BeachyBrowns

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

Possibly because there is no flu virus around?

 

Lets see, covid is out of control because people won't take precautions but there is no flu because people are taking precautions. Which is it? 🤔

Covid is not "out of control" in the sense that infections are spreading uncontrolled like they were early in the pandemic, but you knew that already; you just wanted to grind your axe.  Covid is killing people while flu is not because Covid is more contagious and more severe, so it spreads despite the partial participation in mitigation efforts; flu is less contagious and less severe, so even the partial participation in mitigation efforts has nipped it in the bud.  You said one thing somewhat correct: flu is finding fewer hosts, so there is less of it around.  But that doesn't mean that there's some mysterious incongruence between Covid and flu.  IT TAKES MORE EFFORT TO MITIGATE COVID. 

1 hour ago, ilovetotravel1977 said:

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but the health protocols will continue for some time, even with a vaccine. We will be wearing masks and social distancing for some time yet.

I think what you mean is, the medical authorities will recommend social distancing and mask-wearing until it is determined 1) that enough of the population is vaccinated to generate herd immunity and 2) that the vaccine provides lasting, not temporary, protection against the virus.  

For cruising, mandating that passengers be vaccinated removes Item 1 from the equation.  Will we know enough regarding Item 2 by the summer to be confident?  We'll see.

Getting down to brass tacks, case numbers, positivity rates, and deaths will still be the main factors in people's behavior.  If, let's say, 45% of the population (not enough for herd immunity) has been immunized by June 1 but, because of that and other factors, cases, positive tests, and hospitalizations/deaths have plummeted (that last one because the most vulnerable have been immunized), state/local governments and people in general will have ZERO appetite for continuing to act as they are now.  People will go back to offices to work, ride public transit, attend sporting events and concerts, and go to bars and restaurants, whatever the medical authorities recommend for maximum caution.  Will cruise lines insist that people live a more restricted version of their lives on vacation than they do in "real" life?  I highly doubt it.

FTR, I am very serious about Covid protocols in my own life.  I don't want to cruise or risk spreading the virus to my family or to others anywhere.  I'm just prognosticating about the behavior of Americans in the above scenario, not saying what I will do or what I want others to do.  I want people to continue to take this thing seriously (or start to take it seriously, in some cases).

18 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Absolutely ridiculous, In America we can do what we want in the privacy of our homes.

No, you can't.  You can't fire a gun in your home; you can't own certain kinds of explosives, even if you don't set them off; you can't own certain kinds of animals; you can't cook meth; you can't download certain banned materials from the Internet; and on and on.  The law doesn't stop at your door. 

Now, if you want to tell me there would be First Amendment issues with criminalizing gatherings at private homes, you'd have a point, but even that wouldn't be a slam-dunk case against a statute criminalizing gatherings of certain sizes without precautions if the pandemic were serious enough.  If the consequences of Covid were like those of Ebola, and the virus were spreading all over the country, the government's interest in preventing the spread of that virus might be overwhelming enough to allow such a statute to stand up to scrutiny.

1 hour ago, yogimax said:

It's not just the vaccine.  It's the willingness to actually be vaccinated.  Of course, the implication is that RCCL will require proof of vaccination.

Let's hope they do.  They don't need the whole public vaccinated; they just need enough of the public to generate a sufficient level of demand for their services.  And, as for the public, it's easy to say you don't want the vaccine, but what are you going to say in June when you see photo/video of a bunch of healthy, vaccinated people setting sail?  A few tunes might change.

If the rest of cruising is back to normal but we are required to wear masks on our scheduled August cruise, it will be a tough call for me.  Part of the fun of cruising is seeing the faces of my fellow cruisers.  It's a social form of vacationing.  I also don't prefer wearing masks in the heat of summer and for long periods of time.  Genuinely tough call.  I REALLY don't want to have to wear a mask when I go to the fitness facility on board, either.  We will probably rebook if masks are required.  Let's make vaccination required instead.  I'm just about last in line for a vaccine, so if I am able to get one, my fellow cruisers should have been able to get one as well.

26 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

...  I think the poll is showing that the fears that there will be widespread resistance to getting the vaccine are unfounded. ...

As I think others (maybe you) have said ITT, this is a self-selecting group of people.  We want to cruise, and most of us understand how crucial vaccine uptake will be to making that happen safely.  Go to the Crown & Anchor FB page and you will see some of the craziest stuff you can imagine (the vaccine is actually a chip implanted by the gub'ment to control your mind, e.g.).

