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Masks/Bars - How did you do with mask policy on your cruise?


levib2

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I missed cruising tremendously and was excited about getting on a cruise again.  So I  booked a short cruise on the Serenade.  After looking into the mask policy though, I am worried that wearing a mask in indoor spots including walking around the ship and in Cozumel really will be a problem. (Will head to the beach, but getting there and shopping afterward with mask seems awful.)  I live in Florida and cannot wait to rip the mask off when we come out of a facility where masks are required.  (I'm a bit claustrophic)

We are vaccinated, but one of the things we like most about a cruise is sitting at the bar, chatting with people.  I understand that one cannot sit at the bars now.  Does this include the bars just for vaccinated people?  I think this would affect the ambiance tremendously.

Would like to know how easy/hard it was for you to cruise under the new mask policy.  Did you find that the vax only venues were enough for you?

Would not cancel our cruise, but just concerned.

Thanks!

 

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I have only been on Jewel. On my first in July were was no seating at bars except at the casino for some reason. Even the concierge lounge had no seating at the bar and some other seating areas too. However, on my second this month, seating at all bars were allowed and all the seating in the concierge lounge. The mask policy was a little confusing. No masks while seated except for the pool bar ! One customer was reminded about this while sitting there. Others were standing ordering drinks to take away with masks on. The outside areas were ma

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As fellow Floridians and folks who "tolerate" masks, I wasn't sure what to expect on our first cruise.  Maybe it's simply because it's become the new normal, we honestly didn't have a problem with it at all.  The biggest issue was simply remembering to grab it when we walked out of the cabin.  We were on the Mariner and perhaps it was because we simply gravitated to non-mask areas, I don't think my DH or I really complained at all.  The worst (longest) part of wearing a mask  IMO was the boarding process where we probably had them on for about 30 minutes solid (checkin, 20,000 times showing negative test and vaccination, "drill" -we did this immediately upon boarding -); otherwise it was usually just as long as it took us to get where we were going <10 minutes.  

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4 hours ago, levib2 said:

I understand that one cannot sit at the bars now. 

That's actually not the case. It was on Adventure when they restarted in June, but every other ship has allowed it.

4 hours ago, levib2 said:

Would like to know how easy/hard it was for you to cruise under the new mask policy.  Did you find that the vax only venues were enough for you?

It's super easy in the bars and lounges. They're mostly vaccinated zones, so you can remove your mask.

Even if it's not, if you're drinking, you can have your mask off.

Not nearly as cumbersome as it may sound.

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We just returned from  B2B2B on the Independence 5 days ago. When you look at the Royal app or the Cruise Compass  to check out the schedule or venues, or when making reservations for shows on the app, the status of the  show or venue is clearly marked “V” for vaccinated folks only or “E” for everyone,  which includes  unvaccinated people. 
 

We played a lot of trivia, mostly in the Schooner Lounge, which is a vaccinated-only area. During one trivia, one family brought along a toddler. I’m not sure if they realized their mistake or a staff member said something, but I saw what I presume to be the Dad leave with the little one, only to return a few minutes later without little one. Maybe Grandma was conveniently on board, lol? 
 

Bolero’s  and the Star Lounge also offered trivia and games , but I think they were mostly   “E” shows. During one game in the Star Lounge, the host asked everyone to mask up because there were younger kids present. Everyone  complied except for one guy. I’m not sure if he was asked to leave  or he changed his mind, but I think he eventually put on his mask. 
 

We don’t drink booze, so I can’t say that we sat at the Schooner Lounge bar. However, lots of people were playing trivia or other games while sitting at the

bar and drinking beer or whatever. Lots of people sat at the casino bar, as well, and because both venues are open only to vaccinated people, they had the option of wearing masks. Most chose to not wear the masks. 

 

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On our two cruises, one on Adventure and one on Ovation, the theater bottom floor is for vaccinated guests only and once seated you can remove your mask. This was true at the Music theater on Ovation and Two70. The upper floors are for everyone and you must wear your mask. At Two70 we sat in the upper level due to better viewing and the mask was not an issue. Our dining was vaccinated only and once seated the masks were off. We are from Texas and do not have mask requirements except for some cities and venues but many do not wear them. Overall the mask wearing does not affect the cruise experience and as other have said we had to remember to have them with us for those particular areas.

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2 hours ago, jticarruthers said:

Masks come off fast and frequently.

The bigger issue is remembering where you put it when you need to put it back on.

Exactly my experience on odyssey last week 

No masks outside or in adult only venues like bars. They designated the main floor of the theater and 270 as vaccinated and no mask required. 

In September,  masks were required while visiting ports in Mexico,  even outside but last week they were only required inside

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I too was not thrilled about the concept of masks and cruising.  I cancelled some cruises because of the mask requirement back when cruising first restarted.  I booked another cruise line that didn't require masks.  Then shortly after they restarted they updated the policy to require masks for my cruise.  Doh.

I was invited on the Allure's simulation cruise and despite needing masks I couldn't resist a free cruise.  Once onboard it wasn't nearly as bad as I had made it out be in my mind.   Based on that experience I stopped canceling cruises and have now completed seven cruises all with masks.  I've got nine more cruises in 2021.  The mask has become automatic, I hardly think about it anymore.  

Got off Freedom this morning, boarding Allure on the weekend.  No fears or concerns about masks now.  So glad to be cruising again.  

 

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I was on the Oasis for a b2b last month. Like the previous posts already noted…besides being unmasked outdoors, there are indoor venues where vaccinated-only guests can gather without masks. I didn’t see any issues with people flagrantly violating the rules. Everyone seemed to just go with the flow. I did notice some people who forgot to re-mask when they left an unmasked area and crew members gently reminding them and they quickly complied. When leaving the theater, there were crew members at the doors reminding people to mask up. I liked that the crew was well trained to quickly remind those who forgot.
It just quickly became second nature. I got so used to it that it didn’t bother me at all. On another note, I didn’t see any guests who seemed annoyed by the constant masking of others. Some guests wore masks everywhere, even outdoors and in unmasked venues. Nobody seemed to care about who made which choice. We’re all on a cruise! Finally! 
 

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Honestly, I was pretty surprised how often I took my mask off. I'm fairly used to wearing one now since I've had to wear it so much at work and didn't mind the idea of wearing one on the cruise. But with the ships being all adults and crew fully vaccinated, i only needed a mask on when going from place to place and even on a big ship like Odyssey that wasn't a long time.

I think the longest times I kept my mask on were for a jewelry presentation/raffle/giveaway thing (about 30 minutes) and for a Two70 performance in which we weren't socially distanced from the person next to us and we all felt better keeping masks on.

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