Ndfan89

I feel your joy! We received three negative test today too! Our first cruise since COVID.  I truly can’t imagine having suitcases packed and getting a positive.  I would be heartbroken. 

(I skipped yesterday so here is yesterday’s and today’s update.)
Day 2:  A perfect half day at Cococay
We spent most of our day at Cococay and half of it was a perfect day. The other half, not so much.
Let me start by saying none of the bad luck was Royal Caribbean’s fault, mostly just bad luck and some stupidity on my part.
We got of the the ship, no problem. My wife dipped me in a vat of 9,265 spf sunscreen. She held me by my heel so I had an Achilles sunburn.
After the sunscreen I got into the pool at the oasis lagoon, got a drink and floated around for about 15 minutes when I realized my iPhone was in the pocket of my swimsuit. Luckily it survived.
Following the lagoon and a few more drinks, we headed to chill island where we snorkeled. My wife bought two full face snorkeling masks on Amazon for under $19 each, which also came with dry bags for our phones and ear plugs. The masks worked perfectly, the pictures from our phones in the dry bag were less than average. But the masks I highly recommend.  We snorkeled by the giant rock and saw a lot of fish, but I’m not a strong swimmer, so the poor lifeguard almost had an anxiety attack watching over me so I gave him a break by giving up and sitting in a lounge chair. I absolutely hate the beach. We live near a beach and I loathe it. Our beach has year round freezing temperatures, a strong undercurrent, and sand. However, at Cococay, I didn’t mind it because I was resting in a lounger under an umbrella and a nice guy kept bringing me drinks.
When my wife and sister in law finished snorkeling, we headed to the snack shack on our way back to the lagoon. I got a chicken sandwich and a brownie, my wife got the funnel cake. Back at the lagoon, a bird promptly stole and ate my wife’s funnel cake and to show his appreciation, he pooped on our beach towel.
I headed back to the lagoon where I got a drink and then lost my seapass card. After retracing my steps in the pool for about 45 minutes, I gave up and reported my lost card to security.
Then after being told several times to stop doing backflips into the pool by lifeguards, a kid continued to doing backflips into the pool, but he finally stopped when he flipped head first into the side of my sister’s face causing bruising and swelling. After that my 76 year old father slipped and fell. The lead lifeguard treated his wounds well, he was very kind staying with my parents the entire time and even arranged transportation back to the ship for my parents and sister in law who was helping them.
I was done so my wife and I headed back to the ship where I waited in line with all the other careless people who lost their cards. I was given a temporary pass to get back on the ship. After a shower and a rest, I was issued a new card at guest services and then was dinner.
I was hungry so I ordered two appetizers: Asian style pork tacos and a shrimp cocktail, two entrees: the garlic tiger shrimp and the salmon. Because I didn’t want to be a pig, I only ordered one dessert.
Due to a medical emergency, we diverted to Nassau for an medical evacuation. A few people expressed their displeasure with the casino closing due to being in port.
Following dinner was the ice skating show: 1887 a journey in time. The skating was amazing, but I had a hard time following the plot (that is if it even had a plot).
Then another trip to the wonderland bar to try the rest of the cocktails on their menu. It was super close to closing time, but they stayed open later to accommodate our party of 9 (my dad stayed in their room.) the mad hatter was even super friendly to my 75 year old mother. She loved the wonderland bar and wants to go back.
After a late night pizza and a beer, it was back to our room for bed.
 
