Leaderboard

This is a place for reasonable discussion of cruise ship news and rumors. Not a place to discuss your personal thoughts on Covid, vaccines, masks, and/or politics. It's a simple rule because the moment it veers in that other direction, it just devolves into name calling, personal attacks, and divisive chatter. We try to give a little leeway since inevitably there's some blurred lines when talking about cruise ship protocols, but if it goes too far, that's the end of it. There's plenty of places to discuss Covid on the internet, but this isn't one of them.

Rooms were ready a little before 1:30. We dropped off our bags and took care of a few errands. First stop was the dining room. We were assigned to the everyone deck, I assume because of DS's age. We asked to change to the vaccinated deck and were pleased to find our new table was by a window. Then to Adventure Ocean to register DS and sign him up for tonight's session. Our next assignment was to get a drink. Mai Tais for the adults and a virgin strawberry daiquiri and Shirley Temple for the kids. We headed back to the room to unpack and before we knew it, sail away was upon us. We went back up to the top deck where it was pretty chilly, especially in the shade. We ordered another round of drinks and decided to go back to the room to continue sail away on the balcony, which was perfect as we were in the sun, and get ready for dinner. I'm terrible at getting food pictures, but we could see the sunset from our window. DS went to AO, but only wanted to stay for an hour, so I headed to the casino. I'm down a little, but it's early in the week. DD was planning on going to the teen meet up, but decided to just stay in the room and watch music videos instead. DH was ready for bed right after dinner. After the last couple of early mornings, I thinknit will be an early night for all of us. Tomorrow is a sea day.

We are SINGLE DIGIT DANCING today as we celebrate 6 days to embarkation. A couple extra updates: We have decided to get off the ship in Port Canaveral and go to Cocoa Beach for a few hours. The weather is looking nice to walk around, check out the beach, the boardwalk and pier. Dinner may or may not be in the MDR at our usual time, we will see. To our amazement, SK1 was super bummed when we told her SKC can no longer happen. The kids she knows who are also on this sailing are not getting off the ship now and she's annoyed we will be dragging her away from them. Oh teenagers. We ordered our last odds and ends online and they should all be delivered to our house today and tomorrow. Bonine, lanyards, magnetic hooks, extra sunscreen, etc. I've started packing! I love that driving to the port means no limits on the number of bags. So far I'm at a small suitcase, my beach bag and a backpack. Perusing the app I've taken to looking at dining menus. We may be splitting up for dinner most nights as I have silly teenagers who don't like to veer from their tried and true dishes they like. I have one that doesn't eat pasta, one that does, one that will eat pizza or chicken nuggets their whole lives and one who would love nothing more than sushi for every meal. So while Husband and I enjoy the MDR, we may just send the kiddos to the Windjammer or Sorrento's so we can enjoy our meals with wine and not whining. I'm excited but trying not to get too excited because there is still a major test to pass and thine name is COVID. To our knowledge, Husband and I have neve caught it but both kids had mild cases of Omicron in early January. They have been exempt from all testing at school as a result so we really have no idea what news Friday will bring when we do our proctored home tests. Please send us all the good vibes this week so we can board the ship. Hopefully my next check in will be us in our rooms on the Anthem!

It took a little searching, but I do believe I found it. It was in a post back in early 2018, but the PDF link doesn't work anymore. I happened to have had a copy of it in my sent email folder. I also copied all of this into a easier to read word doc so my wife could highlight what she wanted to try. Cruise News Harmony 2019 Drinking.pdf RC DRINKS.docx

Yes, you will need the cups to operate the soda machine. There is a chip in the bottom of the cup that unlocks the machine and let's you make selections. I got annoyed constantly carrying cups around after 3 cruises so on cruise #4 I got these carry cases from Amazon. They don't do too much in the way of insulation but they add 0 extra weight, could easily slip onto my forearm to keep my hands free, and if the cup was empty or almost empty, I just looped it onto whatever bag strap I may have had on me. (no belt loops cuz I'm all sundresses on vacay)

One more observation. The fact that we're discussing suite lounge issues must mean things are getting back to normal.

