Ever since Royal Caribbean shut down operations in March, everyone has been wondering when and how the cruise line will start back up again.

While there is no clear answer just yet, there have been some clues and guidance provided throughout the shutdown by Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain.

Mr. Fain has spoken on television, in webinars, and on conference calls many times during the voluntary cruise suspension, and offered hints at what cruises starting up again will involve.

For anyone trying to piece together Royal Caribbean's game plan, here is some of the significant plans Richard Fain hinted or alluded to over the last few months.

Slow and methodical return

Despite losing money everyday with cruises not operating, Royal Caribbean has been adamant about getting their plans right before starting up again.

Richard Fain has spoken repeatedly about a slow and careful approach to returning, and using the time off to focus on crafting a solution to keep guests and crew members safe onboard.

"We will not rush to return to service until we are confident that we have figured out the changes that we must make to offer our guests and crew strong health and safety protocols with the enjoyable experience that they rightly expect," Mr. Fain said during an earnings call with investors in August.

In addition, he mentioned Royal Caribbean is learning from other cruise lines that have started back up around the world. Mr. Fain emphasized the strategy of cruises starting back up "slowly and methodically", and the need to learn from these first cruises back.

Capacity of ships will be reduced initially

One change we can expect when cruises resume is there will be less passengers onboard.

In order to foster social distancing, Royal Caribbean will limit the amount of passengers on its ships.  There has been no indication yet how they will do that in situations where sailings are already past a given threshold for a limit, but that is likely forthcoming.

Mr. Fain was very clear on this strategy during a webinar in July, "It is likely that when protocols are implemented, at least at the beginning, the capacity of the ships will will be reduced."

"It's likely we'll start out at lower capacity in Europe, the capacity levels for the starting up or at 60 to 70 percent potential load factors. And obviously that's quite a bit less than we're used to."

"But I think over time, particularly as treatments and pervasiveness of the disease and especially vaccines, that will then go back up. So there's a cost in the early period which hopefully will disappear fairly quickly."

Four tiers making cruising safe

Royal Caribbean's approach to cruises resuming safely focuses on four major tenets, which Mr. Fain outlined in July.

• Screening
• Onboard the ship
• Destinations ship visit
• What if there is a case on a Royal Caribbean ship?

"We really need to be able to address all four of those. You probably have some ideas by seeing what's happening elsewhere, but we have some really cool, innovative ideas coming out of the committee."

New ships and projects delayed

In order to cut or defer costs, Royal Caribbean has had to delay new builds and projects.

"On top of all these efforts, most of our capital projects have been delayed or canceled because we don't know how long it will take to get beyond this epidemic," Mr. Fain outlined during a call with Wall Street analysts.

"These are painful, but these are necessary decisions, I have to say that these five months have been the longest five months any of us can remember now since the crisis began."

We already know that the new Galveston cruise terminal is delayed a year, Odyssey of the Seas is delayed until 2021, and Wonder of the Seas is delayed until 2022.  Royal Caribbean has made no other announcements regarding the timeline of other projects such as the Freeport or Nassau port projects, or Perfect Day at Vanuatu or Royal Beach Club.

Which ships will sail first

When the time is right for cruises to return, only a few ships will start up initially.

Richard Fain explained in the first quarter 2020 results call that when Royal Caribbean starts sailing again, the entire fleet will not resume at once.

"We don't expect that... someday somebody blows a horn, and all the ships start operating right away. We think that it will be a gradual start, a little bit like society is opening up gradually."

"So we would imagine that we would start with fewer ships, and more likely to be more drive markets in the beginning, and then it would then evolve and grow from there."

Royal Caribbean announced on Tuesday morning in Australia that it has cancelled all of its scheduled sailings through the end of 2020.

The new set of cancellations applies only to sailings out of Australia and New Zealand through December 31, 2020.

A statement by Royal Caribbean indicated the cruise line made the announcement now so that guests could make alternate holiday arrangements.

"The health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit is our top priority and we are working closely with local health and government authorities towards this shared goal. Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises have extended our suspension of sailings, beyond that of the Australian government’s, to include sailings departing Australia and New Zealand on or before 31 December, 2020. This is to allow guests booked on Christmas and New Year sailings to make alternative holiday arrangements."

Guests who were booked on affected sailings will receive emails with compensation offers and choices of what to do.

Why the cruises were cancelled

The decision by Royal Caribbean International to cancel its November and December 2020 cruises comes days after the Australian government extended its ban of cruise ships entering Australian waters until mid December.

