. 
But I just learned the hard way about another advantage.
My son was on a waterfall excursion, slipped and injured his foot.  We went back to the ship and had it checked in medical. They x-rayed it and found it was broken. They put on a cast and I braced for a substantial bill.
The doctor then said "no charge for this. If you injure yourself on board or on a cruise line excursion,  Royal will pick up the medical bill."

On Liberty now. They expected 1300 more than any previous week (so well over 3000). Definitely a LOT of kids this sailing. Pool and solarium seem closer to pre covid, but empty chairs can still be found without too much issue. Fitness center is busiest I've ever seen. Huge line for open skating for both sessions which filled up long before the doors even opened. Flowrider was longest line I've seen for a sea day (even after splitting into 2 sides). Royal promenade is significantly less crowded than usual. Windjammer is definitely open for dinner. Thanksgiving is probably a big reason why, but I'll try to get actual numbers from guest services later (which is as busy as ever). I think the main takeaway is anything that kids like is overcrowded and everything else is pretty empty (this is my 3rd Thanksgiving cruise on Liberty). Bar wait times are minimal if anything at all.

Liberty Nov 21st - 3096 (900+ kids!)

I'm going to guess the price of my already booked cruises isn't going to change.

Probably go up by $550 plus 30%.

I wouldn't complain about BOGO 70% off but I don't see Royal or Carnival following NCL down this path.  In my opinion NCL has really backed themselves into a corner with their extreme COVID protocols.  I've taken enough NCL cruises to know they are a family cruise line and welcome families with children of all ages onboard their cruises.  But their policy requiring all passengers including children be fully vaccinated is ridiculous and it has probably cause people to turn away from NCL and perhaps book instead with Royal or Carnival.  Here in the US we are not seeing a lot of parents rush out to get their children vaccinated even though the parents themselves in many cases are fully vaccinated. 
NCL's vaccination policy in my opinion is hurting them.  One thing both Royal and Carnival have states is they are seeing strong demand, strong future bookings for most if not all of 2022.  NCL seems to be stalling out so to entice more people to cruise with them they now have to offer BOGO 70% off.   
NCL is trying to be the Delta Airlines of the cruise industry, meaning last year in August of 2020 both American and United stop blocking middle seats by November of 2020 Southwest, jetBlue and every other US carrier except Delta had ended the process of blocking middle seats it was costing each airline millions and there was no benefit at all.  Delta's pitch was they cared more about your safety than any other carrier and would block middle seats until the pandemic was over. Delta finally gave up on blocking middle seats in the spring of 2021, but Delta in their Q1 2021 earning report finally admitted why they were ending the process and it was because blocking seat had become unsustainable financially.  We are still in the pandemic but Delta isn't blocking middle seats.  If NCL thinks they can keep their vaccinate mandate for children in place until the end of the pandemic they will only hurt themselves and continue to loose millions of dollars each month because families with unvaccinated children (even if the parents are fully vaccinated) can not cruise with NCL and offering BOGO 70% off isn't going to force parents to get their children vaccinated any quicker. 

$13 drinks will be covered with the drink package

very few drinks will not be included. There are some wines at Vintages that are more per glass but the bartender will always tell you there is an up charge. Unless you're ordering some high end bourbon or whiskey almost everything is included.