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Booster shots mandate inevitable on Royal.

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SilverSeas Cruise lines  owned by Royal,  along with Azamara have announced days ago that booster vaccines will be required to board their ships,

This can only mean that this will happen with Royal. I've asked Matt this question and he cannot comment as it is a hypothetical question?  I dont think so

if these other cruise lines owned by Royal are doing so, why would Royal be exempt?. If boosters are required  what are the protocols?  Lets say you have a cruise that is only one week away, and the announcement comes out? Then what? Any grace period allowed?  Must the vaccine still be 14 days prior to boarding?   Many cruisers are double vaxxed, but not boosted.  I know the obvious answer is to simply get boosted asap, but I do not want to do that. Being double vaxxed already and having had covid, I feel I am immune enough.   Comments?

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Matt Pinnacle

Matt

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2 hours ago, Edmund said:

I've asked Matt this question and he cannot comment as it is a hypothetical question?  I dont think so

Correction, you asked me IF they required boosters, what ages would be required. That's a hypothetical on top of a hypothetical.

The bottom line is no one knows what Royal Caribbean will do. Keep in mind Celebrity has different vaccine requirements from Royal Caribbean, so it's not like every brand under RCG is in lock step with requirements.

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twangster Pinnacle

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I don’t think we can draw analogies from sister companies.  Celebrity for example didn’t do test cruises so they had to maintain 95% vax rates to sail.  SilverSea and Celebrity have long seen many fewer kids compared to Royal.   SilverSea has an older clientele typically.  The dramatically different number of children allows those lines to craft policies that are adult centric. 

Royal Caribbean Group has the three sister companies that each serve a distinct and different target audience.   They don’t overlap on purpose (or minimally).  Each is free to draft policies and protocols that are appropriate and desirable for that lines target consumer but within the overall guidelines from the Healthy Sail Panel.  

SilverSea is more likely to have guests demand a booster requirement or they won’t book.  Royal Caribbean International is less likely to have this type of consumer.  That’s not to say there aren’t any RCI guests who would like to see a booster requirement but with more families on Royal there will be fewer guests who demand a booster requirement and some families that may not choose to booster their kids.  

Azamara is no longer part of the RCG family of cruise lines.  

A booster requirement on RCI will narrow their market and that’s not in their best interest as of today.  

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CruisingNewb Pinnacle

CruisingNewb

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I agree with the above comments.

My limited understanding is that the sister cruise lines (ie: Silver Seas) are geared more towards a different demographic.  

Royal seems to be very family-friendly.  

Having said that, many children are not eligible for boosters.

Therefore, I do not think that the if/then scenario based solely upon Silver Seas booster requirement works to incorporate Royal.

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Censored Diamond Plus

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7 hours ago, Matt said:

Correction, you asked me IF they required boosters, what ages would be required. That's a hypothetical on top of a hypothetical.

The bottom line is no one knows what Royal Caribbean will do. Keep in mind Celebrity has different vaccine requirements from Royal Caribbean, so it's not like every brand under RCG is in lock step with requirements.

Here is the latest from Royal......

Here are our health & safety protocols for sailings departing from Barbados, including government mandates, updated testing requirements, and the shore excursion requirement for unvaccinated children and their families. 

Due to the fluidity of this situation, our protocols are subject to change and we are committed to keeping you informed if they do. Future protocols may require boosters, lowered vaccination ages, and changes to testing. While currently not required to sail, the US CDC has recommended COVID-19 vaccine booster doses for those eligible, prior to cruise travel. As a result, we strongly recommend getting boosted before your cruise.

 

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AlmondFarmer Pinnacle

AlmondFarmer

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I just read through all this waiting to get to the part about about the rocket launches from Cape Canaveral. 

I think it would be wise for Royal to have a booster shot mandate. When a booster shot is scheduled, all guest sailing from Cape Canaveral should be notified of rocket launch date and be able to take a future cruise credit if they are not willing to comply with risks of being on a ship near the launch zone.

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WannaCruise Pinnacle

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13 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I'd happily trade booster for eliminating the headache of pre-cruise testing though.

It's a pain in the neck and stressful as it can put a halt to your cruise, but the pre-test is what makes me feel safe about cruising.  The fact that everyone on the ship is on there with recently testing negative is a big comfort (and would be great if they could test everyone at the port but I know it isn't feasible).  There is no other vacation (that I know of) where you can say that.

Am ok if they add boosters but only for 18+ as it's not available for kids yet where I am.

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recogneyes Diamond Plus

recogneyes

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1 hour ago, WannaCruise said:

It's a pain in the neck and stressful as it can put a halt to your cruise, but the pre-test is what makes me feel safe about cruising.  The fact that everyone on the ship is on there with recently testing negative is a big comfort (and would be great if they could test everyone at the port but I know it isn't feasible).  There is no other vacation (that I know of) where you can say that.

Am ok if they add boosters but only for 18+ as it's not available for kids yet where I am.

Well said - we likely wouldn't cruise if the testing wasn't mandatory, even though it certainly does create a lot of worry before you receive that negative result.  Agree fully on possible booster requirement.  With many people having had their second shots over 6 months ago, we know the protection is waning.  

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MrMarc Diamond Plus

MrMarc

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5 hours ago, Shari said:

FYI the booster does NOT stop people from getting COVID so testing will still be required. 

 

5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

True. Several other of the protocols don't stop people from getting covid either.

Why do people keep making statements like this.  no protocol is 100% effective, that does not mean it doesn't work.  Come on Smokeybandit, even you know this is true.  If you use that standard no medicine, medical treatment or vaccine works.  There may be disagreement about how effective the vaccine is, but no one is saying it does not work.  And please don't put that partially quoted statement by the CDC director where he misspoke and has explained it over and over.  Now on masks, I will agree that there are some that say they are totally ineffective, although I disagree.  But there is definitely support for that position, but none for a claim that the vaccine does not work at all.  I don't want to convince you to think I am correct, but if we are going to discuss it at all, let's at least be realistic.  They don't stop everyone from getting covid, but they do stop some.

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MrMarc Diamond Plus

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6 hours ago, Shari said:

There are those of us who are fully vaccinated but had such adverse reactions to the second shot that we are unable to be boosted.  This would be a major impact.  I only got vaccinated because of cruising.

You are absolutely correct, while personally I would selfishly like the booster required, I realize it is a much more complex question than the initial vaccine.  It may be that the lower passenger volume lines will do it, but the larger passenger lines (like RCCL) may not.  I am willing to bet there are meetings with medical, PR and marketing people going on about this daily right now.  The cruise lines, and even a small business like mine, are caught between a rock and a hard place.  Whatever is done, a significant group of people will be angry at it and think the person making the decision is crazy or stupid.  I wish a lot of these people making these pronouncements owned a business and had to make these decisions in areas where there is no government mandate and no real agreement among the people in the surrounding area.  People on both sides think a majority of people agree with them, which is of course impossible.

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smokeybandit Pinnacle

smokeybandit

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The vaccines, at this point in the game, protect you from severe covid cases. While that is obviously valuable and important to the individual, it's pretty useless when applied to a group since vaccinated and unvaccinated alike can get and spread covid. 

At this stage of the game, you could drop all testing, masking and vaccine requirements and things wouldn't be any worse off on a ship.

 

Europe is going in that direction quickly

 

 

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