rabidstoat

And clearly, there are more important things to discuss. Why, did you hear that Carnival has started rationing bacon to every-other-day due to covid supply chain issues????

https://cruiseradio.net/carnival-cruise-line-suffers-buffet-bacon-shortage/

It's couples only but they specifically state: "All cabins and bookings require double occupancy, one male one female." So I guess no same-sex couples? Though if you have a couple in a cabin, you apparently can add a single to the cabine as well.

Also it sounds like only open decks and pool areas (and 'play areas') are clothing optional?

Also, for a clothing-optional cruise they do have some events that talk about clothing on theme nights. There's an island theme night that talks about "island attire", and formal night recommends gowns and tuxedos. And purple night talks about dressing in purple.

I still remember the first couple of cruises I was on, thinking that whoa, this guy Bill W is everywhere and has so many friends!

Another Bodden Tour happy customer. And I love the sloth and monkey sanctuary!

Do you have to send in your existing passport when getting it renewed, so that you are without a valid passport for the time it takes to get the renewal processed and returned?

On 7/6/2021 at 12:05 AM, Unlvswezel said:

Just wondering how things were at Atlantis. Busy? long lines? Was everything open?

This was like five years ago, in the Before Times.

I think they should have one over-the-water cabin raffled off. Do something like, one ticket for $5 and each cabin can buy up to four tickets or whatever. That way people can fantasize about maybe getting lucky and having a small chance at the experience even if they normally can't afford it.

So I guess the kids are wearing masks inside, then? I suppose the parents might too when with them out of a show of solidarity (or to keep them from protesting). Otherwise, is it pretty maskless? Are they limiting elevator capacity or are they still packed to the gills during busy times?

I forget, did this cruise come straight off a test cruise or had the ship been vacant (except for staff) prior to this voyage? If it was vacant that's probably why it was easy to immediately get to the rooms, plenty of time to clean. Or maybe in general they'll be able to open the rooms early due to fewer passengers.

I haven't swum with pigs at Coco Cay but I did it with a very long day trip from Nassau a few years back. Or, well, I went with others who swam with pigs. I'd hurt my knee pretty bad the day before on the Atlantis mini river rapids so I was a little cautious about putting it in the water (it was a mess, scraped raw) and then when I saw the pigs they were much BIGGER than I was expecting so I just stayed in the boat we took to get there. Someone brought me over a piglet to hold which was cute. I just found them a lot bigger than I expected and somewhat intimidating!

On 6/17/2021 at 10:36 PM, PescadoAmarillo said:

Cruise critic meet and greets, veterans and other affinity group get together, anything Captains Circle related…it’s a different world now. 

I wonder if Friends of Bill W. will meet.

1 hour ago, LGW59 said:

Not judging anyone at all who is cruising right now, be safe and enjoy.  JMHO though, when I vacation, no matter where or how, I want as much worry and stress free as possible.  I’d be wreck with all this.

 Same here. I'm glad cruises are starting and look forward to reading trip reports, but though I'm vaccinated I'd rather not be left wondering about changing rules and the like. I do want to get back to cruising but I'm doing a land vacation this summer and will wait until 2022 to cruise, when I'm sure things will have a more established and predictable process.

12 hours ago, caugh51654 said:

One reason why I am booking after school starts in most of the country - 3rd week in August.

Traveling solo, my favorite cruise was over Thanksgiving. There were approximately a billion kids onboard, and being a family sort of holiday the families were sticking together with the kids a lot. I spent all my onboard time in the adults-only part of the ship was extremely uncrowded, you could sit wherever and walk right up to the bar and get a drink straightaway, it was great!

On 6/16/2021 at 3:02 PM, CRUISEWITHH said:

In the morning and in the evening the service carts are left out in the hall and make it impossible for my husband to pass with his mobility scooter and I've also seen wheelchairs have the same problem.

Man, no one I cruise with uses a scooter but I have always wondered how the heck they're supposed to get around the carts in the hallways! Sometimes it seems flat out impossible. I guess you can always ask someone to move them, but if you're going about on your own you might have to wait for someone to come by eventually.

On 6/18/2021 at 7:07 PM, MSUjohn said:

anti science i hate that term.

Oh yeah? Well I've decided that I'm anti-gravity! I mean, c'mon, it's called Newton's theory of gravitation, it's just a theory, I don't have to believe in it if I don't wanna! I'm gonna go bouncing around into a low geospatial orbit, in fact, because I refuse to believe in this gravity hoax, so neener neener!

(Ah, this is sarcasm, obviously, but people are so crazy these days I guess I do need to point that out...)

2 minutes ago, picantel said:

I have watched some videos now of people who are fully vaccinated having to test before they get on the ship. I hope this is not true in August or I will cancel. I did my time. I wore a mask every single time I went out. I got vaccinated on the first day I was eligible. I am not going through testing to get on and stay on a ship especially when you can get on and then contact it from somebody else. Enough already.