Day 3: a sea day
Today was a sea day so we slept in, I got us coffee to drink on the balcony. Next was a quick bite to eat at the mini bites breakfast. Some of it was delicious and other things were just okay. Then off for more coffee at cafe promenade. The cold brew was great.
My wife went to lay by the pool and I started drinking pina coladas taking them back to the room to drink on the balcony while watching the water go by.
Then it was up to the pool deck to find my wife and watch the sexiest man contest. I didn’t last long on the pool deck and headed back inside. I waited in the rising tide bar where the bartender said it would rise in about five minutes. Fifteen minutes later we never launched and I received a text from my wife they were headed to the windjammer, so I got off the rising tide bar and has an unremarkable lunch at the windjammer.
My nephew and sister in law boogie boarded and then my nephew headed over to the standup surfing flow rider. My brother was in line to zip line. We stood in between to see who would go first, but they both went at the same time.
Then it was off to get ready for dinner. For appetizers I ordered the wedge salad and shrimp cocktail. For an entrée I got the seafood fettuccini Alfredo, and the soufflé for dessert. Like always the food was excellent, but the service was even better. The only mishap was the drink waiter spilled a Jack and Coke in my brother’s lap. He had to eat the rest of the dinner with a soggy grundle, which just so happens to also be the name of a band I saw at the Fillmore two weeks ago.
On the way to the room to change my clothes, I found the stowaway piano player again. We saw him briefly at the wonderland bar last night. I messaged my family and they came down to see him. I tipped him and he asked me three times if I had a request. I declined the first two times and finally asked if he would play Let it be by the Beatles. He is by far the best entertainer on the ship.
Next up was Grease. We all loved it, although my wife politely had to shush the older couple in front of us who decided that the middle of a Broadway musical was the best time to hold a loud conversation about their lives. I was also very concerned for the girl who sat next to the loud conversationalists that she would be unsuccessful at Candy Crush, but to my surprise she was better than I expected because she kept that game going for almost the entire hour and a half performance.
There are nearly 6,000 passengers on the Harmony of the Seas this week and tonight it was obvious. The only other times that I noticed that we have that many people on the ship is every time I get on the elevator with all the other 5,999 passengers on the same elevator.
Stray observation:
We went to the bionic bar tonight. Although I love the concept, the cocktail wasn’t very good, but it could be I just picked out one of their cocktails. It’s amazing that someone probably graduated from MIT with a phd and then invented a robot bartender. It’s genius really. Although I didn’t like the cocktail, I really liked my bartender, R2-3PO. Nice guy, has a family back home, he showed me a photo. He married a lovely blender and they are raising 3 sweet, but rambunctious toasters.
Tomorrow (or today) is a stop at St. Thomas.

We didn’t need to show vaccine cards at the port, we even asked. They only wanted to see our negative tests.

My son represented the state of Alabama in 2016 in Warner Robins, GA at LLWS.  We lost.  
 
TheRick have a great cruise! So looking forward to following along.  I will be checking-in this time next Sunday ! It is our first cruise since November 2019.

My son represented the state of Alabama in 2016 in Warner Robins, GA at LLWS.  We lost.  
 
TheRick have a great cruise! So looking forward to following along.  I will be checking-in this time next Sunday ! It is our first cruise since November 2019.

My son represented the state of Alabama in 2016 in Warner Robins, GA at LLWS.  We lost.  
 
TheRick have a great cruise! So looking forward to following along.  I will be checking-in this time next Sunday ! It is our first cruise since November 2019.

Eight Days and Counting
 We have eight days to go and we are already packing. In our defense we leave town in either five or six days. I want to leave on the 18th and my wife wants to leave on the 19th (we will stay with my parents so we won’t have to pay for a hotel). Like any good couple, we will calmly discuss why we want to leave when we do. Have a civil debate before coming up with a compromise, which means we will do whatever she wants.
We have two large suitcases, a carry on, and my C-Pap machine. We decided because we have two suitcases, we will put half my clothes in one suitcase and the other half in the second suitcase. We will do the same with my wife’s clothes, that way if one of our bags gets lost on the flight from California to Florida, we’ll each have some clothes to get by. My wife and I have been married for 30 years and together for 33, we have weathered many storms including the awful plunger incident of ’91 (which she brings up at least once every few months), and most recently when she reset my Wordle stats back to zero. But I will tell you right now, if we don’t separate our clothes and one of our suitcases gets lost in transit forcing my wife to wear my skivvies for seven days, we’ll probably never recover from that.
Since I’m retired and my wife still works, I offered to take a load of her shoulders and pack for both. She responded with an enthusiastic, “Not a chance in Hell, buddy.”  She would rather spend all day in work meetings that easily could’ve been an email than have me pack for her or myself or anyone for that matter. I am so bad at packing that she wouldn’t allow me to even pack for her worst enemy.  I don’t blame her one bit, I mean last time I packed for myself I ended up with two pairs of jammies, one shirt with a mustard stain, and eight pairs of undies for a 3-day weekend getaway, because when I pack underwear, I am like a fricken Boy Scout, “Be Prepared.” Here is how I pack my chonies: one pair for day one and one pair in case I poop myself. One pair for day two and one pair in case I eat Taco Bell for lunch (If you know, you know). One pair for day three and one pair for…surely it can’t happen three days in a row, but just in case, one more pair. And finally, two extra pairs just because. I always forget socks. It’s like my hidden talent to forget to pack socks. My wife is afraid if I pack for myself I might end up bringing three pairs of snow pants to the Caribbean, but hey, you never know when you need a good pair of snow pants.
We have stacks and stacks of new clothing my wife has been buying since we booked the cruise almost six months ago, yet I am not allowed to wear any of them. I swear, you get one little mustard stain on your shirt every time you wear one, and suddenly your wife doesn’t trust you around clothes…and food. Remember when you were a kid and you went to your friend’s house where the couch was covered in plastic and you weren’t allowed to sit on it? It’s the same thing with my stack of cruise clothing.
My wife is packing and I’m in the room to lend moral support, but I’m not paying very much attention. When I arrive on the ship and open my suitcase it will be a surprise, like when my kids were younger and they opened their Christmas presents in front of me and I see for the first time, what we got them.
I’ll be back in a few days to report on my pre embarkation testing and our traveling from rural county in California to the Sacramento area.  

