Showing its dedication to assisting crew members, one of the Royal Caribbean cruise ships that was taken out of service will be used to house crew members from other ships that have tested positive for Covid-19.
Serenade of the Seas was one of the ships that had her cruises in January through April cancelled last week. Instead of operating cruises with paying passengers, she will join two other Royal Caribbean ships in a support role.
Almost since the onset of the Omicron variant, Royal Caribbean has done its best to care for crew members that are sick.
Unlike land-based companies that just send their workers home with little to no support, Royal Caribbean has taken the extraordinary step of taking two of its ships out of service to serve as Covid wards, where these crew members can rest and get the care they need in order to be healthy and return to work.
Serenade of the Seas is one of three ships operating in this role, alongside Rhapsody of the Seas and Vision of the Seas.
Assisting crew members across the fleet
A Royal Caribbean crew member, Martina, talked about Serenade's new role in a YouTube video she posted shortly after Serenade of the Seas stopped sailing with passengers.
"In order to relieve the pressures of the amount of Covid cases around the fleet, Serenade will perform a supporting role," Martina explained.
"We will be what they call a quarantine or a hospital ship for Royal Caribbean crew members that are Covid positive."
She said they would accept the non-serious cases among crew members, "They will be embarked on the Serenade of the Seas in order to get better, be well taken care off, be able to recuperate in a healthy and more isolated environment without putting pressure on the other ships still trying to sail."
Why move crew members off the ship? A Royal Caribbean spokesperson recently said the idea is to keep crew healthy crew members away from the sick ones, while simultaneously caring for all of them.
According to Royal Caribbean, transferred crew members, who are all fully vaccinated, are in isolation and are being monitored by an onboard medical team. After each crew member completes their 10-day quarantine, they return to their assigned ships.
Besides helping the crew, having less crew members on operational vessels means a better chance of cruise ships not being denied entry into a port of call due to exceeding the threshold of people onboard with Covid-19.
Martina sees this as an opportunity, and not bad news, "I don't see it as bad news. I see it as a role that I'm proud that the Serenade can take, because as you can see, it doesn't mean that cruises are stopping, not at all. We're just using our resources, I think, in a smarter way."
Why was Serenade picked to help?
Martina thinks perhaps the reason Serenade of the Seas had her cruises cancelled is because the timing works well for an upcoming refurbishment.
Serenade of the Seas is scheduled in a few months to take a break from cruises in order to undergo a multi-week refurbishment. These refurbishments typically occur once every few years, and is a front to back maintenance visit to a shipyard.
Martina speculates that since Serenade had to leave the fleet anyway, taking her out of service a little earlier made more sense, "Since this date was coming up so soon and we were anyways just eight cruises away to stopping operations regardless for the dry dock, we're just pausing before."
Martina also points out that since Serenade started up in Alaska last summer, a lot of crew member contracts were about to expire around this time.
People that cruise a lot have been the steady base for the cruise industry throughout Covid-19, and some are going over and over again because of how much they are enjoying it.
Greg Brockman lives in Iowa, but is sailing on his fourth Freedom of the Seas cruise in a row, with number five coming up next weekend.
What's it like to go on consecutive cruises during the height of the Omicron wave, and has anything changed in his approach to being on a cruise? Given that Greg is one of thousands of loyal cruise passengers that loves being on a ship, his thoughts on getting onboard today seem intriguing to consider.
From his stateroom on his Royal Caribbean ship, Greg talked about what it's like to stay onboard a cruise ship right now.
Booking five cruises in a row
Even before the pandemic, booking more than one cruise at a time may have seemed eccentric to someone that has not been on a cruise. In today's hyper focused media attention of cruise ships, the decision to sail over and over again can do more than raise an eyebrow.
Greg is sailing on Freedom of the Seas from Miami for a total of 17 nights starting December 31 to January 17.
He first booked cruises only in January, but decided to add more, "As time went on, I was able to add the three night on to the end extending my time until the 17th. Then, in November when there were many price drops, I added the New Year’s Eve sailing ."
What's the atmosphere on the ship right now?
What does it feel like to be on a cruise ship, and what are passengers and crew members saying?
Greg says he's seeing people having fun, "For the most part, the general vibe on board the ship is that of relaxation and enjoying the cruise."
Greg thinks the key to a fun cruise despite all the changes recently is having the right view, "From what I have seen, the passengers having the best time on each of the sailings have been those coming on board who are happy with any perks or benefits they receive but they are not coming on board expecting to be waited on every moment of the day."
"The frustrations tend to happen when people come on board with expectations of everything being just like it was two years ago and being disappointed and frustrated."
