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I just thought I’d share my royal up experience. It’s thanks to what I read on this blog that I made a bid at all. We made a booking on Harmony of the Seas about 3 weeks ago. Sailing a 7 nt med cruise from Barcelona. Paid approx £550 per passenger for a guarantee sea view balcony ( as opposed to £900 per passenger to choose a cabin). We haven’t sailed RC for many yrs, but elite plus on celebrity so we’re matched to Diamond on RC. A few days after booking we had the a royal up email offering us Sky class suite upgrades. I didn’t see much Benefit form going for a junior suite as not sky class…again learned from the blog thanks. I bid £500 x 2 on a Grand Suite. The bid went to pending 2 days ago and no longer able to be changed or cancelled. Again on the basis of the blog, I took this as a positive sign and crossed my fingers. Today the cabin on deck 8 which had been allocated under the sea view balcony guarantee changed…to a grand suite on deck 11. We are delighted! I priced a grand suite on this cruise two days ago…£7000 for two passengers! It ended up costing is £2100. Huge thanks for the blog and all the advice. I know this upgrade was only possible because of the reduced occupancy on sailings at the moment, but it is a really awesome way to get back on the water.

Thanks to a heads up on CC..if you have an AmEx card, check your offers!

I'm okay with that. I've seen way too many guests drop the handle of a serving utensil into the food contaminating the whole tray or reach in with bare hands, touch something then put it back. In some cases the cough shields are so low you have to be double jointed to access the food. Safer all around to have dedicated servers dispense food at a buffet. Even without a pandemic.

As long as the CDC does not attempt to once again over step their authority and do something drastic I think the industry will be okay. The cruise lines have demonstrated they can operate safely during a pandemic. They were scapegoated early on in this pandemic, shut down, held to a higher standard than any form of land based vacation yet this industry has risen to meet the challenge. At this point the CDC needs to just leave the cruise industry alone and let people enjoy their cruise vacation.

Eventually the second test result came in. About 90 minutes in total waiting. Not what I wanted, but far from end of the world. Embarkation was same as usual. We had lunch in Windjammer and then it was up to register the kids for Adventure Ocean. Voyagers (9-11 years old) were limited to one session sign up, whereas Explorers (6-8) were able to register two sessions. They will open up more sessions to book tomorrow at 2pm (yes, I set my alarm to know the moment I can sign up for more).

Don’t forget about those of us who want to cruise but are being prohibited. …or maybe we are being included in your “…lack of qualified…”.

In our stateroom was a special adventure ocean cloth mask for the kids, along with their wristband

The CDC is probably disappointed there have been basically zero cases on cruise ships

First time doing check-in with unvaccinated kids. After doing usual check-in at the terminal, prior to going upstairs to the”real check-in” (but after going through security), you get escorted to luggage collection area for the test. Kids get processed in the computer system and then covid test administered. No “brain tickler”, just shallow nose swab. Then you sit in a waiting area and wait for test results to come through via email. They told us 40-45 minutes.

If the CDC wasn't so slow to react and lethargic the protocols could be more dynamic. While we are in a period of low transmission take down the plastic shields or face masks for vaccinated. If a new variant comes along and actually begins to show impact, reintroduce protocols as required. But I digress.

If the CSO disappeared today the majority of the protocols would stay. But there are plenty that are obsolete and useless that would go away pretty fast (and would have to in order to get capacities back up to near normal)

That always seems to be my credit card offers. "Get 10% back from some random store that isn't even located within 500 miles of your house" "Get 5% back when you spend way more than you'd ever reasonably spend"

Oh like airplane seats. I've cruised this year or have booked cruises for MSC, Carnival, Celebrity and Princess. None of them allow me to change my own cabin or category of cabin for a confirmed booking. Cruise cabins are not like airplane seats. It would be impossible for cruise lines to manage muster station capacity if guests were moving all over the ship at will. Sorry... it doesn't work that way.

Sorry for your recent loss Jim....I hope you enjoy your cruise ...I wouldn't sweat the small changes to the key cancel it and move on

Sounds like a great opportunity to get some money back if it doesn't suit one's needs. Happy cruising!!

My January 2022 Indy sailing went from 268.68 with a $25 OBC to 217.68 with no OBC. Still before final payment so that's less out of pocket which is fine by me!

