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Joey: Does he like you? Because if he doesn't like you, this is all a MOO point. Rachel: Huh? A moo point? Joey: Yeah, it's like a cow's opinion. It just doesn't matter. It's MOO.

I'm posting this in the Rumors section b/c I have not seen it but one place, so far. La Vida Loca is reporting that Celebrity will be lifting the vaccination requirement for passengers under 17 years old, for cruises from Europe. Granted, this is a subset of a subset of a subset of cruisers, but to my knowledge this is the first time I have read of any vaccination requirement being lifted anywhere. Testing requirements ? Yes...but not vaxxes as far as I know. Anybody else hear this anywhere officially ? Could there be a crack ?

I guess we’ve just been lucky. Never had anything even slightly ruined. One time (we were Star Class so everything came back on hangars) we realized, after we got home, that Dan had an extra pair of gym shorts and I had a missing pair of yoga pants ! So the item count was correct but someone got my britches and someone’s missing some gym shorts ! Dan loves those shorts. They’re his favorite Jammie’s. I hope whoever got my pants are enjoying them half as much !

We are now about 30 days out from our Greek Odyssey, and I figure it is not overly early to begin a blog. This is our third cruise since the pandemic, but it will be our first experience on a Quantum-class ship. We have experienced every other ship class in the RC fleet and are looking forward to the Odyssey! Ship itinerary: Rome (Civitavecchia) Sea Day Santorini (on your own to Oia RC excursion, hike back to Fira, dinner at Avocado on the way back) Mykonos (all day RC tour) Crete (independent food tour of Chania) Sea Day Rome We have a bit of a challenging travel schedule because we are doing a walk from the West Coast to East Coast of England after the cruise. When I booked flights long ago, given our England excursion after the cruise, I booked round trip to London (it was also far less expensive than Rome). The current flight situation was not part of my calculus, and I did not book flights from London to Italy at the time (big mistake). In any event, I have managed to find flights from London to Venice where we will stay a couple of days before the cruise and then back to London from Rome after. When I initially booked the flight to London, these local flights were very inexpensive. Not so much now . . . We are looking forward to Venice. I have been to Rome and Florence, but not Venice. Any suggestions would be appreciated! From Venice, we are training to Rome to arrive in Saturday evening before the cruise. Our entire cruise party is meeting at a hotel just next to Termini called NH Collection Roma Palazzo Cinquecento to stay the night before the cruise (hopefully, everyone will get there safely and COVID free). We are then taking the train from Termini to Civitavecchia in the morning with a boarding time of around noon. I am hoping that we can walk from the train station to the port without much problem (any insight would be appreciated!). After the cruise, we are training back to Rome to stay at the same hotel and then flying back to London to start our walk. I love trip planning, but this one has been a bear: hotels in Venice, Rome (twice), London (twice), and thirteen separate towns in Northern England; trains in Italy and England; inter-Europe flights, and schedules for five busy people! I think it is now done, but I expect to be disrupted by the unexpected. Who is going? It depends on the leg of the trip! For the cruise, I am staying in a GS with my teen son. Another son and DIL have a balcony cabin next door (I'm hoping that we can connect the two balconies?). My sister has an inside cabin across the hall that I am guessing will be used almost exclusively for sleeping. On the cruise, we have the UDP. I hope to reserve through the suite concierge as we get closer to the departure date. I also need to work during the cruise, so I really, really hope the WiFi cooperates! We have never been to Greece at all, so any suggestions/advice as to anything at any of the ports would be welcome!

Anyone else who tested onboard for B2B or S2S in 2021 or early this year just get evidence of their negative Covid test? I got an email with a negative result and was thinking "aww this poor person isn't gonna get their result since they sent it to the wrong email," but nooo it was MY negative test result from November 6th onboard Oasis. Please note the hilarious Date Collected and Date of Report below. Super efficient over there at BioReference, huh?

Until the CDC removes the vaccine requirements from it's "voluntary" protocols I believe the vaccine requirements will remain in place for the US port embarkations. Actually, in my opinion, the crack is larger in the precruise testing requirements.

This is from Celebrities Southampton England embarkation healthy protocols "As of June 8, 2022, all guests ages 18 and older must be fully vaccinated." So it is official.

