JasonMason

Doesn't look like the bookings are up on the website yet, but if you work with a TA they have access now - Just booked my 3/4/2022!!

1 hour ago, exm said:

Big day for us tomorrow with Covid testing for our party of 5!

Good luck!

3 hours ago, kearney said:

Enjoy, a truly novel trip.. not many can say they spent 3 days there. Now since I am not a beach person... since I burn thinking about the beach... I take comfort since I canceled this cruise... it was not meant to be. Ironically saturday morning I was deathly ill... not sure if food poisoning or what. I probably would not have made the flight and if it happened later... I would not have passed the health questionnaire ... so it turns out the universe was trying to tell me something.. glad I listened....   but Party on.,,

It is definitely a unique sailing, sorry to hear things didn’t work out for your cruise, but like you said, it was probably for the best, given the circumstances - hope you are feeling better and can enjoy a well deserved vacation soon!

The captain just made the announcement, due to the landfall of Grace in Cozumel, we will be skipping Cozumel and after a day at sea, returning to CocoCay for a third day… I for one am NOT disappointed!!

1 hour ago, exm said:

On a side note, latest models for soon-to-be-named Grace.

 

If this holds true, it’s good news for the 8/21 sailing but not sure how the current 8/14 sailing will move around this.

Oh boy… we will have to see!! Today was supposed to be pretty rough weather-wise, but we faired pretty well, I specifically held off on booking any CocoCay excursions due to weather uncertainty - but fingers crossed we will have good weather for the rest of the sailing!

1 hour ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

Just checked and that poster was due on Allure of the Seas. Sorry….

At least they were able to cruise! Glad it wasn’t a last minute cancellation due to COVID! Just attended the sail away party, it was a ghost town.. it is an eerie feeling to be on a ship with so few people, but this will for sure be a once in a lifetime experience.. I really have to hand it to the crew for how caring and enthusiastic they all are - I’ve never had a bad experience previously, but this team is truly a cut above!

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

They are opening the Windjammer for dinner? 

That’s a good question, as a matter of fact they are not - there are still other “lighter” casual dining options if you aren’t in the mood for the MDR, but unless you want something from the Cafe Promenade, you are gonna be looking at either specialty, or MDR. We will see if the WJ hours change throughout the cruise, but I suspect not.

A few other updates: I have not been down to the MDR yet, but getting into the WJ is a neat process - a crew member scans your SeaPass when you enter, and another scans when you exit (through a separate door) - this way they can monitor the level of occupancy. I will also say the WJ food was better (at least for lunch) than I remember.. could be that I went in as soon as I boarded, so everything was fresh, but still - I’m considering attempting it for dinner a night or two… I feel like at some point someone asked about bar service and if you were required to sign a ticket if you opted for a beverage package - I got the deluxe before my sailing, and have not been presented with a ticket yet - so pretty normal there (for those wondering, the onboard price of the deluxe package is $84 pp/pd). 
Another neat little touch is that a postcard sized form was waiting for me on my bed to request pool towels - you can request up to 6, and they will be delivered to your stateroom. The usual $25 per non-returned towel applies, and you return them to the towel station on deck 11 - you can also just pick them up at the towel station on deck 11 if you wish.

Oh, and the answer to the BURNING question on everyone’s mind, the “wash your hands” video has been substituted with a social distancing video (which of course has an equally “ear-wormy” tune…

5 minutes ago, dswallow said:

 

The numbers that were passed along to me that were from the suite concierge were 710 or 712 booked by when they began check-in, originally 760 booked.

Interesting… the 2BR GS next to my cabin still has their SeaPass envelope on the door, I wonder how many just didn’t make the trip at the last minute…

2 minutes ago, exm said:

Thanks for the update and enjoy your cruise! I wonder how many cancellations they received after the mask mandates and stricter testing protocols (at this point sailing out of Florida or Nassau doesn’t really matter). Either way, should be a fun experience, enjoy!

My pleasure! That was my thought as well - I imagine many were not too excited about the changes and decided to cancel.. No complaints here of course! And thank you!

10 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

What time is sail-a-way scheduled for?

