Now all Freedom sailings are gone, except for the July 5th sailing, until the August 23 sailing.
7/2 went away about 5 hours ago.
7/9, 7/12, 7/16, 7/19 went away about 3 hours ago.
7/26, 7/30, 8/2, 8/6, 8/9, 8/13, 8/16, 8/20 went away about an hour ago.
There's also some activity with Odyssey sailings being removed over the last 2 to 4 hours.
I believe its because they are moving people over from the Navigator to the Freedom and don't want inventory to disappear before moving those on a cancelled sailing first.
According to CruisingPower, all of the Freedom early July bookings are closed. The first sailing showing availability is 23 July. Switching ships maybe ?
Good catch. I highly doubt it sold out. I think cruise lines are kind of backed against a corner right now... while the restart plans are great, all these other laws around mandating vaccines, banning vaccine information etc is just going to create more of a mess. At this point, I will be surprised to see any cruises sail from the US this summer. if they do, hooray!
Well, a lot has happened since I last posted. My wife and I checked out Le Petit Chef to celebrate our anniversary. Very interesting place. For those that don't know what it is, search youtube. It's definitely a place that is easier to see in video than explain.
Also, I found some pieces on display from the RMS Olympic. Very cool! Given the history of Olympic's two sisters, a superstiscious person might be uncomfortable.
We arrived in Barbados this morning. This was supposed to be our last stop, but was moved forward without explanation. Rumor has it that Barbados required a test within 5 days and they moved it forward to reduce the number of tests everyone had to get.
Anyway, the only way off the ship is with a ship based excursion. We took a snorkeling trip and saw a bunch of endangered turtles and a couple ship wrecks. I recommend this excursion if anyone is coming on a later cruise.
Well, time to get back to the fun! I hope everyone is looking forward to their next cruise!
we are so excited now! feels like we hit the jackpot! we were scheduled on 3 back to backs on the independence weeks of july 11th(6), july 17th(8), and july 25th(6 day) and we recieved an email stating we will atomatically be booked on the Odyssey of the seas! on the same dates too! we are happy to be on the 2,3, and the 4th cruises on this wonderful new ship. looking forward to going back to aruba and curacao, along with everything else. after having 14 cruises cancelled since march 2020, we are more than ready.. love the fact we had lift and shifted into independence from other great cruise deals we already had. after looking at current pricing, im so glad we are price guarenteed into this expensive ship!! 10 more scheduled between dec21 and april22!!
Wake up early and call at like 6 or 7am eastern.
This is also a really, really, really good reminder to use a good travel agent so you don't have to be on hold
Transcript of Richard Fain’s video released on 6/7/2021.
Hello again travel partners! We here at the Royal Caribbean Group hope you’re all having a great start to summer especially as cruising is beginning to resume in earnest. In response to questions from some of you, my wife is still acting as my cameraperson, but I expect I’ll soon be back in the office with professional help. Actually, I’m not eager to give this up. I’ve enjoyed doing these videos with her and I will miss her “constructive” criticism.
Management guru Tom Peters once said, “if you’re not confused, you’re not paying attention.” Well, I’m paying attention and I’m confused as hell. Overall, of course I’m a very happy camper because our healthy return to service is well underway and that’s very exciting. But I’m still confused about the details involved in getting us there. Let me try and explain my view of the current state of play, knowing that it’s all going to change tomorrow.
The key to everything is the vaccines. They are proving to be the game changer that we all hoped for. Fortunately, our country is in a strong leadership position regarding vaccines. The US was in the forefront of developing the vaccines and the US is in the forefront of delivering them. Already almost 2/3rds of adults have gotten them, and that number is climbing. America is leading the world in this regard and when I talk to people in Europe and Asia, they look at us with envy.
As more and more of the country gets vaccinated, the role of the vaccine is beginning to morph. Initially when the number of vaccinated was small, the vaccines mainly protected the person taking the vaccine. That’s still true that vaccines protect each of us individually. But today as we get vaccinated, we’re not only helping ourselves, we're helping the people around us. In order to reopen society, we need large numbers of people to be vaccinated. Even if we don’t feel that we need the protection for ourselves, we should still do it to help our friends and neighbors. It’s a bit like litter. If I drop a piece of litter on the ground, it makes an insignificant impact on the environment. But if a lot of people drop litter, the cumulative impact is enormous. The same thing’s true of vaccines. Getting one today not only protects you from the virus, it protects the whole society and allows us to get back to normalcy.
Which brings us to the question of vaccines on board our ships. We believe vaccines can help make our cruise ships not only as safe as land-based activities but even safer. That's because we control the environment in a way that few on land can even dream of.
If I go into a store on land or go to a theme park or attend an event the ability of the operator to vet who enters is limited. They can't do extensive screening for something that’s only going to last for a few hours. All they can do is implement protocols to limit interaction once the people are there. But such protocols are more intrusive and less effective than preventing the introduction of the virus in the first place.
On the other hand, cruise guests will be on for days and days and we can therefore enact extensive requirements before people board designed to prevent the virus from coming on board in the first place. In effect we can establish processes designed to prevent COVID from entering the ship, creating a sort of bubble. That bubble not only gives greater protection than available almost anywhere, but it also means that we don’t have to have such extensive operating protocols. The result is not only a safer cruise but a better and more enjoyable one.
