Sailings cancelled

[A&L_Ont]

4 hours ago, bajathree said:

IMO they defiantly ramped up capacity way too fast.

I see it differently. They could have ramped capacity in September and this wouldn’t have happened.  That is until the Omicron variant came along in December. It was the highly contagious variant that drove the case counts, because the vaccinated can still get it. The ship is almost fully vaccinated as well, much more than the collective US at 62%.  

[John&LaLa]

7 hours ago, iuki said:

Out of curiosity, is that the 9-month cruise on Serenade?  That would definitely be the ultimate cruise.  The longest we’ve been on a cruise was 21 days, and it did go by quickly.

 

Yes, Serenade.  Good times on her.

[steverenee]

8 hours ago, Teknodude said:

They do. And they are. I know of half a dozen on Symphony this week. 
 

maybe the use of Bankrupt is a bit emotive and I should rephrase. 
would - top down restructuring be more constructive a term? 
 

My point (again) is the side of the employee. 
Miami HQ is treating the on board crew terribly. And they can’t bare much more. 
 

they want HQ to listen to their concerns. Accept a time out and reset is needed to get the operation back to what it should be, because right now the crew on board are struggling to maintain any sort of service whatsoever. 

THANK YOU  for all of this information.  We are scheduled for January 29, but are very concerned and may cancel.  PLEASE keep the updates coming. I hope it gets better for the crew and that we are able to join them on the 29th

[Shonuffnotshort63]

17 hours ago, jdg623 said:

I just got an email from our TA saying our Serenade sailing for tomorrow (Jan8) has been cancelled. Haven't gotten official notification yet, but I was unable to do the health questionnaire this morning. Super bummer 😭

 

 

As a result of the ongoing COVID-related circumstances around the world, and in abundance of caution, we have made the tough decision to pause operations on the following ships:

 

• Jewel of the Seas sailings from Jan. 9 – Feb. 12, returning on Feb. 20, 2022
• Serenade of the Seas sailings from Jan. 8 – March 5, resuming service after her dry dock on April 26, 2022
• Symphony of the Seas sailings from Jan. 8 – Jan. 22, returning on Jan. 29, 2022
• Vision of the Seas’ return to cruising is postponed until March 7, 2022

looks like the cancellations for the 8th & 9th (because they are last minute cancel) RC is giving future cruises - JUST 8th & 9th cancellations. A little "happiness" for those having to cancel so suddenly.

• Booked guests will receive a 100% refund of all funds paid, which will be returned to the original form of payment. Additionally, a 100% Future Cruise Credit will be issued in hopes of welcoming your clients onboard with us in the future.

[Jimbo]

39 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

I see it differently. They could have ramped capacity in September and this wouldn’t have happened.  That is until the Omicron variant came along in December. It was the highly contagious variant that drove the case counts, because the vaccinated can still get it. The ship is almost fully vaccinated as well, much more than the collective US at 62%.  

I think their advisement team is flawed. They should have proceeded  with caution on their cruise ships like they did with their employees on land.

 

On land everyone is still working from home, that tells me they are still not confident having their employee's working that close together still at this time.

 

So why not do as much as you can for your employee's on the ship with still reduced passenger counts.

 

They were beginning to fill the ships to fast with no regards to their employee's or passenger's on their ships. All they saw were $$$ signs.

 

In the end it caught up to them, with  cancelled cruises and ships out of service again.......so how much did they really gain by their hasty decision.

 

Time will tell if this causes any long time effects. I'm sure the crew's morale is at an all time low right now, and in turn this will be filtered down to service on the ships for the passengers

Edited January 8, 2022 by Jimbo

[bajathree]

33 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

I see it differently. They could have ramped capacity in September and this wouldn’t have happened.  That is until the Omicron variant came along in December. It was the highly contagious variant that drove the case counts, because the vaccinated can still get it. The ship is almost fully vaccinated as well, much more than the collective US at 62%.  

