Rose City Cruiser

Rebuilding consumer confidence in the cruise industry will be difficult.  Especially attracting first-time cruisers.  Will this cause a shift in scaling down new ship builds, design and innovation?  Can Royal still fill their OA ships on every sailing?  Nobody knows.  

Personally, it will most likely be at least 12-18 months before my wife and I can cruise again.  She is a healthcare worker and cannot afford being quarantined when her co-workers are battling this virus.  Our neighbours across the river in Detroit are taking a real beating.        

That is the reason we are going to take the full refund for our May 2nd sailing.  Spend our money locally here since small businesses are hurting badly.  Big corporations like Royal can weather this.  Different story for small businesses even with the assistance from the Canadian Federal Government.   

Hope they are able to contain the spread.  With no guests onboard, the crew must be assigned to the guest staterooms

4 hours ago, Chadster said:

Canadians are not exactly going to be welcoming of visitors from other lands.

We are simple people.  Just bring beer and maple syrup 

America don't got time to "flatten the curve

1 hour ago, twangster said:

The Department of State advises U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19

Similar advisory by the Government of Canada 

https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories

52 minutes ago, PRebecca said:

I had no idea Freedom was still sailing, are other ships that aren't out of the US or EU? 

Freedom was turned away when she arrived at her homeport in San Juan. 

The smaller cruise lines will be more exposed to bankruptcy compared to the big players like Royal and Carnival.  

Just to answer the OP's question, customers who have FCC/monies paid to Royal will most likely SOL.  Other creditors will have priority.  There are some travel insurance plans that will cover those type of loss.  Some credit cards may even cover that.  The premium ones may just credit you out of "goodwill". 

I guess city of Victoria got their wish....

Will they be able to change itinerary to Mexico cruise?  

I totally understand why they are doing this but..... this is like getting a sick note for work but the other way around.  It will affect wait times and appointment availability for those who are actually sick and need to see their Dr.

Question about the buffet.  Are staff putting the food onto your plate (cafeteria style) or is it still self-serve? 

Glad you were able to take advantage of Royal and Delta's recent policies.   

Looking forward to your next blog. 

Tomorrow? 

I used them back in 2017.  It's a shared transfer.  If you have an early flight, I would look at other options. 

6 minutes ago, FManke said:

I'm not overly sentimental but, remember the good old days, before Covid-19 when we would just debate whether or not shorts were acceptable in the MDR?

And pizza! 

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

Ahhh..I don't have much familiarity with Canadian insurance practices.  I know my annual policy specifically excludes 

I know different countries have different levels of consumer protection, though.

My policy does have coverage for quarantines, however.

My Trip Cancellation/Interruption insurance policy states

"A Government of Canada Travel Advisory is issued during your trip, or after you purchased your insurance but before your departure date, advising Canadians to avoid all or non-essential travel to a destination included in your trip."

I have confirmed with my insurer and they said a cruise ship is not considered a destination.  It will need to be a country or port of call.

There is also an exclusion on my policy:
"An event when, on the purchase date as shown on your confirmation, you or your travel companion knew, or it was a reasonable to expect, may eventually prevent you from going on or completing your trip as booked."

So as of March 5, 2020, my insurer will not pay for any Trip Cancellation/Interruption losses related to COVID-19 as it is considered a known event.  So anyone who did not purchase a plan prior to March 5th, will not have coverage for COVID-19. 

I am confident that if the advisories affect the safety of their passengers, Royal will make the proper itinerary changes. 

I wonder how it would work with a comped cruise from their casino in terms of FCC?  Any insight @WAAAYTOOO? 

I have not been able to complete the liability waivers online since they updated to the new website. 

6 minutes ago, Leroyr55 said:

In cruise planned I have linked my daughters reservation with ours. If we choose the same time to dine in the MDR would they automatically seat us at the same table?

If you both chose My Time Dining and your reservations are linked, you can make reservations on Cruise Planner under Dining.  Just make sure you enter their reservation number

28 minutes ago, ellcee said:

Costco was holiday packed when I went. I genuinely needed to stock up - as I do about once a month. It was nuts

Saw a video of a Costco in the Greater Toronto Area where customers were climbing up the shelves to reach the items still in the pallets...

Trying to convince someone over the internet to change their stance on COVID-19 is like convincing someone to take your own political view.  Not going to happen.  Time to move onto a different topic. 

There's a 3nt cruise on Ovation for 500k LP.  Vancouver to Seattle

21 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

He said "let's do it, but only if it's an Oasis Class ship".  I'm just dying, lol. 

Hook.  Line.  And.....

1 hour ago, Jason12 said:

For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $35 food credit, with the exception of Port Side BBQ and Playmakers which will be $20. Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $10 surcharge,

When we were on Allure 11/2019, no surcharge was charged to us.  We had Izumi Hibachi on Night 1.  YMMV.

2 minutes ago, FManke said:

That's $35 per visit. Not per day. Correct?

Per visit.

$35 credit per person at Izumi was per visit. 

We ordered Izumi as take out on a sea day and enjoyed it on our balcony.