I have booked Rudi's for Dec 3rd (my 45th birthday) and the steakhouse for December 4th. Also booked La Playa en La Casa excursion for Amber Cove. 

Thank you both! I think I will go ahead and book those two restaurants and the excursion I want for Amber Cove in advance.

Hello, I am sailing the Mardi Gras December 3rd 2022, and I have some OBC that won't be available until the sailing. I want to try the Steakhouse and Rudi's Seagrill (and Emeril's)

Will there be dinner reservation times available on embarkation day or do I need to reserve and pay in advance?

Also can unused OBC be used for gratuities if I pay for everything up front like dining and excursions?

Thanks!

24 minutes ago, Love2travel4 said:

Thank you!  I’m booked with him in January.  After the wording was changed to government approved, I emailed him, but had not heard back 😞. I did hear back from my private Barabados excursion.

Hello, Thenford is operating. Unfortunately we were unable to have him take us on his tour personally as it was his 44th wedding anniversary but he met us at the information desk at the terminal anyway and handed us off to a young  tour guide named Jermaine who was amazing, entertaining, funny and gave us so much information and history about St. Kitts, had a great day but it was hot so everyone opted to go back to the ship rather than beach time.

Everyone who was vaccinated could enter the port area with lots of shops and some food. Lots of tours could be booked with local operators from the information desk as soon as you enter the port. There were tons of local tour operators they would connect you with depending on what type of tour you wanted 

Also received the following email from Royal today.

Dear Guest,

We are excited to welcome you onboard our upcoming November 21^st, 2021 Harmony of the Seas sailing! But first, we wanted to provide you with a friendly reminder for your time in Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis.

When visiting St. Kitts, all guests, regardless of vaccination status, must book a tour if they wish to explore the port.

• Parties traveling with unvaccinated guests must book a tour through Royal Caribbean International to go ashore.
• Fully vaccinated guests may depart the ship and visit the enclosed port area on their own. If they wish to visit further areas in the island, vaccinated guests may book a tour with our Royal Caribbean Shore Excursions team or depart the ship to visit the enclosed port area to purchase approved local tours provided by the St. Kitts government. Please note that tours offered in the port area are with independent tour operators unaffiliated with Royal Caribbean International. All guests are also subject to local restrictions and requirements in the ports we visit.

For more information on the exciting shore excursion available for Basseterre, feel free to browse your options via the Royal Caribbean app as soon as you arrive onboard or stop by our Shore Excursions Desk located on Deck 5. Our team will gladly help you find the perfect excursion for you and your family.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,

Royal Caribbean International

7 hours ago, dogdoc2002 said:

Would you be kind enough to share what they say. We're stopping there in about 3 weeks and still struggling to find something that would be interesting to both of us.

10 hours ago, njhorseman said:

Just keep in mind that these protocols can change at the drop of a hat so check them regularly between now and your cruise.

Thanks, I'm sailing Sunday on Harmony of The Seas and we were just switched from Antigua to St Kitts yesterday evening due to Antigua not being dredged enough for Oasis Class ships. Will hit St. Kitts on the 24th. They just put up ship tours this morning but none I really like for the price and none are discounted.

I have emailed Thenford Grey and Royston who have been highly recommend by cruise critic members to see if they are offering tours from the port area.

1 minute ago, njhorseman said:

Yes, you can use either a cruise line tour or a government approved independent tour operator. You can't go outside the port area on your own.

That is what I wanted. Thank you!

9 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

 

Select your departure port in the "Where are you sailing from?" box   on the top of this page to get the applicable protocols:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise

Thank you! So it appears you can leave the ship and take a tour with a government approved operator from the port area.

Yes can someone please post the link on Royals site if permitted. I can't find it

As of now, you have to book a ship excursion still with unvaccinated children. Before everyone had to book a ship excursion.

I have been on Harmony and Oasis. Done Chops on both (twice on Oasis, once on Harmony), Giovanni's on Oasis, Jamies twice on Harmony, 150 Central Park on Harmony.

Jamie's was our favorite, then Chops, then Giovanni's, and didn't really enjoy 150 Central Park.

We are doing unlimited dining on Harmony departing this weekend. We will eat at Jamie's and Chops a couple of times each, will try Izumi Sushi and teppanyaki, Sabor and maybe Wonderland.

I canceled my rcl tour and rebooked the tour I originally had through Shoreexcursioneer: Antigua Traditional House, Pineapple Farm, Fryes Estate, Beach Break and Lunch Excursion, it is with Heavenly Tours

7 hours ago, RentSunnyFlorida.com said:

Thank you for sharing. All RCL excursions are sold out so now I have to find a private tour.  Know of any good ones?

We don't purchase wifi for the ship but keep our phones on us for the app and reservations and planning what's next. When there is wifi at a beach or in a port where I can use my phone network. I check on the house with all of our wyze and blink cams and maybe check emails briefly.

