Will You Still Cruise with Social Distancing?

[Ray]

36 minutes ago, YOLO said:

 fireworks on the ship (thought this was against ship rules), pirate banners on balconies (thought this was against ship rules), and even sex in public!  

Is the last part allowed as you dont say its against ship Rules?  

 

[CruisinForABruisin]

12 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

I recall reading your story in another thread, thanks for sharing again. What about your safety too! Clearly a bunch of people trying to live up to an image. I want to say I wouldn't have chased him down and went to customer service / called security / something but I'm guilty of acting first and thinking later; I'm sure my wife would have grabbed me so I didn't go running after him.

FWIW, the guy sounds like a punk who didn't expect you to confront him, why not toss the wine glasses when you had plenty of time to get out of the elevator... That's not only a cheap shot, but a cheap shot with a chance to get away. Also an idiot, I mean cruise ships are large, but not *that* large... You'd see him again.

I'm hoping my wife would've grabbed me as well, or that I would do something less violent, like grab the wheel chair and run off with his wife and drop her off on the other side of the ship 

[Ampurp85]

Sex in public is wrong.

I had to suffer through it twice on a plane and on every river cruise I have been on. On the plane it was in first and business class...those trying to get in the mile high club. During a cruise on the Danube this couple kept trying to invite people back to their room, I guess no one bit so they went at it in the Jacuzzi as soon as the sun set. During my UK, Nile and Mediterranean river cruises it was on the balconies. Why people, why?

[USFFrank]

Hmmmmm social distancing. If that means less people in the Schooner Bar during music trivia, then hell yea. Less people means better odds for me to win those coveted Royal Caribbean key chains & highlighters 

[YOLO]

4 hours ago, Ray said:

Is the last part allowed as you dont say its against ship Rules?  

 

Ha, not sure actually.  The fireworks and sex were not witnessed by me, but rather a close friend of mine.  I was surprised to here it.  He witnessed two instances of public sex.

[YOLO]

5 hours ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

I recall reading your story in another thread, thanks for sharing again.

I was going to try to point to a link to that old thread, but after 10 minutes of searching I had to give up.  Yes, it was out there before.  Embarrassing for me and I learned my lesson.  As you can imagine, I was not able to get any sort of refund for the unused portion of the cruise.  So what did we do you ask?  We went to Disney World !!!  True story after spending one night at the Montego Bay Riu Resort...

[sk8erguy1978]

5 minutes ago, YOLO said:

I was going to try to point to a link to that old thread, but after 10 minutes of searching I had to give up.  Yes, it was out there before.  Embarrassing for me and I learned my lesson.  As you can imagine, I was not able to get any sort of refund for the unused portion of the cruise.  So what did we do you ask?  We went to Disney World !!!  True story after spending one night at the Montego Bay Riu Resort...

At least you were able to "save" the vacation and make the best of it, my wife would still be pissed. It's a good lesson and goes to show the no tolerance on a cruise ship. Although, it does make me wonder, what if he did confront you where you needed to protect yourself... hopefully that situation would have been different... Tough situation, while only a dress was ruined, what he did could have resulted in serious injury. 

 

[L454S]

I don't think this is possible on a full cruise ship(think elevators). Not enough people climb stairs. You can't have performers do that many shows a night to accommodate all passengers in the theater.

You have 2 dining times now, how many more can you make if you have half the tables?

It starts to sound very unvacation like.

[VACruiser]

I wonder what the profit margin is for a full ship versus a well socially-distanced ship say around 50% capacity? A company has to make money to operate and I’m quite sure operating a Oasis class ship is an extremely expensive venture. They may start like this, just to get going, but as time goes on, money must be generated heavily to pay back all these loans cruise companies have been borrowing to stay operating. 

I know this is a cruise blog, and people on it have a high level of tolerance for cruising under extreme conditions just to get going, but I have to think it’s still a minority portion of the ship.  To get back to making money they need new people to try cruising and getting the ships back to a high profit margin. Either more people cruise or they raise the prices for cruising. Something has to change in order for the company to become profitable again and that’s going to be tough with social distancing which probably equates to lower people numbers on ships. 
 

We shall see but I do love the business aspect of how this is going to work. 