SEVEN MONTHS?!?!? I hope no one is depending on them for the results of a pregnancy test.

And the cruise is cancelled. Just keeps getting better.

our weather stations only get yesterday's weather accurate

It's back! Another offer showed up for me today. $125 back when I spend $500. Time to make a payment on an upcoming cruise

Dinners in the MDR are really good this sailing. We don't allow the phones at the dinner table but I had to sneak the Mississippi Mud Pie. Our servers are great, they rival #CK servers. Amazing young men, so personable and attentive. There is no body lotion, not even in the suites. I had to go down and spend a stupid amount of money because I looked like a baked alligator. My bad but I'm spoiled they usually have it, there were 2 other ladies in the shop for the same thing. Suite lounge again packed even earlier then previous, it reminds me of a Disney sailing concierge, lots of kids in there, going crazy with the sweets offerings. It was standing room only and the kids were having fun but I wanted to relax, not possible so we smiled and left to the diamond lounge, ahhh problem solved. Just old birds like us in there, lol. To Dudleys credit he appeared in the Diamond lounge checking if we were all right, he is a prince among men. Of course we are, no worries he profusely apologized but I told him there was nothing for him to apologize for. It's going to take a lot more then that to upset me. Dudleys attention to detail is what sets him apart. He really seems to be engaged in everyone having a great vacation.

Silly still at 16!

@Sweety @WAAAYTOOO Don't get me wrong, I am spoiled by the size of the Oasis & Quantum class. The views here are ahhmazing. Its nice when the winds are under control. It creaks a bit when windy and the storage as well as the bathrooms are so tight. But, there are 3 of us and a teenage girl with all her hair junk takes up a lot of space, I think its perfect for two. But again im spoiled. The suite amenities are practically non existent. The stateroom attendant is not a suite person. While competant thats it, we are not demanding, i keep a super clean cabin can i please get even one extra towel? He has so many staterooms. He is just overworked. When I asked for a paper cruise Compass everyday I thought he would keel over. But the people watching and the views are worth trying this one. If even just once. I do feel I'm at my limit and for me 5 nights in this cabin is plenty. ***yes that's my finger pointing to the flowrider divider above.

Tony ( I assume you're referencing the below video) is usually pretty careful about where he gets his news from - official sources or multiple eyewitness accounts only - so I wouldn't doubt what's being said. That said, I did pop around on the Celebrity site and for South Hampton, Barcelona, Italy, and Amsterdam : "As of June 8, 2022, all guests ages 18 and older must be fully vaccinated" appears on the Vaccine policy page. This aligns with what Tony reports. CRUISE NEWS - CRUISE LINE ENDS VACCINE MANDATE FOR SOME and MORE

I wonder if @OrlandoDadcancelled cruise may have just been a blip due to whatever caused the recent bookings to disappear from the website. Fingers crossed that it hasn't really been cancelled.....

We are in 1854 on Voyager for Christmas and New Years 2023. It will be the first time in this category. Not overly fond of cabins in the front of the ship so we will see !

Well, it only took 7 months to get the report out. Not bad, eh ?

For Anthem's return to NJ in November I got a solo inside for dirt cheap. I'd been following their price for a few weeks, and they were slightly cheaper than paying the supplement. Then all the sudden they dropped over $300 for an 8-night sailing. Scooped that up. After taxes and grats it actually was right at about half the price of a regular inside cabin. Prices jumped back up a few days later. Not sure what caused the drop, but for once my incessant mock cruise bookings paid off for me.

I think the biggest problem our cruise industry has, is getting workers . If you have any local cruises booked you will notice the lack of shore excursions. I have a Ovation Cruise and it goes to Adelaide and cruise planner doesn’t have any excursions. I called Adelaide scenic tours which usually do the ship tours but the said they can’t get staff and at the moment won’t be doing any. So I don’t know what will happen in Adelaide as there’s not much at the cruise terminal.

I have called the RC credit card rewards number (888-305-4626) to inquire about rewards credit. They said the rewards redeemed are applied as an OBC 2 weeks before the cruise. If one asks nice they can be applied to an upcoming cruise ( have the booking number handy) immediately.

