Royal's start up vs carnival's

[barbeyg]

Just like during this entire pandemic, circumstances are fluid, and change from week to week. I’m sure the same will go for the ‘rules’. 🙂 They will probably be in flux for a while longer.

 

What I see as I read the live reviews is RCI trying out different scenarios and I think they will probably settle on standards as time passes. I’m just hoping things continue to go well with the cruises, and those of us vaccinated will be set free from 😷 if we choose to be.  Masking should be a personal choice if you have had the vaccinations, IMO. 
 

Edited to add: does anyone know the vaccinated % on the Carnival ship? 🙂Isn’t it 100%, as some news reports have insinuated by stating the CCL required proof of vaccination?  If so, the relaxed rules are more understandable.

Edited July 4, 2021 by barbeyg

[Brucemcdou]

12 hours ago, zpdw484 said:

So Royal Caribbean sails the freedom at approximately 30% capacity with 93% vaccinated guests instead of the much less restrictive 95%. Now due to that 2% everyone is having to mask indoors, wear wrist bands, etc.  Meanwhile carnival sailed the Vista today at approx 75% capacity with no masking, self serve buffet, etc. It is interesting the different approaches the two lines are taking. I am not a carnival fan at all but from a business perspective their way seems more logical. It will be interesting to see how it plays out for both.

I'm not privy to the decision making in the RCCL executive suites, but it seems to me that Royal is just following the laws in the respective jurisdictions: Sailings from Florida are not allowed to require all passengers be vaccinated, so they follow the law.  Sailings from Europe, or the Bahamas do allow a company to require all passengers to be vaccinated, so they do.  

 

I am sure Royal would prefer to keep it simple and protect their passengers but different laws do not allow them to do so.  

[coldflame]

1 hour ago, Mikew0805 said:

Some folks (not saying this poster) just need to feel like they are a "higher class" than others. There is nothing higher class about RCI vs. CCL/NCL/MSC. I have heard it said so many times on a royal ship when someone is referring to a CCL ship that is nearby/next to us. Usually, these people cause me bruise my frontal lobe from all the eye rolling.

 

I don't know about the experience on the ships other than 2nd hand accounts, but first hand experiences several times is their younger passenger base ruin the experience for everyone else on ports of call. Things I've seen from Carnival PAX that I have not seen from any other PAX from any other line: yelling and screaming profanities at establishment managers, large group leaving a significant amount of trash in a beach, two passengers engage in a vicious physical and verbal fight, a passenger physically assault a private-beach manager who was asking them to respect other guests, pax vomiting at the pier and that's from the top of my head. Are the majority of Carnival PAX like that? No, of course not, but given those episodes I don't think it's unreasonable to think that pretty much all other cruise lines are better than Carnival.

[time4u2go]

2 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

Some folks (not saying this poster) just need to feel like they are a "higher class" than others. There is nothing higher class about RCI vs. CCL/NCL/MSC. I have heard it said so many times on a royal ship when someone is referring to a CCL ship that is nearby/next to us. Usually, these people cause me bruise my frontal lobe from all the eye rolling.

I definitely agree with this.  For whatever reason, some people want to think that RCI is somehow better than Carnival.

[zpdw484]

It will be interesting to see the passenger count and vaccination rate of today's sailing of carnival horizon out of Miami

[not-enough-cruising]

11 hours ago, HicksRA said:

Carnival sailed from Texas. Freedom from Florida. 
Maybe had something to do with it. 

 

10 hours ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

 

 

Absolutely! 

 

 

 

The fact that the Carnival cruise was out of Galveston is a huge factor. Even Royal has said for August embarkation from Galveston it will be a vaccine required situation; completely different than Florida. 

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, Moltar said:

Could have something to do with the whole anti-vax/anti proof movement so to say in FLA which is massively slowing down back to normal cruising out of that state and causing more restrictions on board. Sail out of Texas if you can or the Bahamas.

This is completely false.  The restrictions and impositions to vaccinated passengers for cruises out Florida are no different than what is happening in WA which is a vaccine required state.  Florida has nothing to do with Royal's decisions;.  It baffles me that people have such political bias that they can't see this obvious fact!

Edited July 4, 2021 by Tree_skier

[zpdw484]

9 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

This is completely false.  The restrictions and impositions to vaccinated passengers for cruises out Florida are no different than what is happening in WA which is a vaccine required state.  Florida has nothing to do with Royal's decisions;.  It baffles me that people have such political bias that they can't see this obvious fact!

Aren't you the one who received the protocols for the upcoming serenade Alaska cruise that are basically the same as the Florida sailings? 

