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Sailings out of Bayonne to begin in August -- supposedly


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I'm sharing this, but not ready to post it on the blog quite yet...

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BAYONNE, NJ - After extensive discussions with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, local and state health officials, and the Office of Emergency Management, Royal Caribbean is planning to sail its first cruise ship out of Port Liberty in Bayonne in August, TAPinto Bayonne has learned.

“Right now, we’re hearing the first ship will leave in August at half capacity,” said Mayor Jimmy Davis. “This means that if the ship can accommodate 6,000, then 3,000 will be allowed on board.”

Royal Caribbean suspended operations from Bayonne last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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This rumor / likely-sounding news is making me hold off changing my canceled Vision booking over to Freedom for just a little bit. Between this and a supposed travel agent event Royal is said to be holding next week, I'm going to see if there are new sailings announced out of Bayonne (possibly fully-vaccinated, since our governor isn't blocking / banning proof of vaccination) and if any sailings already available are getting canceled.

I wouldn't have a problem sailing in August, considering we were already booked on an August sailing. But it would definitely depend on what was offered; could still end up booking Freedom in October.

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10 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

This rumor / likely-sounding news is making me hold off changing my canceled Vision booking over to Freedom for just a little bit. Between this and a supposed travel agent event Royal is said to be holding next week, I'm going to see if there are new sailings announced out of Bayonne (possibly fully-vaccinated, since our governor isn't blocking / banning proof of vaccination) and if any sailings already available are getting canceled.

I wouldn't have a problem sailing in August, considering we were already booked on an August sailing. But it would definitely depend on what was offered; could still end up booking Freedom in October.

Or you could do Oasis in September ..... just sayin.... lol

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Since Matt was reaching out to RC for confirmation, I decided to go the other route and have emailed Mayor James Davis. As he is the one quoted in the article, I have asked him to confirm the validity of its content and/or to furnish the name and contact information for a second primary source who can do the same. What will come of it, who knows?  Will post if I hear back.

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A spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey issued a statement after RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com reached out for an update.

"We are working closely with Cape Liberty Cruise Port in anticipation of the ‘trial cruise’ required by the CDC’s Conditional Sail Order to take place by mid-August, with a regular schedule of cruises expected to resume by the end of August."

"At this time, there is no timeline for cruise resumption at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal."

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/05/21/florida-tells-royal-caribbean-it-does-not-need-its-permission-cruise-ships-sail

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

A spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey issued a statement after RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com reached out for an update.

"We are working closely with Cape Liberty Cruise Port in anticipation of the ‘trial cruise’ required by the CDC’s Conditional Sail Order to take place by mid-August, with a regular schedule of cruises expected to resume by the end of August."

"At this time, there is no timeline for cruise resumption at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal."

 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/05/21/florida-tells-royal-caribbean-it-does-not-need-its-permission-cruise-ships-sail

Well, I guess July cruises from Cape Liberty are a bust. With that said, RCG should be making an announcement to those cancellations.

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24 minutes ago, coneyraven said:

Brooklyn Cruise Terminal?????  Cape Liberty is in BAYONNE!!!!!  Different Town, Different State

 

17 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I think they were reporting on behalf of both here.  NCL and Carnival sail out of Brooklyn, I believe.  

Absolutely.  It was a PANYNJ Spokesman.  They're responsible for Cape Liberty, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

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8 minutes ago, USCG Teacher said:

Absolutely.  It was a PANYNJ Spokesman.  They're responsible for Cape Liberty, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

Oops..Maybe NCL and Carnival are out of Manhattan..don't quote me on anything.  I just know Royal sails out of NJ.  They're close enough to each other that it makes sense to have a combined authority anyways.

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I also never heard back from either the Mayor of Bayonne or the Dept. Of Emergency Management of Bayonne. Both were mentioned in the quote.  As of now, like Loops, I am staring at yet another final payment for Oasis, Aug. 22 on Monday.  ?  The Pinnacle Desk at C&A knows nothing or is not saying anything either.

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31 minutes ago, MaritimeR&R said:

I also never heard back from either the Mayor of Bayonne or the Dept. Of Emergency Management of Bayonne. Both were mentioned in the quote.  As of now, like Loops, I am staring at yet another final payment for Oasis, Aug. 22 on Monday.  ?  The Pinnacle Desk at C&A knows nothing or is not saying anything either.

