exm

11 hours ago, notscb said:

 

That's a nice perk if you're doing a lot of tender ports.

 

I'd say for $250 you get early access to the ship, a calm and delicious lunch on embarkation, your carry on luggage delivered to your room and some peace of mind on debarkation day when your luggage also gets priority off of the ship while you enjoy a nice final breakfast in the MDR, too.

 

But that's just me.

If you read my math above, The Key would cost me $900 after deducting the internet package. $900 is a bit different compared to $250.

I am seeing the same on the 8/14 Odyssey Rome cruise. Fingers crossed!

Key for my sailing is $33/day, so that's $165 a day for a family of 5. $1,155 for 7 days. Internet is $272 (S+S for 4 devices), so $900? I would like to get this for the tender priority but besides that - lot's of money.

39 minutes ago, JimVB said:

Testing before the cruise is a bother, but it may have helped keep ships from going from orange to red in the CDC reporting.  Whenever the testing ends, the media will be keen to report on any major outbreaks that might follow--publicity the cruise lines can ill afford.  The cruise lines know how many folks are denied boarding due to a positive test.  As long as that is a significant number, they may be reluctant to risk ending testing.

The problem is that it really doesn't help THAT much. Plenty of folks are infected, but the tests don't show it yet when boarding. Does it catch some? Sure. But if it hardly helps, is it worth it?

4 hours ago, bavrail18 said:

Just wondering if anybody has used any proctored testing besides emed for a Royal Cruise ?

 

Anybody have any luck with the free tests and a proctored service ?

I read about other proctors, but I have nothing but good experiences with the emed proctors, and I'm not going to mess around with something that works well. Family of 5 here.

Buy a drink package, sit at the bar and sell&order drinks at a 50% discount to people waiting to order. Do that until you break-even on a daily base and you can drink for free! What can go wrong?

35 minutes ago, powelweb said:

Do the balconies open on anthem? we have 3 families sailing side by side, and would love to have this additional access if possible.

Yes, they open!

4 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

As of right now royal only requires children 12 or older to be vaccinated.    If under 12 and unvaxxed that child must get a PCR test (not rapid test) - you can go to royal faq's page for testing requirements.

For Italy it's different:

• Vaccinated guests - including those not considered 'up to date' by EMA standards - must show a negative result for a PCR or antigen test taken no more than 2 days before boarding day.  Kids 11 and younger who have been vaccinated may present proof of full vaccination and follow the testing protocols for vaccinated guests.

• Unvaccinated kids age 2 to 11 must show a negative test result for a PCR or antigen test taken no more than 1 day before boarding day.

• Guests under 2 years of age do not need to complete a pre-cruise test.

On 6/29/2022 at 2:41 PM, Spif Barwunkel said:

Thank you all very much for your comments, suggestions and insights. I started this thread because Covid happened to me and members of my family. We are not unique, and we realize the importance of personal experiences with shared ideas, opinions, recommendations and even disagreements. I do not consider this thread to be the wherewithal for all things Covid. I do consider it relevant to what everyone has been and will continue to be challenged with for years to come. Please continue to share your viewpoints, remarks and experiences. Because you have not experienced Covid in any form or variation does not mean that your participation on this thread will not be relevant. As I said in a previous post, for now I want to keep up with where this virus is going and what it is doing. I think it is that important and crucial to what our lives might be like in three to five years. Hopefully, not deja vu all over again.

Was this your first time getting COVID?

1 hour ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

Can you elucidate for us investing n00bs who really only a few shares for the OBC?

 

What I take from this is that all three major cruise lines took on a ton of debt in the past year to... stay afloat (sorry for the pun!). I presume that is anathema to future profits? Even though the 2023 number appears to be much smaller and more manageable? 

The net debt-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest depreciation and amortization) ratio is a measurement of leverage, calculated as a company's interest-bearing liabilities minus cash or cash equivalents, divided by its EBITDA. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio is a debt ratio that shows how many years it would take for a company to pay back its debt if net debt and EBITDA are held constant.

The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio is popular with analysts because it takes into account a company's ability to decrease its debt. Ratios higher than 4 or 5 typically set off alarm bells because this indicates that a company is less likely to be able to handle its debt burden, and thus is less likely to be able to take on the additional debt required to grow the business.

Forecasts earlier this month from Truist’s Patrick Scholes show Carnival, which started the pandemic better-capitalized than peers, ending next year with a net debt to Ebitda ratio of around 4.6 times, versus 6.4 times for Norwegian and 5.5 times for Royal Caribbean.

Does this makes a bit of sense?

14 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

677 unvaccinated on a fully loaded Oasis Class ship seems like a lot.  

5,602 GUESTS (double occupancy)} 

6,771. GUESTS (total)

2,109 INTERNATIONAL CREW

What difference does it make to you as a vaccinated person if there are unvaccinated children on-board, many of whom have antibodies already most likely? Just curious.

3 hours ago, rudeney said:

 

I agree.  Drink prices on the ships are about what they are in restaurants and bars on land, so people just need to budget accordingly.  The big difference between being on land vs. on a ship is that if you want a cocktail in your home (or office or resort hotel room), you have the option of buying a ~$35 bottle that will make 10-12 drinks.  On RCCL, you can't BYOB except for two bottles of wine.  So those 10-12 cocktails will cost you over $100 plus tips.

 

I think where most people get aggravated with drink prices is when they see that the DBP costs more per-person than the cruise fare.  Sometimes the DBP costs more for one person that the entire cruise fare for all passengers in a discounted cabin.  But that's just he way it is.  If you don't like it, either don't drink or don't cruise.

