January 2022 cruising on RCL

[publicpersona]

53 minutes ago, gg255210 said:

Why would Coco Cay be canceled unless the weather was bad?

 

Coco Cay could be cancelled if the Bahamian government feels like it. They denied MSC access to their private island day before yesterday, and can do it again.

 

Definitely not saying it makes any sense .. just answering the question.

Edited December 31, 2021 by publicpersona

[karena1]

5 hours ago, beshears said:

I'm just curious.  I know RCL gave everyone the option to "cancel" out their cruise here recently because of ALL the changes, because of the virus, etc. problems it was causing when cruising, and was going to give a credit to those that wanted to do this. My question, have you decided to cancel out your cruise, or go ahead as planned? I was thinking if several canceled out, that will leave the ship even more empty, or more room for those that still plan to cruise! 🙂

We are going!  I will never cancel.  Got off Freedom for our Christmas cruise and had a great time.  Going on Freedom again next weekend with 18 family members for my sister's retirement celebration.  Royal canceled 18 of our cruises during all this stuff so no way am I canceling anything.  Have 12 booked for 2022 and plan to go on every single one of them.

[hometoosoon]

Booked for 1/23 on Oasis. We’re going. 3 out of 5 of us have recently had covid (other 2 are probably asymptomatic since they live with me - 1 of the positives). We’re ready for fun in the sun!!

[jimdalva]

We are on Brillance out of Tampa 1/8. TESTING seems to be a problem . I can't find rapid testing only the 2 day antigen test. 

[cahaz]

We are headed out on the Allure on 1/22. Unless something changes drastically we will be on that cruise. One of the first chances we have had in many years to take a kidless vacation and don’t want to give it up.

[emdia43]

I have family booked on Oasis on Jan 9th.   While it won’t be exactly the cruise they envisioned, once they run the gauntlet of Covid tests and airline cancellations they are determined to be onboard. They will adapt to whatever is required and enjoy being at sea. 
 

[shupi003]

1 hour ago, LXdad said:

We are booked on Odyssey January 23rd. Only reason we are considering cancelling is if alot of the onboard activities remain closed. We have 2 tweens (both vaccinated) and 6 days with nothing for them to do would not be a good time or worth the money. Gonna wait as long as we can to decide. 

We are also booked on the 23th, the first leg of our 1st B2B.  The only reason we would NOT go is if we tested positive pre-test.  Happy New Year!  

[suizas]

2 hours ago, LXdad said:

We are booked on Odyssey January 23rd. Only reason we are considering cancelling is if alot of the onboard activities remain closed. We have 2 tweens (both vaccinated) and 6 days with nothing for them to do would not be a good time or worth the money. Gonna wait as long as we can to decide. 

Hi!  I just booked your cruise last night!  I'm cruising solo and don't mind the seas days at all, but I understand your dilemma.  susan

[emdia43]

2 hours ago, gg255210 said:

Is missing coco cay a possibility?  I was thinking that was the one stop that we could count on.  Why would Coco Cay be canceled unless the weather was bad?

Freedom had to wait until 1330 yesterday to be allowed onto Coco Cay.  According to pax who posted, the Bahamian govt was refusing access.    I asked RCCL on their FB page to explain what had happened and they did not respond; then deleted my post. 

 

[travelhound]

7 hours ago, skagen said:

We're on Harmony for the Jan 30 sailing.

 

We were able to snag an owner's suite with free gratuities and $300 OBC for about $7500 all-in, so we're definitely going as that seems like a steal from what I've been searching lately.

 

Hate masking so I figure I'll have to "level-up" my sunscreen for this cruise :). (Doubt it happening but hoping the masking rules roll back to at least what they were before the recent changes).  Looking at how fast it Omicron has sped through South Africa and the tentatively seen better outcomes along with customer blowback of more restrictive masking I'm giving it a slight chance.  

 

But either way it's been too long to have been on a ship so unless they cancel, it's happenin' for us.

We also hope that things will improve and that they can start to relax some of the restrictions in the coming months.

[travelhound]

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Nope, if I cancel i lose

 

3 pts from a block

Hit diamond plus and additional perks

Double pts

Low cruisefare

Prepaid hotel

 

 

Good point 👍 

[Jingerwoppy]

We are on LOTS out of Galveston on 1/23 and we are currently still planning to go as of now. When we signed up we were planning to stay on the ship anyway and read our books and people watch so I don't think we'll have many issues. Most of our time will be spent outside and we'll definitely limit being on the promenade where we usually just look around anyway. We'll check out the MDR and see how crowded it is and if we think it's too crowded we'll check the menu each day and if we don't like anything we will try the Windjammer if it's open or another spot if it isn't. However, we'll almost definitely be in MDR on lobster night where I will try to put them out of business.  🙂 

[SheSailsFL]

3 hours ago, gg255210 said:

Is missing coco cay a possibility?  I was thinking that was the one stop that we could count on.  Why would Coco Cay be canceled unless the weather was bad?

