barbeyg

@BrianB, I agree completely with your assessment. For some, I think it is this last minute shift, in a situation we are all weary of, no matter what our level of risk tolerance is.  We personally chose to sail under the previous guidelines and had a truly wonderful cruise, despite the “put on/take off/etc” of the masks indoors.  We personally believe masks are theatre for the most part if they aren’t N95s, but the rules are the rules and we chose to sail, which means to us choosing to observe the guidelines.  I personally have a lack of tolerance for people who know the rules, choose to go, and choose to break those rules, as if they don’t care that the cruise lines will suffer for their childish behavior.

IF the new guidelines require wearing/removing during meals and drinks in addition to theaters, etc, we would be sad and postpone cruising for a bit if we had one coming up soon.  My husband works in food manufacturing, 12.5 hour shifts, in a mask. For him, that wouldn’t be a vacation. So, for us, we would choose to wait. For others, it won’t bother them, and they would choose to sail. As you and I both know, both are personal decisions, and neither is wrong.  So many have no tolerance for choices different from their own, which leads to the bickering on social media. 

I think it’s great that RCI is sailing again, and they allow cancellations for situations like this. Not many vacations you can say the same for.

Hopefully the current drama over Omicron will prove to be wrong, and Omicron will be one more step toward exiting a pandemic. Hopefully, THIS will become COVID’s last hurrah. (Wouldn’t that be great?) 

I agree. We chose to sail under the previous mask rules…and abided by them. We didn’t want to cause issues for the crew OR RCI. 

I’m sorry that some of you have had your travel plans disrupted because of CDC demands and the cruise lines having to jump thru hoops to please this bloated government bureaucracy.  I’m also sorry that you voice your disappointment only to be judged by a few for sharing.

I hope things work out for those of you who don’t want to sail under the current conditions. You, and RCI, have been put in a tough spot.  I wish you all the best.

1 hour ago, JohnK6404 said:

Just an observation and comment... don't get nervous if your reservation online is showing a different sailing early on!

We were originally booked on the Harmony 8N, Eastern Caribbean, Perfect Day & Labadee sailing on 1/7/23, of course out of Port Canaveral... just this morning, it magically updated to the Harmony 8N, Southern Caribbean sailing on the same date out of Fort Lauderdale! 

 

I contacted Royal and they apologized for the online glitch and confirmed (what was reported by all in this thread) that we will all be moved to Wonder and to disregard. 

 

Thanks.  I thought this "might" be the case.  A two step move.  First, land Harmony with all passengers somewhere, then move passengers to Wonder.  Whew.  

I am also excited about Odyssey and the Icon class ship. Something newer on RCI for everyone.

2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I am planning to go on Allure this Sunday. Just need a negative test.

Have a great time!

On 12/13/2021 at 12:59 PM, Seafarer said:

A half dozen gratuity envelopes, for additional staff recognition.

This, ice in the bucket daily, drinking glasses, sometimes hangers, and an extension cord for hubby’s CPAP. 
 

I currently miss Marva from Oasis. She was lovely, and took care of us exceptionally well last week on all our requests .

Here is the part of the letter that shows the cabin # @Baked Alaska:

11 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

Wow, how did you get moved already? !

My email, that notified us of the change (yesterday), gave me the updated cabin number in it. Now, the RCI site doesn’t show it, but the email tells me the #.

7 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

Will they transfer our cruise planner purchases to the Wonder?

Wouldn’t that be nice (50% off Beach Club that won’t roll around again till next Black Friday….maybe). 

19 hours ago, GatorCruiser said:

Just got the email officially informing us of our Lift and shift to our grand suite on wonder from harmony.  To say I’m stoked would be an understatement. Just amazing news!!! I’m going to never leave that suite neighborhood except to go to trellis bar in Central Park 

We got the same. Deck 17. So glad we made the ‘cut’. Whew. 

8 minutes ago, GatorCruiser said:

 My wife and I are booked in a grand suite  on  harmony in December 2022 and now see it’s canceled in the cruise planner. Man if we got the equivalent of that on Wonder, it’s would be epic !! Fingers crossed.

