Odyssey Rome inaugural season moved to Israel

[Ethanol95]

1 minute ago, Bobal said:

 

They go on sale on 9th March https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1498/royal-caribbean-says-shalom-israel-with-odyssey-of-the-seas-debut/?fbclid=IwAR2t0gNkYHYR99aGH21YC46uPE9Y7x8xLqdd2Tfr0ujTts_lfFEWDdKBPSY

Was referring to Singapore sailings.

[Bobal]

1 minute ago, Ethanol95 said:

Was referring to Singapore sailings.

Oops sorry, since this thread was about Odyssey I jumped in too quickly without reading the post to which you were responding

[TheMastodon]

5 hours ago, zjc said:

 

I'm not sure why but it makes me feel less valued as a customer, that I'm not good enough anymore because my country isn't a raving success story with vaccines. 

 

Life isn't fair.  They need revenue

[Ethanol95]

Just now, Bobal said:

Oops sorry, since this thread was about Odyssey I jumped in too quickly without reading the post to which you were responding

No worries. Would be interesting to see how Sales for Odyssey do though. 

[smokeybandit]

Is it really due to Israel's vaccine success? Or is that a cover story for not getting approvals/assurances from Italy to be able to start sailing in May?

[Bobal]

1 minute ago, Ethanol95 said:

No worries. Would be interesting to see how Sales for Odyssey do though. 

 

I wouldn't imagine as well as those from Singapore. Have never called in to Haifa, but I can't imagine it's remotely as well set up as an embarkation port as Singapore, where I have cruised from on several occasions. Also no idea about the for desire for cruising amongst Israelis, whereas I know there is a real enthusiasm for it from Singaporean residents.

[Ourusualbeach]

21 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

My friend just tried to book a sailing, and he can't even find availability. 

Deleted

Edited March 1, 2021 by Ourusualbeach

[smokeybandit]

I wonder what security would be like at a cruise port in Israel. Their airport security is among the world's strictest.

 

Then again if only Israeli's are allowed to sail, they'd be used to amped up security.

[twangster]

If successful it's yet another reference point for the CDC to consider for application here in the US.

 

It's also opportunity for Royal to fine tune lessons learned in Singapore and learning how to work with a different government in a partnership to a successful outcome.

 

Every opportunity to sail with guests anywhere helps us all in the bigger picture of a global restart.  

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, zjc said:

 

I'm not sure why but it makes me feel less valued as a customer, that I'm not good enough anymore because my country isn't a raving success story with vaccines. 

I don't take it personally at all. I view it as an opportunity to at least get some cruises going, test out some new protocols, get an idea of how close to normal cruise life might get back to, and provide RCI with some revenue. This should certainly help me when I eventually have final payments approaching and have to make decisions.

 

I see this purely as a positive.

[Ethanol95]

4 minutes ago, Bobal said:

 

I wouldn't imagine as well as those from Singapore. Have never called in to Haifa, but I can't imagine it's remotely as well set up as an embarkation port as Singapore, where I have cruised from on several occasions. Also no idea about the for desire for cruising amongst Israelis, whereas I know there is a real enthusiasm for it from Singaporean residents.

Just googling Haifa port, it looks more of a container port rather than a cruise port. Though common globally, it doesn't look like it's infrastructure is developed for ships of this size on a long term basis. 

[NancyIL]

6 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I wonder what security would be like at a cruise port in Israel. Their airport security is among the world's strictest.

 

Then again if only Israeli's are allowed to sail, they'd be used to amped up security.

 

RCI is obviously counting on peace in the Middle East for the foreseeable future. 

[Milwaukee Eight]

16 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I wonder what security would be like at a cruise port in Israel. Their airport security is among the world's strictest.

 

Then again if only Israeli's are allowed to sail, they'd be used to amped up security.

The release says “residents”. Not sure what the airports have to do with the release. 
 

M8

[Jax129]

I was supposed to be on Odyssey June 6 but I had already decided to wait til next year. I'm hoping there will be some cruise reviews from the Odyssey this summer to get me excited for next May. 

[smokeybandit]

3 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

The release says “residents”. Not sure what the airports have to do with the release. 
 

M8

Airports aren't relevant. The question was about the security at the port as it relates to Israel's high security at airports.

[Milwaukee Eight]

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Airports aren't relevant. The question was about the security at the port as it relates to Israel's high security at airports.

I get that but what’s it have to do with Odyssey sailing out of Israel?  People are not going to be able to fly in to cruise on Odyssey just yet.  RCL/G says residents. 
 

We have flown into Israel several times. My boss has duel citizenship with Israel (born there) and the US. Israel has their act together on many things. 
 

M8

[Mapleleafforever]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I think pretty much everyone saw that coming.  The only thing needing clarification is kids under 16. 

Correct me if I'm wrong but kids are currently allowed to sail on Quantum out of Singapore are they not? And they're KSF?

[Ethanol95]

3 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but kids are currently allowed to sail on Quantum out of Singapore are they not? And they're KSF?

yes.

[Ourusualbeach]

17 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but kids are currently allowed to sail on Quantum out of Singapore are they not? And they're KSF?

Yes, but vaccinations are not required by anyone so a little different 

[Mapleleafforever]

2 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Yes, but vaccinations are not required by anyone so a little different 

Definitely. But a glimmer of hope. 

[Mapleleafforever]

6 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Yes, but vaccinations are not required by anyone so a little different 

The more I read it the more I think that only people 16 and over will be allowed to sail out of Israel. You can't make the statement that you have fully vaccinated sailings if there are unvaccinated people (kids) on board. 

 

"Royal Caribbean will be the first to offer fully vaccinated sailings, where both crew and guests above the age of 16 will be vaccinated against COVID-19"

[HBE4]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

"Details on the additional health and safety measures to be implemented by Israel and Royal Caribbean will be announced at a later date."

 

I'm guessing that the above line from the press release means no decision yet on the usual protocols - capacity restrictions, social distance, masks, etc, etc, yada, yada?

[lizzius]

Just now, Mapleleafforever said:

The more I read it the more I think that only people 16 and over will be allowed to sail out of Israel. You can't make the statement that you have fully vaccinated sailings if there are unvaccinated people (kids) on board. 

 

"Royal Caribbean will be the first to offer fully vaccinated sailings, where both crew and guests above the age of 16 will be vaccinated against COVID-19"

On the other hand, you wouldn't need to qualify an age limit in the requirement if you weren't going to make an exception for them.

 

This could also be a way to exclude children period, I suppose. There are 12-16 year old kids in vaccine trials across the country who may be vaccinated. 

[Michelle H]

So tried to get a refund as per the email, and get an error message. Send a message on Twitter out to RC to let them know since I don't think they have the Odyssey sailings yet in their algorithm as to whom can get refunds. We already have enough FCCs, I actually want money this time.

[Mapleleafforever]

Just now, lizzius said:

On the other hand, you wouldn't need to qualify an age limit in the requirement if you weren't going to make an exception for them.

 

This could also be a way to exclude children period, I suppose. There are 12-16 year old kids in vaccine trials across the country who may be vaccinated. 

Yeah, it's just too vague to know for sure. Either way there will be some people not happy with the final decision. If Royal's policy is no kids for awhile I will accept it and take my deposit refund for our Feb 2022 Odyssey Cruise and take a different type of family vacation. If we have a good time on future hypothetical family vacation will we return to cruising as a family is the question......maybe, maybe not. Time will tell. Heck, still too soon to tell if we'll even be vacationing in Feb 2022 at all.....I am optimistic that we will be though.