CityChickCruising

4 minutes ago, binro01 said:

Ok. Short review of Nachi Cocom in Cozumel. Nice quiet beach. They are not pushy with the upsells at all. Drinks were good. Not top shelf but not the cheapest you can find either. Food was tasty. I had the chicken fajitas, a plate of nachos a fruit salad and flan. You get an app, soup/salad, entree and dessert with the all inclusive package. The pool is very nice with a swim up bar. Also there is a very nice hot tub too connected to the pool. Plenty of shade. Water was warm in the pool but not too warm. No smell from the sargassum. They had 2 guys constantly keeping the beach clear from it. I tipped the servers 20 bucks once from the beginning and they just kept coming with drinks for me and my wife and kept us very happy. 
 

And now for the pictures. 

Thanks for the details - phew on the cab! That’s always our worry. Looks like an amazing day, glad you enjoyed! 

Just now, Biker19 said:

"Sales" are ongoing and very much doubt have any effect of Royal Up bids.

I checked this morning and my minimum bids are now 2x what they were during the sale. All I mean is.. I wonder if people will be bidding $1000+ For a junior suite!

33 minutes ago, binro01 said:

So far so good. Place is very laid back and quiet. Drinks are ok. Not heavy handed. The food is a little later. The people selling extras (snorkeling massages etc are not pushy). Very pretty beach. Little bit of the Seagram. But the smell is non existent. 

We are going here on our late March Allure cruise as well! We can’t wait for the quiet 💕 how was getting a ride over? Would love a report on that and getting back to the ship. 
 

enjoy your day and drinks! 

Now that the 50 percent off sales are over, will be super curious to see how things shake out with bids!

2 hours ago, DJLDRUMS said:

FANTASTIC !!! thank you for your reply CityChickCruising.

Of course!! Definitely look into them, but these are ones that worked for my very picky crew 😅 enjoy your trip!!

Magen’s Bay in St. Thomas is my favorite beach ever - it has everything you’ve asked for along with the most gorgeous water ever. Orient Bay in St Martin had a slew of incredible bars, good food and bathrooms. Valley Church Beach (Jolly Harbour adjacent) in Antigua - it is gorgeous, a little quieter, but has everything you asked for! 
 

My entire family of six - 18, 3 20 somethings and my parents enjoyed these spots! Bathrooms, drinks, food and lounging were top of everyone’s list. Hope this helps! 

14 minutes ago, binro01 said:

3500 total on board. Got that number direct from guest services. 

thanks so much! how's it feel? anywhere near 'crowded' for folks looking for loungers on the deck? 

I know you said you thought it was 60-70 percent full, curious about any crew details on capacity. Will be on the Allure in less than a month and loving following along!

Also - American Icon Grill is the MDR, I assume? How's the Allure in terms of 'busyness' of the sit down breakfast? Thanks kindly!

One more - would love your wive's thoughts on the massage. Going with my mom and might book her one as a surprise!

Can I ask what you Royal up bid on and if you went substantially above the minimum? On allure in a couple weeks and following along!

3 minutes ago, erinsmom03 said:

Can anyone tell me why one of my bids is able to be modified/cancelled, but for the other bid I don't have that option? They both are still pending. I was hoping someone might have experienced something like this and could offer insight.

If you’re on your phone, click on the bid you want to update again and it’ll move to the top with a small arrow that is hyperlinked on the right side. If you’re on your computer then hover your mouse over the bid and there will be a hyperlink somewhere on there.

7 minutes ago, aftermidnight said:

They would contact me.  After sending drs. Letters & vac status,  never heard from them.

Since I was never contacted, that’s when I thought I better try getting an answer from the 

Access Dept. that was Fri. Morning.  Received a email that the medical exemption would not be accepted.  Ok, I’m finished! Some people are getting nasty😤

If you’d sent proper documentation in over 30 days in advance, I’m just trying to figure out why you waited until Friday, days before your cruise, to check in. It seems as though it’s too late to figure this out, but I’d start calling first thing Monday morning to see if this can be rectified. Wishing you luck. 

1 hour ago, Dan83 said:

Yes! I had to use desktop to find it. Thank you! 

