LoriLoriLori

Just now, Sunshine3601 said:

I hope for your Niece a speedy and total recovery.

barbeyg, hoping for health and healing for your niece as well.  

2 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

Same thing happened to my sister’s family. Thankful that you guys didn’t get sicker, and had the vaccines. My sister spent 5 days in the hospital (she was vaccinated, Pfizer), her daughter was not vaccinated, and the daughter is currently still on a vent. The others have mild symptoms.

 

I hope your next cruise is amazing! 🙂

 

 

Thank you.  I agree that thankfully we were vaccinated as it could have been worse.  

Just now, barbeyg said:

I am so sorry this has happened to your family. I hope that all remain asymptomatic, and your refunds are prompt. 
 

Thank you.  I did have a few days of symptoms.  Husband had minor symptoms as did our kids (18 and 21).  We just never imagined all four of us positive.  Thought it may be some other virus going around. 

Booked on Odyssey for this Sunday August 8.

Family of four all fully vaccinated (Pfizer).  Family of four had PCR test Thursday morning.  All POSITIVE.  We all have Covid.  I am very depressed -- was so looking forward to this cruise.  We had initially booked Independence and got switched to Odyssey and upgraded to balcony rooms. We had some cool excursions planned.  

Spoke with Royal Caribbean last night.  Had to email our positive tests. Customer service person said to call back again on August 15th for a refund.  Ugh.  

Thanks everyone.  Still not sure what to do instead if we cancel this excursion. We have snorkeled here and there before -- John Pennekamp for instance -- and live in Florida and live in a beach town that is beautiful,  so beaches are not something we necessarily need on this trip,  nor do we care about drinking on this excursion. Will have to think about alternatives...  Thank you again!

Have you taken the Fury catamaran with stop at the beach excursion through Royal?  Can you share your experience?  Thank you very much.

My kids got new passports.  Age 18 and 20.  It wasn't a renewal since they were expired and required new photos, etc.  

Paid for expedited processing. 

Mailed on June 6.  

Received on July 17.

I have Fury booked in August and might cancel after reading this thread. The beach and catamaran might satisfy us even if the snorkeling isn't great.  Not sure what to do.

3 hours ago, SillySpac390 said:

I did it last week and didn't enjoy it.

I would like to hear your thoughts/review.    

I read the article linked above -- the poster is good to go if sailing on Holland America and not good to go if sailing on Norwegian.  It doesn't mention Royal Caribbean so I would probably email or call to be sure.  Could you possibly get another dose of Moderna to have two doses of same vaccine?

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/second-shot.html

Thanks for this information.  Appreciate it!  I don't think we used lanyards either although thought about getting them for this cruise.  I think we carried in our bag/wallet.  

Going on Odyssey this August.  Thanks again.

Do you use the app on your phone to purchase items on the ship?  I haven't been on a cruise since 2015.  Your sea pass is now on the phone now, correct?  How about to open your cabin?

I checked in and 1 pm earliest time as well.  I picked a little later because we are driving the day of-- Floridians. 

https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/how-a-mexican-lagoon-lost-its-colors

21 minutes ago, M&A said:

But it's shown on another web site,  these sites are all "unofficial"

 

https://cruisedig.com/ports/cozumel-mexico/arrivals

Thank you.  Just getting worried/paranoid that other RCI cruises showing and not my cruise. I need to stop looking.  

Not in Coco Cay.  

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/coco-cay-port-392?tab=schedule&month=2021-08#schedule

1 minute ago, daninwi said:

haven't used cruisemapper before - just checked and i don't see it there.  hopefully that's not a bad sign.  we just got the royal up email for the July 31st sailing and there were some 'bargains' on the bids that are making us feel a bit better over the increased costs re:  cruise planner purchases

I also got the Royal Up offer. I took that as a good sign as this cruise is likely a go  -- perhaps I am naive.  😁

Just now, daninwi said:

the July 31st sailing is not scheduled for a stop in Cozumel;  we have stops in Aruba, Curacao and Coco Cay

Thank you daninwi! Is your cruise showing up on the schedule? 

