DunwoodyDad

6 hours ago, bobroo said:

Let me ask, you would have no problem with you and your family boarding Enchantment, Vision, Independence, Adventure, or Liberty this weekend from some Florida port? Let’s say sailing an exciting itinerary of Labadee, Colon, Maracaibo, and top it off with a stop in Mobile? Is it of any significance Royal has implemented zero changes In passenger health and safety over the past 3 months? Would you like your cruise to be “business as usual” of Coca Cola freestyle machines, escape rooms, rides on a North Star 300’ in the air, or zip lining,  rock climbing, or maybe iFly (as long as the kids wear a helmet)? How about a 50 person hot tub in the afternoon? An inside cabin to keep cost low?
 

You would not bat an eye to doing any of this?

I would absolutely go on a Royal cruise this weekend.  But I would also not be stupid about it....just like when I went to the beach Memorial Day week.  I would wear a mask when I am inside in crowded situations like boarding, going to the shops in the promenade, regularly use hand sanitizer after touching something other people touch, and of course wouldn’t shake hands and generally keep my distance from others. But I would still go to the pool, eat in the restaurants, and have a good time. My 4 teens would do what they are going to do and hang out with friends just like they do now when I’m home and when we were at the beach. I would tell them to be careful but realize they will only do so much. 
 

in terms of RCL, they haven’t said what they will / won’t do when allowed to sail again, but I’m sure we will be getting served in the Windjammer for a while. But it’s silly to think it won’t be modified once they do sail.

Again, my key point here is that all other US travel businesses have opened or are opening...why can’t they?  I do agree with some of the posts above that it’s rooted in taxes, number of jobs of US citizens Impacted vs non citizens, bad lobbying, etc.  Plus all the negative press from the Princess ships. 

10 hours ago, Traveler said:

I think the issue might be very simple : 

If you ask CDC as an health organization they will tell you that the best way to fight the C19 (or any other virus) is to close everything , everyone will stay at home and the army will bring the food and water. few weeks/month like that and everything will be OK. 

On the other hand you have the local business  and others organization  that are pushing to open everything so the economy can  recover. Theme parks = lots of local jobs and taxes at the parks/hotels/restaurants/laundries and many other business. They have someone to shout and push on their behalf. The cruise industry dose not have this  , they do not pay taxes in the US and the number of local jobs they provide are limited. 

That is why the CDC allowing other things to be open while keep the cruise shut, Its not because they hate cruising they just could not keep all  the other things close ...

I liked this and frankly could not agree more that it’s this simple. I don’t think at all they(CDC) mean to disrupt the industry. It’s just a position that is completely coming from a medical perspective. Just like if you work for a big company and the legal team is asked what to do and they give a very conservative opinion based on limiting liability....or the security officer gives an opinion based on protecting the company from hackers. But those folks are usually not the ones calling the shots and instead it’s someone who weighs the advice and ultimately makes a business decision that sometimes doesn’t follow the advice. 

The point here back to my original post is that if I can choose to take a vacation with my family to the beach and pool and restaurants While staying in a hotel in Florida, why not do the same things on a cruise ship pulling out of a Florida port?  Its really the same thing from an exposure perspective and is a decision I am making  

Also please look past the headlines that say states opened too early. Look at the underlying data... not infections which is what the lazy news outlets are quoting, but of hospitalizations and deaths. Infection numbers can and are rising with more testing.  If the infections keep going up, but the amount of people going into hospitals isn’t rising, then the states opening hasn’t created a problem. 

Just posted something very similar a few minutes ago.

Just read Matt’s latest blogs and it’s so unfortunate (My opinion) that the CDC is making the call on when it’s safe to cruise unlike all these other travel / vacation industries.  I’m afraid it’s going to be a really long time before the CDC says it’s safe.  

I was at a beach resort in Florida for Memorial Day week with a large group and we are fine. There was some capacity reduction indoor of restaurants and masks were worn in retail stores.  Outside bars and restaurants ran at regular levels.  Other than indoor stuff everything was basically normal especially the pools and beach. it was in Walton county on the pan handle and there has been no change in the local numbers. 

It’s just too bad that cruising has been targeted here. It would be interesting if it was the call of the originating port governor.....

They are definitely going in an odd order. Already got back full refunds for 2 of our 3 cabins on a June 6th sailing.  I don’t think it’s even been 10 days since I filled out the forms.  While this was great after seeing it would be up to 45 days, they have only refunded my kids interiors. The JS we were in is still outstanding and was significantly more $. Again, it felt great to see some of it back already. 

I received the notice late yesterday that our cruise has the change as well. Does anyone know why they do this?

We are on the exact same itinerary but sailing June 7th. I haven’t received anything about a change but was actually already kind of thinking I wish we had one more sea day.

To be clear, we love all the ports and we’re thinking we would stay onboard for at least one.  But in my experience, it seems like some of the bigger onboard activities don’t happen on port days. I’m talking things like ice skating, the new laser tag, etc. And other entertainment and casino hours are significantly pared back on port days.