Hello again, sorry for the delay. We are having such a great time. Day one we had dinner at Chops. I had the Ribeye and it was amazing. Next we attended the welcome aboard show and comedy show. They were both a lot of fun and Simona had our seats reserved in a great spot, and drinks delivered as soon as we sat down. On a side note, even with all of the questions i asked of you guys, as well as watching countless videos, and doing other research, I still was not prepared for just how impressive STAR Class actually is. Simona has been absolutely amazing. She has met us at the entrance for every single meal, she even wore her own formal e just to meet us for our Chef's table reservation last night. I cannot overstate just how unbelievable this experience has been and we are only 2 days in. Thanks for following along. I am having trouble uploading pictures. The only one that actually went through was a pretty cool one of the NYC Skyline as we were departing. I will try and upload more but i think they are too large so i will have to degrade them a bit to actually upload.

I just realized that, thanks. That's what I get for message boarding when I'm still half asleep.

Run away, but we're running in circles One last one before going to sleep. Today I found the jogging track by mistake, but I like it. All the other ships I have been on the running track is above the pool deck and it the way of everything and everyone is watching you run or walk. On the Symphony it is on deck 5 and goes all the way around the ship. I got on it and walked 2 miles today and it did not see that far. It feels like you are inside, but you are really between the lifeboats and the ship. They have signs to encourage you to keep going. Here are a couple of pictures.

Day 2: Nassau (cont.) We woke up early this morning in Nassau to the Carnival Conquest and the British Colonial Hilton off the starboard side… A busy day in Nassau as the Celebrity Reflection (starboard) and Celebrity Apex (port) followed us from Ft. Lauderdale… … and Indy (port) joined us as well! We decided not to get off the ship today and headed to the Windjammer for breakfast. After breakfast we headed to the solarium and used the hot tubs. The pool water was on the chilly side, so us lightweights didn’t last very long and went back to the hot tubs! We met this lady in the solarium… very friendly… The ladies had booked a massage in the spa, so I took the opportunity to explore the ship some more… OK… time to call it a night!

Shut up, count your calories, i never looked good in mom jeans (link to song https://youtu.be/3TPx2rIstWA ) I had dinner at the Hooked Seafood restaurant tonight and was able to enter all my calories into my app that is helping on my 2lbs a week adventure. About halfway through a manager seen me trying to figure out food close to what I was having to enter in my app. She informed me that all the restaurants can tell me the calories of the dishes. I just have to ask my server and they can get them for me. Yes, you can count calories on a cruise ship. Now onto my dinner. My expectations were mixed. I love seafood and the restaurant helped me the first day book all of my dinners. Then I read on a Facebook post that they did not like the restaurant. After eating there, I would go back. I had a water named May and she was fantastic. She took my order and helped me with choices. I had the soft-shell crab just because I have seen it on TV and never had one. To me it is kind of freaky eating the shell of the crab. I had it and ate all of it. I am not a big crab eater, and this just did not have much of a taste. Don't know if that is good or bad, just did not thrill me. Then my main meal come, Lobster Tail, Blacken Halibut and shrimp. These things, I do know about. The lobster and shrimp were good and were as good as anyplace I have eaten. Now the Blackened Halibut was very good to me. It had a good spice level and my old taste buds were awakened. If you do not like spicy things do not get the blackened fish. The last thing on my main dish was cajon French fries. Now let me ask you... have you ever purchased frozen fresh fries from the store that are thin straight plan fries? That is what they served me. They looked like McDonald fries without the taste. Now the cajon part was a little spice that you could not taste. It was not salt or flavor. I just need to thank Hooked Seafood restaurant for serving me the fries because it saved me 300 calories from not eating them. The last part was the best. I told May (the server) to check the calories on the Limon Tart and bring it to me if it was under 350 calories. She served it to me with a smile on her face telling me 280. I closed my eyes and really enjoyed my limon tart

I caught COVID last month as a fully vaccinated adult, and no one in my house (including 2 unvaccinated kids) caught it without doing anything crazy like wearing a mask in my own home or depriving my kids from the full faced love of their mother for 5-10 days. You cannot say that "simple measures work". In fact, most evidence suggests it is tantamount to voodoo at this point, yet people commiting the same logical fallacy as the one you just made are setting policy from CDC in place under the belief that "well, it can't hurt". Except it can, and it's beginning to tread beyond foolishness.

