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UPDATE: They repaid the whole amount 4 days after this post

Tuesday was our final day in London, and arguably the day that The Boss was looking forward to the most. Today was the day we had rented the car for our trip to Highclere Castle. If that name isn’t familiar, it’s the castle that Downton Abbey and many other films, shows etc were filmed at. This was a big adventure day too because I got to get a crash course(thankfully only figuratively) on driving on the other side of the road. Planning for this day was quite some work. Getting the tickets to the castle was the easy part. We also chose with our admission, a picnic lunch to go with our tour. What became fun was trying to figure out the rental car. All of the places close to the hotel did not have any available cars for the day we wanted. We also wanted the car for as much as possible for the day. I had set times of 9am-9pm. This also limited choices, because other close places did not have after hours drop offs. Renting from Heathrow became our only option at this point. One added bonus was this gave us the opportunity to have a low stress dry run by using the Heathrow Express to get there and back without the additional stress of first time use, bags etc etc. I can say that using the Heathrow Express is the way to go! For those not familiar, it’s an express train ride from Paddington Station to Heathrow airport. It takes 15 minutes to get to the central station between terminals 2 and 3, and continues on to Terminal 5. The train runs appropriately every 15 minutes. If you know you want to use it, you can pre-book online and if you do it far enough in advance, tickets are as low as 15£ and kids are free. Far cheaper and faster than an Uber. Once at Paddington Station it’s very easy to find the right train. Just follow the purple dots! Don’t forget to…. The train was fast and comfortable. Once at the central station, we followed the signs to terminal two. As you head up the escalators, you pass all the bus stops adjacent to the main terminal entrance. We needed stop 7 which was the shuttle to the Enterprise lot on the perimeter road. I had reserved a premium automatic car since it was only 20£ more than their standard automatic. Which gave me the choice of a Mercedes C class or similar. Waiting for me was this fun car. An Alfa Romeo Giulia. Sadly it was only the Q2 and not the Q4, which has a really fun engine in it. A 2.9L twin turbo V6 with 505HP. Oh well, this one still had some pep in it, and handled very nicely. I quickly got used to driving on the opposite side of the road, and after one GPS good we were off! After about an hour we arrived at the castle and despite the heat, The Boss was thrilled. The Castle is just amazing! We got to wander all around the grounds and gardens. After exploring outside, we grabbed our picnic box. I came beautifully presented Inside Menu Following lunch we toured inside the Castle. Photography is not allowed as the Castle is still the home of Lord and Lady Carnarvon. If that name is any familiar, this is the same family that discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. There is an exhibit in the castle dedicated to this. Since I can’t show you pictures here, just go watch Downton Abbey. Nearly all of the interior scenes are filmed in the castle and you can see how amazing it is. We could have easily spent all day here, but it was approaching 106 degrees so we needed to cool off. We piled back in the car in search of some frosty beverages and more adventures.

Wednesday morning came way too quickly. Based on news reports and advice from @Lovetocruise2002 we chose to get to Heathrow 4hrs early for our flights. We left the hotel at 5 to give us plenty of time to make the short walk to Paddington and get to the airport in case there were issues. This proved to be fortuitous because all of the elevators were not operating, so I got to play Sherpa at the two stair cases to lug the have suitcases down. (It really wasn’t that bad) This is the walk we did. With everything new, the sidewalks are nice and smooth, and it takes you right to where you need to be. The first trains 5:15 and 5:30 to Heathrow ended up being canceled, so we ended up on the 5:45 and we’re off. So far, stress level low… We stepped off the train a few minutes after 6 and headed to terminal 2 to get fully checked in and turn over the luggage. When we got there, there were lines out the door. That was for check in area B, we needed C which thankfully was still inside. Here is what it looked like inside….stress level rising, but not much we knew we still had time, and the line seemed to me moving okay… What must have been a Heathrow record, we made it all the way through check in and security to the departure lounge by 7:20!! So 1hr 20min from stepping off the train to sitting on my butt sipping coffee, stress level waaaaay down! While waiting for our gate announcement, I wandered a bit and looked at some really fancy watches. The guy at the counter barely acknowledged my presence because me in my jeans and t-shirt definitely didn’t look the type The second one from the left, bottom row was 30000£!!! I almost had to buy this scotch. I live in the village of Scotia, which was founded by Alexander Glen, who was from Scotland, but at 400£ I thought I better not…. Throughout the day, all of our flights were fine, no big delays or issues. We flew back via Dublin, so we got to do US Customs there which was pretty easy, and made our arrival at Philadelphia as if we were domestic travelers. By the time we departed for Albany we had been up for many….many…….. hours. This one fell asleep while waiting to taxi, and didn’t wake up until after we landed. With weary bodies, but heads and hearts full of wonderful memories we arrived home and crashed in our beds…. It was a wonderful trip that I will look back at so fondly. It was an absolute pleasure sailing with @Lovetocruise2002 and her family, they are some of the nicest people out there….except for that one kid while driving bumper cars Thank you everyone for reading and following along to our adventures! Now I wish I had a genie to take care of the mountain of laundry I have to do….. Oh….I almost forgot….this happened too!!

