Royal follow Carnival PLEASE!

[Funkytown83]

2 hours ago, Concretemanstan said:

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?

I am going to wait half a year and see how this plays out… If on some ships, especially on longer cruises, the cases are going to spike, we will propose hear it through media or here on CC… 

[Concretemanstan]

Sounds sensible.  I hope you get on a cruise as soon as you can.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

20 hours ago, Concretemanstan said:

 

I understand what you are saying here but cruises have always been a floating germ factory and always will be.  It goes with the territory and everyone who cruises knows that.  If you are especially vulnerable you have to make a reasoned decision as to whether cruising is the right thing for you BUT I am not here to protect you.  I already have enough people to protect and care about so you need to protect yourself.  If you are on a cruise, and are vulnerable or unjabbed, there is no pre testing and I am asymptomatic with COVID then it's on you

Ships are always cleaned and disenfected. Over and over all day. I am sure you see that. How about your grocery stores and the thousands of people in there. Touching items on the shelves and then putting them back. Fresh vegitables and fruit. Any enclosed room or building that handles thousnads of people per day. No way are they as clean as a cruise ship. So I feel far better and safer crusing.

[Charles4515]

19 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.

 

You were not banned. You made a personal choice. That was your right.  A majority made the opposite choice. I don't feel sorry for you at all. When you take a stand you shoud not whine about it. Accept the consequenses. Cruises  are not a necessity and there were plenty of other vacation options. 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Charles4515

[Concretemanstan]

2 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Ships are always cleaned and disenfected. Over and over all day. I am sure you see that. How about your grocery stores and the thousands of people in there. Touching items on the shelves and then putting them back. Fresh vegitables and fruit. Any enclosed room or building that handles thousnads of people per day. No way are they as clean as a cruise ship. So I feel far better and safer crusing.

That's a fair point.  You do see the crew working very hard keeping the place clean and I really appreciate them for it.  I shouldn't have said germ factory so I apologise.  I love cruising as much as the next person but I am aware of being in such close proximity to strangers, the risks that come with it (in any walk of life) and everyone has to make an informed decision as to whether it is safe for them or not but like I said, it is not my responsibility to protect you, it is for each individual to protect themselves.

[island lady]

I would worry more about the sardine can transfers to get to the ship.  😮 

[2chiefs]

3 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Ships are always cleaned and disenfected. Over and over all day. I am sure you see that. How about your grocery stores and the thousands of people in there. Touching items on the shelves and then putting them back. Fresh vegitables and fruit. Any enclosed room or building that handles thousnads of people per day. No way are they as clean as a cruise ship. So I feel far better and safer crusing.

Good points!!!

 

[lovescats5]

Read all the posts.  Most think the test before sailing should be cancelled and if it is not you will go to Carnival or NCL.  Will you give up your Alaska cruise because Canada still requires the negative test 2 days before sailing, and that will not go away for the rest of this year.  There is no way to go to Alaska without the test before.  How hard is the test.  Yes, for some it costs some money.  We go to CVS where we not only get the results within a half hour but they print out a paper copy for us.  A swab up the nose, both sides, and you are done.  Do I wish they would drop that, H... yes, but the test is a slight inconvience.  I hope all you going to other lines have a great time, although I have done Carnival and would not go back again even if I had to take 2 tests before sailing.  

[RoperDK]

On 8/14/2022 at 2:42 PM, zanydoc said:

Yep! We just went on a Carnival 2 weeks ago which, by the way was actually quite fun!  

Might I ask...which ship? 

[Lane Hog]

59 minutes ago, lovescats5 said:

Will you give up your Alaska cruise because Canada still requires the negative test 2 days before sailing, and that will not go away for the rest of this year.  There is no way to go to Alaska without the test before.   

Well, I'm certainly reconsidering Alaska for next June -- we have refundable deposits with RCL, and compared to other itineraries, testing for that four hour stop in Victoria is adding $900 to the cost of the cruise, even though we've all had COVID, and we're all vaccinated.

I can think of far better ways to spend that money over four hours than a brain swab.
 

 

[pcur]

I STILL don't know what the big deal is..................to me, it's just not a big deal.

 

You spend $70 for two tests (which I consider part of the cost of cruising), contact the proctor any time of the night or day, and from anywhere in the world you have an internet signal, when you need to take the test, and 20 minutes or less later you have the results.

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by pcur

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

Well, I'm certainly reconsidering Alaska for next June -- we have refundable deposits with RCL, and compared to other itineraries, testing for that four hour stop in Victoria is adding $900 to the cost of the cruise, even though we've all had COVID, and we're all vaccinated.

