leisuretraveler223

2 hours ago, iuki said:

I discovered that an unvaccinated employee of a restaurant had tested positive with a purchased home kit, and the restaurant never closed down.

Are you under the impression that businesses are actually shutting down because one staffer tested positive?  That hasn't happened in like a year.

Having just hit D+, I realize that on our next cruise we will get five vouchers a day.  If I have a beverage package, can I use my vouchers to get a drink for someone else?

36 minutes ago, whitshel said:

The captain said last night that we had a 1.45% positive ratio. He did not specify if they were crew or passengers. 

Actually, he said 1.45% yesterday midday, 1.88% by yesterday evening.

2 hours ago, gracia98 said:

I think Royal Caribbean should be testing people on embarkation day. Maybe suggest a home test 2 days prior, but then a final test the day of the cruise. Disney Cruise Lines are doing so already and  I think Norwegian just started to do it too.  At least for now, while Omicron is here.

This is a crew outbreak. Testing guests on embarkation day would not likely have made a significant difference.

2 hours ago, AtSea2021 said:

Captain announced last night we are up to 60 crew cases plus (allegedly) 3 passengers. And yet here we are taking our time at sea, allowing more cases to spread, instead of getting everyone home and off this ship. I have lost all trust and faith in this cruise line to do the right thing. 

The omicron doubling rate is approximately two days right now.  They identified the outbreak and it went from 55 one day to 60 the next.  That is actually very encouraging.  As the typical case rate for omicron would have projected a jump to 85-90 in a day.  They seem to have a handle on NOT allowing more cases to spread.  And keep in mind when you say "get everyone home and off this ship", the crew essentially IS home.  They can't just pull up in Ft. Lauderdale and offload their crew.

51 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Worst case for me would be testing positive with no symptoms and being quarantined to a deck 3 inside cabin for the remainder of the cruise. 

Obviously, but that is definitely a lower probability.  I was thinking worst case of what is more probable.

Well, after much debate, we've decided to go for it.  We've got thirteen people in total and if we don't so this, we really have no other attractive option.  I think the worst case scenario is Coco Cay as only stop and no shows.  But it's still 7 days of vacation with a chance to spend time with family that we don't often get to see (nine of us from Mass, four coming from Colorado).  And with kids college age, it's the only time all our schedules connect.

We're looking forward to it, but have reasonably tempered our expectations!

Fingers crossed!

On 10/30/2019 at 12:01 PM, Knighton said:

 Really tired of the nickel and diming.  I don't want to traipse all the way back to the ship to get the stuff that is included on the ship, but costs $ at the "private" port.

Give me a break! This is just complaining because that's all you know how to do.  Right now, if you get off at a port, anything you do costs extra.  But God forbid they create a destination you might choose to go to where the same thing happens.🙄

Supposed to set sail Sunday. I am not at all concerned about getting Covid. Trying to understand what it's like when they say "adjustments have been made" to shows and activities.  Hopefully someone can weigh in before jazzbeau locks this.

I know that circumstances are different, but with an upcoming cruise, I'm curious.  Someone enlighten me.  When they cancelled cruises in the past, what was the protocol?  Did they offer refunds? Future cruise credits? Were there options?  I suspect it was discussed exhaustively, but since I didn't have anything booked, I never really paid attention.

12 minutes ago, orville99 said:

The only time we have ever visited the Naughty Room was because they had no clue what this thing was:

You can't bring a prison shiv on board!

Thanks for the clarifications!

24 minutes ago, Mullwi said:

I was just going to post this myself kmermaid. I am so excited for cruise and wanted earliest check-in so did it at 12:01 this morning and was so disappointed no times available  ☹️

That's an entirely unsettling level of OCD...

5 hours ago, JamesEM said:

Does anyone know the processing time for renewal of a Passport via mail at this time?

Yes. Google does.  🙄

Yes. Just checked in for a Feb cruise and nothing about boarding time. I wouldn't sweat it though. Either they're doing away with it, or we'll find out later.

OP is right. I just did the check in for my Feb cruise and did the whole check-in process and it never asked for boarding time at all. It's distinctly different from my December cruise this week that asked for it.  Either they're doing away with it, or they are tweaking it and we'll have to check back.

Just now, ditmar2007 said:

They will probably confiscate it. You'll end up finding your suitcase in the naughty room 😄

Thank you! That's what I was trying to find out.  I wasn't worried about saving space in my bag, I just didn't know if they were allowed.

Heading out on Odyssey, and I tried to look at the FAQs, but they seem to all be health and safety related now (weird).  Trying to remember: Can I bring a blow dryer to use in my stateroom.  I know they have the little ones, but they're not nearly powerful enough.  I do recall being on Norwegian a number of years ago and learning that it didn't work and tripped the circuit, but I can't recall on Royal.

Earliest time for this weekend was 11:30.  Whether they are checking times or not, if you show up 2 & 1/2 hours early, you're basically a self-entitled jerk.

10 minutes ago, cnice515 said:

BUT I don't mind a long meal if the food and/or experience is amazing and worth the time but I have not felt this way for many years.  But as you so eloquently described it, the complimentary food on the other side of the wall is really good (IMHO) and served so much quicker than the marginally (if any) better costly food on the other side of the wall 😜

We have nine of us sailing out next Sunday. We'll do main dining all week.  But I'm happily dropping a sizable bit of coin for a really nice Christmas dinner landslide the night before departure!

1 minute ago, cnice515 said:

I completely agree, there isn't a significant enough difference between the MDR and specialties that make the money and experience (especially) worth it.  Plus I like the ability for variety of foods in the MDR, my kids have been able to try foods they otherwise would not.

Another factor for me is that specialty dining now seems to take an unreasonably long time.  I get a drawn out leisurely meal at an amazing restaurant land side. But when it's basically a dolled up version of what's being served complimentary on the other side of the wall, I DEFINITELY don't need it to take three hours.

This sounds unfortunately typtical for Chops and Royal specialty dining in general.

I used to be a "specialty restaurant only" cruiser.  But the quality of the product across the fleet has continued to diminish. I now find the very best specialty experience on board would be one that would love me highly disappointed on land. As such, I now embrace the surprisingly good value of main dining.

1 hour ago, taglovestocruise said:

No, they each get the exact same compensation, one days cruise fare.

I guess I don't understand what "one days cruise fare" means.  Is there a base daily charge on my booking for "cruise fare"? Is that the same for all passengers? This is something I'm not clear about.

Haven't been to Coco Cay in over fifteen years.  Just looking at our upcoming Odyssey cruise and I see Oasis is there the same day.  I hadn't even considered with all the growth to the island they would have two ships.  Any feedback on what it's like with two ships? Is the place going to be a madhouse?  We already have waterpark passes.

Just looking for some info

One day's cruise fare in credit?  I've never heard of that.  So someone in a suite gets compensated more.  Interesting. 

St. Thomas is not one of the ports that restricts current visitors to ship run excursions, correct? We are free to just go out on our own?