Allure of the Seas turned away in St Thomas

[CruiseMrB]

1 minute ago, toad455 said:

My worry about my upcoming Anthem 11-day is that it will turn into an 11-day cruise to nowhere. Not exactly legal, but the concern would be that they would run of of supplies if they can't dock in PR or even Port Canaveral.

They would probably be able to make a "technical" stop for resupply and fuel as needed, without letting passengers off the ship.

[travelhound]

On 12/26/2021 at 9:23 AM, tohono said:

We arrived in Nassau late.  Sadly a passenger passed away between Ft Lauderdale and Nassau.  Condolences to the family.  
 

Port excursions were totally screwed up.  And after visiting Nassau many times, I still think it is best to avoid Nassau or stay on the ship.  
 

Today, St Thomas was cancelled due to COVID concerns.  I seriously doubt at this point we will visit St Kitts.  Nothing is being offered as compensation.  
 

I love to cruise as much as anyone else, and a cruise is still a vacation.   But being stuck at sea for 6 days with no ports is a little underwhelming.  

This is why I would not book any excursions prior to getting on the ship.  Most ports are just too unpredictable.

[whitshel]

Leaving Coco Cay now, captain just announced we're heading to St Thomas. I know that doesn't mean we'll actually dock there, but we're on our way. 

[mein18]

12 minutes ago, whitshel said:

Leaving Coco Cay now, captain just announced we're heading to St Thomas. I know that doesn't mean we'll actually dock there, but we're on our way. 

Losing track of which poster is on which sailing. Are you on Allure? What is or was your itinerary?

[Jon-A]

Just visited the Allure excursions desk. The Independence is the other ship that will be at Coco on our day 7. The excursions rep told me that because the Independence was originally scheduled to visit Coco, their passengers bought most of the excursions in advance and that management knew this. Of course they did. The rep said that lines would likely be very long. The rep also said that there was exactly ONE cabana allocated to Allure. I actually feel equally badly for the Independence passengers. I don’t think they’re going to be very pleased when they see us arrive.

[akcruz]

53 minutes ago, CruiseMrB said:

As a customer, yeah, you should be disappointed. As a stockholder, unfortunately you should be pleased as punch with the response. They are digging out of a two-year financial nightmare of a hole.

 

BTW, anybody (even me, with a scheduled cruise in March) who gets on a cruise ship for the forseeable future should be happy enough with keeping "feet wet" for the entire cruise. I'm totally okay with that.  If you're not okay with that, then reconsider cruising as an option.

 

Even before Covid I always told people if you want to go to a specific port book a land trip not a cruise or you may be extremely disappointed, just too many things that can change an itinerary causing the ship to miss a port.  

 

We too have an upcoming cruise which we picked because it goes to Cococay and 1 other port.  Our thought process was that Cococay is really just an extension of the ship so more likely to actually take place along with the fact the same people would ge there with us, not new ones from the port.  Final is quickly approaching and we still aren't sure if we are going or not but if we do it will be with eyes wide open.  Is cruising for everyone right now, obviously not, but too many aren't thinking it through.   It's been over 2 years since we've been on a ship, more than ready but will cancel if we feel the need, but not there yet.

Edited December 27, 2021 by akcruz

[binro01]

The first cruise I went on post covid, I never left the ship. I was just so happy to be back on the ship, the ports just held no interest for me. I have 2 cruises planned for 2022, neither I have the need to hit land. I have yet to book a single excursion. I will decide once I'm at port if I even want to leave the ship. For me the ship is the resort, the entertainment, the dining, the everything. The ports can be interesting but are not required.

[tohono]

1 hour ago, udamom said:

Tohono, was St Maarten one of your ports? I am on Allure 1/8/22 and St Thomas/StMaarten/St kitts is the reason I chose that cruise. Like a fool I paid a less then 30 day notice -non refundable excursion on St Maarten. I have done the excursion before and loved it but didn't even think to look at the refund policy. If we don't dock they  refund.

