Natitude61

Not that I’m complaining, but just received a $50 FCC and have no idea what it’s for. We’ve yet to sail on X; our first cruise on Celebrity isn’t until 2024 and it hasn’t been canceled (plus $50 wouldn’t cover our deposit anyway). Any ideas??

29 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

A hotel I recommended earlier, Hilton Garden Inn Staten Island, has an Italian restaurant and bar, Lorenzo's.

 

In NJ the Hilton East Brunswick is right off of NJ Turnpike Exit 9 and  has a bar and restaurant.

Thanks njhorseman…I was actually looking at that hotel. Assuming traffic won’t be too horrible if I wait until after 9 am or so to leave for the port (on a Friday)?
 

Off topic, but is that a Standardbred in your avatar? Many, many years ago I worked as a groom at one of the Standardbred bloodstock sales at The Meadowlands. Even though my background was with Thoroughbred racers and hunter/jumpers, I worked with the sweetest broodmare there. I want to say her name was Mannert’s Shy Ann, or something like that… ❤️

So Steve, I was looking at the Geo Tracker Choice you offer, and was wondering if it’s the right choice for us before I bite the bullet and purchase…

About us — we’re both 60, each with a chronic medical condition that doesn’t limit us at all from traveling, but potentially could. Right now, we have a couple cruises booked each year for the next couple of years, each one is at least 12 nights.

My biggest concern is medical and medical evac, since those are potentially catastrophic expenses. (We are covered by Tricare,  which I understand doesn’t provide coverage outside of the US).

Am I on the right path by purchasing Geo Choice, and then purchasing a per-trip plan to cover for cancellation but with low medical/evac coverage? Or should we just stick with per-trip coverage at this point with higher medical/evac?

And thank you so much for sharing your expertise! Your company and customer service are unparalleled!

On 2/19/2022 at 12:59 PM, Jersey42 said:

Hey @shiner6.  Do you know who the insurance company is for the USAA annual plan? I am not eligible to purchase a USAA plan, but I am curious, because I have unsuccessfully looked for a good comprehensive annual plan.  I found a fairly new plan from Travel Insured (Crum & Forster) that works the same way you described for USAA.  In TI's case you buy base coverage that includes medical, trip delay, baggage delay, missed connections and more.  You can then add per trip options such as cancelation and  trip interruption.  Unfortunately the cost of the per trip cancelation/interruption options was usually a little more than purchasing a separate comprehensive plan for each trip.  And this did not include the annual base plan cost.  Plus, I could often find per trip plans with (slightly) better coverage.

Travel Insured also underwrites the plan through USAA. I didn’t bother pricing it out with the add-on trip cancellation, but was a little hesitant given the $100k medical limit. I know it sounds like a lot, but having worked in health care, I also know how much emergency health care can potentially cost!

Hmmmm…Princeton. Was there many many years ago and remember it being a nice area. What about closer to the turnpike, like Edison, New Brunswick, etc? 
 

We’re coming in the day before, so really just looking for a safe, CLEAN spot with a bar and decent food.

Thanks all for your replies.

Just as an FYI, and YMMV, but on our Anthem cruise in December I went to guest services and asked for a new band (I originally had them place the band on my dominant hand, which meant it got in the way every time I ate, etc). They replaced it with one of the slip-on and -off silicone bands!

Looking for a new place to stay for our next cruise out of Cape Liberty. Had a bad experience at Embassy Suites on our last trip, and would really prefer not to stay in such an industrial area.

We’ll be driving up the turnpike from the south, and intend to park at the port, so no need for extended parking or shuttle. Just trying to get an idea of a decent area to stay. Want to avoid the airport due to noise issues, and like I said want to stay away from industrial areas. And I hate city driving…to me, that portion of the turnpike is like spaghetti soup 😂

if I could just narrow it down to a good area — Staten Island? Jersey City? We’ll be driving to the port on Friday morning, so assume we don’t want to be too far south of the port to avoid rush hour getting into NYC.

Thanks for any advice!

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

It was Vision to Baltimore, not Jewel.

Oops, never mind.

Excitement gone…

I would be beyond excited to see Jewel in Baltimore and Liberty in NJ. I would have thought that Jewel would be too tall to fit under the bridge, however…

Sailing in June out of Seattle, and have been going back and forth between staying at Cedarbrook vs Grand Hyatt. Leaning very heavily toward Cedarbrook. Truth be told, we’ll likely to be too far wiped out after a cross-country flight and time changes to do much exploring, so the idea of just finding nice lodging and a place to hang out for the one night we’ll be there is appealing.

My only concern is that we’ll be heading to the port on Friday morning, and I’ve heard horror stories of traffic. If we hold off until 9:30 or later (not sure what embarkation times/process will be in June anyway), will we likely be okay? We are used to traffic (we’re from Northern VA, after all!), but just want an idea if it’s going to be an absolute nightmare. 
 

We are planning to take the shared shuttle…

Thanks!

