Still alot of uncertainly as to which cruises are a go? How soon with RCCL let us know?

[Jimbo]

Anyone want to guess just how long it will be before RCCL comes out and tells everyone which cruises are a go and which ones are canceled. Plus if people are bumped from cruises just how long before people are told?

 

This unknowing is almost as bad as before when all cruises were up in the air. 

 

Anyone else feel the same way............makes it hard to get excited  about making plans for a cruise that may be for not.

[harkinmr]

5 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Anyone want to guess just how long it will be before RCCL comes out and tells everyone which cruises are a go and which ones are canceled. Plus if people are bumped from cruises just how long before people are told?

 

This unknowing is almost as bad as before when all cruises were up in the air. 

 

Anyone else feel the same way............makes it hard to get excited  about making plans for a cruise that may be for not.

In all fairness to RCCL, the changes to the CSO did just come out a couple of days ago. I’m sure they have a lot of planning to do and that will take time. More importantly, we haven’t heard anything but a very general “the changes are helpful” message from Royal. That’s not a good sign that things are going to move quickly. 

[molly361]

23 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

In all fairness to RCCL, the changes to the CSO did just come out a couple of days ago. I’m sure they have a lot of planning to do and that will take time. More importantly, we haven’t heard anything but a very general “the changes are helpful” message from Royal. That’s not a good sign that things are going to move quickly. 

True buy Royal has also had over a year to plan which ship(s) to start out with

[harkinmr]

1 minute ago, molly361 said:

True buy Royal has also had over a year to plan which ship(s) to start out with

Understood.  Not saying they have done everything they should along the way. I just think 48-72 hours is not a lot of time to drop a final plan. 

[Ourusualbeach]

I haven’t seen any cruise line release a detailed start up plan so Royal is not alone.  It will take a while for them to work out the details and to still jump through all the hoops and obstacles that the CDC has in place. 

[Vera/Lee]

18 minutes ago, molly361 said:

True buy Royal has also had over a year to plan which ship(s) to start out with

Didn't I read at one time that they planned to start with Navigator and Mariner? Things have changed a lot in the past year, so that could have changed too. 

[molly361]

Just now, Vera/Lee said:

Didn't I read at one time that they planned to start with Navigator and Mariner? Things have changed a lot in the past year, so that could have changed too. 

I think that was just more speculation nothing official

[Jimbo]

So it sounds like even though they got the go for as early as mid July, that still sounds pretty much impossible because of other hoops that have to jump through.

Even though all along they knew before hand they had those hoops to jump through.

 

So maybe a real start-up date is closer to the fall.

[cruise wizard]

I would think that TA's would be contacting their customers and finding out (and possibly documenting) if they have gotten their Covid vaccinations yet or are planning on getting them prior to their scheduled sailings. This might help prepare the passengers and cruise lines for an easier start up.

[molly361]

I would be very surprised if any sailings actually go out in July.  That said I would be okay with it since we are booked on the Mariner July 19th but I can't see them being ready by then. 

Edited May 1, 2021 by molly361

[smokeybandit]

52 minutes ago, molly361 said:

True buy Royal has also had over a year to plan which ship(s) to start out with

Plan based on what information?

[nelblu]

I'm just hoping my Oasis sail in early September comes off.  It would be nice ta sail from Bayonne on a class other than the Quantum.

 

If they cancel. will we be allowed to L&S.

Edited May 1, 2021 by nelblu

[Iamcruzin]

32 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

I would think that TA's would be contacting their customers and finding out (and possibly documenting) if they have gotten their Covid vaccinations yet or are planning on getting them prior to their scheduled sailings. This might help prepare the passengers and cruise lines for an easier start up.

I would not expect that service from those big box order taker agencies that many use but that's a good idea for the agents that actually provide service.

[cruise wizard]

2 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I would not expect that service from those big box order taker agencies that many use but that's a good idea for the agents that actually provide service.

 

We talked to our TA and he said that RCCL has not inquired about having such information but he did note that that my wife and I have been fully vaccinated and the dates. I am expecting that documentation / verification may be needed in the near future to "confirm" eligibility to conform to CDC mandates.

