Royal follow Carnival PLEASE!

[toocruisin2]

My two cents. 

 

I was okay with the testing and not so sure about the move to eliminate it; we used emed and it wasn't difficult. 

 

I have an upcoming cruise on Carnival Mardi Gras in September, so this definitely simplifies things for us; my next Royal cruise in in December. And yes, with or without the testing, we are going on the cruises we have booked.

 

We were on Oasis last month, and we did have a few cases reported after the cruise returned home; I'd be curious to know how many people tested positive within the two day rule (now three days) and couldn't board the ship. 

 

If the number of pre-cruise positives was relatively low, then the screenings may have prevented some spread, but not all. 

 

 

[zanydoc]

10 minutes ago, mickeychicky said:

No prize for third place.....we have already booked Carnival (which I dislike with a passion) and Norwegian.  Royal lost out on my $$.

Yep! We just went on a Carnival 2 weeks ago which, by the way was actually quite fun! Although, my hubs dearly missed the flowrider, lol! And just booked NCL for Christmas as well. But, I do have a couple of Royals booked and am hoping for dropped testing by then...October 1st and Nov 13th. 

[ReneeFLL]

2 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

It's coming don't you worry. And if any ports want to keep testing in place just skip them altogether and let them beg the cruise lines to return.

Why? They are doing what they feel is best for their countries. 

 

1 hour ago, zanydoc said:

...but they will continue to lose out if they don’t follow suit with the other cruise lines who are dropping COVID requirements....

When their ships are sailing full they aren’t losing out so I don't know where you are getting this from.

[ReneeFLL]

1 hour ago, mickeychicky said:

No prize for third place.....we have already booked Carnival (which I dislike with a passion) and Norwegian.  Royal lost out on my $$.

So you're putting your money on a cruise with a company that you hate? That's real smart. 🙄 Royal is sailing full so they won't miss it.

[mickeychicky]

1 minute ago, ReneeFLL said:

So you're putting your money on a cruise with a company that you hate? That's real smart. 🙄 Royal is sailing full so they won't miss it.

When you've been banned from cruising for 2 YEARS for being punished for personal health choices, darn right.  Don't really care if Royal misses it or not.

[clskinsfan]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Why. It is an added level of protection for the crew and passengers. People are still cancelling due to failing tests. So long as that is happening, testing is doing its job. 

Yet people are still getting covid on every single cruise. How is it doing its job exactly.

[Starry Eyes]

55 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

When their ships are sailing full they aren’t losing out so I don't know where you are getting this from.

Summer cruises are sailing full.  What happens in fall when the kids are back in school, hurricane season is at/near it’s peak, and competitor are not requiring tests?  Will they still be full without major fare cuts?  🤷‍♀️ 

[RandomUser123]

I sail on October 29th, I am thinking I will not need to test. 

[2chiefs]

4 minutes ago, RandomUser123 said:

I sail on October 29th, I am thinking I will not need to test. 

You absolutely won't need to test.

Unfortunately, RCL might need you to test.... (just joking but I hope you are correct - our next cruise is December, and we are hoping for the same thing.)

[clskinsfan]

32 minutes ago, RandomUser123 said:

I sail on October 29th, I am thinking I will not need to test. 

I am with you if you are on Allure. I think we are good. Testing should be done by then IMO.

[binro01]

1 minute ago, clskinsfan said:

I am with you if you are on Allure. I think we are good. Testing should be done by then IMO.

I’m on Allure on the 29th too. We are going with the assumption that testing will not be required by then. I will adjust if come 30 days out and no change from Royal occurs. I have some free gub’ment tests coming via the postal service. If needed I’ll get that proctored with one of the proctored test providers to keep the cost down.

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Why? They are doing what they feel is best for their countries. 

 

When their ships are sailing full they aren’t losing out so I don't know where you are getting this from.

Getting rid of testing doesn't affect current cruises. It's the future ones when the casual cruiser is trying to decide which line to pick and sees other ones that don't require a test anymore.

[ReneeFLL]

2 hours ago, clskinsfan said:

Yet people are still getting covid on every single cruise. How is it doing its job exactly.

It helps to cut down on it. It will never fully eliminate it. I don't see why it's so hard for some people to understand.

 

20 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Getting rid of testing doesn't affect current cruises. It's the future ones when the casual cruiser is trying to decide which line to pick and sees other ones that don't require a test anymore.

There are plenty of cruisers who aren't bothered by the testing. There are alo some that are, but they will still do it.

[smokeybandit]

6 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

It helps to cut down on it. It will never fully eliminate it. I don't see why it's so hard for some people to understand.

 

There are plenty of cruisers who aren't bothered by the testing. There are alo some that are, but they will still do it.

There are many who aren't loyal to a cruise line who did it because every cruise line required it. Now that some do and some don't, it changes the options.

