Ovation Turned Away Half a Dozen Unvaccinated Cruisers in Seattle

[livingonthebeach]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

And my 85 year old father doesn't know how to increase volume on ringer😉

Related to Ace by any chance? 

[jean87510]

On 8/15/2021 at 9:10 AM, Oxo said:

Agree! I'm a retiree. I got my vaccine free. Vaccines are FREE!! What is their excuse? 

the unbelievable part of this is if on a fixed income, they were probably in the age bracket 1.  could receive vaccines early as a priority. and 2.  could have been fully vaccinated for months

 

[zekekelso]

44 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

And my 85 year old father doesn't know how to increase volume on ringer😉

My 85 year old mother is still trying to figure out how to get her VCR to stop blinking 12:00. 🙂 She would never figure out the rules and what she needs to go on a cruise these days. But what she does know is how to ask for help. She’s not cruising anytime soon, but if she were, you can bet all the kids and grandkids in the family would be answering her calls and explaining things. 

[jean87510]

59 minutes ago, JMKreno said:

I think common sense is missing from a lot of people these days, not exclusive to Cruise Critic. Here in Reno, we just had a story make national news about parents who sent their kid to school despite KNOWING the child was POSITIVE for covid (they had just received their positive test) AND the child was SYMPTOMATIC. But they sent the kid to school anyway....

lol, this is nothing.  Work at school nurse office for a week.  Inept parents are common!!

[Oceansaway17]

18 hours ago, mek said:

Isn't that a great sight!

 

 

nope.  I had copy and paste it from Cruise site and I guess the link erased it after 12 hours.

 

Very  odd that a pasted image only stayed on.  I should have taken it to a word document. 

oh well

[coffeebean]

4 hours ago, JMKreno said:

I put blame on people and lack of doing ANY research and if unsure asking questions. I don't really care if people "disagree". These days it is SO common for people to be ignorant on lots of topics DESPITE easily being able to find out almost any information on any topic at any time. It's not unique to these people "not knowing the rules". You see it everywhere. Do you know how many people that buy a HOUSE have 0....0..clue on how their interest rates work, or fees for closing, or any of that?  Or willingly sign a car loan for 24% interest just because they don't even bother researching? People try to argue that "they don't have time" or "don't know how to research". I call BS. If you are spending HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS you can bother to read "financing 101". There are a million of them online. They teach you how to read the closing disclosure for irregularities, unexpected changes, how principal & interest work. The BASICS. But, people just don't care but they will invest a ton of time and effort into "hobbies" but not bother learning just the basics on other topics when they really should bother to spend 5 minutes. 

 

Another example: a family member took their kids to Disneyland for the first time (and for them). We are pretty solid Disney fans and know the park ins-and-outs quite well (tips and tricks). We provided them more information than they could ever need. We even offered to give them suggestions to avoid lines, where to stay, etc. They ended up going and complained about everything, had no plan for their days, nothing. They even spent money on parking when they stayed right across from the entrance because they "never looked at the map" or looked into it. They spent $100 on parking when they had it free AND closer to the park! I could go on. Same thing when planning cruises for the family, which I pretty much stopped doing. They all wanted to be spoon fed everything. Where to go; what to eat; how to get there; not even spend a moment looking for themselves. This is pretty typical. We sold our house a few years ago and the realtor even sent us a thank you bottle of champagne and a dinner. He called us up and said how "refreshing" it was to work with clients who actually understood the process of selling/buying and made it so much easier for them. He said most of their clients are completely clueless and don't even bother getting involved in any part of their transactions. Blows my mind really...

 

So none of this is a surprise to me....this is just a topic that drives me nuts. I don't expect people to obsessively research things they do (I read hundreds of reviews when buying a car/watch videos, for example) but there needs to be some level of "accountability" when it comes to knowing about things you are involved in. 

 

If you are going to spend thousands of dollars on a cruise, you should be able to spend a few minutes checking you have everything in order...

 

Sorry, let me get off my soapbox. 

I get your frustration. In a nutshell, the people who ran as fast as they can to the media when they were refused boarding are just so uninformed and dare I say, very ignorant indeed. They should be embarrassed for their ineptness.