We are booked in one too. Hoping for the best. I really liked this itinerary, and this would be awesome! 

7 hours ago, Dlove707 said:

I will try to get the cruise compasses done today, sadly when I arrived home I had no power and it just came back on last night. This was a wonderful trip and I cant wait to do it again.

Sorry to hear about your power loss. Ours was out about 3 hours Friday (the power co calls with a message about loss/restoration and they called me on the cruise). 

We had a great time as well. Our AK cruise in May seems really far away right now.

No pictures today, somehow. But we had an amazing lunch at Portside BBQ. Great music, wonderful food, and such enjoyable company. We had lunch with online friends from CC.  After lunch, we were able to hand out ‘thank yous’ to those onboard who made this such a delightful cruise. 

It makes me sad to think that someone else will be using our wonderful shower tomorrow in our CLS.  Thank goodness we have a great shower at home. And I’m truly grateful that we have another cruise in May, and another next December too. Makes the parting less sorrowful.

I don’t know if I will ever get my husband into anything less than a grand suite again after our AK cruise in May. He is spoiled rotten. Ruined for anything else.

It’s been such a wonderful cruise. I knew I missed cruising but I had no idea how much until we were back on a ship again. And in talking to the staff, they are all so grateful to be back at work. So many of them have suffered loss of loved ones during Covid. My heart goes out to them.

There is a sweet camaraderie onboard that I can’t describe. I am so thankful that we sailed now rather than waiting.  I hope each of you sail again soon.  

Thanks for going along with me and being so kind in my first attempt at this.  Merry Christmas to you all!

4 hours ago, MattG said:

Thank you! That’s super helpful for our planning for Oasis next year. For comparison, here’s the swim diaper area from Anthem we’ve had to work with this week (highlighted in purple arrows, hopefully these stay upright)

That’s awfully small. The Oasis area is much better than that.

@MattG, this is the swim diaper area. Took photos from different angles.

2 hours ago, MattG said:

Hello! I haven’t had a chance to follow along (we’re on Anthem right now), but I was wondering if you could snap a photo or two of the “swim diaper-only area” of Splashaway Bay? On Anthem, kids in swim diapers aren’t allowed in any pool except one (insultingly) small splash area. Wondering if the amplified Oasis has something a bit nicer…

Let me see if there is anything out there. Will let you know. 

We had lunch today at Giovanni‘s. It was an excellent experience. It would’ve been really nice if our server would’ve piggybacked to me back to the cabin, because I was in a food coma. But I hated to ask him to do the extra work.

My happy place:

Minestrone:

Ken’s salad:

Calamari (made my tummy very happy!):

Seafood pasta:

Branzino:

Tiramisu:

Torta di Cioccolato e Nicciola (One of the top desserts I’ve had on this cruise):

So last night, we made our second trip to 150 CP. I remembered to take photos, fortunately, because I don’t think Ken would bring me back again this cruise. The food was fabulous, the martini divine, the service impeccable. 

Sunchoke Veloute 

Braised short rib

Beet salad

Lobster Thermador

Chocolate peanut butter tart

Fried cheesecake

Garden martini

And so has a crystal block.

 

Our steward Marva is very talented with towel art. She is also a great person.

Gingerbread villages have suddenly appeared.

Almost forgot. They weren’t parked side by side, and Grandeur was further away, so the photos don’t show the stark size difference. The concierge said this was Grandeur docked with us today. Please correct if that is wrong. Looked like Oasis had a baby. 

9 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

Oh, you're just driving them home. Nothing will happen.  Enjoying your blog. We are on Oasis over NYE! 

Hope your trip is as wonderful as ours has been!

Speaking of the Celebrity Apex, I have been pricing 2023 on the Celebrity Edge series. I must confess that it feels a little bit like I’m cheating on Royal’s ‘good friend’ when I’m on the Celebrity website.

On 12/8/2021 at 8:22 AM, Moxiegirl1977 said:

Can you maybe send RC Blog the full week’s compass? I’m totally digging your writing!

@Moxiegirl1977, not sure why, other than satellite internet, but at times posts from you guys don’t show up in the thread on my side till much later. Glad Dlove caught your post. Thank you for the kind words!