[vadersprincess12]

8 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Carnival no longer requires testing for 16 day or less cruises. Some restrictions on the ports only. Hopefully Royal will follow.

I totally agree ~ with Royal it's a 6 night or longer cruise that you have to be tested for.  I just don't understand the difference between a 5 night or an 8 night.  You're on the ship with everyone else so what difference does a few extra days make?

[A&L_Ont]

3 hours ago, mickeychicky said:

When you've been banned from cruising for 2 YEARS for being punished for personal health choices, darn right.  Don't really care if Royal misses it or not.

To be fair, most everyone was banned for 1 of those 2 years from all lines.

[ReneeFLL]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Getting rid of testing doesn't affect current cruises. It's the future ones when the casual cruiser is trying to decide which line to pick and sees other ones that don't require a test anymore.

If someone is going to change cruise lines over a very simple test then what can I say?  🤣🤣🤣

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, ReneeFLL said:

If someone is going to change cruise lines over a very simple test then what can I say?  🤣🤣🤣

As I mentioned above, not everyone is loyal to a cruise line.

And the CDC has now admitted that asymptomatic people shouldn't be testing  just for the heck of it.

[ReneeFLL]

5 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

As I mentioned above, not everyone is loyal to a cruise line.

And the CDC has now admitted that asymptomatic people shouldn't be testing  just for the heck of it.

I’m not saying everyone is or should be loyal to Royal. What I find silly is if someone finds a cruise they like that they won’t take it because of some very simple test. To each their own. I know I won’t let a simple test stop me from a not taking a cruise with Royal or any other company and I certainly would NEVER take a cruise on a cruise line that I hated.

[Concretemanstan]

I think that some people (after such a tough two and a half years) are so in need of a holiday (us included) that they would rather go a cruise that wasn't perfect for them but didn't require testing instead of going on a cruise that was perfect, did require testing and then you test positive a couple of days beforehand.  That's got to be tough to take mentally.  It's about weighing up the pros and cons and each person's individual circumstances.  Of course there are other holidays to take outside of cruises but some people will just want/need to cruise (could be to offload the kids in the kids club, fear of flying, etc. I can't judge)

[Funkytown83]

I can‘t imagine how they are going to protect the crew if in the coming months they are (probably) going to loose the vaccine and testing requirement for the passengers?! As most ships are sailing at or over 100%, covid will spread like a wildfire onboard. I know that the precruise testing isn’t perfect, but I think it was and is key for cruising at the moment. Anyway, I am happy to board Voyager on Sunday for a b2b where everybody still must be tested and vaccinated 😊 

[Concretemanstan]

Without sounding like a pessimist, you HOPE you can board Voyager on Sunday.  You could be asymptomatic and test positive.  The question is would you be for or against testing if that happened?

[Funkytown83]

38 minutes ago, Concretemanstan said:

Without sounding like a pessimist, you HOPE you can board Voyager on Sunday.  You could be asymptomatic and test positive.  The question is would you be for or against testing if that happened?

Of course that is possible and would be a huge blow, if we couldn’t go because of a positive test. But I would still be pro tests, because I think that’s what made cruising possible again. I had covid last year and didn’t die, but a lot of people did. I know that also a lot of people die because of the flue, but covid on a tight and busy ship with no one beeing tested will spread faster than anything else… I also might be wrong and cruising is going to work in the winter without vaccination and testing requirement, but I seriously doubt that. But it will hold me back from booking a new cruise for a while.. We did three cruises after the restart so far… 

[Concretemanstan]

You always have to do what you think is right for you and your family.  You can't and shouldn't rely on anyone else to protect you.  COVID, the vaccine and testing has divided so many cruisers.  Just out of interest, what will be your criteria for booking another cruise?  As the CDC has dropped quite a bit of guidance recently I imagine obtaining data on positive cases, etc., is going to be very difficult now?

[cloud_nine]

8 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

I’m not saying everyone is or should be loyal to Royal. What I find silly is if someone finds a cruise they like that they won’t take it because of some very simple test. To each their own. I know I won’t let a simple test stop me from a not taking a cruise with Royal or any other company and I certainly would NEVER take a cruise on a cruise line that I hated.

The problem is, many people don't have a lot of holiday time, or they don't have a whole lot of control over when they can take that holiday time. So if, for instance, someone only had a week's holiday to take and once they had booked that holiday time off they had to take it, they are not going to be booking a cruise line that requires testing as come two days before, they might test positive asymptomatically and then their only holiday time is scrapped. Yes the test is simple, but it's the uncertainty of not knowing if you're going to test positive or not and being unable to take your holidays. So, I can understand people picking a cruise line that doesn't test, over one that does even if the one that does is their first choice of cruise usually.