Okay yay!! Dealt with this the other day, glad my confusing word salad helped 🤣 good luck!!

6 minutes ago, Dan83 said:

I put in minimum bids on several cabins but not all of them. Later I thought maybe it wouldn’t hurt to bid on the rest.  Those options no longer show up. Is there a way to get back to the original cabins that were available to bid on? 

Hopefully this makes sense. There will be a really small text that says ‘bid on other options’ or something like that between the top bid that shows as bigger than the others and your other listed bids… I think you can only view this on your computer. But it’s super small text and should be there! 

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

I didn't wait for an invitation (never have), I always go directly to the RoyalUP site and submit my bids. I probably got an invitation to bid several weeks ago, and had already bid on a CLS and an Owner's Suite but cancelled the CLS bid when the only suites that were showing as available were aft facing ones. I didn't expect to see any side facing CLS open up, and when five of them showed as available this morning I went out and submitted a new bid.

Incredible!! Have a great time! 

29 minutes ago, SG65CB said:

 

You can take the test Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, but it would be best to take it Friday before you leave home so that you don't make an unnecessary trip if you test positive. Plus if you test positive at your hotel you really shouldn't get on a plane and fly home. 

 

Thanks so much! Will absolutely do that. Great tips.

Sailing at the end of March and when checking today (for the third time), I saw that it's now giving me access to bid for all of the Star Class suites... put some bids in for everything but a Crown Loft Suite due to the potential non-ocean view on Oasis Class ships and lowered my Sky Class bids. Fingers crossed!

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

It's OK, just enjoy what they did on Oasis 

I mean, as long as they have alcohol on the pool deck I don't think I'll ever complain😆

Reading through this thread with great interest before boarding the Allure for the first time next month.

I see comments about Allure not having Lime and Coconut being a gripe for people - wondering what the pool bar situation is for Allure? Thank you 🙂

31 minutes ago, Jkaczanowski said:

If cruise is on Sunday, test anytime on Friday.  All told, give yourself at least 45 minutes to an hour.  We’ve done 10 tests as a family and have never waited more than 5 minutes for a proctor. No reservations, just connect when you are ready.  
 

I probably shouldn’t have said guaranteed, but I haven’t seen any reports since January of tests expiring before November. 

SO helpful! Thanks so much, I'll make sure to order my test soon knowing it won't expire. Appreciate this advice 🙂

44 minutes ago, Jkaczanowski said:

The Emed ones are at least Nov 2022.  I think the ones I just got last week were early January 2023. If you need the exact date, I can check.

Thank you! This is helpful. Any insight on how easy it is to get the proctored test? If I’m flying out on a Saturday morning and embarking on my cruise on a Sunday, when should I plan to test / make the reservation (if such a thing exists?). Thanks so much!

16 minutes ago, brillohead said:

But they're still charging $1000 for cabanas that aren't at the water park or the beach club.... which is an insane ripoff, but as long as people are throwing their money at Royal like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, they're going to keep charging it.

 

Totally agree - I will wake up early enough to get the lounge chairs of my dreams and rough it at the bars if I must. Not worth it at those costs!

1 minute ago, brillohead said:

To be FACTUAL, only Water Park Cabanas or Beach Club Cabanas include access to the water park or private beach. 

There are also cabanas on the regular, not-private beaches, and there are cabanas at the freshwater pool.  Those cabanas don't include admission to any water park or private beach.

 

 

hence me saying 'depending on location.' not sure if that required an all caps FACTUAL, though I'm sure OP appreciates your response.

To be fair, depending on the location, you’re getting access for six to the waterpark or private beach access. You also receive service from a waiter all day for drinks and food, which is a huge plus on busy days… not that there are many of those lately!

We had our cabana cancelled on our last PDCC sailing due to another ship docking when we did, would’ve paid tons to have that specialized service on a pre-pandemic day with three (maybe four, can’t recall) full ships on the island. Think it depends on what you / your crew need and prioritize! 

1 minute ago, cruisetorelax44 said:

thank you!!

Of course!! 

Oops, thought you said drink package! Here you are😊 we have a couple options available, I know it varies on every ship and sailing, so wanted to send them all!