Masks required for August sailings from Florida even if vaccinated while walking around

[Majorleague]

Very disappointing that a tiny percentage of the people on board are causing the vast majority to be forced to mask. Tail wagging the dog. 

[zpdw484]

1 hour ago, SidneyHuff1950 said:

And put Disney Cruise Line, one of the major members of the CLIA, out of business in the process. Or is their sacrifice worth it to you since you obviously dont use that cruise line?

I was referring to all Royal Caribbean us departures. Obviously Disney is in a totally different situation as far as relying on passengers that aren't eligible to be vaccinated.

[ash2bear]

4 hours ago, molly361 said:

I don't know.  I saw the refund part on the blog and I know that they were offering them for the July sailings.  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise?dPort=florida-august

 

Blog states they'll refund, but I can't find that anywhere on their site 😕

[ReneeFLL]

6 hours ago, Yorkvillain said:

Ace, thoughts? 

Nooooooo!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Edited July 10, 2021 by ReneeFLL

[ReneeFLL]

7 hours ago, GTO-Girl said:

We sail in October and I sure hope it is changed by then…

Same here. I really don’t want to wear masks, but I’m going to wait and see what happens. We don’t sail until Oct. 17th on the Odyssey so hoping things are more relaxed for vaccinated.

[Coralc]

4 hours ago, SidneyHuff1950 said:

And put Disney Cruise Line, one of the major members of the CLIA, out of business in the process. Or is their sacrifice worth it to you since you obviously dont use that cruise line?

Disney is not sailing for that very reason. The cruise line is a very small part of their overall business, and they seem to be fine with not sailing indefinitely, or until restrictions are loosened. 

[forgotmyCCname]

We have been noticing daily increases in availability of all suite classes as well as interior cabins and balcony "guarantee" on our 9/25 Symphony. Two weeks ago there was ONE suite available ( Crown Loft overlooking sports court) and nothing else. 
Do any of you TAs or insiders know if it is the vaxed or non-vaxed  the bulk of the cancellations? Curious if this is all a mask issue or a fear of quarantine issue or even a "I'm really peeved with Royal " thing. 

Any recent cancel folk out there? 

Have a great weekend 

 

betty

[forgotmyCCname]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

its here to at least 2022....

I tend to concur . Once autumn hits and the regular flu season kicks in along with winter colds  and every school kiddo is sniffling or or wiping their little noses...every cough out of a passenger will make 10 others panic. While I personally think masking is overkill as a vaxed NP; I can't see the cruise lines taking the chance of coughing , maskless cruisers hitting Tik Tok or YouTube. 
 

The press will not be kind.

 
 

 

[smokeybandit]

3 hours ago, forgotmyCCname said:

I tend to concur . Once autumn hits and the regular flu season kicks in along with winter colds  and every school kiddo is sniffling or or wiping their little noses...every cough out of a passenger will make 10 others panic. While I personally think masking is overkill as a vaxed NP; I can't see the cruise lines taking the chance of coughing , maskless cruisers hitting Tik Tok or YouTube. 
 

The press will not be kind.

 
 

 

Yep, this fall will be a bad one for common colds and the flu because kids were kept so isolated last year.

[orville99]

15 hours ago, Yorkvillain said:

Ace, thoughts? 

Don't poke the boor🤪

[cruisinghawg]

July the 18th will be interesting to say the least.

[zpdw484]

7 hours ago, forgotmyCCname said:

We have been noticing daily increases in availability of all suite classes as well as interior cabins and balcony "guarantee" on our 9/25 Symphony. Two weeks ago there was ONE suite available ( Crown Loft overlooking sports court) and nothing else. 
Do any of you TAs or insiders know if it is the vaxed or non-vaxed  the bulk of the cancellations? Curious if this is all a mask issue or a fear of quarantine issue or even a "I'm really peeved with Royal " thing. 

Any recent cancel folk out there? 

Have a great weekend 

 

betty

 

7 hours ago, forgotmyCCname said:

We have been noticing daily increases in availability of all suite classes as well as interior cabins and balcony "guarantee" on our 9/25 Symphony. Two weeks ago there was ONE suite available ( Crown Loft overlooking sports court) and nothing else. 
Do any of you TAs or insiders know if it is the vaxed or non-vaxed  the bulk of the cancellations? Curious if this is all a mask issue or a fear of quarantine issue or even a "I'm really peeved with Royal " thing. 

Any recent cancel folk out there? 

Have a great weekend 

 

betty

Have not cancelled but we have went from being super hopeful and optimistic about our Oct cruise to hopeful and optimistic that we will have an opportunity for a refund (if protocols don't change) and be able to find something available on carnival.... (Even though we are not carnival fans). A relatively "normal" cruise on carnival definitely sounds better than this crap Royal is throwing out there at the moment... 

