Lost my cabin due to social distancing. *cry*

[pcvchristine]

I can’t speak to the cruise context (yet!), but masking has absolutely been demonstrated to be effective at reducing (but not completely eliminating) the spread of COVID. Particularly indoors. I agree that outdoors it is more “theater” - very little transmission happens outdoors. 
 

Testing is also effective, though not perfect. Every positive case that is kept off the ship reduces the risk for others. But I won’t be sad when they go back to only testing unvaxxed kids. Hopefully as the cases continue to drop! 

[Joyce Rossi]

Keep in mind that they have all different cabins on different sites. Royal will either upgrade you or get the same as you originally had. Explore other sites, and you will see cabins available that are not available on Royal  sites. All these companies are given a certain amount to sell. Also call your travel agent….or get one. They can help resolve your issues. 
I almost forgot…. I saw only 2 cabins left for a cruise we are planning at the last minute. I am at Emerald, but when I checked under my husband’s Diamond status, there were 14 to choose from.  

[Debstr66]

25 minutes ago, jupiter03 said:

I suspect you may be right, but how would they know if we are vaccinated yet or not? They haven't asked yet. Also, this is a spring break cruise that is priced much higher than all the other March cruises, so I'm guessing it's already sold very well, so will they bump people that already booked to meet a lower capacity? (this is rhetorical, I know nobody knows this)

 

I sail on the Allure of the Seas on 11/8 and have been asked twice now about my vaccination status. I had already uploaded a copy of my vaccination card in the Check In process as well. So, I filled out and submitted the questionnaire again. I'm still pending my GTY inside cabin since I'm relatively new to cruising and don't have any clout yet.

[AshleyDillo]

3 minutes ago, Debstr66 said:

I'm still pending my GTY inside cabin since I'm relatively new to cruising and don't have any clout yet.

Does your SetSail pass show a muster station or deck number on it yet?

[Debstr66]

5 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Does your SetSail pass show a muster station or deck number on it yet?

No, not yet. I probably printed my luggage tags too soon and will need to write in the info or reprint them later...

[AshleyDillo]

11 minutes ago, Debstr66 said:

No, not yet. I probably printed my luggage tags too soon and will need to write in the info or reprint them later...

I was just curious. I have a GTY inside too and noticed that my SetSail all of a sudden had a deck number and muster station but still said REPRINT.  I scanned the barcode and the -GTY was changed to a cabin number that would be on that deck, so I assume I got assigned but they didn't want me to know yet  

Edit to add: This wasn't impacted by the social distancing of cabins thing..just curious about GTY assignments showing up.

[Debstr66]

6 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I was just curious. I have a GTY inside too and noticed that my SetSail all of a sudden had a deck number and muster station but still said REPRINT.  I scanned the barcode and the -GTY was changed to a cabin number that would be on that deck, so I assume I got assigned but they didn't want me to know yet  

Oh that's weird! I checked the app on my phone and there's nothing. But when I view on Cruise Planner it says "REPRINT" GTY and muster station G02...  On another note, do you have to be invited to Royal Up? I keep seeing folks say they "logged in to Royal Up" to check their bid. 

[AshleyDillo]

3 minutes ago, Debstr66 said:

Oh that's weird! I checked the app on my phone and there's nothing. But when I view on Cruise Planner it says "REPRINT" GTY and muster station G02...  On another note, do you have to be invited to Royal Up? I keep seeing folks say they "logged in to Royal Up" to check their bid. 

Scan your barcode with a barcode scanner on your smartphone and see if you have a room number at the end!

You don't HAVE to be invited via email to RoyalUp but not everyone is eligible.  You can try directly through the link:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/booked/cruise-room-upgrade

 

[jupiter03]

37 minutes ago, Joyce Rossi said:

Keep in mind that they have all different cabins on different sites. Royal will either upgrade you or get the same as you originally had. Explore other sites, and you will see cabins available that are not available on Royal  sites. All these companies are given a certain amount to sell. Also call your travel agent….or get one. They can help resolve your issues. 
I almost forgot…. I saw only 2 cabins left for a cruise we are planning at the last minute. I am at Emerald, but when I checked under my husband’s Diamond status, there were 14 to choose from.  

