vandy

7 minutes ago, Tcneumann said:

Yes. We returned today. Masks indoors at all times still. Grease cancelled for the week. The guitar player in the pub gone, rumored to be covid positive. The reggae band would play at times at the pool but sporadically. We saw the piano guy once during the trip.  Day time activities were minimal - the compass didn’t even  include activities like normal. I never saw the carousel moving and very few could rock climb. MDR was at capacity but the special restaurants were 50% capacity. Last week was definitely not normal with a mask. 

Oh wow, I’m so sorry! 

20 minutes ago, Tcneumann said:

I felt like at sea days were boring- just using the ship for transportation to ports of call.  So many activities cancelled, shows cancelled, no music at the British pub, music at pool was almost nonexistent - some days just something above elevator music. No sail away music or party. The food is just okay and the variety is minimal. Staff are trying to do a good job but you can see a hesitance or stand-back sort of approach because they don’t want Covid and being moved to a quarantine ship. We have a cruise booked in April and I think we are going to cancel - the atmosphere onboard just isn’t vacation like IMO 

Are you talking about the Harmony sailing that ended today? 
 

we sailed over Christmas and everything was happening across the ship like normal times, but with masks.  There was live music everywhere, including at sailaway.  
 

the food was very good and it was a lot of fun… but probably last sailing like that for awhile.  
 

44 minutes ago, Rosy Season said:

I’m here. Sorry, I have a headache and am trying to lay down. 
 

I have not heard the official number. I already know I won’t believe it. I wasn’t even tested. People getting off today are testing positive after the cruise. The numbers aren’t accurate. 

Will you be able to test on land? 

8 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

You probably should still get tested if you can inless you think you will be staying home away from other people for the next 5 to 7 days.

We tested and were negative.  No symptoms, just did it to be sure. 

16 minutes ago, mrclawyer said:

My family and I were on the Harmony Christmas cruise. I read a post where someone claimed many were not wearing masks and passengers were coughing. Totally false! Mask wearing was strictly enforced and adhered to. The crew did an excellent job to keep the passengers safe and healthy. Covid is highly contagious, despite all reasonable precautions. No cruise line can guarantee a 100% Covid-free cruise… even with most being vaxed. Just use common sense. 

Respectfully, I did say that and that was my experience.  We had a great time but toward the end of the cruise, our waiters started going into quarantine, I noticed a lot of teenagers roaming the halls without masks, and there was coughing. Things like trivia where everyone was unmasked bc they were “drinking” etc were unnerving to me. I went once and never returned.  We had a healthy cruise and are fine - many in the Facebook group are sick.  Are you in that? You can join and see. 

3 minutes ago, Rosy Season said:

I personally was on a b2b cruise so if I caught it, it was definitely from the ship because I was fine last week.  My daughter, could've got it anywhere but the timing of symptoms suggests it was from the ship.

He’s talking about someone trying to go on a cruise 8 days post positive test & someone giving tips on how to “fake” a negative test.   You haven’t done anything wrong, just referring to start of this thread & the kind of people who are causing this mess on board. 
 

Royal can def do better but passengers not adhering to protocol have been the cause of cases onboard. Crew doesn’t leave ship. 

Just now, vandy said:

 

Unvaxxed def have worse outcomes.  No unvaccinated should be onboard for that reason alone. Vaxxed need to do more than just vaccinate with omicron, wear and mask and don’t get in each other’s face in bars and nightclubs.  

34 minutes ago, hometoosoon said:

Then why are vaccinated testing positive? I know dozens of people who have contracted it, who are vaccinated, and spread entire vaccinated family. This vaccination does nothing to stop the spread. It helps keep you from getting ICU sick. Let’s look at Australia…they have very high vaccine rates, yet last week their cases were up 119,111%. That is a comma. It’s going to spread, vaccinated or not.  

38 minutes ago, Rosy Season said:

A lot.  We're sitting here counting how many crew are being off loaded onto Vision of the Seas - already at 90.  They catch it from passengers.  On top of the 50 from earlier this week!

 

That's not the passengers either.

I agree- it’s the passengers who are spreading this.  RC has the right plan but can’t implement it when people are so careless.  There should be 0 unvaccinated onboard IMO. 

2 hours ago, George C said:

I was extremely disappointed that they didn’t have suite seating on allure for the lower end suites, not planning on cruising rccl again unless they restore the perks, rccl already comes in a distance third in suite perks compared to celebrity and MSc yacht club. Yes no escort off the ship also. Higher end suites had perks, there were hundreds of empty chairs reserved for them that went unused.

Sky class and up were escorted off Harmony on Sunday 12/26.  We didn’t miss the suite seating - plenty of space and good seats in theater. 

53 minutes ago, yancycruiser said:

One question Vandy.   How easy was it to access RCCL 24 hours before boarding to complete the questionnaire?

 

The health questionnaire? It was very easy! 

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

I don’t think the Concierges are doing escorted disembarkation are they ?

They escorted off the Harmony last week for Sky & above.  

1 hour ago, fredmdcruisers said:

My point: they didn't blame covid so where did you read that? Have you cruised 40 times with Royal? They are constantly hiring new singers and dancers and training them in FL. Take the behind the scenes tour on your next cruise. Watch, listen and learn.

They do not have “back up entertainers” waiting to take over during covid.  All crew joining a ship is required to quarantine upon boarding. 

