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We just landed in Miami 2 hours ago after 12 hours of travel through snowstorms from Vancouver to find our Symphony sailing tomorrow is cancelled. Literally got the notification at the second wheels touched down. Obviously disappointed but we knew things are crazy and anything was possible. First reaction was let’s see if we can get on another Royal cruise sailing in the next day or two. Unfortunately Royal has all sailings through January frozen for new booking and no one at customer service was any help. Ever the optimist, my wife got on the phone with Norwegian and long story short, we are boarding on Norwegian Joy in 17 hours. What a wild ride!!

EVERYWHERE has had covid cases over the last several weeks! I am like you, how I feel about going changes daily, sometimes several times a day. I’m not a doctor, I didn’t stay at a holiday inn express, I have no crystal ball. My OPINION is this increase has to do with: 1. Omicron 2. Holidays 3. Increased testing because of #2 4. Increased capacities on ships because of #2. I HOPE all of the above will subside before I have to make my decision.

Sending good vibes to all of you guys in the MEI family. We all thought this nightmare was pretty much over.

Before I share about hubby’s next trip to Royal’s medical, I’m going to share a funny story, that happened between hubby’s accidents. Hubby and I shared a table with two single women for dinner in the dining room. They were a bit older than “Old White Woman.” Our table was a nice four topper right by a window looking out at the ocean. It was nice, but not really a great deal, because once it gets dark you are looking out into darkness. But that’s a story for another time. The two women sharing our table were the type that waited for the dining doors to open because they had a “thing” about being the first people seated. So, hubby and I, did find it a bit “odd” that they were not already seated when we arrived to our table for dinner. We were also stunned that the bread from the basket was warm. Previous nights, the bread basket contained bread that was the temperature of its last home. Hubby and I quickly ate our piece of warm bread and grabbed another. By this time, our waiter showed up to get our drink orders. He looked a bit confused as we answered. Hubby and I figured he must be filling in for our normal waiter and having a hard time adjusting to a new table in the middle of the cruise. Just when I finished buttering another piece of warm bread, my hubby out of nowhere said: Old White Woman we are at the wrong table. I told him he must of had too much bourbon because here’s the wall we sit against and there’s the ocean to our side. Hubby said we were at the right table but at the right table on the “wrong” floor. After a quick discussion about whether I should leave the buttered warm bread and whether we should attempt to “clean up” the table we decided to leave the “crime” scene fast - with the bread.

Woah.....I read that subject way differently!! lol

It was a wild ride for sure! I was ready to cut our losses and book a couple nights in a hotel and head back but my wife always finds a way to make things happen

Well she’s also a good buffer between hubby & I, married 41 years and the 24/7 togetherness of retirement can be………. challenging

Get a few drinks in me and I'm going to seriously mispronounce that name with certain expletive!

Ahem, that would be Shippy McShipface of the Seas, thank you very much. You can always put a Boaty McBoatface on a Shippy McShipface, but not the other way around.

This blog post may be helpful: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/01/07/i-felt-extremely-well-supported-passenger-shares-what-happens-after-testing-positive

I would hope post cruise testing gets nixed since the vaccines haven't shown much affect in preventing omicron infection.

My take on this situation: I feel safer on a cruise than I do in my own city. On a cruise everyone is vaccinated and wears a mask. At the local grocery store I have no idea if someone is vaccinated (likely not here) and no one except employees is wearing a mask.

Just walk around the public areas without a mask. A crew member will magically appear and hand you one. I’ve witnessed this happening, especially after shows and during pictorials on the Promenade.

And NCL was the first to cancel almost half of their ships sailing. 100% vaccination means nothing anymore. Time to transition from pandemic to endemic

And so it begins...I'm glad we had looked at other alternatives. Still flying to MCO on Sat Jan 15th. I've always wanted to drive to the Keys, I'll get that chance if they cancel Harmony on the 16th.

True but Boaty McBoatface OF THE SEAS is NOT!!!

Photos from St. Maarten and our brewery tour

I've had to log out and in on the app before new results showed up, but with the printed copy of the results PDF you are fine. I like to have paper copies in case of technology fails at the port or I do something stupid like dropping my phone 100' from the terminal check in line. I've never shown the app results to board a cruise. I've always used the PDF.

‘Atta girl! I like the way your wife thinks!

that's like the Hail Mary of last-second cruise rebookings. good work!

Ah, so like all things Star Class, ship and Genie dependent lol

That's normal. Same as Negative.