They called us to board just after I clicked submit on my last post. To the Windjammer! We met Amit, the suite concierge in the elevator after we did our muster check-in and he told us we could wait in the suite lounge until rooms open.

Hi am currently on the Symphony of the Saes with an unvaccinated 8 year old from the Uk. We too was meant to have the same email but it didn’t arrive.If you haven’t I would download the Royal Carribean App as I check in passport ,COVID Vaccination proof and time of arrival which I choose for 11am on the app as I knew my child would need an Antigen Teast before boarding .Soon as we were at the Entrance to board we’re told a member of staff we had an unvaccinated child so was took to another queue with unvaccinated children and took through for the test ,and then you sit and wait for results via email you receive ,which is then shown to a member of staff which then take you through to boarding gate no queuing eiether as you and straight on the ship , you have to see show marked with the letter E and sit away from vaccinated guest some bars are unvaccinated and the nicer ones are vaccinated but my children don’t want to attend Ocean ADventure it Teens club so we’re pretty limited which am not used to on a cruse.Bingo is on today which I wanted to do at 4pm today vaccinated only so unfortunately I can’t do but other than that am still getting used to it.Book your shows as soon as you get on board they fill fast ,we wanted too see Hiro on the night we got on the ship it had filled up by Noon so doing it tonight and it’s formal night to and Valentines Day to ,enjoy your cruse we are .

Depends on how much was ordered. Just a single tray with my morning coffee as a solo, usually $2. A full meal for several people that requires several trips into the room to set down trays will be $5-$10. It really depends on the effort required.

An update on Allure Suite Lounge Feb. 2022. Confirming there is 11am-11pm complimentary soda, wine and beer in the Suite Lounge bar. The Suite Lounge was packed every night.

It wasn't worth it to us, but then again there were only 1200 people on the island that day. It'd be more worth it when there's a lot of people on the island.

Only if you are corrupt!

I would say all US ports. I also can’t confirm what would be considered standard or excessive tip per bag but I do know there are plenty of people who stiff the porters. IMHO, I would say $2 per bag is average, $5 per bag is good and anything above that is excessively good.

Odyssey… right now (2/12-2/20)… Just left Guest Services… they stated original/expected passenger count before set sail was 3,300. Actual count as of tonight is 2,724.

Oh wow thank you Sharla, excellent info. I really want those double points. Between the June cruise and August cruise will be Diamond on the next cruise. I know don't chase loyalty rewards and all that but its kinda a goal. John is a great guy. Thank you FionaMG, the little peanut is so cute.

I noticed the credit of $100 after I changed my room to larger balcony for $2 more! Whoot! Last time I called a few months ago they said it was only new reservations. Happy dance

... What? That must be some extrapolation of the transitive property of logic and mathematics that I'm just not getting. The point is anecdotes don't make data, and that when the actual data is analyzed "simple measures" can't be tied to any meaningful change in the state of the pandemic, especially not as it pertains to the way a business like RCL operates irrespective of the regulatory quagmire imposed on them by government agencies like the CDC. Also, I'd conservatively wager at least half of RCL's customers aren't happy about the prospect of what amounts to stricter restrictions for most coming out of the Omicron wave, and also are less than excited about having to vaccinate their kids as part of that stricter experience in the climate of information continuously coming out which seems to undermine that benefit. You can see the tide turning too, in the way that the cruise line's major lobbying arm, CLIA, is also becoming more vocal. I personally think it would be jarring to not see that same representation of voices here, from actual RCL customers, and have to have a small laugh at the fact that heckles only seemed to get raised on page two of a forum after a slew of comments arbitrarily expressing an overly saccharine view of the whole affair. Oh, and please don't be sorry for me. It was a two day illness made dramatically worse by the 10 day quarantine requirement when I still tested positive by PCR on day 7.

You can move it with the same reservation number. No need to cancel/rebook. John will know how to do that!

1. So sorry that you caught covid and glad that you recovered and that no one else in your family got it. 2. If you can say wearing masks if "beyond foolishness'," it would only be fair to allow others to believe and say that "simple measures work." I don't think that dismissiveness really gets us anywhere on these boards that are designed to educate cruisers for RCCL.

All to ourselves.

