karl_nj

but those would be actual tips, where passengers give him cash. His position is not included in the service fee.

How aggravating! Although it's best to keep your letter short and to the point, maybe try to mention that the only reason you couldn't go on the original cruise was due to the fact that RCL changed the return date.

When your cruise was cancelled, they also returned your money? This was more of a "goodwill" FCC that they issued, in order to encourage you to book with RCL again in the near future? If I were you, I would think of it more as a "coupon" that you never got around to using, and not cash that you lost.

Corporations should be transparent regarding extra fees, including service fees. If the service fee increases, they should update their website and any associated documents issued. If RCL decides to bring back the fuel surcharge (which is still mentioned as a possibility in the cruise contract) they should inform their customers. I just want to know what service fee I'm going to be charged for my upcoming cruise. My edocs still say $14.50/day, so I'm a bit confused about when this fee is going to increase. It sounds like the customer service reps at RCL are also in the dark. I'm not sure why you are assuming this has anything to do with tipping. Even if the service fee has increased, I don't plan to lower the additional cash tips that I give my room steward and waiters.

Interesting. My edocs for my upcoming cruise still say the old rate: I wonder what I'll get charged onboard.

That is true. On the other hand, there is no "paper" 1 or 2 euro currently. Only 1 and 2 euro coins.

I think it's understandable for people to be disappointed. I'm sure people on 3/4 night cruises boarding before August 8th are disappointed/annoyed too. Personally, I'm still hoping for more announcements about my upcoming cruise out of Rome. I'd rather spend my vacation enjoying Rome, instead of trying to fight with hotel Wi-Fi and get 5 supervised covid tests done sequentially and waste a whole morning. Assuming there isn't some random Amazon AWS outage, and then trying to scramble to find a test locally. But yes, I'm happy things seem to be moving in a better direction in regards to pre-cruise testing.

Which is very similar to the language used by NCL when they made their announcement weeks ago: MIAMI, July 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) (the “Company”) today announced it will no longer require guests to complete pre-cruise COVID-19 testing unless required by local regulations. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Announces Revisions to SailSAFE Health and Safety Protocols :: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) (nclhltd.com) It seems pretty clear that when Azamara made this announcement, they didn't expect the CDC to make changes so quickly, since their chart, released as part of this announcement, still mentioned that testing would be required in the US. They were just matching what NCL did weeks earlier, and not yet making any decisions on how to handle sailings out of the US. Since they don't have any at the moment. I agree who knows what the situation will be in December, but I would not be surprised if most cruise lines have dropped testing by then. That does seem to be the direction things are heading in now.

Actually, Azamara has identical testing requirements to NCL in the US too. All Azamara did was to match the NCL brands. They still require testing in the US, if you read the "fine print":

Yeah, I saw that. But then it goes on to say: Packages positioned in the bulk department, next to the aircraft’s outer structure, might be exposed to temperatures as low as 35º F (2º C) during flight, but could be subjected to temperatures as low as 20º F (-7º C) during international flights Which is basically the reason why people are warning against putting the tests in checked luggage. However, there isn't any indication on the outer package/fed ex label that says this can only be shipped in the main cargo compartment. I also wonder how hot the back of the FedEx truck gets. Bet it goes over 85F with the weather much of the northern hemisphere has been having over the past few weeks. In any case, I would agree it's best to carry these in carry on baggage. Especially for a long international flight. Even if the test was already exposed to temperatures outside of the range, trying to minimize that going forward seems like a prudent measure.

Sorry, I met on the fedex package. How does fedex know to have special handing and not store it in a part of the plane that would have the same environmental temperature issues as a passenger plane? It’s more of a theoretical question. Somehow they managed to get this test to me on a plane. But how?

True, but didn’t they get shipped from emed via fedex overnight. In a cargo plane? I didn’t see any special temperature stickers on the package.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens. But so far, only Virgin Voyages has dropped testing in US ports, even though Viking, all the NCL brands, and now Azamara have said they only will do testing where required. Royal/Celebrity is still doing testing in Europe, even though it's not required by local governments.

They only dropped it for certain ports. Like Rome. Which is the same thing that Viking and all of the NCL brands did weeks ago. If you look at the Azamara website, you will see they still say it is required in the US. Azamara did not drop testing in the US (yet). They still require tests in the US according to the website.

Nope. Azamara's website still says they require tests for cruises out of the US.

For sailings beginning August 1, 2022, vaccinated guests sailing on a cruise originating from any port EXCEPT a U.S. port; Canadian port; or Piraeus, Greece are exempt from all pre-cruise COVID-19 testing requirements.

The destinations currently requiring them are the US and Canada, apparently: Viking Health & Safety Program (vikingcruises.com) As of June 10, 2022, select ocean voyages on the Viking Orion and expedition voyages on the Viking Octantis in the United States and Canada will continue to require a pre-departure COVID-19 test. Though there could be destinations that Viking is not currently sailing from (or to, or visiting) that could also require them. And anything is subject to change in the future.

Viking Ocean has scrapped it everywhere except for sailings leaving from the US and Canada.

Ah makes sense—and since Viking also is in the river cruise market, in some ways then they are just matching what some of their peers have been doing all along.

Very interesting that Viking Ocean went from one of the most conservative in regard to testing (with daily onboard PCR testing), to not even requiring a test to board the ship (except in in the US/Canada, assuming due to the CDC.) Are they the first cruise line to not require a test before boarding the ship?

In reaction to the US dropping testing to return to the US, Viking Ocean is dropping all pre-departure cruise tests, except for sailings out of US/Canada. I wonder what other lines will do the same.

I believe you mentioned in another post that you boarded Wonder in Italy--did you run into any issues due to that? I've read that the app doesn't work well in that case, even after boarding?