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He had a high fever and started coughing. I brought tests from home. Tested him and self reported it to the cruise line. Wanted to do the right thing by reporting it and trying to make sure no one else got it from us.

Haven't been on Wonder yet but agree with Matt and his reasoning. All Oasis class are great for kids IMO. Take the GS on Harmony now (I'll be in one for the first time in 15 days) and try Wonder later.

Well this takes us from 9 tests to 6. It’s an improvement but the US needs to drop it’s ridiculous testing requirement. We literally will walk off a ship that has been in the US ALL WEEK, go straight to Vancouver airport and we need a freakin test. Meanwhile you could drive from Seattle across the border, traisp all over Canada for 2 weeks, drive back across the border and no test required. Proof our government is totally dysfunctional

How is this possible? Icon is being constructed in a dry dock.

My wife noticed an offer on the Deluxe Drinks Package that was posted on a Facebook group. This is for European sailings of 5 nights or above and represents a huge saving. The offer is only available on Live Chat and although the offer advertised has expired, Royal Caribbean have extended it. Today's price is £71.05 pppd, but if you contact Royal Caribbean on Live Chat they will add it to your outstanding balance at £40 pppd (in fact it's slightly under, as the cost per person for the 7 night sailing is £275)

My paid cruise had a significant price reduction. Great, no big deal, my TA took care of it. It was refunded as expected as OBC. Then a week later the OBC was gone and that amount was refunded to my credit card.

What caused your son to be tested?

This!

Are you in your original room or did they move you? does room service deliver cocktails?

Arrived at the port at 11:15 and went straight to the 1230 line. Didn’t matter. They were shoveling people through as fast as they could in all lines. No one checked my time and I was on the ship by 1140 wandering around and checking everything out. Did muster drill right away, made show reservations as fast as I could… And they were already selling out… Then a quick lunch. As Matt has said many times in his videos, don’t go to the Windjammer on that first day, like I did! Unbelievably packed. Vitality spa Café was empty, solarium bistro was nearly empty, there are many other choices. Changed into my swimsuit and swam in all three pools. Two people in the first pool, four people in the second pool, absolutely no one else in the third pool. Swam for an hour, soaked in the hot tub alone, found a Casita on the sundeck, which was deserted, and looked out the ocean for a while, watching all the sailboats and windsurfers play. Rooms were ready at one but I didn’t come down till about 230. I have unpacked and organized the room, had a shower, and I’m headed back out for the Sail away party and more exploration . I have reservations for the aqua theater tonight. Found several documents in my room. Sharing these . I love my port-side boardwalk balcony cabin! Great views of people zip lining overhead, the aqua theater, the boardwalk area, the ocean and sky, and of course, people on their balconies across the way. Somebody somewhere gave a tip to bring some clothes pins or clips so that when you go to sleep at night you can pinch the curtains shut and they’ll stay shut in the room will stay dark. So glad I listened and brought along clips because they will definitely be needed. Internet on the Allure is pretty slow compared to Odyssey. Uploading photos is a drawn out process.

Royal is planning to position Radiance in Galveston starting in January. She is offering some different itineraries including a handful to Perfect Day. If lots of people sail on these itineraries, then maybe Royal will make more of them going forward.

Suite all the way. You won’t believe how small a balcony cabin will feel by day 3!

Suite all day long. What you get for benefits out weighs the little extra Wonder gives. You’ll appreciate the Much larger room over a balcony especially with 4 in a room. Then the kids will get there own Wi-Fi I’m sure they’ll use. Then if a royal up is available, try for a 2 bedroom GS.

Drink a lot more.

I will second this, load in all your vax info beforehand. That is the most time consuming part of the app. When the border first opened back up in November 2021, it took a while to get my info into the app. I saved Hubby and kids as "dependents" and since November 2021, we have used Arrive Can several times and it has been very quick to fill out with vax info and passport info pre-loaded. I have also never been asked to show the actual app receipt at the land border crossing. I think it definitely is linked to the passport because each time we have crossed since November, the land border agent thanks us for filling out the app properly, even though they never asked to see it.

A travel tip that may seem obvious: allow plenty of time in the morning to get your taxi or Uber, if you’re not taking a pre-designated shuttle. I’m staying at the Holiday Inn within sight of the port, and I just came down to ask for a cab and there are about 30 people in front of me waiting for their turn. The front desk called the cab service for me and was put on hold. This will take a while. Somehow I have never run into this before. we are just far enough off the main drag to where I can’t exactly go out on the corner and hope to flag a cab passing by.

