Russ Lomas

That plus the President's cruise next year

I am game to try Icon once to experience what it has to offer, since it looks very different. I am also looking forward to hopefully sailing RCCL on one of their older smaller ships in Europe for the summer of 2024 if they go to some great ports that those big behemoth ships cannot fit into. If on a port intensive cruise, there is no need for all those extra bells and whistles.

The "scam" that NCL pulled on friends of ours who sailed with them this past summer (if what they said is true)...They originally paid about $2200 per person. Price dropped to about $1100 per person. They called in and the $1100 difference was offered as a future cruise credit. They just booked a European cruise with NCL for next summer. The price was supposed to be about $2000 per person as advertised (they were also offering 40% off the booking price as they usually do -originally $2800 per person). They asked to apply their $1100 future cruise credit and the amount they still owed was not the expected $900 after taking $1100 off the $2000 price. It was about $1700 each (this had nothing to do with port fees and taxes according to them). They asked why they did not get the $1100 off per person and the NCL rep said that they apply the future cruise credit to the price BEFORE the 40% off sale they are advertising, and not the price advertised on their website. Therefore, the true value of each $1100 future cruise credit in reality was only $300 each (times the six credits they had, this meant they got $1800 off instead of the $6600 they had expected). Pretty shady way of doing things if you ask me. At least RCCL does not pull that kind of dishonest math (as far as I know).

Unfortunately, not only is the Friday game over, but the season. Our Jays were too up and down this season and never really fully found their groove. Very disappointing to be eliminated that quickly. Hopefully you did not make it home in time to watch it all unravel yesterday. Until next year.... It has been so long since we saw Owen. I would never have recognized him if I walked by him now. Kids are growing up fast. Our youngest twins are now in high school as well. Glad you got some riding in on the cruise. Unfortunately, we cancelled our Mariner trip for this Christmas break (a few of the other families set to go with us cancelled, so we decided to do so as well). See you in March, and thanks for taking us along on this journey with you once again.

that is 1,000 times better than the Generation Idol (Billy Idol cover band) that was on the Odyssey when we were on it. It was supposed to be an Aerosmith cover band (which we were all excited to see). Guessing they got cancelled last minute (Covid?) and the Billy Idol act was the best they could do (which was not good)

So $7.50 per hour divided by the $1.99 per drink equals one hour of work for 3.77 drinks per hour worked. Multiply the $13 drink price by 3.77 and you have to be earning $49 per hour to purchase the same number of drinks. While some do make this, there are an awful lot of people not making that.

If you kept your original reservation number, then the KSF would still qualify for the KSF. We had twin daughters booked under the promo, but after a lift-and-switch, our kids were both almost 14 years old. They still qualified under the KSF promo because we retained the original booking number and booking date. As soon as YOU cancelled your cruise and are rebooking under a new reservation number, the date of that booking becomes the important date for the age of your children.

Could not agree with you more. As a recent new Diamond member as well, the 4 drinks daily were good enough for me (though I know others that would burn through 4 drinks before noon).

They must have figure out the temperature issue in the Solarium on the Odyssey. It was an absolutely beautiful area. A few times, a bit too cool in March in the Caribbean, actually. Wish the beautiful tiered pools in there were a bit warmer.

Literally, the same boat (or ship), due to our schedules

As an employee as a teacher in the public school board, I will not be able to enjoy those early December cruises until I retire. We cannot take the time off work. Alas, until that time, those of us working in education or who have kids that we do not want to miss school, are forced to pay triple or quadruple to sail over the Christmas holidays.

One Flowrider vs. two Flowriders on the same class ship. That right there tells me I book the Oasis every time over the Wonder. The Wonder is one ship I likely will never sail on for that reason. Price (especially if one is far more than the other) usually tells me what ship to book. I got an incredible deal on the Oasis out of NY for next summer that my wife wants to cancel, but the deal was so good, I really want to keep it. If they switched the Oasis out and replace it with the Allure, Harmony, or Symphony, we would 100% keep the cruise. If they switched the cruise out of NYC to the Wonder, I would 100% cancel the cruise.