Greg was impressed by how upbeat the crew members are given that they are short staffed, "The crew all seem to be maintaining a very positive and energetic outgoing attitude."
"You can tell some of them are very exhausted working longer shifts and covering for other crewmembers who have tested positive and are no longer on board."
"But they are always smiles and happy to see you when you pass by."
Speaking of the crew, I wanted to know more about how the crew members are doing, and he indicated a lot of the senior officers seem to be stepping in to help out, "They all are maintaining excitement, enthusiasm and passion for what they do."
"Ivan, the Food and Beverage manager, oversees the largest department on board the ship and has been hit the hardest with crew members testing positive. I frequently see him all over the ship chipping in and picking up duties whenever some thing is needed."
Greg was impressed by how Freedom's Guest Services manager, Dolly, took extra care of his experience, "She just spoke with me last night knowing that I was a consecutive cruiser and staying in the same cabin for multiple cruises. She asked if I would be interested in a complementary cabin upgrade for the next sailing but wasn’t sure if I would be interested in moving multiple times between each sailing."
"This is something I absolutely did not expect but was very appreciative of. Just one more way the crew is trying to go above and beyond whenever they can with the resources available."
How does the back-to-back process work?
Given all the protocol changes onboard, what changes have been made to going on more than one cruise in a row?
All of the consecutive cruisers have an antigen test done on the day prior to debarkation, which is complimentary.
On the morning the test is scheduled, consecutive cruisers meet around 7:30 am and wait in the Star Lounge until the negative test result has been received. At that point, they are allowed to leave the lounge and go on with your day.
On the turnaround day, everyone again meets in the Star Lounge at 9:30 AM waiting for all other passengers to disembark. At that point the cruisers are escorted through the security checkpoint to officially depart the ship and proceed into the cruise terminal.
The passengers then complete the facial recognition process (required by U.S. Customs and Border Protection) and then get back in line to re-board the ship.
Greg said extra Royal Caribbean delayed the back-to-back cruisers from returning immediately in order to conduct sanitization, "On the last two sailings, the ship did additional cleaning and sanitizing and we were asked to wait in the terminal about 20 minutes before we were allowed to proceed back on board the ship."
Across Greg's four sailings, he's had a good chance to look at trends among passengers, including how many are on each sailing.
According to Greg, there have been less passengers on each cruise since the New Year's Eve holiday sailing.
"Passenger count has been decreasing on each of the sailings since New Year’s Eve. The December 31 sailing had approximately 2000 passengers on board, this was down from the 2400 they initially expected."
"The next sailing was expecting around 2100 passengers and ended up with 1850 actually boarding. The third sailing was expecting 1800 passengers and ended up sailing with about 1450. We are expecting 1800 for the current sailing."
Freedom of the Seas has a capacity of just under 4400 passengers.
It's also worth noting January is also a traditionally slow month for cruises, since the holidays are over and school is back in session. Plus, many people just took a vacation at the end of December.
On December 30, Royal Caribbean Group told investors the company "experienced a decline in bookings and increased cancellations for near-term sailings but to a lesser degree than that experienced with the Delta variant. "
Load factors for sailings in the first half of 2022 remain below historical levels, as expected.
Advice for anyone going on a cruise ship right now
I asked Greg what advice would he give someone going on a cruise today while the Omicron variant is on the top of everyone's mind.
His primary suggestion was for everyone to pack patience, "be prepared to be flexible, and do not board with expectations of benefits or perks because of past cruises."
"Follow the rules and don’t argue with the messenger. They are following their instructions. Just know the crew is doing everything they can to ensure you're having an amazing vacation and a safe and healthy environment for you, your family and their family (fellow crew members)."
"I absolutely feel safer onboard a Royal Caribbean ship that almost anywhere right now. "
While Royal Caribbean has been able to get most of its cruise ships back into service, it has had to cancel a few sailings due to Covid-19.
The good news is the cruise industry is still able to sail and operate its ships with arguably the most comprehensive health protocols of any private business. However, canceled cruises are still happening in select cases.
In order to keep you up to date with which ships and dates have been canceled, here is a list of the Royal Caribbean cancellations in 2022.
Keep in mind things change a lot, and this list will be updated as quickly as possible.
Cancelled cruises in 2022
Here is a list of the cancelled cruises by Royal Caribbean so far.
On January 28, 2022, Royal Caribbean announced more Spectrum of the Seas cancellations for cruises from Hong Kong on these dates: February 04, 07, 10, 12 and 14, 2022.
On January 18, 2022, Royal Caribbean had to cancel Spectrum of the Seas’ Hong Kong sailings scheduled on January 21, 23, 26, 28 and 31, 2022.