We were on Serenade early 2020, disembarked on Super Bowl Sunday. My husband, who never gets sick, had fever and chest congestion. Got swabbed for the flu and was negative; MD said it was likely another URI and sent him on his way with some meds. I had a low-grade fever but a nasty, nasty cough that I couldn’t shake for a good month or two. There was also a fairly large group on our ship from China.

I’m an RN, and worked five days a week in a hospital through the entire pandemic and never came down with Covid. Nor did my husband. Neither of us are good about masking or social distancing  🙊

He insists we both caught Covid on that cruise. Who knows  🤷‍♀️

Got a great deal on a grand suite on Allure…a little less thank $2k pp for a 7 nighter. After we booked, Allure went into dry dock, which is when the “secret” public balconies on upper decks of the aft became suites. When first released, these Aquasuites were classified as GS. Called and got our cabin reassigned — got deck 11 Aquasuite for less than $2k. That balcony (and room!) were to die for!

Just off a fantastic sailing on Anthem! On our last night, our waiter, Eldon, took a selfie of all of us, and I had thought he took it with a tablemate’s phone. Turns out he took it with his own. Would love to get a copy, but of course have no idea how to find him. Can’t remember his last name, but he’s a young guy from the Philippines. He did say he was on Facebook, but of course trying to find him with no last name is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Does anyone know him, his last name, and/or any way I can find out?
 

And BTW, he (and all the staff on board, with no exception) were absolutely stellar — best staff of any cruise I’ve been on!

On Anthem now…started off with the paper bands at the port, then given the cloth bands on day 2 (left in our room). I was stupid enough to put it on my dominant arm, so that the tail always got in my way. Finally went down to guest services to see if they could give me a replacement to put on my left arm instead, and was given a latex one instead 😊

Thank you! Just booked the Yukon Rail and bus through Chilkoot!

Going to Alaska next June (first time) and stuck on what to do in Skagway. Watching the whales in Juneau, so don’t want a repeat in Skagway. Not sure about the sled dog experiences — just seems to be missing something if there’s not a couple feet of snow to run through! Thought about kayaking, but not a fan of cold water! Train? But heard the railroad may not be fixed by June. Not youngsters, so rock climbing isn’t really an option either. We do want to spend some time exploring the town, so would like to do something that would leave us time to do that (we’ll be docked from 0700 to 1700). Any ideas and/or good excursion companies? Thanks!

Just found out they chose our sailing for the 2022 PC (Ovation June 24 to AK). Now that I’ve stopped jumping up and down, what exactly can I expect … other than a packed Diamond lounge 😂)?

And just did a price check…our cabin category is now sold out, but lower category is about $1000 more than what we paid. 

Just because I’m rather anxious about this whole testing bit, does anyone know if RCI will accept a negative PCR after a positive rapid test? I know the rapids can have a 4% or so false positive rate, and as an RN, I’ve seen a fair share of patients who had a positive rapid followed by a negative PCR (which is considered more accurate). Thinking about having a PCR scheduled just in case my rapid comes back positive, but wondering if ROyal Caribbean will accept if we’ve already been “branded” as positive with the rapid.

We do have a testing site that will result PCRs by midnight if taken by 2 pm. And I do realize that I could just do the PCR, but the testing site is a bit far away so just want to have it in my back pocket if necessary. 
 

And to make it clear, we have no intent or desire to cruise if we really are positive…just want to ensure that we’re not prevented from cruising due to a false negative. 
 

Thank you!

Thanks!

Thanks! Do you have to upload the cards at the time you do check in, or can you go in the app later to do that?

Did check in when ours first opened back in September, but when RCI changed to 45 days out, we lost all the info we entered (at least I assume we did, though some say it will be there when check in opens back up).

From what I’ve heard, the new check in requires you to upload proof of vaccination. Is this true, or can you do this at a later time? Just trying to decide if I need to have our vaccine cards handy. Anything else changed?

Thank you...is this a change? There used to be the 125% on cruise planner purchases

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/topics/onboard-cruise-credit-offer

Our Alaska cruise was canceled, and I’ve been waiting for the email announcement (never received)... I understand I’ll automatically receive the 125% FCC unless I opt out, which is fine with me since I have other sailings to apply it to. However, I just received an email saying my cruise planner purchases would be automatically refunded to my credit card. I really wanted to get the 125% credit to apply to future cruise planner purchases! Has anyone else not received the option to get the 125% on cruise planner purchases?!

Thanks all...it did come to my husband’s email, but he didn’t see it until I asked him to look again 🙄

Now when I applied the second FCC to our next sailing, the balance mysteriously changed so that we still owe about $600 when it should have been paid in full (with a few dollars left over), so guess I’ll have to still call!

Received the email yesterday with the FCC for our canceled cruise, but it was only for my reservation. Have not received my husband’s (under the same booking, in the same cabin). Is each FCC sent as a separate email? Is it normal to receive one and then the second one later? Just want an idea before I have to wait on hold with RCI.

thank you!