Oh that's very interesting! I didn't know other sites showed different availability. 

Yeah, I wish I had a travel agent. This cruise was originally booked years ago with a travel agent that I ended up firing. I wasn't able to transfer it to MEI since it was past the # of days from booking. I was chatting with Royal about my options, but it sounds like the room reservations people will do their best and I'll need to accept whatever they assign me. I am very picky about my cabin and would never do a guarantee, as there are lots of cabins I would hate to have. Oh well.

[DunkelBierJay]

4 hours ago, GKMCruising said:

I got to thinking about this last night and made the same comment to my wife about the vaccine requirements - that they must be enacting some sort of spacing so they can add more unvaccinated guests. Maybe it'll wind up being like the shows currently - some cabins / sections designated as vax only, other areas being "general population" rooms?

My thought is that with all the breakthrough cases being reported that they are creating an answer before the issue gains more momentum.

and personally, regarding the company's tracking of 141 cases out of 500k guests...it says to me that those who had the infection and did not report it (or didn't know they had it) were operating like things were before. I can't say for sure, but before March 2020, if I had a cold or something a few days after a cruise, was it because something spread or I was just run down. (I did get pretty sick a week or so after a November 2019 sailing on Symphony). All of this cat herding is so old, I can't even.....at least RC is managing the problem as well as they can at this point. I just hope they can start making money again soon.

[Jax]

I hope they leave deck 17 alone on my upcoming Christmas cruise. After all the hurdles to get to this point, I can not let my mind go there ….. I am going to stay in my bubble. 

[Neesa]

We are on the Oasis 21 November 2021. I paid in full the cabin I desired with @Sharlaat the helm. If they change my cabin to something that doesn't work for us, no amount of FCC will be okay. We spend a lot of time in our cabin as a family, and paying for something we would not enjoy makes no sense, I would just request a refund and do a land vacation. 

[twangster]

24 minutes ago, Neesa said:

We are on the Oasis 21 November 2021. I paid in full the cabin I desired with @Sharlaat the helm. If they change my cabin to something that doesn't work for us, no amount of FCC will be okay. We spend a lot of time in our cabin as a family, and paying for something we would not enjoy makes no sense, I would just request a refund and do a land vacation. 

Completely understand.  I think Royal knows this all too well.  That's why I am convinced this isn't Royal just whimsically making changes.  The CDC is involved.  I can feel it.

[AshleyDillo]

5 hours ago, twangster said:

Didn't the CDC once float the idea of using a cabin every other sailing?  Cruise 1 use one set of cabins, cruise 2 use the cabins that were empty in cruise 1.  Cruise 3 back to cruise 1 set of cabins.   This reduces the opportunity for spread if a guest is undetected positive, cruise ends and new occupants move into that cabin.  

Explains why they are displacing Royal Loft Suite guests on a particular cruise.

I was thinking more along the lines of capacity within "zones".  Maybe they have some new air recirculation requirements and need to limit capacity in different zones so they need to redistribute.  Doesn't necessarily prevent putting folks into cabins next to each other or rotating which cabins are used from cruise to cruise, but they may determine they can only have a certain amount of capacity in a section of a ship -- kind of like adhering to a CDC version of lifeboat capacity.

[Traveler]

2 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

Staff serving buffet...ice cream...drinks...etc

That actually one of the best thing happened due to C19 . To many times we all saw people grab food on their hands or even returning food to trays. If not for C19 prevention at least for Noro .

[FionaMG]

5 minutes ago, Traveler said:

That actually one of the best thing happened due to C19 . To many times we all saw people grab food on their hands or even returning food to trays. If not for C19 prevention at least for Noro .

Agree. Not to mention cutting down on food waste. So often at self-serve buffets I have seen people piling more and more food on their plates and then not eating it all.