It has been widely posted that the entertainment crew was affected by covid on your sailing. It could be tech or actual cast members. 
 

I do think some compensation is appropriate if a major part of a cruise is unavailable.  

17 hours ago, mrg0433 said:

2 hours ago, MechE31 said:

 

4ever https://powerscribe.com/blackburn/our_artists/groups_and_bands/4ever.html

 

Very talented but didn't connect with them. 

 

Scotty Cavanaugh https://www.juggleshow.com/

 

Our kids loved him, I was entertained but not blown away. 

 

We really enjoyed Fourever, and the larger audience seemed to as well as they received a SO.    The lead singer did an amazing set in the Pub (night 5 or 6) that we listened to from the promenade. They also popped up in other venues singing Christmas songs.
 

Grease was cute and the cast also did a Christmas singalong, the ice show was really enjoyable and the Aqua show was campy and fun.   We were glad to see live performances after so long without them.  
 

The guitarist in Central Park the first night and in the pub later was really really good.   There was music everywhere   

46 minutes ago, smmountaingal said:

Thank you for your review.  We are scheduled for January 23rd and I am monitoring closely.  We want to enjoy the entertainment and I have read that many other Royal ships canceled entertaininment.

 

Ships that cancelled entertainment had cases in the cast. Ours did not during this sailing, thankfully. 

3 minutes ago, G8R On Board said:

I was wondering about some of the other activities on the ship like deck activities (line dancing, ice carvings, pool competitions), demos/lectures (bartender making cocktails, cooking demos), trivia, music in venues like Dazzles, Boleros, piano bar, and then the general shows (ice show, aqua, shows marriage and game show, etc.)  Also, how are they handling the gym?  Are masks required like other indoor spaces, reservations required?  Thanks.  

I don’t know about the gym or pool competitions, but everything else was offered. There was a lot of live music around the ship.  We went to Grease, the ice show, Aqua show, and saw 2 headliners. They had love & marriage and trivia.  
 

The seating in the unvaxxed section of the theater was more comfortable  than the crowded vaxxed section.  Upstairs there was a row between everyone and nice spacing.  We sat upstairs twice  though we are vaccinated. There were plenty of open seats. 

Just now, irishgal432 said:

We just had to cancel for next week, daughter was exposed and didnt want to have her contagious and get covid on the ship.  Hard decision, I had not heard of any covid on Harmony so thank you for your report.  Was all of the entertainment run as scheduled.

 

Yes, all of the entertainment went as scheduled and was really good!

12 minutes ago, mrg0433 said:

W

13 minutes ago, mrg0433 said:

We decided to dine for lunch in the MDR instead of dinner to avoid crowds on our Fall cruise.  It worked out well so we will do it again on r winter cruise.  We will enjoy room service on r balcony and consider other options for dinner.  This dining plan leaves more room for dessert. 

That’s a great idea , but sadly things have changed since fall with the increased capacity.  We had lunch in the MDR and they packed everyone into one section.  The table next to us was literally a foot away.  It was really strange and unnerving. 
 

We had lunch at several specialty restaurants and it was much better spacing wise. 

Just off the Harmony yesterday and happy to try and answer any questions. 
 

We had a great time overall and the covid protocols didn’t adversely affect our time. The problem, if anything, were the passengers who do not follow ship protocol.  Crowded elevators with unmasked passengers led to us taking stairs at times, along with the usual handful of really obnoxious and unthoughtful people that you get on every cruise. 
 

There IS a problem with the seating in the MDR and in the downstairs of the Royal theater .  No spacing whatsoever. It’s pretty strange since there is spacing  in the other restaurants and performance venues. Bars are also crowded. 
 

Around mid-week, I noticed that many of the usual wait staff in the Coastal Kitchen were  not there.  No one mentioned it to us but by Day 6, several were in quarantine and waiters were brought in from specialty restaurants.  What bothered me is that no one ever told us (without me asking) that our waiter was now in quarantine.  The staff was very nice and I’m sure they are stressed, but senior staff should have informed us what was up. 
 

We didn’t miss any ports and had great weather.  It was a really nice break from reality - even when reality showed up.  I kept wondering how so many of the crew (on this ship and others) have been exposed since they don’t leave the ship and are all vaccinated with little interaction with passengers.  Something seems weird about that. 
 

Happy to answer questions. 
 

17 minutes ago, smeck said:

We’re sailing on Harmony 1/16  curious about the State of the ship.  Are shows happening? 

Just got off this morning - we had no cancellations of any shows or ports.  

Was told 4500 passengers by the concierge.  

1 hour ago, AtSeaWithChris said:

 

 

Since you are currently on Harmony, maybe you can answer my question.
 

In the app there are several dining rooms. 2 start at 6PM and one starts at 8:30 PM and My Time Dining room starts at 7:15. 
 

We have My Time Dining. What time can we expect to eat? Do we have to wait until 7:15?

Thanks

 

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Hi- I’m not sure Bc we aren’t doing my time but I think you can ask immediately upon boarding & hopefully get what you want. 

Currently on the Harmony and had good news announced for a change-  no more smoking in the casino, effective immediately.  🙌

At the time of the cruise in question (last week), they did not require masking in vaccinated areas.  As a result of that cruise, they now do.  

Any thoughts on ports possibly closing to ships soon (as in this coming week?)  😅