Royal Caribbean submits plans for test cruises?

[kearney]

I first saw this in a video from a crew member... then that blog that we can't link to indicated that Royal has submitted it's first plans for test sailing... unknown what ship or what port... Has anyone else heard any more about this? Now test cruises ...suggests a mix of vaccinated and non vaccinated...but I understand that the Pres of Royal made a statement about sailing with all vaccinated passengers...so I am not sure what all this means...

[sandebeach]

I read on social media that Royal has submitted plans to the CDC from both Port Canaveral and Port Everglades. 

[livingonthebeach]

4 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

I read on social media that Royal has submitted plans to the CDC from both Port Canaveral and Port Everglades. 

 

No PortMiami?

[sandebeach]

Just now, livingonthebeach said:

 

No PortMiami?

No, I have not read anything abut PortMiami, but I would think that PortMiami would have been the first????

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, kearney said:

I first saw this in a video from a crew member... then that blog that we can't link to indicated that Royal has submitted it's first plans for test sailing... unknown what ship or what port... Has anyone else heard any more about this? Now test cruises ...suggests a mix of vaccinated and non vaccinated...but I understand that the Pres of Royal made a statement about sailing with all vaccinated passengers...so I am not sure what all this means...

I’m thinking the same, If they are submitting plans for test cruises doesn’t that mean they are going to go with the unvaccinated sailings.  I thought that fully vaccinated sailings do not require test cruises. 

Edited May 23, 2021 by Ourusualbeach

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

If they are submitting plans for test cruises doesn’t that mean they are going to go with the unvaccinated sailings.  I thought that fully vaccinated sailings do not require test cruises. 

 

Yes, I read that they can begin test cruises or bypass them at the restart if they have 98% of crew and 95% of revenue passengers vaccinated.  So the fact that they are doing test cruises first makes me wonder. 

[imola]

I don't know about test cruises but I just spoke with a RC rep about our July cruise.  He did share that we should expect a new announcement from RC between now and June 4th about upcoming cruises.  I asked about our ship/sailing and he said it was pending.  He could note say if it is a go or not.  At least he quoted a time frame so that is good.  Just hate booking those flights to have to cancel.  Good news is we were moved from the waitlist for "Anytime Dining" to assigned "Anytime Dining".   

[Ourusualbeach]

14 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Yes, I read that they can begin test cruises or bypass them at the restart if they have 98% of crew and 95% of revenue passengers vaccinated.  So the fact that they are doing test cruises first makes me wonder. 

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. 

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. 

 

Indeed.  Things are changing at a very fast pace lately unlike when lockdown first began.  

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, livingonthebeach said:

 

Indeed.  Things are changing at a very fast pace lately unlike when lockdown first began.  

Now if only our government would open the border and relax the 14 day quarantine......

[not-enough-cruising]

24 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I’m thinking the same, If they are submitting plans for test cruises doesn’t that mean they are going to go with the unvaccinated sailings.  I thought that fully vaccinated sailings do not require test cruises. 

But they are not going with fully vaccinated cruises. They are going with fully “eligible vaccinated” cruises. They are allowing children 

[Vera/Lee]

This is from Royal's website: 

 

Royal Caribbean guests age 16 and older must complete all doses of their COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before their sailing. For sailings departing after August 1, the age requirement for vaccination will change from 16 to 12 years of age. Guests under the age of this requirement don’t need to be vaccinated and will receive a SARS-Cov-2 test before boarding. 

 

Is this a new change?

[smokeybandit]

Test cruises are on a per-ship basis, so test cruises can occur at the same time as the 95% cruises.

 

Plus my uneducated guess is that there will be an attempt to have successful test cruises apply to the entire fleet, not just the sheet.

[dandi799]

34 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

But they are not going with fully vaccinated cruises. They are going with fully “eligible vaccinated” cruises. They are allowing children 

This was my thought. Especially on Oasis class ships in the summer, there might be enough children under 12 to make up more than 5% of the total passengers, even if they are limiting total capacity.

[not-enough-cruising]

2 minutes ago, dandi799 said:

This was my thought. Especially on Oasis class ships in the summer, there might be enough children under 12 to make up more than 5% of the total passengers, even if they are limiting total capacity.

BINGO, a family cruise line needs to be prepared for that possibility. 

