DCPIV

I'm not tossing out my eMed tests just yet.

It varies by length of sailing. Check #2 under the FAQ. https://www.rclinvestor.com/contact-us/faqs/shareholder-benefit/

Anyone with that expectation should prepare themselves for disappointment. As for the number, it's on a card in the room (and may also be handed to you).

As far as I can tell, they've only disposed with the nightly happy hour event. Everything else still is around. The sailaways on the bow always have been hit & miss (largely due to weather).

I believe we had thee same schedule as @soremekun mentioned when we were on that Liberty itinerary in January. I know night 2 was formal, and I'm a solid 90% that night 6 was the other.

Our experience on Reflection in November could not have been more different. Our Retreat Host (simple a new title for the Butler) did all sorts of special things for us and the others around us. We never asked for Luminae in the room, but we wanted for nothing.

Yes, they are doing them, but it'll vary a bit from cruise to cruise as to when and whether they happen.

I completely agree with going 11 nights instead of 16. Shoot, I love cruising, but I was pretty much done by the time we got to day 12 or 13 on a recent 15-nighter. A recent 12-nighter was just about right. On the subject of children, I expect they will do well. We once took 2 and 4 year old children on a 12-night cruise, and they enjoyed it very much.

Martinique seems to be starting up slowly. We have a cruise stopping by there in a few months, and it was only very recently that a handful of excursions posted. I wouldn't worry at all about a January cruise.

I'm in the "take it or leave it" crowd when it comes to the private islands. I'm not much for just hanging out at a beach all day, and anything else on these areas are pretty much what I ought to be able to get on the ship. The only time we've ever enjoyed the "private island" day is when we were on the Paul Gauguin (and THAT was a good time!) We pretty much just stay on the ship, so it's something of a throwaway port day for us. As long as they keep the ship open, I suppose I won't care all that much!

What is your itinerary? Where you are going will have something to do with what you are doing, of course. We've done a couple of land tours before cruising, and I agree that they both were wonderful times. Your transportation and rooms are covered (obviously). Meals were covered to a very limited extent. I do recall there being some sort of spread when we arrived in Fairbanks for our first land tour (a lot of folks were scheduled to arrive late, and they were ready to accomodate us). That was something like 10 years ago, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's no longer included (or if my memory is inaccurate). For our trip in 2018, we started in Anchorage. I don't recall anything included for the first night, but the next morning's breakfast was covered (it may have been an allowance, but it was more than enough if that was the case). We also had a meal included on the Alaskan Railway part of both trips). Some tours were included, but some were not. We went to Denali on both trips, and the tour was covered to at least some extent. I believe the "half day" tour was included, but you could upgrade to the "full day" tour for not much extra. Our visit to the wildlife center outside Girdwood (2018) and the Sea Life center in Seward (both trips) were included. On our first trip, there was an included riverboat tour in Fairbanks on our first full day. Free time varied from place to place and depended largely on when you would get into a town and when you were due to leave it.

It was very good on Reflection back in February. We were tempted to have lunch there every day (and we know some folks that did just that). I don't know if recent developments have affected their a la carte pricing, but it was rather reasonable at that time. While it would not at all be difficult to spend $35 per person, it would be mighty difficult to eat everything that $35 would buy!

There's an interesting article on that from the Pew Research Center. It's a few years old, but I suspect it's still at least largely accurate. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/08/14/back-to-school-dates-u-s/ In Texas, there is no single start date. It's up to the individual school district, but I know there are some restrictions on that and some approvals that need to happen. I won't pretend to understand it any more than that, and I wouldn't be surprised if I were wrong to some extent. I also know that the University of Denver starts after Labor Day, but I don't know much else about other universities.

If I were crew, I'd happily have it in the crew mess!

Yes. It's a la carte on the menu (and your drink package applies if you have one).

Funny how that tends to happen! 😉

That's not quite true. At best, you have some reassurance that everyone was negative shortly before the start of your cruise (which I'm quite fine with).

Be careful what you wish for. Much more often than not, consistency rarely is interesting or fun.

This has happened on a few cruises we've been on since the restart. Different places restart at different speeds. It's not like flipping a switch, unfortunately. Things will come around.

I would expect the pre-cruise testing to remain for some time.

Pre-cruise testing? Likely not for a while.

From what I understand, it's union longshoremen all over the US. I know they are in Galveston. Those fellows do mighty well.

Honestly, I don't know how they are charged because I've never ordered a beverage through room service. Regardless, no one ever said it wasn't stupid. 😉 Celebrity may be on the high end of luxury, but it's mass market. One difference between Celebrity and at least some of the mass market lines is that they only charge for late night delivery. I'm pretty sure that RC and Carnival charge for delivery of anything other than breakfast. I don't know about the other lines, and I'm not going to take the time to look into it.

Perhaps it's not an actual upside, but I'm certain you will have ample other opportunities to spend your OBC.

You might get a little something. It'll be a token gift or celebration, but it'll be fun. You can order something more if you like.