Ray

The timescales involved for testing were/are shocking!

I flew from UK to Gibraltar last week, landed went and got our luggage then went to testing point at airport, got test done, jumped in a taxi to hotel ( 5 minutes ) checked into hotel went to room and my phone pinged with test results. Result...all clear so it was out to play lol 

If its true then good luck to everyone that enters

however if it is true it would be a shame for those outwith US. A couple of hundred cruises spread between Europe, Asia and Oz would have been a nice gesture from those at the top to show thanks to those Out with the US who supported RC during the past 18 months and were the first ones back cruising. 

My own personal opinion is that Edinburgh ( pronounced edd in burra not eid in burg ) is the only major city worth visiting.

If flying in to Edinburgh i would head to where you are staying then from there head for Perth. From Perth take the road over the mountains to Braemar ( Queens Scottish Home is here ) you can then head from there to Inverness then down west coast by Oban and Inveraray before heading back over to Edinburgh or Glasgow for flight home. 

Its a loop of Scotland on country roads not motorway taking in some of the best scenery scotland has to offer.

Lots of little villages and towns you can stay away from the concrete jungles 

Ps check out Groupon App for cheap B&B deals, restaurants, hotels etc in Scotland 

On 11/12/2021 at 11:47 PM, Jill said:

Thank you! This is very helpful! We’re so lost planning this trip! Lol We’re planning on 10 days and hope to get to Ireland too. England would be a bonus. 
 

 

Is this a 10 day trip including the 4 days for the golf? Or 10 days travelling after the golf? 

As has been mentioned even 10 days is a short time to do Scotland nevermind throwing in Ireland. 

21 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I didn't get the impression the unrest was any cause for safety concern for tourists, just a traffic nuisance that could affect getting back to the ship on time.

Think my joke got lost somewhere lol like the one about french army vehicles only having 1 gear....reverse and the dutch always being stoned and chilling out

Read report that mentioned that the french are building barracades so it  makes their retreat easier and the dutch just want everyone to chill out

The report says sale starts 16th ( today ) however website still shows same sale as yesterday, got to wonder if report was infact genuine 

This is just some advice mostly for UK citizens flying with BA, Air Lingus, AA or one of their associated airlines.

You will in the days leading up to the day of your flight recieve numerous emails from BA (or whoever you are booked with) these emails will politey inform you about the Veryfly App and how you can upload all of your vaccine details into one place for easiness. It also states that this app is by an American based 3rd party company  is NOT compulsory and that any data you give out is nothing to do with airline.

Now i downloaded App before my flight home from Gibraltar and 1st page they wanted me to scan my face...why? What has my face got to do with vaccine records? 

As BA informed me it wasnt compulsory i just removed the App and ignored all new emails.

However when i went to check in for my flight i could not do it because i hadnt used the App..i had to check in at Airport instead.

Now heres to funny part

On getting to Airport i mentioned to BA check in staff about the App and was informed that it was a waste of time anyway! They still need to check your passenger locator form issued by government which you need to upload vaccine details to. A new QR code is issued for every new PLF.

Now the app only has some BA routes on it London to New York yes  , london to Gibraltar no! And the best part....the app does NOT recognise the Oxford vaccine which means even if you download app and go through all the uploads and filling in forms its still going to comeback and tell you that you have to show documents at airport.

So save yourself the hassle and stress by just ignoring these emails 

On 11/8/2021 at 4:12 AM, RTA Gaming said:

I have never experienced tipping, coming from a place where tipping isn't common culture. While gratuity seems to be included, I'm seeing mixed opinions on whether or not extra tipping is expected. Help?

As you will see from all of the above posts EVERYONE is different and either tips extra or doesnt based on what they feel is right for them. Like always tipping threads ended up a who can p!$$ the furthest competion, tip if you want if you dont no one is going to think bad of you 

10 minutes ago, teddy said:

Meh. Hardship stories or not, we live below our means and can afford to tip the people who make our cruise better with their personal touch.  What they do with the cash we give them as a tip is of no concern to us….it’s not our money anymore once we hand it over. 
 

Everyone is allowed to have different opinions. 

Yip thats what i said at the right at start but without the stories about covid  hardship or having family to support which may make some feel more pressured to tip! 

43 minutes ago, BrianB said:

 

Seriously…I know many, if not all, crew members have spent the last year and a half struggling to support themselves and their families. I believe this is the time to be as reasonably generous as I can to show my appreciation and I’m happy to be able to do so. Where many of them come from, every little bit goes a very long way. I missed my cruise vacations…but they missed their salaries. Just my opinion.

Pandemic caused issues for lots of people all across the world not just countries crews come from, many in more affluent countries lost their jobs therfore their salaries also!

Yes they get jobs away from home to make a better life for themselves as my friend has done with a german cruiseline, now when they are onshore which is most ports of call they are eating out! Or Drinking! Buying clothes they cant get at home! Going sightseeing or just having fun with all of their tip money and posting all the photos on social media 

Every crew member has the same story of hardship its what gets them the $$$$ 

Tips should be for the service you receive not the hardship stories

Its up to you!

Tipping extra is not expected nor is it compulsory. Its up to you to decide if a reward is merited.

