Symphony - terrible / no shows / Covid ?

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, Lou33 said:

@Rosy Season never said that he/she "wants" RCL to shut down.  Nobody "wants" any cruise line to shut down.  Nobody wants a world with a raging pandemic.  But we have to deal with the world the way that it is and not the way that we wish it was right now.  

 

Rosy went through a very difficult experience with quarantine, and other cruisers would never see a first hand account unless it was posted  here. And I appreciate that point of view, and I will also look at other reviews.  I want to hear all of their opinions, and I make my own judgements about them.   

 

Maybe the cruise lines will need to shut down, and maybe they won't.  You might disagree with an opinion, but I don't think it's worth getting mad, because nothing that anybody posts here will have the slightest affect on "your" cruise.  

Actually she did say that. Someone quoted the aida shut down and she replied maybe they should shut down.

 

[Ocean Boy]

6 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

It must suck for those on Royal who paid for a balcony, suite or Royaled up to a better accommodation only to be transported to Cell Block C on Covid Row.

 

6 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

Agree - wouldn’t want to be downgraded from a Presidential Suite to an oceanview on deck 2.  At least on the Equinox you get a balcony. 

And if you can stay in your balcony cabin on Celebrity I don't see why the same can't happen on RCI.

[Iamcruzin]

8 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

 

And if you can stay in your balcony cabin on Celebrity I don't see why the same can't happen on RCI.

Especially with this new variant. More are getting sick but if you are vaccinated the symptoms aren't more than a common cold. If we weren't living in these Covid times  people would be going about their normal life with these mild symptoms.   

[Cruise a holic]

My nephew just got off the NCL Breakaway .  He said many people not respecting the mask rule and all shows were canceled.  He also said too few staff aboard.  Thus far, he and his wife ok- Covid negative.  I would expect Celebrity and Royal to do better then NCL- 

 

Glad we canceled our cruises.  Hope March is better.

[gumshoe958]

39 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

 

And if you can stay in your balcony cabin on Celebrity I don't see why the same can't happen on RCI.

The Celebrity poster wasn’t allowed to stay in their cabin. They were moved to “Covid Row”, just like on Royal. Their quarantine cabin had a balcony, but others posting in that thread said theirs didn’t so sounds like pot luck.

 

Edited January 4, 2022 by gumshoe958

[A&L_Ont]

This thread was about Symphony, two sailings ago, and yet it goes on.🤷‍♂️  
 

Let’s stop living in the past and critique any ships having issues today. 😉

 

Knock on wood, hopefully as of now there are none. 

[Kmermaid]

11 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

This thread was about Symphony, two sailings ago, and yet it goes on.🤷‍♂️  
 

Let’s stop living in the past and critique any ships having issues today. 😉

 

Knock on wood, hopefully as of now there are none. 

Totally agree - been looking for a recent Symphony sailing to find a compass.  

[bajathree]

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

Especially with this new variant. More are getting sick but if you are vaccinated the symptoms aren't more than a common cold. If we weren't living in these Covid times  people would be going about their normal life with these mild symptoms.   

Not true.....know 3 people vaccinated and boostered who didn't have such mild symptoms. 2 required doctors visits to obtain meds and had high fevers. 1 is still laid up in bed after 4 days now.

[Ocean Boy]

54 minutes ago, bajathree said:

Not true.....know 3 people vaccinated and boostered who didn't have such mild symptoms. 2 required doctors visits to obtain meds and had high fevers. 1 is still laid up in bed after 4 days now.

Well, it does seem to be the case but there will always be outliers with any infectious disease. Also, people are assumung now that every covid infection is now omicron and that is not true. Delta is still in the mix.

[A&L_Ont]

2 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

There will always be outliers with any infectious disease. Also, people are assumung now that every covid infection is now omicron and that is not true. Delta is still in the mix.

I agree with you. Delta is still in the mix, but I think you will see it drop off quickly.
 

In England Delta has been displaced to less than 10% of the reported cases from the start of December to now.  In London it’s been displaced even further.  Over 70% of the colds there are being reported as “Covid colds”, as the infected have common cold symptoms but test positive for Covid.
 

I think Canada and the US are a few weeks after England on the progression but we are catching up count wise. I have read for Canada and England this surge could last 6/8 weeks from now. I hope that number will be shorter.
 

Delta is not done yet, but Omicron is giving it a huge shove off the stage to hopefully become the final act of the pandemic.  

[Pratique]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

I agree with you. Delta is still in the mix, but I think you will see it drop off quickly.
 

In England Delta has been displaced to less than 10% of the reported cases from the start of December to now.  In London it’s been displaced even further.  Over 70% of the colds there are being reported as “Covid colds”, as the infected have common cold symptoms but test positive for Covid.
 

