PhillyFan33579

While I still think it is a good idea to have COVID protocols in place, the majority of people catching COVID now, which includes me, are having mild symptoms at worst. Like you mentioned, I think eventually the COVID virus will be treated like the flu virus. It can still be a deadly virus, but at a level comparable to the flu virus.

I have been on 6 cruises this year and I have yet to be on a ship where everyone has the same hacking cough. I rarely hear anyone coughing on a ship, although obviously I am not around all of the 1000s of passengers on each cruise. I don’t know any ship that pretends to be COVID free. From talking to several officers I have gotten to know on RCI, they expect positive COVID passengers every cruise, which is what happens every cruise.

When I was on Harmony recently the elevators were packed. The rules were still posted but no one followed them. I don’t think anyone cared about not following them, although obviously I can’t speak for every passenger on the ship.

I think a lot more people are catching COVID both on ships and on land, but a lot of these people never get tested because their symptoms are not bad. A few months ago I got off a 7 day cruise with what I thought was a minor cold. I didn’t think twice about it until literally a few dozen people from the cruise posted they tested positive when they got home. I decided to get tested, which was positive, although I would have never tested without what turned out to be the virus going around the ship.

The one thing that isn’t back to normal is people are still catching COVID every cruise. From talking to crew members, at least a few people test positive on every cruise. Additionally, after every cruise I have been on I read posts from people who said they tested positive for COVID after the cruise. On the bright side, no one seems to get symptoms any worse than the flu.

I have been on 3 cruises in the last two months. Two things were consistent on all 3 ships. One, the cruise was at or over capacity based on double occupancy. Two, all 3 ships were definitely short on staff, especially bartenders and waiters. In general, the wait time when ordering a drink at a bar or food at the MDR and speciality restaurants has been longer than it was pre-COVID from my experience. Probably the only restaurant with service that was similar to pre-COVID days was Izumi. Despite these issues, I have had a great time on the 11 cruises I have been since last July and I am looking forward to the 8 cruises I have booked this year.

I got off Independence yesterday and had a great time. Food is subjective, but I thought breakfast in the MDR was very good and the food in the speciality restaurants was excellent. Only watched the ice show and juggling show. Both were good although I have seen better shows on previous RCI cruises. Pool areas were crowded, but I prefer to hangout on the deck above the pools. Always find plenty of available lounge chairs on every class of ship. When we were at Coco Cay, twice (at least while we were there) they told everyone to get out of the water due to lighting within 5 miles. Other than that, had a blast hanging out at the Oasis pool. The shorter cruises have a different vibe to them, but I enjoy them. They make for a nice long weekend and it only takes a few hours to drive to multiple ports from my house in the Tampa area.

I was there on Sunday on Independence OTS. Freedom OTS was the other ship there on Sunday.

At the end of the video, it lists all the names in the same cabin. You click a box next to each name certifying that they watched the video.

The next decent drink I get from the bionic bar will be the first one. It’s interesting to watch it for the first time, but not a big fan of this bar.

I just did a mock booking and got the exact same price for a balcony, so my guess is that price is accurate.

Last year when I was on Freedom they showed every NFL game in Playmakers on Sundays (2 different cruises). However, when I was on Odyssey they only showed two NFL games at a time in Playmakers on Sundays. I thought it was a little weird that an older ship like Freedom showed every NFL game while Odyssey, their newest ship at the time, only showed 4 NFL games Sunday afternoon.

I would be very surprised if any Thursday night games were shown on a ship this year. Amazon Prime has exclusive rights to these games, with the exception that games will be available in the local market of the teams playing.

It was closed when I was on Harmony two weeks ago. Hoping it will be open in 3 weeks when I am on Harmony again.

The problem is most cruise lines stopped carrying the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) several years ago. The majority of college football games are broadcast by these networks. Previously ships showed almost every major college football game on Saturdays, but that is no longer the case since they stopped carrying the major networks.

I think a lot of people, including me, got spoiled by cruises last year into early this wear when you could upgrade to a suite from a balcony cabin pretty routinely with a low bid. Now that ships are starting to significantly increase their capacity, the days of upgrading with low bids are slowly coming to an end.

Just an FYI, North Star is free on port days but costs money on sea days.

When I was on Harmony a few weeks ago they had pickleball on the schedule every morning if the cruise.

I have been on 10 RCI cruises (4 different classes of ships) since last August. The only class ships where you had to make reservations was on Oasis class ships. But you had to do that before COVID too.

Since when do you need to make reservations on Voyager class ships?

You make a good point. I should have stated if you get outstanding service in a speciality restaurant, which I have always gotten, you should tip more. If I got average service or worse in a speciality restaurant, I wouldn’t add an additional tip.

I would rank the restaurants you mentioned in the following order: 1. Chops 2. Izumi. 3. Giovanni’s. I have been on 4 RCI cruises this year and purchased the UDP on every cruise. The restaurants I mentioned are all excellent in my opinion, so you can’t go wrong no matter where you eat. I agree with the comment that the steak at Giovanni’s is very good, but I don’t think it is better than the steaks at Chops.

Buying the UDP is becoming the norm when I cruise on RCI. I always tip extra when eating at a speciality restaurant. It’s not required, but the wait staff in speciality restaurants literally bend over backwards to ensure your experience is great. Just my opinion, but not tipping additional in speciality restaurants is pretty cheap in my book.

Answering yes to this question is a huge negative. I have been told that countless times by crew members to include ship officers.

Just a thought, did you ever think of contacting RCI with your question? It amazes me sometimes when someone posts a random question online thinking they will get a better answer than contacting the cruise line directly.