twangster

Even if booked through a travel agency you can access the cruise planner on Royal's website.

Thanks VV. Puts the pressure on the rest.

Dropping test in the near term is not likely going to generate new bookings for close in sail dates. Dropping testing for cruises that depart 45 to 90 days away will directly impact new bookings. It will be interesting to see what they do. They know that testing is universally loathed by most. Who will be the first line to make an announcement? Royal is not usually first at these things. Often they are last. Let the competition make the first step and see how it went for them.

Deck 13 midship has large overhangs. Deck 13 fully forward or aft does not. Deck 6 fully forward has the only balconies that look down to the sea without anything in the way. Most of the rest of deck 6 has obstructions or a public walkway right below it. Search the internet for ship pictures. The midship hump is mostly suites. Forward or aft the hump tends to be inset so most balconies look straight down to the public walkways and lifeboats. In this area higher is better but watch out for the deck 13 overhang in the midship areas noted above. Smoking is on the deck 5 starboard side on this ship so if sensitive to the smell of cigarette smoke go higher or avoid starboard.

Some lines have different demographics. Some lines have been known to not care as much. Before they all got slapped into the conformity we know today Carnival didn't require masks while Royal did (August 2021). That only changed when the CDC saw they had no intention of following guidance. They didn't do test cruises either while Royal did. Now we will get to see the true colors of each line assuming they truly are free to set their own policies. I bet the legal departments at each line are burning the midnight oil. They will have more potential exposure now if they are creating their policies. Some lines may be willing to be exposed more than others.

Once the CDC started to actually talk with the cruise lines there has been back channel communication that isn't made public. What we don't know is what they are now saying to the cruise lines despite public "guidance" suggesting it's now up to the cruise lines. Once the major lines start announcing changes we'll get to see how similar or different each line will be. Time will tell.

You should be okay if everything goes to plan. In March the port pilot was late. Delayed us a bit. Ship happens.

Cheers! It's gotta be 5 o'clock somewhere... While the ship did plug into the pier fiber pedestal I couldn't find any WiFi broadcasting anywhere so while some of the bars at Labadee are connected still no guest WiFi. My first drink yielded a paper ticket but subsequent drinks at island schooner bar, columbus cove and barefoot beach bar were swiped at POS stations. Bar staff reported these were connected to the ship. Back on the ship at 4pm no drinks posted to my ship account yet (for today). The move from paper tickets to POS terminals is pretty big so it's a huge step in the right direction. Ship bar staff who work at Labadee used to come back to the ship and enter all those paper tickets by hand once the ship departed and still do their regular bar jobs that night. BB lunch had a few shrimp options. Not my thing so I did the jerk chicken. You are what you eat... The premade salads were perfect. Grab and go. Shrimp offerings. The only other thing I saw this trip was some LED lighting in a few places on a pole with a solar panel. At the marina, path to the point, Columbus cove dock and Barefoot Beach at a minimum. I didn't go hunt for them so they could be more. These might have been here in March for my last visit and I missed them. Random pictures walking around. Kiddie splash zone. With 3,500 on board there was lots of seating. Front row oceanfront loungers went early but still lots of loungers and umbrellas to be had all day. The "Pinta" tender (ferry) is still here but given our inside berth today it wasn't in use. The aqua park. The arrivals plaza opened up with the security building gone. Still not used to seeing the ship on that side of the pier. In summary it's mostly the same as it has been with new signage and a revamped arrivals plaza. Connecting the ship to the pier for networking open the potential that one day soon maybe WiFi coverage will be extended onto Labadee. My cell phone worked with the included international data from my cell provider. It was pretty strong early (8Mb down, 3 Mb up) but once more cell phones loaded up the one tower it wasn't as fast later in the day. They were running the starboard lifeboats later in the day so I think that's why we docked where we did.