9:00PM

Figured I’d chime in since I’m on the 8/14 as well - check in was a breeze, actually got to board at 11:30 instead of noon, no test required at the port (I showed up with a negative result for an ANTIGEN test and was fine - no one asked any questions) The mask regulation is a thing for sure, but all of the “open air” areas - pool (main pool and solarium), promenade deck on deck 4, deck 12, etc, you are good to not wear one. Talked to my stateroom attendant who informed me there were about 1200 on the last sailing, but only 797 passengers on this sailing (yikes!) it feels like an empty ship! Also found out the passengers are outnumbered by the crew by about 300. Unrelated side note, Freedom is parked right next to us, and is looking beautiful! Adventure is in amazing shape herself and everyone is thrilled to be here! I’ll post more as the cruise goes on, but I wanted to try to throw out some answers to the questions I had before I boarded. Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them! Cheers!

Same here, I've seen two decreases now since I booked, and my final payment is around $300 less for that same 4D - that's the 8/14 sailing - I'm almost to the point where I'm breaking even adding the flight through Air2Sea, which was also less than booking through the airline directly (American wanted around $100 more if I booked on their website).. Always good to see price decreases!

You do have kind of a weird door to your balcony, but not a huge deal

These were taken on Navigator, but same type of view

Honestly the corner rooms at the aft of the Voyager/Freedom class are some of my favorites to book - *technically* they are obstructed, but its just superstructure of the ship that really doesn't interfere with your view - 9690 and 9390 get you bigger balconies which are quite nice... 

Not that it would be a dealbreaker for most, but Serenade also has shower doors like the Voyager/Freedom class in the bathrooms... Might be worth considering if you aren't a fan of "wearing" your shower curtain (Radiance still has those) 

Just got the email too... UGH. Their reasoning for doing so is sound, but these are never fun emails to get!!

I think at this point we have to expect this kind of stuff - the question is not so much, "who tested positive" as it is "what are the cruise lines doing to mitigate exposure"... Even the Healthy Sail Panel acknowledged that its *going* to happen... The biggest question is going to be how the cruise lines deal with it when it does

Mariner is my favorite ship in the fleet.. Can't wait to get back on it, just need for all of the sailings I book to stop getting cancelled 🙄 ...I doubt you will notice a whole lot of motion if you are looking at a Bahamas sailing anyway.. When Mariner changes its itineraries up next year you might hit a little chop going to Cozumel, but it would be no different on an Oasis Class.

1 hour ago, LMaxwell said:

Why wouldn't they be? And if they're not "onboard with it", it doesn't matter anyways.

 

Clearly some other process will have to be put in place regarding terminal capacity and boarding process. Whatever changes happen are going to impact all. It is what it is. Royal will figure out how to get you onboard an hour early for another $199 I guess 🤷

...Unless you hold out for a Black Friday Cruise Planner sale!!!! 😉

I called Guest Services because my stateroom attendant hasn't cleaned my bathroom in at least 3 days... I'll be demanding a full refund.

Yeah, I don't see why this would be a bad thing... It lets the cruise lines generate some revenue while the ships are otherwise would just be sitting, and frees up land based hospital space. Seems like a pretty solid idea.

I would have to imagine that the ships would be put through rigorous sanitation before being returned to active service.

I'm personally booked on Ovation in May out of Vancouver... Nothing to indicate it has been/will be cancelled... Also, I can still book the same sailings that were available before and after when I look at CruisingPower.. I wouldn't panic yet 

On 2/10/2020 at 4:21 PM, awestover89 said:

Recently found a new quiz on Sporcle (an online quiz/trivia website) featuring Royal Caribbean, you have to choose the ships in order of largest ship to smallest. The big ships were pretty easy for me but I struggled more than I expected with the smaller ships, only got 18/26.

 

Thought people here might be interested in giving it a try

 

https://www.sporcle.com/games/arcilux/largest-to-smallest-royal-caribbean-ships-minefield

This was interesting... they definitely calculate based on the “post-Amp” GRT... side note, you and I have “upcoming” cruises on all 3 of the same Royal ships, just different sailings! One exception being the Odyssey Inaugural