[ellcee]

I'd do whatever I needed to do to cruise, I've stated that before. I don't like people in my personal space unless they're invited...so I'd be thrilled. Elevators with too many people have always freaked me out. I will wait or use the stairs...just not sure how this would happen. Personally, if it's a packed space like an elevator or a venue I don't know how I'd feel on a cruise ship.

 

[Pima1988]

14 hours ago, YOLO said:

They accounted for over 2200 passengers on that sailing.  I would have never booked that cruise had I known and now always check (as best as possible) to make sure I am not booking a partial chartered cruise

LMAO on this comment in total agreement.  

Our 1st cruise (10 night Med) was the exact opposite.  We were 27/28 yrs old.  It was the size of Enchantment.  They sold 50% of it to AARP.  It was the strangest feeling ever.  It actually felt like you were on your own personal yacht.  9 pm and the bars/dance venues were just a handful of passengers.  However, since this was back in the 90s, at 11:30 they all came back out again for the midnight buffet to take pics.  12:15 and the ship was silent again.  

I would never do it again even though it felt like my own yacht.  It just had the wrong vibe. OBTW I am now eligible for AARP.

 

 

[Pima1988]

I am for it.  I have a JS balcony, thus I have no problem lounging on my balcony.  Only exception would be that long walk to a car to get my drink.  

To me the issue I am seeing is the "chair hogs"  It is bad enough already with chairs slammed up right next to each other to the point you have to shimmy in to the lounger.  Imagine now if they reduce those chairs by even 25%.  What time in the a.m. will you have to be there to get a lounger at the pool?  4;30 in the a.m.?  

The upshot of this maybe RCL pool attendants might become more pro-active removing towels.  Before they didn't want to upset passengers that "hogged" the chair.  I would think now if they reduce the chairs, the non-hoggers will be pointing out to attendants at a higher rate and demanding the attendants remove the towels.  

[ChessE4]

2 hours ago, VACruiser said:

I wonder what the profit margin is for a full ship versus a well socially-distanced ship say around 50% capacity? A company has to make money to operate and I’m quite sure operating a Oasis class ship is an extremely expensive venture. They may start like this, just to get going, but as time goes on, money must be generated heavily to pay back all these loans cruise companies have been borrowing to stay operating. 

I know this is a cruise blog, and people on it have a high level of tolerance for cruising under extreme conditions just to get going, but I have to think it’s still a minority portion of the ship.  To get back to making money they need new people to try cruising and getting the ships back to a high profit margin. Either more people cruise or they raise the prices for cruising. Something has to change in order for the company to become profitable again and that’s going to be tough with social distancing which probably equates to lower people numbers on ships. 
 

We shall see but I do love the business aspect of how this is going to work. 

I think we will need vaccines before new cruisers are willing to give ships a try.  We ourselves are waiting for the vaccines.  We don't worry about getting a random virus, but we do worry about dropping dead....

[YOLO]

9 hours ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

At least you were able to "save" the vacation and make the best of it, my wife would still be pissed. It's a good lesson and goes to show the no tolerance on a cruise ship. Although, it does make me wonder, what if he did confront you where you needed to protect yourself... hopefully that situation would have been different... Tough situation, while only a dress was ruined, what he did could have resulted in serious injury. 

For me it was a close call, so if I did only what I needed to do to protect myself as you say, I am confident I would have not have been debarked.  Now I know for next time and yes, there are camera everywhere even if you can't find security.  There was however, no camera in the elevator!  Another bad experience as part of this was that I was interrogated by the police in Jamaica as I was released by the ship to them.  That was not at all fun either.  Please learn from me, just don't take that chance and call security!  On the good side (sort of) was that my sister and my wife's sister (who were sharing a room), chose on their own to leave the ship too and go to Disney with us.  In the end, we did get to enjoy our vacation...

[YOLO]

47 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

However, since this was back in the 90s, at 11:30 they all came back out again for the midnight buffet to take pics.  12:15 and the ship was silent again.  

I remember those days well and actually do miss them.  I was on Carnival once where they held a special crepe event with all of the fixings at 2:00 in the morning !!!  I just happened to wake right before then and said "hey I am hungry again".  I woke up Ceil and we went.  It was fun.  What we found is that most of the people there were from the ship.  Entertainers, singers & dancers, staff, etc.  Still it was a blast.  I had crepes with cherries and chocolate!  Yum...