8 hours ago, kjenaz said:

Antigua was just removed from the "Must do Ship Excursion" list for Royal Caribbean in November.  🙂

 

Of course, now that I have canceled my local tour and booked a Royal Tour. Im thinking about cancelling with Royal and rebooking what I had originally. 

13 hours ago, OntarioCruiser38 said:

Thanks for posting what you did.   We were going to go on a cruise on November 27th through celebrity but postponed because Grand Cayman was closed and there were questions about Key West so it was down to two ports for a week. 

 

I took a look at my notes and what I found was only St. Kitts was still in a bubble however you could get two tours on shore.   All four ports were asking for recent PCR tests.  It may be the cruise won’t do PCR tests for ports.   

 

Your approach of booking ship and private is a good strategy.  We will do the same just to be safe.  You can still likely cancel the private when you find out on board what the situation is on the 21st.  

 

Would you mind posting when you get back and let us know how things evolved for you?

Thank you, I followed up with someonr from Royals executive office who I had corresponded with before. Here was their response today.

Per our current tour requirements, Antigua is listed as one of the ports requiring tours booked through Royal for all guests going ashore regardless of vaccination status. As stated in the email notification sent, these tour requirements at ports of call are subject to change as we continue to evaluate circumstances around the globe.
 

I am sailing November 21st. I already had a tour booked for several months through shoreexcursioneer. I went ahead and booked a tour just in case through Royal as all of the excursions are almost sold out. It was only about two options left. I will figure out if I can get a definitive answer in the next couple of weeks and decide which one to cancel.

Sorry phone wouldn't let me delete the quote above.

I am a bit more confused as I have read the protocols but Royal doesn't say the tours must've booked through the cruise line except in the section regarding those with unvaccinated kids. The kids section specifically says you must book at tour through Royal Carribean.

Vaccinated Guests
Fully vaccinated parties may book a shore excursion or visit most ports freely — with the exception of those listed below, which will require tours for all guests who wish to go ashore, regardless of their vaccination status.

• St. Lucia (November visits)
• Barbados (November visits)
• St. Kitts (November visits)
• Antigua (November visits)

Tours Required for Families With Unvaccinated Children
Families traveling with unvaccinated kids must purchase a local tour through Royal Caribbean if they wish to go ashore. This applies to all ports of call except Perfect Day at CocoCay, and Port Canaveral, Florida. Vaccinated parents wishing to go ashore freely can visit our youth facilities onboard to learn about drop off program hours and availability, and reserve time for their child on the day they wish to go in port.

On 10/23/2021 at 8:53 PM, OntarioCruiser38 said:

Cruise bubble removed, vendors and operators in St John’s stand to benefit

 

22 October 2021

https://antiguaobserver.com/cruise-bubble-removed-vendors-and-operators-in-st-johns-stand-to-benefit/

Awesome and timely news, I had not booked with Royal yet and still had a deposit through shoreexcursioneer since early this year.

On 10/18/2021 at 3:57 PM, susiesan said:

No, Antigua will not allow independent shore ex per government edict from Minister of Health document from April 2021.

 

Cruise ship operators should arrange shore excursions to reduce passengers and crew from being exposed to COVID-19. In ports of call, shore excursions should be limited to cruise line-controlled offerings and conducted in a manner consistent with Antigua and Barbuda Port Health authorities and local public health laws, regulations and protocols.

Thank you. I guess I better see what is available through royal. I don't want to not be able to see Antigua my first visit.

I will be on Royal Harmony of The Seas going to Antigua on Thanksgiving week

First time visiting in November and not able to find an answer on whether or not I need to book a ship excursion to your Antigua?

We used to not do any specialty dining. Our last couple of cruises on Oasis Class ships we did 3 nights and loved the food at Chops and Jamie's in particular making us want to do a package each time we cruise. Last cruise our TA also surprised us with a complimentary dinner at 150 Central Park.

This next time (if we are cruising in November), we are doing the unlimited dining package to try more options. Not sure if we will do three nights going forward or go unlimited in the future but LOVE having at least 3 nights of specialty dining.

There is plenty of food, and I'm sure you will find plenty you are very happy with, but if you think you will enjoy the items at the specialty venues, you should give it a try! 

On 3/29/2020 at 2:37 PM, notladjr said:

We have a December 6, 2020 cruise on Harmony. Not cancelling yet but concerned because they do not anticipate having a vaccine for Covid 19 until at least several months after that. My wife and I are in the "vulnerable" catagory. I am over 60 and a diabetic being treated for high blood pressure. She is just old. 

 

What causes me pause is now they are talking about the virus probably coming in "waves" with it being suppressed during the summer months but having a second wave during what is typically the flue season this coming winter. My December cruise might be right in the middle ofa second wave.

 

However I am not making any knee jerk decisions and have plenty of time to see what happens. Not so much for our planned 40th anniversary ground trip to England this August.

My wife and I are on the same sailing. In our 40s in decent health, but this thing is taking down healthy people. We look forward to cruising every year, that's our big memorable thing we work hard and spend the whole year looking forward to, but we are just going to see what happens until we near final payment. Not going to risk it over one trip.