Cruising With JT

Oh, and BON VOYAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay!!! Cruise embarkation day! Thanks for the pics, keep em coming!! Sorry about the slow internet, hate when that happens!

Shocking news of the day... Carnival requires vaccine but Royal drops it. Who could've predicted that? Disappointing news for sure for myself and all other Loyal to Royal cruisers but let's see how this all plays out. I think Royal dropped the ball on this to be honest but we'll see...oh and that Carnival Mardi Gras ship don't look too bad...I got a feeling that Royal may reverse course... usually happens when there is a huge backlash from their loyal customer base. Michael Bayley (President/CEO of Royal Caribbean) said that 80% of their guests prefer to go on cruise ships that ARE vaccinated, so of course this decision makes perfect sense. LOL.

6 hours ago, steverk said:

We have arrived in St. Maarten!

Found a great hotel and enjoyed dinner.  Tomorrow, we board the ship.

We bumped in to Danny of Harr travel. He's filming a tour of the ship so expect it to be posted in about 2 weeks. He always does excellent tours, so it is something to look forward to.

Awesome!! It's almost cruise day!! Also a huge fan of Danny @ Harr Travel, no doubt the best at ship tours out of anyone I have seen. Can't wait to see this one!

8 hours ago, steverk said:

I figured the first cruise out of North America would be a moving target, and that seems to be the case!

Today, I received an email from Celebrity.  They are reversing the order of the ports and Barbados will require a ship based shore excursion to go ashore.

None of this really surprises or bothers me, but it's worth noting for anyone that plans on taking this cruise in the near future.

The cruise is only 3 days away! 

Safe travels! Looking forward to following along on your experience!

I just hope they don't cancel or change the 11/15 sailing, 5 night sailing to Perfect day and Labadeeeee.

It will be emotional for sure...getting goosebumps just thinking about it... I am getting a slice (or two, or three) of Vegetarian pizza @ Sorrentos!!! 

55 minutes ago, caitlynambrai said:

Or the unvaxed can stay home and they can wait until the coast is clear.  That is also simple. 

This. 

15 hours ago, steverk said:

I'm so excited!  In just over a week I'm going to be on my first cruise in over a year.

This is also the first of the Royal Caribbean Group's cruises from North America.

Therefore, I figured people would be interested.  I'll do my best to document how it goes and what the conditions are on board. Please let me know if you want any more information.

Exciting! It must feel so nice that you're only 8 days away! This one leaves from St. Maarten if I remember correctly? Looking forward to hearing about your experience! So happy that they got rid of the masks and social distancing stuff. That will make a world of a difference.

16 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

Yeah, it’s terrible to be around people with dumb theories about Covid like people who believe wearing a cloth mask protects them from an aerosolized virus or people who think children should have been kept out of schools. People who wear masks outside. People who really believe Covid was first transmitted from an animal to humans. People that believe a higher rate of people are hospitalized from Covid than actually are. 
 

The point being is there is wild theories on both sides. Just because people chose not to get vaccinated don’t mean they are anti- vaxxers . Maybe they recovered from Covid, have natural immunity, etc. 

and guess what? On your November cruise, there will be unvaccinated people on that ship… oh, the horror!!!! Whenever you cruise beyond November it will be the same thing. I would suggest you cancel any cruises so you can be consistent with your beliefs 
 

 

 

I am still cruising because I am vaccinated but I would prefer to be around those who are also vaccinated, at least majority. You do realize that the media is just aching for some outbreak or something bad to happen on a ship that had unvaccinated people, and people will be like "told you to do vaccinated only"... no one knows how this will play out. People who choose to not vaccinate, that is up to them, but cruise lines have to assume the risk of bringing these types of people onboard. Why else are they vaccinating all their crew and want most of their passengers vaccinated? They are only doing these test cruises because kids can't get the vaccine. If there was a vaccine for kids under 12 right now, I can almost guarantee that it would be only vaccinated cruises. They should do vaccinated cruises and unvaccinated cruises, separately, and see what happens. Not to mention, being on a ship with unvaccinated passengers may increase the likelihood of more restrictions such as masks and all that. Fully vaccinated cruises as it stands now, no masks are required and barely any restrictions. Cruises sailing around the world that are unvaccinated, masks required with a bunch of restrictions. Pick which side you want to cruise on.