First strike goes to Virgin, eliminating US pre-cruise testing starting July 27 https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27889-virgin-voyages-eliminates-pre-embarkation-covid-19-testing-for-cruises.html

YIPPEE !!!

Once back in the car we ended up at a shopping center at Starbucks for some frosty beverages. We also managed to grab a small carryon size suitcase for all the extra items we accumulated and to make the packing to go home easier. We had plenty of time left with the car and after our drinks and time in the store with AC we had cooled down enough to be up for more adventures, so off to Stonehenge we went! My stepmom, who grew up in England, jokes that Stonehenge is just a bunch of rocks, and doesn’t get the appeal, so of course we were sending messages back home that we were off to see rocks! It was a nice drive there, and once we arrived, a weather front passed through and the temperature dropped significantly so being outside was much more enjoyable. While being a bunch of rocks, it really is interesting to see, and then when you find out that they moved these stones over 400 miles to get them there makes it that much more impressive. There is more to the site than just the rocks too, so there is quite a bit to see and do. They have a map of the whole area and what is involved. We had some fun with the pictures too We wandered the gift shop and found some fun souvenirs Sadly, our final day was drawing to a close, so we headed back to London. We got the car back to LHR in one piece and headed back to the hotel via the Heathrow Express. The trip back was just as easy and soon enough we were back at the hotel for packing…..worse day ever….again

Have some perspective, covid today isn't covid of 2020. I have 4,500 employees, in 2020, a few died and about every 20th one to get covid was hospitalized, Many were in the ICU, it was no joke. In 2022, I've had over a thousand catch it this year not a single hospitalization. These last few weeks at any one time 100 have it, 10 a day come back, 10 go out, I give them all free 2 weeks of paid leave if they test positive and it does not come out of their regular leave balances so as to not encourage people working sick so it is not under reported and I get daily reports. In January this year me and my three Moderna shots, wore a mask, still caught it. Wife got it in June, same shots. So why would I give a a darn about covid, masks, or tests, we caught it six months apart, had our shots at the same time, still shared a bed while we were sick, still kissed goodnight and didn't even give it to each other either time. Just stop the testing, I'll walk into a covid ward and kiss everyone there, nothing can stop it and I am not afraid of it. Even the head of county USC hospital in Los Angeles (the furthest from right wing conspiracy theorists you can find), in a county reimposing masks said that almost nobody in the hospital with covid is in the hospital because of covid. It's over! P.S., my employees are about 65-70% vaccinated, in 2022 there is no discernible difference in their odds of catching it or how serious it is based vaccine status or mask wearing or prior infection, not in catching it or catching it twice. What was true on 2020 and 2021 is not applicable to 2022 My study, because of workman's comp is in depth and is as big or bigger than other studies you read online and from my data, nothing stops it and its no big deal if you get it. If you are on death's doorstep or scared to death, stay home. It's endemic and it is the common cold now, let's move on, nobody was wrong and nobody was right, stop blaming but do accept that it is over.

Nope. Like countless other ailments of the past, present, and future. Be it viral, bacterial, sprains, strains, etc.. There can be lingering effects that affect us for a time being or permanently. That is/has/will what happen in life. It's not new or unique. Just because we don't test test test vax vax vax, doesn't mean we aren't taking things seriously. That doesn't determine the definition of taken "seriously". FOCUS on a healthy daily lifestyle that fortifies the body for battle....then we can binge and induldge on vacations!

There 3 year wait is almost over...

Dinner that night brought us back to St Charles Place, this time for Italian. Some melon wrapped in prosciutto and some pizza really hit the spot on this hot night!