The sailings were canceled following an update to local COVID-19 prevention policies by local authorities on January 14, which requires a 14-day suspension of all cruise operations.
On January 14, 2022, Royal Caribbean cancelled three sailings on Independence of the Seas (one was a chartered sailing). She will return on January 29, 2022.
On January 7, 2022, Royal Caribbean cancelled four ships:
Vision of the Seas’ return to cruising is postponed until March 7, 2022
Serenade of the Seas sailings from January 8 – March 5, returning after dry dock on April 26, 2022
Jewel of the Seas sailings from January 9 – February 12, returning on February 20, 2022
Symphony of the Seas sailings from January 8 – January 22, returning on January 29, 2022
Royal Caribbean cancelled the January 6 sailing of Spectrum of the Seas from Hong Kong because nine passengers on the previous sailing were identified as close contacts to someone that tested positive on land in Hong Kong. The local government required Royal Caribbean to cancel the next sailing.
Will there be more cancellations?
Royal Caribbean intends to offer its scheduled sailings as currently listed, but more cancelations are certainly possible given the fact the Covid-19 pandemic is still happening.
For the time being, there is not much discussion of the entire cruise industry shutting down again given the fact that vaccines and stringent health protocols are readily available.
Even the cancelled cruises listed above are expected to resume service on the specified dates.
If you have a cruise booked in 2022, the possibility of it being cancelled is possible, but not necessarily probable.
It's important to be realistic about expectations for not only the cruise happening, but also the onboard experience. Certainly changes, especially at the last minute, are likely, so be prepared for them.
If you would rather cancel your cruise, regardless of if Royal Caribbean decides to cancel it later, you have a few options.
Up until final payment date, you can cancel your cruise and get a full refund for money paid by cancelling, minus any change fees if you booked a non-refundable deposit.
Alternatively, Royal Caribbean's Cruise with Confidence program allows guests to cancel their cruise up to 48 hours before your sail date for a 100% future cruise credit.
Welcome to this week's round-up of all the Royal Caribbean news and happenings. Hope you are staying warm and are ready to cozy up to the cruise happenings this week.
Sailings on Symphony, Serenade and Jewel of the Seas were cancelled for at least a few weeks. Vision of the Seas had her return to service pushed back.
The cruise line did not specify the exact reason why these ships were taken offline, only saying the decision was, "a result of the ongoing COVID-related circumstances around the world, and in an abundance of caution."
Many cruise fans think perhaps the decision was due to Covid cases among crew members impacting operations.
Brandon Smith sailed on Freedom of the Seas recently and had to quarantine due to testing positive for Covid, and shared his experience.
Brandon shared what happened when he tested positive for Covid on a ship, and what steps and changes you might expect to encounter should it happen to you.
My best advice for going on a cruise ship in early 2022 during Omicron
It seems everyone is thinking twice about traveling during the Omicron variant spike in Covid cases, but thanks to Royal Caribbean's strict health protocols, going on a cruise can still be an enjoyable and relatively safe cruise experience.
There's risk with everything, but there are a few easy things any traveler can do to protect themselves while getting back to sea.
Top untrue myths about Omicron variant and going on a cruise ship right now
While there's been lots of announcements in the cruise industry, there's also been a few rumors that simply aren't true about going on a cruise.
Between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warning vaccinated passengers to not go on a cruise ship, and news reports about missed port calls making the rounds on social media, a lot of misconceptions about where cruising is right now have emerged.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced Royal Caribbean to cancel scheduled cruises on 4 ships for varying lengths of time, with one as far out as April.
Royal Caribbean posted an update that it has cancelled the sailings, "as a result of the ongoing COVID-related circumstances around the world, and in an abundance of caution."
The affected ships and sailings are:
Vision of the Seas’ return to cruising is postponed until March 7, 2022
Serenade of the Seas sailings from January 8 – March 5, returning after dry dock on April 26, 2022
Jewel of the Seas sailings from January 9 – February 12, returning on February 20, 2022
Symphony of the Seas sailings from January 8 – January 22, returning on January 29, 2022
It's important to note that Vision of the Seas was not sailing with passengers and had yet to restart operations. It was scheduled to restart cruises on January 24, 2022 from Fort Lauderdale.
Passengers on affected sailings were sent emails to inform them of the change. Guests will receive a full refund, which will include any non-refundable deposits.
The cruise lines says they can expect to receive refunds within 14 days after we process the cancellation.
"We know how much time and effort go into planning your vacation, and we're sorry for the impact to your plans," Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley wrote in an email to passengers.
