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Full disclosure we don't get commission on flights but I do get revenue credit when the air is added. That's why flights must be added with Air2Sea or a land package (Delta Vacations vs. Delta for example). Can't do flights alone but can do them with a bundle. But I don't mind- that's part of the job/service. Whatever is best for you is what I'll do!

Day 2 has been great thus far. Today was our day at Coco Cay and our first visit here since it was completed. What was supposed to be a cloudy day with possible rain has been absolutely beautiful. We had reserved a beach bed at breezy bay and it has been well worth the cost. We love the island and it has brought us much needed relaxation to begin the cruise. We had a small delay getting into port as we were waiting for Harmony to leave. It was not a big deal and cruiser’s disembarked at 930. Until tomorrow…….

Hi, I wanted to share a few thoughts on our recent cruise from Ft. Lauderdale on the Allure of the Seas. We arrived 2 days prior to the Sailing in Ft. Lauderdale to have sufficient time for testing. The Abbott Self-tests worked great, but I had booked a Walgreens the following day as a backup. NB: On our way back home we met a couple in the Airport lounge, wanted to go on a cruise and were still waiting on their test results, more than 50 hours! So have a backup plan! The itinerary changed several times prior to and during the cruise. Antigua and Barbados got canceled a few weeks prior, San Juan the day before the travel, and St. Thomas denied entry because of Covid on board. Get used to it! Shore excursions got refunded within 24 hours, we also got refund some money for St. Thomas, also to our cruise account which you could spend on board, and the remaining balance gets refunded to your credit card. We got the money back within 48 hours of returning from the cruise. We visited all the specialty restaurants and enjoyed it very much. We had breakfast once in the Main Dining room. The tables are pretty close and that was the only place we didn't feel comfortable. Windjammer was also good for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Some people still didn't get the message though. Food is being served by the crew. No need to point with your fingers into the food! Yup seen that a few times. The crew had to exchange the food container. Also, tables are marked as cleaned or need to be cleaned and blocked for social distancing. Doesn't help if people just move them around. Shore excursions were the "usual". If you have a back problem don't take the railway trip on St. Kitts - just saying. Onboard activities were great, some shows had short performances as crew members were sick, some not Covid related. So Mama Mia and the Aqua-show where only 1/2 the time. The "Adult Comedy" was bad and not funny at all. Just throwing out cuss words doesn't make it funny. The Magic Show was also subpar. Surprisingly funny was the Juggler. Great show! Overall most people were their masks and tried to keep social distancing. There were still some exceptions, and we overheard discussions from a few people complaining about the cruise. Shoutout to the crew who went above and beyond to make this a memorable experience. You may not be aware, but once they are on board they cannot leave the ship until their contract has ended. That means they are bound to the ship for 6 to 9 months. They all wear masks all the time, most of them double up on masks. That also means they can only get the bug from us, the passengers! We had already several cases on the 2nd day from the passengers and the crew! The Captain did not provide any numbers after the 2nd day. I think that needs improvement. I hope they find ways to test quick and reliable when entering the ship. We noticed in St. Marten that one ship following us but never docked. My wife did some research and it was confirmed by some crew members. All infected crew is isolated on the ship and will be transferred to the Rhapsody and the Vision for recovery. They are used as hospital ships. Infected passengers got disembarked in St. Marten in buses and were brought to the airport to be transported home. We have seen at least 100 people from the Allure and the Symphony at the dock. Embarkation and disembarkation had been a breeze and much simpler than the previous cruises. I hope they keep that. I would rather wait in my room, than in the main area. Overall we enjoyed the cruise and already booked the next cruise for New England later this year Markus

Hopefully the predictions are correct and this Omicron surge peaks near the end of January, and the numbers of infections drop as quickly as they went up. The one constant in cruising so far is…changes can happen at any time. And during these changing times, March is far away.