[harkinmr]

53 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

So it sounds like even though they got the go for as early as mid July, that still sounds pretty much impossible because of other hoops that have to jump through.

Even though all along they knew before hand they had those hoops to jump through.

 

So maybe a real start-up date is closer to the fall.

Which goes to the point that they could have been doing more leading up to now.  That being said, it was not really a "got the go", as much as a "we will work with you for a restart in mid-July provided you can do what you need to do".  The lines have a long way to go, but based on bits of information here and there they may be working on port agreements and getting protocol plans ready for review.  We'll see.

[harkinmr]

7 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

 

We talked to our TA and he said that RCCL has not inquired about having such information but he did note that that my wife and I have been fully vaccinated and the dates. I am expecting that documentation / verification may be needed in the near future to "confirm" eligibility to conform to CDC mandates.

It is unlikely that travel agents would be responsible for confirming vaccine status for any cruise clients.  The cruise lines will expect a sign-off from each passenger to both provide a record of vaccine status and enable the cruise line to directly confirm that.  It sure will be interesting to see how they intend to do it.  They are going to have to attest to passenger status to the CDC on each sailing.  So they are liable if they haven't done their due diligence.

Edited May 1, 2021 by harkinmr

[Ourusualbeach]

46 minutes ago, nelblu said:

I'm just hoping my Oasis sail in early September comes off.  It would be nice ta sail from Bayonne on a class other than the Quantum.

 

If they cancel. will we be allowed to L&S.

For all previous sailings that Royal has cancelled they have allowed a lift and shift where similar itineraries existed the following year.  All you can do is go by past performance and the fact that they did state that lift and shift would be an option for sailings they cancel. 

[Marygracie C.]

4 hours ago, nelblu said:

I'm just hoping my Oasis sail in early September comes off.  It would be nice ta sail from Bayonne on a class other than the Quantum.

 

If they cancel. will we be allowed to L&S.

hope so

[Kokomo91165]

They need to go ahead and cancel early July. We know cruises aren’t happening then bc CDC has said so. 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, Kokomo91165 said:

They need to go ahead and cancel early July. We know cruises aren’t happening then bc CDC has said so. 

What the CDC has said for the past year has not changed how Royal handles its cancellations and neither will this. 

[edspec]

As someone has already pointed out the cruise lines have a huge financial incentive to start sailing asap.  And, to be fair...a little hard to plan ahead when the rules change all the time.  Before Wednesday they still had to have test sailings, now they don't, blah, blah, blah.  I'm sure they want nothing more than to clarify sailings and get passengers booked and spending money.  

[TMLAalum]

7 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I would not expect that service from those big box order taker agencies that many use but that's a good idea for the agents that actually provide service.

We are notified by email from the big box TA. In all our bookings thru them, I have had just two reps that might meet your description. The majority of these reps are knowledgeable and customer-oriented. Of course, it helps to be a savvy cruiser who is aware of cruise line pricing, cabin selection, etc. I would cite just one example of their customer service. I noticed for a Celebrity repositioning cruise that perks were being offered on their website, which was highly unusual for that type of itinerary. The random big box rep who took my call spent three hours working with the cruise line to get us what we saw, but she could only see using her personal device, It turned out to be an error by Celebrity, but thanks to her persistence her hours of diligence netted us $400 in OBC.

[not-enough-cruising]

45 minutes ago, Kokomo91165 said:

They need to go ahead and cancel early July. We know cruises aren’t happening then bc CDC has said so. 

When did the CDC say that?

[DJLDRUMS]

9 hours ago, Jimbo said:

So it sounds like even though they got the go for as early as mid July, that still sounds pretty much impossible because of other hoops that have to jump through.

Even though all along they knew before hand they had those hoops to jump through.

 

So maybe a real start-up date is closer to the fall.

Looking realistically at everything, I'd say ...Truer words were never spoken ! Its impossible to go from 0 to 60 in this day and age.

[gretchengao]

What if Cruise line are ready at the beginning of July? Why mid July? CDC said at cruise line’s pace. Does it have to be mid July? Cruises only cancelled to the end of June now