Updated Omicron Mask Policy (Dec 17th - Jan 5)

[Atricks]

Just got this email from Royal:  (We leave Sunday on Allure)

Updated mask protocols for departures through January 5, 2022 With the recent uptick of COVID-19 in the world and added Omicron variant concerns, we feel it prudent to temporarily tighten our onboard health protocols to require masks indoors at all times, unless actively eating or drinking. This new update also applies to vaccinated areas and venues. We're sorry for any disappointment that this may cause, but hope you understand that health and safety come first. Despite the new requirement, we know you will still have a great time onboard. For full protocol details, please click here. As always, health and safety protocols are subject to change. If you have questions about these protocols, please reference our FAQs for details or contact us at 1 (866) 562-7625 or 541-285-9150 for assistance. If you prefer to not sail as a result of this change or would like to reschedule your cruise, we are glad to assist. Looking forward to seeing you onboard!

[smokeybandit]

Ugh, all for show.

 

But at least they already put an end date to it.

[twangster]

i've sailed other lines that didn't have dedicated vax venues and required masks inside everywhere.  That's basically all they've done.  

A beverage package helps.. always have a drink in process.  

[CruiseGus]

Yes I am very disappointed with this news.

Last few sailings weren't that bad because there were places we could go.  but shows in a mask will make them much less enjoyable

[BrianB]

I got the email for my New Years Eve cruise about the new mask policy.

I'm aboard the Anthem now on a 12 day which ends 12/24...another week. So far there are no changes. I wouldn't think there would be any attempt to spring new mask protocols on a cruise in progress...

[AlmondFarmer]

31 minutes ago, twangster said:

A beverage package helps.. always have a drink in process.

This worked for me. Masked at most 5% of the cruise.
Save the lungs, punish the liver. 

[Jennifer Burke]

46 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Ugh, all for show.

 

But at least they already put an end date to it.

What is the end date? I just came off the Allure last week and the masks were a bummer, the limited time we had to wear. It seemed like a lot more than not having them on. Drove me crazy, especially when you forget your mask in your room. I couldn't imagine now having to wear one while DANCING and playing in the casino. So if you don't drink and you want to smoke, you can't? 

[Jennifer Burke]

47 minutes ago, twangster said:

i've sailed other lines that didn't have dedicated vax venues and required masks inside everywhere.  That's basically all they've done.  

A beverage package helps.. always have a drink in process.  

I just came off the Allure last week. I had a drink in my hand at all times and they told me to mask up the entire time while I was walking around. They said no walking around with a drink and not masked. You have to be sitting drinking. I was so mad! That was the first day on board too. 

[Jennifer Burke]

46 minutes ago, CruiseGus said:

Yes I am very disappointed with this news.

Last few sailings weren't that bad because there were places we could go.  but shows in a mask will make them much less enjoyable

How about when you are dancing at the late night clubs or comedy club or the casino! I am so glad I sailed last week. It was tough wearing a mask when we had to, cannot imagine what it will be like now. 

[jeffmw]

calvink669 - Why the laugh? Are you calling me a liar? I've lived in the COVID world for the past two years just as you have. And I'm telling you, previously, I knew plenty of people who got exposed to someone with COVID and it was only on an off chance that they got it too. Right now, everyone in my community is getting it. It's gone crazy the past few days. The contagiousness is noticeably different. Maybe you'll need to see it get to wherever you live. I'm telling you, it's not as dangerous. This isn't some kind of scare tactic. But it's definitely spreading way easier. 

[Matt]

Please keep the discussion on cruise line policy, not Covid in general. Thank you

[D Alt]

so you wear a mask a tad longer...

[Jennifer Burke]

9 minutes ago, Matt said:

Please keep the discussion on cruise line policy, not Covid in general. Thank you

Matt do you think this new mask policy is sustainable? Don't get me wrong, I LOVED my Allure cruise last week, but it really did dampen my experience having to wear a mask. My whole party decided no more cruises until mask mandate gone. Its sad to see the crew having to tell people to mask up and wash their hands all the time. Not to mention the poor life guards that stand there with a mask in the 85 degree weather! 

[12thman]

With this new requirement would one be able to cancel their cruise for a full refund?

[jeffmw]

30 minutes ago, Matt said:

Please keep the discussion on cruise line policy, not Covid in general. Thank you

I get it, Matt. But it's very disrespectful that I type a sincere response to a post and for multiple people to laugh at it due to idiotic political rhetoric. That's antagonistic. If you're trying to maintain the standards of this forum, you should start there. 

[mattymay]

The amount of people that have issues with wearing a mask astounds me (not specifically here..but reading general comments on social media). Just wear it and be grateful you can actually cruise. Some of us are still waiting.. 

[jeffmw]

16 minutes ago, mattymay said:

The amount of people that have issues with wearing a mask astounds me (not specifically here..but reading general comments on social media). Just wear it and be grateful you can actually cruise. Some of us are still waiting.. 