The order encompasses restrictions on overseas travel, the entry of cruise ships into Australia, the supply and sale of certain essential goods and retail stores at international airports.

At one point, Australia looked like it might be a place in the world where Royal Caribbean could start cruises again first, but that hope has quickly disappated.

Before you book a cruise, there are some important considerations that can ensure you have a great cruise that skips over common pitfalls.

One of the best things about a cruise is how customizable a vacation it can be, but all that flexibility means there is also potential for making a poor choice that leads to problems later.

Picking the right cruise does not require an advanced degree, or years of research, but a few key decisions early in the planning process can save you time, money, and headaches down the road.

Here are the five important things to look for and think about before you book any cruise.

The refund policy

Thanks to 2020, the cruise line's refund policy went from a minor consideration to a big part of the decision, and something anyone booking a cruise anytime soon should thoroughly investigate.

Royal Caribbean, and all cruise lines, have added a great deal of flexibility for someone wanting to change their mind and cancel or defer their cruise reservation. 

What you want to do is be very clear on how and when you could qualify for a cash refund versus a future cruise credit. Meaning, how do you get your money back in your bank account compared to how you will get a voucher for a different sailing.

In addition, decide between refundable and non-refundable cruise fare, and the advantages of both. Non-refundable deposits will save you money in the short term, but refundable deposits make it significantly easier to change your mind later.

Essentially, you want to have a good idea of if you change your mind later about the cruise, how important is it to get a refund as cash back or keep it as a credit for a different sailing.

What does the ship offer and not offer

If there is one big mistake so many first-time cruisers make, it is not doing a little bit of research into what the ship they are booking offers (and doesn't offer) onboard.

Royal Caribbean has over two dozen ships in its fleet and they are not all the same. If you are booking a cruise based on price or where it sails from, you may be overlooking something else that you will regret later.

It is important to look into which activities, restaurants, amenities, and fun things to do are offered on the ship before you book that cruise.

Are there water slides on your ship? Which public spaces does it have? Are there Broadway shows onboard? 

One of the most common regrets cruisers share is they they knew their ship had (or did not have) a certain feature or thing to do. 

Spend a few minutes learning about a cruise ship to ensure you are comfortable with its offerings.

Where it will sail

Just like the ships, the ports of call you visit are not all the same. Even in the Caribbean, there is enough variety between the islands to know which is the best choice for you.

It is not uncommon to have to weigh the ship you are sailing on versus the itinerary you want to explore. You may find yourself trying to determine whether you want to compromise on the ship or places you will visit, as there are quite a few variations in sailings.

Knowing what each port offers in terms of shore excursions and popular activities is a smart way to avoid disappointment during the cruise.

The season

There is more to picking a cruise than just which part of the world you want to visit. Every region that cruise ships visit have seasons to them, and with that different prices, weather, and crowds.

You will want to know what the time of year you are picking is known for, and if you could save money or have a better overall experience by sailing a different week.

Don't worry that you picked the "wrong time" to go on a cruise, because every season has an advantage to it over other times of the year.  Rather, consider if you might benefit financially or logistically by changing the week.

If you are limited by your work or school schedule as to when you can sail, be aware of the issues you may face.  If prices are higher your week because it is popular, plan to save more to pay for it.  If crowds are going to be higher in the ports you visit, pre-plan your shore excursions earlier before they sell out.

Transportation costs

Your vacation budget likely will involve more than just the money you spend on your cruise, so be sure to look into transportation costs as well.

Before you book a cruise, do a quick check of airfare prices to ensure you are not going to pay through the nose for flights.

Do you need to replace your luggage? How much are hotels going for those days before the sailing? Is a rental car going to be cheap?

A quick "back of the napkin" check of these costs is an easy way to ensure you have not stepped into unforeseen extra costs.

It is a new week and with it comes a new Odyssey of the Seas construction photo to share.

The Meyer Werft shipyard shared a new webcam image of Odyssey of the Seas in Hall 6, this time with a view of the front of the ship.

September 14 photo

Many cruise fans will notice the rather large ship name adorned to the side of the hull, which was highlighted by the shipyard last week.

Just about every week, Meyer Werft updates its webcam to showcase a new photo of the ship and progress being made.

Odyssey of the Seas is scheduled to begin cruises in April 2021 out of Rome. She was originally going to debut in November 2020, but those plans were delayed.