[whitsmom]

19 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Who is going to enforce this as they dont even enforce the time or capacity limits on the hot tubs now?

We are taking our granddaughters to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend and when I talked to them the other day they told me that they have workers that their only job is policing the social distancing in the water park as well as the hotel and etc.  They also have an app now and we can use the app to order and pay for food there.  I did rent a indoor cabana for our 2 days there just to have our own space.  They did say that the Hot Tubs are CLOSED due to not being able to maintain the distancing.  I feel like RCI will have to close the Hot Tub also as they are so small in comparison of the pools. 

[Scrumps]

22 hours ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

After reading the new post, I was wondering how many people will actually have a problem with social distancing on a cruise.

We are fine with most of the changes. We will also forgo the theater if needed.  The two items that stops us from cruising any time soon is the possibility that an active covid case will send us all into quarantine and the port may deny us returning on time.  The 2nd item is the 2 week quarantine that my wife's work will impose.  Once the 2nd item is lifted and we get confirmation on how active cases are handled, we will look to cruise again.

[YOLO]

35 minutes ago, whitsmom said:

I feel like RCI will have to close the Hot Tub also as they are so small in comparison of the pools. 

4 hours ago, L454S said:

I don't think this is possible on a full cruise ship(think elevators). Not enough people climb stairs. You can't have performers do that many shows a night to accommodate all passengers in the theater.

Gee, good points.  I hadn't even considered how impossible it will be to socially distance in a hot tub or on an elevator.  Now you all have me wondering if some of the venues I have to come to expect (maybe even take for granted) could actually be closed for the duration of my Cruise on Nov 1st !!!  Well that would really xxxx (insert your wording here)...

[YOLO]

9 minutes ago, Scrumps said:

We are fine with most of the changes. We will also forgo the theater if needed.  The two items that stops us from cruising any time soon is the possibility that an active covid case will send us all into quarantine and the port may deny us returning on time.  The 2nd item is the 2 week quarantine that my wife's work will impose.  Once the 2nd item is lifted and we get confirmation on how active cases are handled, we will look to cruise again.

Agree.  I am in the same boat.  I can afford a week of vacation time to cruise, but not a resulting two week quarantine out of work...

[YOLO]

Thinking more about what @Scrumps wrote, I sure hope that NO cruise ship sails knowing that their passengers will need to quarantine upon disembarkation.

[Mrs. Thomas]

2 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

I think we will need vaccines before new cruisers are willing to give ships a try.  We ourselves are waiting for the vaccines.  We don't worry about getting a random virus, but we do worry about dropping dead....

This virus doesn't make you just "drop dead". It isn't the black death. If you have an underlying condition then by all means, please wait until you feel safe. For the relatively healthy person you have a small chance of dying from the virus. There are multiple statistics on it. That being said, do what you think is necessary to stay healthy.

[DunkelBierJay]

The public is so bad at looking at the media's reporting critically...that is as damaging as the response and the virus itself. Why isn't mortality being reported with the spiking cases. I saw one social media comment from someone who says they are a doctor that the with the current numbers right now (I haven't seen it elsewhere yet for more credibility), this wouldn't even be listed as an epidemic in a normal situation much less a pandemic. This whole thing has just eroded more of my personal trust in media and government bureaucracies which were low to begin with. No, not low....I will say non-existent.

[Mrs. Thomas]

@YOLO That is crazy! I understand the policy of protecting certain charter groups. Unfortunately we all know that some people are hateful. However, the things that were going on is unacceptable. I'm a bit of a Momma bear so I would have had my husband stopping me instead of the other way around. I'm glad you have learned from it and now I know we all need to behave ourselves.

[Ray]

18 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

and on every river cruise I have been on. 

Can you let me know next time you book a river cruise so i can book the same one

[Yo2slick]

I just dont see how social distancing would even be possible on a ship.  People are literally everywhere, touching everything and not to mention you are breathing recirculated air on the ship.  My wife and I have decided that we are going to wait until all of this blows over and things get back to a normal state.  After dealing with all of this on land I can't imagine paying to deal with it on vacation.  Just my opinion.  

[YOLO]

2 hours ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

@YOLO That is crazy! I understand the policy of protecting certain charter groups. Unfortunately we all know that some people are hateful. However, the things that were going on is unacceptable. I'm a bit of a Momma bear so I would have had my husband stopping me instead of the other way around. I'm glad you have learned from it and now I know we all need to behave ourselves.