My personal concern with the itinerary you have now is that they won’t even do some of these things. We love St Martin but we’ve also been there plenty of times and we really want to experience the upgrades on the ship. I may be off on the assumption that they wont offer those things....it’s just an observation from past cruises.  

This is just nit picking. We can’t wait to see those islands. My wife and oldest have always wanted to see St Lucia in particular.

Sailing on Freedom in June. I seem to recall Matt saying he arrived at 1030 but I’ve seen other places that it doesn’t even open until 11.  What’s the best time to arrive?  We like to be on early but don’t want to get caught up in a mess / lines.  

Definite rule of thumb is have them go to the teen club for the first night mixer. Usually 8 or 830.

I’ve got 4 kids aged 13-19 now that all say to go that first night to make friends. Sometimes they meet people and sometimes not, but it’s the best way for sure. 

Does anyone know if the addition of Izumi means Jade in the Windjammer will go away?

Related question...does anyone know if the Escape rooms are generally open on port days?  Or only on sea days?

Wow. Smart choice by them. I knew about it but was is in middle of having my cruise rebooked so couldn’t get onto the planner to buy.  That’s just how it goes sometimes. I did end up saving about $1300 with the rebook though. 

Follow up on this just in case anyone sees this in the future. The rooms were basically right behind the bar on deck 4 of the centrum. It’s also right where the dance floor was and the band would set up in the opposite corner from where our rooms were so the speakers were facing directly at us and every night there was music and dancing.

Despite this, I have to say that when we shut the door you couldn’t hear anything!  We actually loved the convenience of these rooms to the bar, guest services, the centrum access to other common areas, and the elevator banks were right there. 

Great thread. I just booked your option #2 this past week. I mean that actual date...June 7, 2020.  We discussed both itineraries and decided on that one because my wife and I have always wanted to see St Lucia. However, I didn’t price the other one...so maybe I need to see if it would change a lot. We’ve got 3 cabins / 6 people so a small price per person can definitely add up quick. All the positive comments for Curaçao also have me wondering.

One thing I heard on Matt’s podcast about this boat from a guest reviewer was the pool gets incredibly crowded on sea days. So I’m thinking we will stay on the ship at least while in St Thomas because we’ve been there a few times. It’s beautiful so will actually enjoy the scenery in the background while enjoying the pool deck. 

@Matt uh oh....Matt, you are scaring me. We have 4061 plus the next 2 cabins in June on Jewel Of The Seas. I was searching for the ship name and saw this comment. When we booked it I needed 3 together and didn’t have much of a choice.  Not sure I realized how close this was to the lobby bar and noise. How bad was it?  Was it an issue at night?

Hi James,

my family will also be in this cruise. While you are celebrating your honeymoon, we are actually celebrating our 25th anniversary. We will have our 4 teenagers with us in 3 cabins. I’m expecting a pretty big difference in the ship since our last 3 cruises have been on Oasis class ships. But we are especially looking forward to the ports. 

Hi,  In early June we will be on a 4 night cruise on Jewel OTS sailing out of Rome. We will be stopping in Corsica, Marseille, and Villefranche (Nice).

All 3 ports are new to us so we would love any advice.  We are a family of 6 with 4 teens aged 13-18. We want to get a feel of the different places and see any key sights but also would like to work in at least a little beach time.

Again, please give me any advice you may have. Thanks in advance!

Is the paella,clams and mussels, and tray of fish and chips really for lunch?  I don’t remember windjammer lunches like that.

Where do you come in?

Any reviews on Dru Pavlov?  

We had Abe Hughes last time on the Harmony and thought he was hilarious. We would get the family up early just to watch his show a couple times through. 

Thanks. That worked. Seems much better than creating a separate login for the kids. 

I am just now dealing with the new website so sorry if this is old news....but I have multiple cabins on an upcoming cruise and don’t see how I can add the extra rooms to my account beyond the cabin I am in. When I try to manually add one of the other cabins through the reservation, it asks me which passenger I am. I am of course not one of the names it shows because these are my kids in other stateroooms. I just called the website tech support line and was told this was for security and that I would need to create an account for each of the cabins.

Could this be right?  It certainly never worked this way before.  I was always able to login and manage all of my staterooms from my account. The tech support guy said it was for security but I’m not buying that. 

Any ideas?

Hi,

My family is going on the Harmony the first week of June and we wanted get a Voom package for 6 devices. Does anyone know if I should expect a cruise planner sale before then?  Right now, I don’t see any kind of a Voom discount. 

I am looking for advice from you regular cruisers who have also sailed on Celebrity and in particular, on the Equinox.  We are considering booking a week this July on the Equinox to the Eastern Caribbean.  

We are a family of 6 (my wife and I plus 16, 14, 12, and 11 year old kids).  My family just finished a week on the Harmony of the Seas and loved it.  And last year we were on the Oasis and had a great time as well.  What I am wondering is if my kids will enjoy the pace and activities on the Equinox like they did on the RCL ships.  Any advice would very much be appreciated!