Anton

The app only has the set sail pass. You have to go to the website for the luggage tags and eDocs.

The onboard prices for the Florida 3 and 4 nights have been high. $105 on Mariner for example. It was $98 on Allure last month and that was 8 nights. So if your online price with the usual 20% discount is $83.99 then your onboard price is also $105.

Cruises booked no later than 9/30/2021 and sailing by 12/31/2022 get the double points promotion. Normally a solo cruiser booking a double occupancy cabin gets 2 points per night and if in a junior suite or full suite an additional point for 3 per night. So with the double points promotion you would get 4 points per night in a balcony or 6 points per night in a JS or higher.

The hour of the day doesn't matter. As long as the test has the correct date on it, it's good.

Yes. Not sure why RCI can sell packages for the entire cruise but Carnival can’t, but that’s how it works. The only limit is using the Texas bar menu until in international waters.

No. The new member level is effective after the points for that cruise are posted, typically 5 to 7 days after completion of the cruise. I do like the Carnival method where if you reach a new tier at any point in the next cruise you board that cruise with the new tier level. But RCI doesn't do it that way.

I don't know why but I've had them come apart on every cruise recently on Harmony, Wonder, Allure at the end of May. I wasn't alone. Even had a guest relations person say they know they have a problem with them.

Also note that the cards they are currently using delaminate easily. The printing is on a clear sheet applied to the hard card and they tend to peel off to varying degrees. Lots of people need replacements during the week.

The testing is a CDC requirement in the voluntary program. A lot of people have the misconception that the cruise lines can choose which protocols they follow or which ones they ignore but those people are incorrect. The cruise lines have two choices - volunteer to be in the CDC program or opt out of it and be coded a gray ship. If they opt into the voluntary program is an "all in" not a "we'll do this but not that." Key words from the link below: "Cruise lines choosing to opt into this program on a voluntary basis will be required to follow all recommendations and guidance as a condition of their participation in the program (i.e., they will not be able to choose which recommendations to follow). " Technical Instructions for CDC’s COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships Operating in U.S. Waters

I was underwhelmed by the Mason Jar food on Wonder. I do wish the Portside BBQ concept was expanded to other ships besides the Oasis. On Oasis last fall I noticed they always had a line forming prior to opening. Their barbecue is very good and the sides are also well prepared. It's really my favorite extra fee dining of any RCI ship.

The Best Price Guarantee has been changed to 48 hours from the time of booking. I've read FB posts from several people being denied a price change in the past few days, for cruises that are still months away. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/best-price-guarantee-policy

The sole purpose of uploading the photos of the vaccine card is to save 30 seconds per person at the port taking a photo of each vaccine card at check-in. So the agent looks at your booking and says "oh, you uploaded your proof" and if it's not there they ask for your vaccine card so they can take a photo of it and then say "well, you are checked in!"

The greatest threat to the new style drill ending are the slackers who don't take care of it within a reasonable time after boarding the ship. I'm sure those of us who have done a few cruises since the restart last summer are familiar with the captain coming on the PA system to announce "we still have 400 (or 500, or 600) guests who have not completed the muster drill and we cannot sail until all guests have completed it."

Carnival has a version of the new drill too.

I was on this cruise too. The WiFi situation was very frustrating. Even though I get my internet free I'm still going to register my disappointment in the cruise survey when I do it today. Other than that it seemed to be as close to a pre-covid cruise on an Oasis class ship that I've had in my several cruises since last July.

The sole purpose of the vaccination verification being added to the Royal app was to speed up check-in at the pier. If it was verified then it was one less document that the check-in agent had to take a picture of and enter into the system. So it saved Royal about 20 to 30 seconds per person. They still have to visually inspect the physical vaccination card (or proof) even if the upload was verified, so you'll need to bring the vaccine proof anyway. The verification is no more than some employee at Royal looking at each uploaded image and saying "yes, that looks like a genuine vaccine card to me" and hitting the approved key.

A friend did B2B on Allure earlier this month. On the first cruise the onboard deluxe package price was $72. When he did the walk-off for the B2B process and reboarded, the price on the second cruise had jumped to $98. It seems the new Cruise Planner design that is rolling out (Allure is using the new planner) does have the correct onboard price since we are going on Allure this weekend and the Cruise Planner shows $98 for onboard with our wondrous savings offer of $72.99.

Go to You Tube and enter "abbott ag card home test" in the search window. A great many videos will show up. It's very simple to do this test. I use a laptop so I can adjust the camera angle since they have to see both you and the test kit at all times. I've done this test over 12 times since last September with zero problems. Essentially you just need to worry about having a good connection to the proctor, your valid test kit, and your photo ID. That's it. Let the proctor do the guiding and just follow their instructions. I also have a little knife to cut open the test kit sealing tape so I don't rip the box open and send stuff flying.

Something is going on with Walgreens. This morning I scheduled a test for next Thursday with no problems and they were accepting appointments for a week out here in north Alabama. I just looked and now the appointment window is back to the 3 days they had during the omicron surge.

I had some t-shirts made when this all started to careen out of control in early 2020. This is what they look like. I have worn them on cruises since then.

Do a web search for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd v. Rivkees.

I added them to my original post.

DP340 is not valid for August sailings. If it worked for the original Next Cruise booking that was the IT glitch. Note 16 from the C&A benefits: "16. Single members must have 340 Cruise Points earned in order to receive the single cruise fare at 150%. This offer is based on availability with certain restrictions. Ocean Voyage Packages, Holiday sailings (Christmas and New Year) and the months of July and August are not included in this offer.

BAMKO also sent out pinnacle pins that had incorrect or misspelled names and in at least one case they sent someone pins that were blank with no names on them. I reached pinnacle on January 10 and have no expectation to see my pinnacle kit any time soon. RCI also rejected a recent shipment of blank pins from China as being poor quality so they are apparently directly involved now after so many complaints about the shoddy work.

I was on that cruise. The Shell answer man crew member in the yellow vest at 11:20 when I boarded: "they open after 1pm, so go have a drink or lunch, or both!"