" We are working as quickly as possible, and we appreciate your patience."
Travel agents received similar emails that also touched on the impetus for this decision, "Our top priority is always the well-being of our guests, our crew and the communities we visit. Despite stringent health and safety measures, including vaccination and testing requirements for guests and crew, and extensive contingency planning, we have had to move forward with this decision."
For Serenade & Symphony of the Seas departing January 8, 2022, and Jewel of the Seas departing January 9, 2022, Royal Caribbean is providing passengers with a 100% Future Cruise Credit to book a new cruise by May 31st, 2022.
"This is amount is based on the total cruise fare paid (excluding taxes & fees, gratuities, and any RoyalUp upgrades). Certificates can be used on any Royal Caribbean International sailing that departs on or before December 31, 2022 (or one year from your original sailing - whichever is further out), as long as it's redeemed by May 31, 2022.
There is no indication yet why these specific ships have had their sailings cancelled.
Why these four ships?
After seeing Royal Caribbean cancelled sailings on just four ships, the question of why these, and not other ships, appears.
Vision of the Seas makes sense, since it was being used for crew quarantine procedures.
But the three other ships had been operating with passengers for some time.
Royal Caribbean did not specify why these particular ships were chosen, although cruise fans certainly have plenty of theories.
On the RoyalCaribbeanBlog message boards, Pattycruise thinks perhaps too many crew members testing positive is the reason, "Lack of crew members who are Covid free would be my guess."
Neesa agreed crew members were likely the reason, "This does not surprise me at all. The Holiday sailing capacity issue I feel is directly responsible for this. Everyday on the Odyssey more and more crew were missing. They need this pause to get the crew healthy again, just my humble opinion. "
Omicron impact
The cancellations are the first mass-cancellations by Royal Caribbean since they restarted operations in June 2021, and reminiscent to many of what happened in March 2020.
Back in 2020, the entire cruise industry ceased operations for 30 days. The shutdown ended up going over a year after governments refused to let cruise ships sail.
On December 30, 2021, Royal Caribbean Group said that while there had been more Covid-19 cases onboard, none had been severe or needed the person to be taken to a hospital.
The surge in Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant has resulted in many industries suffering staffing shortages due to its employees contracting the virus.
While some ships are pausing operations, the majority of cruise ships remain in operation, thanks to the stringent protocols onboard.
Unlike theme parks, casinos, airlines and every other form of leisure travel, cruise ships implemented the strictest health protocols possible, including requiring vaccinations, mask wearing, pre-cruise tests for all and more.
Other cruise lines cancelled cruises too
Royal Caribbean joins Norwegian Cruise Line and others that also cancelled sailings on select ships.
Earlier this week, NCL announced it had cancelled sailings on eight of its ships due to "ongoing travel restrictions".
Norwegian Pearl departures through Jan. 14.
Norwegian Sky departures through Feb. 25.
Pride of America departures through Feb. 26.
Norwegian Jade departures through March 3.
Norwegian Star departures through March 19.
Norwegian Sun departures through April 19.
Norwegian Spirit departures through April 23.
In addition, Oceania cancelled cruises on its Marina ship, and Regent Seven Seas cancelled a 120-day world cruise.
What is it like if you go on a cruise ship and test positive for Covid-19?
With the Omicron variant driving up positive case counts around the world, cruise ships have not been immune to seeing more cases onboard as well.
While Royal Caribbean is still operating its ships with arguably the most stringent health protocols found anywhere, some guests are more concerned with what the onboard process is like if you were to test positive, rather than concern over getting sick.
While sailing on a New Years Eve cruise aboard Freedom of the Seas, Brandon Smith tested positive for Covid on the second day of his voyage, and documented the experience on his YouTube channel once he got home.
Just like all aspects of life right now, there are no zero-risk activities, but Brandon felt better about going on a cruise ship in terms of the procedures the cruise line has in place, "if I was going to be anywhere, if I was traveling, I think on a cruise ship, especially with Royal Caribbean, knowing that they've got all this taken care of is the best place to have a bad situation."
Brandon shared what happened when he tested positive for Covid on a ship, and what steps and changes you might expect to encounter should it happen to you.
Testing
Every single passenger on a cruise ship must take a Covid-19 test in the days leading up to a cruise ship sailing.
In the case of Brandon, he took his test two days before embarkation and it came back negative. In fact, he felt great walking onboard Freedom of the Seas, "I felt absolutely fine when I boarded."
"I was even well enough to go work out when I got on the gym around 6pm that evening went to dinner, luckily, by myself at that time. And then walking around the ship trying to figure out what the New Year's Eve celebration was that I wanted to do."
