denamo

Had a friend who took this same itinerary out of Southampton (England) on Celebrity in June. Pictures were amazing.

Good to hear. Heard some YouTube vloggers who didn't have such a great experience.

Wonder if Royal will ever go back to reserving shows pre-board on Oasis class ships. Seems like there are fewer and fewer cruisers having to cancel due to a positive Covid test. Supposed this was why Royal changed the reservation procedure. Really liked being able to reserve pre-boarding. Won't hold my breath reservations will go back to original procedure. 😐

Your excursion report makes me wonder about excursions in Aruba. We did one in May that was less than stellar. Reported to excursion desk. Royal said they would partially refund since we actually did it. Got Covid over night prior to disembarkation. Felt too crummy to think to check invoice. 🙄

Along with all the valuable items and med others have mentioned, I have my swimsuit in my carry on. Not because I'm quickly heading to the pool, but finding a swimsuit to fit the way I like probably would be difficult if something unforeseen happening to our luggage. Especially critical for a Caribbean cruise when typically there's a beach day planned. As someone mentioned, getting on after cabins are open would mean no lugging around a carry on.

Boarding day is potato leek soup. Seems on more recent cruises, it's more just potato. Coconut Ranger cookies for sure. On more recent cruises, only available first day. Did find some late in the week in the Cafe Promenade on the Allure. Love the Indian food at lunch and Mongolian buffet at night. Like the various stations they do...Italian, Mexican also in the evenings like the Mongolian buffet.

Good information! Thanks for the post.

Thanks for all the pictures of the paperwork. We were able to get our milestone block of the Allure in May. It was the one I most wanted. Clarisse, Loyalty Ambassador, is very personable and will work to help with requests if at all possible. Now for what seems like an unpopular view. We are thrilled to have the Allure coming to Galveston! Being from Texas, it will be nice to have an Oasis class ship here and a lovely new terminal to welcome her! Even though it will still be a 6 hour drive or so for us to get to Galveston, that beats an all day event flying to Fort Lauderdale. 😊 While the Allure is not one of the amplified Oasis class ships, I could not be happier for that. The iconic design to see out the back of the ship is now completely destroyed with slides on the amplified and new builds. (I know, a bit dramatic. 🙂) We could not be more excited to be on the Allure in November when she gets here to Texas! 🛳️

John&LaLa, Loved the video you posted. Hilarious!

Be very careful using this company. JJ Cruise has a YouTube video how their testing time was changed via email on the same day. Go watch their video.

On the Allure in May and the Internet was pretty slow. It would drop frequently. Went to the Internet Desk and the guy checked one of my settings. Definitely better after he did that. I was ok since I was only using our Diamond Loyalty perk for the Internet. I was mainly using it for texting, looking for info on the web, and emailing.

I also have a specific food allergy. On the first day in the Windjammer if there is a dish I'm unsure of, I have asked staff monitoring the foods if a dish contains a specific ingredient. They will leave and go ask the chefs. If I have a doubt, I won't eat that item. Likewise, at our first MDR meal, the waiters will usually ask if anyone has food allergies. I will mention mine. Almost without fail, they will mention it every night as a precaution. I've found Royal to be extremely attentive in this area.

Got to feeling awful overnight before disembarkation. Called medical about 6 AM and went to get tested. I knew there was no way I was in any condition to fly home. Test came back positive. Received a letter stating Royal would reimburse for hotel, meals, and flight change fees. You are responsible for making hotel arrangements. Our biggest headache was getting luggage since we had put it out the night before. Royal had a driver to take us to a hotel, but we had to wait about an hour plus before customs would release luggage to us. Since they had escorted us off the ship via back passages, we had no access to get our luggage, and once out of the terminal, they would not allow my husband to go back in to get our luggage. He stood outside, and they eventually brought it to him. In the days that followed, no one ever checked to see if we were in quarantine. Didn't really matter, since no way did I feel like getting on an airplane. I did send all of our receipts, a copy of the positive results I had received from medical, plus a copy of the letter from Royal once we were back home. I had used a credit card for all of it, and my card was credited for the full amount. I find that very generous on Royal's part.

We were on one of the first cruises when the virtual balcony was introduced on the Navigator. Really does seem more of a gimmick than anything. We found it to be hot at times also. We could have easily done without it. It was a super last minute cruise, and the price was way beyond terrific.

I went to the website and see the same thing. It's showing the service for proctoring is listed as sold out. Wonder if this is due to the weekend? Guess I was lucky to purchase and have an appointment.

Yes, I used the test provided by the go vernment in the orange and white box. No problem at all.

Took the iHealth proctored Covid test earlier this morning. My scheduled time was 9 A.M. I signed in about 10 minutes early. Proctor showed up right away. It does have to be done on a laptop or computer with camera and microphone. Have to use the Chrome browser. I was on a laptop. In order for the proctor to see my test stick at one point, I had to semi close the top down for the camera to pick up the image. Did all of the verifying requirements with the proctor (i.e. QR code, driver's license, and unopened test). Followed the steps given to swab my nose, place in the liquids vial, and drop 3 drops of liquid into the test. An online timer was set for 15 minutes. When done, hit the onscreen button to get back to a proctor. I only had one definite red line, well before the 15 minutes was up, and no other line. 🙂 Went through some steps once again with the proctor, showed him the test results by holding the test stick up to the camera. Had an email immediately, and printed it out. One small glitch in my printing was the first printing, the results were huge and did not fit on the paper. Had to go in and adjust the print to "shrink to size". Total testing time was right at 25 minutes. Hope this info is helpful. I would use iHealth again. Ready to set sail! 🚢🛳️