sdrocks

I have been souring the boards and hotel websites and reviews and am perplexed to say the least as to a decent hotel pre cruise in Miami.

Price is some consideration, but also want something clean, and in good condition.  The reviews go both ways.  Willing to play up to $350 0r so if no other option available.  I realize Miami is very speedy, just some ideas of where people have stayed and find acceptable.  The area not a huge deal as we won't be doing much exploring.  My husband is mobility challenged so trying to keep it easy for him.  Any and all ideas are welcome.  Questioning the Intercontinental on Chopin Way.

Reviews are mixed.  Really would like dinner and breakfast options that are close or in the hotel itself without paying through the roof.

TIA. 

6 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

I just received this email:

 

Dear Guest,

As final payment for your upcoming cruise was getting closer, we’ve pushed the final payment date for all sailings departing through March 2022 to provide you with additional flexibility. Guests on sailings departing February 1, 2022 through March 31, 2022, will now have until 30 days prior to sailing to make their final payment. Our hope is that this gives you a little extra flexibility. No action is needed on your part, and cancellations will not occur until the new final payment date.

Thank you for being a part of our Royal Comeback. We can’t wait to welcome you back onboard soon! 

Sincerely,

Also received this email today for our 2/26 cruise.

5 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Congratulations on your 50th.  There is nothing better than celebrating on a cruise. 

I agree.  looking forward to it.

We're booked for Feb.  Celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary.  First cruise since Feb 2020.

Can't wait.

22 minutes ago, Radio said:

All consecutive cruisers will receive a letter in their cabin on day or three Wed or Thurs that will explain how to get signed up for the test. Attest was a quick covid antigen test. My test was at 9:00 a.m. . I received my negative results at 1:00 p.m.

 

Radio

 

.

Thanks much.  Sounds very easy.  As long as it's negative anyway.  LOL

Is a another Covid test required for B2B cruisers ?  Where and how is that done ?

IMHO Coastal Kitchen highly overrated.  It's ok, but I don't really care if I do or don't eat there.

21 hours ago, rtazz17 said:

We were  on last weeks cruise on allure.. We have cruised for years. I wont say I regret going but its near that. By mid week I had enough of everything. Not being able to get coffee or touch anything pretty much. Wash your hands 5 times to get a coffee,lol. If your familiar with what normally is available,activities etc,there was hardly any. You dont think you will miss a lot of it until its not there. Cruising at 1/3 capacity the ship was a ghost ship. If you hate people you will enjoy it. Board walk(ghost town),we were the only ones on boardwalk at 9pm several nights,central park(ghost town). Yeah sounds great untill you realize what makes things fun is the energy of the people there. Never get to see any of staffs faces,no big deal right? No it gets old. Im not saying some might not enjoy it but there wasnt much to do. St thomas you were walking streets in masks in 90 degree weather. I guess it is what it is. I thought it would be better but it wasnt. First couple days were ok but I literally wore a mask more in 7 days then I did in 16 months. Hours daily. If you think you can hold a drink in your hand and walk around the promanade mask less think again,not happening. At the end of the week I was very much looking forward to going home. Knowing what I know I wont do it again. Yes this is how it probably has to be right now for cruising to survive. Just posting our experience. I fooled myself into thinking it would be fun,but I think I knewin the back of my head it probably wasnt going to be.If you are genuinely afraid of covid you will enjoy it. Because its like the protocols we lived with in march of 2020. 

 

Please dont jump all over me in this post. Just my opinion your mileage may vary.

 

I am a firefighter/paramedic 20years on job. Well aware of all the facts of covid. Treated patients since the beginning of covid. So please dont advise me on what you think the facts are. Im well aware. 
We are in our 40s with two older teenagers for reference. Maybe older crowd would enjoy more? Idk. But we arent hermits and this is what it seemed like.   
 

on a better note we did enjoy florida. Guess being with people and seeing faces is what we enjoy. Retiring there in 7 years. 

Thanks for this.  Wanted to hear what kind of experience really was.  Now I know for sure won't cruise

like this.  Will not cruise if it isn't completely open and free to do what we want. Wasted money at this point.

On 3/16/2021 at 8:17 AM, BND said:

What did the hospital diagnose him with if you're willing to share?  Was it confirmed to be caused by the vaccine or just a coincidence?  

Documented as Covid vaccine reaction on his permanent medical record.

13 minutes ago, Brissle said:

Hi everyone,

 

We are a retired UK couple who have been cruising for 20 years.

We usually choose small ships, but our TA has told us that we should try the Symphony of the Seas if only once, just for the experience.

He knows that it's not our normal type of cruise, but says that we should try it.  We do understand that this ship is designed for family activities, but will take pleasure from watching the young folk trying all the sports!

So where do we start?  We have never cruised with RCI.

Can anyone tell me where we can discover answers to all our questions?

E.g. - if we choose a suite cabin with sea view balcony, which deck and where on the ship is best to be located? / are all meals included or are there supplements to pay - can we purchase a buy-out package? (We do enjoy good food in good surroundings) / can we get a package for all-inclusive drinks? 

We'll be grateful for any advice - it will be wonderful when we are able to start cruising again.

 

 

My husband and I are both in our 70's and love all the Oasis class ships.  They are easy to navigate

IMO and so much to do and see.  We love deck 8 midship.  Can walk right into Central Park without having to use elevators or stairs.  That goes to the Park Cafe where you can enjoy breakfast or lunch without going to any other venue if you desire.  That is all where Chops is located if you want to do an elevated meal experience that is extra.  It's fun to take a leisurely stroll through Central Park in the evening or anytime of the day.

