nws2002

Made it onboard in about 20 minutes at Port Canaveral a few weeks ago.

There is a line outside where they are checking to make sure you have your test and vaccination paperwork. Once you make it inside and through security they direct you to a check in desk. If the suite check in area wasn’t busy there were sending regular passengers over there to check in. I ended up being sent over there.

They scanned my set sail pass and passport and took a look at my vaccination card and test results on my cell phone. Then gave me the wristband to put on and sent me over to board. At boarding they scanned the set sail pass one more time.

Only difference from pre-Covid cruises seemed to be no more waiting inside in the chairs. However the chairs were still there. I did show about 20 minutes early for my assigned time of 1:30p, just when the rental car shuttle dropped me off, and had no issues.

Specialty coffee drinks are available both in Windjammer and Café Promenade. Not sure about other possible locations on Harmony.

Prices on the drink packages changes all the time. You can buy now and watch prices. If they go down, cancel for a refund and rebuy at the better price.

ETA: I think Park Café may have specialty coffee too but can't remember

I had a random extra $50 in my account when I boarded. No idea why. TA didn’t know. I didn’t bother GS with it.

Interesting. They cancelled The Key on my Mariner cruise departing today citing COVID-19 protocols at the port.

I just booked a 2 day cruise out of Miami for April 4th. Call me crazy, but for $158 for 2 days for a balcony I couldn't resist the short getaway. I work for an airline, so airfare is free. I'll enjoy the few days away and Nassau. I'm not worried about the virus or being quarantined. If I get sick I'm unlikely to suffer any real consequences since I'm younger and healthy.

When I disembarked Mariner in February there was a fire alarm in the terminal so they held us for about 45 minutes in the dining room. Once we got moving though, I was off the ship and through Customs in less than 10 minutes. It was a 2 day cruise, and I only had a carry-on size rolling bag, so I didn't have to stop and pickup any checked luggage or anything.

When I went on Mariner out of Miami in December I had a horrible time getting Uber/Lyft because the AT&T cell service around the terminal is terrible. There were a ton of shuttle drivers though offering rides, so for February I just used one of them. $20 cash, I was directed to a Suburban with a few other passengers, and the driver took me right to the curb at MIA.

I never bother printing my own and just let the porter fill one out. One less thing to worry about for me while I'm on vacation. Although, I have noticed that most of the hotels that cater to cruise travel have packing tape and a stapler on a table in the front lobby.

I also love that they have the set sail pass on the app now. I take a screen shot so I don't have to worry if cell service is bad.

I do print my name/phone number/address/ship/stateroom number on a sheet of paper and put it on top of my clothes in my bag. That way if the tag does somehow come off they can figure out where the bag is supposed to go. I work for an airline though, and this is something that also helps us out greatly if a bag is mistagged or the tag is lost/destroyed.

Definitely use Voom while on the ship. The small amount of data AT&T provides for the super high cost isn't worth it. You'll blow through it very quickly. For $100 you only get 200MB of data.

The $10 day pass option with AT&T is the best deal for service while in Bermuda. No roaming fees outside of the $10 per day, it just deducts data/talk/text from whatever your main plan is. You have to call AT&T in advance though and make sure it is active on your account.

It took almost two weeks before my card showed the final charge after my last cruise in February. I used a credit card, so I wasn't super worried about it like I would be if it was my debit card, but I also called and was told they showed the charge on their end. Must be an issue with the way they are processing the final charges.

Seems like an easy way for Royal to fix this moving forward would be to change their standard reply to "please request these items from your room steward on embarkation day."

I'm sure they will investigate. I'f do what you did and call them, so at least if others complain about the same stateroom attendant there's a pattern.

Asking to speak with the CEO and expecting it to actually happen? Really? At what other company the size of Royal Caribbean would the CEO be accessible for call center employees to transfer customer calls to? Plus, in the grand scheme of things, this is a small issue, not something the CEO would handle.

52 minutes ago, kaykay67 said:

Just called again, they are stating this is not the case. He will only receive 1 points.  He is paying double occupancy minus the taxes and port fees .  IDK this is the second customer service who stated only 1 point per night given.

Karen

 

I would just wait and call or email C&A after the cruise. I emailed last night and my extra points showed up this morning.

9 hours ago, rt1092 said:

You should get 3 points per day for suite. As long as it wasn't a free upgrade or one of the bid deals.