The argument is that 'sharing' will make RC raise their pricing. My counter-argument is that they're raising their prices anyway, outpacing inflation.

7 minutes ago, Ashland said:

First generation Voyager class, Explorer, Adventure & Voyager are part of the hull so they can't open.

Second generation Navigator & Mariner open as they are outside the hull.

You learn something new every day. I was on Adventure last year, so that's what I based my opinion on. Good to know!

I would be surprised if they cancel testing before the fall season. My bet is on them observing the winter, and if Omicron develops as expected, that all remaining testing and mandates will be dropped in spring next year. For the record, I have a 7/14 cruise out of Rome and I would love for the pre-testing to stop beforehand.

Liberty is a Freedom Class ship and it is possible on those. It's not possible on Voyager Class and older ships.

40 minutes ago, Giantfan13 said:

I do apologize if this has been answered already.

Is there any info, rumors whatever of RCCL dropping the pre cruise testing before boarding? 

We are flying to Copenhagen at the end of August and from what I've heard it is very hard to get tested there, except at the airport. 

It would make life so much easier if RCCL dropped the pre cruise testing, again any info on this?

 

Cheers

Len

Why don't you get the eMed test kits?

2 hours ago, AtlThunderDan said:

I can't. You can't have 2 minors in the same room. There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 kids. 

 

Anyhow, you guys missed the point. I understand that you should have both of us on our own package. That's not the point. We aren't new to cruising. 

I wanted more thoughts on if this would work, and what the detractors are. 

We may do two, we may not. We've been on different lines, so no Diamond for us yet. 

I also always book 2 cabins, splitting up my 3 kids with my wife and I. I always get the drink package, my wife is not a heavy drinker at all so she doesn't. She usually drinks 1-2 glasses of wine a day and that's it. It has happened more than once that she literally took my glass away and started zipping on it. So am I supposed to yell at her? Anyway, common sense rules here.

11 hours ago, baelor said:

To add on to the others, sharing the package is unethical (because against the rules people voluntarily agree to when going on the cruise) and detrimental to others, because RCI will increase package prices to offset what it perceives as the likely loss attributable to sharing.

I'm not promoting sharing, but the package prices have absolutely skyrocketed this year: it's becoming borderline unaffordable.

Good information guys. Great article in WSJ today: this graph says a lot:

Interesting, must have been a recent change. Thanks.

3 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

 

Carnival, NCL, Princess, MSC, Celebrity and others allow unvaccinated children. Age restrictions and policies do differ, but Carnival and NCL are both 12 and under are eligible to sail without vaccines, but all cruise lines are limiting the number of them who can sail per the CDC guidelines. 

Carnival Cruise Line

Unvaccinated kids under five are permitted to sail without needing to apply for an exemption from Carnival.

Celebrity Cruises

For voyages based in the U.S., as well as cruises to Canada and Bermuda, passengers 12 and older must be vaccinated, while kids 11 and under are not required to have the vaccine to sail.

MSC Cruises

Through April 22, all kids 12 and older must be fully vaccinated to sail. Starting April 23, all kids 5 and older must be fully vaccinated. Unvaccinated kids under these ages are allowed to sail.

So Carnival and MSC it's 5 and up required to be vaccinated, Celebrity is a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group so that makes sense. My kids are 6, 8, 11 so that's that for Carnival and MSC.

Thanks all for the replies.

@Pittsflyer: so sorry to hear about your experience and this puts things in perspective. My daughter is turning 12 in February, and the cruise I'm talking about is in January. Hopefully by 2023 the mandates are gone, otherwise no more cruising for us.

Some other points:

- Other cruise lines won't work since I have 3 unvaccinated children. Royal is the only one (I believe) who allows unvaccinated children. Our entire family had Covid in January (no one got really sick), so I don't feel there's a need to vaccinate my kids. They already have antibodies, plus the current vaccine really doesn't help against Omicron (unless you have a serious health condition). Not starting a vaccine war here, just letting people know where we stand.

- My uncle indeed doesn't believe in Vatican II as @poocher described so well above. Needless to say, we don't talk a lot of religion when he comes around. I'm a non-practicing Catholic myself. 

- It seems that since RC allows non-vaccinated children, they are very strict with adults. I've heard that other cruise lines like Carnival are very flexible with providing the exemption. But they don't allow my unvaccinated children.

What a mess. Thanks CDC.

Thanks for the replies. I'm reading a lot about the Pope, but my uncle (and again, not me) is part of the Catholic religion that doesn't recognize the modern Catholic religion. He's going to Catholic churches where they preach in Latin (don't shoot the messenger!).

I know this topic can get derailed quickly. First of all, my wife and I are vaccinated. However, my uncle (brother of my late father-in-law) in his 70s is not. He did have Covid a year ago, but hasn't gotten the shot due to religious reasons (he's a strict catholic). He would love to come cruising with us.

I am aware of the RC website with the rules, but I can't see there's a lot of information there:

Religious Requests: For religious accommodation, please describe the nature of your sincerely held religious beliefs, religious practice or observance that conflicts with the vaccination requirement.

Question: has anyone successfully applied for this, and if so: can you share what kind of documentation you provided?

3 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Yeah, they used to have a "beer package" and a "cocktails package".  My husband would definitely make good use of a beer package, and it makes sense financially:  beer doesn't require the mixing that a cocktail does.  It's less labor.  

I remember the beer package (wasn't it beer and wine?). However, what I do like about the deluxe package is the addition of fresh OJ (breakfast), specialty coffee and bottled water.

Before the drink packages they had buckets of Corona/Heineken for a discounted price. Those were the days.