Okay my phone died, so I am in my room charging it and will give some updates. This was probably my best travel and embarkation ever. First let me preface this by saying I committed a cardinal sin......I flew out the day of embarkation. I had to work Sunday and there were no flights after 7pm. So, I booked the first AA flight, which kept moving. it was 6:30 then 6:55 and finally it was 7:15. I moved my check-in from 11am to noon because I would rather be early than late, plus I was staying in a JS so priority boarding. I have TSA precheck and from baggage drop off to actual terminal waiting to board from ORD was 14min. I didn't know what to expect so I had arrived around 5am for a 7:15am flight. Original flight was about 50% booked but there were a bunch of cancelled flights and so I counted about 20 standbys that ended up on this route. The flight was only about 75% capacity, and most were families traveling to Disney. I enjoyed my first class "breakfast" and welcome cocktail. They will give you an alcoholic beverage, but they do so discreetly, which I found a smidge weird. We finish boarding 10min early and I had my bags, waiting for my Lyft, 5min before we were scheduled to land. I made a mistake and put in port Canaveral instead of port Canaveral terminal 1 and caught my mistake halfway to the wrong location when I realized it was a 10min ride and under $20. We quickly course corrected, and I arrive at 11:55. Handed my luggage to the porter and started my embarkation process, I set a timer because it took a while on my Allure sailing. It took me 8 whole minutes!!!!!! There is a suite line and a key line, I think there will be quite a bit of children on this sailing because the waiting area was the fullest area I have seen. Also, that 8min includes getting my photo taken twice and the whole walk onto the ship. I was too early to do my Muster. I went to Sorrento's for a bite and had a delicious cherry Coke Zero......also Oreo cheesecake, don't judge me. A little bit before 2pm they informed us the rooms were ready. I am staying in an Aft JS room number 1364. It is very spacious, but the decor could use a bit of updating. It looks like there will be 2 performances of Grease and then 1 headliner and a comedian. The weather is horrible, my balcony is full of water because of a nice downpour. They changed the itinerary, and we will now visit PDCC on our last day. I originally had Chops+1 scheduled but I cancelled it because I have a Star class selling after this and want to be in fighting shape for the food coma. So, I will be doing MTD around 8:15 and hitting a show or the casino after. Also, I got some extra OBC, don't know where it came from but it's going to the casino fund. Stray Observations.... GS and WJ was the most crowded place I have seen. I just walked through WJ to see selection. They are really trying to sell drink and dining packages. Drinks at freestyle and other stations are self-serve. They have self-serve items at the WJ as well, the crew are in great spirits. I received 2 mask and a bottle of sanitizer plus a bunch of inserts (cruise compass, C&A letter, etc.) I will try to scan at some point. Unlike when I was in Sky class, I have yet to see my room attendant or receive my luggage. Good thing I am not eating until later.

We officially just got the upgrade and charged this morning! We got upgraded to Star Class Grand Panoramic Suite, on Allure of the Seas. Just today we got contacted from the suite concierge to let us know our Genie would be reaching out shorty! So stoked as this is our 1st experience in Star Class, and will most likely create blog on here before we sail out, to follow our experience in Star Class (1st timers), and to show/tell about the covid lock down procedures have changed since our last cruise in Oct 2021. Sharing our bidding on this was we where offered every room in Star Class room 2-bedroom Aqua Theater, to the Royal Star Loft suite(we where booked in Sky Class Loft Suite). We bid the following per person; Aqua Theater 2-bedroom max bid at $1,260 (min bid was around $360) Star Loft Suite mid-range bid $1,555 (min bid $540) *Grand Panoramic Suite just below mid range $2,200 (min bid $1,230) Owners Panoramic Suite just below mid range $2225 (min bid $1,800) Royal Star Loft Suite min bid $2,530(this one could go as high as around $5,500 max bid) Surprised they took our "just below mid range bid' on the Grand Panoramic vs our "max bid amount" on the 2-bedroom(as both where available online), maybe it was the higher price point and they wanted to fill the Star Class Rooms... Happy either way, if cruising on Allure this coming Sunday say hi! We are in room #1758! And I answer to Red(my hair color, and name of my business)

@Lovetocruise2002he mentioned he was on Ovation for the Alaska season until October. He’s been fabulous. There is also a great bartender in the suite lounge named Edgar. He can mix up a very fine espresso martini, which I find I need after a big meal and before I go into a dark theatre. Gives me the jolt I need to keep me from nodding off! Anyway I feel such gratitude to this community, because without I wouldn’t have known all to do and experience.

