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We called our Cruise specialist (actually our Travel Agent) in an attempt to book a Cruise in 2022. We decided to try RCCL out of Galveston for May 2022. Our Travel Agent advised us that the new Policy for all Cruise lines is that you cannot leave the Ship when in Port unless you are on an excursion for the Ship you are on. No getting off the Ship to find someone on shore to take you on a tour, or do a sightseeing-on-your-own trip.
She did say that she had no idea what the rules would be at that time (May 2022), but for now no one can leave the Ship when in Port unless you have booked an excursion through the Ship. Most of those are well over $100 per person, and a Family of four, visiting 3 or 4 Ports could cost a fortune. When in Port, the Shops onboard as well as the Casinos are closed, so there is little to do although the Ship should have some activities planned. Also, there was a $500 non-refundable deposit per person. Needless to say, we didn't book it.

Possibly this only applies to Cruises out of US Ports of departure, we didn't ask.

I don't think those rules apply to any of the cruises that are sailing out of other ports, like St Maarten or the DR or the Bahamas. And I agree, any cruise would be a 'no-go' with those rules. That is the first I had heard about the casinos and gift shops being closed. With that, how will the cruise line make any money?

The Casino and Gift shops are only closed when they are in Port (due to Customs rules). They always were until the Ship sailed. Sorry if I caused any confusion with that part of my post. Don't feel sorry for them though, they make plenty of $$$ with the alcohol sales.

Oh, ok, yes that it true, always closed in port.. I never felt sorry for the cruise lines in the past, but it has to have been tough on them, the past year and more... And at this point, still no date in sight for 'normal cruising'.

If I had a big desire to cruise right now, I would do one of the cruises sailing from somewhere other than the US.

Apparently most cruises in the Med and UK are either limited to cruise line only excursions or no leaving the ship at all. There has been talk that US cruises will have the ship excursion only rule for at least a while upon start up. Nothing has been set in stone at this point though.
I would think that whether or not you can go off on your own will largely depend on the individual countries/ports visited and their local rules.

As much as we love cruising we have decided to hold off until more solid info becomes available. We do have a cruise booked but not until December 2022. If things haven't been set and more normal by then we won't be going.

Things like limiting excursions, wearing masks everywhere except your cabin, having to reserve seats for shows, and other such rules would not make for an enjoyable trip in our opinion.

Yes Fran, I think the unknown of what rules would be in place in 18 months has us wanting to hold off on booking anything. Also, the thought of a $500 per person deposit that is non-refundable is the clincher. I'm sure they would probably allow you to move that deposit to another Cruise (even further in the future). That would put you in 2023?? We have no idea what is in store for 2022, so how can one plan for 2023? Too much uncertainty, and $1000 for me and the Wife to invest with the possibility of no returns is not our cup of tea.

Is that what all cruise lines are doing--nonrefundable deposits? Sounds crazy to me, to put out that kind of nonrefundable money these days.. I have not really been looking at all, but I think I saw some lines that were doing really small initial deposits, like $100 or $200 a person? That's not so bad.

Carnival is running a $99 per person deposit, and it does not say non-refundable, and the balance isn't due until 90 days before sailing..

The deposit for our Dec 2022 was only $200 and if we are unhappy the the situation at that time, we can push the cruise out further into 2023. Carnival by the way.

OK, that's a very fair down payment policy.

Thanks Fran I think you are correct on the price. I said $99 per person, but it could have actually been $200 for the Wife and I. Only $2 difference, but I wanted to correct what I had posted and didn't want to mislead anyone.