As the evening went on, Brandon started to feel the early effects, "Towards the end of the evening, I was starting to get fatigued. And at the time I didn't think anything about it. I was kind of disappointed in myself that I couldn't make it to the New Year's Eve celebration."
He returned to his cabin to rest, but woke up the next morning with a sore throat and found it difficult to swallow, "That was my first sign that something was amiss or awry."
"It progressively got worse. The headache kicked in, the fog, and a little bit of a cough started to creep in."
Sensing something was off, he called the medical center onboard to share his symptoms.
Every Royal Caribbean ship offers limited professional medical services through licensed (international or domestic) physicians and nurses. All ships have shipboard medical facilities that are built, staffed, stocked and equipped to meet or exceed guidelines established by the American College of Emergency Physicians Cruise Ship & Maritime Medicine Section.
Royal Caribbean says depending on the ship and amount of passengers onboard, there are one to three doctors and three-to-five Nurses, available to passengers and Crew members 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
After arriving at the medical center, Brandon took a PCR test, "unfortunately, that returned the positive result that nobody wanted to see."
Quarantine
Once he tested positive, Royal Caribbean moves the passenger into a quarantined area of the ship.
In Brandon's case, he was escorted to a new cabin on deck 2 of the ship, which was an oceanview cabin.
"They first offered for security to pack up my belongings," but since Brandon was traveling alone, he was able to be escorted back to his original cabin to pack up his belongings.
Each of the crew members escorting Brandon is wearing full PPE outfits, with white gloves, shoe covers and face mask. They also carry a ionizer that resembles a hair dryer, which the crew member can spray a mist to cover the area where Brandon walks.
"They're also closing off all of the hallways and all of the areas that you're going through. So we do take the service elevator at that time. You don't go in the traditional guest elevator, take the service elevator to my floor."
"There's a gentleman in the service elevator, so they're protecting the crew so crew members can't come up or down the stairs that are located there."
"And then there's two security guards at the beginning and entrance of the hallway where my room is standing there, blocking the hallway so that people can't come in and see and be exposed to Covid-19."
Once in his quarantine cabin, Brandon describes his cabin experience, "It's kind of bare. They've really stripped the room out. There's not a separating curtain. The bed doesn't have a bed skirt. It's really been taken down to bare bones a little bit. I think just so that you they don't have as much to clean when they need when you leave the room."
"There's also red trash bags for biohazard, there's cleaning cloths, there's two large bottles of I think one was Clorox and one was another disinfectant that was there."
Communication
One thing that struck Brandon about the experience was all the communication he received from crew members to walk him through the process.
In the end, the guest services manager, the hotel director, security, and the medical facility all contacted him.
"I was getting or averaging around two phone calls in the morning and two phone calls in the afternoon, just checking up on me and seeing how I was doing."
Once he was settled in his new cabin, guest services informed him of the basics of his quarantine experience:
Complimentary room service
Complimentary pay-per-view movies
Complimentary internet access
"I had an extension I could dial if I needed to get up with my person there, and they also sent a lot of letters to the room. This started happening more on the evening before debarkation."
These letters detailed the future cruise credit he was going to receive for the missed days onboard, as well as the refund for a drink package purchase.
In addition, Royal Caribbean provided Brandon with documentation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how he should quarantine once he gets home.
Contact tracing
One of the many steps Royal Caribbean takes if someone tests positive for Covid-19 is to conduct contact tracing.
Brandon said a member of the onboard security department contacted him to go over where he had been, "I walked him through where I was, how much time I spent with people."
"I was a little bit of a loner that evening. One of the benefits of going on cruises allows you can kind of pick and choose when you want to be extremely social or when you kind of just want to do your own thing."
"I got the impression that given the exposure that I had to other people, which was traditionally, less than 10 minutes, I kept my mask on. Most of the time I had dinner by myself, I was in the gym with. I think there was only two other people in the entire facility. There just wasn't a lot of opportunity for me to be around individuals or people that I could expose more heavily."
Disembarkation
Getting Brandon off the ship and safely back home without exposing other crew members or passengers to Covid was the next step in his journey.
Brandon recalls the ship's Hotel Director called the night before the cruise ended to walk him through what would happen the next day.
On disembarkation day, Brandon said getting off the ship made him feel "a little bit like you're in the movie Mars".
He said he was among the last passengers to disembark the ship so that other passengers can disembark first, "They made sure everybody was off the ship and then they came to my cabin, knocked on the door and said, We're getting ready to escort you off."
He packed his bags and put them in the hallway, at which point his bags were wrapped in plastic wrap and put it on a luggage cart.