I got a little behind on the blog. Debarkation was easy this morning. I had an 11:15 flight out of Orlando. I pre-scheduled a lyft to pick us up at 8:30 and a driver had already accepted it a few days ago. Because of the distance, a shuttle to the airport for $25 pp would have been cheaper, but we prefer private transportation vs. a shuttle, esp. righ now! Debarkation was easy and we had signed up to be one of the first groups off with an early flight. Normally, we tend to walk off our our own with all of our luggage, but I am recovering from a knee injury, plus I had broken one of the wheels on my suitcase on the way to Florida. My experience with Terminal 1 in Port Canaveral is that Debarkation always seems super easy! The airport on the other hand was crazy. We flew frontier back to cincinnati because it was the most convenient flight return options I could find to get us back quickly and with a direct flight. First we had to print our own luggage tags for our checked flights and then the wait was 45 minutes or so to check drop off the bags. The airport security line was also really crazy! If it had not been for TSA pre check, we would likely not have made the 11:15 flight. I felt far more comfortable on the cruise ship this week than I did in the airport. Yesterday was my birthday and we spent the day in cococay! We took the shuttle over to the south beach area and had the famous chicken sandwich and mozzarella sticks at the Snack shack. I had brought the inflatable hammock rafts and enjoyed it for several hours in the water near the floating bar! It was partly cloudy yesterday, and we got some rain after. I had originally planned to spend some time in the huge lagoon pool after the beach, but we decided just to swim in the ocean. Dinner last night was back at 150 Central park for my birthday using the voucher from the travel agent. Last night we ordered a Cigalus wine, I got the scallops again and DH ordered the Braised short rib which was outstanding. The waiter also talked us into trying the Caesar salad. For dinner we ordered the lamb Wellington, Roasted tenderloin and also ordered the Veal medallions to try them. The Lamb Wellington was surprisingly our favorite dish of the 3. For dessert, we both ordered the fried cheesecake again. After dinner, we went back to finish packing and ended the night with football and music in the pub! Overall, it was a really amazing cruise!! We went to the main dining room 3 nights and I really enjoyed it. Night 6 (lobster night) was my favorite. The lobster tails were the best I have had in a while on a cruise ship, and we also tried the Roasted beef tenderloin which was excellent. I was also a very big fan of the way the served the Molten chocolate cake! I was a big fan of the current presentation and recipe!!

Nityam is our Genie and we are very pleased thus far. Our cabin as we entered:

First, let me say I understand a lot of frustration in and with the cruise industry due to COVID. Its supposed to be a great vacation and customers pay a good price for the experience. The media likes to dwell on cancelled ports and sick passengers and empty ships sitting at anchor. All the misery and misfortune in the headlines sells. No one wants to go on vacation and be limited to mask wearing, subjected to nasal swabs, flight disruption, port dismissal etc. On the other hand, trying to take a purely scientific view point ... Though ships have been called a Petri dish (generally with negative connotations), at the same time they are a somewhat unique controlled population sampling. Here you have literally thousands of people that are vaccinated and following masking protocols etc. Its not perfect but when you look at infection rates, those aboard ship are less than one percent compared to over 30% on land. To me this is a perfect example of how an experiment works. You have two populations, one with generally well kept protocols and controls, and the other, not so much. The difference in infection rates is dramatic. It just shows vaccines, masking and isolation of known cases works. Ships have other issues such as limited space for isolation and medical facilities. Their systems are not perfect but the numbers show they do work.

Just received our acceptance from an OV to Spacious Balcony for our weekend getaway January 22 on the Independence.

We always carry at least $100 per day in cash. Out of that, $100 is in small denomination bills, $5 and $1, specifically for tipping.

Absolutely no benefit to letting them know ahead of time there's going to be a no show, either for you or them. You can just tell them when checking in if they ask about the other party. If both of you sail and you don't check in at the same time, that's absolutely not an issue either. You don't have to have the entire party there to board the ship unless there are minors involved.

We just boarded Oasis as our first Star Class cruise and it was much less stress free than anticipated. First I stressed about the Covid results and as everyone reassured me: they just look at your name, date of test and result! So I’ll take the time to reassure everyone else like me that it was easier than anticipated. Lastly, because we had uploaded our vaccine card, we only needed to show it once. We are on board and finally feeling the relief and excitement of cruising once again. Because of the recent cancellations we are more thankful than ever to be on a ship. Thanks to all who have cruised before me that held my hand and calmed my anxieties as the time drew near. This community is so valuable but even more during these times! Cheers to sailing once again.

I think you'll need cash for: Tipping parking bus person (for helping with your luggage) at airport Tipping porters at terminal at beginning of cruise Tipping porters at terminal at end of cruise Cash for shore excursions (tips, food, souvenirs) Some people will want cash to tip bartenders onboard. And of course, if you plan to gamble in the casino you will need cash.

We stay in Junior Suites most of the time and do so just for the extra room moving about the cabin. We also like the larger bathroom too. Using the Suite line for embarkation is nice too. Now that we have stayed in a Grand Suite on the Symphony, that will be our new normal until we try an owners suite

My primary objection to a less-than-JS cabin is the bathroom. I really, REALLY hate that toothpaste tube shower and beginning with the JS, you begin to increase the size of the bathroom. The extra space in the JS room and balcony is certainly a bonus, but the bathroom is the reason that we began booking bigger staterooms. There really aren't that many "perks" with the JS and with the Explorer there will be almost none...so you will have to try it once and see if it makes enough of a difference for you !! Access to the Coastal Kitchen on the ships that have a CK is on an availability-basis only so just realize that it is not a guaranteed perk. It seems as if access for JS to the CK seems to be a bit more reliable on the Quantum class ships than it does on the O class but there have been lots of mixed results for those staying in JS.

