”Bubble tours” and walking around on our own

[Littlestar80]

We have booked an excursion because we have one unvaccinated kid with us. (She has one vaccine and has had the covid so she can not get the second vaccine on time). I am reading the info of an excursion on St Maarten and I would like to know have somebody with unvaccinated kids been able to walk around the marina and beach even when in a ”bubble tour” . 

This is what it says in the excursion info, but I don’t know if it is only for the unvaccinated? 
 

” Guests will be responsible for their transportation back to the ship.”

 

And 

• Walking time to the cruise terminal is approx. 5 minutes and walking time to downtown is approx. 10 minutes.”

and

 

”Browse the boutique for race gear and souvenirs before a leisurely stroll back to the cruise terminal.”

 

Do you think it is possible, that they let unvaccinated people to just walk around and go back to the ship all by themselves? Or is there going to be somebody who will escort you to the ship and no souvenir shopping or anything like that? 

[twangster]

At this time the protocols require families with unvax kids to book a ship tour to leave the ship.  If you haven't booked a ship excursion their card will alert when scanned to leave the ship and security will stop you.

 

Families traveling with unvaccinated kids must purchase a local tour through Royal Caribbean if they wish to go ashore — this applies to all ports of call except Perfect Day at CocoCay; Labadee, Haiti; and Port Canaveral, Florida. Vaccinated parents wishing to go ashore freely in ports that allow it, can visit our youth facilities onboard to learn about drop off program hours and availability, and reserve time for their child on the day they wish to go in port.

 

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise

 

 

[Littlestar80]

Yes we have the excursion booked but I was wondering if we are ”free” after the tour or are we escorted back to the ship. Vaccinated can go to the town or beach after the tour, but  can we? 
 

[aphrodite6528]

Is this for the yacht race? If so make sure she takes some Dramamine! 

We did that excursion last month but my son is fully vaxed and we didn't have any other kids with us. We were walked to the ferry pick up location from the pier, and the ferry took us to the race boat. After the race they dumped us off for the post race 'party' which was a cup of rum punch or fruit punch near their small store and then everyone dispersed.  They let us know where we could wait for the water taxi back to the ship. I don't know how they would treat things with someone unvaxed along, but we walked along the beach, shopped, ate, and walked back on our own much later. 

[xxHadleyxx]

I can't say about St Maarten, but I can tell you that on October in Italy, where everyone had to be in a bubble excursion to go ashore, the excursions changed "time on your own" to time being forced to stay with the guides, tons of reminders that we'd be denied boarding, per law, if we left (we had no intention of leaving) and mostly that was standing half an hour or more at a time in one plaza, not allowed to so much as walk up to vendors 10 feet away selling outdoors in the same plaza, etc.  It was an interesting experience.   The parts that were normally guided were nice but in our case, no we couldn't wander and the guides failed to fill the "on your own time" with anything worthwhile.

 

[Littlestar80]

Thank you very much for your replies!
 

That may be the situation on St Maarten also. For sure I can not assume that we could go to the beach on our own. It is so shame that when we are forced to take the excursion, there are no ordinary Beach -excursion available on St Maarten. 

[twangster]

1 hour ago, Littlestar80 said:

It is so shame that when we are forced to take the excursion, there are no ordinary Beach -excursion available on St Maarten. 

 

Agreed but that is the world right now.  It is how the cruise lines managed to negotiate with the ports to allow ships to make visits. 

 

These restrictions come from the country being visited.  They are imposed by the port of call.  Some ports also place this restriction on fully vaccinated guests as well.  

 

Hopefully as restrictions ease and restrictions are lifted this is an area that will see improvements.  Until that time this is the crazy world we live in during a pandemic.  

[jacobtsf]

Last August we cruised with our 2 year old daughter to St Maarten and St Thomas (so rules might be different now, but all the language was the same). 
 

We were kept together, masked, for the majority of the time. When there was free time we hung out in a central location and were given a short amount of time to walk around a set area, but also a reminder to keep masks on and socially distance. 
 

At the end of the excursion we were dropped off a little distance from the ship. When we first checked in on the ship the RC staff did ask those of us with kids to make our way right back to the ship, and every family complied. 
 

When we were in St Maarten we did a morning excursion with our daughter, brought her to the nursery on board the ship, and then my wife and I went back out for free time in the afternoon. 

[CruisingHogFan]

8 hours ago, Littlestar80 said:

Yes we have the excursion booked but I was wondering if we are ”free” after the tour or are we escorted back to the ship. Vaccinated can go to the town or beach after the tour, but  can we? 
 

Think about your question…… 
 

Why would we have the bubble process at all if you could do that? Kinda does away with the purpose of it.

 

And to answer your question. Once the excursion is back to the port unvaccinated are expected to get back into the ship. Seapass cards make this easy for them to track if needed. I know cruise lines have removed passengers mid cruise over the last year for not following protocols. Not worth the risk.

 

What we did was take the daughter back onboard to adventure ocean then we got back off for shopping around the port area.