Onboard Riviera Jan. 4

[Nymich]

[Host Jazzbeau]

I see that your head Chef is from France.  That should promise really good food!

[Nymich]

[ORV]

8 hours ago, Nymich said:

We are thrilled to be back on O!  Just finished lunch at Waves and waiting for room to be called.

Thinking of good memories of 2019 where we met Catherine and Orv.

Wish we were there. Was it the Caribbean in Nov-Dec of 19 we were together? I was on Riviera then but on Marina in Sept of 19. Enjoy your cruise. 

Edited January 5, 2022 by ORV

[Nymich]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Wish we were there. Was it the Caribbean in Nov-Dec of 19 we were together? I was on Riviera then but on Marina in Sept of 19. Enjoy your cruise. 

Yes Orv you actually motivated us to do that B2B in Nov-Dec 2019 so we figured let's do it again!

[Nymich]

Day 1 in the books it is 11:00 and we are winding down.  We have not been to GSC for a decade now so this late addition is actually a plus to us.  We lost St. Barts in the trade but thanks to cruisingxpert aka Catherine when we visited two years ago we took her advice and we rented a car and drove the entire island only to meet her up on the mountains where I thanked her.  That was a great day in that little mini Cooper Convertible!

Knowing we would not exceed that great day we are looking forward to seeing GSC which has changed alot since when we were there.  Going to be bums and do room service breakfast and chill then we will tender over to the island and find a nice beach.  Here's the Currents for tomorrow. The ports are completely different which seems to be a staple of pandemic cruising but our glass is half full we are just happy to be back on O!

[ORV]

10 hours ago, Nymich said:

Yes Orv you actually motivated us to do that B2B in Nov-Dec 2019 so we figured let's do it again!

Do you know if AlexCherie made it onboard? I was worried about them making it. 

[dolphinlady1957]

Thank you for doing all these posts. We are sailing on Feb 19th on the Riviera for the first time. (western Caribbean and Mexico)

We are worried about getting quarantined and changing the ports or worse skipping ports. Your travel log and pictures are making us feel better.

Please keep up documenting your cruise. So beautiful and good info. Thanks.

[Nymich]

Coco Cay has 2 ships and we have just ours!  Beautiful morning at GSC.  Heading down to the tenders.

[Nymich]

All guests on second open air deck but I snuck this pic of closed first deck.

[Nymich]

Back onboard and finishing up lunch at Terrace. 

What a beautiful Island GSC is.  We have not been there in a decade.

It's a really clean place.

[World travellers]

Do you know how many passengers are on the sailing.  We join you on the 14th

[Nymich]

4 minutes ago, World travellers said:

Do you know how many passengers are on the sailing.  We join you on the 14th

I have heard 700 and 800 so far from 2 different waiters.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Just now, Nymich said:

I have heard 700 and 800 so far from 2 different waiters.

That will be a good test of their safety procedures.  With the recent reports that Oceania is now offering FCC good until March 2023, I expect a lot of last-minute cancellations for our Jan. 14 cruise so maybe we will get down to a similar number.

[Nymich]

7 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

That will be a good test of their safety procedures.  With the recent reports that Oceania is now offering FCC good until March 2023, I expect a lot of last-minute cancellations for our Jan. 14 cruise so maybe we will get down to a similar number.

This is my 4th cruise since November and they are handling things really well imo.  The Guests seem to be trying to be extra safe compared to my other 3 cruises on different lines.  They were safe too but O and these Guests seem to know what's going on and taking it serious.  By far more diligence with mask wearing than the other cruises.  And if someone stands up and forgets his or her mask the craziness doesn't start because if it.  I just sense on this Cruise that everyone "gets it".  I mean think about it we were told not to cruise and here we are cruising!  I think people get that on the Riviera and we are having a GREAT time!!!

[Flatbush Flyer]

15 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

That will be a good test of their safety procedures.  With the recent reports that Oceania is now offering FCC good until March 2023, I expect a lot of last-minute cancellations for our Jan. 14 cruise so maybe we will get down to a similar number.

Let’s hope so. And let’s also hope that many onboard now are doing “extended journeys” that last at least through our cruise!

 

Besides wanting to travel (and, from my experience on Nautica almost two years ago, having me feel safer about being on the ship than going to the grocery store), our biggest concern is having definite news about the cruise before we fly to MIA on 1/12/22. I do not want to lose the option of a United FutureFlightCredit.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Just now, Nymich said:

This is my 4th cruise since November and they are handling things really well imo.  The Guests seem to be trying to be extra safe compared to my other 3 cruises on different lines.  They were safe too but O and these Guests seem to know what's going on and taking it serious.  By far more diligence with mask wearing than the other cruises.  And if someone stands up and forgets his or her mask the craziness doesn't start because if it.  I just sense on this Cruise that everyone "gets it".  I mean think about it we were told not to cruise and here we are cruising!  I think people get that on the Riviera and we are having a GREAT time!!!

I’m glad to hear this and THANKS for the “live” thread too.

If i remember correctly, you’re on an “extended journey” that includes our cruise too. Is there any chance that you know how many folks onboard now are continuing on???

As you know, quite a number of us 1/14 folks are going. But the critical thing now is knowing that the cruise will go because it will be ultra expensive if we lose the United Future Dlight Credit option by flying to Miami on 1/12. That would really SUCK.

So, any intel or official word you get onboard will be genuinely appreciated. And, of course, I (and others) will post what we learn at this end.

Enjoy the cruise and stay safe!

[ohmark]

39 minutes ago, Nymich said:

Back onboard and finishing up lunch at Terrace. 

What a beautiful Island GSC is.  We have not been there in a decade.

It's a really clean place.

Enjoying your reports. Keep 'em coming.

[Nymich]

I wanted to add too that this cruise really did not have any time to react and FCC was still not rolled out officially.  That most likely means that many of here just picked a bad week for slam dunk FCC!  It's all good having a ball!  

[macaroni]

Can you get a sense from the crew how many passengers they are expecting for the 14th….know it may be a little early to guess, since people are just now finding out they can cancel for FCC.

[GeorgesGal]

22 hours ago, Nymich said:

   Make sure you register with Eurofins as they ask for that barcode first thing

 

 Is there signage for signing in with Eurofins in the terminal, Nymich?

 

[Nymich]

12 minutes ago, GeorgesGal said:

 

They will direct you to the testing tent.  It is next to the terminal.  When you get the email register with them and have your barcode/s.  They probably can register you too but we didn't want the hassle so we just did it.  What's 101 hoops to jump through when you are already jumping through 100?

  

[Nymich]

27 minutes ago, macaroni said:

Can you get a sense from the crew how many passengers they are expecting for the 14th….know it may be a little early to guess, since people are just now finding out they can cancel for FCC.

I will try to find out next week because the FCC shakeup just started lol

[Nymich]

55 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

I’m glad to hear this and THANKS for the “live” thread too.

If i remember correctly, you’re on an “extended journey” that includes our cruise too. Is there any chance that you know how many folks onboard now are continuing on???

As you know, quite a number of us 1/14 folks are going. But the critical thing now is knowing that the cruise will go because it will be ultra expensive if we lose the United Future Dlight Credit option by flying to Miami on 1/12. That would really SUCK.

So, any intel or official word you get onboard will be genuinely appreciated. And, of course, I (and others) will post what we learn at this end.

Enjoy the cruise and stay safe!

I do not know how many are continuing on but should be able to get some info pretty soon.  

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

8 minutes ago, Nymich said:

I do not know how many are continuing on but should be able to get some info pretty soon.  

 

You are terrific for taking the time to answer all these questions!