I think it's easier to use our ipad. That way, you can prop it up and see it easier, especially when you need to show them things like your ID or the bar code on the box. You just need a book or something to prop it up against.

Welcome to the message boards. I think your kids will have a great time on either ship. I don't think one or the other has such a big difference in experience that it's worth the change. Heck, I'd argue being in a grand suite is better for the kids because you get the suite benefits, which are super helpful for embarkation and disembarkation with kids.

Weatherman - only job you can be wrong 90% of the time & not get fired!!

We are on Mariner right now and we were just in Curaçao 2 days ago. We had an amazing tour with Joey from Gone Caribe. https://www.gonecaribe.com/build-your-own-trip We saw flamingos, Visited Shete Boka National Park, swam with turtles and snorkeled at the most beautiful beach. Our boys (14 & 16) loved it as much as we did. Highly recommend a tour with Gone Caribe. Worth every dollar.

In South Florida the last thing we listen to is the weather forecast. Do not let this impact your trip in any way. It literally rains here for 15 minutes and the sun comes back out.

I'm moving this to the Live Blog section, since that's basically what it is.

Absolutely agree with you. If we listened to the weatherman...We would stay home and miss a lot of good fishing, hunting and beach days.

My kids favorite memory of Coco is the first time we were there in a day bed on the old south beach (before the perfect day extravaganza)....it started raining and they were all like "What do we do now" as they watched all the people run out of the water, pack up their crap and leave......it wasn't a thunder storm, so I took them into the water....which was warm, and the chilly rain splashed on their faces while they swam.....20 minutes later it stopped, sun came out...and we were the only people around for the rest of the day.

born & raised in Miami I can tell you that the weather forecast mean absolutely nothing down here this time of year. It says 50% chance of rain from May to September & chances are it might rain at some point in the day, almost every day but they don't tend to be complete washouts. As others have mentioned, on sea days the captain does his best to stay clear of storms, but have no control over port days. you're on vacation, don't let a little rain affect your day. The best thing about oasis class ships are all the different kinds of entertainment that they offer that aren't reliant on good weather. Happy Sailing!

Your gonna get wet anyway so what difference does a little rain make

Got to think positive here. Good chance you will not get sunburned. However, you may get waterlogged. `

I know everyone is keen to get back to Vanuatu but I think their government needs to be conservative in their decision making. It is important to remember they don't have the health infrastructure of NZ, Aust, US or for that matter New Caledonia. The number of hospital beds and ventilators per head of populations is well under the countries most of us call home. Also unfortunately adding to this as a population they are also over represented in conditions that increase the risk of serious COVID outcomes (such as Diabetes etc). On the other hand a great deal of the countries income is from tourism so opening up is important. Yes, can’t wait to get back there…. But I absolutely wouldn’t want to do so if I knew I was putting the people of Vanuatu at undue risk. I am happy to let Vanuatu make their own decision on when they want to open up and respect the fact they are being cautious. When they do I hope Australia and New Zealand continue to support them as far as ensuring they have access to any medical facilities they may require as they open up and that the cruise lines act responsibility and take into consideration the nature of the countries infrastructure itself when deciding to dock in a given day our not (Which I think they will be especially RCL which has long term agreements in place with Vanuatu). I actually wouldn’t be upset if you had do a rapid test before being allowed off the ship in port. Given most itineraries see a 2 or 3 day sail before you land it gives time for your viral load to be high enough to test positive. It might be a nice compromise between having the ships return and keeping the population as safe as possible (Never will 100% but anything we can do to reduce pressure on their health system the better).

I get emails directly from Royal regarding my sailing. My TA also does, and she forwards them to me. So it seems to be hit and miss.

I just got my negative test result —so I am officially going on vacation! This will be my first solo cruise and first non-DCL ship, and I was hoping it might be worth a live blog even though my oceanview balcony cabin will be sub-cosmic class. About me: 37, Boston, Director of Operations for an environmental nonprofit; unrepentant overpacker, recovering overplanner, extreme introvert. My bag has been packed for almost two weeks. About my trip: Many firsts—First Royal cruise, first cruise since the shutdown, first solo cruise. I’ve never stepped onto a ship without my 9yo and currently-becoming-ex-husband before! He and I are still on good terms, and had initially planned an April ’22 post-separation sailing for the three of us in a 2-bedroom suite on Freedom—we had an overwater cabana booked and everything!—but he canceled right before final payment because he was spooked about getting on a ship in These Dark Times. He ended up taking our kid on a land-based trip to FL without me, and I decided on what would have been our embarkation day to YOLO Book It and have a solo adventure. (Having only sailed DCL before, even with the single supplement, DBP, UDP, and Voom I’m beside myself over how little I’m paying for this. ) This will also be the first time I’ve not had to fly to get to the port—I decided to try out First Class on the Amtrak Acela between Boston and Newark Penn Station. I’m leaving Boston tomorrow (Saturday) morning, and I’ll spend the night at the DoubleTree by Hilton that’s next to the train station. The question of the moment: how am I supposed to get any work done today?!

