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HAHA. JS a gateway drug. Be afraid. Be VERY afraid

Welcome to the message boards. No one knows what, if any, impact omicron or any variant will have on cruises. In order to avoid the kind of discussions that go outside the purview of what's allowed here (i.e. debating Covid), I'm going to lock this thread and just let you know no one knows of any changes yet. If/when there are changes in policy, I will post about it on RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com.

Well, not a price drop, but still a flex. Managed to upgrade my Standard Interior on Harmony in September 2022 to a Promenade View Interior... for a grand total of $4.

2 Bedroom Grand Suite 9394

Pictures from Part 1: What a beautiful sight!! Freedom’s aft;-) Seabourne Odyssey, Carnival Sunshine and Liberty Back to THE terminal! In The Key line — conveniently located next to the bathrooms

Starbucks included with Star class. Deliveries scheduled for each day.

I can tell you with 100% certainty after speaking to Royal about it, that T&L is the one that did wrong here, not Royal. T&L was told about the info in advance (known as embargoed news), but they posted it early without authorization. Royal decided to pull the plug before the embargo date, and T&L didn't care. No other media outlets posted it, including this site. The unethical party is T&L for being lazy and ignoring the instructions Royal gave them to avoid any kind of situation like this.

This is actually very common across the community. I've heard it announced in Airports, etc. My mom is in recovery and it's helpful to know that when a craving comes through, as they do at the most random times, she can request support.

Ok, so maybe this will be a semi-Live Blog, at least for the first two days until I get the hang of it! First, some details about my Cruise Day morning: Part 1 — The Arrival and the Walk I got on the first shuttle — we left at 9:10 (about — after loading 8+ people and their luggage. I was the only one going to Terminal A, which happens to be the first stop, as the route cars/busses have to follow is a one-way loop. Got to the Terminal about 9:30 a.m. Found a porter right away (the folks in the white hats standing near the yellow carts to the right side of the terminal entrance). Turned my suitcase over to them and watched it go onto the cart — Mission 1 complete! Asked where the Key line would be, and was told it would be to the left of the Entrance doors. Happy Note #1: There are public restrooms available! To the left of the Entrance doors. Hooray! I can drink water on my walk! Having relinquished my suitcase to the (hopefully) tender mercies of the porters, I decided to go for a walk and get some pre-cruise steps in (plus, I was early!).

Coco cay was awesome. Really enjoyed overwater cabana 10. It is eastern group far right side when looking south. Kids loved the chicken wingswent to ice show in evening and watched Aqua show from balcony before bed.

Thats probably a copyright thing! Theres a lawsuit in Germany right now where the real tina turner is suing a tina turner tribute act because she looks like her ( no joke ) I would like to know which one is simply the best?

I'm just going to lock this thread because there's no connection to cruising other than pure speculation. If/when a line change policies due to Omicron, feel free to start a thread. But we're not here to discuss Covid outside of the cruise industry.

I agree with @SpeedNoodles, there's no real sense in jeopardizing an entire vacation over one of the wave jets you've reserved. If you are unable to resolve this online or over the phone before the cruise, you can probably get the issue resolved onboard at the Shore Excursions desk. (Maybe even Guest Services?)

I'd pay the balance and just keep working on the issue. No point jeopardizing the entire sailing.

Update: Finally reached someone at Peel Public Health who knows what I'm talking about. This person had recently handled a request for the same situation "missing does information". Since my wife is missing her 1st dose information sheet, I gave them what they needed. (my stress level is down a little now). He sent a request to their internal data team to send(via email) my wife's 1st dose information ( ETA 2 to 5 busines days). Crossing my fingers. Stress level is much higher..

Maybe not a suite related comment…but regarding boarding issues….. There are always things that can delay boarding which may cause a back-up at the terminal. In October, I was on a back to back on the Oasis where we had to stand in a line in the customs/luggage hall for over an hour because US Public Health did a surprise inspection. They want the ship empty of passengers when they inspect. That caused a backlog in the terminal. Pre-pandemic, we’ve had boardings delayed because of surprise Coast Guard inspections. We watched as all the crew, wearing life jackets, had to man their evacuation stations. That took a few hours. I’ve also experienced a delayed boarding because a couple partied too hardy on the last night and wouldn’t wake up to answer their phone or their door. Eventually security had to go in and wake them…and then wait while they packed…before they could get a zero count. Thanks a lot. And of course there are the usual late arrival issues when the ship is delayed due to weather, current or emergency situations. Bottom line…I always pack a hefty dose of patience for boarding day.

