gatour

The original two ships were name Carnivale and Mardi Gras. Then came along Tropicale as a new build.  And then the Holiday class which included Celebration and Jubilee and non of these ships included Carnival in the name.  Over the years the cruise lines started to include the name of the cruise line in the name to avoid confusion, due to overlap in ship names.

As an example Carnival Magic vs Disney Magic.

Princess has for long time to include "Princess" in the name of the ship.  RCCL uses "of the Seas" to differentiate there ships from other lines

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

They would have been better off just selling it in segments so it would be a better fit for their customers. 274 days takes a lot of commitment.

World Cruise sounds good on paper, but  when you add in all the other costs involved on doing a cruise like this, So many unknown costs involved.

 

I know some people on here have mentioned they like this segment and this segment but not interested in this segment.

 

Does anyone think that Royal would really have a hard time selling out on any of the segments? Or do you think there would be enough interest in all of them to fill the ship?

 

And they did just that.  You have an option of booking the entire cruise or booking one or more segments.  This is very common for world cruises on on the other cruise lines.

It definitely takes research and planning to do a world cruise but it is doable, witness how other cruise lines offer world cruises on a regular basis.

7 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I just purchased this off Amazon and used it on Serenade.  It was great.  It simultaneously charge two phones, two iPads, an apple watch, a usb power charger and a Gopro battery charger all at once.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093GBM9KF?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

 

 

Well I can't attest the use of this device on a cruise ship, just be aware if you use it at home, you can trip a circuit breaker.

Several years ago my wife bought a similar device to charge her devices.  Every few days the circuit breaker would trip.  Took me a couple of weeks to figure out what was going on.  She would plug in her phone, tablet and one other thing into the usb ports.  Her laptop was plugged into normal outlet on the same circuit.  Then every few days she would use her hair dryer.  This would trip the circuit breaker.  Simple to reset, but I had to instruct her not to have all these devices plugged in at one time. 

Now back to the original question.  I put my phone in airplane mode and it will more than last the night.  Between the two US electrical outlets, and the Euro outlet (I bring an Euro to US adapter)  I can balance recharging my wife's devices, my devices, plus the battery pack.  I also know where to look for the European outlets in the public areas so carry along my adapter if I think it may be needed.

On 7/20/2021 at 4:03 AM, ReneeFLL said:

From Royals website. It needs to be in your carry-on.

“Guests may also bring non-alcoholic beverages as carry-on items on boarding day. Non-alcoholic beverages may not exceed 12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom. Milk and distilled water brought on for infant, medical, or dietary use are permitted.”

 

Unless something has changed in the last 2+ years, if you contact RCCL special needs department, you can get distilled water for free delivered, unlike other cruise lines.

I know the OP was posting about bringing bottled water onboard, but just wanted to make the clarification that there is no need to drag distilled water on board.

2 hours ago, Blizzard54 said:

Only ships sailing from Florida need test cruises.  There is a provision that says that if 95% of passengers and 100% of the crew are vaccinated they do not need to do a test cruise.  Florida has laws in place that do not allow the cruise lines to comply with that provision.   

For Florida the applicable laws/rules are in litigation in regards to which takes precedence.  

3 hours ago, dwp10mm said:

I order the 4 device package for my family.  The price is per one adult per day.  But you get 4 unique codes to use across each device.  The planner is always confusing for that one.  But buy the package for one person only.

I don't quite understand the :four unique codes".

For true internet access for various devices (smart phones, tablets, laptops)...

Historically i have bought a two device package under my name for me and my wife.  We would get one password.  Me and my wife just made sure that we each had only one of our devices connected at anyoone time.  I.E.  if if was using my cell phone, and wanted to use my laptop to connect, I made sure to disconnet my cell phone from the RCCL wifi and then connect using my laptop.

My wife did the same for her devices.

A few years ago we did a family trip with some of my in-laws.  One of the children needed to make a daily trip report to her classmates to have an excused absence.  I offered to her parents to buy a three device package with the understanding that they would pay me the difference between the two device package and the three device.  For them it was cheaper for them to do this than buy there own one device package for their daughter.

Once we got on-board, I gave the parents the one and only code I had received.  Everyone was happy.

As a side note the parents, paid me back by buying me a few glasses of wine during the cruise.  WIN/WIN for everyone infolved.

7 hours ago, HMR74 said:

 

 

 

This discussion/bickering  is becoming irrelevant. The CDC clearly wants to do a job on cruise lines. It could be, as pointed out herein to make them fly the flag of the US, albeit it cruises will skyrocket in price.

