coldflame

15 minutes ago, chodnett said:

I’m trying to book some excursions, but the “Plan My Cruise” button is grayed out. It’s like this for me on multiple devices, and multiple browsers.

 

Anyone else having trouble?

Same here -- greyed out buttons. The IT problems with Royal never end. IT's quite frankly disheartening how brittle and poor their IT infrastructure is. For a multi-billion dollar company, in this day and age there's no excuse their backend systems to be so terrible (and not just their website but their finance, payment and booking systems).

On 9/1/2021 at 2:27 PM, dianajo67 said:

I booked a solo balcony cabin in Jan 22 on jewel of the seas 15 Jan on the royal website.  The price was unbelievably low.  The invoice references the 60% off second fare, but it sure looks like I’m just getting charged a single fare….like $900 for the week by myself.
 

Am I still getting 4 points per night as a solo in a balcony?  I didn’t get any special “sale” prices for a solo that I’m aware of.  I would expect to get the extra points.  Do not want any unwanted surprises.

 

Thoughts?  I’ve heard others are getting great solo rates too!  Too good to be true?

Yesterday I booked a room for my sister (single) and had no upcharge and was $800 for 9-nights holiday cruise which is a steal of a deal by any definition. 

On 8/21/2021 at 3:09 PM, jrbeccles said:

I sail on 9/13 on the Dream, and if I had two guesses they would be:

1. Since its not legal to sail only sea days, DCL pays a huge sum of money to the Bahamas to let them enter Castaway Cay with two days there  - not going to Nassau.

2. DCL changes it medical requirements so as to only allow fully vaccinated passengers.  

 

Of course I'm never right on anything, so perhaps they will cancel the cruises or work out some last minute deal with the Bahamas

2 happened.

Pictures are astounding, thanks for posting. Beautiful ship, but there's a ghost town feeling to it that's somewhat unsettling.

1 minute ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

Yes I have, I was on a cruise the week before cruising was shut down.  Most cruise lines I've been on don't allow jeans in the MDR.  I said he MAY want to dress up for formal night, not that he HAD to.

Neither Royal, nor Disney nor NCL have any dress code on their MDRs other than "no swim wear". Most people including myself wear shorts or jeans in the MDRs the duration of the cruise. The only time I wear slacks and long sleeve shirt is when in DCL and we go to Remy or Palo which are upscale/upcharge and do explicitly require dressier attire. That said OP and anyone can wear what they please, simply noting the strict dress code in MDRs -- at least in "mainstream" cruise lines -- is gone.

5 minutes ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

Casual pants (not jeans) and a polo shirt should be fine for casual nights.  On formal nights, he may want to dress up a bit.

Have you cruised in the last decade? Bermuda shorts are fine all nights -- including formal nights, specially for kids. The "strict"  dress code of the 70s and 80s and before that are relics of a bygone era.

49 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Sadly the article article is behind a pay wall. But why should I have to fact check a claim you made. Surely providing a reference is not that hard?

Here, through a paywall beater: Text Fish 🐟 – Maker of Popular Covid Test Told Factory to Destroy Inventory

50 minutes ago, toddcruise01 said:

You do you, we'll do us.  We Will be cruising in 19 days.  Peace out

If you're OK with the possibility of not being allowed to board on a false positive (or have alternate plans), then by all means. For us, we drive to port so if we're denied boarding, it's just a drive home or somewhere beachy. No way I'd go through the trouble to arrange air, hotels, etc. given the very real possibility of being denied boarding even if you have all vax and testing up to date.

On 8/23/2021 at 9:55 AM, smokeybandit said:

This was the couple that simply didn't pay attention for a month after the new test requirements were announced and tried to play dumb when they finally realized it 2 days before their cruise?

This is also why I've said in at least two occasions for people who read these forums (I'm fully aware it's a minority of us) that if you are taking a cruise any time the rest of this year for a special occasion (i.e. not just normal vacay), plan ahead figure something else or have a plan B ready. Way too much risk to assume that you and/or the rest of your party will be able to cruise given all the protocols in place and likely we'll see tightening or more controls as the Delta variant is rampant right now and the vaccines are only effective in preventing serious disease but not very effective at carrying it and transmitting it. If I didn't live within driving distance of the port, I would not be cruising this year.

3 hours ago, zekekelso said:

Two problems with this approach:

 

1) Some of us don’t have common sense

2) Your explanation (any simple explanation) is vague which can lead to misunderstanding 

 

- “next three months” starting when? Base on departure date or any day on ship?

 

- “be vaccinated” - what counts as vaccinated? Do I just need to be vaccinated, or do I need to bring proof? What counts as proof?

 

- “within three days”  - so I can be tested two days after embarking?

 

Note - I’m not actually asking questions, just showing that any simple explanation will lead to more questions. 

 

 

 

Anyone having these questions shouldn't be cruising or allowed in society in general w/o a legal guardian for that matter.

2 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

Except at dinner.

Ah good point. I guess we don't really do Cabanas for supper, so wasn't sure if dress code changed.

Why do people like to pick things apart like this? It couldn't be more simple and y'all mincing words when a modicum of common sense suffices.

If you're going to cruise Royal for next 3 months, are 12-or-older and departing from any port in the US, be vaccinated. In addition you must take a PCR test within 3 days of your embarkation date.

How's that so hard to comprehend?

14 hours ago, DGNewton said:

So nice dress shorts and matching colored pol with color will rok.....great news....My son is setting us up for what seems to be a test cruise and want to be sure we are packed accordingly.

 

Thanks again.....guess I'm a red or blue card holder on this line lol......