Jewel of the Seas Dec 2021 Total cost 3765.92 (with grats, tax, and ports) divided by 4 = 941.48 per person. Sept 27 $354 - first drop = 3411.92 div by 4 = 852.98pp (with grats, tax, and ports) Oct 5 $297 - second drop =3114.92 div by 4 = 778.73pp (with grats, tax, and ports)

I'm horribly cynical! I don't think the CDC will let go until forced. Here's hoping I'm wrong!

Not a hard savings per se, but I was able to switch from a GTY ocean view to an assigned balcony stateroom on Adventure of the Seas (Jan 2022) and saved around $40.

Rhapsody original booking saved $1300+ but through a L & S to Harmony price protection saved over $6000 versus what it would normally cost. Explorer 10/29/22 - $620 so far

For a second I thought this was your cruise fare, not the savings, and wanted to know what kind of magic you pulled off.

My 1/10/22 Indy went from $1850 to $1160, so $690 My 1/24/22 Mariner went from $680 to $512 , so $168 I am hoping that black Friday nets me some CP savings and maybe something on my Odyssey 11/13/22 sailing

Symphony in 2 weeks: total of $1,063.44 Harmony (that got moved to Wonder) March 2022: $376 Odyssey (Holy Land/Greece): total of $1990.00 Pretty soon I expect Royal to start paying me to cruise! Lol Thanks to @Sharlafor always checking my prices!

I will soon be boarding a different ship but the day I debark I am flying to Canada to deal with a pressing family issue that can't wait any longer. Being on the cruise will make it very difficult to coordinate a PCR test for my entry into Canada. I reached out to a management contact on the ship I know as a frequent cruiser. They recently responded: Good morning, We will be able to assist you with PCR test on Day 7 - between 6:30am and 7:00am in the conference center deck 3. The service is complementary. Upon boarding the ship head to guest services and talk with them about it. They may use a different location on Anthem but they are keenly aware of the varying testing requirements around the world. Keep in mind the crew on board come from all over the world so collectively they have themselves faced a myriad of testing just to get to the US to be on the ship. This isn't something they have no experience with themselves.

We have 3 bids pending for our cruise this Sunday. I noticed RCL had 8 1 BR GS yesterday around noon plus 2 OS. I checked again at 4:30 - they were down to 3 1BR GS and 0 OS. All my bids - 1 for a 1BR GS and OS are still pending. It appears they may be making assignments but yet no email or change in bid status. I can still modify as of this morning.

Hi Va4fam! My pleasure! (1) No, we originally had plans to meet up with friends that live in the Orlando area, but that fell through. We just stayed on the ship and had a great time. (2) Portside BBQ is located on deck 15 on the port side of the ship in the rear (aft) of the ship next to the mini-golf course. (3) No reservations were needed at least for our cruise (30% capacity based on others that asked guest services). You will have an amazing time! I’m glad we have only sailed Allure (May 2019) in this class to date so the upgrades to Oasis were very evident and welcome! Only complaint is the entertainment (Cats) needs to be replaced (we are seeing it tomorrow and will attempt to get through it). They need to also introduce a quality second major production like they have on Harmony and Symphony (Columbus and Flight). We just have a couple of different headliner acts in place of any other major production.

Day 7 - At Sea We should have been in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua today. I’m disappointed this stop was canceled! Nicaragua is a newer addition to the cruise ship routes, so not many have had the opportunity to stop here. The country is also very poor (eclipsed only by Haiti in the region) and could very much use the tourism dollars. Fortunately for you all, we live in Nicaragua right now so you’re going to get my Virtual Shore Excursion photos! San Juan del Sur (SJDS) is a small town very popular with the surf crowd. Serenade (or pretty much any cruise ship) would have tendered in, but the wide bay is very smooth and the process would have been painless. Walking distance from drop off are a number of great restaurants situated right on the beach, including this fun one: Towering over SJDS on a hill north of town is Nicaragua’s answer to the Cristo Redentor: Lots of small resorts up the lovely coast from SJDS, where you can rent a hammock or a shade for the day, and take a ride on the beach. A number of the shore excursions (or private tours) from SJDS will take you to Granada, a picturesque colonial town about 45 minutes inland. Spanish churches and colorful houses, with lots of artisans and restaurants. Adjacent to Granada is Mombacho Volcano. There is zip lining, hiking, and a working coffee plantation on the slopes of the mountain. A bit further inland is the town of Masaya, which has lovely lake and a volcano of its own. (Those are not clouds. Masaya is a very active volcano and you can sometimes see the lava in the caldera at night!) Nicaragua is a beautiful country and the people are welcoming and warm. If you get a chance to visit, take it!