I sent RCL a letter pleading with them to no avail.  On a ship the Captain is in charge and his decision is final.  All I can say is whoa Momma Bear - you really wouldn't want the consequences.  There was no refund (not even partial) for me.  And when I sailed on the Rhapsody to Alaska the following year I received no less than 3 phone calls from RCL officials.  They asked me lots of questions and were essentially testing me.  They wanted to make sure the issue was behind me and that I was not a risk!  So in the end, I was very lucky that the Captain did not choose to ban me from RCL for life.  It could have happened to me, but thank God it did not.  Ceil likes her cruises and I can bear the thought of being the reason why we weren't cruising Royal.

[Mrs. Thomas]

2 minutes ago, YOLO said:

I sent RCL a letter pleading with them to no avail.  On a ship the Captain is in charge and his decision is final.  All I can say is whoa Momma Bear - you really wouldn't want the consequences.  There was no refund (not even partial) for me.  And when I sailed on the Rhapsody to Alaska the following year I received no less than 3 phone calls from RCL officials.  They asked me lots of questions and were essentially testing me.  They wanted to make sure the issue was behind me and that I was not a risk!  So in the end, I was very lucky that the Captain did not choose to ban me from RCL for life.  It could have happened to me, but thank God it did not.  Ceil likes her cruises and I can bear the thought of being the reason why we weren't cruising Royal.

Over the years I have learned to stay chill. I run the mouth first and find the right people. However, if I found myself surrounded by those kinds of people we would have done our best to steer clear of them. I may have even made a complaint about not knowing such people were chartered with my small kids.

[Neesa]

In our community newsletter someone (don't know them personally) is selling their cabin on a chartered Oasis sailing next November 2021 the week before Thanksgiving. We were considering a B2B in that time frame to use up our existing FCC. Price was okay, so started doing my due diligence, they were even going to pay whatever change fees. Wow, right?

Well investigation was successful because it was a full ship charter, mind you we have a teenage daughter we sail with. Oh my word, ready? 

Clothing optional ahem pineapple cruise, complete with playrooms and theme nights, well now I'm not even sure how I am feeling about sailing the following week that is booked already, forget about COVID, ugh...always something! 

No judgement to each their own I say in earnest but I might feel funny about this one, not sure how much social distancing takes place on this type of charter, I hope everyone has fun but hard no for our little family for that sailing. 

Otherwise, we are good to go!

[YOLO]

@Neesa  Holy Moly!  See what you can learn by doing just a bit of research!!!  Yep, that would be a hard NO for us.  What truly amazes me is that they chartered the entire Oasis ship.  That is a whole lot of clothing optional people...

[Neesa]

8 minutes ago, YOLO said:

@Neesa  Holy Moly!  See what you can learn by doing just a bit of research!!!  Yep, that would be a hard NO for us.  What truly amazes me is that they chartered the entire Oasis ship.  That is a whole lot of clothing optional people...

Exactly, the entire ship. Forgive me but I just can't stop picturing looking up at the transparent elevators, and then if they are packed in, I am laughing just thinking about the types of prints left "behind" 

[Scrumps]

5 hours ago, DunkelBierJay said:

Why isn't mortality being reported with the spiking cases.

It is..  but as we saw in NY and Italy and Spain, the numbers of deaths trail cases by a few weeks. It is why the number of deaths continued to increase in NY when new cases were going down.  Also, as hospitals become full, some will die due to a lack of beds/care.  Lets see were we are in 3-4 weeks with the number of dead.

[bhageerah]

On 7/7/2020 at 4:41 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

^^^^This!  is exactly why I love cruising so much.  It's about the only vacation that I can truly unwind and step back.  Saddens me even more that there is no start date in sight.  I tried to explain to my family the other night that for me, it's not just a lost vacation.  Cruising represents something far greater for me.

