Traveler

I must say it was much more comfortable when it was done on the ship. Anyway what I find it hard to understand is how the cost of antigen test in RCL terminal cost more than rapid antigen test in the airport (like Miami and EWR).

Most of the time you will find some deals during port day. On out last sail it was 145 $ for 75 minutes combined Swedish massage and face treatment. 112 $ for 55 minutes for head to to toe. But I guess it different from ship to ship. Remember that they automatically add 18% service charge.

That is a very strange move from RCL , they are just losing there best C19 alarming system. If some one going to the casino and not complaining about the smell he directly sent to deck 2 for a PCR test ...

Day 8,9,10 conclusion. Let's start from the end I'm currently writing this post back from home where we are both now under the mandatory quarantine for 3 days to whoever came back from international travel. So far two test our negative (one that we done on the ship and one week that we done immediately after we landed at the airport) Third and hopefully the last one will be done on Wednesday to get out from the quarantine. I read allot of posts and newspaper articles about our cruise. Every article in posts were more dramatic than the other I had to ask myself few times have they been on the same cruise that we were on ?. So yes they were cases on the ship and that's expected considering the new omicorn variant but we almost did not felt anything nothing almost canceled beside postponing the hair spray show but that was due to technical issues. The fact is the protocol were working and we can see it by the low number of crew members that were found positive. Listen back from the ship was very easy and quick no lines at all. Immigration was done using the automatic cameras even for none US citizens. The main issue was the taxi line , we waited more than 40 minutes to get into the taxi , huge lines and not so many taxies. That can explain why for Uber XL for 5 minutes ride to the Intercontinental it showed 88 $! , For the airport more than 100$ . We took the taxi to the airport rental center and pick our car. Our flight was the day after. From the airport and since the hotel was not ready yet we went to do some shopping in one of the bigger Mall. Surprisingly we were not requested to do C19 test before entering to the mall nor we requested to do one after. Around 40% of the people did not wear masks I don't want even to start about social distancing. If I was afraid catching c19 it was not from the ship it was from our visit to this mall... Still didn't read any article or post regarding mall C19 outbreak. Maybe Royal need to rename it ships from of the seas to mall name . Something like Symphony mall , Odyssey Walmart, Allure Macy's etc... We used the Intercontinental Doral hotel as it had free parking and near the airport. It's Ok clean hotel and we got what we expected but don't let the name confuses you as it's more Holiday Inn than Intercontinental. Early morning we have done our way to Miami airport. The security lines were crazy almost 45 minutes. I start to think that the airlines paying money for the Miami airport security to hold people as much as they can so they will not need to pay money for the airline lounge :-). Flight back went smoothly. Let's conclude this cruise , if everything goes okay the next Cruise will be on Wonder of the seas , I do hope we will not see any delays or change in the cruise industry (oh well just good changes) Hope you enjoyed the short version blog and I hope the information will help other people. Let me know if you have any questions.

I just disembark from Symphony today , the exact number is not 50 it more like less than 35 as around 0.7 % got infected. Only two employees (they were moved to Nassau) I guess some people did the wrong math. Beside asking to have our masks in the theater we did not experience any protocol change.

Just got an email that on the previous cruise they found one passenger (which had the symptoms but decided not to report on board) with the Omricon variant. On this cruise (Symphony , 0.7 tested positive for C19)

This is the email we got today: (Omericon came to visit) ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING TRAVELS Dear Guest, Earlier this evening, we were informed by the CDC that a guest who sailed on the December 4th, 2021 Symphony of the Seas sailing tested positive for COVID-19 after they returned home. This guest did not report symptoms to our onboard medical teams as outlined in our health protocols. Their post cruise test results were subsequently confirmed as the Omicron variant. Additionally, as the Captain announced, we have a small number of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic COVID-19 cases on our December 11th cruise – fewer than 0.7 % of the total population onboard. While these cases are unrelated to the Omicron case from the guest who sailed on December 4th, our goal is always to keep you safe, healthy, and well-informed. Per CDC guidance, here’s what to do next: Within 3 – 5 days after you depart the ship, please be sure to visit an accredited laboratory to take a test for COVID-19. The health and safety of our guests and crew remain our highest priorities. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Sincerely, Royal Caribbean International

I think around 4500-5000

Funny , huge line in guest services , every second guess carry tons of used towels. It became a huge revenue for RCL

Currently they ask people to use the mask in the theater ... One not welcome change is the self luggage disembarkation protocol change . Now you need to use luggage tags and show them once disembark so no flexible time anymore.

I can always blame the auto correct

We are in a very important crossroad. The Omricon looks like more easily spreading including in the vaccinated population. Still we need to wait to sea the severity of cases , so far very light symptoms but we need more few weeks to see the trends (the Delta started also with minor symptoms). Let's all hope it's will be soon consider no more than a light cold and this will start to be the end of it. Meanwhile let's hope it will not impact the cruise industry.