Coco Cay instead of any of those ports is not a good exchange! LOL

 

Are they telling you how many positives are on board? I wonder if it is crew members are they offboarded and quarantined on land?

 

thanks for any info

Trish

 

 

St Maarten was not one of the ports on this cruise.  They are not even mentioning the word COVID.  Crew members are double masked.  And while in the Casino today, the manager said they were short on staff because the crew was taking PCR tests today.  

[BennyBrun]

I hope you can make the best of it at CoCo even without excursions it’s still a very nice place to stop.  We stopped there a few times and never bought any excursions.  We take a walk to South Beach to eat the fried chicken sandwich which is amazing!  Then lay on the beach for a while then make it back to the pool in the afternoon after it calms down a bit.  The snorkeling at CoCo is not that great.  Occasionally you can see a sand shark at South Beach or Sting Ray at the main beach area.  Enjoy CoCo.  I know it’s not ideal but it is still a great island to visit.

[Airbear232]

23 hours ago, DJLDRUMS said:

Was St. Mareteen also mentioned as a replacement stop in lieu of the other cancelled islands Airbear232 ?

Spoke with someone in Guest services yesterday morning.  Allure is sailing at about 80% capacity.  This was an issue with St. Thomas, St. Kitts and trying to go to St. Maarten as well.  The cruise is a Xmas cruise with lots of unvaccinated kids.  The islands wanted anyone unvaccinated leaving ship to be tested and provide negative result.  Logistics nightmare, to say the least.  So would only allowing fully vaccinated passengers off.  Decision made to go to Coco Cay so everyone can enjoy time off ship.  In terms of cases, they don’t disclose.  They isolate anyone who tests positive until the end of the cruise and they are last to leave ship through separate exit.  CDC has very comprehensive requirements for reporting and if cruise surpasses certain limits then must return to home port immediately.  I’m really fine at this point with this information.  I wish they disclosed this before to keep people informed.   The crew is working very hard and everything is being cleaned continuously.  There is always room for improvement.  Also, a lot of passengers need to do their part, wear their masks, maintain social distance and be hygienic.  Sitting in Solarium now enjoying beautiful view of sea and enjoying a latte.  🙂

[Airbear232]

22 hours ago, Jimbo said:

I think that tells you just how bad it is on the ship, the crew is double masking? Think I would stay in my cabin as much as possible for the extend of the cruise.

No, it’s not bad.  Overall, like any other cruise most people are having a great time.  It sucked to miss two ports, especially as we have family in St. Thomas.  However, the rest of the cruise is very good.  CDC guidelines are very stringent, if ship has more than a threshold number of cases, the ship must return to home port.  This does not apply to us.  We chose this cruise and even knew the situation with Omicron prior to boarding.  All in all things are good.  I’m looking forward to Coco Cay, I missed it on previous cruises due to weather so am really looking forward to going.  Glad we are going to have a beach day that everyone can enjoy.  I’ve seen some complaints that most things are booked by PAX of Independence.  Doesn’t bother me, they were scheduled to be there so you’d expect them to book things in advance.  Glad to share island with them!  Blessed to be able to be on a cruise!  

[Jasukkie]

I'll say it, that's like the whole class losing recess because a couple of kids acted up. If it's factual. Not saying I don't believe you heard that, but not sure what is factual truth. 

[Jon-A]

The line staff on the Allure has been quite candid about the back story on many of the decisions that are being made even if the higher ups haven’t shared the truth. When the announcement was made to cancel the St Kitts stop, they said over the PA system that it was “by mutual agreement of RCL and the local authorities.” The island vaccination requirement totally makes sense now in that context. If this is true, RCL had the choice to dock under tighter rules but chose to screw us. There is no reason why RCL couldn’t have told unvaccinated passengers that they couldn’t depart per order of the local authorities. Most of the age 5-12 kids on the ship are already vaccinated (most have green wrist bands). The ship already has special vaccinated sections (even outside on the pool deck). We visited Atlantis in Nassau and had to show our vaccination cards. RCL has our vaccination status coded to our Seapass cards already and we are already wearing green vaccination wristbands. There is no reason they couldn’t have prevented debarkation of the tiny number of unvaccinated guests. Most are under age 5, and there are barely any under 5 year olds on the ship.