How does tipping the port side porter get your bags to your room faster? Those guys aren't the ones delivering to the cabin

Day 3: Sea Day (Valentine’s Day) Last evening before we hit the sack, I went to Guest Services for the passenger count. They mentioned the pre-cruise count was as high as 3,300 at one point… they looked it up and confirmed that the total official count for this cruise is 2,724. Here is the Cruise Compass for today: My wife and I went to the Windjammer (Solarium Bistro does not offer breakfast like on Oasis class). We headed to the solarium a little before 10:00am to eventually meet up with our friend. The place was empty on a sea day! It did pick up late morning into the afternoon. It looks like my wife is being boiled alive, LOL! We set up shop right up front… very relaxing view! For lunch, we went to the Windjammer… retrained ourselves as we have Chef’s Table tonight and we did not want to destroy our appetite! This will be our first Chef’s Table experience. Tonight is also the first formal night of this sailing. OK, time for me to relax for a few and get ready for dinner tonight!

Yes, I was very obviously joking.

Day 2: Nassau (cont.) When the ladies returned from their massages, we went to El Loco Fresh for lunch and then back to the solarium for a bit. We had dinner once again in the MDR. Just a reminder that if you have a special diet or special requests to tell your waiter. My wife requested low sodium this time (elevated BP) so they bring over the menu for the next evening and you make your selections. They will then prepare your meal accordingly when you come the following evening. We also requested the famous “savory bites” for the remaining evenings in the MDR. I cannot remember if we’ve had these before, but everyone seems to love these little rolls! Here is the Day 2 MDR menu: Some pics of the entrance into the MDR… cool video walls! The ladies had the Seafood Puff Pastry and the Shrimp Cocktail. I had the Baked Potato Soup and the Shrimp Cocktail as well. Wow, forgot how tiny these shrimp are compared to the specialty dining restaurants like Chops! Not the best MDR menu this evening… we all elected to have the Beef Stroganoff. Just an FYI… not the creamy kind you are likely familiar with. It was tasty, just not memorable. For dessert, two of us had the Bananas Foster and the other had the Traditional English Trifle. We all enjoyed the dessert! We had no interest in watching the Super Bowl… I know, blasphemy! I’m a huge hockey and baseball fan. If the Jets could ever field a decent team and make the playoffs again, then I’d be interested! They showed the game in Two70 and the Forward pool on the big screen. Additionally, they showed it in Playmakers, but there was a $50 cover charge which included food, etc (not sure of all details). We explored the interior of the ship some more and visited Boleros to listen to a couple of bands (not just Latin bands) and then called it a night. This guy treated us when we got back to our cabin…

It's almost as if they don't want cruise lines to opt in but want something to say "we told you so" if anything "goes wrong" on a ship that didn't opt in

So which is it? Book The Book or don’t book The Book?!?!?!

Never

Oof.... These caveats should make all cruise lines think twice about opting into the program... especially the refund part..... a government agency making a private company offer full refunds... Ouch. † If CDC is considering assigning a cruise ship “Red” status, CDC may require ships to do one or more of the following: Test all passengers mid-voyage, and/or prior to the end of the voyage, regardless of the passengers’ vaccination status; Increase routine screening testing of crew; Require mask use by all passengers and crew indoors and crowded outdoor areas; Send written notification to passengers on the current, previous, and subsequent voyages informing them of the COVID-19 conditions and measures being taken to reduce transmission on board; Offer a full refund for the cruise to any passenger who decides not to sail on the subsequent voyage; and Submit specimens for genetic sequencing.

I will grab it and put a full cup of diet ginger ale in my fridge for the night. Can’t get that at a bar & it’s the only soda I drink.

I am a soda drinker and we almost always get the UDP. I have never, not once, ever used one of the plastic cups that they give you. No way am I going to haul that piece of junk around ! I have never had a problem getting a drink.