Ditto. And also feeling sad for the passengers sitting in their hotel rooms planning to board tomorrow. That's a lot of dollars wasted on travel to Miami due to a last minute cancellation. I don't want to see that repeated in three weeks and will monitor closely. Hoping that we've hit the peak and will begin to see a plunge in covid cases very soon.

I’m really hoping this is the beginning of the end of this frickin virus. At least the pandemic part of it. Really hope all those infected with Omicron get long lasting immunity to future variants. It’s the only way out of this black hole

I am curious to why the cruise lines have not put in place that everyone over the age of 5 is now required to be vaccinated before cruising. Most of the blogs I have read of people that have contracted Covid was either with or around an unvaccinated person between 5-12. Just curious to when the cruise lines are going to change to include everyone 5 and above since the vaccine is available. I do not think it is fair to require everyone else and not the young children.

Sometimes life isn't fair, sadly. I think requiring vaccinations at this point isn't fair. I also don't find it fair that certain lines mandate the vaccines even if you are allergic to the ingredients in them (I am and cannot have another dose per the doc), thus potentially permanently kicking you off the ships. I certainly hope they never require the boosters, or I will have to cancel all of our trips.

Hell, I don't need a few drinks in me.....I f-ed it up just reading it!

Most of these ships haven't been sailing yet and/or have a positive rate that is hitting double digits. I am sure they would rather move healthy crew to less ships and sail that way. Harmony, Allure, Oasis, Mariner, Indy, Freedom, Anthem, Navigator and Liberty have less positivity rates and should sail without issue. I cruise in like 2 days and think my Indy sailing will be fine as I haven't even heard of many cases.

In hindsight it'll blow over quickly. But it'll feel like forever to get through it.

I booked ours right away in the hopes I could catch a cruise planner sale but that didn’t happen. The opposite happened. Prices reached as high as $1899. When the cabana became unavailable to book through cruise planner it didn’t say “sold out” like other excursions, it said “check onboard” so it’s possible your genie can check with the onboard team. As others have said, keep checking frequently between now and then. I went back and forth on the cost but in the end this experience was the highlight of our cruise. I am so glad we did it. Good luck!

I received my shipping notice 1/6; I received my order 1/5.

I know the CDC just said the CSO still goes optional next week. But I still don't trust them to power play their way into more restrictions. That said I can't imagine there's any more impact on March cruises than there is now

Although you are correct that the vaccine is available to 5-11 year olds, it is not readily avalible worldwide. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/countries-vaccinating-children-against-covid-19-2021-06-29/ This maybe one reason why cruise lines are a little hesitant to mandate vaccines for 5-11 year olds. Many parents with kids in this age group from countries that do not have the vaccine would not be able to travel. @wordell1 brings up a very good point about testing. Also not all cases were spread by cruisers in this population. Many got sick on board because they tested negative prior to embarkation, but the testing occurred too early in the incubation period and they became sick while on board. This is another reason why I do not understand this mass hysteria about there being cases on board. There will always be cases of covid on board. It is highly improbable for there not to be a single case of covid onboard known or unknown. I also do not understand the infatuation of the media to call every case of covid in a vaccinated individual a "Breakthrough" case. The vaccines developed were never intended to prevent all covid infections. They were developed to prevent severe to life threatening illness. So a breakthrough case would be a vaccinated individual that needed hospitalization and or ventilation. Overall I have not heard of any cases on board any of the cruise lines that required the infected who was vaccinated to be ventilated and hospitalized. I do think that some time Q1 timeframe we will see RCL and other cruise lines mandate vaccinations for this group.

No. You will get your final bill delivered to your stateroom while your asleep on your last night, they slip it under your door and tip toe down the hall very quietly. If you owe anything you will have to stand in a line and pay it before you get off the ship. You can avoid that by setting up all of you and your travel partners charges on board paid by a credit card. You can do this when you are setting up your cruise account online before you leave home for the port of embarkation. Charges made at the bars, beauty salons, massages, etc. will have an automatic 18% gratuity added and you will be presented a bill that you must sign. There will be an additional line for a "Tip" if you want to add that to the bill or you can leave some cash with the bill. That's up to you, not required. I always bring a lot of $1, $5 and $20 dollar bills that I give to the porters, bartenders, wait staff and cabin attendant. For the wait staff and cabin attendant you can bring envelopes from home or get them from Guest Services. Just don't wait until the last night if you decide to get them from Guest Services, do it early or you will be in a very long line.....and that is NOT fun your last night! Oh yes, on your table in the MDR, if you dine there, will be little name card holders with the names of your waitstaff. I take a picture of that so I can write their names(with correct spelling) on the tip envelope. Hope this helps and Welcome Aboard! Ask away with any questions you may have. There are a lot of experienced cruisers here who will gladly answer you and give you friendly advice!

