mbk999

I think both are doable. The airport is only 1-2 miles away. If you take your own luggage, 1045 is fine. THe last time we were there, we waited for our luggage and were at the airport by 9:15. As long as there's no hiccup with customs or staff shortage at the port, should be okay.

Thank you for the Allure update. We sail on her in two months with a similar itinerary, swapping Labadee with Coco Cay. Thanks for the info on Aruba and Curacao

She was definitely showing her age a few years ago when we were on it. More so the cabins (worn fabric and carpet). and the outer decks (rust). The interior spaces were still fine.

I didn't see it or a three day option for our July Symphony sailing. Only the individual restaurants were available. I was assuming they weren't offering it (yet) as it seems unlikely to have been sold out a year in advance.

Yep, did that once

Nope, not a terrible person

Sadly Phillips is but a shell of it's former self but the Mrs Phillip's crab cake recipe with Jumbo Lump makes for a good homemade cake.

and I thought vaccines would be the most controversial topic on these boards....

Yeah, sadly got tired of waiting and were afraid of no other travel options the longer we waited so we canceled August and we'll try again next summer.

It's been an "interesting" process signing up for these. Persistence is the key. I'd check the CVS/Walgreens sites every morning and periodically throughout the day. You just have to jump on it the minute you see something available. My daughter works in a school system in another state and since I am up before the crack of down, i've been trying to get her an appointment all week. I was finally able to sign her up today but that was around 0615. That's good about the doctor's offices getting them. Mine has just sent out emails saying they don't have it yet so try and get it from other means as soon as it is available.

I wonder about that too. I know people who have had zero reactions and those who've spent 24-36 hours in bed from each of the three vaccines. I'm one shot in with Pfizer and I waited the 2 hours at M&T stadium. Nobody was thrilled to be in line that long but I didn't hear anyone complaining too much.

It won't get back to Florida but if Cunard still runs their weekly trans-atlantic, you could at least get back to NYC.

You're right, they can't operate expecting to have no cases, I don't see that happening anytime soon. IF (appropriately caveated) they can get rapid testing figured out and have sufficient tests per voyage, that would go a long way towards the mitigation and control while on-board. You may have to test every day, certainly returning from a port of call. Increase the medical center, increase staff to ensure passengers quarantine (boy that would be a fun job, staring at a cabin door all day). My worry is less about the ship than it is with how the ports react to a ship with cases. It's one thing for a port of call to deny a ship, but a home port is another matter. Hopefully I'm not naive in the assumption that the cruise lines are discussing COVID protocols with the home ports.

and hope the other mainstream lines follow suit. It won't do Royal (or NCL or Carnival) any good if there's another Diamond Princess incident and the ports shut down again. That's one of my worries, an incident on another cruise line that further impacts the industry.

Yeah, I liked that one too but it's too late in the month for the school schedule and my wife will be back to work.