Agreed. It's insane how entitled people are. RCI is doing what they feel they need to do to make sure the public views cruising as safe and to ensure long-term viability for the company and their shareholders. That's RCI's only agenda. They're not out to get you. There are plenty of places to spend your vacation budget. If you don't like it, go somewhere else. 

[twangster]

Given all the alerts that have been popping up on my phone over the the last few weeks and days it's pretty clear this one is different.

From sporting events cancelled, games being played with no live audience, state after province after country reporting dramatic increases it seems very reasonable for a minor policy update for an already very safe mode of vacationing - cruising.

Holiday sailings are projected to be very busy, much more busy than we've seen since the restart.  The timing of this variant is pretty lousy with the peak of restart cruising upon us next week.  It stands to reason, all things considered, that something had to change.  Do they start calling people and canceling their cruises to get numbers down?  That wouldn't go over very well.  They can't catch a break.  Something has to change given what we do know and don't know about Omicron.  

A minor mask policy change seems like a pretty reasonable response.

I've sailed other lines during the peak of Delta and some of those lines didn't have the concept of vaccinated venues.  It never occurred to me at the time that those cruises were intolerable because of the mask policy indoors and lack of vaccinated venues.

Like it or not the pandemic isn't over, we are not done with unpopular protocols and the potential for changes down the road.

It could be a lot worse.  The industry could be shut down again if there are major cases on board.  A minor mask policy change is the least we can all do to keep the industry going.  

[Ampurp85]

@Jennifer Burke Mask mandate will not be going away but previously you could be maskless in vaxxed only venues. They changed this for sailings departing until Jan 5th, where they will reevaluate if needing mask in all venues.

At this point it is what it is. If we want to sail and keep everyone safe, we need to follow the protocols.

[Matt]

1 hour ago, Jennifer Burke said:

Matt do you think this new mask policy is sustainable?

Yes. I think @twangster said it best.  Like it or not the pandemic isn't over, we are not done with unpopular protocols and the potential for changes down the road. It could be a lot worse.

Wearing a mask is something we all thought we'd be doing before any ships restarted. Hopefully it's temporary until omicron peaks.

[Traveler]

We are in a very important crossroad. The Omricon looks like more easily spreading including in the vaccinated population. Still we need to wait to sea the severity of cases , so far very light symptoms but we need more few weeks to see the trends (the Delta started also with minor symptoms). Let's all hope it's will be soon consider no more than a light cold and this will start to be the end of it. Meanwhile let's hope it will not impact the cruise industry.

[BrianB]

It’s not only the passenger’s health being protected…but it’s the crew…and with the crew, the business.

Remember, the crew has to wear masks virtually all the time. Especially when near passengers. They are all completely vaccinated with the addition of boosters and they have to remain on the ship. Shore leave is cancelled. Any infection would likely be carried aboard by a passenger or contractor. As the Hotel Director just told me…if one crew member gets infected, then contact tracing results in a whole group or section of the crew being quarantined as a precaution. That’s what happened to the entire entertainment crew on the November 8th cruise…and that spilled over to the November 14th cruise. Doesn’t matter whether they have symptoms, test negative, are asymptomatic or not. If he loses a few to infection, then the amount of crew being quarantined multiplies. With that comes a lack of personnel to operate a cruise. Cancellations would follow.
As masking is supposed to be good at stopping the infection (droplets) from leaving an infected person…it makes sense to me that they try this reasonable step to protect the health of the other passengers in general…and the crew…and the business.
Inconvenient but understandable. Just my opinion.

[D Alt]

31 minutes ago, Traveler said:

We are in a very important crossword. The Omricon looks like more easily spreading including in the vaccinated population. Still we need to wait to sea the severity of cases , so far very light symptoms but we need more few weeks to see the trends (the Delta started also with minor symptoms). Let's all hope it's will be soon consider no more than a light cold and this will start to be the end of it. Meanwhile let's hope it will not impact the cruise industry.

Are we in THIS crossword?

 

[mattymay]

I'll wear this.. just bring the ships BACK!!

 

[Traveler]

5 minutes ago, D Alt said:

Are we in THIS crossword?

 

I can always blame the auto correct

[not easy being green]

I am just hoping that we are able to cruise, because if not then we are again land locked (boring).  I just hope we all "pass" the pre coivd test, and this is one you can't study for, bummer.

Like others have said, you can spend your "vacation" dollars anyway you want to, for us it is cruising and the total of canceled (9 cruises now) hopefully is not going to happen again anytime soon.  

[ctigerk]

11 hours ago, mattymay said:

I'll wear this.. just bring the ships BACK!!

 

A little white Hazmat suit is always chic! And I love the way you accessorize!

 

[Plumlee2028]

My next cruise is end of January, so not part of the new dates.  I am totally fine if they lengthen this to include mine.  Yes its disappointing, but is completely a reasonable, practical, and proper response.  We don't get to pretend this is over just because we are tired of it.  

