Bound4Bermuda

Thanks for sharing your epic, month-long “work from home-away-from-home” extravaganza with us!

👀I spot a few different people wearing shorts on formal night. 👀 Just saying... 😄

Got an amazing deal in St Thomas for my engagement ring, which appraised back home for twice what we paid for it. Basically got a “free 12-day cruise,” as a similar ring back home would have cost what we paid for the ring and the cruise!

You can answer them in the app 1 day before you sail. If your cruise isn’t today/tomorrow, then it sounds like she just got the heads up email that she will have to do this, but it’s not yet the link to actually do so. In my example below, I’m sailing July 15, so I have to come to the app July 14 to complete the health questionnaire for my family/cabin.

Oh. Now I feel that I made a terrible mistake booking deck 7 on my upcoming cruise simply because there is nothing else nearby so I assumed it would be the most quiet.

They shipped it rolled up, no frame.

Not worth it to me. I can only handle 1 to 3 drinks a day, and not every day. My 2 bottles of wine will cover at least one of the drinks per day. Then I might buy the occasional pina colada by the pool or a second glass of wine (beyond what I carried from my room) while sitting in a lounge in the evening if there’s nothing else to do. I don’t drink soda, so nothing needed from the nonalcoholic side of the package, either. I think the whole week I’d end up paying “a la carte” what one day of the package costs.

I actually bought artwork on my last cruise—a pair of watercolor portraits. No one else bid, so I got it for the opening bid of $89, I think it was.

What's the temperature like onboard at night (summer, Caribbean, Oasis)? If I'm dressing for Bahamas weather, I might pack shorts with nicer tops. But if the air-conditioning is cranked up and it's otherwise windy out on the high seas I might pack my "office clothes," which would consist of blouses and dress pants. I'll pack a couple of dresses for formal nights. But I don't have a lot of dresses (that fit me anymore). I guess I'll pack a mix of clothes, and if it's a hot night, get ready to see my be-shorted legs in the MDR! I am also a long-time but infrequent member who only comes around when I have a cruise planned. So 12 or 6 years ago on my previous cruises that brought me to CC, I wouldn't have dared to wear shorts in the MDR! These types of frequent topic discussions/debates help to frame the current sentiment at least among a sect of the population, of mostly diehard cruisers. Despite the objections from the purists who expect cruising to be the exact same experience they had 30 to 60 years ago when they started cruising, it seems that the general consensus is that shorts are fine for most nights. We'll definitely pack something dressier for formal nights, though, but other nights might be a mix of nicer tops with shorts or pants.

I don’t have unvaccinated kids, but even with us vaccinated folks, I’m planning on likely doing an at-home test the day before the at-home proctored test. Is it necessary? No, but I’m paranoid and want to be prepared for a worst-case scenario. If I were in your situation, I would definitely test the child before going all the way to the port just in case.

I’m doing this route in 3 weeks, so I’ll definitely be following you to get psyched up and to learn any insider tips!

I’m more offended that they had the audacity to display this as “art”! You sure it’s not just the Adventure Ocean letting the kids’ play-doh projects sit on a shelf while waiting for their parents to pick them up?

I don’t think you necessarily need to go an entire day in advance when you only live an hour away, but I would maybe reconsider driving in so you can leave in the morning or whenever you feel comfortable arriving for an earlier scheduled embarkation time rather than cutting it before last call onboard. Does Lyft or Uber run cross border? If so, you might want to price that out both ways vs parking. But, if it were me, I’d just pay for parking.

You should have gotten an email from DONOTREPLY@royalcaribbean.com with the subject line Your Guest Vacation Documents are now ready for Reservation ID: …. This email includes a PDF attachment of your Guest Vacation Documents. The luggage tags are hidden on page 19 (assuming they’re all the same length of 20 pages).