Ice cream from Sugar Beach is also included with Star Class. Kids really like the flavor selection.

I just sailed in a JS on Explorer. We used the suite line. Pardon the pun, but it was very sweet!

Celebrity just made the change. They don't cater to young families as much as RC does, so it'll be interesting to see if RC follows suit https://twitter.com/theRCLblog/status/1465725943599742976?s=20

The MJ of sailing you say.....

I just looked at my reservation paperwork seems my TA for some reason put a 5:30 dining time in. Thanks for suggesting that I’ll have her change that in the future.

room is spaciousray near cabanasmall sharkIf food is left unattended seagulls take advantage of lunch

Thanks for the heads up on the Veal Medallions. I have been looking on social media for a yay or nay on those. I think that's what I'm going to have for my birthday. With the cheesecake balls, of course.

We ate at Wonderland last month on an Alaskan Cruise. All three of us were totally unimpressed and would not recommend. The presentation was kind of neat, but the food taste and texture was not up to specialty standards. Others may like it. Not our thing.

Friends of Bill relate to all recovery oriented 12 step style meetings, not just AA.

My first time uploading pictures, so please excuse the lack of formatting. #1 Comfort Inn from the bus stop #2. Room 801 (802 and 803 are right next door and would have the same views, I believe). It was a nice room, right around the corner from the elevator and right next to the emergency exit stairs. Rate was $87+ tax; total was about $100. Pretty reasonable, especially given the free shuttle services and the breakfast — standard Comfort Inn fare, but had hot scrambled eggs and sausage, muffins, yogurt (including Chobani!), cereal, toast, and fresh fruit. #3. Adobo Pork Sandwich with Fries from Airport Liquors and Cafe ($14) #4. View from Room 801

We have a A1 2 bedroom Aqua theater for my wife, twin boys (turning 7 on sailing) and 5 year old daughter. Also joining is my sister in law and her 18 month old son. There are 3 other families in Sky class suites and two sets of grandparents in Junior suites. I booked this suite the day it released back in November 2019 while on board Navigator. We are flying direct to Miami from San Francisco. I splurged on first class seats since we had lots of American credits from cancelled cruise flights. Staying near Miami airport the night before cruise then using hotel shuttle to ship (if times are bad we will use other transportation) Got an over water cabana for Coco Cay. With current protocols we are required to purchase Royal excursions to take kids off ship in other ports. Because of this rule I purchased a mainland excursion to ruins in Cozumel. (We usually do an island beach club on our own) In Roatan we will go to Sol y Mar for beach time. No plans currently for Costa Maya. The port pass apiary I have read others have done has not been available in cruise planner. Received Genie email from Shane. Gave him a list for dining times and places for each night. I hope that there will be flexibility to make changes if necessary. Made beer and wine requests for our room. I travel with a Yeti bag which I prefer over the cowboy cold fridges in Royal Caribbean rooms. I asked for 2019 vintage Coors Light (high snowfall in Colorado Rockies that year provides a hint of pine) If this is unavailable I’ll settle for 2021 vintage. Also asked Shane for an in suite ice cream party the afternoon of my twins birthday for all the kids in group. Doing COVID tests locally before heading to airport. Plan to do two in attempt to reduce potential sample problems. Listing this post in “Live Blog” section. No promises on quantity or quality of posts during sailing. Will certainly post a reflection on experience and answer questions once back home.