C19 update . The Captain just let us know C19 cases were detected on board of the Symphony. From another reliable source it more than 15 , only two are crew. That's mean tomorrow Symphony boarding process will start very late , maybe after 3 PM since CDC will need to visit . Let's hope everything will goes well and everyone will feel better soon. Update , some people were sent to Nassau ( I guess the cruise crew ) the other will disembark in Miami .

We arrived Coco Cay around 11 am and cleared around 12 PM. So I guess we had 1 hour delay due to the medical emergency. The good news is that we will leave at 5:30 pm whiche one extra hours. Still for whoever booked the over the sea cabena it is around 350 $ per hour . We had the Jet ski excursion bit when we arrived to the island excursion desk they said it's all cancelled due to water conditions. The sea looks flat to me so maybe it's a matter of under water streams . I know such things can happen I just wished they would let us know while we still on the ship so we would plan differently. Oh well there are many more things to enjoy on the Island. By the way Jewel of the seas is also here

Sure I will try to load them

First time I hear about such thing , the annual cruise was from April 1 to March 31 , including booking , it might be they have changed it. But in Royal universe the rule is - if you got an answer you are not happy with from one representative , call, call again most of the times you will get different answer ...

I think the main reason for cutting the suite is not really the extra space for suite deck as it's not explaining all the suite that gone for all the other floors. The main reason I guess the fact that that ship was designed for the Asian market,mainly cruising from China. The market there is different I guess less demands for suites more for other facilities for example , the solarium is busier from outdoors pools and will be with a cooling system. I am sure on the six Oasis ship you will see more suite although it still might have the suite deck. In Spectrum you can find things like golden balconies which gives you suite services on a regular balcony rooms. If things with the C19 will continue Royal might do some changes. I guess that there might be soon things like Sky JS cabins and other. The C19 changed it all , let's just be happy that the Wonder is serving now US and Europe.

Interesting , we visited the diamond club at the morning , it seems it went back to self service , at least for the coffee machine. The suite club is still full service.

Good morning on the way to Coco Cay

F5 and Cisco works for me almost most of the times . Never tried public one.

Now we got another alpha alpha alpha , this time on the central park , hope it's just something minor. Another strange thing , first time on the last day we still have not got the numbers for the luggage (and not only us)

PCR test update. We went at 4 PM to do our return home PCR testing. There were almost no lines (only tow Canadian before us) . They verified the passport information and the test took 30 seconds for me and was quite easy. My spouse complained that her test was rough as they really tried to find something hidden there , I guess it's depends who is your tester. I had to take her to drink Kraken Lava flow to recover :-). The email with the results came back after 15 minutes (both negative) gso we are clear to go and we can relax and enjoy the rest of the cruise.

Yesterday we had Alpha alpha alpha at evening. The ship had to change route to get near Puerto Rico and around 10 pm an helicopter from US cost guards evacuate him to the Island. The route change will bring us one hour late to Coco Cay but we might stay there extra hour. I wish whoever evacuate to feel well soon , One hour less in Coco Cay is not compatible to saving lives.

Day 5 St Thomas. We planned to have a another Catamaran tour with some snorkeling and island tour but unfortunately it was cancelled. We done a mistake and replaced it with a tour in Villa Botanica and mountain too , the combination of rain and too much time planned for the vila tour was not working well for us. Oh well lesson learned for next time. Chef's table came back to Symphony , still not advertised but we were encounter by someone that offer it for us with 20% discount. Since it was my spouse birthday we jumped on the offer as we both love it. The meeting was in Vintage and after that we were escorted to a table in the solarium. I think the location is much better than the previous one in CK. The table is limited to six people. We two other nice couple and allot of chats and good laugh. As always I think the most important thing in Chef's table is the company. Food: We got the 150 bread , scallop carrpacio which was not that good . Tomato smoked soup , lobster salad , a fish plate and filet mignon which were all good. One not so welcome changed was the fact they gave us 5 white wine and only 1 red, but still it was allot of fun.

Day 4 part 2. For St Maarten we booked a two hours sunset catamarans sail. The sail started at 3:30 pm and was supposed to end at 17:3o which was also the all aboard time. No way I would book such a excursion. Not from RCL and be on a YouTube video as 10 most funniest pier runners 2021. The boat ride was awesome. We went to a ride around the Island while heaving open bar and some local Caribbean snacks (like Hummus and cheese ). Going back the ride was bumpy , we stood in front of the ship in a " I am the king of world" position and enjoyed every jump like the pirate ship ride in a theme park. We got back to the ship exactly at 5:30 PM to sea Symphony after dark.