I'm wondering if those tests are 'one strike and you're out.' If your test is positive will they just say "too bad, no sail" and keep your money? And then you go get two more tests and they are negative and it's concluded it's a false positive, is that just luck of the draw and something you need travel insurance to cover?

10 hours ago, Murph269 said:

These people who are “adamantly against vaccination” I’m assuming (hoping) can at least acknowledge that Covid is real, correct? If so, they’re aware that it’s highly contagious and an outbreak on a cruise ship, which would mostly infect unvaccinated passengers, is a horrible situation for the cruise industry. With that being said, why are these people so hellbent on cruising? I get it, cruising is a lot of fun. However, choosing not to be vaccinated, and then choosing to board a ship knowing that you could be contributing to a potential outbreak that could derail the trip for everyone, is incredibly selfish in my opinion. Cruising is a privilege, not a right. 

I'm envisioning people who already had covid last year so they believe that they don't need a vaccine since they already had it. Now, the CDC says those who had it should be vaccinated, but I can imagine people thinking it's not really necessary for them if they already had it.

Another argument I hear when someone unvaccinated gets sick is about how vaccinated people can get sick too, and sometimes vaccinated people get hospitalized and even die. They then argue that since a fully vaccinated cruise still holds the possibility of people testing positive it doesn't matter if people are vaccinated or not, covid could happen no matter what you do. Not a very logical argument in my mind as you're talking about vastly different probabilities but nevertheless, these are the types of arguments I see.

Oh, and a final argument I see is "if you're vaccinated, why do you care what I do?" Which doesn't help if it's possible that their being unvaccinated can change the rules for everyone on the ship, like making everyone have to wear masks, or ports being skipped because a few people come down with covid, or things like that.

So, not great arguments, but those are the ones I've seen. 

15 minutes ago, sargemrs said:

On another note;  Wondering what would happen now, that there are good meds to give if someone gets sick, it would be soon after they've gotten on board, couldn't the ship just quarantine them, and not the whole ship?  Food could be brought to the whole cabin and sad for them, but at least the whole ship isn't quarantined!  Would that work?

I don't think they're going to quarantine the whole ship unless a BUNCH of people test positive. The CDC's CSO had it at 1.5% of passengers, I think. So if you're on a reduced capacity cruise with 1000 people you're looking at 15 of them being sick, which seems like a lot, I haven't been hearing about ships in Europe with that many at once. I think they can be debarked at the next port to quarantine and then that should bring the number of sick down. I'd be really surprised if it happened, to be honest.

On 6/18/2021 at 7:05 PM, mrlevin said:

So, Trudeau extended the border closing again!  How is that Canadians can fly to USA to get on a cruise going to USA ports only whilst I am looking at having my Canadian vacation cancelled for the second year in a row!!!

 

This has gotten ridiculous!!!!!

I was just looking at this site: https://ca.usembassy.gov/travel-restrictions-fact-sheet/

From this one site it seems like driving across a border is disallowed, but flying is unaffected. I think.

So there are activities, venues, and performances that unvaccinated people won't be able to access. Has Royal said anything about how much of the ship would be restricted to those not showing proof of vaccination, and how often? I wonder how they decide, like, is it based on the percentage of people who show proof of vaccination?

The past year or so has lowered my faith in humanity, though I hope I am proved wrong on these cruises and that there are no messy situations resulting from having two sets of rules.

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

I tend to be a "worrywort" during even good times.  The "good times" are coming, I believe.  But, I am not quite there just yet.  I understand your view very well.  

I plan on being on at least one cruise, if not a few, before the end of 2022!

2 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Most cruisers want vaccinated cruises. All rules optional won't lead to safe cruises.

Well, kids can still be a sticking point. They can't be vaccinated yet. I've seen polls that say people prefer vaccinated cruises, but I've not seen polls about vaccinated cruises except for kids. Personally I'd be fine with that, and any parents cruising with a young child would be, but I'm not sure about overall.

10 minutes ago, jules815 said:

That's what we're thinking too, which is why we decided to go ahead with our October booking. 

 

I canceled October because I didn't like the uncertainty. I'd just worry about things and that's no way to vacation. For people who can go with the flow if things change, I'm sure it'll be fine. 

Especially if the beverage package is purchased. 🙂

30 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

but but but... You can't assume vaccinations. Vaccinations aren't required for planes, trains, automobiles.

Vaccinations aren't required for planes and trains and buses, but you know what is? Masks. 

3 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

The kind of CSO the judge is looking for could last far beyond Nov 1.

 

Of course masks work and are a gold standard for cruising in Europe which the judge referenced several times.

A number of vaccinated people don't want to cruise if they have to wear a mask.

Maybe this will allow cruises to say "unvaccinated wear masks and vaccinated don't have to" and let them mingle without having special spaces set aside, like the CSO requires. And not require test cruises.

Heck, the cruises could go 'honor system' on masks, I suppose, which would effectively be 'wear a mask if you feel like it otherwise don't.'

38 minutes ago, kilkoyne said:

 

A lot can change between now and my cruise. 🙂

Ah, yeah, that's true. Seems like things are changing weekly. Maybe daily!