28 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

Pier sites don't show them in Cozumel, but some show Costa Maya dates.

 

Yes, Costa Maya on August 25 -- nothing for August 8 sailing.

Cozumel showing  August 24 only. 

This may be an unanswerable question.  

Odyssey of the Seas July 31, 2021 and August 8, 2021 cruise are not on the schedule for their port stops (Cozumel and Costa Maya) on Cruisemapper.com.  I am booked on the Aug 8th cruise and supposed to be in Cozumel on August 10 and Costa Maya on August 11.  

Cruisemapper.com does show the late August 2021 Odyssey sailing.

Can you speculate why these Odyssey cruises are not on the schedule?  Perhaps tentative?  Or, perhaps a no-go?   Do you know how Cruisemapper obtains schedules?  Thanks.

Thank you all.  Appreciate very much the advice and tips.  A lot to consider and plan for. 

It is true that Rome would have been an ideal starting and ending point.  

I have visited Europe twice by land -- Austria, Germany, France, London.  We know that we will only scratch the surface on this cruise. It's not ideal but we will make the most of it.  Also, we are fit people -- plenty of endurance and strength to power vacation.  😁

5 hours ago, kccrzr said:

 

You might want to look into booking a private or semi private tour or transfer to Florence, especially since you want to go to a museum.   We have found that it was the best way to maximize time in Florence and can often be done less costly than going on a cruise ship sponsored shore excursion.  We have done this three times with two different tour companies and it has worked extremely well for us. A big cruise sponsored group on a bus from Livorno to Florence just takes up precious time better spent in town. 

 Appreciate this tip!  Thank you.

56 minutes ago, Cruisen Elf said:

We took a Mediterranean cruise on Vision in 2015.  It was wonderful!  Vision is a smaller ship without all the bells & whistles, as mentioned, but that makes it more accessible to some of the ports, and less crowded.  Again, as previously stated, it is a port intensive cruise, with most of the ports some distance from the cities you will want to see. You will not be spending that much time on the ship, but rather travelling to and from the cities and seeing all the marvelous places on your itinerary.

 

For port specific information, check out the Europe boards here:   https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/8-europe/

 

Also, as suggested, non ship tours usually result in smaller groups and better tours, in our experience.  We did several tours with Rome in Limo, including Florence,  where we saw Michelangelo's David (breathtaking!), and were quite pleased with all of the tours.

Thank you for the link to Europe board and for the tour tip.  

Thank you all for reassurance that this will be a fine ship.  I am very excited -- our kids are adults now (18 and 20) and this will be our first vacation as a married couple without kids in over 20 years.  I will also be turning 50 the day before the cruise sails so perfect way to celebrate! 😁

So true Hoopster95!  Thank you!

2 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

If you enjoyed Enchantment, you’ll feel the same about Vision. I’ve been on both ships and like Vision more than Enchantment. Enchantment has been stretched in the middle, thus is a little longer than Vision, but Vision is in much better shape IMO. 
I’ve been on Vision for a total of 29 nights - three separate cruises, and never noticed smoke from the casino invading the ship/centrum area. Unlike Radiance which was terrible. 
As long as you’re not looking for an amusement park ship, you’ll have a great cruise on Vision. 

Thank you so much!  Very encouraging!

40 minutes ago, geishagirl2 said:

I am wondering the same thing.  I have been on ships such as Rhapsody, and didn’t mind lack of activities due to the ports we visited.  Also wondering about Florence/Pisa port of Carrara.  I know the marble quarries are nearby, but would like to know about availability of other shore excursions from that port.  I haven’t been able to find much info…

I also notice no info for Florence excursions -- perhaps closer to sailing date.  We want to make it to the museums to see David.