Just an assumption on my part, but I agree with you that that’s most likely. From March 2020 to March 2022, the cruiselines were practically giving away future cruise purchases just to keep the company afloat. Then the last week of March 2022, RCI reported their biggest week of sales ever. Since then, prices have been unreal and this summer’s cruises are back to being sold out (for the most part). Supply and demand + the need to make up for two years’ worth of completely stopped or greatly reduced sailings, and you can expect that everything will be at a premium from here on out. This year people have their vacation money saved up for 2 years and are just eager to go anywhere and pay anything to get the rest and relaxation they so desperately need. And with changing COVID rules, it’s definitely “safer” in terms of being able to travel (not lower risk of catching COVID) to get on a US-based ship (if you’re from the US) and have them bring you places and get you home than to try to fly to an island on your own and hope you can get there and back without quarantine rules changing. The increased demand on cruises plus all the amenities to make the most of it is so ridiculous right now that RCI is charging $3000 for cabanas and they’re sold out?!? Crazy! The prices will remain this high unless and until people are unwilling to pay them. With the direction the US economy is heading, that will happen sooner rather than later. But I’d wager a guess that you can expect everything on RCI to be at a premium for this summer/rest of the year at the very least. This will be the “new normal” for a while until the next economic crash, which we’re on the verge of. Then prices will level out to what people are willing to pay again. Honestly, if you’re booking extras for this summer, I would expect all prices to only increase. Next year, sure, wait and see. But this year, decide if it’s worth it to you. If it is, snatch it up before it’s sold out. If it’s not, then get the family psyched up about the free tranquil Caribbean Sea and largest freshwater pool in the Caribbean! That’s what I’m doing. We can stay overnight (with 2 days’ admission) at an indoor waterpark resort for what they’re charging for 1 day right now. My kid gets that it’s not worth it.

The ~$249 Coco Beach Club has a separate infinity pool, doesn’t it? But the huge Oasis pool is free.

Someone recently posted that this happened to them. They were “contact traced” from someone on their excursion testing positive. The woman tested positive and had to be quarantined but her husband was negative. Agreed that she likely already had it in her system because the two times I had it, I tested negative for a full 5-7 days of exposure/symptoms until it finally showed up positive on a test. Unless you’re on a B2B or a cruise that’s longer than a week, you wouldn’t necessarily test positive yet even if you did catch it from the person on the excursion. It does make it extra nerve-wracking, though. You “pass” the preboarding test and accept the risk that you may ultimately have it when you get home, but they can still catch you at any time and throw you in the brig, basically.

I’m curious whether the cruise that’s Friday to Friday charges you for 7 days or 8. You’re technically there on that 8th day, but they’re going to get the “day’s rent” from the next group coming in later in the morning. It’s not that big of a deal to pay $25 dollars more, but it may make the difference on whether I decide to use Lyft or drive myself. It’ll cost me about $150 round-trip for Lyft, and if I’m paying $200 for parking I’ll definitely do Lyft, but if I’m paying $175 for parking, then paying $25 more to not have to wait for a car when leaving would be worth it. Also does the $25/day include taxes and fees? My Lyft estimate is all-in with tip.

So this is slightly off topic but, I knew that Bermuda had all kinds of extra testing, which is why we didn’t bother looking at a Bermuda cruise and risk not being allowed off the ship. However, the Bahamas is new information for me—especially seeing that they say you must be tested no more than 72 hours before arriving…but Oasis stops in Nassau on day 4. (And perhaps Coco Cay on day 5 is exempt?) Considering that I haven’t heard any outrage or complaints about it, lol, can I assume they’re making special allowances on the number of days of testing for cruise ships that require testing of passengers before boarding?

Rather than depending on the free shuttle bus, surely they must have paid excursions to Riga. I would just do one of those to ensure you get to see the town you want to see. I’m actually surprised they have anything for free, but if they added more buses I bet they’d start charging for it.

Okay. Now I’m curious. What was the deal with Ken that he was so infamous?

I got a 4-pack of the cruise luggage tag holders on Amazon for $6.99.

It’s Kool Aid made gooey by rendered cow/pig bones and ligaments. It’s animal collagen.

I mean, based on that Is Cats Still on Oasis thread, it sounds like you can just wait in the lobby, and attendees will be fleeing in droves throughout the performance. 😆 Plenty of seating will be available!

But wouldn’t you alternatively get the points once RC charges your card for your actual onboard charges? I can understand waiting to set a budget for yourself, but either way you’re going to keep track to ensure you don’t go overboard, but now you need to take extra care to make sure you spend all your OBC. What if you don’t? Is the OBC refunded to you?