I can think of far better ways to spend that money over four hours than a brain swab.
 

 

Good Lord!! $900?? What is the size of your party?

[Lane Hog]

35 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Good Lord!! $900?? What is the size of your party?

$127 per test is the going rate at CVS/Walgreens.  

[blueslily]

I have no issues with the testing. I've taken several cruises since the restart on multiple lines. It's fine with me. Cant say I always want Royal to follow what Carnuval does. "Follow Carnival" is actually a phrase that cracks me up, lol. 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 hours ago, pcur said:

I STILL don't know what the big deal is..................to me, it's just not a big deal.

 

You spend $70 for two tests (which I consider part of the cost of cruising), contact the proctor any time of the night or day, and from anywhere in the world you have an internet signal, when you need to take the test, and 20 minutes or less later you have the results.

 

 

 

I have Humana suplimnt and it covers as many as I want. I do not want any. You take the test and cross your fingers.

[blueslily]

4 hours ago, lovescats5 said:

Read all the posts.  Most think the test before sailing should be cancelled and if it is not you will go to Carnival or NCL.  Will you give up your Alaska cruise because Canada still requires the negative test 2 days before sailing, and that will not go away for the rest of this year.  There is no way to go to Alaska without the test before.  How hard is the test.  Yes, for some it costs some money.  We go to CVS where we not only get the results within a half hour but they print out a paper copy for us.  A swab up the nose, both sides, and you are done.  Do I wish they would drop that, H... yes, but the test is a slight inconvience.  I hope all you going to other lines have a great time, although I have done Carnival and would not go back again even if I had to take 2 tests before sailing.  

 

Yes, plus if that means fewer folks will be on Royal ships because they are sailing with Carnival and NCL, I see that as a win for my next Royal cruise, hahhahaha. 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 minutes ago, blueslily said:

I have no issues with the testing. I've taken several cruises since the restart on multiple lines. It's fine with me. Cant say I always want Royal to follow what Carnuval does. "Follow Carnival" is actually a phrase that cracks me up, lol. 

Hello! Follow Carnival for the no test. I am not laughing. Why are you?

[blueslily]

1 minute ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Hello! Follow Carnival for the no test. I am not laughing. Why are you?

Great for folks that want to go on Carnival in order to skip a test.  I have no problem staying with Royal and doing the test. Enjoy your cruise. Good night. 

[not-enough-cruising]

21 minutes ago, Lane Hog said:

$127 per test is the going rate at CVS/Walgreens.  

$20-$25 is the going rate for at home tests 

[zanydoc]

17 hours ago, RoperDK said:

Might I ask...which ship? 

Yes, it was the Ecstasy. We sailed on the old gal because she’s ported near us. Looks like maybe near you, too? I did a little mini review and posted on Carnival forum. Very small ship, but good for a quick 4 day weekend getaway.

Edited August 16, 2022 by zanydoc

[grapau27]

On 8/15/2022 at 2:32 AM, ReneeFLL said:

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

It's not the actual test itself which costs £60 for the 2 of us.

In the UK people can go to work,get on a bus,plane,train even if they have tested positive.

After all the planning,packing, being  fully vaccinated and boosted etc we do not know if we will pass the test to be able to board until we do the test 2 days before our cruise which adds a lot of stress and takes away the excitement of our cruise until we test negative.

[mpdog42]

On 8/14/2022 at 5:23 PM, 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.

But why should Royal pass on the cost of testing to us when it's their policy???

[BND]

14 minutes ago, mpdog42 said:

But why should Royal pass on the cost of testing to us when it's their policy???

Because it's a vacation and no one is made to go on vacation.  Also, if you believe that Royal should pay it then you probably also believe that when corporations are taxed that they are the ones paying it.  

[justKirbo]

On 8/15/2022 at 2:27 AM, 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?

We are sailing in about three weeks to Alaska and have to test. We don't want to test positive so we'll be masking for sure for the two weeks prior. I work in the schools, so it'll be rampant there and we'll be as cautious as possible leading up to the cruise. 

 

I'm good with testing. Honestly, I caught something nasty on a previous cruise and wish testing for other crud were possible since folks don't mind sharing their germs.

[traveling moose]

I caught Covid hiking in Southern Utah a couple of weeks ago.  I have cruised on 3 ships in the past 8 months, and guess what???  I didn't catch Covid hiking!!  I does not matter where you are, so please drop all the mandates, including vaccinations and pre testing.