atgood
-
Posts
970 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by atgood
-
-
4 hours ago, dylanmatlin said:
Hello all,
I am going on Anthem of the Seas out of New Jersey on December 11th. It is obviously going to be quite cold in the beginning of the cruise before we get down to the Bahamas. I was looking into purchasing a wetsuit so I can maximize my time on the Flowrider even on the cold days.
I know nothing about wetsuits, so I was wondering what is a wetsuit that you would recommend to use for the Flowrider in December out of New Jersey. Any information you can provide would be extremely helpful. Thank you!
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.
-
11 minutes ago, jsinger21 said:
Can anyone recommend a good beach in Curacao and Aruba for a family?
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?
-
23 hours ago, jerseygirl3 said:
So basically the vaxxed are screwed with having to still test, but unvaccinated are a welcome aboard. 😡
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.
-
1
-
1
-
-
28 minutes ago, Tlbecker1 said:
I can assure you that I started cruising again June-2021 and have cruised 10 times since, this was the rule. Why would I say it if it wasn’t true? There were many restrictions in the beginning of start up. I have several wristbands in which I had to wear them in order to go to MANY venues.
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.-
1
-
-
12 hours ago, Tlbecker1 said:
For the last 14 months everyone(except kids under 12) were vaccinated. There were very few medical exceptions if any. We all wore wristbands and you had to have them on just to go into the casino, some pubs and the theater.
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.
-
8 minutes ago, CruisingHogFan said:
To big of a risk for the cruise lines. I’m not getting into the vaccination debate but think of it this way. Cruise lines start letting unvaccinated passengers onboard and do away with testing. Then a outbreak occurs or people start getting really sick onboard. The media would go crazy and it would be a PR nightmare and a major setback.
We had over 6,000 people onboard last week so the cruise lines are having no problem finding people to cruise under the current restrictions so why would they change what is working and risk something going wrong?Thanks for elaborating. I agree. There’s a big risk to the cruise lines (for lots of reasons).
-
51 minutes ago, CruisingHogFan said:
Too big of a risk for them.
What do you mean?
Too big of a risk to cruise? To post about it? -
52 minutes ago, CruisingHogFan said:
I haven’t seen a single post about someone being excepted yet but lots of declines.
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.
-
8 hours ago, Charles4515 said:
You can not be on a Bermuda cruise unvaccinated unless under 12 years old. No exceptions. No exemptions!
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
-
42 minutes ago, cured said:
Since RCL opted into the CDC's Covid Program for Cruise Ships in late February, the cruise ships cannot go over 10% unvaccinated. They claim they were told that since the children under 12 get priority on the 10% limit of unvaxxed (don't have to file for exemptions,) the ship has to wait until the last minute to assess the #of bookings on the ship and what number the 10% may be. They also don't want to deny families with children booking, so they won't give up any of the 10% spots to medical/religious exemptions until the last minute.
Apparently they were told that a few weeks before sailing, they have a pretty good idea of how many open exemption spots they have after the children have claimed their spots. Then they start filling with medical exemptions. IF there are still spots left after the medical exemptions are filled then they fill with religious exemptions.
If this is true, you may have better luck booking a cruise when school is in session so there are not many children. A cruise over the summer, particularly a holiday weekend, is bound to have the maximum number of children vying for those 10% unvaxxed spots. It is not surprising that there weren't any spots open for a July 4th weekend for anything other than age exemptions.
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.
-
4 minutes ago, Marie51 said:
We are booked on a cruise for the end of August. My granddaughter cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons and we submitted all the necessary paperwork including a letter from her doctor at the end of April and still have not heard anything yet. Getting frustrated at this point as the cruise is two months away and we don’t know if we’re going or not.
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.
-
Here’s how the process works.Everything needed for the process of obtaining a religious accommodation can be found at the following link:
“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.”
-
1
-
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.
-
1
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, hazeleyes46 said:
Thank you, that is very interesting. I wonder why then they are blaming the ports and their rules if they don't require a vaccine to get off the ship.
The 95% requirement is due to RCI participating in the CDC’s voluntary highly vaccinated program.
-
12 minutes ago, exm said:
Unfortunately 1 shot JNJ is no longer recognized if I'm not mistaken.
If cruising from the USA, one shot JNJ is recognized.
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise
-
39 minutes ago, hazeleyes46 said:
I don't know if I would be able to get either and how that would work with getting off the ship.
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
-
2 hours ago, hazeleyes46 said:
I will have to get it ONLY for cruising as nothing else requires it in my life anymore.
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.
-
1 hour ago, Seville2Cabo said:
I’m surprised. I thought they were giving medical exemptions for legitimate reasons. I assume you are vaccinated, so why would they reject a legitimate waiver request for your wife?
RCI grants medical and religious exemptions through their Special Needs department. However, RCI is committed to sailing at 95% vaccinated passengers. I believe RCI denies exemptions requests for ages 12 and older once they reach the 5% limit for unvaccinated passengers, which includes any unvaccinated 5-11 year old kids and any previously approved exemption requests for the 12 and older. I don’t think the 4 years old and younger count towards the 5%.
42 minutes ago, graphicguy said:Did I miss it, or did the OP submit the Dr’s note against the C19 vaccine? What was Royal’s response for not accepting it? Don’t need to know the OP’s medical issues…..just want to know the process and reasoning.RCI doesn’t necessarily provide a reason for the denial.
-
4 hours ago, celoplyr said:
I've done 90 minute ones just fine without video. My father has done video calls as well.
8 hours might be stretching it, though. What happens if the net goes down for a bit during the training? Will you be yelled at?
I don’t know for sure just yet. Usually training is laid back.
-
13 minutes ago, jean87510 said:
Regarding Zoom, he usually uses the port days where he has an international plan to do any calls. Granted it may be an hour in the am or pm but it has worked. It may not work as well for you with the 8 hr a day. Another option is set your alarm for 4 or 5 am and do it then. Less traffic.
Great point. I hadn’t thought about the port days as an alternate for internet connectivity.
-
14 minutes ago, Jasukkie said:
This should be Royal's next thing. Private office nooks with super-duper reliable internet and business support. I can't think of a better place to work.
I haven't done zoom but I would agree with the above 90% rating on streaming. You may have to get back on but that happens on land too.
I know there are people who definitely work while on the ship; day traders, TAs, tech support, call center stuff, etc.
Normally, I don’t think it’d be something I’d enjoy doing, but I’d do it this occasion if it seems likely it will work. I’ll have a backup plan to attend another future training whenever it’s offered (if needed).
-
16 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:
Sheesh. I wish that people would either answer a poster's question, or pass it by. Your opinion of what someone does on a cruise is at best irrelevant, and at worst, a deep failure to MYOB.
It’s okay. They were just trying to help prevent a fellow cruiser from making the mistake of trying work while on a cruise vacation.
Many years ago I made the mistake of using a week of my vacation time to chaperone 40 6th graders on a school trip to Key West. I didn’t end up having near the free time we were told we’d have and I came home exhausted.
-
21 minutes ago, martikus said:
That doesn’t sound like much of a vacation. If you were already approved I’d be saying thanks but no thanks.
if you hadn’t asked for time off yet I’d reschedule cruise.
life is short, don’t give up true vacation time.
Thanks. I would get my vacation time back for the hours attending the training. I would end up going on another cruise later in the year with the vacation time I don’t use on this cruise.
-
2
-
Flowrider board reviews, which to buy?
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
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.