Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How are things where YOU are?

[pmck]

16 hours ago, Chadr135 said:

We have had our late-August 2020 cruise booked for quite some time and have been hoping that things would get better. But, I don't see any kind of big changes, specifically in regards to widespread testing, happening anytime soon. I'll leave politics out of this as the admin. asked and leave it there.  I just don't see us able to go on a cruise a few months from now in a way that is "safe" and fun.

 

This is my DREAM cruise, a great itinerary and an aft-facing corner balcony (bucket list), so I'm pretty bummed.  😔

I feel your pain.  We were supposed to cruse out of Puerto Rico 5/10/20 and I am beyond disappointed, but not surprised.

I don't see us going again until MAYBE next year, but God only knows how this is going to turn out.  When this all started, we thought that in a few months, we'd have a handle on it.  No one knew just how vicious this virus was at that point. Now we are wondering if we'll even get to go to the beach this summer!!

[korpo024]

I am so sad, tomorrow we would've been going onboard the Navigator of the Seas. Our whole vacation to the US is cancelled ofcourse. We would've been going to friends in Texas, and after that to Miami, where we would have stayed a few days before going to the Bahama's. This was our first RCL cruise. Normally we sail with MSC, because we're from Europe, and we most sail in Europe. 

These are unfortunate times. But this is all a luxury problem. There are people dying everywhere. We are still healthy and we have solid jobs...I hope I will be back at this RCL forum someday, when I book another cruise with RCL. But for now I'll be visiting the MSC boards, because the next two cruises are with MSC in Europe.

[OnTheJourney]

Korpo.....my apologies but I had to look up where you're from! Did not recognize that name. Sorry that you lost your much-looked-forward-to visit here. It sounds like you had a great plan there. As you say, though, this is all luxury related and has to be placed in perspective. Best wishes to you. Stay safe and healthy. 

[NO_Member_Name]

We're in Northern Palm Beach County and everything is fine here. I still don't know anyone who's gotten sick, and only one person who had an elderly relative pass away. Of course tons of places are closed and restaurants are takeout only. And the beaches and public parks are too. But, it seems increasingly overbearing and mindless. My sense is they're about two weeks past when they should have started opening things back up, at least around here.

 

I've been working from home since this all started. That's working out fine and I'm doing better than I would have expected. Management has seen an up-tick in productivity, so they're warming to the idea.

 

Personally I believe they should open most or all retail stores now. 90% of the ones I regularly went into never closed. And, the ones I went into occasionally rarely had many people in them. We've sharply cut back our trips to stores and probably will for a while. We just buy for a couple of weeks, instead of a day or two.

 

Beaches and parks are another sore point. The beaches are empty, but the sidewalks along the road next to the beach are crowded. There are more people on the neighborhood sidewalks and roads too. Luckily there's a private park near me that never closed, and I always have gone at times when few if any people are around.

 

Hopefully they'll just open up the bulk of things they should in the next week. Then they can spend their time figuring out what to do about the remaining 5%. 

[Cruise a holic]

Unfortunately the wave is still moving.  Those people who do not respect the quarantine rules will either spread or get the virus.  It is just a matter of time.  So many people sail out of Florida and vacation in florida, the virus will rear its ugly head.  It will also come back again.  Just be careful.

 

 

[pmck]

On ‎4‎/‎26‎/‎2020 at 5:15 AM, korpo024 said:

I am so sad, tomorrow we would've been going onboard the Navigator of the Seas. Our whole vacation to the US is cancelled ofcourse. We would've been going to friends in Texas, and after that to Miami, where we would have stayed a few days before going to the Bahama's. This was our first RCL cruise. Normally we sail with MSC, because we're from Europe, and we most sail in Europe. 

These are unfortunate times. But this is all a luxury problem. There are people dying everywhere. We are still healthy and we have solid jobs...I hope I will be back at this RCL forum someday, when I book another cruise with RCL. But for now I'll be visiting the MSC boards, because the next two cruises are with MSC in Europe.

awe, I hope that you will come back and sail RC, it is a wonderful cruise line. We have also sailed on Princess (5X) and loved it as well, I think Royal may be our cruise line, when we feel like it's safe to do that again. Meanwhile, we were supposed to sail out of Puerto Rico in 2 weeks and I have just gone on to request a refund, vs the future cruise credit.  We probably will sail again in the future, but maybe not next year. Stay safe

 

On ‎4‎/‎26‎/‎2020 at 11:08 AM, NO_Member_Name said:

We're in Northern Palm Beach County and everything is fine here. I still don't know anyone who's gotten sick, and only one person who had an elderly relative pass away. Of course tons of places are closed and restaurants are takeout only. And the beaches and public parks are too. But, it seems increasingly overbearing and mindless. My sense is they're about two weeks past when they should have started opening things back up, at least around here.

