exm

It’s less than 100mg so no concerns. Make sure to bring at least one spare test.

Is NCL allowing unvaxed kids under 12 to sail?

Almost ready to buy again: buy around $33, sell around $38.

3 hours ago, zimmerman said:

My 10yo isn’t vaccinated. I know we need a PCR check and then there is an antigen check on boarding day.

 

I’ve just received a second email from RC saying “This is a reminder to schedule your boarding day antigen test for COVID-19”

 

but I can’t see where/how I ‘schedule’ it. After the first email, I presumed that we just show up at the location.  This second email has me concerned I should be formally booking something. No links in the email(s) and can’t see anywhere in the app.

 

Alaska cruise from Vancouver (testing at the Fairmont). We have an 11:30 boarding time. Was just planning on turning up at the Fairmont at say 10:00.

I have done two of those, and I always seem to have problems with registering. But no worries, when you board they'll test you. I think this is more a thing for Royal to see how many people will need to get tested, and how much staff they need that day. It doesn't impact your boarding.

And sold my stocks purchased just before the ER with a nice 10% profit. I'm not sure about NCL, so I'm taking a wait-and-see approach until they release their numbers.

It hit 8%, currently at 5%.

Great for my SEVEN (7) day cruise on 8/14. Way to go, RC. 😞

19 hours ago, exm said:

 

I'm going all-in this afternoon after the FED's decision hoping the RCL numbers will be good. We have soon 10% bumps before. Take your profit and wait for NCL's numbers.

 

 

This should be a good day, hopefully we'll go up by 10%+.

5 hours ago, the penguins said:

You can't cash out promotional chips.

Charge $100 to your room in the casino, cash those out. Simple and works.

3 hours ago, sgwriter said:

Sounds to me like they take a hard line on their official policy statement but treat it loosely in actual practice on board.

Otherwise go to the casino, get $100 in chips and cash out.

12 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

That statement refers to using OBC for prepaid gratuities.  Daily (non-prepaid) gratuities are onboard charges.

 

Data point:  I've been using shareholder OBC toward gratuities for many, many years and as recently as May. 

 

Thanks for clarifying

Here's my prediction:

October 2022

- Vaccines still mandatory 12 and up

- No more testing, except for unvaccinated passengers 12 and younger

Spring 2023

- No more vaccine mandates

- No more testing, except for all unvaccinated passengers

On 7/21/2022 at 4:37 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

And NCL will report just a few days after RCL. With the Feds reporting interest rates before both. I agree, avoid temptation for at least a few more weeks. I would be shocked if RCL and NCL don't have to follow suit and dilute also. 

I'm going all-in this afternoon after the FED's decision hoping the RCL numbers will be good. We have soon 10% bumps before. Take your profit and wait for NCL's numbers.

29 minutes ago, dwp10mm said:

LOL.  I know the feeling.  Did you use the offer late last year?  I did and am wondering if that is preventing a new offer from the same company.  I have 4 cruises booked and could certainly buy something in the planner or pay off some additional balance to satisfy any offer they throw at me.  

No, I never had a Royal offer or actually use my AMEX to pay Royal (I'm using my Chase Sapphire Reserve for cruise payments - 3% CB). So it seems to be random.

5 minutes ago, hal2008 said:

Totally agree.

Now only if covid cooperates and behaves like flu 

 

It is getting there ....

Hopefully soon ... 

I think if you compare mortality and rates of BA.5 with the flu you'll be surprised. Unfortunately people keep on dragging Delta numbers into the comparison which is a totally different situation.

Do you believe this? I got Celebrity Cruise now. They are giving me all cruise lines except Royal. Frustrating.

9 minutes ago, hal2008 said:

Hope virus listens to you about need to live "normal"  again.

 

 

There's plenty of viruses out there including the flu, and no one cares about those. It's time to treat Covid like the flu.

1 hour ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

All of the Odyssey sailings go to Greece, which will require tests, so I’m not surprised that it was kept for Odyssey sailings. Everywhere Wonder goes has stopped demanding tests, so fingers crossed. We have the tests just in case. 

Greece says otherwise: https://travel.gov.gr/#/

"Furthermore, as of Sunday 01.05.2022, all travellers arriving in Greece, regardless of their country of origin, are no longer required to display a valid certificate of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19, or evidence of a negative test result from SARS-CoV-2 infection (PCR or Rapid Antigen test)."

19 minutes ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

I’ve been checking daily for weeks. It only mentioned vaccines, then vaccines and tests, and last Thursday went away altogether. Others report the the same. 

I'm sailing on Odyssey out of Rome on 8/14 and I still see the testing requirements.

31 minutes ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

What is odd is that we are checked in for August 14 Wonder and there is no longer any mention of testing. The pop-up has been gone since last week. It just says “checked in and ready ro sail.”

 

Time will tell. 

When was the last time you checked? It disappeared for a while and then came back.

On 7/23/2022 at 7:06 PM, JOHN 57 said:

My favorite beer on the cruise will be blue moon, and 2d dos equis.

I love Blue Moon, but only the draft version.

So Royal... What's the word?

6 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

Agree. Which is why I separated the issues 👍🏼 But it just isn’t what we do (opening new cards). Stretching is essential! I tell DH that my words for the year (ever year LOL) are maximize and optimize!

 

Talk to your DH and open some cards. If the credit score drops from 830 to 820, it won't make a difference.

Happy Cruising!

5 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

I think there is a difference in “chasing points” and maximizing points by strategizing credit card use.  The former might include those to spend money that they would not spend otherwise or those who spend on the CC seeking points without considering the costs on the other side of the ledger (interest/debt). And for some, the “game” includes opening and closing multiple card accounts to grab new account bonuses.
 

What we do is to optimize the use of 2 credit cards in order to make money/points/benefits to make our money (that which we would spend anyway for groceries to travel) go further. We don’t open multiple accounts (my USMC DH would lose his mind if I considered that, we have an 830 credit rating that indicates his level of care with our finances) and we never, ever have a balance. I agree that credit cards can be a huge slippery slope for some people and that financial institutions have been guilty of encouraging their use for their own profit. But that is what  businesses do, try to increase the use of their products, whether RCL or BoA), silly to think they would not. As a younger person I wasn’t careful with my credit cards, but honestly that was on me and I learned from that. 
 

From my perspective, the OP was only discussing this kind of optimizing for greater travel rewards during retirement and in my book stretching a dollar is just smart way to go about things. 

I agree that there's a difference, but it's not mutual exclusive.

Opening credit cards doesn't necessarily hurt your credit, usually only by a few points. And I don't close cards that I open; I downgrade them. The key to open new credit cards is a bonus that's actually worth it: don't open a new cc with a $50-$200 bonus. Get the ones that give you 80,000 and up points. Usually those points if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve are worth 1.5, so that's $1,200 worth of points. So if you want to stretch your dollars during retirement, that's the way to go.

32 minutes ago, KayRaeRae said:

Huge into the points game, mostly via Chase products.  I’m at 5/24 (for those in the know), so I have to wait a bit before trying for new SUBs (sign-up bonuses).  
 

I haven’t paid for a flight in years, and have around a month of free hotel stays accrued.  

I am with you! Luckily my wife has a LLC so I can open business cards also using her EIN 🙂