I only got the card to get the sign up initial bonus. There are much better cards out there that give you better rewards value for your Royal purchases and I can redeem those rewards directly as cash back.

Skipped breakfast and walked to Bare Foot Beach. It was nothing short of breathtaking in the morning only one other couple, no kids yet so right in the water we went. Landed amazing chairs and umbrella up front on the beach, retrieved our towels and floating mats and the water was our for about 40 minutes. Cabanas, remember those prices? Huh, one over water and two standards booked, that's it all others remained empty. Um, hello Mr. Liberty are you listening? Lower the price and you will rent more yielding $$$ the cruiseline needs, gees!! I'll crop and have more pics later. Lovely day at Labadee!!!

Not looking for an argument but stating my thoughts that have been eating at me for awhile now: So not only would I love to see the pre-cruise testing stop…how about allowing the unvaccinated back onboard? I have never taken sides and I do not think it is my place to do so. I am me…and nobody else. I am vaccinated and boosted (twice) and got COVID for the first time 2 weeks ago after returning from a family vacation to Disney. There were nine of us and only 2 did not get sick…both unvaccinated! I think this virus is pretty close to becoming our next head cold or flu. Some will get very sick…some will have mild symptoms…some will never get sick! So…….why are the unvaccinated still being penalized this late in the game? I certainly hope my thoughts here do not start a war on words…but I feel better having finally stated how I think.

Hi everyone, I’ve been a die hard royal cruiser for over 28 years (only a diamond as there were some lean, limited travel years). I just got a really good deal on a Celebrity Equinox cruise - retreat class, royal suite - that I jumped on for next May. Life has presented some unique challenges the past few months and it was time to do something positive. This cruise it will be just my husband and me - we’ll be celebrating 35 years! Has anyone sailed the Equinox since it was refurbished? I know this is a royal blog but would love to hear thoughts on sailing the equinox compared to the Oasis class ships Thanks

I walked around Naples all day and never felt even remotely unsafe - pretty much stayed in the older part of town close to the port. The streets were busy - too busy for anything more than pickpockets. I wear cargo pants with hidden zipper pockets so I wasn't overly worried about them.

Classic!! The one I hear people say a lot is it's a "Mute" point. I think in their minds it makes some sort of sense because it is like a point that you cannot hear, so it does not matter. LOL

Agree with others that weather predictions for anyplace are a bit of a guess and the further out you are the more suspect they might be. BUT… This is the Caribbean and since temps don’t vary much between summer and winter (that is why cruises go there year round, right?) you can expect warm and sunny weather with maybe some passing showers. As mentioned your dates are in hurricane season, so if that weather phenomenon occurs expect your sailing itinerary to change to keep you, the guests, and the ship safe and in as much warm and sunny weather as they can find.

Went to play bingo, standing room only in the star lounge, to small of a venue. The line to purchase the cards snaked out to the door, I like the dauber and the fun experience, it's thrilling but in totality. With no where to even sit we decided to wait until next time. I like to at least be comfortable and have fun when I throw away my money. So we checked out the pool deck rut row accident in the pool. Closed for cleaning. Are we on a Disney ship? They closed a few times a day. Just realized they split the flow rider in two by a blow up divider. Arcade for some games and a diamond voucher refreshing ginger ale. The band was fun, singing the song " there's a bathroom on the right" (bad moon) clearly the person in the pool didn't make it! Yikes, my attempt at humor. We went upstairs and checked out the Mariner Dunes. We can see now why we hear the golf balls, woof! Highlight of the afternoon, we went back to listen to the band on the pool deck and the suites area was taken so we just moved to the area in between, wait what is that little yellow speck under that pillow?? You guessed it, my ducky!! After I screamed, danced and thanked the area in case the family was watching we took pics and introduced Ms. Ducky to the suite life. My day is complete!

I would order tests from emed and do a proctored antigen test. Antigen test are less sensitive and less likely to give you a false positive.

La Lido Loca is where I heard it as well.

Quite unlikely you'd test positive 17 days later with an antigen test. PCR test you'd be more likely.

