mm_FM

If helpful, we are on the Royal (embarked 6/4 in Whittier) and were on a land tour prior (and traveling independently before that). Masks are now required and compliance seems fairly high. We had planned to mask in public areas (we mask for work, have managed to avoid COVID thus far despite being frontline/essential workers, and would like to avoid being sick on vacation if possible, let alone quarantined on ship or in Vancouver at the trip’s end), so this was no concern to us. However, I imagine there are some passengers who are likely disappointed if not upset, since masking on the land tours was uncommon and never even encouraged (we were among a rare few masking on the bus, trains, in the lodge public areas, etc.). Then, we arrive in port, and the staff immediately and emphatically required masking, etc. It was a notable and rapid shift in policy and tone, passengers were scrambling, and we commented that an announcement during any previous phases of the trip probably would have been preferable to help passengers have a sense of the changes and potentially give them options (it seems many folks who don’t like masking are pretty strident in that position). I’m sure there will be some passengers who refuse (we’ve seen a few). Moreover, I am sympathetic to the staff who must now try to enforce this policy and customer service staff who will undoubtedly get an earful about it. However, I think we were the small minority of passengers who had the policy shift mid-trip and future travelers should be aware, but who knows? We didn’t realize how radically our itinerary had changed from our 2020 booking until on-ship despite being dutiful planners. This is our first cruise, so we have no comparisons. Hope this info is helpful. We appreciated the live reports to help us get a sense of how to prepare for the new era of COVID-travel, so thought I’d pay it forward a bit.