With so many great specialty restaurants available on Royal Caribbean ships, many readers are curious if a specialty dining package is worth it.

Specialty dining is an optional set of restaurants that have an additional charge to dine there, and are quite a popular alternative for some cruisers who prefer other kinds of cooking styles and cuisines.

Should you get a dining package on your cruise? Here are the top reasons to know that you need to buy a dining package on your next cruise.

You want to dine at more than one specialty restaurant

If you want to eat at just one restaurant, a dining package does not make sense, but as soon as you start planning to dine at more than two, a dining package can make financial sense.

Dining packages offer a flat fee for enjoying multiple restaurants on your cruise, and it will absolutely save you money compared to eating at the same amount of restaurants if paying out of pocket. The key is knowing if you want to dine at more than one.

Certainly if you know there are two or three specialty restaurants that you want to eat at, a dining package is a near slam-dunk decision.

How you feel about the main dining room

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the food served in the complimentary restaurants on Royal Caribbean, including the main dining room, however, it tends to be a polarizing topic for some people.

Some cruisers simply do not like the regimented times or setup of the main dining room.  Others may not care for the majority of food served in the dining room.

Regardless of your rationale, if you have a strong opinion of going to the main dining room for dinner on most/all nights of your cruise, a dining package may the perfect alternative.

You are on a budget

While specialty dining does cost extra, it does not have to cost a fortune either.

Royal Caribbean advertises its dining packages will save up to 40% off the list price and it is quite accurate. Considering most specialty restaurant cover charges run between $35 to $50 per person,  a dining package has the potential to save a lot of money.

Budgeting for a vacation involves a lot of costs, and the last thing anyone wants is a surprise bill at the end of the cruise that is much higher than expected. Investing in a cruise dining package assures that all those dinners will not run up your bill.

Which ship you are sailing

The assortment of specialty restaurants varies from ship to ship, and certain ships offer a greater variety of restaurants than others.

Before you buy a dining package, research which restaurants are on the ship you have booked, and determine if they are a good fit for your family.

Some ships may only have a few restaurants, while other ships have quite a few options.

Oasis and Quantum Class ships offer the greatest amount of choices that can offer a different specialty restaurant every night of your cruise.  Other ships may require repeating certain restaurants over the course of a cruise, which may or may not be a problem for you.

More information

Have more questions about specialty restaurants? Check out these helpful links:

• 4 Easy steps for getting a Royal Caribbean dining package
• Royal Caribbean specialty dining packages guide

The year 2020 will be known for a lot of things, including everyone's plans getting delayed or canceled, including Royal Caribbean.

At the start of the year, Royal Caribbean had some major plans lined up, and unfortunately most of them did not come to fruition.  Many were delayed, and some may never actually happen. 

While there are a couple of months left in the year. here are the top five things we can safely say are definitely not happening this year anymore.

Ship upgrades

One of the early casualties for Royal Caribbean fans this year were scheduled ship upgrades.

While Freedom of the Seas managed to get her Royal Amplification complete in the early part of the year, every other ship upgrade scheduled for this year (and next) is on hold until further notice.

Allure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas were scheduled to get upgraded this summer, and those plans have been scrapped indefinitely. 

In addition, scheduled upgrades for Liberty of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas have also been put on hold.

Odyssey of the Seas debut

Few dates are as significant for a cruise line as the debut of a new cruise ship, but Royal Caribbean was forced to delay the debut of its next new cruise ship until next spring.

Odyssey of the Seas was scheduled to begin sailing in November 2020, but will now not sail until April 2021. All scheduled Odyssey of the Seas sailings between November 5, 2020 - April 17, 2021 have been canceled.

In addition to the canceled sailings, Royal Caribbean also announced two other changes to Odyssey of the Seas.

First, the trapeze school will no longer be a feature of the SeaPlex.

Second, the age restrictions for the Sky Pad virtual trampoline experience will change: guests must be at least 7 years old to jump, and at least 13 years old to jump with a virtual reality headset.

Odyssey was set to be the first Quantum Ultra Class ship to arrive in North America, and will feature a two-level pool deck, as well as a collection of restaurant choices to enjoy.