I think Canada and the US are a few weeks after England on the progression but we are catching up count wise. I have read for Canada and England this surge could last 6/8 weeks from now. I hope that number will be shorter.
 

Delta is not done yet, but Omicron is giving it a huge shove off the stage to hopefully become the final act of the pandemic.  

I'm certainly no expert, but conventional epidemiological wisdom says that the virus needs to thrive to survive. This means that it will likely continue to mutate such that it has high transmissibility and low mortality. My WAG based on how Covid has evolved so far is that future variants will be more like Omicron in that they are omnipresent but relatively benign. At least that it my hope.

We have decided to press forward with our Symphony cruise next week unless we test positive before we leave home. There are heightened risks of course but we will continue with our routine of masking and distancing and try to enjoy what we can of it. If anything noteworthy happens I will probably leave it to others to report it on CC, as I have already vowed not to come back here with anything that could be construed as a complaint about the onboard experience.

[Rosy Season]

13 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

OK Rosy, we all get you had a bad experience.  That happens, even in the best of times.  And yes RCCL probably went too far in booking closer to capacity over the holiday period.  So did every other cruise line.  No one had a clue about Omicron until around Thanksgiving and Delta appeared to be waning.  But thus far outside of you giving reporters your version of events, there's nothing supporting your claims as to masses of people being infected and the implication they are seriously ill.  Your "demands" for special treatment and vengeance against RCCL for not giving you that are a bit too much. 

Wouldn't it be nice if RCCL released the numbers then?  There are others out there speaking to the reporters as well.  I had no "demands" for special treatment or vengeance against RCCL and I would appreciate if you didn't put words in my mouth like that.  Nothing I've said has suggested as such.

[Rosy Season]

7 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Actually she did say that. Someone quoted the aida shut down and she replied maybe they should shut down.

 

And that's not a bad thing.  Several other countries and lines are doing it.  There may be some wisdom behind it.  Because what they're doing now is not stopping the spread.

[Rosy Season]

At the end of the day, the naysayers and cruise line apologists aren't going to believe me and that's fine.  And there is probably nothing that could happen that would change your minds.  I just wish that RCCL would release the actual positive case numbers.  At least then,  if/when the numbers were exorbitantly higher than normal you all would at least appreciate that I'm telling the truth or at a minimum not making up such wild crazy stories- whether you agree with my opinions on how it should be handled or not.

 

Many of you have put me in a positive of defense, called me a liar, an opportunist, trying to milk the company etc and that's not fair.  None of it. I want RCCL to do what they promised and treat us and the situation with a modicum of respect which has not happened.

[RoyalC]

If Royal was smart they would at least let people cancel (full refund, not a "credit") and sell those cabins at a higher rate if someone else wants to travel. Instead, they are closing bookings on many ships. It seems Wall Street is happy with people cancelling with their stock going up the last two days.

[DevonfromAcme]

3 minutes ago, RoyalC said:

If Royal was smart they would at least let people cancel (full refund, not a "credit") and sell those cabins at a higher rate if someone else wants to travel. Instead, they are closing bookings on many ships. It seems Wall Street is happy with people cancelling with their stock going up the last two days.

 

Stock is going up because of reports that booking numbers for the second half of 2022 are strong.  Those numbers are predicted to offset the current #$%^ show that is the first quarter of the year.

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

I agree with you. Delta is still in the mix, but I think you will see it drop off quickly.
 

In England Delta has been displaced to less than 10% of the reported cases from the start of December to now.  In London it’s been displaced even further.  Over 70% of the colds there are being reported as “Covid colds”, as the infected have common cold symptoms but test positive for Covid.
 

I think Canada and the US are a few weeks after England on the progression but we are catching up count wise. I have read for Canada and England this surge could last 6/8 weeks from now. I hope that number will be shorter.
 

Delta is not done yet, but Omicron is giving it a huge shove off the stage to hopefully become the final act of the pandemic.  

My point was that if someone has a particulary bad bout with the virus, one cannot assume it means that omicron was the cause and that the variant is more of a problem than it is.

[A&L_Ont]

3 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

My point was that if someone has a particulary bad bout with virus, one cannot assume it means that omicron was the cause.

 

I agree 100%.

[RoyalC]

24 minutes ago, DevonfromAcme said:

 

Stock is going up because of reports that booking numbers for the second half of 2022 are strong.  Those numbers are predicted to offset the current #$%^ show that is the first quarter of the year.

LOL- they have said that during the entire pandemic. Once it gets closer to sail time, people cancel or shift. One factor is they just announce they are selling another 700 million in debt- to pay off other debt!

