LakerDave

Let's be honest, the policies requiring proof of vaccination and testing-to-board are sanity savers.  Once aboard, you can feel relaxed knowing that all your fellow cruisers are vaccinated and tested, just like you.  We had booked a cruise prior to COVID, and we enjoyed one of the last cruises to sail as COVID emerged.  Even the flight home was stressful (no masking then), and we vowed to avoid cruising until some sanity returned.  Since the return of sanity, we've cruised three times, and have two booked at the moment.  I'm not sure how we would feel if all the protocols went out the window, since COVID variants are still around and highly potent. 

We expect to get the second round of boosters at some point but might wait closer to our cruise in November.  Pandemics don't just end when we're tired of them.  We're approaching 1 million deaths in the US, and no one is noticing anymore.  The 1918 Spanish Flu's worst season was 1920.  Let's avoid a repeat just to cruise with "fewer restrictions".

I hope all RCI lines maintain this policy of getting people home rather than leaving them to their own devices.  WIth Omicron possibly raising the floor of infections on ships, this white-glove treatment will be even more important ... and harder for the cruiselines to manage.

The easiest tipping option available: add money to the gratuities in your account.  You may not get the same credit from the front-line staff, but they all get paid better and that's more important in my book.  I can't tip the laudry staff and tipping the person cleaning the public restrooms seems fair but a bit weird.