 

I've been working from home since this all started. That's working out fine and I'm doing better than I would have expected. Management has seen an up-tick in productivity, so they're warming to the idea.

 

Personally I believe they should open most or all retail stores now. 90% of the ones I regularly went into never closed. And, the ones I went into occasionally rarely had many people in them. We've sharply cut back our trips to stores and probably will for a while. We just buy for a couple of weeks, instead of a day or two.

 

Beaches and parks are another sore point. The beaches are empty, but the sidewalks along the road next to the beach are crowded. There are more people on the neighborhood sidewalks and roads too. Luckily there's a private park near me that never closed, and I always have gone at times when few if any people are around.

 

Hopefully they'll just open up the bulk of things they should in the next week. Then they can spend their time figuring out what to do about the remaining 5%. 

If you could live our reality here in NJ (and neighboring NY) you wouldn't be so quick to want things re-opened.  I have 3 friends that have been down and out for 2+ weeks with this vicious virus and know of lots of people (both young and old) that have died from it. Sure, we are bored silly, Today begins my 7th week of working from home, along with my husband and daughter. But, the upside is, we are all well and we will eventually get back to a new "normal".  Our beaches are closed, parks are closed,  all "non-essential" businesses are closed.  The economy is struggling and unemployment is at an all time high.  No one wants this, but what is the alternative?  If we rush back, with no social distancing and new guidelines, surely the second wave will be back and it will be worse than the first.  Our governor has set up a plan, but it will be mid to end of May before we see anything even start to change. Hopefully more and different testing and research will evolve in the next days and weeks. Every day we wake up and hope that today will be the "miracle cure" day. Today we worry about lowering the risk to an acceptable level.

[Biker19]

23 minutes ago, pmck said:

No one wants this, but what is the alternative? 

Sweden?

[pmck]

22 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Sweden?

Sweden (almost 19K cases) is better than NJ (223K cases) for sure.. I just think that the places that haven't been hit that hard yet, may still get hit hard.  Unless of course, their Governments handled it better than ours in the US (which I'm sure most did)!!

Of course NJ is the most densely populated state (per capita), so there's that!!

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, pmck said:

 I just think that the places that haven't been hit that hard yet, may still get hit hard.  Unless of course, their Governments handled it better than ours in the US

Not sure what would one call "better" handled, but apparently, Stockholm may reach herd immunity before the start of the summer. It also depends on what you call being hit hard and at what cost.

[pmck]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Not sure what would one call "better" handled, but apparently, Stockholm may reach herd immunity before the start of the summer. It also depends on what you call being hit hard and at what cost.

Better handled would be any where that started precautions prior to 3 months after knowing of the virus.. and "being hit hard and at what cost" would obviously mean loss of life, period!

[NO_Member_Name]

Just because they open things up doesn't mean life will go back to the way it was. Most people will still practice the social distancing thing. And, wear masks in close quarters or indoor public places. I also expect people will go out less. But, if you look at all the places folks can still go during the shutdown you wonder why many other places are  closed.

 

Me, I'm going to rebel. Instead of going to the grocery store every two weeks, I'm going to start going every week.

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, pmck said:

Better handled would be any where that started precautions prior to 3 months after knowing of the virus.. and "being hit hard and at what cost" would obviously mean loss of life, period!

I think just about every country failed that metric.

[pmck]

14 hours ago, Biker19 said:

I think just about every country failed that metric.

sadly, our US holds that dubious honor!!!  Almost 2 million cases today!!

 

[OnTheJourney]

On 4/28/2020 at 10:00 AM, pmck said:

sadly, our US holds that dubious honor!!!  Almost 2 million cases today!!

 

 

At least doesn't sound too bad if you figure it's less than 1% of the total US population....

[OnTheJourney]

On 4/27/2020 at 7:48 PM, NO_Member_Name said:

 Most people will still practice the social distancing thing. And, wear masks in close quarters or indoor public places.

 

HOPEfully....I'm not convinced of this. Some will, some won't. I've been doing groceries every week. Our local Redner's has a 'seniors only' hour starting at 6 a.m. If you'd have told me a few months ago that I'd be setting my alarm for 5:30 to get to the grocery store by 6 I'd have laughed. 

