Jill

Be sure to name them on your cruise survey!

I’ve been reading in a few Facebook groups about people being turned away from the port because either they didn’t test or the wrong test. Just this past week 50 were turned away from Symphony. 125 from another sailing. Just wondering if Royal is really trying to get these people onboard. Imagine the frustration/disappointment passengers feel when turned away. Even though 99.9% of the time it’s likely due to their ignorance and not making themselves aware of what’s required. Just today someone posted on Facebook they bought the Abbott test at CVS but it wasn’t the proctored one. I just think Royal is really trying to get bodies onboard and placating/catering to those who either can’t follow directions or simply have been living under a rock for the past 15 months. Every passenger turned away is a possible negative Facebook/Instagram/Twitter etc post. Look at the Seattle case earlier this summer. It was splashed all over the media. When you dug deeper, you found the family actually was at fault but that story sticks in the non cruisers mind. It’s bad PR Hand Holding/butt wiping is a pet peeve of mine but in times like this, they may just have to do it.

I already had to book a 4th to get to Diamond Plus. Originally our 12 night next October wasn’t included in double points. Then they extended it to December. Now that cruise was in play and left us 14 short! Booked Harmony cause it’s only 2 hours to PC. Then Wonder came along and I moved Harmony to Wonder and a longer drive but ultimately a better cabin and $500 cheaper! Win win

Thank you! That’s what I thought but ya know September 30 is hours away and I got that fleeting moment of “oh did I count correctly?” We will be right at 175 points by the end of October 2022 and if I counted wrong, I’d be forced to book more in a hurry!

Can someone clarify this for me: we’ve got a 7 night Alaska with a 3 night Royal land tour. We are in a Junior Suite. It shows up in my cruise planner as a 10 night. All 10 nights are counted as a junior suite booking correct? So total would be 40 points? Please say yes because that’s what I’ve been planning on to get us to Diamond Plus.

Honestly I can’t believe the prices right now. I’ve gotten over $1k lower on my Symphony in 3 weeks. Down to $1400 for balcony. I originally booked symphony way back in early 2019 for May 2020 in a JS. Took the 125% FCC for $5600. That FCC is now paying for Symphony and Wonder AND part of our Alaska. (I did put $$ deposits down but balance is being paid by FCC.) Couldn’t be happier!

So what I find interesting is Odyssey is 756 this week and Allure is 2400. Allure has been around 2k (give or take) pretty consistently. So why the big difference? Allure is not Amp’d and odyssey is brand spanking new. You would think everyone would want to be on the newest. Is it price? Both are Caribbean itineraries. Ports are roughly 2 1/2 hours apart.

On the bigger ships (quantum and oasis class) with more restaurants, I say yes. However we only do dinners, not lunch as I would gain way too much weight. I barely eat lunch on land plus sea days are spent on the pool deck and we’re not going to shower and get dressed to go get lunch. On smaller ships (Freedom and below) we usually will do a 3 night and possibly go back to one for a 4th night. Those ships typically have 3 restaurants: Chops, Izumi and either Jamie’s or Giovannis We have a 12 night on Odyssey next October and our group has settled on the 5 night package because it is a very port intensive cruise (Holy Land/Greece) and we have several ports that leave late. I don’t want to commit to a specialty restaurant if I’m schlepping back onboard at 7:30/8:00 after being ashore all day. I will stuff my face, have a glass or two of wine and hit the bed! We have 3 sea days plus embark day and one day where we leave the port at 3:00, so we figured there’s 5 nights we could easily do. We will do MDR for the rest. So for us it really depends on the ship and itinerary. Currently we have it booked for upcoming Symphony and Wonder. The 5 night on Odyssey and Alaska we may just do a Chops+1.

We are on Radiance May 27. It’s the Southbound route out of Seward and ending in Vancouver. We have a corner aft JS. We added the 3 night Wilderness Express land tour which starts May 24 in Anchorage. We will fly in on the 23rd. We chose Radiance because of the itinerary and we knew we wanted to do the land tour to Denali. We’ve never been to Alaska and don’t know at this point if we’ll make it back so going big on this one to cram as much Alaska into 10 days that we can.

Ohhhh good idea!

Yep I think I’ll just have a mimosa for breakfast and wait for lunch!

April is a prime season to sail, especially around Easter. If you’re more flexible, October is a great month to sail affordably. If you’re set on April, I’d book as early as you can to get the best price. There are a lot of 3-4 day options out of Florida and you may snag a good deal on a 7 day. Watch for the sales (which seem to be always available). You could also ask for a quote (MEI Travel) from this blog’s homepage. MEI Travel may have some group rates available or one of their agents can search high and low to find you the perfect cruise!

Comes at a steep price though. If I were flying in I’d have an Airbnb as backup lol. I got the same email today and they’re obviously pushing the home test. I ordered our yesterday and plan to make a Walgreens appt as a backup

It shouldn’t. It affects ships coming from outside the US.

That’s what we’re here for! To push you over the edge lol! We’re a great group of enablers!

Our cases locally are way down, just like they were forecasted to do. Duval was such a hot spot. All of Florida is down over 50% in new cases. Virus is moving on from Florida even though we were made out to be some horrendous hot spot. Some other state/region will be hit next but we’ll still be the Covid whipping boy. Our cases got so high because we were experiencing “Florida Winter.” It was so hot, people stayed indoors, in close quarters. Cases went berserk.

Beach club became available again late last night. It looks like the first few sailings (didn’t look past my date) Wonder and Freedom will be at CocoCay together

Well I’ll tell you this: passengers in Hong Kong still think they’re sailing December 2022. Royal has not cancelled those bookings. I was reading this in a Wonder Facebook group and these people were surprised she was headed back here. However, you currently cannot book those sailings. They’re still there and you can start a booking but can’t finish it. Guess time will tell. I hope she stays here. If Playmakers still has the Chinese sign out front when she gets here that may give a clue. Gives us all something else to speculate on!

30 days. They’re at the end of your eDocs they email you

So someone on Facebook posted that all the cabanas on their March sailing were “sold out” as soon as the bookings went live. My guess is Royal is holding them for media/bloggers/travel agents?

I had trouble earlier but eventually got in. Haven’t tried in the past few hours

If you’ve never been to CocoCay, I’d just go explore the island rather than anchor yourself to a cabana all day. Plenty of free chairs with umbrellas, the huge pool with swim up bar etc. You’ll have a good idea where you’ll want to be next time around.

Well all cabanas are sold out as well as beach club. Looks like Royal made the right decision bringing her here. Our only hope is if vaccines will still be required and people cancel. I’ll be watching like a hawk come final payment day!

Unlimited dining is not available on many sailings right now. What I’ve heard is that in order to social distance in the specialty restaurants, they cannot accept the normal amount of people per night. I am also on the 10/23 sailing and bought the UDP many months ago. It’s no longer available. I would watch closely the week before the cruise in the event people have to cancel their cruise. You may get lucky. I’d go ahead and at least get the 3 night package and if you can’t get the UDP before the cruise, check with any restaurant the first night to see if maybe there were no shows at the pier. Begging might work too! Can’t help on the RoyalUp. We decided not to do one. Good luck though!

I had heard it will be back in October. Hopefully by the 23rd