"Almost everybody's kind of dressed up and you're going through hallways with plastic."
"I was really surprised at how many rooms were set up for the potential of quarantine on deck number two."
"I believe it was only me and one other gentleman who was unfortunately making use of these rooms, but there were a lot of rooms that were set up that I was able to walk by and kind of peek in all with the same setup that my current room had as well."
He walked off the ship from the deck 1 gangway instead of the gangway passengers usually use on deck 4.
At this point, a U.S. Customs officer met Brandon to process his paperwork. He was then taken by private car to his vehicle in the parking garage.
"I was in good hands"
Looking back at what happened, Brandon was grateful to Royal Caribbean for taking such good care of him.
"I felt extremely well supported. They were communicative. They kept me in the loop on what was happening, and I got the sense that they knew what the next step was."
"They knew what the process was. They kept to whatever playbook or guidebook was that they have."
"And for me, as a passenger going through this quarantine Covid test experience, I felt really comforted knowing that all of that was taken care of. It was thought through and that I was in good hands."
Brandon's advice to anyone who is on a ship is don't be afraid to let someone know if you aren't feeling well, "Make sure that you are seeking medical treatment and not just waving it off. Just give it a whirl. Just see what they have to say.
"You might have to go through the quarantine experience, but you'll have the comfort in knowing you don't expose other people to it."
I asked Brandon having gone through the entire process, how he felt about getting back onboard a ship once he felt good again and tested negative.
"Being on a cruise still is a safe place to be."
"You can get Covid anywhere at the end of the day, and it's probably always going to be able to make its way onto the cruise ships. But it's reassuring to me to know that when that happens, they do have those policies and procedures in place."
When the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised its warning for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, avoid cruise ships, it arrived without any other similar warnings for other forms of travel or leisure in the United States.
While a lot of negative press surround the cruise industry followed, at least some media outlets are beginning to question why the CDC singled out just the cruise industry and ignored other forms of leisure travel, sporting events, or other large gatherings.
Certainly the CDC only has jurisdiction over the cruise industry and not airlines, theme parks, or casinos, but that doesn't stop the CDC from issuing warnings about Covid-19 related impact to those endeavors.
Laura Elder, the Managing Editor for the Galveston County Daily News, questioned why the CDC warned against travel on a cruise ship, but not airplanes.
"Note the CDC has issued no such warning about air travel, in a game in which we all pretend and wink that being in close quarters on an airplane is different than being in close quarters on a ship and that people are flying mainly for essential reasons and not for fun."
"The CDC has issued no such warning about sporting events or anything else that involves large gatherings."
"So why the cruise industry in particular?"
The Boston Herald also did not see the logic in warning the public against only cruise ship travel in a recent editorial, "If you can fly once vaccinated and masked, why not cruise? And if COVID exposure by airline staff and passengers is taken into account by the CDC, why not do the same for the cruise industry?"
The dichotomy between cruise ships and the rest of travel in the eyes of the CDC perplexed the cruise industry just as much as anyone else.
A statement by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) echoed this contrast, "The decision by the CDC to raise the travel level for cruise is particularly perplexing considering that cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very slim minority of the total population onboard — far fewer than on land — and the majority of those cases are asymptomatic or mild in nature, posing little to no burden on medical resources onboard or onshore."
The same week the CDC issued its warning, it also reduced its recommended quarantine and isolation periods in most cases from 10 days to five, with a subsequent five days of masking when around other people.
In December, several major airlines and lobbying group Airlines For America asked CDC director Rochelle Walensky to reconsider the 10-day guideline, describing it as “extremely disruptive” and calling for a five-day maximum quarantine.
The Boston Herald editorial illustrated the public's desire to travel by air is no different than by cruise ship, "This, however, is 2021, not 2020, and vaccines and boosters are readily available. Hospitalizations among the vaccinated are low. It’s why people are flying again, after getting vaxxed and tested and masking up and getting tested again."
"The agency is advising those who do travel on a cruise ship to make sure they are fully vaccinated and boosted, if eligible, and get tested before and after their trip.
"They should have left it at that."
Ms. Elder agreed that the CDC should have left things alone, "But as the CDC works that out, it should refrain from using its power to single out the cruise industry, which has done all that it was asked and more to reduce the spread of the virus."
That perfect cruise itinerary has been booked for months, you've got everything ready to go, and the notion of cancelling your cruise seems unfathomable at this point.
However, the rapid spread of the Omicron variant is giving just about everyone second thoughts about their travel plans.
Between Royal Caribbean's incredibly high level of health protocols and certain steps you can take as a traveler, there are some ways to travel and stay relatively safe.