Lunch brought us to a pub seen earlier this trip, and we just had to make a stop! The location doesn’t have anything to do with the history of the stories, it is just themed around them, and there is a collection of items and memorabilia. It helped that the food was good because they were out of some of the beer I wanted…..I made do with a second choice though. The Boss has a chicken salad I had a beef pie….probably not the best choice on such a hot day…but oh well. The kids ended up with Mac and Cheese We were fully sapped from the heat today so we headed back to the hotel for showers and some AC.

Monday morning came and so did the heat. So what did I have on the schedule? A 3 hour walking tour!!! This tour was titled palaces and parliament and we got to see quite a bit of things. We met our guide in green park which currently isn’t very green, and began our tour. Our guide was very funny and charismatic. He had plenty of “true stories” to tell about working with a catering company and has apparently worked at events the Royals were at. He and I were joking back and forth during the tour, as well as the kids, so we all had a great time. This wasn’t a private tour, but we seemed to engage with him the most. Our first “house” we saw was Spencer House….yes, that Spencer. we headed to Buckingham Palace to see changing of the guard. The ceremony was altered due to the weather. Our guide had proclaimed that he had no idea what they just did, but it was very different from normal. We all still liked the pomp and circumstance, it’s not like we know any better. After this we headed into St James’s Park, which offered some shade and welcome relief from the heat. We met some of the residents there, and took in the scenery. We then moved to St James’s Palace As we headed for Admiralty Arch, we passed this monument of the previous King and Queen Mother. Apparently the birds do think too highly of him. Duke of York Column Then we passed Admiralty Arch on the way into Trafalgar Square. We used the water in the fountains to cool off. The water is treated and safe for doing so. We got a picture of the kids with the Lions Fun factoid, the bronze for these lions and plaques on Lord Nelson’s monument were made by melting down the French weapons after they were defeated by the British. At this point it was getting really hot!! We headed down Whitehall and Parliament street. We stopped for a picture with the horses at The Household Calvary Museum We passed 10 Downing St And ended in Parliament Square Garden, which gave us great views of Westminster Abbey The Statue of Winston Churchill and the Houses of Parliament, and the tower that holds Big Ben Thankfully, the tour ended here because we were starting to crisp up in the sun, so we headed off in search of lunch.

That evening, while packing, we ordered pizza from Pizza Express right by the hotel, I do NOT recommend….it was not good. I’m not sure if I had mentioned earlier, but our hotel is in what’s called Paddington Basin and that are has recently been redeveloped. There are quite a bit of new buildings. The area was the end of a canal that was in use from 1801. It really looks nice in the evening. Paddington Station is also quite nice

My account today now reflects that I'm Diamond Plus. Only 518 points to Pinnacle!

After some recharging and procrastination Lydia had chosen to try a ramen place for dinner. We chose Bone daddies Ramen Bar in St Christopher’s Place. This was a fun and lively street with lots of restaurants, anchored by a shopping center. It was right of the Bond St Tube stop, so very easy to get to. We forgot to let the camera get its first bites, but we did get one of Johnny shoving his face full of Ramen. The kids both got a chicken Ramen. The Boss got what’s called the T22, which is Pulled chicken, cock scratchings™, onion, beansprouts, nori, spring onion, shiitake mushrooms + Clarence Court egg I got the classic Tonkotsu which is Chashu pork belly, spring onion, bamboo, beansprouts, burnt garlic + Clarence Court egg. It was a nice night out, so we took our time enjoying it before the impending heatwave came through.

Yeah, and though Virgin won't take a ton of customers from the big lines, they are certainly more likely to take business in the coming months since summer is ending and most people aren't traveling with kids until next year. Especially if you can call first to check unvaccinated availability, so much easier than booking and hoping. And I've had this conversation with about a billion people today, so if I already said that on here, sorry!

Satisfying the CDC so cruise companies could get back to making money. They really do nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Per the CDC you are “most infectious” 2 days before the onset of symptoms or a positive test…therefore even with negative testing a small percentage of cruisers are still wandering around with COVID. We have been on 2 cruises in the past 6 weeks. In June I got COVID 2 days after getting off, and last week both my wife and daughter got sick after getting off. This new BA5 variant is so infectious it will get everyone eventually. Luckily very mild.

Exactly. You can't get covid if you don't take a test!

Great information and it really puts the whole thing in perspective. I also believe that this is now endemic. No one is going around suggesting that everyone test if they have the common cold or not.