Edited May 23, 2021 by not-enough-cruising

[orville99]

My understanding from what I've read and has been reported in the local media is that RCL is submitting its required CSO port agreements for both PC and FLL to the CDC for approval. From the statements that have been made in the media, it does not appear that these agreements are for test cruises, but for resumption of revenue-generating cruises out of those two ports.

[cruiserking]

57 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

...

 

Plus my uneducated guess is that there will be an attempt to have successful test cruises apply to the entire fleet, not just the sheet.

I wish that was the case but, the CDC has already said that test cruises are on a per ship basis, which is real drag. It would be awesome if they changed to one test for the whole fleet. Changes are coming fast now so who knows. 

 

Jonathan

[smokeybandit]

Just now, cruiserking said:

I wish that was the case but, the CDC has already said that test cruises are on a per ship basis, which is real drag. It would be awesome if they changed to one test for the whole fleet. Changes are coming fast now so who knows. 

 

Jonathan

Right, the CDC has said a lot of things so far that they've changed their minds on.  Since the whole concept of a test cruise is woefully obsolete, I can't imagine cruise lines are too thrilled about doing one for every ship when it'll be extremely redundant to do so.

[cruiserking]

Just now, smokeybandit said:

Right, the CDC has said a lot of things so far that they've changed their minds on.  Since the whole concept of a test cruise is woefully obsolete, I can't imagine cruise lines are too thrilled about doing one for every ship when it'll be extremely redundant to do so.

I agree with you. Hopefully it get updated to one and done. That would be terrific. 

 

Jonathan

[coldflame]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Right, the CDC has said a lot of things so far that they've changed their minds on.  Since the whole concept of a test cruise is woefully obsolete, I can't imagine cruise lines are too thrilled about doing one for every ship when it'll be extremely redundant to do so.

I would not say "woefully obsolete", because it's readily obvious it was just a NSO given how impossibly impractical they are. Obsolete makes it seem as if they were ever valid or relevant -- they weren't.  It's one of those things governments do called "illusion of possibility", where, in effect, restrictions remain in place, but they give an unviable way to get around said restriction.

 

Edit: Not to say I disagreed with NSO at one point in time -- at the time I agreed with it. Just pointing out CSO test sailings are ridiculous hurdles with what we know now.

Edited May 23, 2021 by coldflame

[BOOKBOOKBOOK]

It's possible that Royal is pursuing both routes for US restart. Perhaps the test cruise timeline will be such that these cruises will be ready by August (or some month later than the cruises with 95%/98% vaccination for passengers/crew). The most recent earnings call suggested that the company would pursue both paths outlined by the CSO anyway. It's good news that the ball is starting to roll, and maybe the test cruises will be ready for paid passenger sailings in July.

[smokeybandit]

3 minutes ago, BOOKBOOKBOOK said:

It's possible that Royal is pursuing both routes for US restart. Perhaps the test cruise timeline will be such that these cruises will be ready by August (or some month later than the cruises with 95%/98% vaccination for passengers/crew). The most recent earnings call suggested that the company would pursue both paths outlined by the CSO anyway. It's good news that the ball is starting to roll, and maybe the test cruises will be ready for paid passenger sailings in July.

 

I would imagine all the cruise lines will pursue both paths in parallel.

[not-enough-cruising]

4 minutes ago, BOOKBOOKBOOK said:

It's possible that Royal is pursuing both routes for US restart. Perhaps the test cruise timeline will be such that these cruises will be ready by August (or some month later than the cruises with 95%/98% vaccination for passengers/crew). The most recent earnings call suggested that the company would pursue both paths outlined by the CSO anyway. It's good news that the ball is starting to roll, and maybe the test cruises will be ready for paid passenger sailings in July.

In reality there aren’t 2 paths. 
 

RCG has made it clear they do not have any plans that exclude children, so the “test cruises” route is the only route they can take. 

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

In reality there aren’t 2 paths. 
 

RCG has made it clear they do not have any plans that exclude children, so the “test cruises” route is the only route they can take. 

 

RC has already said they think the number of kids will be less than the 5% unvaccinated threshold. And this was before Pfizer included 12-15 yr olds

Edited May 23, 2021 by smokeybandit

[not-enough-cruising]

6 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

RC has already said they think the number of kids will be less than the 5% unvaccinated threshold. And this was before Pfizer included 12-15 yr olds

If you were running a business would you set up to operate on the hopes that not more than 5% of ineligible children booked a berth? As CEO of a family oriented line I don’t think I would, I would want to be prepared to take all bookings I could squeeze into whatever capacity threshold I was given.