[bajathree]

Like I said in another post....it's a perfect storm of raising occupancy, Omicron and not changing protocol to fully vaccinated only......and now you're seeing the results of that all.

[bouhunter]

2 hours ago, glentally said:

This is not cruising.  That is why I bailed out and doing land trips until 2023.

Agree.  RCCL and the other lines are very fortunate so many people are happy to mask up and sit on a ship for a week without getting off.

Edited December 28, 2021 by bouhunter

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, Airbear232 said:

Spoke with someone in Guest services yesterday morning.  Allure is sailing at about 80% capacity.  This was an issue with St. Thomas, St. Kitts and trying to go to St. Maarten as well.  The cruise is a Xmas cruise with lots of unvaccinated kids.  The islands wanted anyone unvaccinated leaving ship to be tested and provide negative result.  Logistics nightmare, to say the least.  So would only allowing fully vaccinated passengers off.  Decision made to go to Coco Cay so everyone can enjoy time off ship.  

So everyone's cruise was impacted because RCI was determined to allow so many unvaccinated passengers aboard. Very interesting. 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, Airbear232 said:

  I’ve seen some complaints that most things are booked by PAX of Independence.  Doesn’t bother me, they were scheduled to be there so you’d expect them to book things in advance.  Glad to share island with them!  Blessed to be able to be on a cruise!  

I suspect the folks in Indy may not feel the same about you.

[orville99]

17 hours ago, toad455 said:

My worry about my upcoming Anthem 11-day is that it will turn into an 11-day cruise to nowhere. Not exactly legal, but the concern would be that they would run of of supplies if they can't dock in PR or even Port Canaveral.

We were on a 7 day Harmony cruise when Dorian hit, and we stayed at sea for 11 days before we returned to PC. We docked in Cozumel two extra times to let people who needed to get home off of the ship and spent most of our time just sailing around in circles off the coast of Cuba. They may have taken on additional provisions at those extra stops although Cozumel really isn't set up as a re-supply port. We never ran out of supplies, although the buffet menus got a bit repetitive towards the end of the cruise.

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

 We never ran out of supplies, although the buffet menus got a bit repetitive towards the end of the cruise.

The last several times I sailed that seemed to occur on normal cruises.

[DJLDRUMS]

1 hour ago, Airbear232 said:

Spoke with someone in Guest services yesterday morning.  Allure is sailing at about 80% capacity.  This was an issue with St. Thomas, St. Kitts and trying to go to St. Maarten as well.  The cruise is a Xmas cruise with lots of unvaccinated kids.  The islands wanted anyone unvaccinated leaving ship to be tested and provide negative result.  Logistics nightmare, to say the least.  So would only allowing fully vaccinated passengers off.  Decision made to go to Coco Cay so everyone can enjoy time off ship.  In terms of cases, they don’t disclose.  They isolate anyone who tests positive until the end of the cruise and they are last to leave ship through separate exit.  CDC has very comprehensive requirements for reporting and if cruise surpasses certain limits then must return to home port immediately.  I’m really fine at this point with this information.  I wish they disclosed this before to keep people informed.   The crew is working very hard and everything is being cleaned continuously.  There is always room for improvement.  Also, a lot of passengers need to do their part, wear their masks, maintain social distance and be hygienic.  Sitting in Solarium now enjoying beautiful view of sea and enjoying a latte.  🙂

Airbear232, thank you and others on board the Allure right now to give us information that you're experiencing, receiving and passing along whether its good, bad or indifferent.

[topnole]

3 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

Lets break down the risk level here. Which is worse:

 

1. A healthy unvaxxed 4 year old catches Covid. 

2. A Triple vaxxed 86 yr old catches Covid.

 

Which person is at higher risk of having serious illness or death from Covid? There will be a Covid related death on a cruise ship eventually. Bound to happen. 

