denas

Just now, LXdad said:

Not sure when your cruise is , we sail April 3rd and I would be happy to take pics of HC parking for you. 

We are also on the April 3 cruise!  No matter what we are parking at the port. Just curious where to look to start!!

Can anyone address HC parking in the garage?  We have an 11:30 embarkation time on the Harmony and actually would prefer the surface lot if we can’t get a lower spot in the garage because of the elevator situation. It’s hard enough waiting for elevators in the ship with a wheelchair. No need to add more elevator waits before we get onboard! 

We have one of the few ultra spacious ocean views with balcony on the Harmony. There aren’t anymore available. Is it worth it to try price checking since we can’t do it online and there aren’t anymore available so price is unlikely to go down? (Except I suppose for Royal up bids?). 

On 1/14/2022 at 4:15 PM, MadameGorgeous said:

Where do the dogs poop and pee while on board? I just read the whole thread to find out?  🍿 

They have a box set up on a public deck forward/aft near a stair well. It’s like a kiddie pool with wood chips. Smokers sometimes decide it’s a good place for buts which is annoying because the smell can cause dogs to not want to use it. Service dogs are trained to go potty on command. The owner will bag up the solids and there is usually a little diaper pail thing to put those in. 

Fake service dogs are a huge danger to real ones. 
 

My youngest son has a service dog. She has cruised a few times. One misconception I saw here is about handling and petting  - especially for dogs for children. These dogs are normally a “team” that consists of the dog, adult handler and the child. So you would definitely see me bringing the dog through the ship without my son (who uses a wheelchair) when I was taking her potty for example. It’s already a long walk to some out-of-the-way location and dragging a wheelchair through a crowded ship and multiple elevators to take the dog potty wouldn’t happen

Second, dogs trained for children often serve as a social bridge for that child. Instead of being the left out kid on the playground, you are now the kid with the dog. As such, if we aren’t trying to get somewhere, we would definitely allow and encourage other kids to pet the dog to bring kids over to my son. Dogs for kids even get trained on tricks like “shake” and “high five” just for this reason. 

4 minutes ago, Jarmo said:

If passengers didn't disregard the polices there wouldn't be a need for enforcement.  It is disappointing some passengers have such little regard for the crew and other passengers.

  Well they have a policy about towels on chairs they have never enforced. Why would anyone expect them to enforce a mask policy which requires actually confronting a passenger (vs just removing their stuff and sending it to the towel place for pick up). 

There are two different tests. You will test positive on a PCR for awhile after having Covid because the remnant RNA is still in your system and that test is sensitive - it can pick up minute amounts that are not enough to make you contagious. 
 

However the rapid antigen test is testing the vital load currently in your nose and testing positive on that one means you are most likely contagious. That one will test negative pretty quickly after you have recovered. 
 

My husband was symptomatic and tested positive a few days ago. While he probably would test negative  on a rapid test right before boarding, we determined the risk was too high that we would be denied boarding if we told the truth on the form, pose ourselves to huge liability if we lied in the form, and ran the risk of someone else in the family getting it since we wouldn’t be outside the 14-day window for everyone even with negative tests and no way we wanted to be sick or quarantined on a ship!  RCCL was great. We got a full refund (it had been a FCC from a lift and shift then 2 further cancelled cruises with the initial deposit put down in mid 2019 so we finally got cash money back. 

Thanks everyone. My TA is moving us to the April 3 Harmony cruise (Spring Break!!). . I’m going to see if they will refund my college sons fare and let us keep our FCC since we got a bonus for two previously cancelled cruises for the rest of us. We put the deposit down for the original cruise waaaaaay back in mid-2019. So many cancelled cruises!!

24 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

The big test will be the 7 day Christmas cruise (12/24 to 12/31).

This was our cruise we will have to cancel. In our area of northern Virginia, masking is pretty universal in public and we have pretty good testing. And Hugh vaccination rates. Husband still got a breakthrough case (although it’s pretty mild so far- mostly just a cold - no fever or cough and he is teleworking). I’m thinking there will be lots of surprise Covid cases on this cruise….

2 hours ago, cyntil8ing said:

I am so sorry. I hope your husband recovers quickly and that no one else gets sick.

 

We are testing tomorrow for boarding Anthem Friday. I am so nervous about every cough or sniffle, though we are all boostered, except my ineligible son. I’ve also thought about how we would spend the week at home if necessary. 

I’ve spent the past two days ordering food for Christmas and the few days before/after for delivery. A little stressful but determined to make it the best I can don’t kids!  

So my husband had a headache yesterday and a sore throat. We are supposed to do a family cruise with our three kids on Anthem leaving Christmas Eve. I used one of our bionax tests. It was positive. He is getting a PCR done today but I am so disappointed since it’s not likely to be a “false” positive. Plus now I have to pivot and get everything together for Christmas at home.

After five cancelled cruises you would think I would be used to the disappointment and stop trying.  Now to figure out how lto get money back or decide to try again. Unfortunately this was one of the last options for my college-aged son since Spring Breaks and summer internships don’t line up with my high schooler. 

