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Day 9 - Flam Flam is the first port on this trip where tourism is actually the main industry, catering to both internal and external tourists. A gorgeous, long sail in through the second largest fjord in the world, and then a tiny village of 500 people. And our weather today was phenomenal! We chose the Aurland, Laerdal, and Borgund Stave Church tour. It was excellent. We drove through the longest car tunnel in the world, which was fun but not very photogenic We saw arguably the oldest stave church in the world. Then fantastic scenery along a very narrow mountain road, with a stop at Stegastein overlook. Our guide was very good too. Coming in to Flam: The stave church: The “new” church from the late 1800s, currently under restoration: View from Stegastein overlook: Scenery:

UPDATE: Happy to report I received an email from Dudley! I'm not going to post it because I felt it very personal but I can confirm here the "higher ups" received my email explaining how he made our trip special & in turn notified Dudley. His message was so heart felt, he said he was being recognized from the ships Officers including heads of HR, Food & Beverage and more even to include some team mates. Congratulations Dudley & thank you Royal for following up with this positive action.

We have a Holy Land/Greece on Odyssey coming up in October. I had read how slow tender service has been in Santorini so decided to see who was in port with us that day. None other than our first Royal Caribbean ship, Song of America, that we sailed in 1991-ish. She’s now Celestyal Olympia. Her Viking Crown however is still very prominent. Excited to see where it all began for us 31 years ago

Bumping even though the OP is run away….. We’re on Explorer now and the ship is in excellent shape, passengers are having a great time and, according to the ship’s hotel manager, the ship is fully staffed except for spa workers and shop clerks. This is everything I expected so far.

Truth is I'm addicted to cat videos, in 4k.

Anyone who is booked on a cruise leaving this 4th of July weekend as an airline employee I implore you to please have a plan B if you are flying. If you can try to fly out a day earlier than you planned. If that is not possible then do same day standby which for most airlines is free for revenue passengers and try to get out on an early morning flight. It is better to sit in a hotel lobby in Florida, Galveston, New York or wherever your cruise is leaving from than sitting at the airport hoping and praying your flight doesn't get delay or canceled. If all else fails BE PREPARED TO DRIVE IF NECESSARY. If you can't leave a day earlier than planned, or can't move your flight to an early morning departure and your flight gets delays have a reasonable cut-off time in mind how long you are willing to sit at the airport and deal with rolling delays. Once you hit your personal cut-off time if your flight is still on a rolling delay do not hesitate get in your car or go rent a car and DRIVE. Some airlines are already issuing waivers to passengers booked between July 1 and July 4th. Normally airlines only issue waivers when there is a major snow storm, or a hurricane so the fact that some are already issuing nationwide waivers is a indication that there is going to be some major operations meltdowns this weekend do to staffing shortages. This holiday weekend DO NOT MISS YOUR CRUISE BECAUSE YOU DON"T HAVE A PLAN B. The FAA only allows pilots and flight attendants to work so many hours before they are "illegal" and are required by law too go into crew rest and the length of crew rest depends on the total number of hours they were on duty. So a pilot who was on duty for 12 hours or a flight attendant who was on duty for 14 or 16 hours is not going to be legal to fly for at least 10 to 12 hours.

Just like @AshleyDillo said, book refundable when you're seeing a price and hotel you like, but keep checking back. I watched Ft Lauderdale hotel prices for several months before our January cruise and booked at about 4 months out. At two weeks before our cruise, the price came down by about $50, so I cancelled and rebooked. THEN a few days later the price came down ANOTHER $30 so I cancelled and rebooked again!

I had to wait for my dog to leave the room. It's become a bone of contention between us.

I'm Joe from Glasgow, Scotland and this is my comeback to cruising! I might be familiar to some of you since I was on here quite a lot around 2018/19. At that point, cruising was basically a hobby, even when not on a ship, I was very immersed in the industry. Around the end of 2019, I decided to cut back on my social media and forum use and then COVID hit so I've barely even been here for the past 2.5 years. So what has happened to me? Well, I've moved out on my own for the first time and have gone through three years of college. My life has moved on a lot since I was last on a ship, it's kinda crazy to think about it. But it's great to finally come back again. This cruise is a 7 night Western Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona on the brand new Wonder of the Seas. We'll be calling at Palma , Marseilles , La Spezia , Civitavecchia , Naples and a day at sea back to Barcelona. We'll be flying out from Edinburgh Airport around 6am on Friday morning. Fingers crossed it all goes well, it is a bit early for me plus there have been rumours of airlines striking (we're going on Ryanair). Going to give this live blogging thing a go. Can't guarantee pictures until I return home but I'm hoping to use it as a way to practice my writing above all else. Might also talk about the post-cruise segments in France and England, basically taking the train all the way back from Barcelona to Scotland. One thing I can guarantee is no politics, no news, no current affairs. I'm passionate about all of those things as I study politics but I'm taking this as an official news-free week. I need it after everything that has gone on since my last proper vacation. Let's get cruising!