So, as I said before we intend to vaccinate all our crew members. 100%. In fact, we’ve already given vaccines to 16,465 seafarers. Clearly, we’re not messing around.
On top of that, we want all of our guests to be vaccinated as well. We want that because we believe it makes us all safer. And we want that because our guests want that. In our surveys the vast majority have either already received a vaccination or are about to do so. Ideally everyone on board would be vaccinated.
But in practice there have to be some exceptions. The main exception will be children under 12 who cannot get a vaccine today. But children tend to spend time in the family unit and studies have shown that children are a lesser source of infection than adults. Soon children as young as five years old will be eligible. That will result in even fewer exceptions.
Now this raises the issue of the Florida law which prohibits business in Florida from requiring proof of vaccination for services within the state. This unique law only applies within Florida. While we obviously have to comply with the law of the land, we do not believe that we will have significant numbers of unvaccinated for several reasons. Remember, the vast bulk of our guests want vaccinations and, in most cases, already have them.
In addition, due to the health and legal requirements of many jurisdictions, those who are unvaccinated will need to undergo additional testing and other restrictions. That necessarily adds to their cost and adds limitations on the cruise for those people who choose to be unvaccinated. There would be no additional cost for children who are not eligible for the vaccine.
Our plan therefore continues to be that virtually everyone who’s eligible for a vaccine will have one. On some of our ships with fewer children, including Celebrity and Silversea and some Royal Caribbean International ships, we will ensure that the percent vaccinated will exceed 95%. On other ships we expect almost everyone over 12 will be vaccinated. The specifics are confusing and there will undoubtedly be movement of the various details during the coming weeks.
I know some observers will greet each issue, each minute action, each side comment as momentous. But we should all take a collective breath. We're working through the details in a positive and constructive manner. While there will inevitably be some elements of confusion as we do so, the outcome isn't in any real doubt.
After 15 months of no forward motion suddenly everything is happening at lightspeed. We are moving forward, and cruising is restarting. All the parties seem aligned that cruising needs to restart. The CDC in Atlanta are now constructively dialoguing with us. The governor and other Florida officials clearly want to welcome the jobs that cruising generates. The mayors and other officials are eager for our return. Even Congress understands the importance of our industry, passing, unanimously, the bill that allows us to provide cruises to Alaska this summer. Can you think of one other piece of legislation that got every member of Congress to support it? OMG, rarely have so many different interests agreed on one thing and that thing is the importance of the cruise industry restarting in a healthy manner. Therefore, it's all happening. We are moving inexorably towards the total resumption of cruising in a safe and healthy manner.
So last Saturday Celebrity Millennium started her first voyage in 15 months leaving from Sint Maarten to destinations in the Caribbean. In less than a week Adventure of the Seas will start sailing from Nassau. In just two weeks Celebrity Edge will depart Port Everglades with our own Captain Kate at the helm. On July 2nd, Freedom of the Seas will leave PortMiami on her first sailing to Nassau and our incomparable private island Perfect Day at CocoCay. And during the rest of the year, we will be methodically bringing back the rest of our fleet. By the way, I intend to be on these inaugural sailings from Miami to celebrate. I really do have a tough job but taking these inaugural cruises… that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make!
So, while I may not know every detail of the process, I can assure you of this: we will not restart any ship unless and until we are confident of two things. Firstly, that it is safe to do so and more so than shoreside equivalents, and secondly that the experience on board meets our exacting expectations, including guest ratings of the cruise at least equal to what they were pre-pandemic.
One of the reasons I’m so confident of the experience going forward comes from my discussions with our employees. Those conversations frankly have been very emotional for me. You all know that it’s our crew that makes our cruises so special and has for 50 years. The ships are exceptional, of course, but the crew are the people that take the experience to the next level. But while the crew are normally amazing, they are walking on cloud 9 today. It's just so emotional to talk to them and to see their enthusiasm. Frankly you can't talk to them without being overwhelmed by their emotions. That excitement is contagious, and your clients will be the beneficiaries.
And something similar is happening with our guests. We can already see from the first sailing on Celebrity Millennium how people are reacting. After 15 long months of isolation, the freedom of being in this kind of bubble is incredibly liberating.
So, start counting the days on your fingers. Mark the dates off on your calendars. Make sure your businesses are ready to respond to the pent-up demand. Summer is starting in the United States and cruising is going to be a big part of it. And don't forget to get your vaccine and wash your hands!
I would have preferred him to say it more directly, but it seems this is their answer.
"We think enough people will be vaccinated anyway, so no point in requiring the vaccine"
If you were to pump truth serum in his veins, he might say:
"We think enough people will be vaccinated anyway, so no point in requiring the vaccine....and there's that Florida law we can't get around, so that too."
I still don't know how a ship like Celebrity Edge, which requires 95% vaccinated, will operate from a legal standpoint.
I am excited that Royal has finally brought this fun style of dining to their ship! It was one of the things we liked about Norwegian but since we've become more Loyal to Royal, happy to see this available on this ship and hopefully others in the future. Anyone else a fan?
I logged into my Cruise planner for one of the first Odyssey sailings and I don't see it listed yet as a dining option, hmm... odd? I am able to book everything else though such as shore excursions, other dining options and internet.
I’m not so sure I’d switch this late only because Adventure is a guaranteed sail. If odyssey had already passed her test cruise, I’d move but with the way the last few weeks have gone, who knows what tomorrow brings, heck even the next few hours! Lol
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