Concretemanstan

To be honest I'm not bothered about whether it's Coke or Pepsi. I quite enjoy both so I would definitely err on the side of the latter with regards to your question. In the UK we use Coke as a generic term for all the cola's but hopefully they have Diet Pepsi or Pepsi Max on Carnival? I've had the Barcadi spiced rum before and it wasn't very nice in my opinion but it is what it is. Just happy to be cruising abroad again!

I had no idea about this! And I am the husband!

I've heard Oct 11th as well.

We head there at the end of October.

I would think they are moving very quickly on the structural reports as each ship that doesn't berth is lost revenue

I would be extremely surprised if the pier wasn't open again and ready for use by cruise ships within the next few days.

Nice.. So the poor things can see where they are supposed to live.. So near yet so far. Please have a good think before going to see them.

I couldn't agree more! We are on Royal in mid October and I am at a complete loss as to why they haven't dropped the testing requirements yet.

It is extremely confusing at the moment. They really need to align themselves.

This is from the Celebrity website accessed from here in the UK

Yeah I think Carnival were last up! I remember as I did a happy dance as we're on a Carnival cruise in October. We have a Royal cruise the week before the Carnival one so hopefully there will be another happy dance at some point this week!

Well Carnival followed P&O, which followed Cunard almost by the hour last week in announcing the testing changes so maybe Royal will follow Celebrity too?

UK celebrity site also showing no testing for cruises 9 nights or less from US ports. I expect that RCI will follow very soon. A bit like Carnival followed P&O and Cunard on the same day

We are doing the reverse. To the US from the UK and my wife has been stressing. Try and take some solace from the fact that you are much more likely to test negative than test positive. The odds are in your favour!

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.

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

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?

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?

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)

I don't understand

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

I really hope they do drop the testing like Carnival. We have a cruise booked for mid October from Miami and will be travelling to the US from the UK. It would be great to not have the extra stress associated with testing for the vaccinated. Do we think RCI will lose bookings to Carnival/NCL if they don't remove the testing soon?

Yeah but you're still here to cruise again!

If you do it will be very mild if you've had the vaccine