RCG is going to keep quiet for as long as they can to avoid any negative announcements.

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1 hour ago, Phoenix said:

RCG is going to keep quiet for as long as they can to avoid any negative announcements.

They weren’t shy about changing their vaccination requirement to include 12 year olds on cruises out of the US after 1 August.  And shame on them for burying that change in the FAQs of what you should know before you book.  Well what about those of us who have already booked.  There should have been a flashing banner on their home page with this change.  My TA was furious because she had received no notification of this change and found out about it from me.  I wonder how many passengers who are affected by this and who made final payments still don’t know about it!  RCCL screwed up big time and I won’t forget this one.

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10 minutes ago, Loops said:

They weren’t shy about changing their vaccination requirement to include 12 year olds on cruises out of the US after 1 August.  And shame on them for burying that change in the FAQs of what you should know before you book.  Well what about those of us who have already booked.  There should have been a flashing banner on their home page with this change.  My TA was furious because she had received no notification of this change and found out about it from me.  I wonder how many passengers who are affected by this and who made final payments still don’t know about it!  RCCL screwed up big time and I won’t forget this one.

RCG has alot of explaining to do. Let's see how they are going to handle this blunder.

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3 hours ago, Loops said:

They weren’t shy about changing their vaccination requirement to include 12 year olds on cruises out of the US after 1 August.  And shame on them for burying that change in the FAQs of what you should know before you book.  Well what about those of us who have already booked.  There should have been a flashing banner on their home page with this change.  My TA was furious because she had received no notification of this change and found out about it from me.  I wonder how many passengers who are affected by this and who made final payments still don’t know about it!  RCCL screwed up big time and I won’t forget this one.

It’s not exactly buried. You would not be able to complete booking without being given the policy, and acknowledging it. 

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8 minutes ago, TXcruzer said:

It’s not exactly buried. You would not be able to complete booking without being given the policy, and acknowledging it. 

You’re overlooking the fact that many impacted were already booked before this change!

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7 minutes ago, Loops said:

You’re overlooking the fact that many impacted were already booked before this change!

But that is not what was being discussed, what is being discussed is. It knowing the policy and booking now.  
 

Those of us booked prior to the change have to comply or else. I don’t see where RCG did anything wrong, this has to be the policy at least in the short term. They didn’t do anything sneaky, the new policy has been plastered on social media every where I turn, plus was emailed out. 

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2 hours ago, Loops said:

You’re overlooking the fact that many impacted were already booked before this change!

The Royal Caribbean contract you agree to when you book any cruise means they can change pretty much any aspect of the cruise and they owe you nothing.

Pre-covid, the cruise contract was the rationale why a cruise line could skip ports, change itineraries, go nowhere, etc, and not have to refund or compensate you.

I'm sure this won't change your mind, but I wanted to explain why they can do it, and point out it has been the case with many other policies, big and small, for years.

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Just my $0.02 — With the change in vaccination policy plus the speculation of sailings not starting until August, I’m wagering that Royal is going to cancel all sailings that will be requiring vaccinations (and most likely reduced capacity, at least in the beginning), and replace them with new itineraries or direct replacements for the old ones.

This is part of why I am waiting to use my FCC, rather than booking Freedom for October now. I have a sneaking suspicion that I did, it would be canceled and substituted with something else in a matter of a couple of weeks.

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1 hour ago, Matt said:

The Royal Caribbean contract you agree to when you book any cruise means they can change pretty much any aspect of the cruise and they owe you nothing.

Pre-covid, the cruise contract was the rationale why a cruise line could skip ports, change itineraries, go nowhere, etc, and not have to refund or compensate you.

I'm sure this won't change your mind, but I wanted to explain why they can do it, and point out it has been the case with many other policies, big and small, for years.

Matt, I have no problem with the rules changing, I have a problem with not effectively communicating the changes, and failing to provide information about the implications, alternatives and remedies.  I have a final payment due on Monday and RCCL has effectively cancelled my cruise without telling me what the remedies are (e.g. refunds).  This was a family cruise for which I booked 5 grand suites and three of the five are negatively affected by the rule change and I will need to cancel all 5 because I don’t intend to cruise without 60% of my family.  I have no insight as to what remedies are being offered.  I’m sorry, but RCCL blew it in terms of customer relations.  There is no defense!

 

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