Dinner night 4 - WONDERLAND Wonderland was interesting and the presentation was fun, but the teens hit Sorrento’s after — needless to say it didn’t leave us feeling as if we had eaten dinner. Overall the portions were small, and I wouldn’t have wanted larger sizes for most of the dishes we sampled. The restaurant decor is lovely and has an amazing view down the boardwalk to the Aquatheater - and there was a show happening as we ate so that was an unexpected delight! Now to the food - we didn’t choose per se, and let the server bring us a little of this and that since it was our first time there. We started with the eggs in the smoky nest, which answered the question why the place smells like a BBQ pit. It was a smoky hard boiled egg, so not much to elaborate on there. The best dish of the night was up next - hot shrimp wrapped in the same nest material, with a side spoon of lobster but in lobster bisque with caviar on top. Both items were good and easy to eat, not much explanation needed.the next two dishes were a crab cone thing with avocado mousse, and then some tuna inside a lime with a cracker. Main dishes were a barbecue short rib, Branzino and Halibut. They all looked tasty until the server went crazy dousing everything with sauce, maybe that’s part of the whole mad hatter theme? Branzino was nicely cooked and would have been great with the crispy cracker crust on top that wasn’t turned to mush with sauce. My picture here is before the sauce reckoning. The halibut was in a bag that needed scissors to open, but was so overcooked —I think the hot bag was sitting on the line too long before it was served and kept cooking. Timing between courses was off tonight and we were waiting a long time to have our dinner dishes cleared before being offered dessert, but at least we could watch the boardwalk below. Of the three desserts, a candy apple that wasn’t an apple, a mushroom merengue forest, and a chocolate ball that had ice cream inside the best one was the chocolate ball. Overall I’d give Wonderland a pass, and I won’t plan to eat there again if I am sailing on a ship that has it.

I can't see a booster requirement just due to there not being one standard definition of "up to date"

Booze package would have to be in the neighborhood of 100 bones per day for me not to break even. Between the coffees and pelegrino with every meal and mucho booze in between, poor royal loses money on me.

Hallelujah ! Some honest reflection. Thank you...and thank you for the way you are handling your staff. This is the most generous policy for COVID that I have ever read about. Good for you.

As a person who works in the in vitro diagnostics industry, I'm a little bit worried about how RCCL will proceed. Although I do understand the angst and the headache for passengers that need to do pre-cruise testing. I can also understand the argument that pre-cruise testing is still letting covid onboard. But I can also see the other side of the picture which was eloquently put by Tony for La Lido Loca pre-cruise testing will catch people who can are infectious. The testing allows the cruise line to mitigate some of the population that are infected. Are there passengers that will get through because the test was done too early to catch it? Yes. But by getting rid of pre-cruise testing completely I think you then allow even more infection onboard. Pre-cruise testing was one of the tools used to prevent covid from spreading on board. From a healthcare perspective I am also worried that by inviting more infected onboard ships could face a situation where their facilities are overrun. This can definitely be the case with the new variants. I would say that if the cruise line gets rid of covid testing then they should increase safety using other tools such as mandating vaccinations for children now that the emergency use authorization for that age group is available.

Someone has to go first and I think Virgin Voyages is small enough that their decision will not make headline news on major networks. The fall season starts in middle of September I think by then at the latest most cruise lines will have dropped their pre-covid testing requirement.

I am 1/1, I only do minimum bets for rooms I want......meaning no lateral moves aka regular balcony for spacious balconies are a big no.

Working Vacation is an oxymoron.

I so much appreciate this perspective and totally agree! We've been living our normal lives unvaccinated and only hubby caught a super mild case last November. Wish RCCL would allow unvaccinated to cruise. Our exemption requests were denied.

Last week on Enchantment we got 1. A letter in the cabin telling us all about the great EMERALD benefits we would have on our seapass card 2. Under that a letter from the casino 3. Under that a letter telling us all about the great diamond benefits we would have on our seapass card 4. A diamond pin (even though we already received them last cruise for all 4 of us I was secretly hoping for another glass block to show up

I see that Virgin even has a phone number you can call to check unvaccinated available space. That’s very cool, get an answer before you book.

