LXA350

Everyone has a different feel for "warm enough" 😉 Nevertheless if you are looking for a 28C + Sea day experience then you will not find it then. Depends a bit on the actual weather, wind etc but Mid may you are likely to catch a sea day at 18-20C max rather than a nice warm summer day.

Given the discipline of the local crowds in Singapore the sailings have been a great success from day 1. If you have the hoice between lockdown at home and some relaxing days at sea, even if you need to dine in your cabin I would take this option without thinking twice.

Let's hope that these are the last changes as things seem a bit volatile at the moment. On the other hand if restrictions will be implemented now with strickt curfews possibly the situation in places like Mykonos will improve by September allowing passengers to get off the ship and discover the town independantly.

What's the passenger capacity limit currently for Apex cruses?

The voucher system for the drinks is finally a real upgraded perk. You can choose pretty much any cocktail on the menu, better wine etc, it's a win win. If they would have added  in addition 1 speciality coffee voucher to be used AM then this would be perfect. But for this you can still use the Diamond Lounge 😉

Refiling water bottles at publivly available water fountains is absolutely a big no go, no matter if beforem during or after COVID. Use a clean cup available in the food outlet and then fill the content of your cup into the bottle, everything else is a absolute disgrace.

2 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

No surprise with the Israel ports cancelled.   It’s just too risky right now.   

It's not a security issue, likely Israel will not let tourists into the country by then. Initially they were supposed to open for tourism on July 1st this was postponed already by one month and with rising cases further measures are already considered. Hence, there is too much uncertainty going on that X decided already now to cancel these ports of call.

What a mess, why did RCL even bother to get themselves into this. Would have been easier to just have all cruises open for vaccinated adults, like this everyone on board will receive the same instead of causing this two class sepeeration.

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

D get 4 and D+ get 5.

Thanks, hope this will stay. At the end a real upgrade as it offers a much greater selection including cocktails etc.

On 6/14/2021 at 4:38 AM, LindaO said:

I'm not on board... but here is the letter in the cabin.   Also, no special dining area for Pinnacles in the Dining room for breakfast, but from what I've read there is no need as there are at about 33% capacity.  

 

This with the 6 free drinks up to USD 13 each daily is a great new benefit. What about D and D+?

Hopefully by the end of the year they will let Australians travel again and let tourists in. Some say, Australia intends not to open it's borders until late next year, this is absolutely insane. They should rather focus on getting the vaccination program going, which so far is very slow. I don't think that making regional lock downs every time there is a new COVID case but not letting people travel in and out of the country when Vaccinated is the solution.

Looksl ike, if there will be a crusing season in the 2021/2022 it will be restricted to Australians only and itinararies might also be adjusted.

Somethimes you ask yourself if the RCL management knows what it is doing. First, they come up with a idea to cruise from Israel, without having a clear plan on how they will get their whole crew vaccinated, they get 50'000 people booking these cruises and then they cancel the whole season.

Next, they sell cruises for non vaccinated adults out of FL, which they now step by step revert again. Couldn't they just figure things out in the firt place that this is a stupid idea at this stage...

RCL should have made it comulsory as a group wide policy that until further notice adults can only cruise if they are vaccinated with a take it or leave it approach. No matter where the ships of RCL sail in the world there are certain rules and regulations onboard based on group policies that might be more strict than the port they are currently docked at.

The MDR experience generally is quite good, a lot does depend on your location /ambiance of your table and the staff that serves you. The food is generally always edible, however there are dishes which are just ok and many that are quite good and only some that can be considered as good to very good. Also, here it depends a lot on the Kitchen Staff  / avsilability of ingredients as the very same dishes can be very good on one cruise but on the next only ok. 

4 minutes ago, bucfan2 said:

The cruise lines are faced w/ a choice:  a) start cruising, or b) prepare for liquidation.

As a business, they most likely took mandatory vaccination into consideration.  They also decided what they felt was best for the line to continue to stay in business.  I doubt they read cc threads to help them determine their best chance to survive.

By deciding to start crusing with only Vaccinated adults for precautionary measres would have not hurt them, especially as this would be a temorary measure at this stage. If they will end up being in the news because there is a COVID outbreak on one of their ships as they decided to start without taking additional measures with fully vacinated adults, not so sure how this will do good to them.

7 hours ago, keyboardjunkie said:

There are two groups here.  One believes that vaccines are mandatory in order to resume safe cruising,  The second group believes that it is not.

 

Neither is 'right' and neither is 'wrong'.  This is what makes America great; that we can have differing opinions.

 

It is neither groups decision.  It is the decision of RCCL based on the legal and mandated situation at the time to select the course of action the company will take regarding requiring a vaccine mandate or not and how they will confirm the vaccine information the guest provides. 

