Reluctant to make final payment

[kearney]

2 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Royal's past decisions allowing no vaccinated passengers is now affecting all vaccinated passengers. Now we have to find a place to do a covid test within 3 days of the cruise. We cruise in September, but can't even make an appointment until 3 days before we need the test, and most places have no appointments available 3 days from today. Plus, we now have to pay for it. Thank you Mr. Fain, and all the unvaccinated idiots.

Guess what, Celebrity just started requiring testing ... and it resulted in massive delays when Edge departed yesterday... people were notified less than 24 hours before sailing that everyone needed to be tested and as you will recall... Celebrity has 95% vaccinated...so it has nothing to do with vaccinated at this point.. oh and Edge had multiple positive tests among their vaccinated passengers...

[lovesthebeach2]

Brilliance is our favorite ship and we have a cruise in September booked. We made final awhile ago. With all that went on last year, so many cancelled cruises, we did get every penny back. In fact this cruise is using some FCC 

[Seamingo]

We are B2B on Brilliance end of October. Didn’t think twice about making final payments. We are ready to cruise and if the Brilliance is sailing, we’ll be onboard.

Edited August 1, 2021 by Seamingo

[John&LaLa]

2 hours ago, kearney said:

Guess what, Celebrity just started requiring testing ... and it resulted in massive delays when Edge departed yesterday... people were notified less than 24 hours before sailing that everyone needed to be tested and as you will recall... Celebrity has 95% vaccinated...so it has nothing to do with vaccinated at this point.. oh and Edge had multiple positive tests among their vaccinated passengers...

 

Friends on Equinox today had no issues. Onboard in 15 minutes

[kearney]

5 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Friends on Equinox today had no issues. Onboard in 15 minutes

Did they have to get tested at the port..or did Celebrity abandon this idea...given the Edge mess yesterday?

[John&LaLa]

1 minute ago, kearney said:

Did they have to get tested at the port..or did Celebrity abandon this idea...given the Edge mess yesterday?

 

They said no testing, no temperature taken. 

I think they tested before leaving, but not certain

[dream2cruise]

I understand the reluctance and moved our reservation to late 2022.  Best wishes to you on your decision.

[kearney]

I just looked at the Equinox roll call. One fellow said that they needed to be tested and got an email about this late last night...when they got there no one knew what he was talking about... no one ended up being tested..based on what I read... it looks like they bailed on testing Edge after people were in line for hours....  If you are going to require testing...need to give people notice of more than a day... best if you do what Royal is doing and have vaccinated bring test with them and just test unvaccinated at port..if the numbers are low enough...  live and learn

[Eddie Wilson]

We have a final payment due in 40 days, and to be honest last week at this time I had no reservations about paying when it is due.

 

That has 180 degrees changed this week  After this week I have a sneaky suspicion the CDC is going to heavily push the states to return to masking and social distancing, and encouraged the states to again limit seating in restaurants.

 

If this is the direction we are headed I would delay a return to cruising. Unfortunate because we had so much hope only one week ago.

 

Now we have a few weeks to watch, but these next 2 or 3 weeks I am afraid will be ugly.

 

Eddie

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Eddie Wilson said:

If this is the direction we are headed I would delay a return to cruising.

Regardless of what happens on land, as RCG CEO Fain says: " You are safer on an RCI ship than on Main St".

 

Biker, who wonders what happened to the CEO Fain vlog updates.

[kearney]

12 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

They said no testing, no temperature taken. 

I think they tested before leaving, but not certain

Just check Celebrity protocols...which were updated Jul 30

[kearney]

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Regardless of what happens on land, as RCG CEO Fain says: " You are safer on an RCI ship than on Main St".

 

Biker, who wonders what happened to the CEO Fain vlog updates.

Actually he may still be correct.... we don't walk around testing people on Main street unless they go and seek testing because they don't feel well... looks like most of the positive were part of the testing required to return.

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, kearney said:

looks like most of the positive were part of the testing required to return.

Except, the testing on Adventure will be the exception, not the rule, now that more ships are sailing from the US and not testing.

[kearney]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

Except, the testing on Adventure will be the exception, not the rule, now that more ships are sailing from the US and not testing.

Good point... I am mixing up ships... I know that one of the Vlogers on Edge needed to be tested to fly to Canada...his story was that he was to be tested the day before they arrived...but because of a few positive test results..among vaccinated... his test was delayed...ultimately he missed his flight and they lost his test results... anyway. They did to testing of contacts to a symptomatic person...and there ended up being a few positive.,... not routine part of trip like on AOS

[coaster]

Just made final payment online. The feedback from others about airfares and hotels put in into perspective to me. We don’t have to worry about all that. Just a short drive to the port and a parking reservation close to the ship in a grassy lot for about $6 a day. Cruise fare was good at around $50 a night per person for an outside before taxes. I am good now. 