20 hours ago, Heymarco said:

LOS had this last week in various colors…

 

 

Thanks 

Can anyone who has cruises recently tell me what the cup is right now for the soda package?

I also booked this because it is a big price drop. It is regularly $55 per person and over $70 on board. We did this before. The beach is nice

im NOT an expert but in my precious experience, everyone gets wrist bands for their excursion. Everyone rides the same ferry over. They the. Tell you where to link up and the time for your specific excursion. We didn’t see any options for upgrading in the island

we didn’t thu j the beach was too crowded. My youngest uses a wheelchair and they helped us get set up in some shade. We are planning on just hanging out at the beach on our upcoming Christmas cruise because we have so little time in Nassau and this was actually the cheapest way to get to a beach in a bubble tour excursion (although my youngest will be vaccinated by sail time I am planning for the worst). 

6 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

No matter your view on kid vaccines, RC really needs to update their stuff to acknowledge 5-11s that are fully vaccinated as such.

This. Which was why I asked in the first place and compared to Carnival who simply state “vaccinated and unvaccinated” and don’t add ages. And it’s not like they didn’t have all of the last month when we all knew approval was just around the corner to think about this!!  Here’s hoping there next Covid protocol updates and clarifies this a bit.

I mostly just don’t want to do a bubble tour and do want to get off the ship in Nassau. So trying to decide if I should book both and then cancel after I get more clarification. 

6 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Royal already has protocols for a vaccinated child; they are the same as protocols for a vaccinated adult. There can be no age distinction. Vaccinated is vaccinated, regardless of age. 

Except when I go to the required testing it says “children 5-11” and lists additional testing requirements. It actually doesn’t say “vaccinated guests” and “non-vaccinated guests”. And on the shore excursions it says guests with children under 12 must take an RCCL excursion. Again it doesn’t say “unvaccinated” and “vaccinated”. What I don’t want to have happen is me to follow the rules for a fully vaccinated guest regarding testing or being able to leave the ship in Nassau and find out we can’t board (or go in our own excursion) because my son is 11 and they are breaking down requirements for children by age. 

11 minutes ago, orville99 said:

No one knows for sure, but when 12-17 YO's became eligible, it took RCL quite awhile (~2 months) before they added their vaccination status to the protocols. Our youngest grandson (8YO) just got his first jab yesterday, so presuming he gets his second jab in 21 days and it takes another 14 before his vaccine is fully effective, he won't be considered fully vaccinated until ~Christmas. I doubt RCL or any of the other cruise lines will act on their protocols until well after the new year - IMO probably not before February.

That stinks. I really don’t like the “bubble tour” options in Nassau. And having to do the testing on different time intervals is a bit painful too. 
 

Edited to add-

part of the problem is that RCCL didn’t divide groups into “vaccinated” and “unvaccinated”. They divided by age too and specifically separate 5-11 year olds with different rules. Carnival didn’t do that which gives them a lot more flexibility to allow vaccinated children the same freedoms as vaccinated adults. 

We are sailing in the Anthem over Christmas. Out 11-year-old gets his first vaccine dose in a few days and will be fully vaccinated by our cruise. 
 

Amy idea when RCCL will start to address the changes to health requirements for this group- especially the bubble tours in Nassau and the testing requirements?  I

8 minutes ago, maria1122 said:

Opps!  Should have looked at the date better.

 

That one is at  capacity too. I am assuming whatever the capacity is it’s the same for both sailings!?

So I notice that my 12/24 cruise in the Anthem is no longer available for booking. I guess they have reached capacity. Does anyone know what capacity is at this time?  

I saw it available in my cruise planner. It was $31 for the Anthem leaving Dec  24. I can’t remember what coffees are on board since we have done drunk packages in the past but aren’t this time. I don’t know if this is a good deal or not!!

We went to Belize about 3 1/2 years ago and used charlies  cave tubing. At the time it was one of the only places that carried the tubes and offered small groups and vans. I am looking to go again and see most people dont mention them anymore?  Anyone used them recently?  We need a small group and van with AC for our trip.  Any recommendations?

We were just here on Adventure if the seas. Honestly, the Chill Island beach was almost deserted. We had no problem finding multiple chairs with umbrellas at 11 am. 

Captain Jacks was also mostly empty. We spent  about 45 minutes there in the afternoon enjoying shade and a really good drink before heading on the ship. Everyone seemed to be in the pool!

Is there a chat app available through Royal’s app for Adventure?  It has been years since we have sailed on a ship that didn’t have this option, I just assumed one would be available. Our last RCCL cruise had the Royal IQ but iMessage also worked. Just curious if anyone knows if the Royal App has a chat capability on Adventure. Thanks

Depending on the severity of your child and the amount of support you might need, check out the options of going on a staffed group cruise with autism in the seas. They have tons of RCCL cruises. On their group cruises they provide respite services with a guaranteed 1:3 ratio and their staff are all special education teachers or behavior therapists trained in autism. They charge about &25-30 pp/per day additional to cover their staff fees.