Oasis of the Seas sailing from New York area

So many cruise fans were excited to welcome the first Oasis class cruise ship to call the New York City area home, but those plans were dashed.

Oasis of the Seas was scheduled to offer summer cruises from Bayonne, New Jersey between May and October 2020.

The voluntary cruise shutdown hit before one sailing could be offered, and eventually, the entire season was canceled.

The good news is Oasis is scheduled to return to Cape Liberty for summer 2021.

President's Cruise in Europe

The annual tradition of Royal Caribbean's President and CEO Michael Bayley hosting a cruise for loyal cruisers is among the many disappointments from the year that was 2020.

While there was hope it could be pulled off, Mr. Bayley informed guests in August that it was indeed cancelled.

"This is disappointing news for you and me. The President's Cruise is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to come together and celebrate the cruise line we love, our incredible crew and each other — something we have been doing since 2016."

There has not been a President's Cruise announced yet for 2021, but Mr. Bayley did say they were working on other ideas that the cruise line is working on for guests that will be announced at a later date.

New project construction delays

With cashflow coming to a near halt, so many projects had to be postponed.

Royal Caribbean's new Miami headquarters that are still under construction were paused, resumed and paused again.

Plans to begin construction of a new cruise terminal in Galveston have been delayed by a year.

Many other destination projects have had no updates at all, including the Royal Beach Club in Antigua, Freeport Harbour Village, Perfect Day at Lelepa and more.

Like most plans, the sooner Royal Caribbean can begin cruising again, the more likely these projects may get back on track again.

Which of these projects were you most looking forward to enjoying? Share your comments below!

The meeting scheduled between cruise line executives and White House officials has been postponed.

A meeting had been set up between the cruise lines and Vice President Mike Pence on Friday to discuss the No Sail order extension, but it is being reported that meeting has been postponed.

VP Pence meeting with #cruise executives has now been postponed https://t.co/MtBcH6CBPQ

— Seema Mody (@seemacnbc) October 2, 2020

No reschedule date for the meeting has been announced.

Earlier this week, it was revealed the White House overruled the U.S. Center for Disease Control's recommendation to extend the No Sail Order until February.  Instead, the order was extended through just the end of October.

In addition, a meeting was set up for Friday afternoon between representatives of the cruise industry and the Trump administration to, "describe their transformation and dozens of ways that they will mitigate risk and ensure public health," according to a White House official.

And in that meeting there will be a discussion and afterwards a decision will need to be made about whether the order needs to be extended," the White House official added. "These things can be extended for a month and then we can reassess the conditions on an ongoing basis."

One senior official added that the cruise ship decision "is an example of the task force weighing all the equities of the departments and agencies represented on the task force and making a decision that properly balances the public health impacts and the economic ramifications on the country."

The CDC believes cruise ships would create an unacceptable amount of risk to the public health if allowed to resume sailings.

"Cruise ships continue to be an unsafe environment with close quarters where the disease spreads easily and is not readily detected," is the direct rationale for why cruise ships may not sail.

"Cruise ships continue to be an unsafe environment with close quarters where the disease spreads easily and is not readily detected," is the direct rationale for why cruise ships may not sail.

In short, the CDC sees these factors as necessitating the extension of the No Sail Order:

• The continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide
• Risk of resurgence in countries that have suppressed transmission
• Ongoing concerns related to restarting of cruising internationally
• Need for additional time to assess industry measures to control potential SARS-CoV-2 transmission on board cruise ships with passengers without burdening public health

Royal Caribbean has released the new itineraries for the five cruise ships that were redeployed last week for summer 2021.

Last week, the cruise line announced it would redeploy five cruise ships for summer 2021 based on, "market research and valuable feedback from guests and travel partners".

The new itineraries bring variety and options for Caribbean and European sailings and are available to book immediately.

Europe

Adventure of the Seas will sail a mix of new 4- and 5-night Mediterranean itineraries from Barcelona.

Jewel of the Seas will sail from Copenhagen and Stockholm on 7-night cruises calling on Northern Europe ports of call.