Airtags are not perfect. Understand how they work. They don't have a GPS chip in them and they are not connected to the internet directly. When a passing iPhone detects an airtag that phone sends an update to iCloud. The owner of the phone isn't aware of this, it's all coded into the iPhone OS. Based on the GPS fix of that phone and the serial number of the airtag Apple then presents the location of the airtag for it's owner to see. When I boarded Quantum in Seattle my luggage airtag appeared to be at a marina half a mile away. Whatever phone detected my airtag, maybe in the pocket of a forklift driver on the pier or in the pocket of a dock worker, their phone didn't have a very good GPS fix so it reported my airtag where it thought it was. For the purpose of tracking luggage it isn't a live GPS feed with an exact location at all times. If no iPhone has been near your airtag it's position won't be updated until an iPhone does come close to it. It's not usual for some of my airtags to have no position update for days. I put one in my car parked at an airport. Often the position report was 2 or 3 days ago because that was the last time someone with an iPhone walked past my car in the parking lot. One of the issues folks using airtags in luggage have right now is convincing an airline employee you know where your luggage is. If their system shows your bag is in Dallas but your airtag is reporting it is in London good luck convincing that airline employee your bag is actually in London. To an overworked airline employee you are just another upset, angry customer with lost luggage like the thousands of others they talked to that day. Even if your airtag has a recent update and your luggage is really in London it might not help you at all. At least you know where it is and if it starts moving you might see that.

"Should" is on that page 125 times. "Must" appears once. It seems relevant that if cruise lines were to 100% follow the CDC guidelines requiring vaccination, they would need to require boosters (first AND second, for those who qualify). Considering how few Americans have been boosted, it seems unlikely that cruise lines will do this. So they may just throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, and just pick a couple things that are low burden for cruise ships (eg reporting of symptoms before entering the cruise, having a quarantine space available).

Well it looks like the new guidance is out, so hopefully that means we'll hear something soonish from the cruise lines. Maybe in the next week?

The free photo is a def plus. We took advantage on last cruise First time I ever packed a jacket for a cruise....surprised her with it.

If it runs at 114% capacity I would volunteer to sleep on the pool deck if needed. WARNING! I do not own "Pajamas"

In the US testing is a requirement from the CDC and part of the framework that all major cruise lines opted into. Like other protocols no single protocol by itself will eliminate all risk or the possibility of becoming infected with CV-19. Each protocol has varying effectiveness with some protocols having more impact than others. Collectively they reduce but they do not eliminate the possibility of testing positive.

There are no doubt issues with pre-cruise testing. However, the alternative is generally worse. Many, many people get Covid sometime during a cruise. There are several factors involved including ports. When people get off at ports, they may become exposed to covid-positive people, whether residents of the port city or other tourists. This may be one of the biggest reasons that cruisers still get covid during or after the cruise. Now, the 2-3 day pre-cruise testing is not a perfect science either. For example, the typical incubation period for the virus is said to be 5 days. So you may test negative prior to boarding because the virus has not multiplied enough to be detected, but a couple of days later, you may have covid. Another reason thatmany cruisers are getting covid during or after the cruise. People misunderstand what the term "science" means. Science is NOT always fact. Theories in science are the result of multiple testing under strict conditions and close observations, but this does not mean that the result becomes law, or indisputable fact. For example, the theory of relativity has been tested with math. Newton's Law, which explains the gravitational constant, is indisputable and is scientific law or fact. So following the science does not mean that for every one way of doing things, you will get absolute results EVERY time. Back to testing. It is anxiety-ridden and stressful. But in my humble opinion, it helps in the number of overall covid spread. It is not perfect. It sucks. But it is what it is.

It's no one's business to judge or advise anyone if they should work or not on a cruise. If it makes your work life better after your return or ensures a longer career or its just something that is important to you in ways only you understand that's your decision.