I will board the Navigator of the Seas tomorrow morning for a short 4 day adventure. My last RCCL voyage on anything other than an Oasis Class ship was on the Song of Norway in 1992. Having forgotten everything about that ship I searched for clues about what I might expect tomorrow. And as usual the goldmine of information was found in a 2019 blog by @twangster. After his extensive review of the newly amped Navigator there is certainly no need for me to do this. Wanna know anything about Navigator just read his blog. But in the end I decided to go ahead with this hoping I can add something about the new home port, new ports of call and the overall return to the West Coast. I’ll do my best to simply put the facts out on this trip and keep my warped sense of humor in check. We booked this trip about a month ago. It began as a casino comp for two, inside cabin. Total taxes and port fees were $200 and change. Not bad for 4 nights of being back on a ship and it’s only a 2 hour drive to the Port of Los Angeles. But I chose this particular cruise because the last full day will be my bride’s birthday. So I upgraded us to a Junior Suite as a birthday gift. When I told her the exciting news she reminded me that she has a twin sister who, coincidentally, shares the same birthday. Another call to Casino Royale and now we sail in a 2 bedroom Grand Suite with the twin and her husband. We will be in suite 9394. Looks like about the same walk from the elevators as it is to the Aqua suites on Oasis class. We shall see. We received email from Jorge, the Navigator concierge, 5 days before the sail date. I asked for the entertainment schedule so we could plan our dinner schedule. He replied the same day and our evenings look like this: Day 1- Dinner at Hooked and I-Skate. Day 2- Dinner at Jamie’s and the production show Showgirls Day 3- Dinner at Izumi and the Headliner, juggler Randy Cabral Day 4- Birthday dinner at Chops and Headliner show, Kivi Rogers We again used the proctored home COVID tests from E-Med. We took them yesterday morning and printed our results. We will leave Palm Springs tomorrow morning at around 8:30. Should be a 2- 2 ½ hour ride to the port. We’ll park at the port where the daily cost is about $20 per day. Ship sails around 5 pm I believe. We have a full day at sea on Tuesday which we love but is also amusing since our first port of call is just about 26 miles from our port of departure! Those must be some awfully big, slow circles we’ll cruise in. Wednesday, day 3, we will call on Catalina Island. Beautiful little place for Southern California tourists. The twins were there as youngsters. I was actually a waterski instructor there when I was 18. That was just after islands were discovered. On Day 4 we will visit Ensenada, Mexico. We have no plans for the ports other than to take a walk around and have a drink. This isn’t a cruise we would take for the ports but I’m sure we’ll enjoy them both. We are excited to see and experience the Navigator. Looking forward to eating at Hooked, having drinks in the Bamboo Room and taking our first cruise that our Sea Pass cards will open the door of the Diamond Lounge. . This will our first cruise in 5 years without the Genie Magic – whatever will we do without the 3 tons of daily snacks? As I mentioned I sailed on the Majesty and Song of America in the early 90’s. I then took about a 10 year break from cruising after I retired from the government and opened my own business. In the early 2000’s I began sailing again but on the Disney Magic with my then toddler. I returned to Royal some years ago but then only sailed on Oasis Class. I’m looking forward to returning to the experience of a smaller ship. I hope to provide some words and pictures that may be of interest to those that will once again sail RCCL from Los Angeles. If there’s a question I can answer or a picture of something you’d like to see just let me know. And for any of you Navigator veterans, I’d love to hear your tips and suggestions. Hopefully in about 18 hours I’ll be describing the boarding process in Los Angeles!

Western Wall for sure. My name was placed in a crack when I had stage 4b cancer. Friends of mine went to Israel every year and that year they went to the wall for me. I plan on taking a list of names from my cancer Facebook groups and doing the same.

The Key . . . So far, so good! Things I’ve enjoyed: Priority embarkation: Although my initial time was 11:30, being in The Key line meant that we went in just as the middle of the Suite Line had entered the Terminal and right before the 11:30 crowd - it looked like about 50-60 people in that line. We were directed to a separate The Key seating area — right next to the General Boarding waiting area, but separate. I have no idea where the Suite area was, or if there was a separate Pinnacle/Diamond Plus section as well. There was a restroom right next to us, but, as I typed before, no place to refill water bottles or get a drink of water. I think RCL needs to rethink that approach. The Key area was summoned before the other groups to proceed aboard. Carry On Bag Handling: Since I was carrying my two bottles of wine in my carry-on (an E-bags backpack — very comfortable, but kind of heavy when serving as a wine tote), I was very happy to hand it over to The Key staff at the entrance to the MDR prior to going in for my Chops Lunch. TBH, I was a bit concerned because it had my iPad in it too — but when I got into my room at almost exactly 2:00, there it was perched on my sofa! I felt badly that I had those concerns, as I really have a lot of faith in the RCL crew members — and they delivered their usual high degree of excellent service. Chops Lunch: My filet was really good — perfectly cooked (medium rare) and so flavorful and tender. I restrained myself and only had grilled asparagus as a side — and no dessert, much to the dismay of my server, Anna. 25% Discount on Specialty Dining — yup, it was included, and worked on my Sushi and Sake pairing on Day 2! Voom 1-Device: the daily cost for Voom onboard is $22.99 (I think), so The Key gives me the above benefits PLUS Voom for $6.00 / day less than Voom onboard. One small downside: the priority access for the shows in the Theater appear to be limited to the 4th Deck, which is the Everybody deck. I don’t want to deprive families with kids of the opportunity to see shows, so plan on sitting in the Vaccinated sections on the 3rd Deck. I guess it gives families with The Key a better chance of getting prime seats for their families which is fine.

I agree - they are probably in a good position to deal with it once you get on board. I'm not sure I'd even try to deal with it ahead of time and risk it being mucked up even further.

