Should vaccinated passengers consider skipping Royal Caribbean sponsored excursions?

[Andrew B]

Hi All,

I love hearing about cruise restarting from Matt and others - thanks for the continuing coverage!  I wanted to see what folks thought about RC-sponsored excursions for vaccinated folks.

I'm thinking it might make sense to pass on all RC-sponsored shore excursions even though my party is fully vaccinated.  It seems likely that these excursion "bubbles" will have lots of unvaccinated cruisers since these are their only excursion options if sailing from Florida on a mixed ship.   Anyone within that excursion bubble can have their vacation adversely affected if even one person tests positive during the trip.  As I recall, this happened recently where vaccinated participants had to quarantine in their cabin until all bubble participants were tested and given an all clear.  Does it make sense to skip these altogether? 

I know a lot will change between now any my December SOTS cruise to Cozumel/P.D.  Fortunately Cozumel has plenty of roll-your-own excursions available to vaccinated individuals.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

 

 

[Matt]

Welcome to the message boards Andrew!

[Matt]

My only advice is whatever you book, make sure your tours are fully refundable if you change your mind later.

[FionaMG]

I would have to say I have been wondering that myself and have not decided what to do yet.

[Reigert2008]

1 hour ago, Andrew B said:

Hi All,

I love hearing about cruise restarting from Matt and others - thanks for the continuing coverage!  I wanted to see what folks thought about RC-sponsored excursions for vaccinated folks.

I'm thinking it might make sense to pass on all RC-sponsored shore excursions even though my party is fully vaccinated.  It seems likely that these excursion "bubbles" will have lots of unvaccinated cruisers since these are their only excursion options if sailing from Florida on a mixed ship.   Anyone within that excursion bubble can have their vacation adversely affected if even one person tests positive during the trip.  As I recall, this happened recently where vaccinated participants had to quarantine in their cabin until all bubble participants were tested and given an all clear.  Does it make sense to skip these altogether? 

I know a lot will change between now any my December SOTS cruise to Cozumel/P.D.  Fortunately Cozumel has plenty of roll-your-own excursions available to vaccinated individuals.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

 

 

This is an interesting situation.  Personally, I would skip out on the Royal Excursions this time just to not chance becoming a "close contact" and then dealing with anything should someone test positive or show symptoms.  Of course we are still wearing our masks and limiting our contacts to keep our comfort level under control, so you just need to do what makes you feel best.  

I tried to not wear my mask at an indoor thing this past weekend (it was a huge venue and had great air circulation), but all i did was think about the risk.  So I masked back up and then had a great evening.  

I'd like for Royal to offer excursions that are for each group of people for a little while to ensure that vacations are smooth, but i don't think it will happen.  We don;t do excursions, but generally get off the ship to wander and we will be wearing our masks as we visit any upcoming destinations since that makes us feel more comfortable.  Had they required excursions through Royal for vaccinated people, we would have just treated everyday like a sea say and still had a great time.

[CruiseRoyalDad]

On 7/26/2021 at 12:35 PM, Reigert2008 said:

This is an interesting situation.  Personally, I would skip out on the Royal Excursions this time just to not chance becoming a "close contact" and then dealing with anything should someone test positive or show symptoms.  Of course we are still wearing our masks and limiting our contacts to keep our comfort level under control, so you just need to do what makes you feel best.  

I tried to not wear my mask at an indoor thing this past weekend (it was a huge venue and had great air circulation), but all i did was think about the risk.  So I masked back up and then had a great evening.  

I'd like for Royal to offer excursions that are for each group of people for a little while to ensure that vacations are smooth, but i don't think it will happen.  We don;t do excursions, but generally get off the ship to wander and we will be wearing our masks as we visit any upcoming destinations since that makes us feel more comfortable.  Had they required excursions through Royal for vaccinated people, we would have just treated everyday like a sea say and still had a great time.

So do we just not talk about how the method of segregating the unvaccinated from vaccinated is becoming yet another ineffective safety measure? Just another virtue signal, if you will, considering the amount of covid cases that are popping up in the vaccinated population? It seems we have to do deny a lot of actual scientific statistics (per CDC) to make sense of a good portion of RCCL's covid protocols and dare I say it, CDC's own recommendations. I guess we can take solace in the fact that the policy is continually evolving. Patience is a virtue. 

 

 

[twangster]

I don't think there is a global answer to this question.  Everyone has to arrive at the answer that is right for them.  

[LovetoCruise87]

I guess the answer is to do whatever you are comfortable with.