School is finally out! Let the packing begin!

I once, in this forum, suggested/recommended to just go ahead and do the proctored, at home, self tests as it seemed that the going to the local pharmacies seemed to be an issue for some/many folks. I was, by at least one person in here, chastised for making such a recommendation. Once again, I highly recommend, for your own sanity, do the proctored, at home, self test, in your PJs. Embrace the suck and just pay for it and then try to get reimbursed by your insurance company later.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Planner sales are smoke and mirrors. They raise the price just before something goes on sale and then reduce it back down to where it was to start with....or perhaps a bit higher. That's the way it always goes. Ignore the percentages off. They mean nothing. All that matters is the bottom line price...and be sure that you are comparing apples to apples and that if there is a gratuity (food packages come to mind) that you are comparing a new price that has charged grats the same way as the old price. IOW, if your dining package was purchased under the "old" Cruise Planner system, it already includes gratuities but if it is now using the "new" My Royal Cruise system, the grats are not included in the price that they quote but are added at checkout. Just be sure you know what you're comparing....

I book major chain hotels, in my case Marriots. I have until the day before to cancel without penalty and can just modify the reservation if the price goes down.

Don’t fear. This was not an interrogation of a crew member. I had met this crew member on previous cruises and the person chose to share their concerns over this new requirement about renewing their contract it came about because I had inquired if they would be on this ship when I come back in 2 months. It was a natural flow of conversation. Good for you keeping things lite and not daring to venture into their personal lives if that’s how you choose to be. I find there is a lot more to “the help” than their suggestions or likes/dislikes, they are actually people who enjoy engaging in conversation..

Another suite perk that you might like is getting MDR room service. On a port day it’s nice to relax in the room and have dinner delivered

We'll be on board with you. If you see someone in an old Coast Guard ball cap ineffectively chasing down two energetic boys, feel free to say hi and I'll buy you a drink.

Update- I got the suite!!! It was only about 500 is more to get the upgrade. I cancelled the Key which covered the difference + 100 back. I will have to buy the internet for 4 currently priced at 263.88. So I for me I upgraded for 163.88.

This is a fan site, and not affiliated with Royal Caribbean. Nobody there will read your complaint. I doubt when they advertised the amplification of Explorer of the Seas (and Allure), they had no idea that the pandemic would hit and cause them to shut down for over a year and lose billions of dollars, making the amplification fiscally impossible. I would never consider that "false advertising". Personally, I'd go anyway. You haven't "lost the money". You are choosing to do so by not going on the cruise. You could still have a great time if you chose to do so. Good luck. (I can't speak for anyone else, but personally, I sleep quite well at night).

SALE for 4th of JULY HAS BEGUN! My prices are great for my August cruise. Better than I’ve seen!

Personally I’ve never had a problem with delayed results the dozen times I used CVS for myself/family. However I did change to Emed proctored tests once I realized CVS was starting to restrict testing and I felt it might become an insurance issue. (My paranoia) any testing that says 24-48 hours is not a rapid test. The rise in Covid cases often leads to a back up on test results. The proctored at home tests seem to be the way to go.

All the fun things there are to do onboard. Dining, activities, attractions..it’s the complete package.

I love the value for the vacation dollar. And the food. And the shows.

If the ship was allowing passengers to continue to get into the boarding line after the stated all aboard time, those buses were very likely excursions booked through Royal. Any "on your own" stragglers would have been out of luck if those excursions weren't late getting back.

When CVS cancelled our tests for our first cruise back in October and I had to scramble we switched to the EMED home tests for our next 4 cruises. I also always make sure that I have extras in case of issues. Sure hope this testing does go away, it's so much stress.

Thanks all. Gotta say this forum is the best!!

I had a very similar situation a few years back. For reasons that we never discovered, Dan had 7 points more than I did even though we have cruised together every time. I called C&A and the CSR hunted and calculated but could never figure it out. In the end he just gave me the 7 points so that we “matched” and that was the end of it. We have had the same # of points ever since. Hopefully it will be that easy for you.