Mariner's visit on July 19, 2022: Testing out a new Galaxy phone with a super zoom. Looks like the local Royal staff were escorting some local fishermen out of the ship's way as we approached. First shot is with the ultra wide lens so you get the idea of the scene. Zoomed in a bit. Not a bad zoom for a smartphone. I wasn't paying very good attention as we docked as I was immediately disoriented upon reaching the pier. It seems we docked at the inside berth today. so a right turn off the ship. Saw them connecting the ship to the pier's fiber box for data networking. Hmmm. As noted upthread the entrance area has had the old security building removed so it's more open now. Towel station in the building on the left at the end of the pier. So weird seeing the ship on this side of the pier. Ceremony setup of some kind. Wedding maybe? Vow renewals? The point was open today. Barefoot Beach signage reads "Barefoot Beach Club" in most places. Friends in a balcony (non-suite, non-pinnacle) booked an overwater cabana at BB and had no issues accessing BB. Saw some interlopers try to slip into the BB alternate entrance and they were asked to leave. Wristbands still used at BB.

Better than being there live!

54"? I'd want 86" minimum. Bigger is better right? But I don't need to board a day early. I'd skip the SL happy hour on day one and get 'ur done. 🙂

Someday testing will be no longer required. I'd really like crew protocols to be eased and there are no ports of call governments that have said anything about that so... unmask the crew! Let them be free!

Single supplements won't be eliminated but they still reduce them for select sailings. They tend to be capacity controlled so as people find those select cruises the reduced solo fares get booked and go away. Early bird gets the worm.

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event_USD.pdf

They've got to be thinking hard about Serenade. Speedcast on Mariner is pretty dreadful. Couldn't imagine trying to do the Word Cruise on geostationary satellites. So many different birds in play around the world with geo. On the other hand you may have a lot of days looking for something to do so waiting an hour to upload one photo might help kill some time. 🙂

GGG appears to be back.

Confirmed on Mariner BB Cabanas are open to all. Labadee tomorrow.

Fixed it for you.

In somewhat related news another 53 Starlink birds went up yesterday. I was boarding Mariner at terminal 5 and with a 10:20am launch the parking garage provided a great view the ~15 miles to the launchpad just before check in. If you are cruising from Port Canaveral it pays to keep on eye out for launches from the Cape. Unfortunately we had low cloud cover and rain moving through in waves so it didn't take long until the rocket was gobbled up by the clouds. Here on day 2 I ventured up to Mariner's mini golf area on deck 13 forward. I found some poles with shielded cable I don't recall seeing before. They are on the outside of the glass so unlike the Freedom test these mounts are out of reach from passengers. There are four of them, two on starboard, two on the port side. Unconfirmed but I'm guessing they could be prep for something like Starlink antennas. The forward location would yield less potential blockage from the stacks providing pretty much unobstructed views to the sky in all directions. They may not be for this purpose at all. Maybe she is getting a navigational upgrade for better GPS/GLONASS accuracy. Time will tell. Something to keep an eye on.

In the past short cruises didn't always have top tier events so many people would make a point of choosing a ship to hit 700 on. Sometimes people prefer one ship or one class or even one captain or hotel director. Approaching 700 they track points more closely and book cruises to be recognized so that it has more meaning to them. Quantum class often use Two70 but if a new cast needs more rehearsal time or if the top tier event is too large they will move it to the main theater. On Mariner right now and top tier will be in the theater for this cruise. Venues can change for a number of reasons.

When I've requested it it wasn't that weren't keen to do it, I don't think they understood the point behind the request. "It could no charge yet a guest is asking to pay for it". Also don't forget to use your 50% beer/wine vouchers from the CAS if using this strategy.

May be in the pub, usually on the pool deck.

Me included. I find myself thinking it's time to head to a lounge for a pre-dinner cocktail around 4:30pm. That usually starts with a wardrobe change to get out of my day clothes. Old habits are indeed hard to break. There is a social aspect of looking to see if I know anyone else on board. On Empress that lacked a DL many of us frequent cruisers wound up at the Schooner Bar creating our own pre-dinner happy hour event even though every drink was non-voucher. Or maybe this old dog can't learn new tricks.

If you look at the marketing photos of features like bars, suite lounges and Diamond Clubs they use generic photos from various ships. They still have Diamond Club pictures from when early Oasis class had a DL that overlooked the promenade even if look at "Things To Do" on others ships like Quantum class. Those DL's have been gone for years but the pics remain. The issue isn't specific to RoyalUp. Cabin photos are generic and not an actual picture of the cabin you are booking.

Personally I much prefer the any time, any drink vouchers. It's been curious to me to see the DL still crowded on most of my restart cruises during the happy hour time period. I still see some ships with no seating available in the earlier hours before first seating for dinner.