New Normal - If you have already cruised

[CRZAHOLIC]

I have to make the final payment on my cruise in Jan.  I need to decide if I am going to make it or cancel.  I have questions?

 

1. Can you get off at a port and just walk around?

 

2.  Can you get an excursion from an outside company or do all excursions have to be onRoyal?

 

3.  Can you sit with people that are not in your party in the MDR?  My husband and I go to meet people.  We like the tables of 12.  I don't want to sit at a table for 2 with my husband.  I can do that at home.

 

4.  A lot of their games require people to interact with each other.  I have already heard that they got rid of the Quest.  It was legendary!  I like trivia but I hope that is not the only thing left.

 

5.  People have said that the Wingjammer is open less than normal.  Is that true?

 

6.  Where do you have to wear a mask?

 

7.  Are all ships at 50% compacity?

 

Thanks!

 

[awestover89]

1. Yes, if you are vaccinated, in most ports. 

 

2. Same as 1, depending on the rules of the specific port, but in general you can get off and do whatever you want, whether that's self tour or a 3rd party excursion. Some ports require guests to be vaccinated to get off, some require non-vaccinated guests (including children) to stick with an approved, ship provided excursion to maintain the "bubble". You'd need to check specific port country rules.

 

3. Not sure, we typically do the UDP and specialty dining.

 

4. There were a few different games on Freedom last month. They had trivia and bingo, and one called Majority Rules. They still had the nightclub, and silent disco, and most of the normal events.

 

5. Windjammer is not open for dinner at this time.

 

6. Anywhere indoors that isn't specifically marked as vaccinated guests only, except when eating or drinking, or in your stateroom. Casino and Solarium were both vaccinated only, so no mask required. Anywhere outdoors or in the water you don't need a mask.

 

7. Don't believe Royal is giving specific restriction numbers, but our experience I'd guess maybe 30% actually booked. That being said, we have a cruise next January that's already showing mostly sold out, so whether they are limiting capacity and it's reaching the limit or if it will actually be at normal capacity, I'm not sure. 

 

This is all with the caveat of, your final payment is 4 months away, and the cruise is probably another 2-3 months after that, so everything can possibly change between now and then.

[xxHadleyxx]

1 hour ago, CRZAHOLIC said:

I have to make the final payment on my cruise in Jan.  I need to decide if I am going to make it or cancel.  I have questions?

 

1. Can you get off at a port and just walk around?

 

2.  Can you get an excursion from an outside company or do all excursions have to be onRoyal?

 

3.  Can you sit with people that are not in your party in the MDR?  My husband and I go to meet people.  We like the tables of 12.  I don't want to sit at a table for 2 with my husband.  I can do that at home.

 

4.  A lot of their games require people to interact with each other.  I have already heard that they got rid of the Quest.  It was legendary!  I like trivia but I hope that is not the only thing left.

 

5.  People have said that the Wingjammer is open less than normal.  Is that true?

 

6.  Where do you have to wear a mask?

 

7.  Are all ships at 50% compacity?

 

Thanks!

 

1.   The cruise line isn't requiring you take their excursions, but some ports are.   This can change at any time.  Currently Italy requires excursion bubbles.  Mexico was requiring them last month, I don't know if they still are.   It's virtually impossible to predict how this will be in January.

2. If the port requires excursion bubbles it will require you only leave the ship on a ship sponsored/supervised excursion.

3. As per my understanding, currently meals are seated by sailing party.  That might vary by region.

4. We had several game shows on our recent sailing, but none were very interactive.  Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Blankety Blank, etc

5.if the particular sailing is less than 50 percent capacity Windjammer will not open fir dinner.

6. Depends on what region you are sailing in.  I'm guessing you're North America with a January cruise, so the poster above covered it.

7. Seems to vary between 30-60 percent it so lately.   Hard to guess where it'll be in January

 

 

[LXA350]

As things are still very dynamic you should only go for the cruise if you are ready to accept that certain things will be differnt to what they were before, at least for the time being. Hence, if you are happy to make compromises you will have a great time, if you go there expecting things to be like before it's better for you to wait before heading back at Sea. 

