Leaderboard

She's back!

I snatched up a JS on Mariner for August 13th 2022.. Going to Aruba, Curacao and La Plata DR.. the Rates were incredibly inexpensive for an 8 nighter

I'll never run myself ragged trying to do everything.. From now on im just going to relax..

You won't regret it! We bought a place in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania in October 2019 thinking it would be a weekend place with a couple weeks in the summer. Instead I have spent abut 75% of the time since March at our mountain house! And now retiring in August so will be able to continue to spend a lot of time here. Even bought a 20' pontoon boat for the 28 square mile lake nearby so now I do my own cruises! I am having the best pandemic ever!

Thanku for the advice Matt - I’ll wait a bit and see what Royal Caribbean do next stay safe & thanks for all the YouTube videos - I watch every time ?

Now that I'm in the region known for Oranges and Pinnacles I'm getting ready for the next update to this virtual cruise. I'm thinking somewhere the CDC stole from me for the fall of 2021. They might be able to ban the cruise lines from talking about such a cruise but they can't stop me from virtually sailing there...

No more 3 piece suits

I tried to make sense of the word salad that was on the marquee, but thought The Gift might actually come together and be something good to photograph. Hint: It didn't and wasn't. Only RCI show I won't go back to. (As opposed to Grease and Once Upon a Time, which are fun after 12 shows each).

Start? Pretty much everyone who gave out their personal info on the test cruise thread got to go on one!

Banff and the greater area is beautiful and all... But there are no cruise ships anywhere close to Calgary...

Book now, ask for permission and forgiveness later.?

As @Sharla noted, the issue is the ability to get your cash back. This is a major sticking issue for some people.

Not much further than the Renaissance. Will have to keep an eye on this one!

My MEI TA quoted a January Barbados sailing, and I am seriously considering it. Apparently they have access.

It’s going to be across the street from Hilton Marina and located adjacent to the Port. It’s still close to La Bamba but a bit of a longer walk.

I love it! Where about on 17th Street will it be? If it's not close to La Bamba, then it's a deal breaker. ?

In 2022 the Omni will be ready @ the new convention center and provide another option for 17th Street corridor. I can assist if you have any questions about the area.

Thanks for the info! We'll be hiring a car in orlando and staying off-site in a resort close by to Disney and Universal, so we will have the car and driving ourselves down to the port (can't wait!) Turns out, we're on the same sailing! Booked 19 September and at a steal of a rate, let's hope we can sail. We are flying from Cape Town, South Africa, so it's quite an ordeal if we need to move everything out, let's hope and pray it doesn't get to that. Hopefully see you on board!

I really like this option! Thank you, I will save it. I did a quick google search, and it appears that it won't let me book the car rental because the drop off is over the weekend and the site says Hertz is closed, I'll see what I can do, email or something and hope for the best. Let's hope that we can do all this in September this year.

Are you just looking for a place to sleep or do you want to be on the beach? Plenty of options both ways.

YIPPEE !!! Sounds like sunny Florida may be softening your stance. Glad to see it !!!!

Either way you want to do it is fine.. I like Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral so its a personal choice. If you have a rental car in Orlando, you can drop it off at the port.. Enterprise will shuttle you to the ship. If you go the day before.. Kennedy Space Center is a must do.. Ron Jon Surf Shop. and just hanging on the beach.. you can watch other ships sail out.. last year i though i seen Disney and Mariner on a Friday afternoon Sorry.. I cant help you with budget friendly Hotels.. We spend two nights in a Hilton property when we cruise from there..

I believe Lift and Shift will be extended as long as the shutdown continues.

Here's a breakdown of refundable versus non-refundable cruise fares My advice these days is to always book refundable cruise fare

Junior suites are not worth the money in my opinion period, they are nothing more than a glorified balcony. If you are going to splurge then spring for the Grand Suite or higher. I've stayed in every category of Sky Class suite on the Oasis Class ships (I can't afford Star Class it is outside of my price range for now). If you are going to cruise and you have the money to treat yourself then just do it, treat yourself you won't regret it. I guarantee you Sky Class on an Oasis Class ship is worth the extra money. There are several different suite types within Sky Class on Oasis Class ships. In my opinion 3 are worth the money they are the Owners Suites, Crown Lofts, and the Aqua Theater 1 bedroom suites. My persona; favorite are the Aqua Theater 1 bedroom suites, some people don't like being at the back end of the ship I for one love it.