 

What difference will our discussions make?

 

Or, It could be that those wanting a "new green deal" are starting with cruise lines.

 

But the clock is running down regardless of what we, potential cruisers,  feel about any part of this and it's a shame.

 

So, following the dark humor in the above movie clip, we probably will not have to worry about the restrictions. Those will drive the cruise line industry into extinction. And then the playbook will be used elsewhere.

What's  the over under on number of months left for cruise industry before it runs out  of cash and places to get cash? ?  If the CDC prolongs this much further, who is going to lend them more money? Who will want to buy newly issued stock at a high price? What about the supply chain just wilting?

 

Sadly, There has to be a time date on all of this.

Why would CDC want to drive cruise lines out of business?  The reason why the cruise lines are being "picked on" by the CDC is they has legal authority over the cruise lines, unlike the airline, hotel, amusement parks etc.  They can only offer suggestions to them.  So they can't use the same tactics to do a "new green deal". 

I do think the CDC was remiss in waiting so long to get more direct information to the cruise lines about what procedures/policies they need to implement to start sailing again

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Probably similiar to what Disney used to do , 3 or 4 day land vacation, either before or after a 3 or 4 day cruise.

 

Not really an earth shaking idea. Disney has already been done it.

Actually Carnival did it 20+ years ago.  They bailed out after a few years

17 hours ago, Xkontour98 said:

Why is that? Is there any significant difference between it and Navigator or Mariner? 

I like the Freedom class over Voyager class ships because of the extra sizer of the Royal Promenade.  On Voyager class ship it seemed a bit claustrophobic. 

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

I'm sure that's 10 cases as a result of testing positive on board. 

Remember this is Singapore, a country in a region that really hasn't been that prone to getting covid. THen again only about 10% of its citizens have gotten at least 1 dose of the vaccine (compared to 25% of America)

25% of America has receive at least one dose of the vaccine?   I don't think so.  In certain groups yes, but not all America

At this point of time it is useless in speculating on what RCCL MAY require to board a ship in the US.

CDC has yet to provide more direct guidelines, even after stating that said guide lines would be issued in the last week or so (this was based on what they said three weeks ago).

Unlike what the CDC can mandate in the various states, they do have a Yay/Nay vote in regards if ships can sail from US ports.  Discussing if the various cruise lines decide to have more than stringent requirements than the CDC is a moot point at this time.

22 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

There is an international airport on the Island 

But how big of aircraft can the airport handle?

I live near St Augustine Fl, and there is an airport there   Periodically there has been scheduled flights between it and the Bahamas, so technically it could be considered an "international airport? 

However the planes are in the turbo prop size.

How big of planes can the Cozumel airport handle?

Not trying to be snarking, just don't know.

I find it hard to believe that they will be building a whole new dock.

They will have to retrofit an existing dock to handle checking in new passengers and loading there luggage, along with taking on supplies

I am guessing the airport is on the mainland, so to add to the complexity, they will need to figure out how to get the passengers/luggage from the the airport to the island and ultimately to the ship.

Somehow I don't think this will happen by May 1st.

On 2/16/2021 at 12:15 PM, Merion_Mom said:

I believe that you do, don't actually SIGN a contract until you are filling out the online check-in, which has been available 90 days before embarkation date.

However, I imagine that there something/somewhere that say by putting down a deposit for a cabin priced at the NRD rate, you may forfeit the deposit if you decide to cancel for any reason.

Also, whenever the CDC decides more in-depth policies to the cruiseline, the cruise lines can always point to the Gov't policies and hide behind them

I worked for a large international banking company about 13 years ago they implemented a work from home program, in which a majority of our division took advantage of.  Mind you, the team I was on was spread all over the US.  Most of the people I interacted with were not local to my location.  As long as I had internet connection and a phone, I could work from anywhere.   About 4 years  ago there was a change in senior leadership and the new senior was old school and wanted everyone back in the various hubs.  Back we went.  Based on a conversation I had with a now former co-worker, when covid hit and various municipalities ordered everyone to stay hope, there was capacity issues.  Most likely because they ripped out a lot of the infrastructure supporting remote working.

We used Webex for meeting.  It is cisco's version of Zoom.  The only time we used the video portion when a Powerpoint deck was being presented, but that was the only thing seen.  We just didn't feel the need to see each other faces.

