RCVoyager

I appreciate and agree with your sentiment. It is a compliment to my wife that the two times she's chosen to leave home in 12 months was to have dinner with her. I think the "what country is this" portion of my comment was probably related to my own frustration with the situation.

My wife had dinner with a friend this week. She and her family are so petrified that she has been off her property exactly twice in the last 12 months (both times to have dinner with my wife). Both parents are working from home. Their 7 year old is being home schooled. All groceries are delivered. The husband has left home a few times when it was absolutely necessary. Upon return he removes is clothing in the garage, the clothing is put into a trash bag for two weeks before it comes into the house to be laundered, and he sprays down with disinfectant before coming into the house. Of course all deliveries are handled appropriately too. What country is this?

Sorry, wash YOUR hands and don't touch YOUR face. I got to typing too fast.

The logic and reasoning used by the entire country defies science and data for an illness that has taken .1% of the population, the vast majority of which were in bad health anyway. Wash you hands, don't touch you face, and when the shot is available, get it. Let us live our lives.

I've thought a great deal about the hatred/ignorance of the cruise industry. I think the answer may be in Twangster's post about the CDC. Only 15% of Americans have ever taken a cruise. That means 85% have not. While many claim they don't want to vacation on a floating petry dish, I think it's something different. I would be willing to bet that most either can't afford to cruise, think they can't afford to cruise, or just never taken the time to book a cruise. All of their excuses(hatred and jealousy) serve to blame someone or something other than themselves.

To add on to that, we would also be thrilled for RCCL to leave an updated Voyager or Freedom class ship for the next 10 years... not just the Breeze or Magic.

Thanks for the response Matt. I hope you're right. It just feels like SJU is becoming less important to the cruise lines. It probably all comes down to money, and it seems to me that most of the time cruise fares out of San Juan are a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than anywhere in FL. Add in the extra revenue generated by the private island experience (in which we don't have too much interest), and the dollar difference is even more in FL's favor. Now rather than two ships year round, RCCL looks to have one ship for part of the year. Carnival looks to be in the same situation... although I think much of what they will do is still to be determined with so many ships leaving their fleet, and probably more to go. If the Mardi Gras goes to Port Canaveral, maybe the Magic or Breeze to Puerto Rico. That would be awesome. We really like those ships.

Thank goodness for this. It just feels like San Juan is teetering on the edge of the chopping block. That would be a real casualty to me.

I can say without reservation of any kind, I WILL NEVER SAIL THE REGENT SUN AGAIN. I was on her in 1995. She sunk in 2001.

I used to think the same way about fins. My brother said, you're in the Caribbean. There's no current to speak of. Just bring your mask and snorkel. You don't need fins. He was right. I haven't traveled with fins for 20 years.

Do you ever watch TV commercials for the content? Almost none of it is true. My dog isn't happier because I feed him XX pet food. My weight doesn't drop because I take this vitamin. The food never looks like the food in the restaurant advertisement. Cars don't look beautiful and starkly colorful when driving on fresh fallen snow (living in IN, I can tell you they look dirty and nasty). Most advertisement is embellished to the max... in my opinion. RCCL and the other cruise lines aren't any different, I guess.

A couple of things come to mind. All those ports that aren't usually available on RCCL will be awesome... to me especially Grenada. Second, I don't know there is much hotel availability on that island. I guess VRBO will pick up the slack. On a side note, and this is true, my GGGGGGG Grandmother was a servant from Barbados (indentured servant). To the best of my knowledge, she was born then in about 1630 (the island was settled in 1627 and was uninhabited for a period before then). I wonder if I can get a hometown discount.

My thought has been, if staying for 1 night, the Sheraton OSJ is great. If for 2 or more, one of the resort hotels. They are pretty cheap right now. Here is my hint. When walking into Old San Juan for the first time, it will make sense to enter through the old city gate on the West side of OSJ. Follow the wall around to the gate. The layout of the entire area will make a lot more sense than just walking in from the East or South.

When you consider that cruises won't be starting until the 2nd quarter of next year in all likelihood, the vaccine should be widely available. If the cruise lines want to keep Covid out of the ships, or if the CDC wants to keep it out of the ships, this makes sense. As someone mentioned above, maybe the flu shot too.

Thanks Matt. I didn't think the requirement had been issued, but I wanted to see what thoughts were. I have in-laws who are anti vaccers (SP?) but absoutely love cruising. They have invited us on a cruise with them, and I think there is a chance they will have to make that choice before we can go.

Maybe it's been talked about. I looked back a couple of pages and found related topics, but not one that asked the question: Is it likely the vaccination will be required in order to board a cruise ship on any line or to and from any country?

For all of those who responded to keep the escargot, there is a snail song. It's funny. It's clean. It's a great band.

Not a bad time to to both correct your m-i-l and apologize for your reaction. It ****COULD**** be an opportunity to explain how cruise ships are not a petri dish. Maybe she will rethink things a bit. Good luck.

I guess you're right. Warm fuzzy feelings being the only benefit most of the time.

As you mention, the group here is awesome. There is an incredible amount of experience and knowledge that is shared freely but at the same time graciously and without benefit to the person sharing. It is remarkable.

This thread has been really helpful to me. We are looking at a group cruise in Jan of 2022. I've allowed myself to drift toward NCL despite the poor Main Dining Room experience when I was last on NCL (2007). I really like their ABC itinerary with Grenada. However, the discussion of the bathroom situation (Speed Noodles) and the small rooms/balconies (Waaaytooo) has me reconsidering my reconsidered position on NCL. There is pressure when you are the person at the point of decisions for a group of friends. I don't want to mess this up. Thanks for the input, and any additional would be appreciated.

I just did it to see if you would notice. You did. No offense intended.

I guess the idea is that one person can be in the shower while the other does her hair. That makes sense, but as you said, it looks weird. That probably won't turn us away as it would come in handy for getting ready, but we would not want that in our house.

Didn't know about that.

Good call Twangster as usual for you. However, for RCCL to call Explorer a sister ship is dishonest. They are the one's who named the ships and put them in classes to begin with.