 

Based on the companies decision, we, as guests, may chose to cruise or not.  That is based on personal choice.  This is what makes America great.

The most important at the end is that each individual does take precautionary measures, no matter if Vaccinated or not, such as continue with regular testing and even wearing masks in indoor spaces where social distancing cannot be obtained.

I think it's a big mistake that RCL decided to start it's US cruises (Except for Alaska) without restricting it to only vaccinated adults. At this stage the most important is to get the business going again and they will have enough customers that are vaccinated. The risk they are taking that something can go wrong with a outbreak in their first months of the restart would be fatal and could have consequences for their business for years to come.

America being great, putting preasure on a industry to take unnecesary risks by starting their operation without having Vaccinations mandatory for all adults, not sure how great this is.

1 hour ago, Cruise a holic said:

We disliked Eden.  Found the food poor.  The ambiance was silly.  Hopefully, it has improved.  Celebrity, you aren't disney.  

Not sure if it's a fair comparison, but I compared it to Wonderland on RCL. Food significantly better on RCL and ambiance, yeah I kind of agree with the above.

38 minutes ago, lovrccl said:

Nope not if you sail out of FL

It's really a joke, but with FL being  one of the major markets for RCL group they decided to drop this very important requirement (100% vaccinated for adults).

Has RCL mentioned if there are capscity restrictions on the newly announced sailings?

On 5/16/2021 at 1:45 PM, dani negreanu said:

 

The whole "raison d'etre" of those cruises was: "fully vaccinated crew with fully vaccinated cruisers" [aka, giving Israel a prize for being mostly vaccinated]. 

 

Royal advertised the cruises 3 weeks before it was possible to book.

 

During this time, Israelis keep asking about the crew being "fully vaccinated", and time and again the assurance came that "no worries, by the time the 1st passengers will embark, the whole crew will be fully vaccinated,.... etc.

 

People tend to believe "big international companies" which bestow upon us, the natives in the Middle East, the honor of booking one of their newest ships....

 

It looks like the whole matter was not properly thought through and RCL just used the recent Hamas attacks as a good excuse to cancel the cruise season before it started. I don't know if the goverment can be blamed or not, but both sides did not seem to contractually agree on how the vaccination of the crew will be achieved.

This maybe also explains why we didn't see a European cruiseline such as MSC to use the oportunity to base a cruiseship in Israel for this season as they didn't see it realistic in the first place to meet it's internal and also external regulations regarding vaccinations etc.

Anyway, Israel as a starting point for cruises especially during normal times which would involve as well tourists from other countries to bord the ships together with the local crowds would see great potential for seasonal cruises. For international tourists it can be sold in combination with a Israel land package prior or after the cruise simmilar as with Alaska cruises. For this you need a fully thought through plan which obviously this time was not the case.

36 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

But won't those guidelines be rolling? They are not set in stone are they? Or will Royal NEVER submit to a 95% vaccinated ship? Not even after vaccines are approved for what the under 6s, under 8s?

As cruises will successfully have sailed for months with efficient protocols and good track records we will see also the internal guidelines of the cruiselines adjusted involving more feedom for passengers.

On 5/25/2021 at 2:58 AM, SNJCruisers said:

And you know this is true, how?

I cannot imagine anyone wanting to book a inside cabin at this stage, imagine you have to be quarantined for some reason can't imagine a worse scenario than being stuck in a cabin without daylight / fresh air for days.

29 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Not unless they are prepared to turn ships in to George Orwells 1984 or a cross between person of interest and the movie silver. I doubt watching passengers that closely would be something people would approve of. And I don't see them giving passengers some way of showing visually that they have been vaccinated or not vaccinated?

You will then run into the "Discrimination" complaining, hence whatever rules will be decided it will be for the whole ship as then everyone who boards knows what he gets themselves into. Therefore I doubt that most of those relaxed policies of the CDC will actually be implemented for the time being.

Thex require to have this flexibility and given that masks are not very popular as we see in this forum the cruise lines doesn't want to be in a situation the passengers will start to complain and request refunds etc because mask are "ruining" their cruise vacation.

Honey Stung Chicken served on boarding day in Windjammer not part of the offering anymore.

The famous Garlic Tiger Schrimp one of the best MDR dishes.

15 hours ago, lakinapook said:

This is not the issue!!!! 

Did you read my first post? I have a cruise planned, for 2 years now, because it got pushed a year due to covid. People here seem to think they are more entitled to their vacation than I am to mine because my children on board will inconvenience them. No I don't feel that I have to wait because it works out better for you and the vaccination ***. Children aren't second class citizens, your desires do not take precedent, we all have to work to accomodate each other.

We are getting there slowly, but at this stage for the safety of others and while in the process of getting the vast majority vaccinated it involves also restrictions. There are still many other options that will be possible this summer than cruising, hence worst case you will need to delay your cruise one more time.