GKMCruising

2 hours ago, NameThatFunnel said:

I've looked at several dates this morning and I not seen any C&A suite/balcony discounts being applied, same prices without member number.

I noticed that too. Not that the discount is huge, but it'd definitely help take the sting away a bit.

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

We had this same letter on our recent Oasis sailing.

Had that letter on our Harmony sailing beginning of October as well.

14 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Leave her home.

 

I don't mean to sound cold, and for full disclosure, I have no kids. I just don't see a child that young being able to appreciate a cruise. Not saying she won't enjoy herself, but she's too young to enjoy herself BECAUSE it's a cruise, IMO. (I'll leave out selfish reasons like alone time, being free to do what you want, etc.)

 

I cruised with my niece when she was 2 or 3. My memories are that all she wanted to do was ride the carousel on whichever Oasis class ship it was 24/7. Oh, and when Shrek came around the MDR for breakfast (this was when RC partnered with Dreamworks) she cried and hid under the table b/c she was scared of him. 🙈

 

I have since sailed with both my nieces as they got older and they were actually able to enjoy cruising once they got a bit older... kids splash area, water slides, getting virgin drinks at the bar, some of the shows, the food, etc.

Definitely depends on the kid. We took our daughter on an Alaskan cruise for her 2nd birthday and we've now done two Caribbean sailings as well - one on Wonder, the other one Harmony. She's 3 and had a blast - like you said, she enjoyed the splash area, shows, frozen drinks, etc. That said, I also know plenty of kids who would be miserable and make their parents miserable as well by throwing tantrums and generally being a Royal pain.

10 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Not quite sister, but Celebrity is under the RCG umbrella and has looser mask mandates.

And they also don't allow anyone under 12 to cruise, so they meet the 95%+ threshold for being fully vaccinated.

6 hours ago, MJSailors said:

Just saying....tuna tartare ???!!!

No different than sushi / sashimi. Different strokes for different folks.

Was just on Ovation with my daughter, can confirm that they're still doing the toy lending program and the Royal Babies and Tots nursery.

11 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

 

The only one I know about in Star updated and said revenue finally got back to her and they're still researching it but they're pretty sure it was a mistake. 🙄

 

Also, if you have multiple reservations booked and you got that letter, how would even have a clue which reservation it was for?

Yeah, I didn't even catch that. You'd think they'd have included a reservation # in there, not just the ship name and sail date.

2 hours ago, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

We called our TA when I heard that Royal was offering solo travelers a hefty discount as we have 2 solo travelers in our group.  Every room ended up getting a discount, which was given as OBC.

 

Of course, now Royal's completely mucked that up by changing our cruise to a 6-day and taking all my OBC.

Are they still offering the solo deals? All sailings or only certain ones?

Just now, PigsCanFly said:

I wonder if moving some rooms may be to more evenly distribute the staterooms with people in them for the stateroom attendants?  One could have all of the rooms in his area full and another may have very few.  Just a thought...

I'd thought the same, but still makes no sense for people in the Star suites.

14 hours ago, Vera/Lee said:

I was told this new policy is from November through the end of March.

Told by who - your TA? Has anyone figured out exactly what this policy even is?

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Nothing before Nov. 1 is being modified.  After Nov. 1 much is.  

 

I'm sure the CDC was not pleased with that FR sailing.  

I'd be interested in trying to compile a master list of affected sailings/cabins, see if there's any noticable pattern - itineraries, ports, sailing dates, which floors/cabins, etc.

36 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

We got one too, different sailing. I'm seeing folks with GTY cabins reporting they got them as well.  Even seen a RLS get one and there's no matching cabin. 

I'm almost wondering if this is Royal IT screwing up somewhere. There's no way they should be bumping Star Class suites.

3 minutes ago, Lorey2007 said:

We do have a JS. How do you make reservations once on tne ship? Can I keep my traditional early time and also go to Coastal Kitchen?

Yes, you can. We did CK two nights when we were in a JS on Ovation last month and then did MDR the other nights.

