Anthem News Flash

[yogimax]

25 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

The plot thickens....

 

Dear Guest,

Here’s the latest concerning your sailing on Anthem of the Seas.

We are still waiting on the conclusive results from the CDC from their office in Atlanta, GA. We are planning to announce the status of boarding at 1:30 PM EST today. If we do not have confirmation of when we can expect results, our plan is to delay boarding until tomorrow. If we do end up needing to delay boarding until Sunday, we will provide you with updated boarding times, itinerary, and compensation at 1:30 PM EST.

If we have to delay further, and you no longer want to sail with us on Sunday, we completely understand, and you may cancel and receive a full refund.

We are hopeful that we will not need to delay your vacation further, but we also don’t want to have you start to make your way to the terminal only for us to find out that we won’t have the test results this afternoon.

We will continue to provide updates every hour. We greatly appreciate your patience and apologize for this situation.

Sincerely,

Royal Caribbean International

So here's the dilemma for RCCL.  What happens if someone on today/tomorrow's cruise comes down with coronavirus or just has to be tested.  This would be a corporate nightmare.  I have a feeling they honestly don't know what to do.  Meanwhile the number crunchers are calculating potential profit/loss scenarios.  Still, just make a decision and let us know.  These delays are frustrating to say the least.

[toad455]

1 minute ago, Another_Critic said:

 

Hmm ... a 6-day solo cruise to get me to D+.  Are they taking last minute bookings?  😄

 

 

probably as they'll likely be cancellations. see what happens at 1:30 then give RCCL a call.

[yogimax]

26 minutes ago, toad455 said:

 

 

probably as they'll likely be cancellations. see what happens at 1:30 then give RCCL a call.

Now they say next update at 1PM or sooner if they hear from CDC.

 

At this point, simply move it to tomorrow.  Beginning boarding at 5PM was nonsense to begin with.

Edited February 8, 2020 by yogimax

[Ocean Boy]

6 minutes ago, yogimax said:

Now they say next update at 1PM or sooner if they hear from CDC.

 

At this point, simply move it to tomorrow.  Beginning boarding at 5PM was nonsense to begin with.

Why do you say that? Sailing tonight gets them to their destination that much sooner. And I'd rather sleep on the ship than a hotel.

[yogimax]

5 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Why do you say that? Sailing tonight gets them to their destination that much sooner. And I'd rather sleep on the ship than a hotel.

Begin boarding at 5PM?  There would be numerous logistical problems including porters and staffing the terminal.  In addition, how do you make plans for dinner service with some cruisers not getting onboard until 9PM?  Forget about tonight and start anew tomorrow. 

 

Are you in a hotel?  If so, I feel your pain.  Plain and simple, this has ben a mess. 

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, yogimax said:

 

Are you in a hotel?  If so, I feel your pain.  Plain and simple, this has ben a mess. 

No, I'm not in a hotel. I am home. I, fortunately, finished a cruise two weeks ago and I am glad to be home. I was just curious as to why you felt it better to delay until tomorrow. I do see your point.

[OSUZorba]

54 minutes ago, yogimax said:

So here's the dilemma for RCCL.  What happens if someone on today/tomorrow's cruise comes down with coronavirus or just has to be tested.  This would be a corporate nightmare.  I have a feeling they honestly don't know what to do.  Meanwhile the number crunchers are calculating potential profit/loss scenarios.  Still, just make a decision and let us know.  These delays are frustrating to say the least.

I have a feeling the CDC is still calling the shots here.

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, cruiserchuck said:

But look at the bright side - your sudden illness might clear up by tomorrow, and you can board and go straight to the buffet if you want to.  

What about this scenario? What happens if someone goes to the doctor and gets a note saying that they shouldn't travel, but then the passenger's illness "magically" clears up and they decide to go? Is the passenger obligated to disclose that they visited a doctor who issued a note indicating that they shouldn't travel? Can Royal then deny boarding even if the passenger now claims that they are healthy? 

Edited February 8, 2020 by Tapi

[robmtx]

The official announcement went out that they are pushing it back until at least Monday. 

[ThursdaysChild]

The latest update is basically nothing back from the CDC, sail date is now Monday (!!) and there will be an update at 2 PM. What a mess!

[toad455]

[HuaAZ]

9 minutes ago, ThursdaysChild said:

The latest update is basically nothing back from the CDC, sail date is now Monday (!!) and there will be an update at 2 PM. What a mess!

Has anyone talked to RCL about the compensation for hotel cost.  The letter states $200 per stateroom, however is this a one time payment or is it per day that I end up waiting.

[TravelinGert]

On 2/8/2020 at 7:28 AM, Steelers0854 said:

 

I don’t think that’s the issue, my guess would be the issue is that if you have a Chinese passport there is no paper trail showing when you go in and out of the country.  Thus the cruise line has to take your ward that you have not traveled there recently, and lets be honest people are going to lie.  In contrast, a US (or any other) Passport holder that travels ina nd out of China will have a stamp in their book or some kind of VISA.  

