smokeybandit

No shore leave, having to mask 24/7 (though that's been relaxed), having to be tested every 3 days (also since relaxed), quarantining in isolation for 10+ days even if you feel 100% fine. Most certainly some who were asked to come back said "hell no" when facing a six month contract of being treated so poorly. So yes, the CDC bears a lot of the blame.

And that's why cruise ships have several different cabin options, to keep all of us happy

Capacity minus all the quarantine cabins the CDC makes them set aside

That's pretty much our approach, too.

Crew are free to get off in their home port (at least in US-based cruises) but are only allowing a growing but limited number off in ports o call.

Junior Suite is basically just a bigger room. It doesn't get the full array of suite perks

Absolutely nothing

If you have patches of hair, just shave your head before the cruise.

People cough. It happens. Funny thing it happened before covid and no one cared. You'll be fine.

All the info on testing is detailed on RC's website https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-need-an-rt-pcr-test-before-i-cruise-where-should-i-go

That's not true. It's the Cellular at Sea that's disabled within 12 miles of land.

And that package is a huge ripoff because because it's so easy to rack up data overages and there's no guarantee the cellular service on a ship will even work.

Sounds like you should be blaming yourself for not putting your phone in airplane mode while at sea. The AT&T international day pass gives you access to your domestic plan in other countries. It does not work at sea.

For $25 and that size it's not all that crazy of a markup

Depends on their home country, type of contract they have and how long they are working on the ship in that calendar year.

All sorts of seasonal bugs are making the rounds now.

I still would never tell RC I don't feel good until protocols allow you to quarantine in your own room (or not quarantine at all like we do for every other virus).

I wouldn't dare take a test if I didn't have to take a test.

If you use the test result that is emailed to you, that's in UTC, so it doesn't really matter the time.

You must not realize the very strict restrictions crew were under the first 6 months or so of the restart. They STILL can't freely leave the ship in port like they used to be able to.. The crew DID need various personal items and toiletries early on before the Amazon system was set up. It was even worse for the crew on Adventure when she homeported out of Nassau because the crew store was their only option. Hence the thread title "do the crew members still need stuff" Heaven forbid people have a soft spot for the crew and want to help out.

If you think you're going to need snacks, bring your own to save money. But there's so much food available on board.

For some reason people expect 5 star dining.

I don't believe that itinerary has ever been done by RC befoe

Masks and extreme overreaction to cold symptoms.

Also worth noting that constant sanitation actually has a negative net effect as many of the bugs that that actually do get killed with constant lysol-ing are ones you want your immune system to be exposed to.