Edited August 16, 2021 by coffeebean

[Ocean Boy]

Interestingly, on another thread concerning Adventure someone pointed out that on RCI's website it states that a covid PCR OR antigen test is needed within three days prior to their cruise. However, the poster received an e-mail from RCI stating a PCR test with no mention of an antigen test. So confusion is not always the fault of those who are internet and smart phone challenged, lazy, or plain stupid. 

 

I am not defending the people who are the subject of this thread. However, I can certainly understand how some folks could be denied boarding and it be no fault of their own.

[not-enough-cruising]

21 hours ago, sammi1234 said:

Per Royal’s website everyone over the age of 12 must be vaccinated except those leaving out of Florida and Texas.   However, if a cruise is leaving out of Florida everyone over 12 must be vaccinated if the cruise is going to St Thomas or the cruise won’t be able to dock and those individuals will be not able to get on board these specific itineraries.    Check Royal’s website for the most current changes. 

Incorrect information regarding TX

 

Galveston embarkation requires all those 12 and older to be vaccinated. 

[Iamcruzin]

10 hours ago, nbsjcruiser said:

Quite honestly I place a lot of the blame at the feet of DeSantis. Had he left the cruise lines and CDC to their business, the rules would have been clear from the start. Instead its constant court cases and as a result constant changing of rules. One day its ok to ask for vaccinations, the next day it isn't. One day a test at the pier is possible before boarding. The next it isn't. One day vaccinated people can cruise, the next day they can't. Some lines are asking for vaccinations, some aren't. Some lines are threatening to pull out of Florida, some lines are cancelling cruises (looking at you Celebrity) because they need to quarantine for 4 week after homeporting outside the US. Mass confusion every where you look. We spent two weeks trying to figure out if we would be able to cruise, what cruise line, what rules we'd need to know until we finally gave up. The added complexity and uncertainty not only took all the fun out of the planning phase but it left in doubt whether or not we'd even be able to step foot on the ship in 2 or 3 days even though we meet the criteria today. Just not worth it.

I have to say that I'm done with cruising for a while. My son has been doing land trips as early as last August. He is headed for Cabo San Lucas this week. He hasn't had any issues. This year he is vaccinated. Last August he was in St Thomas when they went into lock down. He still had a good time and didn't spend as much money as planned since everything had to be take out and they had to buy liquor and  make their own drinks.  Cruising is just too nerveraking right now. Wearing masks on board which I am opposed to is the least of the problems. 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Iamcruzin

[Pizzasteve]

The choice to not vaccinate is not free, it comes with a serious societal cost.  The unvaccinated are spreading the deadly delta varient and we could be living a relatively normal life with 90%+ of adults fully vaccinated, but their unfounded fears are holding the rest of us hostage.

 

*  I have no sympathy for this couple.

 

* I hope the publicity encourages people to get vaccinated.  

 

Remaining unvaccinated is a serious health risk to the whole country and among the least patriotic decisions one can make.

 

[jtwind]

The lady with the smart phone (at 0:44) looks far too young to be a retiree.  But, I guess many young people can be considered to be on a fixed income.

[LucasLikesToCruise]

23 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

Oh no.  I'm from Florida and I now live in Washington.  These 2 are world's apart.  😉

Even in Florida, South Florida and NW Florida are worlds apart. 🤪

[jean87510]

11 minutes ago, jtwind said:

The lady with the smart phone (at 0:44) looks far too young to be a retiree.  But, I guess many young people can be considered to be on a fixed income.

as expensive as Alaska is, I am really surprised anyone who doesn't have money to pay for a hotel is cruising there.  My husband and I have a lot in savings and are comfortable and we were shocked at the Alaskan prices.

[debhaynes]

On 8/14/2021 at 1:08 PM, SeaHunt said:

From Seattle news:

 

More than half a dozen cruise passengers say they were not allowed to board a Royal Caribbean vessel because they are not vaccinated.

 

But they insist the cruise line told them all they needed was a negative COVID-19 test.

 

That cruise ship set sail Friday night. And it left behind some very upset passengers. They say Royal Caribbean made them feel anything but welcome.