Hi! I know we all know about and take advantage of price drops and I figured I'd make a place where we can just brag about our wins (small, medium or OMG). I'll go first. Allure 2022 - so far managed to shave off $240 and working on another $20 Every little bit counts! What are you saving? Share (and maybe we'll help others remember to check frequently too!)

Like @WAAAYTOOO said, your best bet is to call them. That being said, we have 6 in a 2BRATS as well. Passengers 5 and 6 are the same rate as numbers 3 and 4, so if the two youngest are passengers 5 and 6 dropping them off shouldn't cause a reprice. I have booked a few of these rooms with 4 originally, and the base rate never changed when I added guests 5 and 6. You may lose your deposit for the two, or get it back as FCC depending on the CWC rules for your sailing.

My Liberty of the Seas for Sunday royal up was accepted last night. Good luck to you! I went from a balcony to a Spacious balcony. My bid for a JS expired last week

Lesson learned: book it when it becomes available and then cancel the extra. I shouldn’t have relied on their systems working quickly.

I didn't forget. There are many who have health concerns that make getting the vax a higher risk - so are out of the game for now. I've been thinking about how long the "inventory" of those who meet requirements can be stretched to keep the industry viable. If the pool of eligibles stays the same (or grows at a slower rate than available cabins), you have too many cabins chasing too few guests. It will make comfortable cruising for those who make it on-board, but its not an efficient/profitable way to run and grow a business. I guess we'll know if we see a slowing of restarts.

Freedom of the Seas April 11-15, 2022. Saved $520 per cabin total saving 520 times 3=1560. Put the money to use on another cruise.

That's because the onboard purchases are recognized as a charge from the ship. This isn't from my AmEx but it shows how the charges showed up on my card. The deposit, cruise planner purchases and fare purchases all show from the same vendor. My onboard account from when I was on the ship shows up as the ship. The AmEx offer isn't a referral offer where you have to book through their link, it just has to show as a charge directly from Royal. In this case if this would be for the AmEx offer all of the ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES 800-327-6700 would count towards hitting the spend needed to trigger the cash back.

I think the industry is in the "cooperate & graduate" mode. Volunteer to be a "good citizen" and maybe the conditional restrictions are eased.

I cruised Carnival a bunch before finding Royal. On my first Royal cruise I was constantly comparing it... "That's not what Carnival does" sort of thing. I learned to let go of my preconceived notions formed in my head by Carnival and opened my mind. The best advice is board the ship like you've never cruised before. Go with the way Royal does things rather than comparing everything in the moment. Once it's over you can compare the overall experience to see which you like better. Go to all the shows. Try the main dining room. Enjoy the pool deck and top deck activities. Hoping things are more back to normal 55 days from now but bear in mind reduced guest numbers and protocols were not the normal Royal experience before the pandemic.

Poster apologized, most don’t bother. Accept it and move on.

We stayed and really enjoyed the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver 900 West Georgia Street It was about four blocks up from the cruise terminal and we found it a nice walk and close to restaurants and bars, shopping centre and grocery stores.

Yeah, I just looked. I use the Accor app. Every Saturday in May is available.

Thanks for the awesome updates! Can’t wait to see more!!

One of our Genies actually had a couple request a photographer to follow them into the theater, taking pictures as they went to their front row seats so people would think they were important!. @Booscruize, you should be fine!

In the same realm I only let myself be photographed in a bathing suit on first 2 days of the trip. After that carb and alcohol bloat kick in!