Some tip barstaff as soon as they board just so they always have a drink in their hands, others wait until the last day then tip those who deserve it and did a good job without the need for bribery on boarding, others choose not to leave extra as they have already paid gratuities  

There's NO right or wrong answer, its your choice and you do what you want not what others do 

31 minutes ago, Junglejaney said:

 

Vaccinated Guests
Fully vaccinated parties may book a shore excursion or visit most ports freely — with the exception of those listed below, which will require tours for all guests who wish to go ashore, regardless of their vaccination status.

• St. Lucia (November visits)
• Barbados (November visits)
• St. Kitts (November visits)

So it says with a "tour",  not that we have to book with RC. For adults. Is that correct?

Could be wrong but 1st paragraph that you have omitted says RC have worked with local tour operators in ports of call to ensure they follow RC healthy sail plan and these tours can be purchased on cruise planner  so im thinking you would have to book any tour through RC for these 3 ports 

3 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

Hi!  You need to be more specific which ship and what sailing date you are referring to.

There is a recommended format for titles for these "Roll Calls":

Here is an excerpt from the post discussing this

Please try to use the following format so it's easily found through search:

• Ship Name
• a hyphen
• Departure date using the format month name (3-letter), followed by the day, then the year; this should help avoid confusion for members from countries where an all-digit date usually puts the day before the month. Examples:
  • Aug 14, 2021
  • Jun 12, 2021
  • Jul 22, 2022
• An optional itinerary name / description in parentheses

Thats a Bummer as i was going to suggest everyone meets up at Matts Mansion for xmas lol 

Are digital covid status apps accepted? 

1 hour ago, AspiringCruisePlanner said:

 

Am I being to hopeful thinking that this should have an impact on the timeline of reducing mandates in the cruise industry? Or is this going to have a similar outcome as the vaccines where enough of the population won't trust the medicine to make enough of an impact on hospitalizations and deaths?

No one knows timescale involved all we can do is hope its sooner rather than later, until such time as statements are released everything else is rumour and hearsay and not worth worrying about 

and yes there will be those who opose the pill believing that it will contain some drug that takes over your mind and makes you do crazy things such as book a Disney Cruise! 

2 hours ago, loki007 said:

The risk of myocarditis with a COVID infection is 10x greater. 

 

The risk of stress related heart disease in men increases by 100% if married....but we still do it

10 minutes ago, Canadian-Cruiser said:

Yes, this sounds accurate hence you'd need to locate a local area as others have said to test at plus pay any additional costs as a result.

PR Airport has testing for $110 , worst case scenario im stuck in a hotel for 10 days with a mini bar and sports channels on the TV lol 

14 minutes ago, Canadian-Cruiser said:

Use your best judgment but I think as long as one can satisfy the 3 days for entry to the US and 2 days prior to embarking on the cruise ship then one should be fine. They key is making it sync to satisfy both air and cruise requirements 

Just wondered if this could cause possible issues for people or actually work in their favour....im not cruising until March, got 2 days in NYC to celebrate St Patrick's day then fly down to PR for another 2 day before cruise so i can recover from St Patrick's day so i will need another test before boarding 

1 hour ago, Canadian-Cruiser said:

Untested Canadians or foreigners cannot enter the US. So to save expenses most would opt to use the same test for both purposes. 

 

 

Random thought....if i get test done in UK on at 1pm on the 1st of Dec and check in for cruise at 11am on the 3rd of dec in nyc then my paperwork will show i'm 46 hours since test was done, so im within the timescale. However there is a 5hr time difference to the UK so im actually 51 hrs since test was taken. 

9 hours ago, Johnstewarth said:

We are booked on Quantum of the Seas for June 2022. We booked through an agent at MEI Travel. We had eight other family members who were already booked transfer their bookings to this agent.

Later, I found a lower rate myself on the RC website and contacted the agent to see if we could rebook. She was able to rebook us, and we saved a significant amount of money. I had to ask her to rebook the others that had transferred their reservations to her, and they saved as well, but I honestly don't think she would have rebooked them if I hadn't asked.

 

Were you all listed as a group booking? Or just individual booking for each family as they transferred over to TA? 

I used Uber when i was in San Juan, half the price of normal taxis.

So You can enter PR without needing a test but you need to get 1 anyway to get on ship. 

If you’re flying in from the U.S.

Vaccinated guests have no testing requirement to enter Puerto Rico

All Guests: Required Testing to Board the Ship

You’ll need to bring a negative PCR or antigen test result to the cruise terminal to board the ship. It can be the same result you used to enter Puerto Rico, provided you time it right.

2 hours ago, TonySisk said:

  The easy solution would be to let people know ahead of time. The really easy solution would be to put a sign outside the elevators, once they open to the 8th floor. 

 

You mean like the sign they put on the doors saying " Crew Only"?

If you took notice of that sign then you wouldn't have walked through parts of your floor used as a quarantine area! 

3 hours ago, Psycho and Barb said:

We did our Puerto Rico Travel Docs yesterday.  They only wanted our flight number.  But, they also wanted to know where we were staying and for how long...We entered the Pier address and listed Royal Caribbean as our host...Didn't see any other option's.  Hope we did it right.  

Thats good to know

For my flight to Gibraltar in 2weeks i have to have flight seat number first before i can complete the forms. 

Different countries Different rules! Always best to check though as things change quickly