lovemylab

23 hours ago, panamapd said:

  In today's society some people have a very short attention span and are no longer able to read anything longer than a text message!!

 

If I had had a problem, I would have just copied and pasted your post over to a  word document and then just increase the font size.  Easy to do.

And in todays society others are either too lazy or lack the basic common sense to corrctly format a post before hitting submit.  

Many people read cruise critic on phones and tablets where copying and pasting to a word document isn't an option.

20 minutes ago, Shotgunblasting said:

I apologize, formatting such as paragraph and font size were lost when this was copied + pasted over from the complaint I sent RCIs executive team (personal info edited out).

When you sent the complaint to RCL I certainly hope you used paragraphs and a legible font size; otherwise, you may never get a response.

After copying and pasting you can still create paragraphs and change the font to a size that is actually legible.  

32 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

There are many doing the same thing.

 

Disney, Norwegian, NSC, Costa, Regent and others still have med cruises cruises listed in August. 

I'm aware that not all lines have cancelled, but that doesn't change the fact that what Royal is doing is complete bull****.

Princess, Carnival and HAL cancelled all Europe/Alaska/Canada sailings in early May when it became obvious the season wouldn't be happening.  Other lines shoud have done the same.

Their current policy is bull****.  They know these sailings won't happen.  Other lines have gone ahead and cancelled the entire Med seasons, yet Royal strings you along with "we are scheduled to resume operations on August 1st". 

Royal needs to realize that: a) they are not the only cruiseline; and b) crusing isn't the only type of vacation.  Pissing off their existing customers isn't going to increase their market share when things reopen.

59 minutes ago, NJ&Ozzie said:

I am booked on Oct. 19th Vision from Quebec to FLL.  Thankfully, refundable so no issue cancelling. 

 

Here are some Covid 19 update numbers for Canada (you can easily search): 

We've had a total of 7,073 deaths in Canada thus far with the majority (4,363) being in Quebec.  2,247 deaths in Ontario.  Coastal communities deaths:  British Columbia - 164, Nova Scotia - 59, New Brunswick - 0, PEI - 0.

 

90% of deaths over age 60.  And our Toronto Star says 82% of deaths have been in long term care homes.  Four provinces with no deaths at all, including two of the coastal communities.

 

Economic devastation for shutting down all these provinces????  Maybe Trudeau will give us those numbers.

NJ 

 

I live in one of those coastal communities.  Most people here don't want the cruise ships to dock this summer as it isn't worth the risk.  While this year will be hard for the tourism sector, many businesses are hoping to benefit from locals who will be forced to vacation closer to home. 

I fail to understand how so many of their staff haven't a clue how this program works.  I work for a large corporation that has multiple call centres (often with new staff). When a new program is rolled out the information is made available in an online procedure that is very easy to understand and follow.  A set of FAQs is also available.

We are still undecided about what to do with our Oct 2020 cruise that will most certainly be cancelled.   The more I read about L&S and the hassles involved, the more I think it will be easier to just cancel and take the refund.

I wish they would make a decision on the Med sailings for this year.  Other lines have already cancelled them so only a matter of time before Royal follows.  With my final payment due mid-July I'd love for them to decide before then.

I suspect the reason they get booked by single parties is because they aren't aware that it's a connecting room.   

While people on cruise critic put a lot of thought into their cabin location and what deck they're on, the average cruiser chooses the cabin that the website assigns or their TA picks for them.  

On 5/8/2020 at 6:50 AM, jknc said:

Think about how much time you and your travel agent spent simply trying to get your money back. How many calls did you make?
 

Why would anyone do business with a company like that again? I certainly won’t. 
 

I’ll find more joy doing other things with my money.  

I don't have a TA and cancelled online, so total number of calls made was zero.  

Why would I do business with them again?  I like the product and price wise they are very competitive.  To each their own.

23 minutes ago, pcur said:

Not if all the food is served by staff.  This is the way it's done on HAL and I like it much better.  It's close to a no-touch environment.  I'm going to assume that HAL will go one step further, and even the drinks, appetizers, and desserts will be served by the staff.

Exactly,  Which is why I think that self serve buffets are going to be a thing of the past (at least at the beginning).

52 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Why does eating there make a difference? You can't catch Covid-19 by eating something contaminated.  

If I have Covid-19 and cough into my hand and then touch the utensils, every single person after me that touches that utensil is at risk.  As I mentioned earlier in this thread, many of the items served there are ate with hands (sandwiches, pizza, cookies, nachos, pastries, etc.) so it's very easy to spread at a self-serve venue.  

According to this, the virus can survive several days on hard objects such as stainless steel and silverware:

https://www.webmd.com/lung/how-long-covid-19-lives-on-surfaces

Recommendations from the FDA:

https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-during-emergencies/best-practices-retail-food-stores-restaurants-and-food-pick-updelivery-services-during-covid-19#operations

Help customers maintain good infection control and social distancing by:

• Discontinuing operations, such as salad bars, buffets, and beverage service stations that require customers to use common utensils or dispensers.   

3 minutes ago, danv3 said:

It essentially has to continue in some form.  Otherwise, there's not sufficient available feeding capacity on the ship.  

I agree.  I think the self serve option will be a thing of the past, at least to start anyways. 

8 minutes ago, SkierRobUMN said:

I think they just need mandatory hand washing before you can enter. Just have a line and hand washing stations that they shuffle people through and that would be good enough. 
 

People are so paranoid about touching things when the COVID-19 risk is so low from surface contact. It’s transmitted through respiratory droplets. 

Mandatory hand washing doesn't help with many of the issues I've seen at the buffet.  People licking thier fingers or coughing into their hands and then touching serving utensils and other food is a big one.

