Tim,n,Sue

7 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Lol I think the cdc will decide. That's my vote. Lol there used to be speculation, 3 tests and vaccine to board. One prior test, one boarding and one debarkkng... so it's getting better. Cdc still mandates testing until nov 1st. 

The CDC has absolutely no jurisdiction in any country outside of the U.S..  Each country or groups of countries like the EU will decide the requirements for visitation to their countries. The cruise lines will fall in line unless they decide not to cruise to those countries.  The same goes for cruisers who decide they do not want to be vaccinated. If they want to visit certain countries they will have to be vaccinated or they can visit each country in the comfort of their own home via YOUTUBE.

It is really not up to the cruise lines to decide whether people on the cruise must have the vaccine or not.  It will be decided by the countries that the ships visit.  For example; The EU may decide that anyone outside the EU must have the vaccine before entering then the cruise lines will follow suit.  I cannot see the EU, Canada, Britain, Australia etc not requiring all on board to be vaccinated for Covid before disembarking in their country.  If that happens then anyone who does not want to be vaccinated may be denied boarding.

We are on the Odyssey in late Oct 2021.  Starts in Rome and ends in Ft Lauderdale with stops in Cartagena, Lisbon and Madeira.  Right now RCI has stopped taking reservations for the TAs and people who have existing reservations cannot make changes such as room changes.  

16 hours ago, BND said:

Once there's a vaccine, that probably won't be an issue as long as the insured person has had the vaccine.  Until then, I can see that happening.

Agreed but I worry that travel insurance companies will try to exclude people over a certain age from coverage.  It could be devastating for the cruise industry if the over 55 group were to stop cruising due to potentially crushing medical bills.

We will get the vaccine even if we do not cruise again.  What really makes me think about cruising again is if the insurance companies opt out of covering covid while on a cruise.  If they do opt out if could have a real impact on the number of people who are willing to cruise again.  

2 hours ago, kelbell said:

Do you hear a lot of noise from the windjammer outdoor seating above on deck 10,

or should we pick deck 9? I'm thinking I will hear a lot of chairs being dragged during

the day on the balcony. Maybe just answered my own question...LOL

Deck 9 for sure.  We have had deck 10 a few times and it was great BUT we did a lot of scraping of furniture as it was dragged across the floor in the early hours of the morning.  Given choice it would be deck 9.

15 hours ago, truffles2 said:

Just got off Brilliance last Monday and there were lots of door decorations!

We, too,  were on this cruise and we had magnetic photos on our door.  We saw lots of paper decorations on doors.  

When in doubt always fall back on "The only consistent thing about RCI is their inconsistency".

Med cruises tend to be port intensive with minimal sea days.  As well, and dependent on the itinerary, the port hours are pretty long.  You will also probably be doing a lot of excursions that may go on for 6-8 hours.  Once you have had dinner and maybe a show you will be ready for bed.  Not a lot of time to enjoy a suite.  I would book a balcony and spend the difference on great excursions.

26 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Not my photo, Tim.  I have one wall  of just paper;  I never got the hooks.  But that picture is on my other computer.  I just pulled this one off the internet.  😄  

Oh well but still a good post as it shows what the hooks can be used for.  You can also hang up the robes so that we do not take up room or hangers in the closet.  

Not really on topic but ....  We always take the following with us which we pack in a waist pack and leave in the safe.

A USB memory stick with all of our meds, including dosages, passport info photos, emergency contact info, a small but powerful flashlight, at least 3 days of meds, Consulate or  Embassy info for each country we are visiting, as well as our original passports and cash.  We leave it in the safe in case of an emergency so we grab and go.

5 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

The more people you have in your cabin, the more helpful it is to have stuff hanging, and thus out of the way. 

 

I always bring regular magnets to use for all of my paperwork. 

 

People use the hooks for larger items. 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow Carol.  We always take magnets for our Cruise Compasses, invites etc but the hooks are brilliant.  Just ordered a set of ten 25lb hooks from Amazon. 

1 hour ago, mar915 said:

We are going in June and I read that  here maybe a small staircase located at the area of the aft cabins.  Does anyone know if this is true and if it is open for the passenger.   It is suppose to go to the spa area and the solarium from deck 6 or 7. Thanks in advance.

Deck 8 starboard side.  It leads to the spa on deck 9 and it is only open during spa hours.  It is a shortcut to the solarium for the cabins in the aft.  Not so useful for the cabins on the port side.  

Pretty sure no-one was able to book a shore excursion in Denver.

