JBC

Cant comment on the unvaxxed experience but it definitely felt like the policy was "dont ask/dont tell" on the last couple of cruises.

Got off Liberty of the Seas in Galveston on this past Sunday.  My family of 4 is vaccinated, the family of 4 traveling with us had 2 unvaccinated children.  Not a single one of us was asked to show our vaccine cards or the pictures of the negative tests for our friend’s kids.  When we were checking in I even asked the gentleman taking our pictures about the vaccine cards.  He said, “nope we don’t need to see them anymore, in fact we don’t even ask”.  I was shocked, but hey it got us on board 20 seconds quicker.  Maybe it’s a Galveston thing?
 
It felt like pre-Covid days.  On the second day of our cruise they dropped the crew mask mandate.  A few were still wearing them, but as the week went on I’d say the majority of them threw them away for good.  

And which pet cat did you swab for your test?

I am close to diamond but I always get a DBP.  I am probably good for 10 drinks a day between time at the pool, dinner and then shows and various bars the remainder of the night.  The DBP always makes sense for me.  Diamond is going to make that math harder, lol.  It will benefit my wife because she doesn't drink as much as me.  I kind of wish instead of the 4 drinks a day benefit that they just would give a significant discount on the DBP, or offer a choice between the two.  Make it like legit half price or something. 
First world problems.  

Funny, that's my condition on every cruise I sail on.

I don't mind the gratuities, I just wished they were inclusive and not separately identified.  I don't consider them gratuities anyways, I consider them cruise fare.  
That said, I have read or heard that the gratuities pool is a gray area.  Like, who gets a cut and who doesn't?  And how is it regulated to insure that the total actually collected gets correctly distributed?  Is it an even split or do some get a bigger share?
Quick math, Ovation has approx. 4100 guests and 725 crew.  I am not sure how many guests have their gratuities removed but I would guess (or hope) that it is a small percentage.  So say 3700 people paying $14.50 a day for a 7 day cruise, that is approx. $375,000 in gratuities for that week.  Say maybe 600 of the crew split that, so $625 per person per week.  Add in their normal wage, doesn't seem terrible, certainly not indentured servant compensation.  At least I hope that is how it works.  Now the waiters, bartenders and room cleaners are the people that get additional tips on top of that too.  I tip bartenders as I go, and I always leave additional cash for my room attendant and both waiters assigned to my table in the MDR. I would guess at least 50% of people do this?
Anyone closer to the industry have any insight into this?  Is my example above way off?  Just curious.          

Covid testing within 48 Hours of a cruise is a huge money grab. It is extremely expensive and it is a pain in the tail! You can test negative before getting on the cruise and turn around and test positive when you get off or while you're on it even. It makes absolutely no sense for people who have been vaccinated four times to go through this ridiculous testing every time they want to go on a cruise. I'm a long time Cruiser and it is extremely annoying.

...also, the DBP won't get lower than 65,99$ - maybe except on black friday 😆

$67.99 for DBP for my Allure cruise in February.  Previous sales for about the past 6 months have had it fluctuate between $77.99 and $72.99.  
Question is will it go lower than $67.99 on black friday / cyber monday?  I know I can cancel and re-buy.  My gut tells me it won't go lower than $67.99.  

I've done that cruise, and I will say that doing the NASA excursion was great, exceeded my expectations.  I've done Disney separately from a cruise and I can't imagine that would be enjoyable at all when dealing with the time and travel constraints.  

I've done that cruise, and I will say that doing the NASA excursion was great, exceeded my expectations.  I've done Disney separately from a cruise and I can't imagine that would be enjoyable at all when dealing with the time and travel constraints.  

I've done that cruise, and I will say that doing the NASA excursion was great, exceeded my expectations.  I've done Disney separately from a cruise and I can't imagine that would be enjoyable at all when dealing with the time and travel constraints.  

They had a place for your stateroom number! Don't get tell me this is not ridiculous! 
Sailing into Halifax, what difference does it which actual dock! This is ridiculous, it's made up by egg heads with no common sense whatsoever. 

Last week Canada brought back random testing for international air arrivals.   While the rest of the free world is removing covid protocols Canada is adding them.  
You think it's bad visiting? Try living there.  

Please don't give me any attitude, this is where we want to go. This extra layer of BS is ridiculous. 

Same here, but I still won't like paying a $73 per day base price for it.  
So fair warning to Royal, don't make me roll up my sleeves and go on a mission all week!  

Exactly.  You can't get covid if you don't take a test!

Same here, but I still won't like paying a $73 per day base price for it.  
So fair warning to Royal, don't make me roll up my sleeves and go on a mission all week!  

Exactly.  You can't get covid if you don't take a test!

Exactly.  You can't get covid if you don't take a test!

Same here, but I still won't like paying a $73 per day base price for it.  
So fair warning to Royal, don't make me roll up my sleeves and go on a mission all week!  

Exactly.  You can't get covid if you don't take a test!

Booze package would have to be in the neighborhood of 100 bones per day for me not to break even. Between the coffees and pelegrino with every meal and mucho booze in between, poor royal loses money on me. 

Hallelujah !  Some honest reflection.  Thank you...and thank you for the way you are handling your staff.  This is the most generous policy for COVID that I have ever read about.  Good for you.

Exactly, it's the new Flu.  We need to treat it as such and go cruising!