This is one reason that check in in Seattle is an absolute cluster. People aren't sticking to their check in times and just showing up "a little early just in case".

No. You can use the points ahead of time in the Cruise Planner to purchase things (you just have to call the Rewards number at Bank of America and ask them to apply it right away, instead of what they will usually do (2 weeks prior to sailing). Or you could just use some of the points now and save some for later. You could also have the 400 OBC available, and whatever you don't spend you could take out as cash in the casino. I believe any excess that you didn't use would be refunded to you, BUT I'm not 100% sure. I just know that just because you have 400 credits available you don't have to transfer all of them at one time - you can choose an amount to use.

Thanks Leroyr55. We are sailing on 5/21. Have the Dinning Package. First time on Oasis Class. Looking forward to Restaurants and shows.

It's not even that they don't want others to know, but if you lose it it would hopefully take some time for someone to figure out which deck to let themselves into your cabin and steal stuff (or worse, I guess).

It’s a “security thing”. I suppose many folks don’t want others to know exactly which room they are in.

I'll have to check that part, I didn't notice that part. Thanks for the info, this is kinda exciting. Can't get hopes up too high though.

I should add that pending without the ability to modify is the best sign. I really hope you win the 2br GS.

I received my last one 4 days prior to sailing. There's just no way to know.

Tested this morning via the proctored iHealth tests. We are all negative. Woohoo!!!

Cruise Director Mike just announced that there’s going to be an Aqua 80 showcase at 7pm! I’m SO excited.

I feel like I’ve really had a Perfect Day—I had firstlunch at the Boardwalk Dog House; watched Aqua 80 rehearsals with a couple of beers, had secondlunch at El Loco Fresh; and then napped in the Solarium until 3:15, at which point I came onto the island as the vast majority of people were walking back onto the ship. I feel sorry for the guitarist scheduled for the 4:15 show, because the audience couldn’t possibly be good and wasn’t. I'm just so happy to be here! I can’t stop walking around grinning like an idiot.

My day started with many rainbows, which was delightful. I grabbed a smoothie from the Vitality Café and brought it to the chairs on the aft of the jogging track so I could watch us back into Coco Cay. I love having my own verandah, but I’m also deeply enjoying my time out there. The only issue is that I always decide I want to be there when I’m all the way forward on the ship, and then I proceed to come out on exactly the wrong side such that I’m ¾ of the length of the ship away facing the wrong direction…I will not get the hang of this, I just know it. I’m still feeling ambivalent about getting off the ship. Apologies to the Perfect Day aficionados, but if you don’t have an excursion or extra amenity booked it’s just a day on a beach or in a pool, and hilariously I love Caribbean cruising but neither of those things excites me. I think I will read on a daybed in the Solarium during the day, finally check out El Loco Fresh when it opens at 1 since there won’t be a crowd, and then maybe go walk around the island in the midafternoon after people start returning to the ship to get ready for the first dinner seating.

I had dinner at Izumi,* and I did something I’ve literally never done before in a restaurant: I got something I didn’t like (the truffled creamy lobster tempura roll), and said as much instead of just eating it anyway or asking to get it To Go. Wasting food and disappointing people are two of my least favorite things, so my newfound ability to set that aside and be honest about what I want feels like real personal growth. I did feel very worried about making my server hate me, but what matters most is that a) they still got a $10 tip on top of the UDP 18% and b) I took one more step into adulthood at the age of 37 *Sushi, not hibachi—I’m sure most people don’t have much hibachi experience, but it happens that my extended family loves it more than most things, so the majority of the time I eat at a restaurant with them we’re going for hibachi…so it’s both in no way a novelty to me and also seems like a weird experience for an introverted solo traveler.

Today, Thursday, and Friday afternoon I’m (kind of, sort of) working, and it’s been funny wandering around looking for good places to do it. At first I assumed I’d just stay in my cabin, but I decided that felt like a waste so I headed to Central Park. I was going to duck into the Library for my Zoom meetings, but people kept coming in and I didn’t want to disturb them by talking/hang out with them in a closed room unmasked unnecessarily so I’ve been mostly outside. My 9:30 meeting was before the pool deck music started, which was pretty perfect, and the Internet has been cooperating for the most part. (Weirdly, my Zooms have been flawless but loading webpages is hit or miss.) I had a late lunch at Portside BBQ, which was very satisfying despite them having run out of brookies, and I got to enjoy first the country guitarist/singer and then some dolphins swimming alongside us. (The “hint of mint” in the Spiked Palmer has the subtlety of a stage whisper, though.)