[Tree_skier]

Just now, zpdw484 said:

Aren't you the one who received the protocols for the upcoming serenade Alaska cruise that are basically the same as the Florida sailings? 

I didn't received them i just commented on the post they advised they received them . However, they are now available on Royal's website for all to see.  For vaccinated passengers there isn't a dime worth of difference between cruises leaving Seattle and Miami.  

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, Brucemcdou said:

Sailings from Bahamas do allow a company to require all passengers to be vaccinated, so they do.  

Cruises from the Bahamas are not 100% vaccinated. Our cruise was 94% vaccinated. The following week was around 92%. And, at least on our cruise, the rules for unvaccinated passengers were not being enforced. 

[Jimbo]

21 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I didn't received them i just commented on the post they advised they received them . However, they are now available on Royal's website for all to see.  For vaccinated passengers there isn't a dime worth of difference between cruises leaving Seattle and Miami.  

That can't be making you happy, mask worn for everyone inside I guess right? except when actively eating or drinking?

 

That's not exactly what you signed up for is it?

Edited July 4, 2021 by Jimbo

[fair-winds39]

10 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Carnival has a long history of anything goes on their ships, so it doesn’t surprise me that they are trying to get back to normal as soon as possible. I realize everyone has different expectations when it comes to cruising, but the anything goes mentality on Carnival ships is why we will never sail on Carnival again. 

What’s “the anything goes mentality” supposed to mean?

[Tree_skier]

51 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

That can't be making you happy, mask worn for everyone inside I guess right? except when actively eating or drinking?

 

That's not exactly what you signed up for is it?

It's disappointing but I'm just looking forward to being on a ship at this point.  I'm hoping things change for August when vaccination age requirement goes from 16 to 12.  

[ronandcarla]

I do realize this happened to us I think back in 1993 and that was a long time ago, but on our very first family trip our  Travel Agent said to us that if we were considering Carnival Cruise Line we would have to sign an Affidavit of Hold Harmless to the Travel Agency; so with that said that's how we ended up traveling with Royal only.  So we'll stick with Royal, etc.

[firefly333]

15 minutes ago, ronandcarla said:

I do realize this happened to us I think back in 1993 and that was a long time ago, but on our very first family trip our  Travel Agent said to us that if we were considering Carnival Cruise Line we would have to sign an Affidavit of Hold Harmless to the Travel Agency; so with that said that's how we ended up traveling with Royal only.  So we'll stick with Royal, etc.

Odd I've cruised both lines many years and this is the very first time ive ever read this. 

 

I do know a cc member turned travel agent who told me booking carnival is really not worth her time. I gather carnival pays agents a smaller commission or perhaps harder to collect idk, but I have run into this before but not once for this  reason. Crazy. I'm not a ta but I think there is reticence to book carnival. They must not pay well. 

 

I'm loyal to my own pocket book. I just want to cruise.

[John&LaLa]

4 hours ago, coldflame said:

 

I don't know about the experience on the ships other than 2nd hand accounts, but first hand experiences several times is their younger passenger base ruin the experience for everyone else on ports of call. Things I've seen from Carnival PAX that I have not seen from any other PAX from any other line: yelling and screaming profanities at establishment managers, large group leaving a significant amount of trash in a beach, two passengers engage in a vicious physical and verbal fight, a passenger physically assault a private-beach manager who was asking them to respect other guests, pax vomiting at the pier and that's from the top of my head. Are the majority of Carnival PAX like that? No, of course not, but given those episodes I don't think it's unreasonable to think that pretty much all other cruise lines are better than Carnival.

 

If you cruise enough, you'll see fights break out on Royal. I saw a doozy in the Aqua Theater. 

 

And wine throwing in Opal Theater

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, ronandcarla said:

I do realize this happened to us I think back in 1993 and that was a long time ago, but on our very first family trip our  Travel Agent said to us that if we were considering Carnival Cruise Line we would have to sign an Affidavit of Hold Harmless to the Travel Agency; so with that said that's how we ended up traveling with Royal only.  So we'll stick with Royal, etc.

 

Hold Harmless 🤣

 

We sailed Carnival a lot in the 90's never heard of that

[cruisequeen4ever]

I think time will tell which cruise line does a better job. We’ll have to compare actual

customer experiences to know for sure. 

[Sunshine3601]

17 hours ago, zpdw484 said:

So Royal Caribbean sails the freedom at approximately 30% capacity with 93% vaccinated guests instead of the much less restrictive 95%. Now due to that 2% everyone is having to mask indoors, wear wrist bands, etc.  Meanwhile carnival sailed the Vista today at approx 75% capacity with no masking, self serve buffet, etc. It is interesting the different approaches the two lines are taking. I am not a carnival fan at all but from a business perspective their way seems more logical. It will be interesting to see how it plays out for both.