Caribbean

Independence of the Seas will call Miami her home for the summer season and offer a combination of 6- and 8-night cruises to the Southern and Western Caribbean.

Vision of the Seas will sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico in summer 2021. She will offer 7-night Southern Caribbean cruises.

Brilliance of the Seas will remain in Tampa and sail 4-, 5- and 7-night cruises to the Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean’s other summer 2021 cruises will sail on as planned in the Caribbean, Alaska, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Royal Caribbean just launched a new offer during the month of October where you can book Kids Sail Free during summer 2021, a time of year that has never been included in the past.

The Kids Sail Free offer is available for new bookings made between October 1 – November 5, 2020, and it provides free cruise fare for 3rd guests and higher who are 12 years old or younger as of cruise departure date, booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests in a triple or quad-occupancy stateroom.

Kids Sail Free applies to select 3-night or longer Alaska, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, CaribNE, Coastal, Europe, Hawaii, and Repositioning sailings departing between November 1, 2020 – December 17, 2020 and January 8, 2021 – December 17, 2021.

Offer excludes 2020 Thanksgiving sailings (Sailings between November 21 – 28, 2020), 2021 President’s Day Sailings (Sailings between February 12 – 15, 2021), 2021 Spring Break and Easter sailings (Sailings between March 13 – April 4, 2021), 2021 Thanksgiving Sailings (Sailings between November 19 – 26, 2021), SR and RD Cruisetours.

Taxes, fees, and port expenses are additional and apply to all guests. 

Will it save you money?

Like all Royal Caribbean offers, it will be more lucrative to some people than others.

No Royal Caribbean promotion is ever an across the board deep discount, so the key is finding the right discount for your family.

The premise of Kids Sail Free is simple: if you have children who are 12 years old or younger staying in the same room as two other people, the kids fare is free (plus taxes and fees).

To illustrate this point, I picked a few sailings to show potential savings. Each quote is for a family of 4 (two adults, two kids) per room.

7-night Oasis of the Seas Caribbean cruise - July 16, 2021

Interior (Category 3V): $3363.80 [$-3,470.00 savings]
Oceanview (Category 1N): $3780.80 [$-3,893.00 savings]
Ocean balcony (Category 3D): $4350.80 [$-4,571.00 savings]
Grand Suite 1 Bedroom: $8501.80 [$-7,904.00 savings]

3-night Navigator of the Seas Bahamas cruise - June 18, 2021

Interior (Category 3V): $1140.68 [$-1,254.00 savings]
Oceanview (Category 3N): $1,261.68 [$-1,391.00 savings]
Ocean balcony (Category 3B): $1515.68 [$-1,781.00 savings]
Grand Suite 1 Bedroom: $3369.68 [$-2,331.00 savings]

7-night Harmony of the Seas Mediterranean cruise - July 11, 2021

Interior (Category 3V): $2195.48 [$-2,609.00 savings]
Oceanview (Category 1K): $3,575.48 [$-3,585.00 savings]
Ocean balcony (Category 3D): $2682.48 [$-3,546.00 savings]
Grand Suite 1 Bedroom: $10194.48 [$-7,460.00 savings]

Savings noted for each quote are for just the 60% off second person & Kids Sail Free offer. Other discounts may apply.

In short, the Kids Sail Free deal does in fact offer savings for third and fourth passengers. If you price out the same sailings and cabin configuration with the same category room for just two passengers, the price is very similar to the price with 4 passengers.

As you can see, the savings are significantly greater when you booking a more expensive room, especially suites.

When comparing prices, be sure to compare the same category rooms. Switching between 2 or 4 passengers often has different category rooms that come with different pricing.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) extended it cruise ship ban on Wednesday, but why did it choose to lengthen its prohibition?

In reading through the No Sail Order, the agency provides its justifications for preventing cruise ships from restarting despite nearly every other sector of travel being able to operate.

"Unsafe environment"

The opening portion of the No Sail Order spells out why the CDC believes cruise ships should not operate.

"Cruise ships continue to be an unsafe environment with close quarters where the disease spreads easily and is not readily detected," is the direct rationale for why cruise ships may not sail.