If you decide to go ahead with your cruise, here are some things I would recommend doing so that your cruise is enjoyable.
Be okay with changes, especially at the last minute
If nothing else, you need to be totally fine with an email or letter in your stateroom informing you that your plans need to change.
Whether it is a new health protocol or your ship changing itinerary, travel right now is full of changes on an almost daily basis.
While most people generally don't like change, I think there's a lot of folks are fine with these updates as long as they still get to go on vacation.
I certainly recall during the cruise industry shutdown of 2020-21 where I would have absolutely paid money to sit on my balcony and do nothing else. Luckily, a cruise today still offers a much better experience than that.
Be aware that changes could be announced at anytime, and there is no point where the cruise line cannot announce something. If that sounds okay to you, go ahead with the cruise. Otherwise, defer your vacation until later.
Cruise ships are packed with so many activities and events onboard, but with Covid affecting crew members just as much as passengers, the ships can sometimes be short staffed.
The result of less crew is there may be less activities offered onboard.
My advice is plan on a cruise that resembles a classic cruise experience, rather than one where you could count on every single event and signature activity being open.
Admittedly, this is a "glass is half full" approach to planning the cruise. But I think it keeps expectations in line so you can only be pleasantly surprised when there's more to do onboard.
If I'm going on a ship tomorrow, I would pack more books or card games so I could enjoy that almost anywhere. I'd pack my kids' Nintendo Switch or iPads so they have something to do in the room when Adventure Ocean is full.
I might also plan to spend more time (and money) in the casino.
A time-honored cruise tradition is time spent at the pool, and I would figure to spend more time up there. Maybe even an afternoon nap, which is the best indulgence of vacation, if you ask me.
Bring N95 masks
I'm not a health expert, but it seems a lot of health experts are advocating upgrading your mask to a N95 or KN95 mask.
Royal Caribbean requires masks to be worn indoors, so when I sailed on Navigator of the Seas last week, I packed KN95 masks to wear just to add better protection.
Purchase at-home Covid-19 tests
Assuming you don't have unvaccinated kids cruising (they need a PCR test), you should plan to order at-home Covid-19 tests rather than trying to get an appointment somewhere.
One of the many effects Omicron is having is land-based testing sites are overwhelmed, and long waits for a test are common.
Your best bet is to purchase the Abbott BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Ag Card Home Test, which is the only at-home test that Royal Caribbean accepts.
I would recommend purchasing them 1-2 months before your cruise so there is enough time in terms of shipping to reach you.
It's not always possible, but an easy strategy of avoiding higher-risk situations is to book outdoor shore excursions.
Catamarans, beach days, or hikes are all great examples of tours you can book on your own or through Royal Caribbean to be able to do something fun in the ports you visit while avoiding being indoors.
Not to mention if you plan an outdoor tour, you may be able to ditch the mask (subject to local laws).
On our last cruise, we took three tours that were all almost exclusively outdoors: catamaran, ATV, and beach day excursions.
Obviously if you did something indoors that is not to say you are putting yourself in harm's way. Rather, if the Covid cases are worrying you, there are lots of good tours outdoors you can book.
Air travel tips
In addition to not being a public health expert, I'm also not an air travel expert. But, I've read lots of tips to help prepare for when we flew cross-country for our cruise.
Here are some pieces of airplane advice that I think makes sense.
Book a window seat to avoid exposure to people walking by in the aisle. If you can afford it, this is a great time to upgrade to a business or first class seat because they are less crowded.
Once you are seated on the plane, turn the air blower on to its highest setting to keep as much air moving as possible.
In the airport, try to find the most social distanced place you can find. That is usually not easy, but instead of cramming into a chair near the gate, find a spot to stand away from everyone else where you can see the gate agent so you know when boarding begins.
Now is the time to try upgrade your cabin
I've never been a major fan of Royal Caribbean's bid for a cabin upgrade program, RoyalUp, but if there's a silver lining to Omicron, it is that it has never been easier to get an upgrade.
If you are booked in an inside cabin or a oceanview, I would recommend rolling the dice on a balcony upgrade via RoyalUp to see if you can snag a great deal on a bigger room.
Obviously I cannot promise you will get anything, but I think the odds are better in general today than they were a month ago.
Bidding for a suite upgrade is always tough since everyone that does RoyalUp dreams of moving up to a suite, but you may as well give it a shot too.
Keep in mind that RoyalUp doesn't necessarily mean there is an open cabin to move up to, but I think the soft demand right now makes it the right time to try for an upgrade.
Last, but not least, if you decide this isn't the time to cruise, you can still change your mind.