Observation: It appears, if the passenger cruise manifest is at 100% VAX accompanied by 100% negative Covid tests at embarkation, the indoor masking requirement is removable. Easier on adult only charter offerings & cruise lines.

Priority boarding procedures are not the same at every port. At Port Liberty in Bayonne…the only suite priority since the re-start has been Star Class suites. Everyone else (except Key) got on a single line. Sometimes there were workers giving instructions, but mostly it was a bit chaotic and confusing. Other times, there was no line and we just walked right in to the terminal. For this trip I purchased the Key and was looking forward to finding the Key signage and immediately entering the terminal by 11:30am. This is part of the Key program to take advantage of the carry-on drop off perk and the Chops lunch which is served between noon and 1:30pm. When I arrived, there was no line so I just walked in and was aboard in less than 20 minutes.

Using the suite line is one of the few suite perks you get with a JS

not really a "bogus" gift card, but you do need to read the fine print before purchase

I just checked CVS online…for central Jersey, also….still showing two weeks of appointments.

My fridge was full and I asked for a cooler with beer. We had food from Giovanni. 17 people in total. Great fun.

You guys are the best! Thanks for making me feel welcome in Blogland!

How was the muster drill done. Was it just through the phone app. Was it quick?

I purchased The Key on my past cruise on Navigator. I loved the perks. I will say if it's a short cruise, like 4 days, and there are no "Cruise" dates, I found that a lot of the perks did not get used. For instance, the private hours at the rock climb, or flowrider. These were provided when we were on shore excursions. I did like the quick check in, and the ability to hand off my carry on to someone else to take care of. The lunch at Chops was awesome. The steak was amazing, and the burger was too The internet combined with The Key was really nice too. I brought my laptop and hooked it up to the TV in room and streamed Netflix, because the in room TV entertainment is always less than spectacular lol. I purchased it for my next 7 day cruise and hope to use it the extras for the shows and what not. Oh, the ala carte breakfast on departure date was SOOOO good too. The Key is a pro move.

I think it might also depend on how you present it to your Genie. If you come out of the box with "party" I suspect it's going to be an uphill battle. If you just order food, drinks and don't make a big deal about it being a party, you would fare better. Just a hunch.

You should not need to show your original receipts. The QR code with the Ontario logo + Canada logo + 2 dose info along the bottom should be sufficient. The QR code PDF is meant to be used to replace the original receipts. When we checked in online on November 4th, I only submitted the QR code PDF as proof of vax and it was validated. That is the same document I plan to use at the terminal in 3 weeks (God willing and fingers crossed that whatever variant doesn't ruin my cruise plans).

It was little hard to find a reservation time for bumper cars. Our first two choices were taken but we were able to get our third choice. My suggestion would be to try and book as early as possible. Not all shows/activities required reservations. For example the towel folding demo and the game shows at the music hall did not have any reservation required. The reservations for shows seem to be limited to more of the headliners and the bigger shows. For activities the only reservations that i saw were for the north star, bumper cars,flowrider & ifly. Activities such as rock climbing did not require a reservation but many times were canceled due to high winds. Also on my sailing RCL was charging the $1.99/per day/ per passenger to utilize the app's chat feature. The thing that was annoying about this is that you needed to purchase it for the whole cruise. You could purchase it in the middle of the cruise but you would still be charged for the whole cruise.

Making reservations onboard has always been the trade off for getting a lower cost by buying the dining package. That said, it is extremely popular with the regular cruisers on this forum which wouldn't be the case if they were unable to get good reservations. Really the only common "complaint" is that you can get too much food when you always dine specialty. This is a case where it's important to remember that the average forum poster knows and plans a LOT more than the average cruiser. Many people don't even know specialty dining exists until they get on the ship. That's partly why it's generally easy to make reservations on board on the first day. If you wait until day 4 of 7, then you can't be surprised that good reservations are hard to find but that's true with or without a package.

I also think it's for a bit of obscurity - people who don't know its affiliation will just skip over it.

We did this as a group excursion on our Freedom of the Seas blog group cruise and it was a lot of fun! It helped that we had the entire catamaran to ourselves..but I would recommend this excursion to others. You will get to take some great photos of the sunset and the cruise ship.

Is this the one you book through the cruise line? We did the Black Pearl sunset cruise and it was spectacular! https://www.aruba-sailing.com

Just the latest scariant

…add a pickup truck to that line and you’ll have a great country western hit! Seriously…I wish your husband, and your horse, full and complete recoveries. Many thanks for administering these forums.