In order to prove this, the Executive Summary cites CDC data on COVID-19 cases aboard cruise ships.

"Cumulative CDC data from March 1 through September 28, 2020, show a total of 3,689 confirmed cases of COVID-19 or COV1D-like illness cases on cruise ships and 41 deaths. These data have also revealed a total of 102 outbreaks on 124 different cruise ships, meaning more than 82% of ships within U.S. jurisdiction were affected by COVID-19 during this time frame. In addition, four cruise ships still have ongoing or resolving COV1D-19 outbreaks on board. Recent outbreaks on cruise ships overseas continue to demonstrate that reduced capacity alone has not diminished transmission."

In addition, the CDC cited small-scale cases of the virus on a few sailings that have restarted outside the United States.

All of this lead the CDC to believe cruise ships, "would likely spread the infection  into U.S. communities if passenger operations were to resume prematurely in the United States."

In short, the CDC sees these factors as necessitating the extension of the No Sail Order:

• The continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide
• Risk of resurgence in countries that have suppressed transmission
• Ongoing concerns related to restarting of cruising internationally
• Need for additional time to assess industry measures to control potential SARS-CoV-2 transmission on board cruise ships with passengers without burdening public health

New protocols

While cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Norwegian are working on crafting stringent new health protocols, it seems the CDC is unimpressed with any new health protocols added by other cruise lines.

In a press release announcing the No Sail Order extension, the CDC characterized extensive health and safety protocols as a burden on public health officials.

"When health and safety protocols were apparently observed, resuming passenger operations significantly burdened public health authorities by creating the need for additional SARS-CoV-2 testing, isolation of infected travelers, contact tracing, and quarantine of exposed people."

The Healthy Sail Panel has developed its own set of 74 detailed steps to safeguard the health of guests, crew and communities.

Recommendations include testing, the use of face coverings, and enhanced sanitation procedures on ships and in terminals. 

Healthy Panel co-chair Governor Mike Leavitt, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, specified exactly how in-depth their recommendations go.

"This Panel undertook an ambitious, cross-disciplinary, public health examination to develop standards and guidelines that create the highest level of safety in the complex environment of a cruise ship. We studied the industry’s experiences combating the pandemic – and we then incorporated the many lessons learned and advances made by medicine and science over the past six months. The Panel’s recommendations are grounded in the best scientific and medical information available and are intended to meaningfully mitigate public health risks to those who sail."

Double standard?

Reading through the rationale for the extension of the No Sail Order, it may sound a reasonable response until considering the reality of the rest of the travel sector, both in the United States and internationally.

While the CDC holds cruise ships to the standard of not potentially burdening healthcare workers, port personnel and federal partners, other aspects of travel have been able to operate while simultaneously doing the exact same thing.

Airlines have never stopped operating since the beginning of the pandemic, and are chiefly responsible for the spread of the virus from country to country and continent to continent. 

Theme parks have been allowed to re-open in many states, along with Las Vegas casinos and hotels.

The CDC claims its goal is "to protect the health of all Americans", yet has not enforced any regulations on any other aspect of travel other than cruise ships.

Hours before the No Sail Order was set to expire, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has extended the ban on cruise ships by another thirty days.

The CDC website has been updated to indicate the No Sail Order has been extended until October 31, 2020, unless rescinded earlier.

On September 30, 2020, CDC extended the No Sail Order and Suspension of Further Embarkation; Third Modification and Extension of No Sail Order and Other Measures Related to Operations that was issued on July 16, 2020. The Order is effective upon signature and will be published in the Federal Register soon.

Prior to this extension, the "No Sail Order" was set to expire on September 30 at midnight, although Royal Caribbean and all the cruise lines have already voluntarily cancelled its cruises through October 31, 2020, with the intention to possibly resume November 1.

The extension matches an earlier report that the White House overruled CDC Director Robert Redfield's recommendation of extending the No Sail Order until February 2021.

According to the report, Redfield wanted to push the No Sail order out to February 2021, but the Trump administration would only allow an extension through the end of October 2020.