Royal Caribbean's Cruise with Confidence program allows anyone to cancel their cruise up to 48 hours before the sail date without any penalty, and get a 100% future cruise credit.
You could take that credit and rebook another sailing later in the spring or summer.
I love to cruise, but I would be the first to say if you don't feel comfortable right now, it's okay to push things off. Going back to my first tip, you need to be okay with a certain amount of fluctuating plans. Not everyone will feel that way, so there's nothing wrong with taking some more time before you sail again.
Royal Caribbean's new 2023 European cruises are now available to book.
The new sailings are available to book via Royal Caribbean's website, offering a variety of ships and itineraries during the summer months when Royal Caribbean deploys its cruise ships to the region.
There are sailings between April and November 2023 to book across 9 different ships. That's a large proportion of Royal Caribbean's fleet.
Here is a breakdown of where the ships will be sailing from:
Anthem of the Seas will sail from Southampton, UK and offer cruises of various lengths to destinations in Spain, Portugal, Norway and the Canary Islands.
You'll be able to visit destinations new to Anthem, including Maloy and Haugesund, Norway, and Cork, Ireland. Longer, 11- and 12-night vacations will go further to places such as Lisbon, Portugal; Vigo, Spain; and the Canary Islands.
Brilliance of the Seas will offer cruises from different ports in Europe, including Athens, Venice, and Rome (Civitavecchia) on sailings throughout the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, as well as the Adriatic.
Something new for Brilliance will be the opportunity to visit Praetorian Palace in Koper, Slovenia.
Explorer of the Seas will sail from Venice (Ravenna) to offer cruises in the Adriatic, as well as to the Greek isles.
Explorer will allow passengers to visit Olympia, Greece – the birthplace of the Olympic Games – for the first time.
Jewel of the Seas will be based in Amsterdam, and offer 8 and 12 night cruises to Iceland & Ireland, as well as Norway fjords cruises. She even has a 12-night Arctic Circle cruise.
Odyssey of the Seas will return to the Europe again to be based in Rome (Civitavecchia). Odyssey will offer 7- to 12-night cruises around the Greek Isles. Odyssey also has a 12-night Holy Land cruise in May 2023.
Vacationers have a choice of 7- to 9-night cruises from Rome to Naples, Italy; the idyllic Greek Isles and Turkey, as well as 12-night Holy Land sailings to the historic, bustling cities of Limassol, Cyprus; Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey; and Jerusalem, Israel.
Rhapsody of the Seas will be the first Royal Caribbean ship to sail from Limassol and Haifa, Israel, all in one season. The new summer combination consists of 7-night sailings to ports of call in Turkey, Israel and Greece, including first-time destinations for the cruise line, like Skiathos and Thessaloniki, Greece.
Starting in September, the ship will take off on short 4- and 5-night getaways from Haifa and visit Cyprus and the Greek Isles.
Serenade of the Seas will homeport out of Barcelona, Spain and offer 5-, 8-, and 12-night cruises in the Western Mediterranean.
Symphony of the Seas will also sail from Barcelona, with 7-night Western Mediterranean cruises to enjoy.
Travelers can set course on 7-night cruises, from Barcelona or Rome, to bucket list destinations like Naples, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Provence, France.
Voyager of the Seas will be based in Copenhagen, and offer primarily Scandinavian and Russian cruises. Voyager will also offer two Best of Northern Europe cruises during the season.
Guests looking for a longer vacation can cruise from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Copenhagen on a 14-night sailing that features an overnight in Bermuda and visits to St. Thomas, France and Belgium.
More itineraries will be released later this spring, including Northeast cruises, Los Angeles, Short Caribbean and more. There is no dates yet for when these new itineraries will be released.
Booking early can save you money
Thinking about booking a cruise a year and a half away may seem excessive, but it is one of the best ways to get the best price on a cruise.
Generally speaking, the lowest prices for cruises are available when new itineraries are released, such as these Europe 2023 sailings. Over time, prices will go up as more and more cabins are booked up.
If you are interested in a suite, the importance of booking early is even more apparent, as these cabins usually jump up in price quickly after release.
No matter what the price is today, you can always take advantage of a lower price later with the Best Price Guarantee program, which allows for repricing of cruises in case of a price drop.
Besides cost savings, booking early also ensures you get the exact cabin you want. A lot of cruise fans gobble up the most desirable cabins when new sailings hit the market, such as suites, extra large balcony rooms and other unique staterooms.
Planning on booking a 2023 cruise? These stories will help:
Royal Caribbean Blog is an unofficial fan blog written for other fans of Royal Caribbean International. The Royal Caribbean Blog is not affiliated with Royal Caribbean International
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