Edited August 1, 2021 by coaster

[mek]

6 minutes ago, coaster said:

Just made final payment online. The feedback from others about airfares and hotels put in into perspective to me. We don’t have to worry about all that. Just a short drive to the port and a parking reservation close to ship in a grassy lot for about $6 a day. Cruise fare was good at around $50 a night per person for an outside before taxes. I am good now. 

Glad to hear that - I wouldn't hesitate if I lived close enough to drive.

 

Good luck with your cruise.

[Travelling2Some]

16 minutes ago, coaster said:

Just made final payment online. The feedback from others about airfares and hotels put in into perspective to me. We don’t have to worry about all that. Just a short drive to the port and a parking reservation close to the ship in a grassy lot for about $6 a day. Cruise fare was good at around $50 a night per person for an outside before taxes. I am good now. 

I've been feeling pretty negative since things went south recently but I think you made a good decision.  Our next cruise is not until January but "out of an abundance of caution" (gagging and making rude faces!) we booked it out of our home port anticipating just this scenario.  It also helps that we are retired so not committing valuable vacation time.

[Midwestgal]

My FP is due August 25th and I’ll give it to the 20th to decide. 
I’d probably book something for May but wouldn’t rush into it at this point.

Worse case I’d lose my $200.00 deposit if I didn’t rebook something however I also have my air already but can change it for free one time.
 

[coaster]

I just hope Brilliance sails. Royal seems to be focusing on large ships with all the bells and whistles for a restart. I have been on Harmony just to experience it, but the smaller ships is my thing. Empress even better over Radiance class as she was smaller and more connected to the ocean. 
 

Loved all the glass windows on Radiance when I took a short cruise on her from Tampa years ago. Ships without ‘indoor malls’ are my main thing.

Edited August 1, 2021 by coaster

[Iamcruzin]

On 7/31/2021 at 7:04 PM, coaster said:

I get it. Family and friends are questioning why we are going again so soon. 

Personally I think you are safer on a cruise ship than a land vacation in terms of covid the way they are taking precautions and if you don't have to fly to port you eliminated the risk of getting it while in transit. With that said, I'm not retired and have little vacation time since I started a new job less than a year ago. I'm not willing to run the risk of planning a vacation only to be canceled or having to deal with the changing last minute testing even being vaccinated. 

 

There is also the possibility of stricter protocols on land after returning from the cruise. My wife works at a hospital. They have already reinstated  the mandatory masks in the office and social distancing in the breakroom and if they leave the tristate area they have to test 24 hrs after returning before they can return to work and if that test is negative they have to test 5 days later. We were planning a land vacation to Florida in October but we a now putting that off because we don't know what the quarantine situation may or may not be by then if the Delta variant gets out of control. They have more cases of covid coming in to the hospital mainly those who weren't vaccinated.   The testing requirements whether they are just to board a ship, just to get off of the ship at a foreign port or for returning to work seem to be changing daily for the worst. It's just not worth the stress.

 

[bajathree]

On 7/31/2021 at 6:51 PM, coaster said:

I need to make final payment by tomorrow. Never hesitated to do a final payment on any cruise until now. Usually pay it a week before the deadline. We are booked on Brilliance out of Tampa the end of October. Seems like Royal is only concentrated on larger ships sailing at this point. Really think the cruise will be cancelled, but not sure. Just so many mixed emotions right now. 

 

 

This announcement is long-awaited — and we couldn't be more thrilled. Please note, however, as we prepare for our return to sailing, it was necessary to make a few sailing cancelations to accommodate these restarts. The below are regrettably canceled: 

• Anthem of the Seas^® departing Southampton: October 20, 2021 
• Brilliance of the Seas^® departing Tampa: September 4-October 11, 2021; December 11, 2021; March 28-April 25, 2022
• Enchantment of the Seas^® departing Baltimore: September 4- December 11, 2021 
• Explorer of the Seas^® departing San Juan: October 31, 2021 
• Harmony of the Seas^® departing Barcelona: October 31, 2021 
• Liberty of the Seas^® departing Galveston: September 26, 2021 
• Ovation of the Seas^® departing Sydney: October 27, 2021- April 10, 2022
• Radiance of the Seas^® departing Miami: October 15, 2021- April 10, 2022
• Rhapsody of the Seas^® departing Tampa: February 26- April 16, 2022
• Serenade of the Seas^® departing Sydney: October 24, 2021- February 27, 2022
• Vision of the Seas^® departing San Juan/ Fort Lauderdale: September 5, 2021- January 14, 2022

We understand this is disappointing to your impacted clients. For those guests not previously canceled under our Cruise with Confidence program, please click the Canceled Sailings button below to review compensation options. Affected guests and associated travel partners will be notified shortly with the complete details.

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