I agree that work from home will still be around after covid.  Not every company will continue with it but many will.

Yes you can get a free lounger chair and now the umbrellas are free.  Floaters are available for rent.

Beverage package are honored at the various bars/beverage stations on the island.  There is also a swim bar in the pool.  Lunch is available, and there are several snack station that you can freely partake.  There is a for charge meal restaurant also available.

6 hours ago, orville99 said:

They're doing that every day that one of their ships is in port already. The current re-provisioning activities go largely unnoticed by anyone not directly involved in the process. It's not difficult to become "invisible" when you establish a week after week process hiding in plain sight.

You didn't include my comment about "hard to hide cruise passengers arriving at the port".  All of a sudden hundreds of cars showing up at the port during abnormal times when port employees don't normally show up.  Even more so if they utilize buses.

Remember all it takes is someone in condo overlooking the port to see additional activity.

Also keep in mind the ship has to dock somewhere outside of the US.

There are many people that could leak the information with little risk of repercussions.

Mind you "test cruises" is a broad term.  I don't doubt that there may be some "test cruises" which may be utilizing the skeleton crew to test check-in procedures, restaurant's serving procedures, etc.  But until actual passengers are involved they aren't true test cruises.

In the IT world using the crew as first testee's would be called Alpha testing

Adding the the passengers for short test cruise would be Beta testing.

The latter is what I would call true "test cruises".

Also keep in mind that if they want to ramp up staffing they will need to apply for the appropriate visa's for the crew.  I am not sure, but I am thinking that this would be a matter of public records.

19 hours ago, orville99 said:

Especially if they were boarding a cruise ship in dallas😁. Anything can be accomplished on a closed pier.

Kind of hard to hide 18 wheelers bringing in supplies.  In addition the passengers need to get to the ship.  A bunch of cars driving to the parking areas at the pier would be very noticeable

2 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

What State. Florida started vaccinating 65+ Monday (after first responders and healthcare workers). Jails going to be last unless over 65. 

And some counties in Florida are experiencing 4+ hour waits for vaccinations.  Not exactly the gold standard in scheduling/administrating vaccinations

You have to call.  I have done this one or two times in the last few years after they reinstituted the "everyone of age in the cabin needs to purchase the alcohol even if only one person actually wants it".  The rest will need to purchase the non-alcohol package.

4 hours ago, bigrednole said:

And FL is not vaccinating front line workers, they are vaccinating prisoners instead. That pretty much tells you where cruising will stand. July is a possibility as is June. I don't think anything before that will happen.

You are incorrect.

Based on prior comments by the RCCL, Miami, Port Everglades and I think Port Canaveral.  In regards to where the cruises go and how long they last is a bit more open.  Right now the indicators are no more than seven days.  I imagine the first few cruises will be 3-4 night cruises as they work through implementing/testing the policies.

I imagine the Oasis class ships will be the first to go.  Even at reduced passenger load they can spread the fixed operating cost (staff, like officers etc) over more people, plus they are cheaper to operate in regards to fuel burn.

On 12/12/2020 at 5:42 PM, crzndeb said:

Sometime between Mar/2022 and Apr/2022, Voyager has to get from Singapore to Copenhagen (I hope it sails with passengers ). Maybe sometime after her Europe run in 2022, she will make it over here to the West. 
I’m not sure about the old locks, but it’s a possibility, she could fit through the new locks at the PC.

The issue will be with Bridge of America's.  Based on some quick research she is too tall to fit under the bridge.  Ship: 206 ft tall Bridge:  201 ft clearance at high tide.

Not sure how of the clearance difference at low tide.

On 12/29/2020 at 7:37 AM, TheMastodon said:

 

Because healthy 36 year olds aren't dying from Covid19.  

You are wrong.5500 people between  35 and 44 have died as of Dec 19, 2020.  You might to ask the family of the 41 year old congress person to-be who died in the last few days their thoughts

On 12/27/2020 at 7:46 PM, loman said:

I have never had trouble with photographers in the dining room. 

I just tell them no thanks and they go away .

I have never found them to be aggressive .

Same for us in the dining room.

On embarkation day at the home port and the various ports of call a bit different, but they have got less aggressive over the years..

I have long passed my need to get pictures of me and my wife at various ports of call that we have already visited numerous times.

I understand why people like the photographs.

I don't necessarily remember strolling musicians, but remember live music.  We were jumping around cruise lines back then, so can't which cruise line(s) had live music.