@Johnny Johns to echo what @CruisingNewb said, don't get hung up on the %off number because its off an onboard price that nobody actually knows for certain. All of these prices vary by ship, and sail date, and the whim of RC AI that sets the prices. I've seen DX beverage packages with two different "sales" have the exact same cost. Your best bet is to watch prices and purchase an item when it is at a price you are comfortable paying. Once you make the purchase, you can look to see if it goes cheaper, and you can cancel and repurchase the cruise planner item at the lower cost. If the price goes up, you know that you have protected yourself from that increase. Independent excursions can be cheaper, but you do have risks and the loss of convenience associated with booking through the ship. Good time management and pre-planning can prevent those issues from becoming a factor though. I also take location into consideration. If I'm familiar with the port, or the excursion is close to the port I may be more inclined to do an independent excursion. If a long drive is involved, I don't take that risk. Lastly, welcome to the blogs!!

True Story... keeping my fingers crossed. They're a little busy dealing with the border issues, so that would also lend itself to a Friday announcement.

If someone handles my bags for me, they get a tip. This includes shuttle drivers and porters.

Not really a tip though is it!! In your own words Its basically a bribe to stop them throwing your cases in the drink!

We are booked on that cruise.It'll be strange visiting our home port (Dunedin).

If there are guests areas the elevator stops there.

FINALLY a ship tour! [almost]

It’s harder to get inside a Costco than it is to get into Cozumel or Costa Maya from a cruise ship. You’ll need your Seapass to get back onboard.

who wears a watch anymore. I get there when I get there

So, last evening we stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites. Definitely a bare bones hotel with a good location. From our room we could see the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel & Casino in the distance. If you want a bed and a basic complimentary breakfast it will do nicely. Day 1: Embarkation Day For some strange reason, the first shuttle to the port left at 10:45am which was a little too close to our 11:00am check-in window. Instead, we just took an Uber which cost about the same for the the three of us (our friend’s husband was not able to join us this time). We arrived at the port a little before 10:30am. Checked the bags at the curb and headed to the terminal. Since we had the Key, they led us to another entrance just to the right of the main entrance where folks were lining up based on their check-in times. For some reason, they did not seem to care about our check-in window and just let us in! As we entered the terminal we could see people were still disembarking the ship. Our line was pretty short and the main line snaked around to our left. After a brief delay we went through security, completed the second checkpoint (check-in and negative Covid test verification, etc.), and then into the Key waiting area of the terminal right next to the suite folks. Only 15 minutes or so from entering the terminal to the boarding waiting area. Glad we did not have to wait for the 11:00am check-in and wait on that long, snaking line! There was another short delay which gave us the opportunity to start and complete most of the muster/safety drill. Suite folks lined up to board and we followed immediately behind them. I can say the Key was very helpful this time as we actually boarded the ship before our scheduled check-in window. We headed right to the MDR to check-in with the Key desk and drop off our carry-ons for delivery to our cabin. We then stayed for our embarkation day Chops Grille menu lunch. We were all pleasantly surprised how well it turned out in the MDR. Since we had the Key lunch actually in Chops back in 2019 on Allure, we did not know what to expect this time around. Everything was excellent! Excellent way to start the cruise! Heading to bed now before my wife kills me (it’s 1:16am)! I’ll wrap up embarkation day tomorrow! Goodnight!

I didn't get destroyed too bad but in switching fiance back to sharing room with me somehow they removed her C+A status... Spent hours fixing that. But it is fixed...

The way I describe Cats in simple terms is that it is like a reality show - American Idol, AGT, Weakest Link, etc - where each cat explains in song why they should win. The winner goes to the Heavyside Layer to claim another one of their nine lives. It's almost like a revue-type show which makes it seem disjointed. Of course, as in most reality shows, the contestant with the best sob story wins ... and the award goes to... Lady G!

The CDC and government needs to stay out of our lives. The past 2 years has been a perfect example of an overreach of power and the people worldwide are fed up with all of it.

Hello everyone from the Anthem of the SEAS. Today has been an incredible embarkation day. We were among the first few ppl on the ship, which was awesome. Simona is better than my wildest dreams. Anything we have requested as been taken care of within a few minutes. My parents are celebrating their 40th anniversary, and our suite was decorated to celebrate. My mom was touched. I think STAR Class may spoil anything less for us moving forward. We had lunch at Coastal Kitchen. I had the tomato soup and Seared Salmon. It was perfectly cooked and tasted incredible. Tonight we will be eating at Chops and then going to the comedy show. When we get back will plan to upload some of my pictures. Thanks for following along. Oh and BTW our ports of call have reverted back to the originals. We are so happy!!!