atgood

I love my 39” quad channel Outlaw. I have a 42” Outlaw, but don’t ride it nearly as much as the 39”. I’ve ridden other brands also. It comes down to personal preference and finding a board that will last. Flowrider Shop now has a new Outlaw model called the Shuv-it Outlaw in 38” and 40”. It blends the Shuv-it shape and combines it with the Outlaw construction. https://flowridershop.com/product/shuv-it-outlaw-wonderlust-graphic-flowboard/ Two other brands you may want to take a look at are Bushido and Aquaflow. http://bushidoflow.com/boards/ https://aquaflowshop.com/shop/ Bushido boards are made in California. My wife rides 38” Bushido Shark. Great quality and light in weight. He makes them to order. Aquaflow boards are made in Florida. I’ve ridden with the owner a few times. Cool guy and definitely supports the sport. I know a few people who ride them and they really like them. I plan on buying one of his boards in the future. He will do customized graphics. Good luck in buying a new one.

A wetsuit is not required on cold days, but it definitely can make the experience more pleasurable. I’ve seen many people survive with a supply of dry towels. Buell Surf makes great wetsuits. Look for a 3/2mm. Anything thicker is not needed. As @Biker19said, the Flowrider doesn’t operate below 50F degrees. I wish you short lines.

Very subjective. We like the following: Curacao: Lions Dive at Mambo Beach, 2nd choice: Porto Mari. Aruba: Baby Beach Eagle Beach is popular in Aruba. What are you looking for? Food and beverages, ease of access, safety, white sand, calm blue water?

How are the vaccinated being screwed? The test isn’t anything new. In fact the vaccinated now get an extra day to take their test. The unvaccinated still have to test. The unvaccinated were welcome before, albeit in limited quantities. Getting back to normal. Eventually the testing will go away.

I never said what you said wasn’t true. However, it’s now August 2022. A lot has changed since 14 months ago. A lot changed earlier this year, so what I just said is 100% accurate. No more wristbands and up to 10% unvaccinated each cruise since earlier this year. The momentum is shifting back to where everyone will be able to cruise.

Since February, RCI has been sailing in the USA with up to 10% unvaccinated passengers, which included kids (5 and up) and adults too. No wristbands either, so it was not possible to tell who was vaccinated and who was not as their very little restrictions onboard. The venue restrictions disappeared around the same time. The only restriction I can think of, at the moment, was unvaccinated were not supposed to eat with vaccinated in the MDR if they weren’t part of the same traveling party. There was no such restriction for specialty dining or the WJ.

Thanks for elaborating. I agree. There’s a big risk to the cruise lines (for lots of reasons).

What do you mean? Too big of a risk to cruise? To post about it?

Because doing so on here could be considered boasting and at risk of being attacked by the keyboard warriors too. The religious accommodation (RA) request to RCI should be sincere and genuine. Meaning, not copying and pasting boilerplate language from a website just to submit to RCI to meet their paperwork requirement. I guess it could be done that way instead of getting all personal about it. I don’t support doing like that though as it defeats the original intent of the RA request. RCI, for the most part, appears to give consideration for the 10% allowance to the unvax'd 5-11 year old kids first before getting around to approving RA requests for the the 12-17 year olds and adults. I believe another poster discussed this part much better than I am here several posts ago. Simply put. Most RA requests will be denied on sailings that are likely to have a high percentage 5-11 year old kids.

This is simply not true. Bermuda requires a travel authorization for all cruise ship passengers over two years of age. Unvaccinated cruise ship passengers 12 years and older may go on a Bermuda cruise with an approved travel authorization which contains an approved medical exemption. Unvaccinated cruise ship passengers 12 years and over must remain on the ship while in Bermuda ports. https://www.gov.bm/cruise-travel-authorisation

Thanks for the great explanation. We had someone traveling in our party who had an approved RA earlier in the year on a RCI cruise from Florida. The cruise did not go to any ports requiring cruise passengers to have the shot. Something came up, and they cancelled their reservation. Plans changed again, and they ended up being able to go on the cruise (or so they thought). They made a new reservation for the same cruise, paid in full, and started the RA process all over again (because it was a new reservation). RCI did not approve their RA request for their new reservation. The denial had everything to do with staying under the 10% threshold as they were previously approved before others got their requests in with their first reservation, but were really late in the RA process on the second reservation.

RCI isn’t currently processing requests for August cruises just yet. No need to get frustrated at this point. Just let the process work.

@exm I haven’t seen RCI mention it lately, but at one point RCI indicated they would require unvaccinated cruisers to have travel insurance which included $250k in emergency travel coverage and $25k in medical coverage.