You are 100 percent correct and have to agree with both of you!!!  While I may not be a mother, I usually am the one that is the chef, I also take care of the yard, home repairs, and vehicle repairs.  I work 240 hours a month at my full time job (24 hour shifts) and then work about 64 hours a month part time.  I can tell you that for me cruising is peace of mind, it is comfort, and mental stability.  Being home just isn't cutting it either, with the twin 14 year olds that constantly argue, and are in need of time away from each other due to them being isolated since mid March a cruise is EXACTLY the therapy that all of us in this house need at the moment!  Like you have said @Lovetocruise2002 a cruise vacation represents quite a few things that you just can not explain to those that have not gone on one or gotten hooked on cruising.  For me right now it is  almost as if I have lost the comfort of a close friend. 

[bretts173]

7 hours ago, DunkelBierJay said:

The public is so bad at looking at the media's reporting critically...that is as damaging as the response and the virus itself. Why isn't mortality being reported with the spiking cases. I saw one social media comment from someone who says they are a doctor that the with the current numbers right now (I haven't seen it elsewhere yet for more credibility), this wouldn't even be listed as an epidemic in a normal situation much less a pandemic. This whole thing has just eroded more of my personal trust in media and government bureaucracies which were low to begin with. No, not low....I will say non-existent.

Yes we can trust 1 social media comment. The 100's of medical experts and doctors I have heard from or spoke to say the opposite.

It is not me that I worry about it is the exponential number of contacts I will come in contact with during or after that I could ruin their lives.

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, bhageerah said:

twin 14 year olds

Obviously, you are a Saint.  May God bless you and keep you.

[FManke]

My wife says I do that on every cruise. I like people in moderation.

[Lovetocruise2002]

4 hours ago, bhageerah said:

 For me right now it is  almost as if I have lost the comfort of a close friend.

Yes! Me too! That describes it perfectly!

[Morganno]

I would but I simply don't trust people in general and definitely not drunk people so I won't be cruising. 

[Mrs. Thomas]

On ‎7‎/‎8‎/‎2020 at 6:30 PM, bhageerah said:

You are 100 percent correct and have to agree with both of you!!!  While I may not be a mother, I usually am the one that is the chef, I also take care of the yard, home repairs, and vehicle repairs.  I work 240 hours a month at my full time job (24 hour shifts) and then work about 64 hours a month part time.  I can tell you that for me cruising is peace of mind, it is comfort, and mental stability.  Being home just isn't cutting it either, with the twin 14 year olds that constantly argue, and are in need of time away from each other due to them being isolated since mid March a cruise is EXACTLY the therapy that all of us in this house need at the moment!  Like you have said @Lovetocruise2002 a cruise vacation represents quite a few things that you just can not explain to those that have not gone on one or gotten hooked on cruising.  For me right now it is  almost as if I have lost the comfort of a close friend. 

Bless you dear! I have kids who like to fight too. Hooray for puberty. My husband doesn't understand why I enjoy traveling or getting away, probably because he doesn't do the housework or take care of our kids like I do. He's also a Marine so (thanks to Parris Island) he isn't a big fan of sand and says he got his "traveling bug" out then. Which part of the reason he doesn't go places with us. Personally I enjoy new experiences and helping others have them too. My Dad has always told my Mom about the beauty of the ocean. She has always wanted to visit the Caribbean and I want to help her see it before she gets to a place that she can't as my Dad has. I really hope that we can all get back to our happy place soon, whichever ship that may be.

@Neesa I'm glad for your sake that you found out. I think that cruises like that should have a warning for others trying to book that aren't part of that group that it "may not" be appropriate for people with kids. I used to work at a hotel and they would have swinger weekends. The sanitization of things like that is insane! Not all "couples" think about the person staying in that room after them.

[FManke]

@Mrs. ThomasI didn't notice until now, the logo with your name. Thank you husband for his service!

[AshleyDillo]

On 7/8/2020 at 2:40 PM, Neesa said:

In our community newsletter someone (don't know them personally) is selling their cabin on a chartered Oasis sailing next November 2021 the week before Thanksgiving. We were considering a B2B in that time frame to use up our existing FCC. Price was okay, so started doing my due diligence, they were even going to pay whatever change fees. Wow, right?

I think  @twangster  was booked on that cruise 

But seriously when they released the Fall 2021 dates they had that sailing listed with "charter" blatantly in the itinerary name, yet it was allowing bookings.  Finally they "canceled" it due to a full charter  and gave folks who had booked it an OBC offer to move their deposit to another cruise.   

And that's how I ended up with a $200 OBC on a random placeholder sailing in April 2022