The only thing worse than the live performance of Cats, is the DVD version, sorry John.

We have sailed twice on the Odyssey and twice on Oasis class ships. We have two upcoming cruises booked on the Oasis and none on the Quantum class ships, like the Odyssey. That should tell you what we prefer. The Odyssey is gorgeous and has a lot of amazing things to see and do. Service was excellent. Incredible Solarium area. We sailed the Odyssey twice, once at 17% occupancy and once with 100% occupancy. The 100% occupancy (which is then norm now, and will definitely will be over the holidays when you expect to sail) felt like it was sailing at 200% capacity. Free activity spots for things like iFly and NorthStar were all booked fast, so many people either paid or did not do them. Some prime pay restaurant reservations went quickly. Shows you had to book ahead of time when boarding the ship filled quickly for some shows. Worst of all was you could not find a single deck chair after 8 am on sea days on the pool deck, the deck above the pool deck, or in the Solarium. Wall-to-wall people. Far less space per passenger than on the Oasis class ships

No more pre-cruise testing at that point for those who are vaccinated. Those who are unvaccinated just "have to" do a rapid test which does not even need to be proctored. I am guessing that 90% of unvaccinated cruisers do not even bother and just saw they did one and it was negative. RCCL is going to the honour system in these cases, but in reality, it is likely just a marketing ploy saying. "Hey, we said they had to test and they said they did and it was negative. What else can we do to ensure your safety?"

It is tough to stay away from someone when you are sharing the same cabin with the person for a cruise.

Mainly because our other daughter in the room did not want to get Covid by staying in the same cabin for 5 more days with somebody who was infected. I do not blame her. Also, because it is the responsible thing to do. There are too many selfish, inconsiderate people around who couldn't care less about passing it on to other people who could get very ill from it, all because it may inconvenience their vacation plans.

Based on first-hand knowledge, unfortunately, this is how our experience was handled. We disembarked the Explorer of the Seas with four of the twelve of our group having tested positive during the cruise (3 others tested positive about a day after disembarking). Our absolute biggest concern, which I made known to RCCL after the cruise, was that every time we received information from a Guest Services agent, or the Infection Control officer, the information was constantly changing and answers to our questions also changed constantly. This is something they really should have a better handle on now on providing clear and consistent messaging. This really led to a lot of frustration and wasted time for the 2nd half of our 8-day cruise. One daughter tested positive on day 4 of 8. We were given the option of moving both her and her sister, who shared the same cabin (but tested negative) down to deck 2 in the isolation ward. If you moved, you were REFUNDED the part of the cruise you missed if isolated. The other individual, who tested negative but chose to isolate, is given FCC equal to the portion of the cruise missed. If you move to the isolation area, you are not given a key to the cabin, so there is no chance that you can leave and get back in. They were also given the option of both quarantining in their original cabin together. My daughter who tested negative did not want to be stuck in isolation, so she was permitted to stay in her original cabin and move freely around the ship, while her sister was put six decks beneath us on deck 2. Many people on our cruise caught Covid. I talked to another lady whose elderly husband also tested positive. They were permitted to stay in their original cabin, but she was allowed to come and go freely from the cabin, with absolutely no masking required. They also had other family members from other cabins come and visit the sick individual in the cabin (not sure if this was allowed, but the did it anyway). One of my other daughters (from a different cabin) tested positive on day 7, along with 2 other children in another family cruising with us. We had this daughter isolate in her original cabin and her sister who had shared the cabin with her the past 6 days moved in with our other daughter who tested negative on day 4 and had a cabin to herself at this time. I was informed by guest services agents that as her parent who was not staying in the same cabin with her, I was permitted to move freely around the ship, but if I went into the buffet, I would have to gather my food and I would not be permitted to eat in the buffet, but would have to take my food to an outside area to eat it (totally ridiculous and not what the person I mentioned previously was told). The parents of the other 2 children we were cruising with were told something different yet again. They were told they had to mask whenever they moved around the ship, even though they had tested negative. Yet again, a 3rd different answer to the same question... You can see where the frustration came from (and this happened over and over with flight changes, transportation arrangements, hotel reservations - over and over for 3 days). What I do have to highly praise RCCL for is that we have already received the refund to our credit card for the pro-rated portion of the cruise for those who tested positive on the ship within 2 weeks of the sailing's completion. We also received full compensation for our hotel rooms and food as we drove back to Canada from Florida. Our relatives received full compensation for their hotel room, food, and air transportation changes. I was shocked to see the credits on our credit card statement that quickly. One warning for non-US citizens regarding reimbursements for submitted documents. I submitted our total amount in US dollars to RCCL. They credited our credit card the same dollar figure (but in Canadian funds), thus we were short-changed by the 30-35% exchange rate. One more email to RCCL though had this resolved, and 4 or 5 days later we were issued another credit to our credit cards for the difference in the exchange rate.