Following.. I will be getting on the Harmony as you are getting off on 28 August .. 

Thank you for the response.  First cruise back so wasn’t sure what was the issue if any.   I hope you have a wonderful cruise !!

Same for me for my sailing out of Barcelona. When I checked in a couple of days ago the vaccine status box was there, but not gone.

I have a question .. So I uploaded vaccine cards yesterday.. First cruise since the shut down.   Ealier this morning all said “approved “ on the  App...  So I was just looking on the app  and now the third section is totally gone .. Does not even show the “vaccination status” box.. Just shows Travel info , Arrival time and health status .  is this normal ?

Yes.  Other than double points you get the other suite perks when you Royal Up into a suite.

I just went through this yesterday.  If the reservation number stays the same where the drink package was purchased The packages will,transfer and remain unchnaged.  We went from a suite to two rooms so one of the reservations changed and we lost a drink package. Yes - it was a drink package bought under the $18 Glitch .  However, because the customer service person did not tell me this information they gave me a $325 OBC so I could rebuy at the same price.  

Awesome! Congratulations!  I will see you in July.  Will you be in the casino?

This is the only  the information received on itinerary:  
Our original plan for Independence of the Seas was to begin offering sailings departing from Miami beginning July 2021. However, Odyssey of the Seas will now take its place and sail from Fort Lauderdale. Unfortunately, this means your sailing will be cancelled.
However, the good news is, Odyssey of the Seas will offer similar itineraries, so we’ll automatically move you to the corresponding Odyssey of the Seas sailing beginning June 6th, 2021 to help make the transition easier. This way, you’ll still have the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful destinations you were looking forward to!

Automatically getting put on a brand new ship at no extra cost. Oh the horror!

I work for the US Government and an executive order was signed for telework through 30 June 2021.   This does not give me the warm and fuzzies for my 5 cruises next year.  I pray I am wrong.  

My Alaskan Cruise was $43... Thank you again for this information!

My Alaskan Cruise was $43... Thank you again for this information!

I just checked my Allure cruise for Memorial Day 2021 and $50.  Was $68 last week! Woohoo! 

Worrying about being infected with covid is like worrying about being struck by lighting. People say what are the odds of dying? So nothing to worry about. Unless you end up being the unlucky one to die. But that's life, so let's all get back and cruise. What have we got to lose? What could happen on a floating petri dish? Ya the ship might put you off in a foreign port, if you are sick. They would rather abandon you, than being denied entry into a port and the  ship being quarantined.  Don't want any bad PR. But hey, it will only add more fun to your vacation. 

Exactly what I told my husband last week... My daughters graduation cruise isn’t looking good 

Exactly what I told my husband last week... My daughters graduation cruise isn’t looking good 

April Distance = May Existance
 

Yes, I spoke with him before our Navigator Cruise last July.   He was in the suite waiting area with us prior to boarding.  He has a condo in Miami.  He stated he gets off the ship early early and goes to his condo and checks on things and comes back.