[RFerrington]

31 minutes ago, RoyalC said:

If Royal was smart they would at least let people cancel (full refund, not a "credit") and sell those cabins at a higher rate if someone else wants to travel

Who's not getting a refund ?  Anyone can cancel, citing COVID protocols, and receive 100% cash refund, including any FCC's that have been applied to the booking.  This is true for any booking through 3-31-23 since those protocols have already been released.

[RoyalC]

3 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Who's not getting a refund ?  Anyone can cancel, citing COVID protocols, and receive 100% cash refund, including any FCC's that have been applied to the booking.  This is true for any booking through 3-31-23 since those protocols have already been released.

Is their a written policy update on that? Curious. I know if protocol changes, then you can use that. But if nothing changes from the time you book, until cruise time, it is FCC unless you fail medical.

[RFerrington]

10 minutes ago, RoyalC said:

Is their a written policy update on that? Curious. I know if protocol changes, then you can use that. But if nothing changes from the time you book, until cruise time, it is FCC unless you fail medical.

Nothing in writing except for notifications sent to TA's.  You can absolutely get a cash refund for your bookings, even if FCC's were used.  I just cashed out $25K (total cruise fare value, not necessarily all FCC's) worth in mid-December.  This was for 10 bookings that were cancelled with sail dates from 11-2021 through 3-31-2023.  You must cite COVID protocols in order to get the cash refund.

[dianajo67]

22 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Who's not getting a refund ?  Anyone can cancel, citing COVID protocols, and receive 100% cash refund, including any FCC's that have been applied to the booking.  This is true for any booking through 3-31-23 since those protocols have already been released.

I don’t believe this is completely true any longer.  Spent a long time yesterday trying to get a refund for my 80+ year old parents versus an FCC.  The CS rep tried very hard to get authorization for the refund and we went through the supervisory chain and resolutions.  No luck as it was after final payment (Harmony 16 Jan).  Seems Royal feels they are losing too much money.  They are giving refunds if you test positive before the cruise, but FCCs for confined days if you contract while onboard.  I’m sure Some folks got lucky or had a TA with connections who managed to get a refund….but it is by far the exception at the moment….and yes we cited protocols.

Edited January 4, 2022 by dianajo67

[Twolittleboys]

I am always surprised at the people who - no matter what happens - always claim passengers should be happy to be able to be on a ship, suck it up, and have a positive attitude.

 

I mean of course, a positive attitude is good and we all need to be realistic what we can expect, but still, booking a cruise is buying a product/service and I think it is reasonable to expect to get close to what is advertised.

 

Yes, with COVID everything is up in the air and we all know it. But to say that people going on a cruise in late December should have known that it would basically be a huge mess is overstating it. I went on a cruise in October and in early December and though there were some issues overall the experience was good.

 

My Royal cruise in October was very uncrowded and protocols were well adhered to but there were a number of things disallowed/cancelled that somewhat impacted the experience (only organized excursions in Italy, no Quest etc, no shared tables in MDR etc.). However, these were fairly well communicated. So I might feel that I wouldn't want to take another cruise in the same circumstances but I don't have a reason to complain (they provided what they had promised and it was a reasonable effort).

 

My Cunard cruise in early December was little different from a regular cruise - almost all entertainment/activities etc. ran as normal (as far as I can tell as it was my first Cunard cruise). Overall a good experience.

 

Based on this, I think it was reasonable to expect something similar for the next cruises. Obviously, Omikron hit (and maybe RCI or other lines increased capacity too much) and reality is quite different. Not necessarily blaming RCI for that (at least Omikron) BUT neither is it the passengers fault that expectations are not met and I do feel cruise lines need to definitely a) acknowledge what is going on and b) give some sort of compensation if services are seriously reduced (cancelled ports, no entertainment on large ships that mainly rely on their shows, no casino etc.).

 

I don't think Royal is necessarily to blame for what is happening but blaming guests instead by either saying "Your own fault" or "You should be glad you got to go at all" seems ridiculous.

[RoyalC]

14 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Nothing in writing except for notifications sent to TA's.  You can absolutely get a cash refund for your bookings, even if FCC's were used.  I just cashed out $25K (total cruise fare value, not necessarily all FCC's) worth in mid-December.  This was for 10 bookings that were cancelled with sail dates from 11-2021 through 3-31-2023.  You must cite COVID protocols in order to get the cash refund.

Thank you. I will definitely do that (better than getting my 14 day pre-cruise positive pcr test- always a gamble). Losing a single cabin at double points on top of that will sting a bit but do not want to go through potential covid again.