I'm getting the vaccine as soon as it is available to me, without regard to whether it's required for cruising, but I hope to God it is required of all passengers and crew (I'm sure it will be for crew).  A cruise ship is just about the ideal place for a virus to spread.  There's this tool called a vaccine that protects against the spread of a particularly contagious and deadly virus.  Should we use that tool?  Yes, we should.

I am booked on a cruise in early August.  If my fellow passengers and I are vaccinated, we'll have a great time without stress.  If my fellow passengers aren't vaccinated, I'll be canceling and rebooking, because the experience of stressing about social distancing and mask wearing is not what I'm looking for in a vacation.  

We are used to the view of the world from sea level, but let's take the 30,000 foot view for a moment.  THE REASON WE LIVE IN THE MODERN WORLD WE DO, WHERE WE CAN GO ON CRUISE SHIPS WELL INTO OUR OLD AGE WITHOUT FEAR OF DYING OF DISEASE, IS BECAUSE OF VACCINES.  THEY ARE ONE OF THE CORNERSTONES OF THE MODERN WORLD.  Influenza, smallpox, polio, HPV, and so many other diseases used to kill people by the millions every year.  This is no longer the case, and it is entirely because of vaccines.  You like cruising?  Give thanks for vaccines.  You don't like vaccines?  Give thanks for them anyway, because you benefit from them.

Covid-19 and its descendants will be on the list of diseases to be vaccinated for in the decades to come.  Get used to it.

2 minutes ago, ncwxnut78 said:

I can not find one cruise out of Florida that I can use KSF promotion on during the summer.  It is also nearly impossible for me to find which cruises qualify on their website.  Hoping for some insight as well.  

That's particularly funny, because the website says, "You're eligible for Kids Sail Free savings on this cruise" when I click on whichever one!

Now that vaccines are apparently in the works, it seems reasonable to expect that a cruise will be a worthwhile vacation option by August 2021.  We have 2 kids, ages 8 and 2, but no matter what cruise I try to book through the RCI website for next August, the "kids sail free" promo does not seem to be applied.  I read the fine print (kids sail free as 3rd/4th guests in one stateroom with two adults), and I've tried to price out a suite and standard, but the cost breakdown gives the BOGO60 discount but not a "kids sail free" discount.  FWIW, the promo terms and conditions page says the BOGO60 and KSF are stackable.  Any ideas?  Anyone else running into this?

We just booked a "last minute cruise" for May on Allure. This will be our first visit to Labadee so trying to find a good beach option for a party of four. Cabanas and Bungalows are sold out. Does anyone have another favorite on the island that is similar in experience and service? What are the chances a bungalow will open up between now and the cruise? Thanks.

We're also hoping a bungalow will open up for our March 18 sailing on Oasis. Interested to know if this is a vain hope.

If you go to Trip Advisor, you can find some good reviews. From what I read, there is food.

 

We are going in less than 2 weeks on Allure, so I will post a review here after we get back.

Karena1, what did you think of Burwood Beach?

With these rakes I wonder why RC didn't fly in a mechanic by helicopter to get it fixed.

I know, right?!?!?

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What’s your 2K time?

 

We are on Anthem now, only one poorly maintained Concept 2. There were two of them when we were on the inaugural TA from Southampton a little over two years ago. :(

That's not encouraging ...

I pulled a 6:25.9 at the Tennessee Indoor Championships last weekend. That's 1 second off my PR, and I had a very bad morning stomach-wise, so I'm going to try to beat my PR tomorrow.

Bump.

Just booked a cruise on Oasis OTS sailing March 18. On Allure last year, there were 2 tables but only one that worked. (That meant the house would kill the cash game to run a tournament on the one working table, to my dismay.) Here’s hoping they have no such issues on Oasis!

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Maybe they could wire you up to the ship generator to save fuel. :D

 

 

 

Sort of like that old ESPN lance Armstrong commercial.

Ha! Or the captain could just give me an oar! I did like that Sportscenter commercial.

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I was on the 1/28 sailing and it worked fine. But I just use the standard row setting, not sure if the specialized settings worked. Straps were ok. There is only one rowing machine, but I seldom had to wait to use it.