That's a helpful exhibit, thanks! Essentially a reduced balance due at 90 days prior, an incentive in exchange for committing to nonrefundable at time of booking/deposit.

The above sounds correct --- I agree with @Sharla that you can only convert from refundable to nonrefundable before the final payment date. The following example shows what happens: Cruise Fare $2000 compared to Cruise Fare $2000 Discounts NRD $ 500 Discounts $ 250 Total charge $1500 Total Charge $1750 Deposit paid $ 500 Deposit Paid $ 500 Amount Due $1000 Amount Due $1250 Royal charges the refundable "fee" by decreasing the discounts --- in this case to book refundable costs you $250. I didn't dream up their system so don't blame me if it doesn't make sense.

I got an email for my personal FCC late last night, so I expect they're going out.

Not yet, although I do believe that it will be. The current date for CWC is Jan 31 so I would expect an announcement next week sometime (aka Friday at 4:59 pm).

@FionaMG, thanks for the link! I had actually given that one a "Love" back when you posted it; now it's bookmarked in my new 2022 Med Cruise folder.

Joe, I can't help with any of the other ports but I do like Marseille and it's easy to enjoy without doing a long excursion or breaking the bank. See my post in this thread for ideas and pics (it's post 4): Hope it helps. ?

The deposits are the same whether the cruise is booked refundable or nonrefundable. The price of the cruise is higher when it is booked refundable. When you receive a cruise vacation receipt you won't see any refundable fee itemized but you will have paid more for the cruise than if you had booked nonrefundable. The refundable "fee" is actually a price increase and varies widely from one cruise to the next. It even varies depending on the stateroom that you book. When you look at your cruise planner receipt, you will see NRD in several places to designate that you booked nonrefundable. The NRD will be missing if you booked refundable. You can pay the refundable price and later change it to a nonrefundable price. When you do this you may or may not save money because the cruise will be repriced at the nonrefundable price on the day you make the change. Sometimes (usually) it is better to keep the refundable price you paid when you first booked. it is hard to explain but I hope this helps.

For Kotor, look up Tours by Milo a local who is passionate about his country.

I between my 3 Med cruises (Royal, Disney, and MSC) I've been to a few of these. In Athens, we used Greeking.me for an excursion to the Acropolis and Agora. The guide was fantastic, and they do several other tours, including culinary. Kotor is a very cool walled city to walk around. When we were there, we hired a local guide who drove us up into the hills surrounding the town and down to the place where you can catch a boat to the church in the middle of the water. We got some pomegranate wine there which was quite tasty. We just walked around Genoa and climbed the bell tower of the church there for a great view of the city. There is a street lined with palazzos that kind of reminds you of Venice without the canals. The area around the port is kind of rough, though, so just be forewarned on that. We lived by the Rick Steves books while we lived in Europe, and his Mediterranean Cruise Ports book was a great start for us. I think he covered all of the ports except Gibraltar.

I'm not sure pegging Celebrity as targeting an older crowd is completely accurate at least in contrast to Holland America. Royal targets family and multigenerational cruisers. Celebrity targets a more upscale audience who isn't looking for zip lines and ice skating rinks. There will be some children but not nearly as many as Royal. Cruisers without children, cruisers who want a slightly more refined experience without spending true luxury rates. There are plenty of 30's type working professional cruisers who just want something a little more upscale over the family oriented experience. Small things like not having to check out towels in your name because there is less chance guests will take them home. Less likely a guy in a muscle shirt will crash the MDR at dinner sort of thing. There may be a slightly older crowd but more so because that is the demographic more likely looking to spend a little bit more for an elevated upscale experience. However it isn't a silver hair cruise experience.

I do think the cruise lines are trying to send San Juan a message in the wake of the decision to contract with a private 3rd party to take over cruise port operations there. It seems multiple lines have altered their plans to sail from there, sometimes reducing ships homeported or ships visiting there. You have to know the 3rd party and the port used past trends to build the business case and their financial models so by reducing calls or departures it has a serious impact on the business prospects. The cruise lines proposed using a shared company fronted by several lines to manage the port but the San Juan government wouldn't even return their phone calls. Instead the port went with a 3rd party without a full RFP or process normally used for government contracts. There were calls of corruption and kickbacks to the principals involved. Royal's recent announcement to place a ship in Barbados instead of San Juan I believe was also influenced by this (in my estimation). Faced with reduced ship traffic that 3rd party has got to be reconsidering the value of the contract.

