jticarruthers

Gotta keep that "record on board spending" going somehow ... for me its having the opposite effect, with prices going nuts I am doing more "booking with third parties for excursions" and "carrying on 2 bottles" again.

Consensus seems to be sometime next year, my personal opinion, the sooner the better.

Consensus seems to be sometime next year, my personal opinion, the sooner the better.

Consensus seems to be sometime next year, my personal opinion, the sooner the better.

Consensus seems to be sometime next year, my personal opinion, the sooner the better.

Consensus seems to be sometime next year, my personal opinion, the sooner the better.

They should have left a few out of service for awhile longer and increased staffing on the rest to match with passenger loads 

One of these days people are going to start to realize that when you are vaccinated and boosted it is from a variant we already know of. When new variants come around it's all bets are off and you are not protected no matter how many shots you've had.
At some point we have got to treat the Coronavirus like just another virus that humans get from time-to-time. The good thing is that with every new variant it is getting weaker and we are buiding better immunity against it. 
One day it will change but not any time soon with our current attitudes treating this as if it is the plague.

Just off Equinox in Port Everglades, no masks required.

There we go.  Royal knew of the staffing issue.
So funny reading comments saying that we as the consumer should expect less and that somehow, we are out of touch with reality.
Bottom line is that although Royal is a business and they need to be profitable, they went months at lesser capacity cruisers and provided for overall satisfaction.  If satisfaction is the key to profit, full capacity is not the way to do it given the realities of covid, shortages of goods and services, etc.  Go less capacity and provide strong service.  
I hope that things turn around soon.  This post was never meant to be a downer post.  I will, and encourage others to, still try to make this a positive experience and have fun.

The US testing for International travel requirement is absolutely killing the travel industry but as we all know the CDC doesn't consider the impacts of its policies on people or business. 
If the CDC is providing the nails for the coffin many European nations are swinging the hammer with some of their unfortunate policies right now.  In Italy if you test positive you are forced into a 7 or 10 day quarantine depending when you last got a shot.  That's hitting some cruisers pretty hard right now who make the mistake of getting tested in Italy.  A negative spouse can't stay with a positive spouse so that's a separate hotel expense.   So many different European countries have different policies even within the EU so it makes trying to figure it all out a pretty big PITA.  

Definitely not just a Royal issue, just off Celebrity (I know a sister brand) and staffing being short was the #1 topic of conversation around the ship.
The cruise was still a good one and I wouldn't go back and "not do it" but you know its not good when the writeup for every event/venue includes the words "drinks will not be served at/during this event, please make sure to bring them with you".
I think on the 9 night cruise I was brought a drink by a wait person about 3 times (including the MDR), the rest were stand in the line at a bar and hope the bartender would notice you.
Sympathetic to the cruise lines struggling to find staffing but its ugly when you cant staff to serve a ship at about 60% capacity.

This is similar to my thinking behind my response.
The odds of getting COVID are what they are, the risks I am willing to take on a daily basis dont change just because I am taking a cruise in a week or two, so neither does my behaviour.

Just going about my business normally, leaving tomorrow for a 9 nighter, COVID test this morning ... no sense getting bent out of shape about it all.

This is similar to my thinking behind my response.
The odds of getting COVID are what they are, the risks I am willing to take on a daily basis dont change just because I am taking a cruise in a week or two, so neither does my behaviour.

Royal's definiton of sale is very easy to understand.
We make it sound like its a good deal, so that a lot of people who dont know better, buy them.

This is similar to my thinking behind my response.
The odds of getting COVID are what they are, the risks I am willing to take on a daily basis dont change just because I am taking a cruise in a week or two, so neither does my behaviour.

This is similar to my thinking behind my response.
The odds of getting COVID are what they are, the risks I am willing to take on a daily basis dont change just because I am taking a cruise in a week or two, so neither does my behaviour.

Just going about my business normally, leaving tomorrow for a 9 nighter, COVID test this morning ... no sense getting bent out of shape about it all.

Just going about my business normally, leaving tomorrow for a 9 nighter, COVID test this morning ... no sense getting bent out of shape about it all.

Just going about my business normally, leaving tomorrow for a 9 nighter, COVID test this morning ... no sense getting bent out of shape about it all.

Just going about my business normally, leaving tomorrow for a 9 nighter, COVID test this morning ... no sense getting bent out of shape about it all.

Just going about my business normally, leaving tomorrow for a 9 nighter, COVID test this morning ... no sense getting bent out of shape about it all.

Just going about my business normally, leaving tomorrow for a 9 nighter, COVID test this morning ... no sense getting bent out of shape about it all.

Just going about my business normally, leaving tomorrow for a 9 nighter, COVID test this morning ... no sense getting bent out of shape about it all.