I have a friend who married a Chinese woman. I asked her and she assures me if you have any sort of immigration status such as a student visa or a permanent residency card there is going to be a paper trail. Apparently there is documentation added to your immigration documents regarding any trip where you leave the US. Also certain immigration statuses do not allow a person to leave and return, so if someone has that status and are in the US they most certainly haven't left. I don't know if you get a stamp or what, but she says there is no way to hide it if you have been out of the country despite your foreign passport. She did mention you can easily hide travel to / from certain countries specifically, but you can't hide having left and returned.

 

However here's something interesting she also mentioned. If you are a legal permanent resident, refugee, or asylee you can get a drivers license in most if not all states. So you could possibly go to China on your Chinese passport, return, and present a valid drivers license at the cruise port instead of your passport. 

 

I've always had a passport because I wouldn't feel safe cruising without one. You never know if something might happen completely out of your control like these ships having to change disembarkation ports due to Corovirus. However don't you have to show a birth certificate in addition to your drivers license? If so wonder what they do with someone with a Chinese birth certificate and an American drivers license?

Edited February 10, 2020 by TravelinGert

[lbjen]

6 minutes ago, TravelinGert said:

I have a friend who married a Chinese woman. I asked her and she assures me if you have any sort of immigration status such as a student visa or a permanent residency card there is going to be a paper trail. Apparently there is documentation added to your immigration documents regarding any trip where you leave the US. Also certain immigration statuses do not allow a person to leave and return, so if someone has that status and are in the US they most certainly haven't left. I don't know if you get a stamp or what, but she says there is no way to hide it if you have been out of the country despite your foreign passport.

You are required to enter the country of your nationality with the passport of that country. So if a person is traveling between two countries that they are nationals of, say US and Italy, their Italian passport is how they get into and out of Italy, and their US passport is how they get into and out of the US. They don’t ask to see your other passport if you show up with a US one, because you’ve satisfied their only question which is are you allowed in here. 

[TravelinGert]

8 minutes ago, lbjen said:

You are required to enter the country of your nationality with the passport of that country. So if a person is traveling between two countries that they are nationals of, say US and Italy, their Italian passport is how they get into and out of Italy, and their US passport is how they get into and out of the US. They don’t ask to see your other passport if you show up with a US one, because you’ve satisfied their only question which is are you allowed in here. 

I didn't think you get a US passport as a permanent resident. I thought that came only if you became a US citizen? Certainly that's how it happened with my friend from China. She and I were speaking of the cases where the person is not yet a citizen but has legal immigrant status in the US.

 

However you bring up a new question. So if I am Chinese but gained US citizenship and maintained passports from both countries, I could easily fly to China, come home just in time for my cruise, and simply present the US passport which wasn't used to enter China thus not revealing I had been to China?

Edited February 10, 2020 by TravelinGert

[lbjen]

1 hour ago, TravelinGert said:

I didn't think you get a US passport as a permanent resident. I thought that came only if you became a US citizen? Certainly that's how it happened with my friend from China. She and I were speaking of the cases where the person is not yet a citizen but has legal immigrant status in the US.

 

However you bring up a new question. So if I am Chinese but gained US citizenship and maintained passports from both countries, I could easily fly to China, come home just in time for my cruise, and simply present the US passport which wasn't used to enter China thus not revealing I had been to China?

No they don’t give passports to green card holders, only citizens. 

 

Your question about someone boarding with a drivers license - they won’t let you board without all of the documentation to get back in, which is going to be your foreign passport if you don’t have a drivers license and a qualifying birth certificate or a US passport. 

 

But yes, if you’ve got two passports, you could fly out of China on your Chinese passport and enter the US with your US passport. Of course, they are checking people that are arriving from China now, regardless of their nationality. So you’d have to fly via a third country to avoid that. Which happens. 

[TravelinGert]

5 minutes ago, lbjen said:

No they don’t give passports to green card holders, only citizens. 

 

Your question about someone boarding with a drivers license - they won’t let you board without all of the documentation to get back in, which is going to be your foreign passport if you don’t have a drivers license and a qualifying birth certificate or a US passport. 

 

But yes, if you’ve got two passports, you could fly out of China on your Chinese passport and enter the US with your US passport. Of course, they are checking people that are arriving from China now, regardless of their nationality. So you’d have to fly via a third country to avoid that. Which happens. 

What exactly does a qualifying birth certificate mean? 

 

How do they know you arrived from China if there isn't a stamp on your passport? I know certain entities have access to passport records such as immigration control at airports, but is there anyone at cruise port check ins privy to that information? I was guessing not being privy was why they were banning anyone with a Chinese passport since they wouldn't be able to tell by any database they have access to. 

Edited February 10, 2020 by TravelinGert

[lbjen]

42 minutes ago, TravelinGert said:

What exactly does a qualifying birth certificate mean? 

 

How do they know you arrived from China if there isn't a stamp on your passport? I know certain entities have access to passport records such as immigration control at airports, but is there anyone at cruise port check ins privy to that information? I was guessing not being privy was why they were banning anyone with a Chinese passport since they wouldn't be able to tell by any database they have access to. 

Basically a US issued birth certificate. The kind that guarantees you US citizenship. 

 

They’re directing all flights from China to 11 US airports, and screening the passengers on arrival. I presume that means the entire flight is escorted somewhere rather than letting them out into the airport to roam around. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/02/us/coronavirus-airports.html Realistically hardly anyone is traveling out of China now, so I don’t think it’s really anything to worry about.