AlohaLivin

Yes, on Allure. I didn’t see myself having to do crisis intervention on the ship, but you do things you have to do sometimes and I was glad to help. She is a dear woman.We’re checking in on her frequently and got in touch with a few others that have met her to try to fill some more of her time. P.S. We are so sorry that you aren’t with us!

We are onboard Allure - yesterday there was no Voom. We connectivity around 8ish this morning. Wouldn’t matter a lot to us other than being unable to reach those caring for the furkids at home. It was a real frustration yesterday to a cruise friend who had one of her cruise companions die onboard on the first sea day as she needed contact with home/family more than usual

We just got off the symphony and for the first time in our cruising lives the times are all over the place For the first two nights the wake up call from the ship was an hour too early even by the ship’s tIme (and the time change doesn’t explain it unless the “wake up” function differed from the ship’s clock). The third night, still in the same time zone, we used our wifi-connected cell phone and it woke us up an hour too late. I have no explanation for any of it Maybe next week on allure the clock situation will be less bizarre/

That one scared me too. But we ended up doing it in front of our home computer, I protected the desk like a firebreathing dragon. But all went well/

You didn’t?!I I am shocked. Can’t say we have seen any of the veteran parking spots, but today when Delta called for any active duty military or retirees to board early we were up there quick as a flash for a nice leisurely stroll onto the plane. Nice, small perk after 30 years even if it wasn’t in our thoughts so long ago.

Great! It can definitely vary with different lines. Some (most?) also allow for military/veterans from all of North America. It is a small discount, as I had noted, but even if it’s $100 that is $100 in your pocket.

I know that there are discounts for retired military (10-30 years) and active duty. I did not think that there were discounts for all veterans. I could be wrong on that, but many organizations divide the line there. Even for us, with Eric serving 30 years, the discount on a cruise (when it is offered, which is 25% of the time at best, is typically only $200 or so.

I am so sorry, you must be mega frustrated. We will test Thursday am for the first of a side 2 side. I won’t lie, I am so nervous! We have had a booster dose weeks and have masked when we were around people, but this virus is so contagious that it is still a fear. We haven’t had a vacation in two years, and even then it was scheduled a week and a half after my mother died, so we need this badly. I Hope that you all get to reschedule very soon

Sounds super positive though - Warm and friendly. Most of the concierge‘s is on Royal and Norwegian a very nice color you get the rare “fake flirty” types, but most are nice and very helpful!

Not really, at this point, from what I understand from the concierge for the symphony as the schedule isn’t finalized. But they can make them on day 1. I realize that makes the first day really hectic, but this is a situation at least until we get past these Covid protocols.

Example - we sail on Symphony on this Saturday, 11/6… the welcome letter from the concierges came yesterday (10/31). It seems the only difference now is that suite guests do now need a reservation for shows. In the past there was a special area for suite guests that didn’t open to everyone else until maybe 10 minutes or so before a show (so reservations weren’t needed). Now they are allowed to go earlier (but may require getting there very early, as in 30-45 minutes before), but reservations are needed. Not much they can do other than that with social distancing now. @SpeedNoodles So glad you had a great cruise!!! So tell me about Elaine… we know and like Dexter, but have not met Elaine (the Allure is a S2S with our symphony cruise).

We uploaded our vaccination records into the app a few weeks back, but they no longer show in our app at all now . Definitely doesn’t say in progress. We sail 11/6. Of course we have photos of them and will have them with us. Even though we’ve had three vaccine doses and have been very careful to wear a mask on top of that, this whole testing process can be anxiety provoking. I’m sure many feel the same even though we all understand it is important.

We have a good 3 lbs of chocolate left too, but thinking that could end up a giant melted piece pretty easily!

Fitness center? On cruise ships??? If there is a reserved time, I will gladly give you mine

We ignore it, but obviously that is not a scientifically validated winning technique

As a healthcare provider I see it a little differently perhaps (in terms of how I look at the data and calculate the risk for me). I find the state department ratings pretty useful, I’m not so cynical to think that there’s no good reason for them to rate a country as “do not visit” other than clear data. But it doesn’t really matter now because Royal Caribbean is allowing only bubble tours on this island (and three others that are considered high risk by them in comparison to other ports) and so no one will be roaming around St. Kitts for the time being.

It was just added it on. We’ve had this itinerary changed twice now. I actually don’t understand why they’ve added at St.Kitts since the state department has it listed as “do not visit” because of the high Covid rate. We may just stay onboard Bummer

I put my 3rd dose, but they really are referring to the 2nd dose (or the final one of the series in your vaccination protocol currently considered to mean you are “fully vaccinated”, which I guess now with J&J would be 1). It would therefore, by my reading, be fine to have your booster does the day of your cruise if desired as I read it (and that is what makes sense given that the booster is an extra dose at this point)

Our Nov 14 Allure cruise has just made two changes to our already altered itinerary- we now will go to San Juan (been so many times not much left to do) and St Kitts (where we somehow have never been). But I keep hearing warnings from people about these “bubble” requirements that had been in place at least until recently and I am wondering if anybody knows the current status? RCL had no tour options up until this afternoon but still there are only 2 options. I would like to know if independent tours are in option for us at this point, but I don’t know where to find the answer to that.

Mine were mid October. They were ordered about a month ago (via Optum). So the new expiration mid January. Don’t think we can count on ordering them now for anything in 2022 at this point.

That is one of my rare complaints about Royal over some other lines – the quality of photographers. I’ve had some amazing photographs on other lines where their knowledge of photography and their repertoire in terms of poses are often quite good. On RCL, the often very young photographers are very typically amateurish (over and over the hand in the pocket pose for a man - I told my husband to just say no ). There is one we liked and that is the one from Labadee 2 years ago that is on this profile - we were a little shocked when suddenly we were floating around the Caribbean and up pops a photographer!

Every place and situation has rules. Are there always going to be the grown versions of oppositional disorder onboard who just need to give the world the middle finger ? To quote @Matt, Yup. But most of us understand the guidelines and can live with wearing the requisite clothes to dinner on a cruise without much whining (since there is always Panama City Beach where the rules are “anything goes” for those who prefer that style). @twangsterso I have wondered, are those zippers not scratchy??

Hi! I think back on almost every circumstance I ever had that was similar (since unfortunately most of us have had our card numbers compromise a few times…) the vendor (whether Amazon or someone else) always reached out about the card being declined and asked for an updated card. I would think there should be someone, somewhere, to contact at RCL to get the card updated as cc issues have become a rather common occurrence in our current society. But if there’s not, surely they will reach out to you! Don’t give up hope we’re all sending super positive vibes your way.

Yes, there is unfortunately a limited menu. I ran into the problem once on Allure (polite and there’s not a lot I want to drink, so limiting me makes it a problem). On the positive side, I now have a list of drinks that should qualify for “free” in the suite lounge (and happy to share it with anyone who might be interested).