Thanks. If it works, I may try to row the fastest 2000m ever rowed on a cruise ship (or at least the fastest that anyone can prove, until someone rows a faster one!). :evilsmile::evilsmile::evilsmile::evilsmile:

My wife and I are avid (indoor) rowers. Last year on Allure, we were excited to know there was a Concept 2 rowing maching (erg) on board, only to be disappointed when we found out it had not been properly serviced and was essentially unusable. Has anyone here used the erg on Oasis recently? Can you testify to its being in good working order?

I have mine from this past week any specific questions ?

I am concerned about there not being a character breakfast for DD to do, but that's not a question that your Compass could answer. I was more interested in having it for general planning purposes. Thanks, though.

Try googling Royal Caribbean Blog, there is a section for cruise compasses

I found one from June with a St Maarten/San Juan/Labadee itinerary, but I didn't find one for this itinerary. I'll look harder.

The rake is ridiculous but I look at it as the price of admission to play in such an easy game. The players come in on a whim, sometimes drunk, and usually underfunded. I was there every night with one other "regular" on a 4 day cruise and we ate them alive.

Yep.

I hope there aren't too many "regs" on our January Allure of the Seas sailing ... The only thing better than having a great cruise vacation is defraying the cost while on that same vacation!

We are going on Allure in January, and the ports are Nassau, St Thomas, and St Maarten. Anyone got a recent Cruise Compass for this itinerary?

Mega-bumping this thread.

Looks like people had trouble pre-booking the character breakfast 4 years ago, but has anyone had trouble recently? We aren't finding it on the website. The RCCL representative said there was some kind of glitch on the website, but that seems unlikely, given how many people were likely to have run across this issue.

The amount of power generated by solar panels on a cruise ship would not even be a rounding error in the amount of power/fuel consumed on the ship. Any decision to put panels on a ship would be for PR purposes, not any real environmental benefit.

52 kW on Solstice-class ships is not a rounding error; it's enough to power the elevators, if you believe Celebrity's website.

When you consider weight, mounting locations, wind resistance, etc. they might even be in total energy negative for a moving ship.

The weight of solar panels, compared to the total weight of a massive cruise ship, IS a rounding error. The aerodynamic disadvantage of flat solar panels on the roof of a ship with so much frontal surface area is a minuscule rounding error.

"they might even be in total energy negative": but most likely not.

I have no financial interest in solar technology or the oil industry. I am an engineer. I can tell you that utilizing solar power is not as simple as sticking up a few panels somewhere on the ship.

"Simple" is not required; a multi-billion dollar industry has the wherewithal to find solutions to complex problems, and there are certainly more complex ones out there, too.

First, the ship is moving, which can affect the stability of the power coming from the panels.

How? What does that mean, exactly?

Second, the ship is moving in the ocean. As we all know, the ocean spray coats a lot of things on a ship. It would cover the solar panels too, causing an increase in maintenance for the crew. If the panels are located in a fairly inaccessible place, this could cause safety problems for the cleaning crew. As such, the placement of such panels must be carefully thought out.

The placement of specific solar panels would have to be carefully thought out, even without the need for cleaning. It could be carefully thought out.

Generally, though, the solar panels would be mostly on the upward-facing surfaces of the top level of the ship. To the extent that sea spray coats such surfaces anyway, and they have to be cleaned anyway, the difference would be one of degree, not of kind. It's not as though no one has thought of how to get up there.

The power produced by the panels is different from that generated by the ship's generators. That means equipment that can transform the power from the cells into usable power for the ship.

OK. So the ship gets that equipment. Again, not an insurmountable barrier.

Finally, Although solar panels have increased in efficiency greatly, it is still uncertain as to how much power any panels install on the ship would actually generate meaning that the panels, if installed, would mostly be for show.

"It is still uncertain" does not equal "mostly for show." If they could supply even 1 or 2% of the ship's electrical power that was being supplied by burning bunker fuel before, that's not nothing. And, as you say, solar technology is improving all the time. It's no good to just say, "oh, we'll wait until some future time when things are better." That's always going to be an available excuse, but it's never going to be a good one.

It might be of interest to note that RCL, NCL and Carnival have had numerous violations regarding environmental issues.

Noted. I know that cruising is not exactly "green"; it just seems to me like solar energy on cruise ships is low-hanging fruit, if the industry would only summon the courage to reach for it.

It may not have been the answer you were looking for but at least they answered you honestly. I don't see that as being unacceptable.

The honesty was entirely acceptable; the unwillingness to install solar arrays isn't.