Lost my cabin due to social distancing. *cry*

[twangster]

3 minutes 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?

New cruise live blog... "Cruising with GenPop"

[twangster]

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.

[twangster]

Wonder if my B2B and B3B in the same cabin will get modified.  Same guests in the cabin so maybe not, unless it creates havoc with the "A" set of cabions versus "B" set of cabins.

No emails yet.

[GKMCruising]

8 minutes 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.

Yeah, despite the fact that we've basically proven at this point that surface transmission isn't really a vector and the "contaminated" air inside the cabin should be long gone before the new occupants have access to the room.

It would also partially explain why I haven't heard of anyone on the Wonder inaugural with us getting and email yet - it's a brand new ship, so there can't be any contaminated cabins yet.

[GKMCruising]

I'd be interested in trying to compile a master list of affected sailings/cabins, see if there's any noticable pattern - itineraries, ports, sailing dates, which decks/cabins, etc.

[fireclan]

Gosh, it may be a new Royal Caribbean policy:

 - you can pick your cabin but can't keep your cabin.

Hopefully, everyone will be assigned a cabin they can deal with for the length of their cruise and still have a great time! After all, you're still on a cruise!

[UNCFanatik]

Royal is going to mess around and face another wave of cancellations. They are not compelled to follow the CSO now. I know they are trying to appease the CDC Gods but at what cost to their business and customer satisfaction. Covid cases are in decline in the US especially in the South. I know there is  concern about the Fall/Winter in NE states but Royal cant keep this up. Ignore the CDC just like we do on their other numerous recommendations for our daily lives. The CDC has been defeated in court over the CSO. 

Covid will be endemic and we need to act as such and move forward and drop all the needless restrictions that have been proven over the last 1 1/2 years to not stop the spread of Covid. 

[Matt]

28 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

drop all the needless restrictions that have been proven over the last 1 1/2 years to not stop the spread of Covid. 

Richard Fain said since restart half a million guests and only had one hundred and forty one cases. That's the protocols working extremely well, especially when you consider how much it has spread on land.

[UNCFanatik]

7 minutes ago, Matt said:

Richard Fain said since restart half a million guests and only had one hundred and forty one cases. That's the protocols working extremely well, especially when you consider how much it has spread on land.

Point taken but you cannot lump all protocols all together and proclaim each one of them is effective. And remember that is 141 REPORTED cases of people WITH symptoms. You cannot believe that out of 500k people that only 141 people had cases of Covid. That defies logic and general statistics. I can guarantee you that more than 141 people out of 500k had Covid since the restart. 

Effective Protocols:

Vaccine Requirements

Reduced Capacity 

Not Effective Protocols:

Masks. Especially staff wearing masks outside and at Coco Cay

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

Debatable protocol:

Testing. Only gives a snapshot. People could still have covid cases and board ship and there is the whole matter of presenting a fake document that says you had a negative test. If they tested all passengers at port then that would be more effective but that is a logistical nightmare

 

[alamode123]

14 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

Point taken but you cannot lump all protocols all together and proclaim each one of them is effective. And remember that is 141 REPORTED cases of people WITH symptoms. You cannot believe that out of 500k people that only 141 people had cases of Covid. That defies logic and general statistics. I can guarantee you that more than 141 people out of 500k had Covid since the restart. 

Effective Protocols:

Vaccine Requirements

Reduced Capacity 

Not Effective Protocols:

Masks. Especially staff wearing masks outside and at Coco Cay

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

Debatable protocol:

Testing. Only gives a snapshot. People could still have covid cases and board ship and there is the whole matter of presenting a fake document that says you had a negative test. If they tested all passengers at port then that would be more effective but that is a logistical nightmare

 

Not exactly a scientific definition of effectiveness. More like protocols you like or don't like.

Contact tracing via the new bands is also very important.

I've received one of the new cabin emails. I'm in a wait and see attitude. Better than cancelling cruises.

[UNCFanatik]

1 hour ago, alamode123 said:

Not exactly a scientific definition of effectiveness. More like protocols you like or don't like.

Contact tracing via the new bands is also very important.

I've received one of the new cabin emails. I'm in a wait and see attitude. Better than cancelling cruises.

I dont like them because they have not shown to be effective to reduce the spread of Covid. 

AND they are not doing consistent contact tracing. AND contact tracing is only effective if someone with a case of Covid can be identified. There have been passengers on cruise ships that have had unreported and unknown Covid cases. And Royal cant track all 500k passengers since the restart when they go come down with Covid. 

[pcvchristine]

I feel like the actual reason isn’t social distancing in the sense of not having anyone next to you, but more to spread people throughout the ship to reduce choke points and balance the number of cabins a stateroom attendant is working with (since that’s a potential vector). Or else, as others have said to create a quarantine area. 
 

I would be a bit surprised if the cruise lines are gunning to get rid of vaccine requirements already. No doubt they will eventually, but I feel like they want the requirements to keep spread on the cruise ships low and keep them out of the news. But who know. 

[GKMCruising]

15 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

And Royal cant track all 500k passengers since the restart when they go come with Covid. 

Not definitively, but if someone goes to the doctor a couple days or a week after going home and is diagnosed with COVID, you can guarantee the CDC is going to pin that case on Royal. So honestly, that number probably isn't too far off for symptomatic cases. Sure, there have been more asymptomatic cases than anyone will ever know, but that's the case even on land.

[alamode123]

18 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

I dont like them because they have not shown to be effective to reduce the spread of Covid. 

AND they are not doing consistent contact tracing. AND contact tracing is only effective if someone with a case of Covid can be identified. There have been passengers on cruise ships that have had unreported and unknown Covid cases. And Royal cant track all 500k passengers since the restart when they go come with Covid. 

This isn't the place to discuss protocol effectiveness. PM me if you want to know stats on various effectiveness. Looks like you'll be surprised.

[jupiter03]

14 hours ago, wordell1 said:

I'm a little confused.  I'm on this same cruise and the change happened last December.  I was rebooked on Liberty from Allure at that time.  Did you get rebooked then and the new cabin was cancelled, or are you just now getting moved?

I was rebooked to a new 1K cabin after Allure was cancelled. Now the 1K cabin is in jeopardy (lost). I've been checking for price drops ever since and cabins became unavailable in June, so I'm assuming sold out. There are only 10 of these kinds of cabin on the whole ship, so not surprised if they were sold out. 

Nobody else on my facebook group for this cruise got this email, as far as I know. Others mentioned that they have observed no social distancing in cabins on recent/current cruises, with people on all sides next to them. So this is something new.

12 hours ago, twangster said:

The other things that is weird...why tell people now when they don't know what cabin they are moving them to? 

Why not wait a week and tell folks they are being moved and here is their new cabin? 

This approach just causes stress and worrying.  

I agree, I would have rather just gotten the email saying "sorry, here is your new cabin". We spend a lot of time in our cabin, so cabin is very important for us. 

 

3 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?

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)

 

[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.