 

Do you also support denying boarding for:

 

1. Cruisers over a certain age who are in the most vulnerable age group. If I had an elderly relative that wanted to cruise with me during Omicron...i would never...ever...ever consider cruising with them

2. Cruisers that are obese are also in a high risk group.

 

Where would you draw the line?

 

And some crew does depart the ship at Coco Cay. They could have caught Covid from the locals in straw market area for all we know

Uh uh.  I know the answer.  It is about 30x more like the older person has serious outcomes.   

[island lady]

9 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

Lets break down the risk level here. Which is worse:

 

1. A healthy unvaxxed 4 year old catches Covid. 

2. A Triple vaxxed 86 yr old catches Covid.

 

Which person is at higher risk of having serious illness or death from Covid? There will be a Covid related death on a cruise ship eventually. Bound to happen. 

 

Do you also support denying boarding for:

 

1. Cruisers over a certain age who are in the most vulnerable age group. If I had an elderly relative that wanted to cruise with me during Omicron...i would never...ever...ever consider cruising with them

2. Cruisers that are obese are also in a high risk group.

 

Where would you draw the line?

 

And some crew does depart the ship at Coco Cay. They could have caught Covid from the locals in straw market area for all we know

 

I stated my opinion.  You can disagree all you want...I don't care.  I won't argue with you. 

 

I still hold to my opinion that ships need to go with 100% vaxxed now with numbers raising considerably.  Once again...cruising is a want...not a need.  

 

Enjoy your cruise...assuming you are actually cruising?  I board on Sunday.  

[TAMUPhD]

I have been in touch with my sister, who is onboard with her family of 5 and all fully vaccinated, since they departed.  I was texting with her mainly out of jealousy since they were cruising and we still have 19 days until we are on one in January.  Unfortunately, they were contacted that their vaccinated, teenage son was a close contact for someone that tested positive while onboard.  He was immediately told to quarantine in the cabin (this was Sunday).  Yesterday he was tested and also came up positive.  He is now in the isolation area of the ship with his father (one parent had to isolate with him since he is a minor).  The son reported that all of those in their group that were around the original positive have also tested positive.  Apparently they are only able to "order" from a menu containing 5 items (hot dogs, hamburgers, etc..).  She says it was been an absolute cluster trying to get him tested and how they organized the quarantine and that it appears the two are quarantined in a sectioned off crew area called the "red zone" (barren cabin, no carpet).  She is beside herself.  Obviously one never expects this to happen to them and there is a risk right now but their "dream" Christmas vacation that they saved up for is ending in tears.

[topnole]

11 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

I stated my opinion.  You can disagree all you want...I don't care.  I won't argue with you. 

 

I still hold to my opinion that ships need to go with 100% vaxxed now with numbers raising considerably.  Once again...cruising is a want...not a need.  

 

Enjoy your cruise...assuming you are actually cruising?  I board on Sunday.  

None of our opinions matter.  The only voice we get is with our $s.  If people stop sailing enough and they determine enough vaccinated adults won’t pick Royal due to non vax cruisers, they may change the policy.  But you are going and clearly are not too concerned about unvaccinated being onboard or you wouldn’t go.  So long as folks like you still cruise Royal in spite of your preference of policy, I suspect they will continue as they have it.  
 

Now if there was scientific evidence suggesting unvaccinated passengers were the problem, I’m sure they might change the policy.  But that simply isn’t the case right now. So changing policy would just be window dressing at this point. If research proves kids are an issue with Omicron, I bet they do change policy.  Or the wave passes so quickly it won’t matter.  Time will tell.  

[coaster]

 

9 minutes ago, TAMUPhD said:

 She says it was been an absolute cluster trying to get him tested and how they organized the quarantine and that it appears the two are quarantined in a sectioned off crew area called the "red zone" (barren cabin, no carpet).  She is beside herself.  Obviously one never expects this to happen to them and there is a risk right now but their "dream" Christmas vacation that they saved up for is ending in tears.

Learning more about the red zone the more people seem to be ending up there. No carpet seems very depressing. Like a jail cell. Do they have at least a window?