Sometimes a trip to the dark side is necessary.

I'm determined to not worry about the end of the month for at least another week or two. I just refuse, lol.

As am I.

We did a B2B in August on AOS, and the first week was close to 600, and the second week dropped to just under 500 (first week of school that week)

Having done nothing but GS since our first cruise, I think they are worth it for the free room service (even from the MDR!), concierge desk, happy hour drinks, reserved seating section in the theater and ice rink, and the expedited boarding and debarkation. Add to that the extra room in the cabin and the MASSIVE bathroom I think they are absolutely worth a splurge.

Also in the crossing my fingers boat for Harmony!

I cancelled a cruise last week for this week. My TA was told there was no cash refund because I had Air2Sea booked. This was NOT a FCC booking. Good luck. Seems to me I am punished for having utilized Air2Sea. I will be cancelling my flights by Celebrity airbooking for my summer cruise. I don't need their BS. I can book refundable via the airlines and get my full $$ back if I cancel, unlike utilizing the cruise company, where i need to cancel prior to final payment to get my refund.

Found this rendering of UFS on Wonder of the Seas on PInterest today. It appears to be consist with the other construction photos I have seen. Of course still no complete floor plan. https://pin.it/47KmcAA Wonder of the Seas.jfif

We all got additional OBC for missing St. Thomas yesterday so I booked some additional wine tastings in vintages. Yesterday was the Italian tasting. Today is Mystery wines where you have to guess the grape! Also I found the adult only pool yesterday and really enjoyed the "waves" on the side of the pools.

They do have Saturday-Saturday itineraries. They are just limited to only being able to do one large ship a day out of a particular port terminal. Oasis sails out on Sundays but Symphony is doing the Saturday-Saturday itinerary currently.

We’re retired so…..

Just before covid (feb '19) we did WDW stayed at the Coronado, then had Coco Beach shuttle pick us up morning of the cruise (it takes about hour and half). They had another family in the van with us. Dropped us off at the RCI terminal. I think we had a 10AM pick up.

You don't upload the proof of test results. You have to show them at the port. The paper proof will be easiest, but they will accept electronic copies as well so I would suggest that your brother-in-law scan the PCR test results and have it saved to his phone as a backup in case the paper gets lost/misplaced/destroyed.

An update from onboard This was our first true sea day. I had a great conversation yesterday with one of the waiters, we had the chance to talk for about over 10 minutes. The bottom line was he was very happy to be back onboard, he feels RC is doing a great job behind the scenes to keep him, the rest of the crew and the passengers safe. When Oasis went back in service they had extensive and in-depth training regarding Covid and he said the most important thing they stressed was safety first, above everything and continue to stress this. I asked what would happen if he didn't feel safe and he said they were told, and he is confident, that at anytime a crew member can ask to be sent home and RC would do so, and that RC would allow them back when things get better. He truly feels they would do this and not hold it against the crew member. Another tidbit is someone explained to me why we are doing a 1/2 day in Nassau (which we crawled to, and even made a U turn to kill time) and then are racing to St. Maartan. Word is RC feels we paid for a three port cruise and they want to give us a three port cruise. Today we had the Top Tier Event with the Captain. The main takeaway from that was there are 2950 passengers and just under 2000 crew onboard. Tonight the Captain made a very clear and detailed announcement regarding out Covid status. We have .52% of passengers that have come down with it (which is 15 or 16 people by my math) and with crew we are just around 1% (which I extrapolate to mean .48% of staff or roughly 10 crew members). I appreciated his transparency and considering what is going on at home, these seem to be great numbers. The ship continues to feel empty. There are no crowds waiting for elevator's because they come so fast and it's rare anyone else is in the elevator with you. I checked the pool situation several times and there was a lot of seating always available in the lounge chairs. Talking with the people at the next table, we agreed the only time things seemed "crowded" was the second night when the Main Dining Room was clearly below 50% ... but because it was fuller than any other day, it felt "crowded" I have chosen to eat my meals in the MDR rather than Windjammer. I feel it is less crowded, more space between guests and has the side benefit of a bit better portion control. There is nothing wrong with WJ, just my personal choice. I continue to feel comfortable and confident in my safety onboard.