[UNCFanatik]

12 minutes ago, Traveler said:

That actually one of the best thing happened due to C19 . To many times we all saw people grab food on their hands or even returning food to trays. If not for C19 prevention at least for Noro .

I can agree on the buffets for non-covid reasons but I think its ok for people to get their own sodas from the freestyle coke machines without risk of getting Covid. 

[GKMCruising]

11 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

I can agree on the buffets for non-covid reasons but I think its ok for people to get their own sodas from the freestyle coke machines without risk of getting Covid. 

I'll agree with you on that one. Having someone manning the Freestyle machines is definitely just hygiene theater, just like having someone wipe down every single touch point every 5 minutes. It might cut down on stuff like noro, but nobody's catching COVID from sitting in a chair that someone with COVID just sat in. I imagine the theatrics will disappear if/when the CDC backs off a bit, and the truly useful protocols will remain.

[Baked Alaska]

15 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Another was someone who had the Royal Loft Suite which has absolutely no like-for-like option. It will be interesting to see what the reasoning for those rooms needing to be moved.

 

WOW! WHAT IF (yeh, I know) RC booked another family in that suite for that sailing? Holy crud! Given IT and customer service at Royal, I could see this happening.

[twangster]

6 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

WOW! WHAT IF (yeh, I know) RC booked another family in that suite for that sailing? Holy crud! Given IT and customer service at Royal, I could see this happening.

Royal has been managing hundreds of thousands of booking for years.  If that was common place we would all have heard stories about it by now.

[Zeena]

I had a similar issue on a TA in Oct 2022.  Booked on the Allure, with my friend, two balcony next to each other.  Allure was cancelled and switched to Wonder.  Our rooms are now on opposite ends of the ship, even though our reservations were linked.  Hope to get this figured out today.  Unfortunately,  the customer service reps who try to help don't know what's going on, so it's hard to get anything accomplished.   May have to cancel and book something else.

[GKMCruising]

From someone on CC:

I was concerned because we have an accessible cabin booked as my mom is mobility impaired. I emailed my TA right away and asked her what the scoop was and if she could help us not get moved to a regular cabin. She said that these changes will not affect those in accessible cabins and as for everyone else they may or may not get moved at all, but if they do it should be to the same type of cabin, just a different local. 

[CruiseGus]

5 hours ago, twangster said:

Royal has been managing hundreds of thousands of booking for years.  If that was common place we would all have heard stories about it by now.

2 years ago this past November we were booked in a Suite and rcvd a call from Royal asking us to give up our suite for a full refund (as FCC i seem to remember) and to sail that sailing in a balcony for free.  Because it was a Milestone Birthday cruise we declined the offer.  They apparently contacted a number of suite guest with this same offer, of course I was only able to talk with others who also declined. 

Apparently a movie-star/celebrity wanted on that cruise and had been willing to pay all the associated costs.  The suite concierge could not give us details, but let some general info slip out, .I'm pretty sure she knew more of the actual story that we ever will

[AshleyDillo]

We got our new room assignment. Still on the same floor and side of the ship but the room is no longer on the hump so we have even less balcony to socially distance on now. 

[twangster]

13 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

We got our new room assignment. Still on the same floor and side of the ship but the room is no longer on the hump so we have even less balcony to socially distance on now. 

At they say... it's to be hump and social distant at the same time.  

[twangster]

With the number of cruises I have booked I can't believe I wasn't impacted by this...yet.

[Shari3]

What most surprises me about this thread is that this is for March, spring break. That is not for 5 months. We all know how much things can change in that time. Why just this particular sailing? Are other people getting these emails booked in other ships and dates? 

[AshleyDillo]

3 minutes ago, Shari3 said:

 Are other people getting these emails booked in other ships and dates? 

Yes..lots of different ships and dates. My Nov 21 Harmony cruise was affected.

[Shari3]

2 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Yes..lots of different ships and dates. My Nov 21 Harmony cruise was affected.