Could you imagine if everyone on land got tested on the same day? Then ships would really be proven safe.

Seeking a "friendly" port compared to a CDC controlled port.

Mine either!! But mine is March 6th so who knows where we will be at that point with this whole mess!!!! LOL

Yes you do, but you do not get double points if moving from a balcony to a full suite. If you have a Junior Suite you get double points already and would maintain those in Sky Class.

You’re just the best. We must cruise together someday. We need a Sharla Group cruise!

Okay some updates........ T minus 44hrs I passed the test, and all of my bags are packed. I haven't received anything about a later boarding. But most of my correspondence goes to the TA before coming to me. The app has finally updated to show the proper number of days for this sailing, it shows WJ open for dinner. However, I have seen preliminary postings on FB that put this sailing at under 1500 pax. I ran into issues with my eDocs. Right after I made FP, they were available to print. I got busy and decided to do it a few days before leaving. I went to CP and it said no documents available. Now in the current climate, I got super afraid. I asked the RCGBlog and was told this has happened to a few others, so I felt relief. I emailed my TA and he told me this is some glitch that has been happening and I would need to get blank ones at the port. Ugh!!! Luckily a few hours later he was able to email the docs to me, he believes something was shaken loose with his inquiry. So now I have printed luggage tags, my setsail pass, and negative results. For the last end of my S2S2S I booked an interior cabin. I did receive an offer to RoyalUp and I decided to put in min bids on a few rooms. Well today I checked, and all are expired with one pending. I have been told this is a good sign and I am just waiting for them to charge my card. It is for the spacious panoramic ocean view. This is one of the newer cabin categories they put on some Amped ships. This is my first-time bidding and when I win, I will be 1-0!!! Happy cruising everyone!!!

I have one on march 26, and I have no problem going. If some wants to cancel, means less people on the ship and easier to get a drink. I feel I could get covid anywhere, but the chances getting on a cruise is much less, so willing to take the chance.

We have boarded Allure on Saturday afternoon. We got to the port around 4:30 PM. The parking lot was half empty. Terminal was empty, just a couple of agents waiting for last minute passengers. We were on board in less then 5 minutes. We are sailing with 2500 passengers. Life couldn’t be better. As we were heading to the open sea, the captain welcomed everyone on board and reminded everybody for the new mask protocol. All crew are double masked (KN95 + a 3-ply mask) All crew is required to remind passengers to wear their mask at all time indoors. I haven’t seen anybody indoors not complying so far. Even if you are sitting on the Promenade, just hanging out, everybody is masked up. The captain also prepped us for 30 knots wind. We got to Nassau at 5:30 AM but due to high winds we couldn’t enter the channel. Nobody could on Sunday. Continued our voyage, heading south. The captain just announced, that we will be back to Nassau On Saturday, and we will stay there till 6:00PM as the weather conditions have been improving. He is giving us a couple of extra hours. We won’t be able visit St. Thomas & St. Kitts. We will be arriving in St Marteen tomorrow at 7:00AM and we will visit CocoCay on Friday. Lot’s of onboard activities, shows and entertainment. Windjammer is open for dinner, and they will have Caribbean night tomorrow. The crew is constantly wiping the hallway walls and all other public services. There are crew members serving guest at the Concierge Club. No more self service. The air in the casino is fresh and crisp. No more smoking….and no! No more people are sitting in the casino with a drink in front of them unmasked. That does not “fly” anymore. The crew is amazing, working extremely hard. Many of them working double shifts. For those who canceled this cruise enjoy the picture below

Trying to channel a kinder gentler attitude.

Received my confirmation email for HOS next Sunday, OV balcony to GS.

One bid showing as pending but removing the option to modify the bid is usually a really strong indicator that you are likely to win the bid, but not a guarantee. Best of luck to both of you!

This coming Sunday on Allure out of Fort Lauderdale.

This past October I had a balcony room (Casino rate so just port charges and taxes) then put a bid in for three different upgrades. Couple weeks out it showed two of the bids were expired and one pending, which I could not change. I won the pending bid of a grande suite. It was wonderful!

Thanks @AshleyDillo This is my first cruise without my family! So excited for a mom's get-away!