The crew and the business deserve the extra layer of protection this policy provides.  I work for an airline, we have federal mask requirements for our passengers and have since near the beginning of the pandemic.  Our flight attendants and our business deserve that extra layer of protection that policy provides.  No different for Royal, so Ill happily keep it on.  That said, Ill be wearing my Celebrity mask I was given on that cruise, because it is very nice.

[Ray]

15 hours ago, jeffmw said:

Agreed. It's insane how entitled people are. RCI is doing what they feel they need to do to make sure the public views cruising as safe and to ensure long-term viability for the company and their shareholders. That's RCI's only agenda. They're not out to get you. There are plenty of places to spend your vacation budget. If you don't like it, go somewhere else. 

Its not entitled its just a complete lack of respect for anyone else except themselves!!! As long as they are ok screw everyone else!! 

[Traveler]

Just got an email that on the previous cruise they found one passenger (which had the symptoms but decided not to report on board) with the Omricon variant. On this cruise (Symphony , 0.7 tested positive for C19) 

[DunwoodyDad]

1 hour ago, Traveler said:

Just got an email that on the previous cruise they found one passenger (which had the symptoms but decided not to report on board) with the Omricon variant. On this cruise (Symphony , 0.7 tested positive for C19) 

I assume that’s 0.7%. But if there’s say 3500 people, that means roughly 25 people. 

[cruisellama]

18 hours ago, jeffmw said:

Not sure where you guys are in the country, but this is definitely not for show. I'm in Ohio and this Omicron stuff is very different than anything we've seen with COVID over the past couple years. From a health standpoint, it doesn't seem as severe (provided you're vaccinated), so that's encouraging, but it's definitely spreading waaayyyyyyyy easier than the previous variants and in that sense masks are actually more important than they were with previous variants that didn't spread as easily.

Everyone in my community suddenly has it, whereas before it was always just a few cases here and there around here. Before, there would be people who were exposed to someone who had it and most of the time they wouldn't get it unless they were really unlucky. Now it seems like anyone who has been with anyone with it has also gotten it. It's very different from what we're used to with COVID.

This variant spreads like wildfire. They could easily end up with a sailing with dozens of cases if they aren't careful, which would really hurt the industry right now. 

We have a cruise scheduled for Dec. 27. My son's best friend just got it. We are really hoping we are still able to get negative tests and sail. 

Thats because omicron is alot smarter.  It sneaks in through your ears.

[Ray]

38 minutes ago, cruisellama said:

Thats because omicron is alot smarter.  It sneaks in through your ears.

Theres probably people searching google right now trying to find out if this is correct and others who are already thinking there is no way they are wearing earmuffs on a cruise if RC implement such measures 

[cruisellama]

A new business opportunity  

 

 

[PG Cruiser]

1 hour ago, cruisellama said:

Thats because omicron is alot smarter.  It sneaks in through your ears.

PRE-SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT:  As part of the Healthy Return to Sailing Plan, everyone in the theater must wear ear coverings while waiting for the show.  You may remove them when you see the performers singing on stage.  Please put your ear coverings back on in between songs.

[Jill]

3 hours ago, DunwoodyDad said:

I assume that’s 0.7%. But if there’s say 3500 people, that means roughly 25 people. 

I’m reading 50 cases on this last Symphony sailing that ended this morning. This from a passenger who was symptomatic, went to medical, no fever so they didn’t test her. Didn’t quarantine her either. Now her daughter is symptomatic. They told her that to test her, she’d have to pay $160. 
 

If in fact there are 50 cases, that’s not good news and clearly the reason behind increased masking. 
 

I’d like to know how many of the cases flew to the port. 

Today’s embarkation has been moved back 2 1/2 hours. 

So far this is the only report I’m finding from mr sue happy cruise law news 

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2021/12/articles/disease/covid-19-cases-increase-on-cruise-ships-as-lines-suppress-information/

[DunwoodyDad]

I guess testing at the port just isn’t logistically or financially possible for so many people in 4-5 hours, but seems like cutting the days back by 2 would trap at least some of the risk of cases coming on board. 

[MrMarc]

5 hours ago, Ray said:

Theres probably people searching google right now trying to find out if this is correct and others who are already thinking there is no way they are wearing earmuffs on a cruise if RC implement such measures 

Sadly, this is true.  There are now people creating anti-ear muff groups.  At least one group has left the word ear out and understand why they are attracting the kind of members they are.

[Ray]

9 hours ago, MrMarc said:

Sadly, this is true.  There are now people creating anti-ear muff groups.  At least one group has left the word ear out and understand why they are attracting the kind of members they are.

Yeah i heard that also! They are based in South America as i read somewhere that the group were mostly Brazilian.

[RWDW1204]

On 12/17/2021 at 7:48 PM, mattymay said:

I'll wear this.. just bring the ships BACK!!

 

But wearing white after Labor Day?