RNCindy

28 minutes ago, grest said:

I also leave Monday and, like you, our bids still read "submitted".   Not optimistic here, but happy with the cabin we have already booked if it does not work out...

 

Yes, we are happy with ours, too.  But, it never hurts to bid UP!!  Good luck!!

We sail next Monday, the 13th, and all three of our bids are still showing "submitted" and our sailing has been sold out for several weeks.  You never know what is going on behind the scenes!!  We'll see.....

We have 3 bids in for upgrades to a Junior Suite, a 1 bedroom Grand Suite or a 1 bedroom Owners Suite on the Mariner out of Galveston next Monday, the 13th.  Our low bids are still shown as "submitted".  I'm fine with our spacious balcony but it's fun just to see if we get a "Royal Up"!!  

4 hours ago, Cigar King said:

On the recent benefit chart, the pins are still listed for Diamond and above.

We got an Emerald pin several years ago! I guess they discontinued them. 

You'll not only be competing with other cruisers at the airport, there will be tons of people coming and going to Disney World. The holidays at the parks are packed! (I've been there!)  And, the security lines at MCO can be forever long, up to an hour.  Any other time of the year MAY be doable but NOT the Christmas/New Years holidays, or any holiday for that matter!! 😉

27 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

So I have to ring up club royal and book say 7 night carribean Inside and ask for price of balcony up grade , before 31March 2025 for Prime offer . Bot need to sail by when ?  Suppose best to book straight away or do offers change ?

 

Go to the Club Royale website first and you can see what cruises are offered to you.  When and if you see one that you want, call Club Royale and tell them which one you are interested in. Very simple!!!  Ask for an upgrade and they will tell you if one is available and what the price, if any, will be (we get free upgrades frequently). We do this all the time and they are very helpful.

On 11/8/2023 at 8:42 AM, SplashOfWater said:

There will be a list of restrictions provided (usually new ships and cruises over Christmas & New Years). For Prime it is a free interior for up to 7 nights. As mentioned previously, the offer appears in your Club Royale account around mid-April and you can pay to upgrade above an interior cabin.

I'm not sure if this is the case in Australia, but I always ask if I can get an upgrade when I call them and, if there is any available, I usually get one at no additional cost. It never hurts to ask!!  We have two separate accounts (me and husband) and I give them both numbers and we are offered mostly balcony cabins. The last cruise I booked, we got an upgrade from a balcony to a Junior Suite.  If you go to ClubRoyale.com and put in your account number, you can see what cruises are available to you. Good luck!!!!

We always call to redeem our "free" cruises with Club Royale.  I always ask for an upgrade and have rarely been denied (I ask them to combine my account and my husbands account for the redemption). Last cruise I booked, I was upgraded to a Junior Suite from a balcony for no extra charge. It never hurts to ask!!  We frequently utilize the Galveston cruises (close to home) and we usually pay no more than just the port charges and taxes.

Our adult daughter does not have motion sickness in cars BUT she did get queasy when sitting at a window dining table with her back to the front of the ship (backwards?? 🤔). It didn't bother her to sit forward.

49 minutes ago, Carlos A. said:

I want to make a parking reservation for Port of Galveston but the online form ask me for car year, Make and model. The problem is that it's going to be a rental and I won't know what I'm getting until the day I arrive. What can I do?
 

I think you can modify your reservation up to the day before your arrival. If they say anything, just tell them you decided to rent a car instead of driving your Lamborghini to the port.  LOL!!!

Since we live about 1 hour from Galveston, it's a breeze for us on embarkation day!!  For those flying in to Houston, I would highly recommend to try to fly into Hobby Airport which is much closer to Galveston than Bush Intercontinental and get an Uber or some sort of shuttle to Galveston.  I would NOT stay in a hotel near Hobby Airport - that is a very shady area with lots of shady people!  I would get a hotel, condo rental or AirBNB on Galveston island and start your vacation there. There are lots of great restaurants on the island and you're much closer to the port.

I usually bring a few of the cheap battery powered votive candles.  They are not real bright and we can place them where we want. 

We spent a week in Hawaii in March and the week after we got home, we all came down with cough, sinus stuff and headaches. Some of us tested positive for Covid and some not - who knows?!? Because of my age, etc., I took Paxlovid for 5 days and it did help a lot.  Until we all build up stronger immunity to these new viruses, we'll get them. This will not stop me from living my life and my 2 cruises this summer!! 

We usually just fill out a form at  https://www.royalcaribbean.com/resources/guest-special-needs for our distilled water and extension cord.   It's usually in our cabin upon arrival.  If not, let your cabin steward know and they can get it for you.

Mine reappeared yesterday.  