Back in Sept I don't think it was the cruise lines holding back on capacity as much as actual demand. Demand for the holidays was high and the cruise lines ran with it.

[shoptom]

I was driving to Serenade when I received the cancellation text with 21 hours notice.  Turned around and lost a total of 700 miles and a hotel night I couldn't cancel because it was check in day.  Being on a casino rate means my FCC is $0.  The app sent me a check-in notice while I was typing that.

[John&LaLa]

9 hours ago, Teknodude said:

I agree. It’s not like RCI would disappear. Like UAL, or AA restructured, fixed themselves etc. 

i think the point of such a situation is new management would be drafted in by the financial institutions banks creditors etc with a view that a fresh pair of eyes on the situation might help turn it around, refocus the business. 
 

But I think talk of RCI bankruptcy is premature. I have no idea what their cash balances or lines of credit are right now. 
 

 

 

With the departure of Fain, maybe fresh eyes are coming?

[John&LaLa]

10 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Sorry to hear that. Richard Fain was a people person, who was really fond of his employees. I can imagine he wasn't happy where things were going.

 

You personally know Richard Fain🤔

 

You just see a carefully crafted image.

[John&LaLa]

9 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Out of business, really, they could  halt things for the next 6 months again and they wouldn't go out of business.

 

They were not paying furloughed employees during last shutdown. Of course Royal would survive in some form, but the crew is back on their own

[bajathree]

10 minutes ago, shoptom said:

I was driving to Serenade when I received the cancellation text with 21 hours notice.  Turned around and lost a total of 700 miles and a hotel night I couldn't cancel because it was check in day.  Being on a casino rate means my FCC is $0.  The app sent me a check-in notice while I was typing that.

This was another big issue that I saw/see the cruise lines doing...they are flooding these sailings with casino rates...ie free cruises from the casino dept. Like I found on Allure in Dec....that means that the casino is absolutely packed in like sardines even though the ship had 3400 people aboard.....the casino felt like ship was sailing at max capacity. It just seemed like there was no regard for how many people can squeeze into the casino since it's a big revenue venue. No social distancing....no capacity limit...no sanitizing of anything under those packed conditions.

Edited January 8, 2022 by bajathree

[Jimbo]

18 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

With the departure of Fain, maybe fresh eyes are coming?

 

New CEO   Finance chief Jason Liberty, 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Jimbo

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

 

How insightful

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, bajathree said:

IMO they defiantly ramped up capacity way too fast. Just like the new normal going foward is COVID is here for us to live with...so are capacity situations. No one feels comfortable packed in like sardines anymore...people want space. The new normal is reduced capacity...think the cruise lines are going to need to learn to live with that. Bit ironic that RCI operations is still working from home like many companies but they felt it OK to ramp up capacity on their ships hitting 80% or better on some especially during the holiday sailings.

The cruise lines have been obsessed with ramping up capacity for years. For a long while now it seems every time a ship went into drydock it came out with more cabins. It doesn't take a genius to know that the more people you pack into a finite space the higher the chances of problems arising and that is in normal times. Add a "plague' into the mix and all bets are off. It doesn't require a degree in public health to figure this out. The cruise line execs. couldn't wait to ramp up again and here we are. It seems corporations frequently have the shortsighted attitude of chasing a dollar today even if it costs them 10 dollars next week.

 

So here we are with ghost ships following revenue ships and, what seems to be becoming routine, shuttling of of the infected and recovered back and forth. Then we have the stessed out, short staffed crews attempting to provide us with the cruise experience we have all come to know and expect while their bosses are watching their performance.

 

Crazy times.

[ticketsunlimited]

37 minutes ago, bajathree said:

This was another big issue that I saw/see the cruise lines doing...they are flooding these sailings with casino rates...ie free cruises from the casino dept. Like I found on Allure in Dec....that means that the casino is absolutely packed in like sardines even though the ship had 3400 people aboard.....the casino felt like ship was sailing at max capacity. It just seemed like there was no regard for how many people can squeeze into the casino since it's a big revenue venue. No social distancing....no capacity limit...no sanitizing of anything under those packed conditions.