Our flight to Seattle earlier this month was cancelled three days before hand but they offered us a flight in that was earlier by a day. We took it and Alaskan Air gave us a small refund. Our flight home from Seattle was cancelled. Then the flight they booked for us the next day was cancelled. We ended up in Seattle for an additional 3 days total all on Alaskan Air's dime. Not complaining, but YES HAVE A BACK UP PLAN!!!!!!

Cruise planner prices were definitely cheaper for most things in the preCovid days. But then again just about everything on earth was cheaper a few years ago! Inflation has hit us hard. My sale prices are better today than they were the last few sales. This is for the Adventure sailing in August. My Allure sailing in September does not have the same pricing but luckily I purchased my “needs” way back when I booked that cruise and they were quite “alluring prices” at the time so I am happy with that.

Yes, this!

Joe, I can't imagine the disappointment. So sorry you are going through this...but better to find out before getting on a plane and crossing the pond. So disappointing.

Hah, 10 minutes after I asked the question, the order shipped

$3/Day x 7 = $21 savings..... and if you have 4 people who all want access....that over $80 in savings. Just saying...even small margin changes can add up.

Single digit dance!!

Positive test within 14 days AND close contact are gonna get flagged on the Health questionnaire you all have to fill out. Don’t see any way any of you are going to be allowed to board. Full refund though.

Grease is my favorite. It's a toss up between The Book and Cats for least favorite. Just now saw that Royal is casting for Cats in NYC. Maybe if we don't feed them they'll go away.

Thank you! I saved $31 and upgraded my internet access from Surf to Surf+Stream!

That church is uniquely beautiful.

No savings for me but thank you for the heads up!

Our first ship sailing together (in different cabins) was the TS Flavia out of Miami. It was a Senior class trip and Mrs Fan and I were in HS together. That was way back in 1976. I think the trip cost us $150/pp. We were booked 4 to a room. Had a ball. We had all graduated already, so it was NOT chaperoned.

Yeah, we're scheduled on the Jul 29 sailing to get in to Port Canaveral at 1:00 PM and this tour, which I've booked, is scheduled to start at 1:30PM. It's about 30 minutes each way to the KSC and KSC is scheduled to close at 6PM. Since the duration of the tour is 6 hours, I'm assuming that means we depart on the bus after KSC has closed. Thus, realistically, we might have 4 hours for the visit [at best]. 4 hours is enough time to see part of the site in-depth, though that also means no more than a quick walkthrough on others. I've whipped up a plan, mainly focusing on the Apollo/Saturn V Center, but don't have any illusions about doing KSC justice.

Not to derail the thread, but I have a hard time articulating how much I love cruising. It’s like an amusement park for adults is the best way I can describe it. I don’t see how anyone could be ambivalent About it.

Note. The chat feature is not included as part of the internet package. It is an extra charge on top of VOOM. Distasteful / nickel and dime after dropping a few hundred for VOOM in my view.

Explorer of the Seas is a great ship, amplified or not!

Same. It can be helpful to keep the sofa as a bed for naps

Usually by default they reset the couch during the day, but we've had the attendant also ask us if we wanted it set up or have it stay a bed.

Another tip - bring lots of things to keep your kid entertained while waiting for the results! Snacks, toys, activities, tablet, whatever. It's literally just a bunch of rows of chairs to wait in, so it's not much of anything to keep them busy!

The only excursion I have booked on a cruise in 2 weeks actually went up in price with this sale

Day 8 - Alesund This is a very picturesque town, much more what you think of when you think of Norway. Our weather was not as good as it had been, but still decent. We got sprinkled on a bit and there were more clouds. We did the Stranda Mountain Explorer excursion. Our guide was a French woman, again excellent. This tour is more bus and less active than we like, but still enjoyable. Alesund on arrival. The port where we docked is tucked inside a little inlet, so there were some interesting gyrations getting us in. While this was a bus tour, we had to take two ferries to get around. They just put the whole bus on the ferry, which was fun. Also, some of the ferries are electric and get charged for a few minutes each time durning unloading and loading. See the white shed on the right, that’s the charging station. Stranda Mountain is a ski resort that tries to have year round activities. They can ski here until the beginning of June usually. We took the gondola to the top and got some nice views. There was also a waffle, of course! The church from the 1800s in the town a Stranda. The older church was destroyed by a tsunami caused by an avalanche into the fjord: Various scenes from the trip:

Not sure it really mitigates anything, catches a few carriers. But most likely a lot more un-confirmed +s are getting on-board. As we've moved on to living with this bug, might as well drop it. A zero infection case strategy is impossible.

ONE AND DONE - HIT AND RUN - Possibly a C.C. Malcontent