Most of our sailings have been in Junior Suites, and they are well worth it to us. Depending on the ship, you could either have double-bathrooms, or a huge single bathroom and a walk-in closet large enough to live in. A larger couch, a larger balcony, and more floor space, all are nice. As we speak, I'm booked on a cruise next month in a balcony stateroom. I was offered a Royal Up, jumped on it in a heartbeat, and I have my fingers crossed.

We have him for Feb 6th and Shane for Jan 30th! It will be nice to compare both of them. Im sue they are both fabulous. Looking forward to more comments

Yes, 2500 to prime. The 800 points to earn the free inside cruise certificate is a new promo they're running. It's a limited a list of sailings. I've heard mixed things about whether it's an instant certificate or something that shows up in the cabin on your next booked cruise.

There's no right or wrong answer to your question. We made the decision to book JS on Oasis or Quantum class ships to get the extra C & A points and reserve a night or two in Coastal Kitchen. One other perk that we received in Miami was we were allowed to board in the Pinnacle/Suites line instead of the general boarding line back in September. Did not have the same "perk" in Bayonne. Personally I don't like the bathtub and prefer the shower only but the walk in closets and extra space are really nice. On a smaller or older ship, there doesn't seem to be a lot of differences between the JS and balcony. You don't always get a walk in closet or tub. We are perfectly happy in a balcony cabin. Sometimes there wasn't much difference in price, but I've noticed that since the resumption of cruising, these prices have gone through the roof. Would rather save that money for dining, drinks, and excursions and get to cruise another day.

Like most A vs B questions about cruising, the answer is "it depends on your own preferences" Do you need the extra space? Extra points? Bigger bathroom?

You got it. Complete your check in. When you get to the port, they'll ask where your second person is and you tell them they aren't coming. That's it, they wont bat an eye.

Darn, then my sailing better not get cancelled LOL

This was our scheduled end of cruise day. So we just arrived home at 8am rather than 6am. There is no additional parking garage cost. By the way, the garage is still $25 a day. The plan to increase it to $30 a day has apparently been delayed.

We were discussing this exact issue yesterday at a family gathering...the anti-cruise industry attitude is ridiculous.

I use Air2Sea all the time, but their website is terrible. I have found that I can find a Celebrity Cruise that date and locations match my RCL cruise and search on the Celebrity site. You can do all the different options and figure out what you want. When I know what I want I call Air2Sea and book it. Note: I do not know how Celebrity Website can be so good and RCL be so bad. You would think they could share source code.

We took a few toiletries along this like razors, body soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. Let everything with a note saying we trusted our attendant to make sure everything is put to good use. Also threw in some cash and a few sweets. We didn't want to make a big fuss and just let her know it was there on the way off the ship. I figure even if it's things they don't really want or need they will have friends on board who may need something or who knows someone may be going home and need it for their own family.

Thanx for your 'vlog'. We are all probably wondering what might be in store for cruises in January with the omicron surging. Too bad about St. Thomas; but Cocoa Cay looks like it turned out ok for you. Did the theater production shows [mainly Grease] go on as scheduled? The mega ships offer a lot of entertainment if the ports turn away, of course, but only if the shows 'go on'. On Harmony the 23rd; wish us luck...and happy days to you back in Cincinatti. Thanks again.

Check out this link, it will tell you most of what you need to know (you should have gotten an email with this information as well). https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise?dPort=united-states 1. Vaccinated passengers need a PCR or antigen test within 2 days of sailing (do a rapid antigen at home, it's the easiest) 2. They will only test you on board if you have symptoms or if you are identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive. 3. Royal will put you up in a hotel and pay the expenses (there are threads about this already and I don't want to get it wrong so you may want to look for them). 4. If your flight is canceled, you miss the ship, and it is within 48 hours of sailing, then you'd lose any money that wasn't covered by trip insurance.

For anyone else that comes across this topic, I was fortunate enough for my wife to give me tickets to Dream Theater for Christmas! February 22 at the Fillmore in Detroit!

i just got off Harmony. They don't sell wow bands anymore, but I brought mine and they activated it at guest services. I actually liked having mine at times. For example we had to scan in and out of windjammer and if I had stuff in my hands, it was easier to scan my wow band vs. dig out my card.

You got it! When I book through Air2Sea, I track prices just like how I track my cruise cabin pricing. When I see a drop, I call Air2Sea back and ask them for a price adjustment. You can do this up until final payment when the air fare that you book is refundable.

I’m doing symphony March 19 also with the whole family and kids for their spring break, can’t wait , I’m not concerned at all about omicron as I can almost guarantee the wave will have receded and we’ll be in a good place by then. Odyssey is supposedly in port at coco cay on March 25th when we’re all there, so coco will be jamming that day. Going to be a glorious time had by all.

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