There is a report on Oasis where she shows a picture of the Casino abandoned.  Hardly anybody in there.  Like any time the casino is hit or miss.  Casino comp % of passengers you will find are comparable cruise to cruise.

[bajathree]

11 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

There is a report on Oasis where she shows a picture of the Casino abandoned.  Hardly anybody in there.  Like any time the casino is hit or miss.  Casino comp % of passengers you will find are comparable cruise to cruise.

I am not so sure about that. When I look at the list of free cruises or reduced price cruises the list seems to lean in the direction of certain ships over others.....especially if they are offers for a JS. Allure seemed to be a big one in the casino list...just like Freedom and Independence. The list of available sailings/ships thins out the higher the cabin category you go up.

Edited January 8, 2022 by bajathree

[Ken at the beach]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

On land everyone is still working from home, that tells me they are still not confident having their employee's working that close together still at this time.

Employees at the main office in Miami went back to the office in December.  The call centers remain working at home but that was a separate business decision and they will not be returning even after this is done.  far cheaper to operate from home.

[bajathree]

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Employees at the main office in Miami went back to the office in December.  The call centers remain working at home but that was a separate business decision and they will not be returning even after this is done.  far cheaper to operate from home.

Going back to the office can mean many things.....1 week in 1 week out....in office 3 days work from home 2 days....rotating staff...ect. I am also betting like most other companies....they have either paused back in office right now or have made some alterations to it.

[Ken at the beach]

1 minute ago, bajathree said:

Going back to the office can mean many things.....1 week in 1 week out....in office 3 days work from home 2 days....rotating staff...ect. I am also betting like most other companies....they have either paused back in office right now or have made some alterations to it.

I don't dispute that things may have changed I was simply pointing out an inaccuracy in the other posts statement that stated Royal was not sending people back to the office when clearly they did.

[HMR75]

Anybody  ever hear of “The Motley Fool”? 
 

its an investment letter widely circulated for a few decades.

 

it spent a lot of time analyzing the cruise line situation.

 

i am just recalling how it wrote, and speculated that the cruise lines would be back in full operation by the december 2020 high season.

as Bob Uker commented, just a wee bit off.

 

[island lady]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Yes, Serenade.  Good times on her.

 

I am still keeping my fingers crossed we can score that first leg, supposed to have been able to book last month...pushed off until next month.  Will be (errrrr...I think anyway) with you on Odyssey those first two weeks of next month...hoping to pay a visit to Next Cruise.  😉 

[island lady]

35 minutes ago, ticketsunlimited said:

There is a report on Oasis where she shows a picture of the Casino abandoned.  Hardly anybody in there.  Like any time the casino is hit or miss.  Casino comp % of passengers you will find are comparable cruise to cruise.

 

Agree.   Normally on a sea day the casino in the middle of the day is packed.  Not on Harmony.  Maybe a dozen in there at 2 pm the other day...all on slot machines.  We do our "promo" spins and leave...big gamblers...not!  😉 

 

It did smell fresh and clean in there!  🙂 

[thewebbys]

I understand about the Symphony. I saw a video of them unloading 3 bus loads of crew members to put them on Rhapsody for lockdown the other day in St Martin.

 

Finger crossed for tomorrow. Got covid-test results, all packed, just waiting to jump into the car in the morning. Got an email about the questionnaire and held my breath before opening it. This is worst than waiting 2 hours for test results.

 

 

[jillou323]

19 hours ago, D4 said:

At least you found out before your flight.

Exactly!  I'm happy about that.  And, I found out early enough that I was able to hit the grocery store before heading home.  Now, at least I have some food in the fridge.   Ah well.  It wasn't meant to be.  Now, to choose a cruise to use my FCC on....

[molly361]

Are they letting people just transfer to a different sailing in order to keep the double points?  Sorry if I missed it.