[Jasukkie]

All you can rely on is that today's answers are subject to change.

 

I was on Adventure in June which was mask free but took distancing more seriously. I'm just off Ovation, which required masks in public areas but minimal emphasis on social distancing. In the latter case, they were relying on considering certain areas as vaccinated. I'd prefer to still have space between tables. Windjammer is a mixed area, thus tables are blocked off. But the main dining room for vaccinated people had no spacing. 

 

I think to be a happy cruiser right now it helps to be more independently minded. I rarely attend any of the entertainment and activities onboard. I love to sit on my balcony and read, and walk laps on the track or play cards/games. I'm loving these low capacity cruises. I totally get that other people need more energy from their cruise experience and would feel things seem a little dead.

[CRZAHOLIC]

7 hours ago, awestover89 said:

1. Yes, if you are vaccinated, in most ports. 

 

2. Same as 1, depending on the rules of the specific port, but in general you can get off and do whatever you want, whether that's self tour or a 3rd party excursion. Some ports require guests to be vaccinated to get off, some require non-vaccinated guests (including children) to stick with an approved, ship provided excursion to maintain the "bubble". You'd need to check specific port country rules.

 

3. Not sure, we typically do the UDP and specialty dining.

 

4. There were a few different games on Freedom last month. They had trivia and bingo, and one called Majority Rules. They still had the nightclub, and silent disco, and most of the normal events.

 

5. Windjammer is not open for dinner at this time.

 

6. Anywhere indoors that isn't specifically marked as vaccinated guests only, except when eating or drinking, or in your stateroom. Casino and Solarium were both vaccinated only, so no mask required. Anywhere outdoors or in the water you don't need a mask.

 

7. Don't believe Royal is giving specific restriction numbers, but our experience I'd guess maybe 30% actually booked. That being said, we have a cruise next January that's already showing mostly sold out, so whether they are limiting capacity and it's reaching the limit or if it will actually be at normal capacity, I'm not sure. 

 

This is all with the caveat of, your final payment is 4 months away, and the cruise is probably another 2-3 months after that, so everything can possibly change between now and then.

Thx so much.  Great info.

[deliver42]

I just got off the Ovation, and found the entertainment pretty good. The only thing missing was the Broadway show. The main theater was separated. Vaccinated on the lower deck, masks optional, and unvaccinated in the balcony, masks mandatory. 270 was vaccinated only for most of the show, no masks. Finding a table in the Windjammer was a problem because of table spacing. The same at some of the bars for the same reason.

[jcc1025]

9 hours ago, awestover89 said:

1. Yes, if you are vaccinated, in most ports. 

 

2. Same as 1, depending on the rules of the specific port, but in general you can get off and do whatever you want, whether that's self tour or a 3rd party excursion. Some ports require guests to be vaccinated to get off, some require non-vaccinated guests (including children) to stick with an approved, ship provided excursion to maintain the "bubble". You'd need to check specific port country rules.

 

3. Not sure, we typically do the UDP and specialty dining.

 

4. There were a few different games on Freedom last month. They had trivia and bingo, and one called Majority Rules. They still had the nightclub, and silent disco, and most of the normal events.

 

5. Windjammer is not open for dinner at this time.

 

6. Anywhere indoors that isn't specifically marked as vaccinated guests only, except when eating or drinking, or in your stateroom. Casino and Solarium were both vaccinated only, so no mask required. Anywhere outdoors or in the water you don't need a mask.

 

7. Don't believe Royal is giving specific restriction numbers, but our experience I'd guess maybe 30% actually booked. That being said, we have a cruise next January that's already showing mostly sold out, so whether they are limiting capacity and it's reaching the limit or if it will actually be at normal capacity, I'm not sure. 

 

This is all with the caveat of, your final payment is 4 months away, and the cruise is probably another 2-3 months after that, so everything can possibly change between now and then.

On #3, if everyone in the group is vacinated you could sit together but would need to have your reservations attached together for them to set it up, they will not set groups that are not connected together in the MDR.