rudeney

@unclegrandpa Or, use those tests you have with another proctor service such as https://rapidtestandtrace.com/

Use the Royal App and check the MDR menus each night. The "Broiled Lobster Tail" will be listed under entrees.

Yep, that's the lowest price I've seen for our cruise (sold at $245 which included the gratuity). I went ahead and bought it even though we're on Voyager with only 3 specialty restaurants. My plan is eat all of our dinners at the specialty restaurants. I'm not sure about lunch - we tend to eat a large late breakfast, but we may try a lunch since we have that option.

So I was right - it *IS* a thread about Drunks in the DL! 🤣

I was once in the SL waiting to talk to the concierge and overheard him on the phone. When he got off, he went through the list he had just made of cancelled reservations for various spa services, excursions and specialty restaurants and asked if I needed any of those. He explained that they always call him first and see if he has any of his guests waiting on these things, and that they usually give him some time to ask his guests before they put them back on the list for GS to offer.

That should work because UDP is sold as "For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing." l seem to recall some people saying they were able to just get extra plates in Izumi and Playmakers by having the server just close one check and open another.

That's the issue: With the Omicron variants, plenty of people have zero symptoms or such mild symptoms that they don't bother to get tested. If a person's only way of knowing the are "sick" is a positive test, then they are not "sick".

Prices for our Voyager cruise have been anywhere form $65 - $78. I think I once saw $62 right after we booked, but I could be wrong about that. I wasn't going to buy it, but decided to when it went down to $65 over Memorial Day. I check every day and it's bounced back up to $70 and $75 some days, but it's been $65 for many days now. This is a 7-night CAN/NE with 4 ports, so it may be that people are not buying it as they plan to spend a lot of time ashore, plus it could be cold, so less time on the pool deck = less drinks for many people.

No, it's still too early for me! 😁 Really, I think it's the all-caps that makes me tend to read the wrong work. That, or maybe I am thinking it would be a funny thread if it were about drunks in the DL, so my brain suggests that!

Why is it that everytime I see this thread title , I read it as "DRUNKS in the Diamond Lounge During Happy Hour."?

We bought 3rd party insurance with very good coverage, so I'm not worried, except that is seems as if RCCL forces me to quarantine after Sept. 30th, then they won't reimburse me for those "missed" cruise days. I'm not sure if my insurance would consider that "post-departure interruption" - I suspect not.

I only knew where it was because I was looking at it to see what was covered on our upcoming Oct. 2nd cruise. As it stands today, we could still get a refund for a positive test or COVID exposure pre-cruise, but once we are onboard, we would get no help with any quarantines for a positive test.

Like I said, it's because ALL hospital and ICU beds must be approved by the state hospital board - which is run by the hospitals. They have colluded to create their own monopoly where demand outpaces supply. And it's been this way for a very long time.

Currently, cruises missed because of a positive COVID test before boarding will be refunded through April 30, 2023, but compensation for contracting COVID during your cruise including prorated refunds for quarantines or coverage for post-cruise quarantines is only thought September, 30 2022.

Our (private, not socialized) hospitals and ICUs have been at or above capacity for years - years before COVID. My MIL died in early 2019. The last two years of her life, she was in the hospital every few months with respiratory problems due to COPD. Every time we'd take her to the ER. They would get her an ER bed fairly quickly, and then would tell us they were admitting her. Each time, she'd be in an ER bed at leas 24 hours because the hospital was full. When she'd finally gen a hospital bed, about half the time the doc would say she was being moved to ICU. She never say the inside of the ICU - it was always full. So when I saw the "sky is falling" news stories about hospitals and ERs being full, I knew the real story - we have about 90% as many hospital beds as we need because the companies that own them all have seats on the state hospital board and want it that way. Hospitals are like airplanes: They only make a profile when every seat (or bed) has a butt in it.

It's detailed here: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-i-test-positive-for-sars-cov-2-what-is-your-refund-policy-and-costs-covered Guests will have the following COVID-19 Assistance at no extra charge. 100% cruise fare refund for you, and your Travelling Party, if any of you tests positive for COVID-19 within 10 days prior to the cruise or at the boarding terminal, for cruises departing on or before April 30, 2023. 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, or travel home for you and your Traveling Party, for cruises departing on or before September 30, 2022.

I put you in the "Nicer" category (yes, I kept a spreadsheet 😝)

I've heard some rumblings on "other places" that RCCL CSR's are saying that pre-cruise testing would end as of Oct 1. Of course RCCL CSR's are not exactly reliable, but it's about 5 people saying this. So, that make me wonder that since RCCL's protocols are listed as being through Sept. 2022, if they will just keep everything that way and then let it expire as of Oct. 1.

Hmm are you thinking that the pre-cruise testing requirement may come to an end? There was Michael Bayley's statement ont he June President's Cruise about it "being around for a few more months", and I am hearing rumblings on "other sites" that RCCL CSR's are telling people it will likely end by Oct. 1st. Of course we know that RCCL CSR's are not always very accurate. 😏 EDIT - Oh, I see:

That is absolutely ridiculous (in a good way)! 🤣

Huh? Not around here. You buy it and it's yours forever (I was about to say "for life" but that makes no sense!).

If priority tendering works like it does for suite guests, it is for the first tender of the day. After that, you stand in line with everyone else. If that's your only reason for getting The Key, you might want to save money and just get the 3-device Voom instead.

I have not seen or heard of of that bait-and-switch around here with our restaurants - most are so desperate, they'll take any hours out of any warm body they can get. But I have experienced employers posting a higher-level job than they are actually hiring for. As an example, they may post looking for a "department manager" when they are really looking for a "project manager". Even so, the labor supply is very tight. A few months back, I was looking to hire a technical writer, remote "work from anywhere" and paying $80K+. I had 5 qualified applicants, and within a few days, all but one dropped out after taking other jobs. As for cruise ship employees, my understanding is there is no shortage of labor, but it can take a very long time to process visas and other paperwork to get them legally cleared to hire. It seems the same government experts that tried to destroy the industry with COVID failed at that, so now they are hoping to do it by holding their labor market hostage.

You should be able to use the app for check-in and go right to the boarding time to pick a slot for both of you. You can come back later to enter all the other info (passports, vaccines, etc.).

I'm probably going to Chicago next week to meet with our contract programming vendor. SWA offers direct flights between BHM and MID and right now, it's looking like $185-$200 for each flight. That's really not bad. I am hoping that now we are after July 4th, things will have calmed down a bit.