Many items at the buffet require people to eat with their hands (ex: bread, sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, fajitas, nashos, cookies, cupcakes).   After eating these items, people are then going back to grab other food items which results in them touching utensils after they've had their fingers near and in their mouths.

44 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It would definitely be nice if they did cancel some of those itineraries as some other lines have. 

 This is what I'm hoping as well.  We have the Explorer booked out of Rome and at this point we'd rather just have a refund and then book at a later date once we know what the situation looks like.  While we could use L&S to change to Oct 2021 there are no guarantees these sailings will take place either.

27 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

False numbers are rampant in the US and Canada as well. 

There are multiple reports where deaths were reported as Covid even though that wasn't the case (i.e. people with cancer that happened to catch Covid just before they died).  Covid didn't kill them.  Cancer did.  But because they had Covid it's recorded as a Covid death.  So false numbers go both ways.

Expiry date and card number don't matter.  The only time this would cause an issue is if someone closed the account completely.   When you get a replacement card or change the type of credit card with your bank (i.e. switching from a regular visa to a premium visa that offers points) you're not creating a new account so any refunds to old card #'s would still be processed.

I think the self serve buffet will be gone when cruises return.  I just hope that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity come up with a system that works.

A few years ago I was on the Summit and they had staff serving the food.  It was the most frustating dining experience I've ever experienced on any vacation.  They didn't have enough staff so you'd have long waits.  They would not allow you to have everything on the same plate (so if you went to the Asian section, they would put that one on one plate; if you wanted a side of vegetables from another station that would go on another plate, etc.).  I asked why they did this and was told that each station had to use a clean plate and could not allow guests to hand them the plate.  So if you planned to get your entire meal at one station you were fine.  But the person that wanted a mix of items would have 3 or 4 different plates for one meal.  There were no trays so you'd either have to juggle multipe plates or make multiple trips to your table to drop stuff off (while hoping the wait staff doesn't clear it away thinking you're done - yes that happened to multiple passengers throughout the week).

I am all for the staff serving the food but hopefully they use some common sense when coming up with the system.

1 hour ago, JBSteelerfan said:

 

From what I was just told, the category has to match.  We changed a 3B to a 4D on Explorer to be able to move to a 4D on Odyssey.

Did you have to pay the price difference for switching categories?

I am on the Explorer as well in a 2T which doesn't exist on Odyssey.  Current pricing on the Explorer for my sailing has increased by quite a bit since I first booked.

Does anyone know what happens if the stateroom category you're currently booked in isn't available on the ship you want to switch to?  We are booked on the Explorer in a promedade interior out of Rome.  Thinking of switching to the Odyssey.

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

 

What happens to the people who have booked them as seven day cruises and have made plans accordingly such as flights, hotels, time off from work, etc.?

The same thing that has happened to everyone else that has ever experienced a cruise cancellation or modified itinerary.   In the case of a modified itinerary, you can either change your plans to accomodate the new sailing or cancel.

1 hour ago, starrcards said:

We are booked on a July 6 Empress cruise from Cape Liberty to New England/Canada.  First of all, Canada ports are closed to cruise ships till 7/1.  This could easily be extended.  Second, what port would want a ship full of passengers from the NYC metro area to stop at their port.  Based on the NY/NJ situation, way too dangerous.

Zero percent chance the Canadian ports are open July 1st.  Government is telling people that until there is a vaccine things will not return to normal.  I live in Nova Scotia and anyone travelling here from another province has to self quarantine for 14 days and there is no timeline in place for when that will be lifted.  So if we're not allowing people within our own country to visit, I don't see the cruise ports opening in 2 months time.

6 hours ago, pasodancer said:

Still $89/pp for our February 2020 cruise.  You may want to edit "all"

If you're crusing in Feb 2020 your ship has already sailed 😛

5 hours ago, SSBrickNJ said:

It's been said that plates with preset portions might be displayed for the cruise guests to grab.

Maybe.

Yet if there is a plate with eggs that I can grab....I don't just want eggs.

Do I come back for a plate of just pancakes?

Do I come back for a plate of just bacon?

That's a lot of plates on my table!

There's no easy answer to this situation.

I still say that the best would be if I can hold my empty plate and then ask for eggs, pancakes and bacon to be placed on my plate by the RCI staff members. You....you might want sausage....or hash browns....etc....everybody is gonna be different.

Staff members serving guests is the best!

A few years ago we cruised the Celebrity Summit and they had servers at the buffet.  It was a pain as each station insisted on giving you a new plate.  So if you wanted pancakes, that went on one plate.  If you wanted a side of bacon or sausage, that went on a different plate.  For whatever reason, the servers refused to allow you to use one plate at multiple stations. 

Staff members serving guests is fine as long as they allow you to use the same plate at multiple stations.  Otherwise it's a mess.

27 minutes ago, toastysailor said:

 These are all good points.  I agree we don't have tests that are anywhere like what I am saying; what I am saying is that until we get them, I would be nervous.

 

Imagine what happens, in the post-COVID-19 era, when someone becomes sick with COVID-19 on a ship.  Quarantine for all passengers.  Ports refusing entry.

 

So should people be retested every time they reboard?  What happens if we don't?  Would you want someone exposed to COVID-19 allowed back on a ship full of thousands of people they might infect?  Especially if it means quarantine for the whole ship?

If you're waiting for them to develop a test that will instantly detect the virus as soon as somone has some in contact with it I think you may have taken your last cruise.  

If this magicial test did become available and someone did test positive, I would much rather see them be quarantined onboard vs. being left behind in some foreign port.   

If cruiselines were to enforce this ridiculous suggestion very few people would cruise.   

When cruising does resume I suspect it will be a very different experience than what we're used to.  I plan to wait and see what that experience looks like and then decide when we'll be cruising again.