 

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/cruise-ship-passengers-say-they-were-barred-boarding-due-changing-covid-19-protocol/F2YWIVEOCFHHTH3ARX7JPML5GE/

I am on board Serenade OS now.  Boarded about 2 hours ago.  There were 4 people that had to get rides into town to get tested, that we saw while waiting.  However, RCL isn’t following all their “rules”.  A older couple behind us in line had their test on Thursday - 4 days before sailing.  They told the rep that they were “too busy” to go 3 days before.  The rep left to talk to someone, and came back and said it was fine and they were good to go.  A large number of us raised concerns and told the rep that they should have to go into town and get tested again.  We were told that she talked to someone at corporate and RCL gave the ok for a 4 day test period, for this couple.  

[smokeybandit]

8 hours ago, theotherchad said:

In my experience, there are lots of cruisers who don't really read the fine print.

 

Needing a vaccination for your cruise is hardly fine print these days. In fact, probably front page bold type

[pcur]

I think as many people as possible should have this link in their signatures.  I'm adding it to mine right after I post this:

 

Check you departure port for COVID requirements!!!  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise

[brillohead]

10 minutes ago, pcur said:

I think as many people as possible should have this link in their signatures.  I'm adding it to mine right after I post this:

 

Check you departure port for COVID requirements!!!  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise

That's only helpful to people who are on Cruise Critic, and they aren't the ones who need the reminder.

[pcur]

1 minute ago, brillohead said:

That's only helpful to people who are on Cruise Critic, and they aren't the ones who need the reminder.

Right, all 6 million of us per month, not to mention the friends and family all of us can tell about the web site to check the COVID requirements.

 

"More than six million people, from first-time cruisers to avid cruise fans, visit Cruise Critic each month to research and plan their cruises, connect with other cruisers and share their passion for cruising."

[libbismom]

8 minutes ago, brillohead said:

That's only helpful to people who are on Cruise Critic, and they aren't the ones who need the reminder.

And how many people on Cruise Critic ask questions that could be answered by going to the cruise website: can I bring alcohol/ water/ soda/iron/ extension cord, etc on board?  Some of the answers I’ve seen here don’t always match the official guidelines. 

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, libbismom said:

And how many people on Cruise Critic ask questions that could be answered by going to the cruise website: can I bring alcohol/ water/ soda/iron/ extension cord, etc on board?  Some of the answers I’ve seen here don’t always match the official guidelines. 

Because people's experience doesn't always match what the official guidelines say.

[BirdTravels]

On 8/14/2021 at 5:46 PM, SSBrickNJ said:

Wow! We have final payment due on Sept. 25th.

If we want to NOT go on this cruise due to all the regulations, hopefully RCCL would give us a Future Cruise Credit rather than us losing our deposit. Hopefully???

There is no “hopefully”. There are written terms and condition governing cancellation. Maybe read them before you hit the cancel key. 

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Incorrect information regarding TX

 

Galveston embarkation requires all those 12 and older to be vaccinated. 

I'm amazed how many people post incorrect information about texas. No matter how many times its said ..  .. and we cant understand how those folks going to alaska didnt know but I see time after time people posting wrong about texas who apparently think they know vaccine rules but dont know.

 

Glad I'm not cruising with kids to worry about.

 

I feel bad for anyone who cant board and I watch the guy from the Galveston parking lot videos who is contacted when someone cant board. .. 13 days from vaccination, sorry, 14 days means 14. He gets several every cruise who cant board. I'm sure more lately with covid rules. Hard to tell if people dont read or what. 

[davekathy]

44 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Because people's experience doesn't always match what the official guidelines say.

Agree and what the call center reps tell ya most of the time. 

[broadwaybaby123]

What I would like to know is how could they not have known?  It's basically plastered on every cruise site I've seen, including Vacations To Go and the Royal Caribbean website.  

 

Even if they didn't know, don't they tell you that in your cruise documents?  Or at the very least, don't they have those on the tickets?

 

Finally, in this day and age, don't you think they would have thought to call the cruise line if they weren't sure?

 

Clearly, they found the requirements for the testing (as I read that they knew about the negative test requirement), wouldn't it have also stated the vaccine requirement on the same source?

 

Inquiring minds want to know!

[mayleeman]

51 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Because people's experience doesn't always match what the official guidelines say.

 

And a lot of the questions show awareness of the rules but they are hoping to find out whether the cruise line enforces them. "Can we get away with .... ?"

Edited August 17, 2021 by mayleeman