Royal Caribbean's second Quantum Ultra Class ship will begin with cruises to the Eastern Mediterranean for the summer season.

She will then continue its inaugural year in Fort Lauderdale, FL with 8- and 6-night Caribbean itineraries.

Thank you for joining us for this a look at all the Royal Caribbean news from this week. We had plenty to share, so let us jump right in!

Royal Caribbean announced this week when they resume cruises, its mobile app will be at the heart of many new approaches and policies.

The Royal Caribbean app will be leveraged even more than before by adding new features and capabilities, with more coming in the future.

Features such as the new Muster 2.0, scheduled arrival times, digital key and more are going to be included in the app.

Royal Caribbean expects more advancements to be added to the app, including some changes that will take place "behind the scenes".

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean Group hired a new government relations expert.
• Two new Odyssey of the Seas construction photo updates were released this week.
• Spotted: Later check-in times for Royal Caribbean cruises.
• Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley is part of task force to safe return of tourism to the Caribbean.
• Miami-Dade officials slammed the CDC for slow response to cruise lines to restarting.
• New drone photos of Wonder of the Seas.
• The 3 most important upcoming dates for Royal Caribbean.
• Why you shouldn't fly to your cruise the same day it begins.
• Is the Royal Caribbean credit card worth it?
• A new brighter design for Royal Caribbean deck plans on at least one ship.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 371st episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where Jose shared the story of how he did not like his first Royal Caribbean cruise but that did not stop him.

Jose's first cruise was not to his liking, but he gave it another try, and it exemplifies an important lesson for any first-time cruiser.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

Royal Caribbean Group CEO: "We may be within sight of the end"

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain offered optimism and insight during the continued cruise shutdown.

In a new video update, Mr. Fain said he feels "more positive" that the end of this period of no cruises may finally be coming to an end.

In addition, he touched upon the work the Healthy Sail Panel is doing, and commented on how impressed he is with their progress.

If you are one of the many cruise fans waiting anxiously for when cruises might resume, there are three important dates to keep an eye on over the next few weeks and months.

It seems like every day something is changing related to government or corporate policy, and the situation is so fluid that it is difficult to keep an eye on exactly what will happen and when.

Just this week, Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain said in a video that he feels, more positive that we may be within sight of the end."

So if you are waiting for more news on cruises starting up, here are three important dates to monitor.

No Sail Order expiration: September 30

The U.S. Center for Disease Control "No Sail" Order is set to expire on September 30 (unless rescinded earlier), and that is a critical date for the cruise industry.

This is one of the major reasons cruises have not restarted in the United States, and it may even be a major reason why there has not really been any kind of firm talk of a timetable for cruises to start.

At the risk of jinxing things, we are just a couple weeks away from the order being lifted, which would be a major obstacle lifted for the cruise industry.

Similar to Groundhog Day, an extension means many weeks more of no cruising, but a lifting of the order would open the door for cruise lines.

Healthy Sail Panel recommendations submission: End of September

By the end of this month, two important things should occur: the conclusion of the CDC's open comment opportunity and the Healthy Sail Panel's subsequent recommendations for new policies.

In late July, the CDC began accepting comments from the public on cruise lines resuming passenger operations. The public has until September 21 to send in comments.

The Royal Caribbean Group assembled a blue ribbon panel of health experts, known as the Healthy Sail Panel, which are tasked with guiding Royal Caribbean with new recommendations on how to start cruising again safely.

The Healthy Sail Panel is waiting for the CDC comment period to end, before taking into account any new recommendations or policies that come out of that exercise.

"The Healthy Sail Panel is working diligently on recommendations for cruise health and safety," Royal Caribbean said in a recent statement. "The CDC’s open comment period ends on September 21 and the panel is taking that additional time to do its work."

All cruise lines need to submit a set of new policies and procedures to the CDC that will keep guests and crew safe once sailings resume, and you can argue that this is among the most important milestones for Royal Caribbean to hit, since it has such a deep impact.

Operational restart: November 1

You might say the November 1st date of cruises resuming that Royal Caribbean has stated is a pipe dream or a moving target, but for all intents and purposes, it is the de facto date we have to work with in terms of cruises starting.

Since cruises shutdown in March, we have seen lots of date targets come and go for when Royal Caribbean aims to start cruising again, but in a "best case scenario" of the two big dates mentioned earlier in this article being on-time, the November 1st date maybe/could/should/might be the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel".

There are a lot of logistics that have to come into play for this to occur, but no one can deny that November 1st is still the line in the sand of when something might occur.