That makes more sense to me. I was on the Oasis in September and my cabin was changed a few days before.  Royal told me it was because of maintenance issues but I found out when I was onboard that part of the deck my original cabin was on was housing quarantined crew. 

[twangster]

Maybe the CDC has determined that lifeboats need to offer social distancing so guests have to be distributed evenly across all muster stations.  

This is just weird.

[UNCFanatik]

50 minutes ago, twangster said:

Maybe the CDC has determined that lifeboats need to offer social distancing so guests have to be distributed evenly across all muster stations.  

This is just weird.

I would think if I find myself in a lifeboat, I have a lot bigger concerns than Covid at that moment. But that’s just me 

[CGTLH]

57 minutes ago, twangster said:

Maybe the CDC has determined that lifeboats need to offer social distancing so guests have to be distributed evenly across all muster stations.  

This is just weird.

Nope, still the same muster station.

In a JS had 3 booked, went from J4 to J3. Checking I'm unable to book J4 for 3. Only guess at this point is Royal wanted to only have 2 booked in a J4. Didn't see the released back in inventory, yet.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, CGTLH said:

Nope, still the same muster station.

In a JS had 3 booked, went from J4 to J3. Checking I'm unable to book J4 for 3. Only guess at this point is Royal wanted to only have 2 booked in a J4. Didn't see the released back in inventory, yet.

J4 can only accommodate two... normally.  

Generally speaking even number categories are for 2, odd number are something other than 2 (other than full suites).

Trying booking some far future date where there is great availability.  Can you put 3 in a J4?

[CGTLH]

So it seems I misspoke earlier... Was booked in a J3 already, just not one for "5+" or so my booking confirmation claims.

Now great wisdom of Royal's deck plans, https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/harmony-of-the-seas/deck-plans/2070/08 , doesn’t easily define J3/J4 with unique colors.

-Added after posting: It seems the room previously booked is now classified as a J4 when looking at another sailing. Checking it wasn't available for the impacted sailing for two, yet...

[twangster]

7 hours ago, CGTLH said:

So it seems I misspoke earlier... Was booked in a J3 already, just not one for "5+" or so my booking confirmation claims.

Now great wisdom of Royal's deck plans, https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/harmony-of-the-seas/deck-plans/2070/08 , doesn’t easily define J3/J4 with unique colors.

-Added after posting: It seems the room previously booked is now classified as a J4 when looking at another sailing. Checking it wasn't available for the impacted sailing for two, yet...

Agree on the deck plans for OA class.  They lump them all together and use a common description for all of them which is not the actual case (i.e. 5 in a J4)

I was curious to see if some sort of reclassification was to blame.  Since I am solo I can be booked in any cabin so I was thinking maybe that is why despite having over 20 bookings, I haven't been impacted.

[twangster]

7 hours ago, CGTLH said:

Added after posting: It seems the room previously booked is now classified as a J4 when looking at another sailing. Checking it wasn't available for the impacted sailing for two, yet...

If you are bold enough to PM me the original cabin # I can ask my TA to look in their portal for the current designation.

[CGTLH]

12 minutes ago, twangster said:

If you are bold enough to PM me the original cabin # I can ask my TA to look in their portal for the current designation.

No need, already have my TA running the gauntlet.

Thanks for the offer.

[AshleyDillo]

11 minutes ago, twangster said:

If you are bold enough to PM me the original cabin # I can ask my TA to look in their portal for the current designation.

Pfft PM..original cabin was 8644.  Feel free to go and check it out onboard and tell whoever is in there that we want our cabin back 

[CGTLH]

4 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Pfft PM..original cabin was 8644.  Feel free to go and check it out onboard and tell whoever is in there that we want our cabin back 

Come one now, stop spreading the suffering work to others.

[twangster]

8 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Pfft PM..original cabin was 8644.  Feel free to go and check it out onboard and tell whoever is in there that we want our cabin back 

We can all take turns camping out in the hall to see the celebrity they have put in your cabin.