I used to frequent a forum similar to this one that is dedicated to DCL cruising, as my three previous cruises were all on their ships. There are a lot of people who are deeply comforted by the Disney Bubble and intimidated by the idea of venturing outside it, and one reason that’s frequently cited is the lack of casinos—people say they don’t want to be on a ship with one, period, partially because of the cigarette smoke. My thought was, how could I possibly be affected by the existence of the casino if I don’t go in? And even DCL ships have a smoking section, so how could this be different? I was a daily smoker for a decade, so I’m not just being a scold when I say it turns out that on this ship I have found all the cigarette smoke to be unpleasant and, to a certain extent, ubiquitous: the whole area of the Royal Promenade around the staircase to the casino reeks of stale smoke. Every time I go up to the pool deck, I accidentally emerge right in the middle of the smoking section, which feels larger than I expected. This morning before 6 a.m. I went out to my verandah to enjoy the last glimpses of the planets before sunrise and someone very nearby was smoking. (I know that last one is just a rule breaker, which can happen anywhere, and after I loudly stated, “I can smell your smoke,” they either stopped or reoriented in a way that eliminated the impact on my area…it was just a moment of, “Ugh, again?!”) So, there are definitely differences in the experience beyond the lack of split bathrooms and the pornography on the PPV—which was itself a record scratch moment for me. (I was scrolling through the options and the porn is literally right below Sing 2. It’s good to know that when I’m sailing with family I’ll need to activate parental controls before my kid gets the remote.) Am I crazy, or does this cloud look like a cruise ship? It has smokestacks and everything. (I promise I’ll start to include pictures of something other than sky and water soon...)

This is my fourth cruise, and the second that embarked somewhere other than Port Canaveral. (The other was a Vancouver-to-San Diego repositioning cruise in October.) It’s weirdly easy to forget/not recognize that if it’s not beach weather where you got on the ship, you have to sail to the beach weather—and if it’s a weeklong round-trip, you will be sailing toward it and back away from it for more than half the your time onboard. Yesterday at Trellis Bar I heard some Mainers in t-shirts explaining to someone else that they’re used to this weather…as a lifelong resident of the Northeastern US, I have to say that I’m just cold all the time (unless I’m too hot). I spent a couple of hours this morning looking at the water from a Solarium daybed in a coat and wrapped in a blanket, and passersby seemed evenly split between people in swimwear and people in coats complaining about the cold. The water is much calmer now that we’re around South Carolina, thank goodness. You can’t beat the view from the aft of the jogging track! I’ve caught some glimpses of the Aqua 80 cast’s rehearsals, and it’s honestly shocking that they’re so far away from having learned the show more than a week into being on the ship. I will console myself with YouTube recordings, but I feel bad for the people who paid for any balcony that overlooks the Aqua Theater.

I will agree with others - once you have a travel agent, all update emails go to them. The issue may be, the emails may not go directly to your individual agent but to a general email in the company. Which mean the email has to go from Royal to General company to all TAs to all clients of a TA and it may get lost in the shuffle. The most you can do, I think, is to check in regularly with your TA about any updates/changes/notices etc that may have come out.

According to the level app on my phone the ship is swaying as much as 3 degrees, and I’m really feeling it; at the moment, I’m a little sad we’re not getting to Port Canaveral until tomorrow afternoon. Still, what a privilege to have woken up to this view!

I made myself an app for my cruise in Coda: it has my packing list, a countdown, trackers for Small Wonders and my drinks, etc. I am very ready to get my day started. My train ride was pleasant — Acela First Class apparently includes a surprisingly good meal and open bar — but because I had no plans for Newark beyond waking up here on embarkation day, I’ve been counting the minutes until it’s reasonable for me to request a Lyft to the port since I exited The Other Penn Station. The Royal app now has the activities schedule for the cruise loaded and is allowing me to add things to my calendar, so I’m killing time looking at what will be on offer. Based on what I see in the app and what I’ve heard about the last few Oasis sailings, I’m preparing myself for a trip with neither Aqua 80 nor Cats, but I will survive. (Aqua 80 is a real loss; Cats is just bad in a way I find bonkers and amusing.)