Vice President Mike Pence informed the CDC Director of a different plan than what the agency had in mind, according to the two task force members.

The No Sail order has been a legislative, as well as symbolic, barrier to the cruise industry restarting. Royal Caribbean has been shutdown since mid-March, and the No Sail order has been a major obstacle to any restart plan.

This is the third time the "No Sail Order" has been extended, after first being implemented on March 13.

What is the No Sail Order?

The No Sail Order is a policy of the CDC that restricts the embarkation of passengers on top cruise ships in the United States due to the global health crisis.

Like the previous orders, this order will remain in effect until one of the following occurs:

• The expiration of the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ declaration that COVID-19 constitutes a public health emergency,
• The CDC Director rescinds or modifies the order based on specific public health or other considerations, or
• October 31, 2020.

Cruise industry's plan for healthy return

Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings teamed up to form an independent committee to come up with a way for cruise ships to operate in a healthy manner, known as the Healthy Sail Panel.

In late September, the Panel produced a list of 74 detailed steps on how a cruise ship could operate safely despite the current health crisis.

Recommendations include testing, the use of face coverings, and enhanced sanitation procedures on ships and in terminals. 

The Panel is chaired by Governor Mike Leavitt, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Healthy Sail Panel identified five areas of focus every cruise operator should address to improve health and safety for guests and crew, and reduce the risk of infection and spread of COVID-19 on cruise ships:

• Testing, Screening and Exposure Reduction
• Sanitation and Ventilation
• Response, Contingency Planning and Execution
• Destination and Excursion Planning
• Mitigating Risks for Crew Members

In each category, the Healthy Sail Panel created practical and actionable recommendations to address specific safety concerns. Among the recommendations are key strategies such as:

• Taking aggressive measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 from entering a ship through robust education, screening and testing of both crew and guests prior to embarkation
• Reducing transmission via air management strategies and enhanced sanitation practices
• Implementing detailed plans to address positive infection on board, including contingencies for onboard treatment, isolation and rapid evacuation and repatriation
• Closely controlling shore excursions
• Enhanced protection for crew members

Furthermore, the CDC has been made aware of the panel and even invited to observe the planning and creation of procedures.

Royal Caribbean may not be offering cruises, but its ships are still operational albeit without any guests.

While Royal Caribbean cruises are currently shutdown due to the current health crisis, its ships remain ready for when cruises resume. So what is happening onboard while there are no cruises?

Captain Johnny Faevelen is on Harmony of the Seas, and recently told travel advisors what life is like onboard these days.

How many crew members are onboard?

Captain Johnny said Harmony of the Seas is currently at minimum manning, which is about 100 crew members.

The majority of crew members onboard are working in the marine division, which means crew assigned to navigation, deck engineers, engine engineers, electricians, etc.

There are a few hotel division, including a few in housekeeping and food and beverage.

Where is Harmony of the Seas right now?

Harmony of the Seas is currently located near Barbados, which is one of five or six Royal Caribbean ships that are stationed near the island.

Royal Caribbean uses Bridgetown, Barbados for periodic supply stops, crew changeouts and mail service.

What do the crew do onboard with no guests onboard?

Captain Johnny said the crew's primary responsibility is to maintain the vessel.

"What we do onboard a ship is actually maintaining make sure it's safe, maintenance where we can with this limited amount of crew members, taking the integrity of the ship into place and security, of course, and painting a bit of washing a little bit there."

To really get the ship operational for guests, they would need a lot more crew members.

Captain Johnny mentioned that roughly half the crew on Harmony of the Seas right now are originally from the Philippines.

For dining, Captain Johnny said every day the staff tries to arrange social gatherings, "We try to arrange social gatherings, always keeping in mind the social distance that two meters or six feet."

"And occasionally we show a movie back in the AquaTheater and have a variety of food and places to eat. So we might have a barbecue or the chefs arrange for a nice dinner out there in the fresh air in the evenings.

"We do what we can in order to to maintain the morale of the crew, which is extremely important during these times."

How does the crew stay healthy while onboard?