April 10, 2005.  Explorer of the Seas out of  Miami.  Ports were Belize City, Costa Maya,  Cozumel and Grand Cayman.  We actually had people miss the ship in Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel.  Since this was our first cruise we thought that this was probably the norm. 

April 12 was our 25th anniversary and it would be the first time we would be on vacation without our children.  I was worried that we would sit across from each other on the first night in the dining room and have almost nothing to say to each other that didn't revolve around the kids and I found out later she had the same fear.  Turned out our fears were unfounded and it was a great cruise. It was even better than we could have hoped for.  

We will be on the Jewel OTS TA in April for our 39th.

1 hour ago, xpcdoojk said:

They didn’t offer this tour when we were there on RCI in early June 2016.  

 

JC

I was on the Vision TA Aug 2018 cruise that started in Copenhagen. The bus was almost full.  Wonderful experience but a lot more strenuous than I expected.  

If you are sure you want to do this on your own then a taxi is the best way.  It is approximately 40 KM from Stavanager to Pulpit Rock and a quick taxi estimate would be around $85 to $100 each way.  Plus there are no guarantees that there would be a taxi at Pulpit Rock to take you back.  You may have to wait some time for one.

I did the Pulpit Rock hike through RCI and it was fine.  You go up at tour own pace so you are not travelling in a group.  We arrived at approximately 11:45 and we were given 4 1/2 hours to get to the top and back.  We were told something like this.  "Be back by 4:15 because by 4:30 we will be 15 minutes down the road".  I think your desire to do it on your own is far too risky and or expensive.

As you probably know this is a strenuous hike.  Anyone with back, leg, knee, ankle issues or is not in good shape will probably not make it to the top.  We had quite a few fail to reach Pulpit Rock.  I exercise every day and it was exhausting.  Made it up in 1.5 hours and just over 1.5 hours on the way down.  Stayed about 30 minutes at the top. The way down is in many ways harder than going up as the rocks are slippery and the steps are high and uneven.  Take layers of clothes as you will be down to the base layer after 500 yards.  Plan for enough food and water then double it. I used a walking pole and it was a great help and wear very good hiking shoes. I saw people on the trail in flip flops, open toed sandals etc.  Did not see any of them at the top.  Good luck as it is worth the trip but I would recommend the RCI tour.

Would it show up on your completed cruise listing.

My daughter and my SIL just got back from the Anthem cruise that stopped at Coco Cay and they said it was a mess.  She has been there before and was a little disappointed in how it looks now.  She still had a great cruise though.

In the future, if you are able to, I would strongly recommend that you fly in the day before especially living in an area that can still have crazy weather that time of the year.  That way, in case of a storm, you have some time to figure out a backup plan.  Right now you have very little wiggle room for problems such as delayed takeoff/landing etc.  

I hope everything works out for you and you will enjoy the Allure.

On 2/13/2019 at 7:17 PM, John&LaLa said:

The CD ranks about 200th on my list of things I look forward to. 

Great post.   Add another zero as to where the CD places on my list.  

We have done trans-Atlantics on each of these class of ships.  Sounds like you have to make a decision, are you going for the ship or the ports.  If you are going for the ship then the Oasis would be my first choice then the Independence.  If it is the ports then the Serenade would be my first choice.  

BTW.  We have approximately 12 TA's and we have found that the smaller ships are less bouncy in poor weather.  Most of the ships in the fleet have a draft around 26-28 feet and we have hit some inclement weather on about 4 of our TA's where the ship moved quite a bit.  It was on the Vision and the Radiance class ships that handled it better.  This is just my observation and others may disagree.  It really depends on the wind, height of the waves and at what angle the waves hit the ship.

We have 2 true aft cabins on the Freedom; once on the 8th deck and the other on the 7th.  Never had a speck of soot on either one of our cruises.  One was a 7 day and the other a 14 or 15 day cruise. 

I swear by green apples.  I keep a few in my room just in case.  Others also swear by this method. Here is a  report from the British newspaper the Sun on green apples and motion sickness.  https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/6471795/avoid-motion-sickness-planes-cruises-best-food-to-eat/

We did the Anthem escape room in early December.  Had a lot of fun.  Cost was $0.00 so I don't really understand why the  Mariner has a cost associated with their escape room while the Anthem was included in the cruise price. We could not book online we had to book while on the ship.

My BIL had a bag lost because the disembarkation tag was ripped off during the process.  The bag was put in a back area and a staff member was able to locate it.  We now do a walk off but when we did use the ships personnel to offload the luggage we always put 2 luggage tags on each bag, just in case one got ripped off which did happen once time.