Essentially, we cannot ignore it, even if it is likely to change.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley revealed on Thursday he is the co-chair of a task force that is working on the safe return of cruising to the Caribbean.

At a meeting of the Miami-Dade County Tourism and the Ports Committee, Mr. Bayley spoke of the work everyone in Royal Caribbean is doing to get back to cruising, including this Caribbean island task force.

Made up of over 40 different Caribbean countries, the Americas Cruise Tourism Task Force is co-chaired with the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley.

According to Ms. Mottley, the ultimate goal of this effort is to ensure that the Caribbean region can prepare to reopen the borders for cruise tourism in a safe way.

Mr. Bayley spoke of the task force's work as being in conjunction with the Royal Caribbean Healthy Sail Panel work to prepare a new set of guidelines and protocols for the cruise line to employ once it resumes service.

"We have been working over the past several months on the creation of a universal set of guidelines that dovetail and fit into the work that's being created by our panel, and ultimately our collective submission to the CDC."

Ms. Mottley spoke of the group's work in July, noting the need for a firm set of new guidelines to ensure cruise lines will want to return to the islands.

"... That allows those people within our community to be able to see economic activity again, from vendors, to taxi drivers, to tourism attractions, etc. But they will not benefit if the cruise ships are not coming in, and the cruise ships cannot come unless there are safe protocols that we are satisfied on and that they are too, as owners of companies are satisfied can work for us."

Part of the work Royal Caribbean has outlined in its Healthy Sail Panel work has been to coordinate its efforts with the ports they visit.

Earlier this summer, Mr. Bayley outlined the four major areas of work for the Healthy Sail Panel, with the ports of call being one the top priorities.

• Upgraded screening prior to boarding
• Enhanced processes on board
• A special focus on addressing the destinations
• Procedures for addressing any reports of exceptions

Other cruise lines that have restarted operations in Europe have instituted strict rules for guests who go on shore excursions, such as MSC Cruises requiring guests only go on cruise line approved tours.

The Meyer Werft shipyard shared two new photos of Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas that highlight the majestic size of this new cruise ship.

It is no surprise that Odyssey of the Seas is going to be a giant cruise ship.  While she may not attain the status of the world's largest cruise ship (that honor goes to sister Wonder of the Seas, which is under construction in France), she is still a very large ship.

Meyer Werft provided a look at the ship's name on the bow. In the case of Odyssey of the Seas, the "O" alone measures 11.2 meters (36 feet) in height!

The entire "Odyssey of the Seas" name is 87.4 meters (286 feet) long.

It is also worth noting the name is positioned lower than on other Royal Caribbean ships.  In fact, the bottom of the "O" seems to go below the waterline of the ship.

Compare the placement of Odyssey's name to sister ships Ovation of the Seas and Spectrum of the Seas, which have their names higher up on the hull of the vessel.

Odyssey of the Seas is slated to become Royal Caribbean's next cruise ship to join the fleet, and will debut in summer 2021 in Europe instead of fall 2020 in Fort Lauderdale.

The Miami-Dade Tourism and the Ports Committee met on Thursday to discuss the opening plan for cruise lines, and placed much of the blame on cruises not restarting on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The Board of Commissioners met in a virtual meeting, along with representatives from Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian and MSC cruise lines.

Vice Chairwoman Rebeca Sosa opened the meeting by pointing out the double standard of other industries being able to reopen while the cruise industry has not due to the CDC.

"While other industries have been allowed to reopen in phases, the cruise industry remains totally shut down. In April, the CDC gave the cruise industry seven days to come up with a lay-up plan, and the cruise industry worked tirelessly and gave them the plan in seven days. The CDC took 14 weeks to somewhat respond to the plan that was presented."

"They cannot wait another 14 weeks to get some feedback from the CDC. The cruise lines will need immediate engagement and action from the CDC in order to reopen."

Ms. Sosa spoke about the fact the cruise lines have been diligently working on plans, with no response or feedback from the CDC.

"The problem is that's not fair, that the CDC is not paying attention and communicating with the cruise industry on the plans that they are created so they can tell them this is right, this needs more work, so they can be prepared."

Royal Caribbean: "We're ready"

Royal Caribbean International President & CEO Michael Bayley also addressed the meeting, praising Miami officials for the support they have provided.

"If it hadn't been for the assistance that Juan and the Port of Miami provided Royal Caribbean, we would have struggled enormously with all of our guest and crew repatriations and the ongoing provisioning of our ships, which are all over the Caribbean."