Freedom is sailing currently with 85% vaccinated per announcement made onboard.  The 93% is royals math on 100% crew vaccinated and 85% passengers vaccinated.

I believe carnival is sailing with 95% vaxxed??  Not sure I dont sail carnival so I have not followed their protocols.

[coffeebean]

15 hours ago, HicksRA said:

Carnival sailed from Texas. Freedom from Florida. 
Maybe had something to do with it. 

I don't think so. Celebrity Edge sailed from FLL with 98% vaxxed on board. They offered for their passengers to VOLUNTEER their proof of vaccine. Royal has chosen to do the test cruises so they can allow more than 5% un-vaxxed on board because they have a large family following. Royal could have gone the route that Celebrity did and stay within the law but they chose not to.

[SRQbeachgirl]

13 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Carnival has a long history of anything goes on their ships, so it doesn’t surprise me that they are trying to get back to normal as soon as possible. I realize everyone has different expectations when it comes to cruising, but the anything goes mentality on Carnival ships is why we will never sail on Carnival again. 

 

I have cruised both CCL (5 cruises) and RCI (2) and have yet to see this purported "anything goes." I suspect this is an urban legend spread by people to make themselves feel superior and who have either never been on a Carnival cruise or haven't in the last 20 years.  

[coffeebean]

8 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

And as a parent the reality sounds great to me! 

 

 

Will my kids be able to participate in the youth program on board?

Camp Ocean™: You should know that we do not currently plan to offer our supervised children’s programs on your cruise in order to minimize the risk for children under 12 who were granted an exemption because they could not be vaccinated.

Circle “C”® & CLUB O2®: Given that teens sailing will be vaccinated, the teen clubs will operate as usual. However, any unvaccinated children/teens who have been approved to sail will not be able to participate in our youth programs for the time being.

Carnival is playing it very safe for the younger kids on board. Kudos to them. Anyone know if Royal is going to operate their kid's club with un-vaxxed kids on board?

[coffeebean]

7 hours ago, Moltar said:

Could have something to do with the whole anti-vax/anti proof movement so to say in FLA which is massively slowing down back to normal cruising out of that state and causing more restrictions on board. Sail out of Texas if you can or the Bahamas.

Sailing out of Florida is not causing more restrictions for Celebrity or NCL who plans to sail with 100% vaxxed passengers (if they ever do sail out of Florida). Only Royal has lots of restrictions because of the unlimited amount of un-vaxxed on board. They were lucky Freedom sailed with 93% vaxxed but that may not be the case for any other times their ships sail. If a ship has a certificate from a successful test cruise, the cruise line can sail with an unlimited amount of un-vaxxed on board and that is when all the restrictions come into play.

 

Cruise lines that stick with the 95% vaxxed passengers, sail with no restrictions for any passengers on board and offer their passengers an experience much like pre-Covid times.

[coffeebean]

6 hours ago, Brucemcdou said:

I'm not privy to the decision making in the RCCL executive suites, but it seems to me that Royal is just following the laws in the respective jurisdictions: Sailings from Florida are not allowed to require all passengers be vaccinated, so they follow the law.  Sailings from Europe, or the Bahamas do allow a company to require all passengers to be vaccinated, so they do.  

 

I am sure Royal would prefer to keep it simple and protect their passengers but different laws do not allow them to do so.  

Celebrity asked their passengers if they would VOLUNTEER their vaccine proof. Celebrity did not require vaccine proof and allowed 5% un-vaxxed on board so they are sticking with the letter of the Florida law.

 

NCL plans to sail with 100% vaxxed passengers from Florida and I still don't know how they plan to get around the law because their passengers must provide proof of vaccination. It remains to be seen when NCL finally does sail from a Florida port how they work around the Florida law.

[coffeebean]

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Cruises from the Bahamas are not 100% vaccinated. Our cruise was 94% vaccinated. The following week was around 92%. And, at least on our cruise, the rules for unvaccinated passengers were not being enforced. 

Well, isn't THAT special? Makes me want to get right on a Royal ship with un-vaxxed passengers without masks on their faces. NOT!!!!

 

There will most certainly be a problem with transmission of the virus among the un-vaxxed passengers if protocols are not enforced. Hope Royal's protocols don't disrupt the cruise for the rest of the passengers if there is an outbreak on board among the un-vaxxed.