Found the right answer on the RCCL website. You are right about the reimbursement policy ending, but you just jumped the gun on the date when it ends. It is still in place until the end of this month. Pro-rated cruise fare refund if your cruise is cut short for reasons related to COVID-19, for cruises departing on or before September 30, 2022. If you test positive for COVID-19 during the cruise, Royal Caribbean will cover the costs of COVID-19 related medical treatment onboard, and provide assistance with any required land-based quarantine, as well as coordinate travel home for you and your Traveling Party, for cruises departing on or before September 30, 2022

Guess I should have tried the handle to the steam room on day 5 when I was five feet away from it in the sauna. Oh well....

They always book insanely fast. Glad we had the opportunity to book them when we sailed the Odyssey at 17% occupancy last year and enjoy them. I know you can just go stand-by for Northstar since there were a lot of no-shows, but that is hard to do if you want to do it with a larger family as one group. I heard you could even do that for ifly as well, but did not try to go stand-by for that.

I am not sure of the date the policy for reimbursement for being quarantined while on the ship ends (or ended). It still may be running, or it may have ended by now. Our cruise finished 3 weeks ago, and we were eligible for the reimbursements from that cruise (which have partially been paid back - a portion was not paid yet, but that was an oversight on their part, that they said they are now correcting). The rest of the world (I am a school teacher in Ontario), is now basically being told, just live with Covid. You are directed to isolate and return to work or school when symptoms have been improving for 24 hours. Others will not bother to isolate at all. Not saying what is right or what is wrong, but it is funny how quick policies can turn on a dime. If RCCL tests you and then quarantine you now as you state and then there is zero compensation at all, that there will be the incentive people need to not test at all and just go on about their vacation. At least when the quarantine was in place, the reimbursement offered was enough to encourage some people sitting on the fence whether to get a test or not, to do so. Took between 12 and 13 days for each of us to test negative after initially testing positive. The line was very faint around day 8, but continued to be there until day 13 for me. I tested every 2nd day.

Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of the perks sheet and did not save it post-cruise. I know there were things on there for things like arcade credits, discounts in the shops, etc. Nothing that we really took advantage of (or we thought were that great). We are Diamond members and all the kids used were their free day of internet (1 day each for Diamond), and their 4 nonalcoholic drinks per day.

But the counter to that is that if port fees go down after booking, they still happily collect the original higher port fees and do not reduce them on final payment. The house always wins.

Your kids will have their 5 non-alcoholic drinks loaded onto their cards daily to use as they please. Until they turn 19 (or is it 18?), they get the kiddie diamond plus perks, and not the adult ones, so they do not get things like mom and dad do (like the free photos). Kids sail free - kids have to be 12 and under. Anything else, you get kid "benefits" and not adult benefits. The house always wins since they make the rules. Each C&A member should get a paper in their cabin outlining the perks they are to receive. USUALLY, this is correct, but they did provide our 14-year old with an adult copy of perks, but when she went to redeem one, they told her she was not entitled to the perk and gave her the correct perk sheet at that time.