chaswelf

26 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Other than the balcony discount, all other D and up perks are usually on board only (meaning you can't apply it to the planner).

Thank you

I was wondering how my diamond spa discount will be applied to a spa booking I make in the planner.  When I make a mock booking no where does it show a discount.  And when I go through the planner when I’m not logged in the price is the same as when I’m logged in so it’s not reflected that way either.

21 hours ago, timf2001 said:

Does Royal Caribbean always wait until the last minute to assign GTY cabins, or can they assign them much earlier?  I'm considering a suite GTY for May 2024 and with plenty of JS cabins available at the moment I wonder if the assignment would come sooner rather than later.

We are on the wonder this march and had a JS GTY and was assigned a cabin a couple of weeks ago,  but I've also had it happen just days before boarding.  YMMV

On 2/14/2022 at 10:11 AM, Moltar said:

Doubt it, you should read the statement from CLIA. They bashed it.

 

”Regrettably, upon initial review, the latest CDC guidance appears out of step with the actual public health conditions on cruise ships and unnecessary in light of societal trends away from more restrictive measures. We are confounded by the CDC’s imposition of even more complex and unwarranted measures which ignore empirical evidence that the industry’s protocols have provided a greater level of COVID mitigation than most any other setting. The CDC’s guidance for multitiered cruises is counterproductive to consumers, creating market confusion between the various tiers, and potentially unworkable in practice.”  - CLIA

 

What they bashed was the fact if the cruise line does not opt in then the CDC is going to group the cruise line into the same category as other public transportation like planes and require masks 100% of the time.

Vacations are made to go places and do things you normally would not do at home.  So we dress up..

6 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

I just heard form the concierge that they are expecting about 2000 passengers for the February 18th sailing - in case you are interested. 

 

Any word on who many people will be on the 7 day leaving the 21st?

Right they relaxed mask rules as of today.  No longer need to wear in Vaxxed only venues

check out youtube there are a number of videos of people doing this test pre-cruise.  that way you can see the process and take some of the stress out of it.

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Current protocols remain in effect until April 14th, they were extended about 2 weeks ago.

BTW, President Biden is not controlling masking requirements on cruise ships.

 

they put alot of wiggle room in the mask portion of the extended protocols saying. "Masks are required in the terminal, in select locations inside the ship, and may be required at various destinations."  So they can change the select locations list as they want.  I'm hoping the go back to pre-omicron rules shortly

The simplest way to know if the test quality's is to look in the lower left hand corner.  If it says RX then its OK to use, it it says OTC or nothing at all it is NOT ok to use.

yes,  a drink is a drink..  they are loaded on your seapass.  Just tell the waiter when you want to use one and when you don't.  That way you won't burn one on a water...

The at home tests work great,  but I'd have 2 for each person incase something goes wrong or you do something like open the swab from the wrong end and touch it,  that will invalid the test and the proctor will stop the test.  so having a backup is important.  Also check out youtube there are a number of videos of people taking the test and it will help you know what to expect thus eliminating errors.   See you aboard!

3 hours ago, 21pepper said:

With a finite amount of vacation time our main concern is the cruise experience.  We were on Serenade this summer in Alaska and it was a great experience.  No issue at all with testing and masking where it was required.  But we were entirely in the US and did not have to worry about testing upon return and visiting the scheduled ports.  We have a BTB on Odyssey scheduled Jan. 29 and Feb. 6 and have concerns about the right experience.  Will we have to mask while in the gym?  That is a non-starter for us.  I'm not thrilled about masking in the show venues, casino or other fully vaccinated venues (although I am happy about the no smoking policy).  Will we be able to go to all scheduled ports (especially Aruba and Curacao)?  Also a big concern.  One of us is more worried about catching Covid on board than the other (one of us recently had Covid and it was less than a cold), but if one of us did get Covid then the thought of staying in a cabin for days would ruin the trip.  So we will most likely cancel and hope to use our credit later this year when the experience will hopefully more closely match what we had on Serenade this summer.  But if we do cancel we are going somewhere warm as travel in and of itself is not a concern of ours.

You have to ask yourself if all the things your worried about come true are you going to wish you canceled,  if so cancel because I'd guess atleast half of them will

Handwritten notes from Dr. or other medical professionals are not allowed.  It has to be done through emed/navica or other authorized locations like walgreens, covid testing sites, etc 

One thing to note is once you get to prime (2500 points) you are prime for the rest of that year and the following,  just like airline loyalty programs.  Once you get to that level you are guaranteed 1 free cruise.  But once you get to that level you also get offers monthly via email for different cruises.  So you could book one cruise comped cruise every month based on that months offers.  I've done a couple of cruises a year comped but I know people that have done 4,5,6 or more comped cruises year.

Old News, transition has been planned for months

Not if you test positive

13 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Wrong,    Royal did the simulated test cruises so they are allowed to sail with less than 95% vaccinated. 

Cruiselines that opted Not do the test cruises must have 95% or more vaccinated onboard. 

I stand corrected

Bayley did say on the 23rd that they are typically running 95-98% vax rate

On 12/27/2021 at 7:53 PM, Sunshine3601 said:

During the summer months I know some 3 and 4 night sailings were sailing at 80 to 85% vaccinated since those were popular family cruises.

Havent heard % for holiday cruises but since the capacity is much higher now they probably are more like 90 to 95% these couple of weeks.

if there was less then 95% vaxxed on those cruises they would be breaking the CDC rules for sailing and if the CDC found out they would have shut them down

18 hours ago, Biker19 said:

The lowest min is usually $20 and the max is limited to maybe a few $K on a Star class suite. There are plenty of reports of folks self upgrading below the min and certainly below the max. 

The minimum is set by the cabin your starting from.  for example if your in a balcony the minimum go to to a GS would be (made up number). 300/per person.  If your in a JR the minimum to go to a GS might me 100/per person.  

15 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

We are close to canceling our Jan 10th Navigator cruise.  Going back to masks in the show rooms for vaccinated is the straw that might break the camels back.  Only reason for not canceling is the quad points for a JR suite that we nabbed for under $800 total.  We need 16 points to reach D+, if we cancel the cruise we will need the next three booked cruises to reach D+.  Two additional drinks for 24 nights almost makes navigator a free cruise. I will correct that and add in two specialty dinners from the TA and a $65 Costco shop card and the cruise is free.  Wife suspects I will be a mass violator of covid protocols.. 

Well there is a chance with the new mask protocols expiring on 1/5 as currently announced that it will be back to what it was,  but I wouldn't bet on it

12 minutes ago, little britain said:

I really don’t think that RCI are going to alienate all their family customers in Europe and beyond…. Where are most of their ships in the summer ?

 

Caveat: we do not have children and I would love ships with 100% vaccinated guests on board only.

They can and do have difference requirements for different departure ports.  I believe they will require in the US and have other rules for Europe

My experience being in a JR and CK is be prepared to eat early, like 5 or late and you'll have a better chance of getting in

This should not be a surprise it's listed right on Royals healthy sailing page for Barbados departures.

8 minutes ago, bucfan2 said:

Read the whole thread….already answered.

I did miss that part of the thread, my bad...