[orville99]

Compared to what one gets to enjoy on a cruise, wearing masks indoors is a trivial inconvenience. Most people don't go on a cruise to spend their time wandering around indoors. 

[mafig]

I'm surprised.  Since I've been reading about the Edge cruise on the Celebrity board I've thought that Royal would be the same.

 

Now today I was going to finally book a cruise.  On Royal.  For January.  I know that's a long time away, but people who booked last year for this thought the same, didn't they?  

 

Can you cancel if you book with a non-refundable deposit and get everything back if you cancel because of their mask policy?  Sorry I haven't paid too much attention to non-refundable policies, cause we never had to cancel a cruise.  I seem to recall you get back all but $100 per person.

 

 

[BecciBoo]

1 hour ago, At Sea At Peace said:

So, hopefully the CDC is working on 'narrowing its guidance for the cruise lines, updated for the current science.

Yep, every day is a new headache and new guidelines and new contradictions, it's getting rather ridiculous don't you think?

[zpdw484]

3 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

Yep, every day is a new headache and new guidelines and new contradictions, it's getting rather ridiculous don't you think?

Beyond ridiculous. I'm actually just as irritated with Royal at this point as I am with the CDC

[BecciBoo]

You can find contradictions in both pages of guidelines, one day, no masking, the next, O wait, yes you must.....silly

[RFerrington]

41 minutes ago, mafig said:

Can you cancel if you book with a non-refundable deposit and get everything back if you cancel because of their mask policy?

Who knows what the refund policy will be by then.  They are going month-by-month with the "refund-due-to-onboard-protocol" rules.  I can't imagine that this will be a long term policy.  From what I understand, they are getting lots of cancellations (from both sides !) due to onboard protocols.  I'm sure it's not the situation that they want. 

[Jimbo]

58 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Compared to what one gets to enjoy on a cruise, wearing masks indoors is a trivial inconvenience. Most people don't go on a cruise to spend their time wandering around indoors. 

You may find that to be a wrong statement, many just go on a cruise so they don't have to make their bed, clean and cook their own meals. Many that are located in states that don't have a casino spend most of their time in the Casino the whole week.

Many never get off the ship the entire week.

[atricks]

Willing to bet if the CSO goes to recommendations on the 18th, the mask thing inside is the first thing to go (With the remaining stuff kept).  It's easier on everyone (Crew and passengers) to lighten the restrictions with a last minute change than to go the other direction.   Adventure of the Seas mode is probably the target.

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by atricks

[cruisetorelax44]

I think the reason for everyone wearing a mask indoors is simple. The crew won't have to police it as much. If all unvaxed need to wear them indoors, asking people who are vaxed to do the same just makes things simpler. Everyone walking inside needs to mask up. Period. No arguing over it. Im on freedom on aug 2nd.  If I have to put on a mask when I'm moving around inside, no biggie. 

[orville99]

3 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

You may find that to be a wrong statement, many just go on a cruise so they don't have to make their bed, clean and cook their own meals. Many that are located in states that don't have a casino spend most of their time in the Casino the whole week.

Many never get off the ship the entire week.

Well, we do between 8-10 cruises a year, and I'm entirely comfortable with the validity of my opinion. YMMV.

[Jimbo]

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Well, we do between 8-10 cruises a year, and I'm entirely comfortable with the validity of my opinion. YMMV.

Your opinion is  duly noted.

[BND]

My issue with masking is that there is no proof that it made any real difference and there won't be because there was no real control group.  Every single person I know who caught it wore a mask.   And, yes, I know that is anecdotal, but it is my reality.

 

We haven't worn masks anywhere except medical settings for weeks now.  What really irritates me is the news keeps talking about how the Delta variant is spreading like crazy, but leave out the little tidbit that it's spreading among non-vaccinated people, not vaccinated ones.

 

We're not cruising until Nov 28 out of PC so by then we'll be past the CSO and hope to be back to normal.  Carnival is not requiring masks onboard out of FL so I don't get the blaming the CDC by RCI.

[zpdw484]

8 minutes ago, cruisetorelax44 said:

I think the reason for everyone wearing a mask indoors is simple. The crew won't have to police it as much. If all unvaxed need to wear them indoors, asking people who are vaxed to do the same just makes things simpler. Everyone walking inside needs to mask up. Period. No arguing over it. Im on freedom on aug 2nd.  If I have to put on a mask when I'm moving around inside, no biggie. 

So punish the vast majority of people onboard to accommodate the small percentage that refuses to get vaxxed.. even though the general consensus is that Royal doesn't want these people onboard for the time being anyways.. making them jump through hoops, doing everything possible to discourage them from sailing... Makes absolutely no sense.. Royal needs to stop trying to please everyone (not possible at the moment), grow a set, and pick a direction and go with it. I don't see how riding the fence is gonna get them anywhere with either side unless they expect changes to the CDC guidance relatively soon