2 hours ago, JeffB said:

This is the way a great cruise line does it. Deliberate, aggressive, transparent. There's been none of the silly teaser videos, no confusion about sailing plans, just straight forward, this is business. I've posted on the Celebrity thread that I know exactly what's happening and how it will happen on my booked cruise out of Athens on July 9th. 

@Matt said: Unlike Celebrity, Royal Caribbean will not be able to reach the 95% mandate of passengers being vaccinated by the CDC to skip test cruises.

That's not really the case. Mr. Fain, or whoever is running the clown show there, chose to go with a hybrid mix of vaxed and unwaxed passengers and to do the test crises to get certified by the CDC. From a practical standpoint that's potentially putting up unnecessary barriers, e.g., what if the CDC says on the first go, "not good enough, do it again?" From a health health standpoint, I think that creates potential for problems. Although the risk is small, an infection - just one or two - is possible, more possible with a hybrid mix of passengers and unvaccinated people on excursions, catching COVID, in a port with circulating virus and brining it back on board ship. That would be disastrous. I get the family orientation of RCL but get the boats with vaxed passengers on line and go from there. 

Egg on your face Mr. Fain.

I am disappointed that Royal Caribbean didn't go the vaccinated route. Forget the test cruises, I don't want to be on a cruise with people who aren't vaccinated, because the reason they probably didn't get vaccinated is NOT because of health reasons or religion or whatever. They are just anti-vaxxers and have all these dumb theories about the vaccine. Plus the risk is higher of an outbreak if you mix vax'd and unvax'd... it may backfire for Royal Caribbean and they may regret not going the vaccinated route. We will see. Luckily my next cruise isn't until November so hopefully things are better by then in terms of all this craziness.

15 hours ago, Matt said:

First thing I thought of when I saw the news 

They should just start the test cruise on Freedom June 27th, make it a b2b2b @Matt!

Love it!!!

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/05/26/celebrity-cruises-announces-first-ship-sail-out-of-the-united-states-june-2021

So much good news lately, love it. Moving in the right direction!!!!!!

Can I assume that any cruise that is a "Test" cruise will be unvaccinated? And any cruise that is not a "test" cruise will be fully vaccinated? I will opt for the latter, thank you

2 hours ago, Matt said:

They clearly mean Mendenhall Glacier Park in Juuneau

Bummer, and I got excited for a sec lol...

2 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

But .... but... but ... we get better answers from you than from Royal phone reps!

Agreed 100%!

6 hours ago, RyanS said:

This is exciting news! I hope this means July is on for Odyssey!

I may have to book a summer cruise too... and not wait for November... decisions decisions...let's see what happens!

Not seeing any Ovation itineraries going to Glacier Bay National park?

"Ovation of the Seas will also sail from Seattle, beginning in Auigust, and offer sailings to Glacier National Park, the Inside Passage, Juneau and Skagway, Alaska."

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/05/21/royal-caribbean-will-restart-cruises-alaska-summer-2021

1 hour ago, ChrisK2793 said:

Have you guys seen this from today about Odyssey having to stop in Spain and drop off crew members who tested positive for Covid?

 

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/cruise-ship-stops-in-spain-to-drop-off-covid-infected-crew/2252686

 

 

Yup, was posted on this thread here -- Odyssey can't catch a break! Hopefully only good news once she arrives in Florida -- 

7 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said:

 

What site do you see that on?

It's a site accessible by travel agents only... I am going to guess Cruising Power.

Yeah, either closed to booking or "closed loop" sailings... not sure...I've asked Nick, will let you know when he responds. 

8 minutes ago, Tarheel0907 said:

I remember but it has to be a false positive or neg when boarding. Either way these test are a shot in the dark lol

Yeah...but that media...grr.. lol

7 minutes ago, Tarheel0907 said:

False positive I bet 

Even if it is that, the damage is done. Remember the false positive that took place on Quantum of the Seas out of Singapore last year? Media went nuts over it. People don't remember that it was a false positive, all they remember and report was a positive test initially. The media sucks lol.

From a fellow loyal Royal cruiser and travel agent -- chances are high that the November 15th sailing won't be the inaugural that many of us are booked on