I sailed in December (flying in from Vancouver - Calgary - Orlando) - and upon landing in Orlando my suitcase was the only one in our family not to arrive. The airlines were not (and I'm guessing are still not) equipped to handle sending your suitcase to a port of call. In my case I ended up at Target at 11:00 at night trying to find some basic clothes to get me through 7 days at sea . This was no small feat as Target, even in Orlando, stocks mostly "winter" clothes in December and cruise-weather clothes were hard to come by. Luckily we were sailing star class and I just sent my stuff out every day to be laundered. When the ship returned to Port Canaveral my suitcase was at MCO so we swung by the airport to pick it up on our way to the hotel (we had an extra day in Orlando after our cruise). The airline (Westjet) reimbursed me for all my clothes and toiletries that I purchased, with the exception of the suitcase that I had to buy to haul all my stuff in (which is so dumb - what was I supposed to put it in? A giant target bag - a la "the Clampets come to Harmony of the Seas?" haha Lesson learned - you really can get by on a cruise with one dress, one bathing suit, one coverup, basic makeup (luckily my shoes and accessories were in a different bag), one pair of shorts and one pair of pants and a couple tshirts. It wasn't ideal as I had basically bought a whole wardrobe to wear on the cruise - but after my initial meltdown when I accepted that my bag wouldn't make it I let it go and decided to not let it ruin my week. As a follow up - we sailed again in April, this time out of Miami on Symphony... and guess what. Landed... no bags. Shocker. In this case we missed a connecting flight in Toronto and were re-booked to get to Miami on Delta via ATL. We had a 6 hour layover in Toronto, so one would assume our bags would have been able to be moved onto this flight - but ... apparently not. Luckily they made it on a later flight - also into ATL, then to FLL where they landed at midnight and were delivered to our hotel at about 3 in the morning. Tremendous effort by Delta crew at FLL - I was shocked our bags made it. But after December, I was fully prepared to do some shopping - and Miami in the morning would have been more fun than Target at 11:00pm lol We just flew to the states again this month and had a connecting flight through Calgary again - I now have air tags in all my bags. While it won't help me get it back in a pinch - I would at least have an idea of whether or not I need to immediately go shopping for essentials rather than waiting to hear back from airlines... especially if I'm going on a cruise because before we leave the gate I can see if my suitcases are on the airplane.

I just double checked, looks like I got my Mom the soda/internet package as well (she loves her Diet Cokes) so even less code fighting.

Looks like RC is acknowledging that the CDC has made the new recommendations and is now reviewing them: CDC Guidance for Cruises Departing the U.S. The U.S. CDC recently announced that the COVID-19 Program for Cruise Ships is no longer in effect, and published recommendations to guide cruise lines as they determine protocols. Upon review, we will adjust our protocols and provide guidance to our guests. For now, our current protocols remain in effect for cruises departing U.S. homeports. See current protocols.

Interesting that they are the first line to announce no more USA pre-cruise testing.

I have a friend that is currently on Disney Dream and they have a passenger count of 1046 our of 4000 capacity. I was shocked to hear Disney was still sailing at such limited capacity.

We were on the Allure 2br Aqua Suite over the holidays last year. Like others have said the walk is a walk, even to get to the first bank of elevators. To us that was about the only con, the ship needs an overhaul, other than that it was a blast. We had a great Genie (Dex), and the ship was about 60% capacity and Covid was running at that time rampant (a lot of the crew and passengers got/had Covid), we still had a great vacation. The Genie experience was close to pre Covid times, on The Allure so we were very pleased, however, not all ships are the same and or Genies.

The meet up may be in the afternoon - it was in April and for the months before when I was checking schedules in the app. I think 2-5pm. This may be controversial, but it was my experience that having the Voom internet package made me feel better about letting mine have more independence on the ship. We set up WhatsApp for all of us, then we could check in whenever we wanted to. One thing we did was to reach out on our roll call for other families with teens and then we all met up in the early afternoon and walked them all together to the teen hang out space. My oldest ended up getting their numbers and starting a WhatsApp chat so they could hang out together in the evenings. I'd also set up some ground rules, like be courteous to other guests, never sit on a railing or take your feet off the ground near a railing, don't go into anyone's room without our permission, etc. Make sure they know what they are allowed to order on their own - which food and drinks they can get for free or within your budget. Have them sign up for a Royal account, download the app and figure out how to see the schedule and the floorplan. And that they know your room number! Also, go and sign the permission waivers for the necessary stuff early so they can do things like FlowRider, climbing wall, zipline, ice skating, etc. without having to find you - if you want to allow those activities.

The old text was that they needed a lab print out of the negative test. The new text just says you need to attest that you took a test

We got to D+ last week. Still awaiting the change on my profile though.

I'm sorry you didn't have the experience that you were looking for on your cruise. As a newbie cruiser, I checked this Blog and several sites before picking a room to ensure we could use the balcony and have a good view line from it. I wish you would have just done a Google search and it could have helped you avoid the largest part of your complaint.

I actually tested positive on my pre cruise test in Feb. It wasn't a false positive and was followed up with additional tests. I would have never known I had it if I wasnt going on a cruise. For me, not knowing I had it , I could have infected many more people had I not tested.

The point of pre-cruise testing is to keep people off the ship who knowingly have COVID. While I'm sure the test catches some people unaware, and false positives can be retested before embarkation for a negative result, without the required test there would be people who know they have COVID, but have no qualms about exposing others so they can have their vacation.