WillandTam

I may have missed it in the replies, but are the government issued IHealth tests accepted by NCL? We are sailing on the Sky on a 9 day cruise May 16 but will be in Miami on the 14th so we will have to test from the hotel. 

We will be on the Sky for the March 16th sailing, nine days to the eastern Caribbean and are so looking forward to it!

The DW and I are booked on the Sky for the May 16th 9 day sailing and this review just makes us more excited to go! We were on the Gem in August 2021 and the menu's seemed elevated there too. The main dining room food seemed better than I remember from our January 2020 sailing on the Breakaway. 

Yes, we are on the Sky for 9 days in May and our T/A obtained a flight deviation for an extra 2 days. It didn't change the price. 

4 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Just rebooked.  Got the same cabins we had booked before . This is a celebration of out 30th anniversary and we've bring our son and his wife along.  I understand that some don't mind masking.  We very much mind.  We're double vaccinated and boosted.  We live in alabama and masks are not required although about 25% (in this area) do wear them.  

We're with you RocketMan275. We live in North Carolina and there is no masking policy here either and probably 25% wear them. In fact since 2 weeks after our second shot in March 21 neither of us has worn one at all.  Time to rebook.

We also canceled our January 9th cruise because of the masks required policy, and now common sense seems to have prevailed to give everyone a choice. Time to look at using that FCC! 

1 minute ago, GStuart said:

I believe this screen shot of the mask protocol used to have an expiration attached to it. As of right now it appears indefinite.

Then our cruising will be suspended indefinitely.

For some reason I seem to remember reading the enhanced protocols ie mask requirement was expiring today 1/31/22. This may have been answered many times on here but I was unable to find it. We were on the Gem in August mask free and it was almost normal. Plus it was a huge selling point with NCL and since the institution of this policy many have canceled as we did on our Epic cruise we were supposed to take on January 9th almost entirely due to this protocol. We have an FCC to use but won't book again until we can see everyone's face again. Does anyone know the expiry date of the restrictions?

This is why we always use a professional TA. We cancelled 9 days out on our January 9th Epic sailing and received a 100% FCC. 

I for one would love to see the masking policy go back to what it was. We went on the Gem in August and it was as much like a pre Covid cruise as it could be. 

We just canceled our January 9th Epic cruise because of the situation with the ports and the rapidly changing situation with Omicron. DW has an underlying medical condition and we just felt more comfortable delaying our cruise until things level out a bit. We had our TA call last Thursday and we received a full FCC. I do wonder about the money paid for shore excursions, it wasn't included in the FCC so will it be refunded?

The 20 ounce Porterhouse in Cagney's on the Gem is absolutely awesome. 

ACruising Person, Thanks for the insight. and maybe it will relieve some of my DW's anxiety over the mask mandate. She has breathing issues anyway and the mask exacerbates it, hence the anxiety. Just wondering who the unvaccinated will be on a fully vaccinated cruise other than a small amount of children under 12. When we sail on the 21st most schools will be back in session s there shouldn't be many and there should be zero adults onboard unvaccinated. So who are we masking up because of or for?

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The fact that masks are required when in transit (and therefore much less likely to come in contact with someone long enough to be exposed), yet not required in an area where you'll be for extended periods of time sure seems backwards to me.

It's like so much of the culture today, virtue signaling that my rules are more virtuous than yours, utter nonsense. Follow the science as it was said so many times. Or on the other hand, it is CDC pandering...

3 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Did you receive an email with the protocols for your sailing?    Does that email say they will offer a refund if you do not wish to sail under these protocols?     

They have been doing this with sailings out of the US ports.    I would think it would apply to the Adventure sailings out of Nassau too.

We did not receive any communication from Royal. Maybe our TA did in lieu of us. I'll ask.

It was said on the August 7 AOS thread that they were asking people to wear their mask in the Schooner if they weren't actively drinking and according to the Royal website on our booking that is one of the vaccinated only areas. I may just cancel and hop on the NCL Gem out of Miami on the 22nd. It is completely vaccinated and unmasked. No one is allowed onboard unvaccinated including children 12 and under. The only problem there is if the 11 circuit overturns the District court judge's injunction on the Florida law. Then that whole cruise may get canceled. 

2 minutes ago, kearney said:

Keep trying, my email said that they would give full refund… they told me they will… alas they don’t confirm in writing. Check out thread on almost live Aug 7 AOS.. there is some discussion there..

Thanks Kearney, will do.

23 minutes ago, Retired LEO said:

If you do not agree to the new protocols they will give you a complete refund. You might have to make a few calls to make it happen. 

The only protocol that we really dislike and don't understand the reasoning for is the mask mandate. My TA called for me yesterday,  and since we go through  our TA she will have to be the one to call again I think.

We are on the 8/22 sailing and booked this particular cruise BECAUSE it was mask free and fully vaccinated. Even tried to cancel yesterday because Royal changed the protocols at the last minute. No luck, the won't refund the price of the cabins, just a FCC, but will refund the airfare. We are wondering if they are actually strictly enforcing masks indoors unless actively eating or drinking? That was the whole appeal of leaving from Nassau now Royal goes and does this. Disappointed to say the least. 

I agree with the judge. NCL is a private business and can make any requirements that don’t violate the bill of rights. We are booked on the RCCL AOS on the 21st and are considering canceling because of the masking requirements being imposed. NCL has publicly advertised no mask cruising on these trips.

I agree with the OP. I would cancel and move on to a line that doesn't require masks. That's why we chose the AOS out of Nassau. No masks on the ship. We are fully vaccinated plus had Covid last October, so no living in fear or under the thumb of the mask police. The easiest and most logical way is to require everyone onboard to be vaccinated, but if leaving from Florida that's not possible because of statute. I know this may not be popular, but people have the right to choose, take the vaccine and cruise or choose not to vaccinate and don't cruise and find another kind of vacation. However RCCL has chosen to take the most risky route and allow mixed cruising. This may provide the opportunity for an outbreak among unvaccinated onboard and the rest of PAX will suffer for it. Just my opinion. 

We are on the Adventure in August 

On 5/22/2021 at 10:04 PM, Ocean Cat said:

I looked into The Gem cruise and American Airlines doesn’t even fly to La Romana. 

You fly into Punta Cana (PUJ) and then transfer to the port. 

I see many love the smaller Jewel class and I'm with them. 

Jewel

Getaway

Dawn

OP, 

This is why we always use our hometown T/A. She takes care of any headaches with the same pricing as booking myself.