I'm barely a Type 2 as my A1C has run between 5.9 and 6.7 over the past few years.  I take one metformin every night and also take CinSulin capsules.  I check my blood sugar about 1-2 times a week to be sure I'm staying in the normal range.  Reading food labels is very important - you don't realize how many carbs some foods have!  I mostly follow a low carb intermittent fasting way of eating but take a break when I'm on a vacation.  I choose to "cheat in moderation" while on vacation and get right back to my eating schedule when I get home.  A few days with a few more carbs and sweets have yet to alter my A1C.  Depravation is the worst thing you can do - life is too short to not enjoy some of the good things (and foods) in moderation.  There are so many "diabetic friendly" foods these days so you can still have that ice cream and cheesecake!  It will get easier as you learn how to deal with it all.  Enjoy your cruise!!

P.S.  You still need carbs every day for energy.  Just try to lean more towards the GOOD carbs (google is your friend!).  A cardiologist I know told me to not eat anything WHITE - no white flour, white rice, white potatoes, etc.  Easier said than done but I now make better choices most of the time.

1 hour ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

Yikes...not from where I sit. No problem scheduling the test, but I give up on the 'my chart' unless it turns out to be necessary in order to get the results. Doesn't sound that way. 

You do not need My Chart to get your results!!  They will text your results to your phone and you can either show the text at the port or print out the results.  Be sure to NOT delete your text!!  If you do set up your MyChart account, you will get the text and it will also sync to your MyChart app.  This is how it all worked for me - no issues!!

This is a good explanation of the Certificate of Recovery and how to get one.

https://www.frommers.com/tips/health-and-travel-insurance/how-to-get-proof-of-recovery-from-covid-19-for-travel

1 hour ago, cantgetaname said:

Staying at the Hilton Ft Lauderdale Marina pre cruise for 2 nights.   Would love to get the test done on the day I arrive (on a Monday)   for the cruise On Wednesday.  I read about how Walgreens has covid testing there.  I saw their website and it has something about a drive through test, or take home tests.   I don't have a car,  would they do the test in the store?   Or is it one or the other?   Just really nervous about getting the test done right and not messing things up.  Thanks.

We've always used CVS.  They do the PCR at most stores but only a few stores have the antigen test.  You can book an appointment on their website for the test up to 2 weeks out.  The results are posted on our CVS app and also sent in a text.

1 hour ago, mom2miracles said:

This may have been asked, but I wasn’t scrolling through 7+ thousands replies. LOL! Is there a cutoff for when you can bid? We are boarding in six days and every time I have looked at Royal Up it just keeps telling me to ensure my cruise is within a 30 day window. Um, yup, go that covered. 

I just got another email this morning reminding us to Royal Up!  We sail on 3/14.

1 hour ago, mandream said:

We're leaving on the Oasis 2 weeks from today.  We are all fully vaccinated, including my 10 and 11 year olds.

 

I completed online checking several weeks ago, including uploading proof of vaccination for everyone.  This went through the review, and was eventually marked with the green checkmark.

 

Last week I received a survey about our vaccination status.  I completed that for all of us indicating we were all fully vaccinated and willing to provide proof (which I thought was weird since we already had).

 

I just now received an email titled "Unvaccinated Guests: Register for your boarding day Antigen test today!" which says: "However, you may have received this email because you'll need to register the guest below as they are between the ages of 2 to 11 and are unvaccinated."  Both kids received this.  Seriously?  I am now on hold with customer service - but how can they be getting this so wrong?  How many times do we need to tell them?  Is this common, or is this just an issue for us?

 

Mike

We got the same email and we are all vaccinated.

Nothing to worry about - take your vaccination cards and you'll be fine!!!

We've flown into Fort Lauderdale several times from Houston (large United hub) the morning of our cruise.  We always take the first flight that morning, it's always non-stop and it's only about a 2 hour flight.  We are usually on the ship by noon since it's only about a 10 minute taxi ride to the port.  I would NOT do the same thing to the Miami airport.  There is always a risk with any travel to a port - we drive an hour to the Galveston port in crazy Houston traffic - probably a higher risk doing that than flying to FLL!!

1 hour ago, ianj said:

From what I've read here and on RCCL blog, the answer is no. 

 

If you buy 4 device access in one persons name you can access the internet on any of the devices but only ONE at a time. 

If you buy 1 device in each of 4 peoples names, all 4 people can be online at the same time. 

 

Of course the second option is about 50% more expensive.

We have always purchased the 4 device package and we all use it with no problems.  We can all log in at the same time as we all have the same login.  Never had to log off to let someone else log on.  Only the 1 device package requires you to log off so someone else can log on.  Why would they have a "4 device package" if you couldn't use 4 devices at once!!

We had to cancel our "pandemic" cruise in March, 2020.  It took almost 2 months to get our refund.  I was told that they were having a 3rd party company handle all of the refunds since they were bombarded.  I'm wondering if they are still using these 3rd party companies??  If so, the communication between them and RCI may be causing a lot of these problems.

Our eDocs have been missing for several days now.  We are sailing on 3/14.