[Cruise a holic]

13 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

 

At least doesn't sound too bad if you figure it's less than 1% of the total US population....

If it is your family member it would be bad.  It is horrible and getting worse now- we are talking about people loosing their lives.  Sad that some think that they are invincible and do not practice social distancing now when it is so important.

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Cruise a holic

[OnTheJourney]

It is actually not getting worse. The peak days, worldwide, appear to be 4/12, 4/16, and 4/24 - all  of which were over 90k newly confirmed cases. We're now seeing what appears at least to be a bit of a plateau rather than the drastic upward curve of last month. I agree with you totally about a lack of commitment to distancing and mask wearing. Unfortunately, the US populace is not exactly going to comply with long-term directives to stay home and not go anywhere. Much of this is due to the politicization of the virus. We were very polarized politically well before this started and now things are so much worse. Let's continue to hope for good news on remdesivir and further R&D on a potential vaccine and/or other drug treatment. 

[Cruise a holic]

11 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

It is actually not getting worse. The peak days, worldwide, appear to be 4/12, 4/16, and 4/24 - all  of which were over 90k newly confirmed cases. We're now seeing what appears at least to be a bit of a plateau rather than the drastic upward curve of last month. I agree with you totally about a lack of commitment to distancing and mask wearing. Unfortunately, the US populace is not exactly going to comply with long-term directives to stay home and not go anywhere. Much of this is due to the politicization of the virus. We were very polarized politically well before this started and now things are so much worse. Let's continue to hope for good news on remdesivir and further R&D on a potential vaccine and/or other drug treatment. 

As people-not statistics continue to die- IMO still a horrible problem.  While I love to cruise and travel in general, still much too early.  

 

I agree, many people aren't complying with the long term directives to stay home and wear masks and they endanger all of us.  So sad. So selfish.

[PaulaSB12]

I work in an essential industry, so I’ve pretty much life as normal for me.  Apart from me putting a new bathroom and kitchen but I got the main parts sorted out just before lockdown,  the electrical work and walls skimming done by 20 March and the paint that. needed mixing brought as well, as I was seeing European countries going on lockdown.  Other stuff that I have needed can be brought online the delivery person knocks on door leaves the items on the drive and leaves.  I have got both bathroom walls and kitchen walls stencilled, today the second skating board and the wainscotting in the bathroom and get painted, then tomorrow the bath sink and toilet get plumbed in 😻

[crusinpsychRN]

remdesivir --what is this?

[OnTheJourney]

https://www.gilead.com/purpose/advancing-global-health/covid-19/remdesivir-clinical-trials

[molly361]

Walmart Walgreens and Publix still no TP  What the heck is up with that??

[grammyandahhpoo]

I too should be on a VERY anticipated 20 day cruise right now (with Norwegian though) thru the Panama Canal and ending in Seattle; unfortunately that cruise isn't being offered again thru 2021.

 

I  AM looking at going on a Royal Caribbean cruise around Japan in April 2021.  Plane tickets to Japan are very inexpensive right now, even for 2021, so we probably will book that cruise.

 

Here in NE Florida things haven't been too bad with cases and deaths.  We do wear a mask whenever we go out and respect social distancing     Hope everyone continues to be healthy.

 

 

[baldilocks]

We live in NE GA (Jackson County). At last count we have had 30+ COVID cases and 1 death out of our county population of 69,000. We are asked to wear masks when we are in public, but it is not required. About half of the local businesses are open. Most restaurants are drive thru at the moment. They are waiting to see how things go before having inside diners. My gym is open, but with a limit of 10 people in the gym at a time. The workout machines have been rearranged to have a social distance and if you don't wipe the machine down after using it you may be asked to leave.

 

One interesting fact has come to light. One square mile of Manhattan in NYC has the same population as our whole county. No wonder why all those New Yorkers get sick. They are stacked on top of one another like a giant cubicle maze. They can't move without bumping into one another.

[Cruise a holic]

On 5/4/2020 at 6:55 PM, molly361 said:

Walmart Walgreens and Publix still no TP  What the heck is up with that??

 

On 5/4/2020 at 6:55 PM, molly361 said:

Walmart Walgreens and Publix still no TP  What the heck is up with that??

Some people do not care what happens to others- they could be carriers of the virus and expose themselves and sicken others- just continue to be smart and wear masks and gloves- and per the song- wash your hands!  The longer people don't cooperate- the worse it will be for all of us- and we will not be able to cruise!