It was one of the bid deals. Bid from an interior to a JS. I mid the minimum and still got it. Great deal. I had all the normal JS perks onboard like priority boarding, a robe, and the silver card. Oh well, still get 2 points per night.

1 minute ago, Merion_Mom said:

I don't, but some people do.  😄  

 

It's worth it to call for the extra points.

For sure will be worth it, I'll move up to Platinum, which I know doesn't have a ton of extra perks but it is nice to be something other than Gold, haha.

We used this in Miami at Terminal A coming off Mariner in December. It was great and super quick. They didn't have it at Terminal G when I got off Mariner there on Sunday, but CBP was also super quick just checking passports matched faces and sending us through without any questions about what we purchased or anything.

Is this still a thing? As in, if I book a normal (non-solo) cabin as travel alone I get two C&A points per day?

I took a solo cruise in May of last year and had to email them to have them post the extra points. I just realized my December cruise only has 4 points and not 8, so I emailed them about that. My cruise this past weekend was solo and in a suite, which I think means 3 points per day but I bet I'll have to email them to get that posted correctly too. Do you always have to email and request the extra points for being a solo cruiser?

Wow! Oasis was my first ever cruise. Second was Majesty and it seemed so much smaller, great ship, crew and experience, just way smaller. Hard to imagine the days when it was considered big.

It just depends for me. For the short 3-4 day cruises, generally about 3 months out. For the longer cruises or interesting itineraries, about a year out. I've only been on 7 cruises in the past 2 years though. After my first one I was hooked, haha.

Just now, jmom2004 said:

How far out from the sail date did this happen?

4 weeks out when I first tried to check in. About 2 weeks out when I got the email about the upgrade.

I had an issue with no eDocs for a few days, also unable to check in. Then I was finally able to check in and about 4 days later I got the email saying they accepted my bid and then a second email with new cruise docs. I didn't have to check in again, but if I view the SetSail pass it now has suite listed on it.

Guess I'm a millennial, I'm 34. The only CD I remember from my four cruises so far was on Majesty,. Her name was Susan, and I think she was Scottish. The only reason I remember her is because it was a smaller ship and she was present at a lot of the activities and events. For my other cruises they were all on larger ships and while I'm sure I saw the CD, I don't remember them at all.

Had an inside guarantee on Mariner for a short cruise departing on Feb 22nd. Got an email today that they accepted the $80pp upgrade to a Junior Suite. I bid never expecting them to accept that. I also bid on an ocean-view for $10pp and a balcony for $50pp. I skipped the panoramic suite option.

The person I'm going with is ecstatic since we both looked over prices when we first booked and ended up settling on the inside because we wanted an inexpensive weekend getaway. For that price I can't complain at all.

The visa was given by the port agent in Tampa. She warned us to wait for instructions to be delivered to our cabin before filling it in. If you mess up there is no crossing out or fixing it. You have to pay $75 to get another one.

I can’t see how they would know if you booked a shore excursion. Technically, the US State Department requires you to have at least on so you can check that box on the affidavit but no one in Cuba will check as you exit the ship. We booked one with RCL, another on our own, and also just spent time walking around.

Cuban officials don’t seem to care about much as long as you have the visa. They process the visa form the first time you disembark and stamp your passport. After that, you can disembark and embark at anytime you are in port.

The only real difference I noticed from other ports is that you will actually have to speak with someone at passport control and both Cuba and the ship have security when you return so you have two layers of metal detectors and X-rays to get through.

Deleted

I’m on the same sailing. I’ll try and post some pictures of the cruise compasses.

Captain just left Empress. I don’t know his name. I think he might be Norwegian?

Formal night was day 3. Same day we departed Cuba.

Only real hiccup so far has been the super long check in times at the port in Tampa. Took us almost 4 hours and heard many others complaining along with apologies from the crew once onboard.

Process in Havana seemed smooth. I think security got backed up around all aboard time because I heard a few grumbles about it from others. We were back on about an hour before that though and had zero issues.

I wish we booked a tour outside of RCL in Havana. Others did and apparently had a better experience for a better price. Our tour guide was ok, and he tried, but his English wasn’t great and you could often tell he was struggling to find the words. We also ended up bouncing around quite a bit on the walking tour because places were full or closed he was trying to show us.

Crew has been excellent. They all seem really excited about Cuba.