1 hour ago, flamingos said:

We sailed in the equivalent to 9116 on Harmony, and absolutely loved it.  Because it's in that corner, it had a lot of space in the room and if it wasn't actually larger, in square footage, it felt huge. I thought I had a photo of the inside of the cabin, but I can't find it. 

 

There wasn't a lot of noise from the hallways, even though it's at that little intersection and has a crew door near it. 

Good to hear. 9116 is also the one we're in on Wonder - I'll definitely update after the sailing.

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

I assume you meant forward - the rest of the Oasis class seems like they have a different layout there so you'll have to wait till Wonder starts sailing for any kind of possible feedback.

Whoops, yeah, that's definitely forward.

And as I'm on the inaugural, I guess I'll be the one giving feedback. 🤣

So I didn't particularly care what room I got when I booked on Wonder, all I cared about was that it was an inside cabin and that it wasn't right beside the elevators. I happened to look at exactly what room they put me in tonight, and I realized it's kind of an unusual one - an aft inside corner cabin on deck 9. Anyone ever sail in one of these before? Based on the deck map it looks like it might have a fairly unique layout based on location.

1 hour ago, Sayuil said:

I second that but apparently rules says they need to. Breaks our heart that our boy won’t get to enjoy beaches in carribean

There are usually beach break excursions you can book.

31 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

Covid cases majorly trending downward in U.S. indicates policy change will be required soon for U.S. departures. Nationwide U.S. has almost 1/2 as many new cases than a month ago.

And we all know how quickly things can start trending in the other direction too.

In *theory* you could book a cruise and then cancel for a FCC. I don't know if it would work, but it's worth a shot.

1 hour ago, Chiliburn said:

@Biker19

When does ovation finish in Alaska and head to sydney 

This week is their last sailing in Alaska, but per a friend in the crew, they still haven't received any info on whether or not they're actually going to Sydney or if they'll wind up having to make alternate arrangements, it all depends on what the government down there winds up deciding.

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Great information.     Thank you.

 

Do you happen to know if the serenade repositioning cruise has passengers onboard?   I cannot remember if the CSO allowed cruises of 13 or 14 nights.

Yes, someone over on the RoyalCaribbeanBlog forums is on board currently doing a live blog.

I'm gonna blame COVID. They probably haven't gotten their shipments of those silicone bands in, so they had to find a temporary substitute.

11 hours ago, Aussie FF said:

This all changed recently.
Kids now get all of the same benefits of Diamond that adults get.
Yes, some parents are using their kids vouchers to get alcoholic drinks for themselves.

That's good to know - was hoping it would be the case so I could let my daughter get some fresh squeezed juice or something of her own rather than having to burn one of my vouchers.

8 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

I dunno about Allure, but on Mariner half the time we went they were out of the pizza we wanted and they were like go sit we'll bring. And we had no pins! One time I had more than pizza because it's the combo place there and before I could figure out how to carry everything they were hollering and someone took most of it from me and asked what table I was going to. 

 

I wasn't even wearing my platinum pin I got on that cruise. 😉

That sounds like Royal staff for sure. On Ovation last month I got stopped by staff at least twice trying to carry a high chair to our table for my daughter and they insisted on carrying it the rest of the way... despite the fact that one time I was practically two steps away from the table. 🤣

10 hours ago, Coralc said:

I love Barenaked Ladies. When we were at Walt Disney World, there was a large Wells Fargo conference going on. They were playing a private concert for the attendees. 

 

I tried so hard to ingratiate ourselves with the Wells Fargo people...we bank there, my mom worked for BofA, we really love banks. 

 

Nope. We didn't get to see them. 

I won tickets to one of their concerts in Atlanta a few years back. Definitely a band worth seeing live. I imagine a private concert would have been incredible.

9 minutes ago, travelhound said:

Testing everyone indefinitely is just not realistic.  At some point they will have to adopt a more practical protocol like: Test or Show Proof of Vaccination.  Most public venues are already doing this.

Yes, but as long as they have any unvaccinated onboard, including kids, they're going to keep requiring tests as clearly vaxxed or tested instead of vaxxed AND tested wasn't working as well.