This is really getting to be ridiculous. I feel so bad for @OrlandoDadand @dodgestangand the others who are having to deal with this utter incompetence. At least @dodgestangwas able to have the due date pushed back. That is what they should be doing for all of these Charlie Foxtrots. Unbelievable.

You're not alone.

Seriously, people, THIS IS WHY EVERYONE SHOULD USE A TRAVEL AGENT! (I yelled for the people in the back).

Uh the person that asked the question sailed over 2.5 years ago. Always check the date before reviving an ancient thread!

Yes, the concierge can make dining reservations. Just respond to the email you get shortly before sailing and tell them what you're looking to reserve!

you can see all the choices for your reward points on their website. I prefer to call and speak with a rep to go over my options, ensure I understand them and have them apply them.

I have used mine as payment towards my cruise in the past. When you sign on to the website there are rewards you can select. We have selected both payment and OBC boxes at different times for cruises. For payment I always try to make sure I redeem 8-10 weeks before payment is due. When it shows up, my final payment is reduced by that amount. The redemption selection for this is $500 or less but to cash out $1000 you can choose $500 twice. Same for on board credit. You can select different amounts to satisfy the amount you prefer.

Thanks, @USCG Teacher. Both of us can drive a stick shift, so here's hoping!

Update: the rental location worked well. There was a long line of folks who had just disembarked and were waiting to rent a car so I went and kindly asked the employee if I needed to wait in the long line he said no and to stand to the side of the counter and just make sure to have the ending mileage. I did so and had the rental returned within minutes. Then we waited for the shuttle (they had 2 running at the time). The shuttle returned about 5 min later and we loaded our luggage and was taken to the port right away. It took 15-20 minutes total from arriving at the rental branch to be dropped at the port. Very convenient service!

Per the US homeland security site, minors can arrive with a birth certificate. Adults can use an enhanced drivers license. Hopefully their passports arrive, and it’s a moot point, but you should be fine.

There's not much in Adelaide.

My opinion, I don't care how old you are or where you come from - PASSPORT, every time!

NO , I just come of P&O pacific explorer just out of sheer desperation. What a bad experience,bad food ,the same every day unless you want to pay $20 for a pizza,$8 for a hot dog,$14 for a burger,$50 for a steak,ice cream on the pool deck $2 a scoop and the list goes on.

Splendor was pretty gaudy, but they tried to remove a lot of it in the refurb for Australia. Quantum wins the battle for Brisbane hands down.

the food is totally worth it. We were just on Indy and had nachos, fries, onion ring tower, 24 wings and i think it was like $40

I've always received a plastic bag for the C&A laundry that is specifically for shorts, t-shirts, pajamas, socks and underwear. However I've had nice t-shirts ruined by the acid they use in place of laundry soap for the C&A version. A nice RCI t-shirt I bought on board was good for one time only as I placed it in the C&A bag and it came back looking like a tye-dye gone wrong. That's happened more than once so now I only place sock, shorts and shirts I don't care about and underwear in there. Anything nice never goes in the C&A laundry. I'm pretty sure they use C&A guest laundry to clean the scrubbers on the stacks before they run it through the laundry. Once through the wash cycle they mop the floors with C&A guest laundry before drying in the exhaust gases where its 4,000 degrees. Once cooled overnight it's folded and returned to guests. Hiking shorts I have that with plastic belts and loops have melted in the C&A laundry service so now I make a point of writing on the bag "Dry low heat only". The paper bag is usually already in the closet for any guest who wants to pay for laundry using the price list above. I used that recently for jeans on two consecutive Alaska cruises. I wore my jeans a lot on those sailings so I cycled two pair through laundry while wearing a 3rd pair near the end of cruise 1 then alternated and did the same on cruise #2 so I always had clean jeans on hand. Sure it cost money ($11.50 for 2 pair) but it saved from trying to find a laundromat in between the two cruises with only one day to shuttle between Vancouver and Seattle so it was money well spent.

Hmmmm maybe it would be nice to drop testing, allow unvax/vax to cruise but say it is required to bring 1 or 2 test depending on cruise length. They could use those cheap government style test and if at any point, you feel sick you test and be honest. Otherwise, you live life and continue to be careful and kind.