My husband is less mobile than I am, but I can take the stairs to deck 6 and use the gym.  Also on deck 6 is the boardwalk where the diving show is.  Deck 5 is the Royal Promenade where the shops are, Cafe Promenade for snacks (24 hour, free, unless you get a speciality coffee)  Sorrentos pizza there also and they have parades, etc on the Promenade.  Ice skating shows (not on this deck) and theatre shows and so many other activities you can choose or not to participate in.  For the pool, buffet, we take the elevator.  Main dining room on decks 3 & 4 are included in the fare.  You can go there most days for breakfast or lunch.  We never do the drink package, we don't drink.  We have loyalty status that gets us to the lounges if we want to have some soda, but mostly enjoy coffee or water.  Lol.  I know I didn't answer all your questions, but just giving you are perspective.  

49 minutes ago, notmyrealnameoremail said:

 

Do you have evidence of this?

My husband had a bad reaction after second Pfizer dose.  Became totally disoriented and then unresponsive.  Went to hospital by ambulance.  Is good now, but it was very scary.  Had right arm tremors too, the arm where he was vaccinated.

20 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Under your scenario, I would go; IF and only IF there was NO mask mandate on board and NO distancing measures. 

I totally agree with this.  Only way I would go.

Whenever we have gone to the suite deck, which I admit I don't do often very few if any people

were there.  Even though we could utilize it, I personally never found it exciting.  I prefer to

be closer to the pool for a dip now and then.  Just my personal preference.

We did a b2b on the Oasis in Feb 2020.  So glad we did.

Feb 2020 ,B2B on Oasis out of Miami

Not really a mistake, but when novice cruisers let RC do all the booking of rooms,flights, etc.  Didn't take long and

after talking to many other cruisers I can do it better myself.  (IMO)  Have booked several family cruises for our kids,

spouses and grandchildren and have not had a problem.  I'm very detailed oriented and try to think of every eventuality.

Also these boards have been the most invaluable help .  Always get reliable information from more experienced cruisers

than myself.  We've done 25 so no longer novices.  Hope we can cruise again someday.  We're really wanting to book a 

family one in 2022 for our 50th wedding anniversary and our granddaughters high school graduation.  Our kids and grands

love cruising, especially when it's paid for by their parents.  Lol.  Wouldn't have it any other way.

We were on the Anthem this past fall (October, 2019)  This was our second cruise on the Anthem.  Enjoyed it

very much.  Ship very nice IMO.

On 5/22/2020 at 5:11 PM, blueridgemama said:

There are litter boxes filled with wood chip like material. They were located on the running track on deck 5 on Oasis of the Seas. I'm guessing they are emptied and cleaned by the crew

Yes I saw these also On Oasis in February when walking the track

I want to book a group cruise for summer 2022 also, but guess I'm ok with later in the year to see if things

have smoothed out any.  Sigh.

Would really like to feel comfortable booking a cruise for next year orin 2022, but guess will wait a little longer to

see how this virus messes things up.  

Hi all,

Just want to say I was not expecting a refund anytime soon.  Cancelled Feb 2021, b2b cruises March 15th.

Been watching for the refund, and yesterday it appeared.  Was very happy to say the least.  It was a refundable

deposit of $1,000 total so was extremely grateful they came through.  Especially as we're in our 70's and who knows

if will be able to cruise again.  Loved all our cruises and will be sad if we won't experience one again, but just

seeing and kissing our family, kids, grandkids, my 91 year old mother currently in lockdown, siblings, friends, etc will

be the first thing on my agenda.  Stay safe and healthy everyone.

On 4/3/2020 at 7:57 PM, justKirbo said:

On 3/16 my TA canceled a our Liberty cruise scheduled for next year in April (actually, a year from tomorrow 😞 ). We had two rooms reserved and had had the reservation for a year (we made it while on the same cruise last year). The credit hit our RC Visa on 3/23 and I called the credit card company and had them issue me a check, which I cashed the second it arrived by USPS. It was for two rooms, four passengers, $1000 total.

 

I'm wondering if future cruises not yet at their final payment date are getting refunded quicker.

 

I did email our TA to tell him it'd gone through, he asked us to do that, and he said he was happy for us as they are being told that refunds will take 30-90 days depending on the cruise line.

 

I hope everyone that opted for a refund gets them soon.

Lucky you.  I cancelled b2b cruises for Feb 2021 on 3/12 &3/15.  First was told would be 3-5 business days.  Second time I called, it would be 7 business day.  Third time I called said it would be 30 days, but not business days.  Will see what happens

when that time comes.  Fingers crossed.  (because we're 70 & 75, pretty much resigned that next year a cruise most

likely wouldn't happen for us. )  Who knows.   Not my priority right now.

A way to sanitize the menus between use.  After ordering my husband & I would sanitize our hands before eating.

I could almost see all the germs/bacteria crawling on the menus.  Sanitize the salt/pepper shakers (not sure how or just

change them frequently) the butter dishes, etc,etc.  Lots of places are germy for sure.  The buffet tongs are especially one

thing that are pretty gross.  Guess would just look out for myself and sanitize often.

They are not sending email confirmations I was told because of the volume of rescheduling,etc.  Only giving conf # number.

I got through by phone in less than a minute, gave conf # immediately .  I document the day, time & person I talked to when

getting this information.  Refund in 3-5 or up to 7 days (business) i assume .

I'm not rescheduling for the forseeable future.

I certainly hope this is only temporary.  I'm 70, healthy, workout every day, eat healthy.

Just looking at the last 2 cruises we took, Oct 2019 & Feb 2020 & the majority of the obese unhealthy looking people were

the younger ones, kids & all.  Obesity just as bad as chronic illnesses, because that's what it leads to. My rant & my

opinion.