With the notable exception of Palo/Remy, the best way to think about this is: there is no dress code. Come as you are so long as you're not wearing swim wear in the MDRs (swimwear in the Cabanas is fine).

Tough decision, but it's the right one at this moment in time.

On 8/13/2021 at 1:52 PM, orville99 said:

Only a matter of time before this line of reasoning becomes globally adopted.

It almost already is. The faster the adoption, the fast the world travel can return to "normalcy". Many folks here quickly forgot not long ago proof of TB vaccine was required to travel internationally. And depending on region/country "MMR" was required for entry too.

13 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

 

That's the main reason a family-friendly cruise line would host such debauchery -- for $$$.  The Bliss cruises have been around for quite sometime and there is much written on what goes on...not a Virtue of the Seas type cruise.   The CDC must be scratching its head wondering whether this type of cruise merits additional protocols.  Would love to see that manual. 😇

Royal and other RCI cruise lines have been chartering to this type of event (which you might be morally opposed to) for years/decades, so it's nothing new. My only qualm with these is post-charter sanitation and I try to look at chartering calendars before I make a reservation for this reason.

35 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

Hanky-Panky -yes

 

dirty-dirty - I guess that is in the mind of the poster.

 

All the Orgies- now you are dreaming. 
 

🙈🙉🙊

 

I've heard from a friend who is very openly in the lifestyle with his fiancee and has gone in several of these "lifestyle" cruises including some in land and there's definitely dirty deeds in public areas (even though they're not supposed to). Some even host events and close off big public areas like sun decks or "conference space" for "group activities". So there's definitely "all of the above" going on in those cruises.

That having been said, I've been told the chartering company pays a lot of money for special clean up of all facilities. These cruises aren't cheap at all (same a LGBT cruises), for what I can gather can run $10k/couple in a balcony.

On 8/12/2021 at 10:35 AM, orville99 said:

Just went out to check on our 11/21 Harmony cruise, and as of yesterday all that was showing as available were a few interior and ocean view cabins. Today all cabin categories from interior, ocean view, balcony, and suites from JS through Star class are available for booking. 

Probably has to do with CWC and protocol refusal cancellations. Rooms don't become available immediately one by one, and cancellation in the back office can take couple of weeks.

6 hours ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

Read it somewhere, don't remember which one or where to get it.  Was it the roast beef or steak sandwich?  Windjammer?  Boarding Sunday and need to try to plan out every meal!! 😉 J/K, but I wanted to try the thing people have been talking about...

 

TIA!

Waaaaaay over rated. It's one of those things like Li'l Sebastian in Parks & Rec that only people who like it "get it" everyone else is "huh?". It was one of the most underwhelming experiences we've had, people here "sell it" so much. If you've had a roast beef sandwich at any deli, you're bound to be utterly disappointed.

9 hours ago, sandc4e said:

WOW sale is up and is including OBC (haven't seen that in awhile).  Was able to get the OBC added to our reservation, no change in pricing for us but having some OBC helps with the drink bill.

 

Happy Friday Jr.

You literally saved us $1032 in our holiday cruise re-price. Thanks so much for heads up.

8 minutes ago, Auntiemomo said:

What's the end game?  Are we going to have passports for other communicable diseases?  Not concerned with influenza, hepatitis, ebola, tuberculosis, et al, before boarding a cruise ship?  People who are concerned about catching covid on a cruise ship probably shouldn't cruise at all, especially if you have vulnerabilities.  

Do you know that vaccination "passports" were a requirement to enter until about the Y2K, right? TB vaccine scar in the arm was a requirement to travel many places in the 80s. Every time there has been a highly transmissible disease in regional flareups there have been vaccination requirements as condition for entry. Not sure what you're implying here, but to not require vaccination proof for entry or boarding is actually an exception, not the "normal" course of action.

53 minutes ago, joepeka said:

The expected next step has been taken:

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/25655-florida-to-appeal-ruling-on-vaccine-passports-for-norwegian-cruise-line-holdings.html

It was indeed fully expected. But I don't think it has happened yet. Not seeing it in any dockets or even a notice of appeal, as of this writing.

More folks here need to be this pro-active instead of waiting two days before sailing and then complain and place blame on Royal for their ruined vacation. I cannot emphasize this enough: any cruise to sail this year from US ports is a roll of the dice -- period. It might happen, it might not. There might be more restrictions, there might be not. If you're planning a special vacation or a special event make different plans NOW. Either delay the cruise till next year or choose a land-based vacation, etc. Don't wager and falsely hope COVID restrictions will go away any time soon.

44 minutes ago, Pratique said:

The standard for the preliminary injunction is likelihood of success on the merits, so the likelihood of success on the preemption claim is pretty low right now. But it would have been interesting to see what the 11th Circuit said about it, because there is no assurance that the same three-judge panel will hear this appeal. And if there was a split, all the more reason to go to SCOTUS.

 

EDIT to add: the 11th Circuit did not rule that the CSO was not legal, they just denied the request to stay the injunction pending appeal. The appeal is still ongoing as far as I know.

Quick Note: The reason for the quick decision is this was expedited and order planned to be given shortly after hearing. There's no surprise in the promptness. Florida did not want this case to be heard at all. First tried to move venues, then tried to dismiss it altogether two days before hearing. One failed the other mooted.

1 hour ago, jrapps said:

WOW. Reading it now...Does the injunction apply only to NCL, or the entire cruise industry?

They are the only party in the suit, however, other cruise lines could use the ruling as proxy/precedent, should they choose to require proof of vaccination -- which at this time isn't clear who will require it given "mixed age" audiences.