My house?

I think the idea of L&S your cruise - especially if you got a good price and it's an itin that you like - is a great one. Just one problem. At the moment, you can only L&S through April 2022. If they extend that date (and I feel sure that they will if this year's Alaska season is kanked) , then you won't have any problem but if it isn't, you won't be able to L&S your May cruise.

I have an Oasis of the Seas cruise on 7 November 21 and I'm wondering if that will occur? Honestly at this point I'm not caring too much about it anymore. I've had two cancel thus far, (I wonder who has the record of cancellations on RC Blog), so I guess this one maybe the straw that broke the proverbial cruisers back if it gets cancelled too. If it happens again I think I may be done with cruising for quite some time and will spend my money elsewhere. I know it is not the cruise lines fault, but it is a waste of years planning to get close to the cruise and the emotional ups and downs of am I going on vacation or not to have it cancel and leave me scrambling for something to do. Also, my wife and I's vacations have to be planned out at work so as to set-aside in advance to ensure we both have the time off for the cruise. We shall see but I figure April or May is my mental cut-off to go figure out what we're going to do for vacation for 2021. We have a CLS for this cruise, our first time cruising in a CLS, and really want to go; however, if it seems there is going to be all these rules it will take the fun out of the cruise and it would seem more prudent to just give up. What scares me most is getting on a cruise and someone testing positive and we get locked in our room in a heavily controlled environment for our yearly vacation and everything gets ruined not to mention of getting quarantined past my worked allocated 10 days of vacation - that would be very bad.

7700 ppl die each day in the US in "normal" conditions....we don't shut down for that......500/day die in car accidents..we dont shut down driving... CDC should still be pro-actively trying to help and encourage things to open back up and get to normal and realizing that its going to take time to implement and make all the changes required etc.

I can’t find a single redeeming thing about Nassau. I find it to be a garbage dump personally w/ pushy locals and not much to see or do (safely). For us, Nassau, Falmouth & Honduras are days to enjoy an empty ship.

Duh! #teamOasis class! What can possibly beat Central Park, the Aqua Theater, and Deck 17?? I love anything Oasis class, but if I had to pick one, it would be either Harmony or Symphony. The are both so similar.

1. Sail out of Baltimore in January. Rough seas in the western Atlantic that time of year and too cool for the first two days. (Unfortunately, It only got up to 70 & cloudy in Nassau) 2. If Possible, not go to Nassau again. (just stay on board if we do end up there) 3. Dragon's Breath Flight Line in Ladadee. Too much money for a SHORT experience. 4. Never done this, but, be a volunteer for The Quest. ?

Not get a booze package.. lol

Watch out for that complimentary food. Last time I was at Cococay the hamburgers told me "Eat all you want, you look skinny. I won't make you fat". Their compliments were all lies. ?

Yes !! You absolutely can just go to the island, enjoy a free day at the beach and return to the ship. There is a shuttle that will take you from the ship to the island (or you can walk) and then there are other shuttles that will take you all around the island. You don't have to spend a dime if you don't want to go to the water slides, wave pool, balloon ride or Coco Beach Club. Most of the food is complementary.

Took a quick look at these to see what ships are in play, saw that Mariner has a surprising option -- an 8-night Bermuda & Perfect Day sailing, from Orlando, sailing on just one date. I don't think I've ever seen an option to go to Bermuda from Florida before, always had to leave from NJ. And it's not an open-jaw or repositioning cruise, it's round-trip.

In a reduced capacity setting, I suspect Diamond and Suite guests may have special access. I could just as well see, under the circumstances, an egalitarian approach where everyone gets treated without regard to status. Great time though for the lines to support their loyalists with special access perks. Yes, I am in the medical field. I practiced as a Physician Assistant for 22 years in Emergency and Internal Medicine. I've been retired from practice for a bit over three years. I also write on a whole range of COVID related topics on several blogs ..... my passion is to counter, when it is appropriate to do so, the media's, politicized and generally negative narrative. That narrative is often filled with misinformation, flawed interpretation of data points and, many times that flawed interpretation is taken on knowingly to advance a false narrative.