mek

No - I live in Cincinnati, OH. If I lived in Florida I probably wouldn't be as stressed out about this October cruise.

Well, I plan to take some of the test kits I got from the government with us and if we feel unwell and test positive we will remain in our cabin - we can sit on our balcony when the room is serviced - but there is the problem - will we be reported if someone realizes we haven't left for several days? I'm not the least bit worried about Covid on the ship - I simply do not want to be sent to a quarantine cabin. I can be responsible and remain in my cabin, if necessary. Also, my husband is disabled and can't sit in a car for the amount of time it would take us to drive 1,000 miles to Ft Lauderdale and honestly, I have no desire to do that either.

Unless a person lives close enough to drive to the cruise port - everything, IMO, is stressful about cruising. Getting a test 2 days prior to departure is a PITA - especially if you like to go 2 days early. Flying is a mess. After you have jumped through all of the hoops to get on board, there is the nagging possibility of testing positive on the ship and being forced to leave a nice cabin and balcony and quarantined to an OV cabin. Then if you do test positive on a cruise, you have to figure out how to get home w/o possibly infecting other people. Fully vaccinated including 2 boosters - not at all concerned about getting Covid , but I am concerned about having a crappy vacation.

Thanks - so I can use the test kits provided by the government or something else?

So we're not cruising until mid October and I realize things can change overnight, but right now what is the easiest way to get the pre-cruise test completed? I don't want to have to install apps on my phone or mess with anything other than getting the test and having the results quickly before we have to fly to FLL the day before departure.

For multiple reasons I really would like to take this cruise, but as I get closer to final payment I'm getting cold feet. I'm vaxxed and double boosted and I don't have any concerns about Covid or being exposed to it, but getting to the ship and actually being able to relax seems unlikely.

I never have cared about problems getting home - I just worry about getting to the ship and making it onboard.

No, it really isn't. Final payment is due in a few weeks for our October cruise that has been changed 3X and honestly, I wish I could just get out of it. I have a NRD, and just might let it go. After messing with the pre-cruise tests, booking (very expensive), flights and hoping there aren't any problems, we still have to worry about getting Covid on the ship and sent to the naughty rooms,(which ultimately may be the deal breaker.)

OP - I also hate to see a dirty carpet in a restaurant - makes me wonder about things I can't see.

Loved our hump cabin on Serenade, but we are not sensitive to noise.

Indeed - who knows? 1. People are positive, but have no idea because they are asymptomatic. 2. People have mild symptoms, but brush it off as a cold or something non-Covid 3.People suspect or know they have Covid, but don't want to go to a quarantine cabin and would like to stay in their own, but are afraid if they don't leave they will be reported. (The really stupid result of isolation cabins at this point.) As summer progresses it will be interesting to see how many outbreaks happen, how cruise ships handle it, and if the news media picks up on it.

I would agree that there aren't any easy answers, but I would argue that at this point in the pandemic/epidemic, that it is totally unnecessary to remove positive passengers from their existing cabins and move them to a quarantine area. I think most people would be responsible and stay isolated if they could do that, but there will always be people who won't - just like people who won't report being sick and will be out and about because they don't want to move from their own cabin.

Sorry, but IMO the reality is Covid is with us and apparently will be for a long time. It seems to have reached a point where the illness is mild with some people experiencing no symptoms at all and hospital rates are low. I, (along with the majority of people), are back to living their lives pretty much the way it was pre-covid and I see no reason why cruise ships shouldn't operate the same way. It makes no sense to continue acting like it's 2020 - 2021. Just my opinion.

"COVID: Covid was rampant on the ship all you heard wherever you went was coughing, I had friends who were quarantined and was told that they ran out of rooms and having them quarantine in there own cabin." This is the way it should be for everyone - get rid of the isolation cabins and just let positive people quarantine in their own cabins. Also, the pre-cruise testing isn't preventing cases on the ship, so really pointless.

It has been my experience on the Alaska cruises we have taken,(except for the first one in 1990), that most people are very casual, even on "Formal' Nights and there isn't anything I've experienced as a semi-formal night on any cruise in the past 20 years. Remember that with the exception of the formal night, most people in Alaska will be out sightseeing and many times will only have time to make it to the dining room wearing what they had on during the day. You will see a lot of jeans, sweatshirts, and sweaters at dinner on any night. If you and your group like dressing up, by all means do so, but don't worry about being out of place if you don't.

Many times in the past my husband and I simply sit out on the balcony while the room is being serviced, but it sounds as if that would cause an alarm to go off under current conditions.

Do they scan your card when you are in the Windjammer?

It would be a polite request - certainly not rude or demanding; however, you are correct about probably not the best time to cruise with lower expectations. I'm only taking my October cruise because I booked it late 2019 - long before Covid with a NRD, and I have postponed it 3x and I'm frankly at the point where I just want to go and make the best of it. That more than likely means it will be my last cruise until things get back to a pre covid experience - realizing that may never happen. And I'm OK with that.

Interesting. My last Royal cruise was in 2018 and I don't recall ordering everything at once. So is it possible to ask that your appetizer be served first and please come back for the dessert order? Short staffed or not, I don't like my food served that way and I may or may not want dessert.

I don't understand why there can't be an outside area that can be provided for Covid positive people?

Why not? My insurance pays for different medications and shots required when I travel internationally to select locations.

We stayed on a similar type cabin on a Princess cruise to Alaska and absolutely loved it.

Does anyone know how far out we can make an appointment for a proctoring service?

I do plan do bring my own tests with me; however, I would have to feel really bad and/or have a temperature before I would self test. I don't test if I have sniffles at home and probably wouldn't do it on a cruise.

I guess we all have our comfort levels with risk. Personally, I have no problems being around unvaxxed people, while there are many who still think it's best to avoid them. Hopefully things will be better by October and the cruise lines might be more reasonable and let people remain in their cabins, if they are positive.