Without a doubt, there is a lot of concern for the welfare of the crew members onboard to remain healthy and safe.

Captain Johnny indicated the crew is stringently following social distancing guidelines onboard, with maintaining a certain distance apart and wearing face masks.

When a crew member signs onto the ship, they are quarantined for 15 days in a cabin.

In fact, all the crew members are staying in balcony staterooms across decks 11 and 12, which means the crew have access to fresh air and private space on their balcony.

"It's a lot of work, but it's still not stressful... the crew are are in good spirits."

Follow Captain Johnny on Twitter at @HarleyCaptain!

It looks like the White House has overruled the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) to only allow the No Sail Order to be extended through the end of October.

A report by Axios claims CDC Director Robert Redfield, "was overruled when he pushed to extend a "no-sail order" on passenger cruises into next year."

The article goes on to say that Redfield wanted to push the No Sail order out to February 2021, but the Trump administration would only allow an extension through the end of October 2020.

It is important to note that the CDC's website has not been updated yet to confirm any extension.

Axios cites the news following two sources who had "direct knowledge" of what happened in the White House Situation Room.

According to the two task force members, Vice President Mike Pence informed the CDC Director of a different plan than what the agency had in mind.

Axios also reports that cruise industry represenatives will meet with White House officials on Friday in order to, "describe their transformation and dozens of ways that they will mitigate risk and ensure public health," according to a White House official.

The current No Sail order is set to expire on September 30, and an extension by another month would have no affect on cruise ships since the industry had already volunteered to cancel all October cruises.

For its part, Royal Caribbean has not given up yet on offering cruises in 2020.  Armed with a new set of in-depth health protocols, it feels under the right circumstances, it could still offer cruises in 2020.

The No Sail order has been a legislative, as well as symbolic, barrier to the cruise industry restarting. Royal Caribbean has been shutdown since mid-March, and the No Sail order has been a major obstacle to any restart plan.

If Royal Caribbean follows the Healthy Sail Panel recommendations for resuming cruises, the cruise line would begin with a series of test cruises, where Royal Caribbean employees act as guests and the cruise experience is simulated in order to test and adjust the new policies.

The cruise industry has a history of conducting test sailings when they introduce a new product. These are normally several cruises of short duration with selected invited guests and limited itineraries, which gives the operator the opportunity to train the crew and refine its procedures. We believe that such a process could be helpful in the introduction of these protocols and procedures, giving the operators the opportunity to ensure that their programs are well understood and work appropriately.

In conjunction with succesful tests, it is likely the cruise line will announce some kind of start up plan where certain ships and sail dates are confirmed as ready to sail.

All of this work is centered around the question of can Royal Caribbean come back to a safe and healthy environment, which is what Mr. Fain asked the Panel.

"And their answer was, if you adopt all these protocols, you can."

"And obviously we are going to, and we believe that will greatly accelerate the time, so we're looking forward to coming back sooner."

Royal Caribbean has extended its Cruise with Confidence cancellation policy to now include sailings through November 30, 2020.

The popular program allows guests to cancel a cruise for any reason up to 48 hours before a sailing is scheduled to depart in exchange for a future cruise credit.

It was scheduled to end on September 30, 2020 prior to the extension.

In addition, the Lift and Shift option will be extended to November 30, 2020.  Lift and Shift allows guests to defer their cruise by a year.

The Cruise with Confidence program was introduced at the beginning of the health crisis, and provides significantly relaxed rules concerning canceling a cruise if the situation changes for a guest.

Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO Richard Fain thinks this extension makes a lot of sense for guests, "We want our guests to feel they can safely keep their existing cruise bookings or schedule new sailings, because this policy gives them more freedom and flexibility."

Ordinarily, guests would incur a penalty for canceling a sailing beyond the final payment date, which is typically 90 days before a sailing commences. Cruise with Confidence provides a great deal more flexibility to change minds with no penalty.

The extension applies to all cruises with sailing dates on or before April 2022, and applies to the company’s global brands Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Azamara.

Cruise with Confidence future cruise credits expire on December 31, 2021 or 12 months from the cancellation date, whichever is further out.