Yes it is.  MSC was turned away from its private island this week and yesterday Freedom OTS was held at the pier for hours negotiating because of Covid cases on board.  They were finally allowed in but only had a few hours.
The Bahamas government will not allow ships to disembark passengers from a ship with a high number of Covid cases and out their residents at risk. 

[LXdad]

1 hour ago, suizas said:

Hi!  I just booked your cruise last night!  I'm cruising solo and don't mind the seas days at all, but I understand your dilemma.  susan

We wouldn't mind the sea days either if all the entertainment and activities are running. If it was just me I would be thrilled with the sea days!

[SheSailsFL]

Delete.  Duplicate. 

Edited January 1, 2022 by SheSailsFL

[SheSailsFL]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Nope, if I cancel i lose

 

3 pts from a block

Hit diamond plus and additional perks

Double pts

Low cruisefare

Prepaid hotel

 

 

Same here except for the hotel.  I’m local.  
Current rates are double what I paid for this b2b. 😏

[ampurp85]

I am on Indy Jan 10th, Harmony 1/16 and Mariner the 24th. The only way I won't be cruising is if I test positive. Chicago is bracing for a snowstorm. I am tired of this weather. I will cruise to nowhere as long as I can get some sun.

[beshears]

Thank you "everyone" for your responses.  It looks like most of you who have replied are STILL planning on going.  To say the least, I am very UPSET and I knew this could possibly happen, but I ONLY booked the Exploerer because of the itinerary going to St. Lucia, which I booked  for 8 of us, or I never would have done RCL in the first place.  I have yet to tell the other 7 people, and I know they will be very disappointed! They are giving us a "sea day," which we didn't need!  I had seen where RCL was giving people credit if they missed their port, but I don't see this on the email they sent me.  Wonder how we go about getting a credit for something we were to do, and not now?

[mrg0433]

9 hours ago, beshears said:

I'm just curious.  I know RCL gave everyone the option to "cancel" out their cruise here recently because of ALL the changes, because of the virus, etc. problems it was causing when cruising, and was going to give a credit to those that wanted to do this. My question, have you decided to cancel out your cruise, or go ahead as planned? I was thinking if several canceled out, that will leave the ship even more empty, or more room for those that still plan to cruise! 🙂

I was hoping the same thing, but we r cruising from NJ and people here r really anxious for some sun and fun so I eagerly await boarding to see just how full we will b in Anthem Jan 31.  Glad I got a balcony cuz I will b happy just sitting on my balcony reading a book in warm sunny weather.    

[mrg0433]

5 hours ago, DevonfromAcme said:

Same ship, same considerations. 
 

It’s a really cool itinerary, but if we are over 1% positive, all those islands except for St Maarten are off limits to us. 
 

It would really suck to spend three solid days getting down there only to get denied disembarkation and have to float around until we have three days back. 
 

That particular itinerary on that particular ship is literally an all or nothing crapshoot. 
 

 

As weather up north gets colder and more dreary, I am happy to board a ship and sleep late and order room service,  and drink cocktails on my balcony watching the sunset.  

[SheSailsFL]

3 hours ago, emdia43 said:

Freedom had to wait until 1330 yesterday to be allowed onto Coco Cay.  According to pax who posted, the Bahamian govt was refusing access.    I asked RCCL on their FB page to explain what had happened and they did not respond; then deleted my post. 

 

There was real time coverage of the situation on the Fb page for Coco Cay.  Definitely the Covid cases were the issue. 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, SheSailsFL said:

Same here except for the hotel.  I’m local.  
Current rates are double what I paid for this b2b. 😏

Maybe not double the cruisefare, but all liberty and allure going forward are higher.

 

Booked my hotel in Galveston because I knew they allowed free cruise parking, but the hotel is nonrefundable. 

 

I only need 3 pts for my first crystal block so of course I'm looking forward to it. 2nd leg I turn diamond plus and get bogo pay restaurants which I will do. I cant wait to board.

[shofer]

Scheduled for Symphony on 1/29/22 and still plan to go unless RCCL cancels.

 

[Ashland]

Booked on Navigator Jan 17th...My home port so an easy car ride. The only way I'll not sail is if we test positive for covid (both vaxed & boosted)...or if RCI cancels the cruise. Apparently the occupancy estimate is around 1900 and may be even less by the time we sail. Fine with us. My BidUp from my GS is looking promising....fingers crossed.

[adidas5676]

My Dad and his longtime girlfriend are booked on Odyssey for the 1/15 sailing.  He has no interest in canceling and iirc he said after this sailing they will be Diamond level so even more determined to sail.  My Dad is a planner and has all these plans for shows, activities and port excursions.  He actually called earlier tonight to say happy new year and I asked him if he was aware of current ship conditions such as canceled ports, canceled shows, etc and he wasn't aware of most of it but seems to want to lay hope on everything still being a go for his cruise.  They are definitely still going, but whether his master plans will go into play is yet to be seen🙃