Glad you enjoyed it! Wish granted, new tour just posted

While I can certainly understand the disappointment, I don’t think it’s on Royal for you not booking the room you “really wanted” originally. As I tell everyone when helping them pick a cruise, you need to be happy with what you originally book, since that could be what you end up with. You may be able to change rooms or get a lower price, but nothing is guaranteed. How we Cruise: We always book the cheapest room, which is generally an inside GTY room, and we’ve been able to reprice frequently to get some awesome deals and sometimes move to a “higher category” at the same price but we don’t really care about the cabin or location. We've had times where we couldn't get the cabin we originally wanted and was able to rebook later.

Hi again, I’m back! Let me try to update what I can before we head out again! Day 4: Perfect Day, CocoCay I woke up early this morning to watch us dock… We decided to just grab a quick breakfast at the Park Cafe this morning. Too much food yesterday and we have a nice lunch coming up at the Coco Beach Club this afternoon. Here are some pics of the Park Cafe… As we were finishing breakfast, they announced that the gangway was open (earlier than expected) and we headed ashore! We took a tram to Coco Beach Club (we purchased the full day pass for $89 each way back). Thankfully, it was not crowded and we had an amazing time! My wife did not want to leave the club! We spent the morning going back and forth from the beach to the infinity pool. We had 12:15PM lunch reservations in the restaurant. They bring out the starter appetizer trays while you decide on your main course. My wife had the Coco Lobster Sandwich and I asked for the Surf & Turf (not on menu, but they will make it… filet and lobster tail). Sorry for the pic! I started eating the lobster and I realized I had not taken a pic yet! The food was excellent. The lobster tail was about the same as the tails served in the MDR (tasty, but it’s not Maine lobster of course). However, the filet was the best I’ve had to date (with Royal). Funny story… one of the floating servers that assisted our waiter was our waiter from Chops last evening. I didn’t want to tell him that the filet at the beach club was much better! My wife and I split the Bahamian rum soaked cake and an orange sorbet for dessert. Heading out now… will be back later!

When I was solo on my Mariner cruise 2 years ago the waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter paid extra extra attention to me every night. Not gonna lie, I was totally ok with it.

OK, back in our cabin taking a breather! Here are some pics of the Solarium Bistro and the upper and lower sections of the solarium. After breakfast, we headed to the Ultimate Abyss and rode it down to the Boardwalk. My wife was iffy as she can be a little claustrophobic, but she survived! Lol! No lines. We walked around the Boardwalk and even rode the carousel for kicks. Here are some random pics and a bunch from the Boardwalk. I’ll be back…

I’m going to try to catch up a little bit. Just got back from dinner and have a few moments before our show tonight. Breakfast was good in the MDR this morning. We both had fresh squeezed OJ (gotta maximize that DBP!), coffee, and granola parfaits. My wife had the Express Breakfast and I had the Classic Benedict. Here is the MDR breakfast menu and a couple of pics from breakfast… Nice decor… We spent some more time walking around the promenade and then headed up and pool/hot tub hopped around the ship! We especially enjoyed the solarium as there was plenty of room due to the reduced capacity. No problem getting loungers and using the pool and hot tubs in any area of the ship even on a sea day. Just some more random pics… Gotta run to make the ice show! I’ll be back later!

Oh shoot...I forgot to come to this thread and follow up. I apologize. Our bid of $250 pp for a Junior Suite was accepted five days before our cruise. It was an awesome cabin for two people used to Insides. We had also bid $350 for a Grand Suite but that wasn't accepted. The cruise was great. No complaints from either of us. The crew was outstanding. Every crew member we interacted with seemed to be genuinely thrilled to be working again. We spent more time outside than usual...the small amount of guests combined with having to wear a mask when inside made us spend a lot of time by the Solarium pool. On past cruises, we would spend time at the Cafe Promenade playing card and people watching. There weren't a lot of people to watch this time. We didn't do anything in Nassau before or after the cruise. Tight work schedules required us to fly in the day of and leave the day we returned. We stayed onboard in Freeport, and only ventured off in Cozumel to buy a few souvenirs for people. I wear a mask all day while working, but in the heat of Cozumel, it sucked in a way I wasn't quite prepared for. I felt better protected from Covid on the ship than I do at my place of work (supermarket). In our experience, everyone wore masks when required, kept distance, and was respectful. I think the best way to explain how much we enjoyed cruising with the protocols is to mention that we will be boarding Freedom in 41 days.