@exm Here’s how the process works. Everything needed for the process of obtaining a religious accommodation can be found at the following link: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/who-should-i-contact-if-a-vaccine-is-contraindicated “Vaccination Accommodations Requests Following public health guidance, our ships are highly vaccinated environments. Accordingly, we have adopted operational capacity restrictions that restrict the number of unvaccinated guests we can carry. This means vaccination accommodations are not available on all sailings. Whenever we grant a vaccination accommodation, we reserve the right to revoke it at any time. Before requesting a vaccination accommodation, there are several things to keep in mind We are currently only processing requests for vaccination accommodations on deposited, active bookings on sailings through July 31, 2022. Requests for sailings beyond this date will be reviewed on a rolling basis. As you prepare to submit a request for vaccination accommodation, please: Submit your request at least 30 days prior to your cruise departure date or even earlier if possible. Be aware that we may not be able to process requests submitted less than 14 days to sailing. Be aware that approvals or denials for vaccine accommodation may be issued up to 2 weeks prior to sailing or later. Wait for a response to your request before booking travel arrangements such as flights and hotel accommodations. Royal Caribbean is not responsible for any travel-related expenses incurred by you or members of your traveling party should your request be denied. How to submit a vaccination accommodation request If you believe that you meet the requirements for a vaccination accommodation, please send an email to vaxaccommodations@rccl.com. You can also have your local travel agent or International Representative contact us. Your initial email to vaxaccommodations@rccl.comshould include the following details: The full name of the person who needs the accommodation, as the name appears on their reservation Ship Name Date of Sailing Reservation Number Best phone number to reach the requesting guest (or their legal guardian if they are a minor) Best email to reach the requesting guest or their guardian, should it be different than the one you are emailing from Religious Requests: For religious accommodation, please describe the nature of your sincerely held religious beliefs, religious practice or observance that conflicts with the vaccination requirement. Vaccine accommodation requests should be submitted individually, and will be considered individually. It may be possible for some members of the same travel party to receive an approval and others be denied. Our receipt of your vaccination accommodation request in no way implies or guarantees an approval. For sailings departing from or visiting Canada, you must first secure an approval from the Government of Canada and provide evidence of that approval with your request. If your vaccination accommodation request is granted. Approvals apply only to the sailing for which they were granted and need to be renewed for each new sailing as protocols and operational needs change frequently. Approvals do not imply or guarantee an approval for any future sailings. Please note that vaccination accommodated guests must adhere to all health protocols and travel requirements for unvaccinated guests as required by the cruise line and at the local, state and national level. If your vaccination accommodation request is denied If we are unable to approve your request, you can: Change the ship/sail date and submit a new request, if your denial was based on operational capacity. Cancel only the unvaccinated guest(s) from the booking, if the remainder of the traveling party still wishes to sail. The unvaccinated guest will receive a full refund after cancellation. Cancel the booking that includes the unvaccinated guest and receive a full refund for the booking. Only those guests in the impacted booking are eligible to receive a full refund. Related bookings (family, friends, etc. traveling on another booking) remain subject to the standard cancellation penalty schedule.”

@exm RCI currently permits up to 10% of unvaccinated passengers, including adults, on their cruises (from the USA at least). The 10% includes ages 5 years and up. Each religious accommodation (RA) request is considered individually, and RCI approves the requests on a first come first served basis. Once the the 10% limit is reached, all subsequent requests are denied. It doesn’t matter if the individual has previously received an accommodation on a previous cruise as there simply is no more room within the 10% to approve additional requests. Current requests are only being considered for sailings up to July 31, 2022. For the religious accommodation part of the RA request, the individual seeking the accommodation needs to describe the nature of his/her sincerely held religious beliefs, religious practice or observance that conflicts with the vaccination requirement. My suggestion for this part is it should be sincere and not copied pasted from a website. A letter from a pastor is not needed.

The 95% requirement is due to RCI participating in the CDC’s voluntary highly vaccinated program.

If cruising from the USA, one shot JNJ is recognized. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise

Most ports visited on cruises departing from the US no longer have restrictions for unvaccinated cruise passengers. More details including ports with restrictions can be found here: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-requirements-for-guests-to-go-ashore-in-ports-of-call

If you have a religious or medical reason for not getting the shot, contact special_needs@rccl.com about how to obtain an accommodation. RCI is permitted to sail with 5% unvaccinated passengers (including kids 5 and up, plus adults) according to the guidelines of the CDC highly vaccinated program.