Mr. Bailey spoke about how much the cruise industry contributes to the local economy, and the work Royal Caribbean is doing to get back to sailing.

"As the previous speakers have recognized, the cruise industry is truly vital to the Florida economy, contributing over eight and a half billion dollars in direct spending.

"We have been working over the past several months on the creation of a universal set of guidelines that dovetail and fit into the work that's being created by our panel, and ultimately our collective submission to the CDC.

"So we're very optimistic that we will be able to return to service. We're certainly better prepared today than we were yesterday, and we believe we will be better prepared for tomorrow."

Mr. Bailey summed up his comments with this statement, "It's time that the cruise industry returned to service and we're ready."

Royal Caribbean waiting to submit cruise restart plan

Mr. Bailey did clarify for the panel that Royal Caribbean had not yet submitted their plan for restarting cruises to the CDC. He said it would it submitted in the coming weeks.

"That plan has not been submitted to the CDC as of today. Our intention is to have that plan submitted in the coming weeks. And it corresponds with the request for information that the CDC opened up for public comment, which concludes on September the twenty first."

Ms. Sosa reiterated the need for the CDC to act quickly once the plan is submitted, and not to take a long time to respond, as they did in the spring.

"I'm going to speak from my heart. It's impossible to understand why they don't respond to at least work together to make sure that the last plan that is presented is the right one and to make sure that they don't do what they did before that they waited 14 weeks to respond to a plan."

The Royal Caribbean Visa Signature credit card offers no annual fee and bonus points that can be earned towards free cruises and other cruise-related benefits, but is it a good credit card for you?

Just like an airline branded credit card, Royal Caribbean's credit card is aimed at cruise line loyalists who want to earn rewards for a cruise vacation.

The Royal Caribbean credit card is popular with people who do not want to pay an annual fee, in addition to the benefits.

There is usually a one-time bonus for signing up for the credit card, along with earning 2 points per $1 spent on qualifying purchases with Royal Caribbean and sister brands.  Other purchases will earn 1 point per $1 spent.

The sign up bonus is pretty easy to earn: you will get 10,000 one-time new cardholder Bonus Points if you use your new credit card account to make at least one transaction that posts to your account within 90 days of the account open date.

Those 10,000 points equal $100 onboard credit that you could turn around and apply to your next sailing, or save it towards a higher-tier reward, including a free cruise.

All of those points can be redeemed towards onboard credit, cruise discounts and vacations, and more.

To earn a free cruise, you would need to save at least 50,000 points for a 3-4 night Royal Caribbean cruise. You get a minimum of a oceanview stateroom, and the cost of the cruise cannot exceed $1,000.

Being a Visa Signature card, it comes with the standard travel benefits like lost luggage protection, emergency cash worldwide, Visa Signature Concierge service, and more.

Royal Caribbean card benefits

The appeal of this card are simple: it costs nothing to keep the card (no annual fee), and you will earn more points on your Royal Caribbean purchases than with some other cards.

Moreover, this is a credit card for Royal Caribbean fans who love to cruise, and being able to get credit rewards that you can directly apply to your cruise is easy.

While there are plenty of other travel credit cards, being able to earn cruise onboard credit or free cruises is quite rare a reward.

In addition, the card has no foreign transaction fees, which is useful when visiting ports of call on a cruise.

Drawbacks

Other cruise line credit cards offer more lucrative sign up bonuses.  The Carnival World Mastercard offers 0% APR for the first 6 months, and enough bonus points for a $200 credit. The Norwegian Cruise Line World Mastercard also offers a $200 signup bonus and triple points on NCL purchases.

Of course, the chief benefit of the Royal Caribbean Visa credit card is all about Royal Caribbean Group rewards, which means there is less flexibility if you change your mind later on what you want to redeem your points towards.

This card is only avaialble for United States residents.

Should you get the Royal Caribbean Visa credit card?

This card is a good choice for cruise fans who mostly cruise with Royal Caribbean (and its sister brands) but are strongly against paying an annual fee.

If you want to get the most lucrative credit card rewards program out there, there are better cards that can offer more value for what you spend compared to this card. A few even have no annual fee, while most others do have an annual fee but with signficantly higher rewards and more varied choices in how to redeem them.

The Royal Caribbean Visa card offers exactly what it advertises: a way to earn discounts or even a free cruise from everyday purchases. The question is how important Royal Caribbean specific rewards are to you.