AlohaLivin

True - at least until it goes into the upcoming dry dock. The concierge in August stated that the concierge lounge (now basically a claustrophobic interior closet) would be moved to the same upper deck where the Diamond lounge and Dizzy’s are now located in the spot where Izumi is currently. It seems that all the concierge lounges will eventually be replaced by suite lounges (which is okay since the Diamond lounges usually are very similar in offerings at least for the basics).

Well yes of course they would, I think they are around $80 each. As would be the case with a cruise ship or hotel of any kind. But honestly I assumed that I was misunderstanding what the OP was sad about because I could not really imagine someone thinking they were free. Thus I asked for some clarification.

Sad? Sorry, I am confused, are you saying that it’s sad that you can’t take them home for free? I realize that I must be misunderstanding.

I have seen them on friend’s luggage, but we have not received any yet (but our status is quite new, so maybe soon!)

Hi - Royal worded this very poorly, because what you’re actually purchasing here is that bubble type cover that goes over 2 lounge chairs). I can see how it would be confusing given the title. FYI the price of these now is over $100 where they used to be about $30 Not worth it either way, however, since there are tons of free lounge chairs and umbrellas

Rapid test and trace is wonderful, we’ve had super experiences with them. I would think you could get a pretty quick appointment online ( and if you have some tests already at home like many people do, you’re good to go).

It seems from your choices that you love beach days and if so this will a great cruise for you! What people complain about regarding Nassau and Jamaica has to do with issues such as the variety or quality of tour options, the port “feel,” and the reaction of locals to cruisers. But it doesn’t speak to the quality of the beaches, island views, and specific venues. I cruised with my parents in 60’s - 70’s and Nassau was one of the few destinations so I have visited it repeatedly; as @CanHardlyWaitmentioned, the negative feeling on Nassau is likely due to the fact that many of us have visited it a bit too often. Yet, I have had visits to Nassau that we truly enjoyed. Don’t worry

I am suddenly in the exact same boat. I could grab a friend, but thinking that I will instead just go alone. We are D+ so an extra 7 pts won’t push me a lot towards Pinnacle, but it is something! Good luck on your adventure!

We are headed there in January, so I hope that Progresso has improved (we have somehow never visited). 4 mile pier???

Jamaica, anywhere. The worst is Ocho Rios, the pushiness is mega watt. Years ago it was Nassau, but at least there you can get close-in beach days and some interesting activities - in Jamaica getting to anything remotely positive takes an hour on a bumpy road.

Ditto. I have never actually traveled alone, at least not for the main part of the journey. I am a healthcare provider in private practice and therefore have more flexibility with my schedule than my husband does at this point. And, every cruise I’ve been on this year I have earned a Casino comps cruise via a casino promotion and with all we already have booked there are more cruises on our docket than my husband has time for. Thus, I am also considering some solo cruising. Luckily I am not a bit shy But it will certainly be a new experience. I guess we just have to hope that they are some friendly people on our cruises with us, right? My husband and I have made many cruise friends over the years, and it would be great if some are on board if I am solo, but there will be new people to meet! For those who cruise solo a lot, do you all usually request a table by yourself or a group table? I had a nightmare scenario on Premier (the original Disney line) where in graduate school in my 30’s my husband and I took a cruise and they stuck us with five honeymooning couple - not looking for a repeat of that!

There are usually very tiny ones around 1-3” at chill island (although I’ve seen an occasional larger one). When we were there twice in August one of the lifeguards at barefoot beach (Labadee) was down with a net scooping up all the ones he could find. I don’t know if that is typical or not. Jelly fish are common from the east coast of the US southward, definitely always a possibility to get a sting. As noted by others, the lifeguards keep vinegar spray in their kits. Hopefully you won’t run into a problem.

I recently added this sailing as a casino comp. Since it’s between two other major trips for us and close to each other those I may end up doing this one by myself. Hopefully they’ll be lots of friendly people onboard!

So many examples, but the most recent was that my husband had taken his tux to be altered before we left and somehow his tux shirt did not get back into the suit bag. So there we were recently onboard with cummerbund, bowtie, shiny shoes and jewelry, but NO white tux shirt. Out of desperation I asked the concierges if they still have shirts onboard from when they rented them out while knowing that my chance was about .00032343% of that happening. It turns out that she knew the tailor on the ship and called him. Within 15 minutes he met us in our cabin, measured my husband for a shirt and left. Within 15 additional minutes he returned with a tux shirt that fit my husband freshly pressed and ready to wear. There are often many who go above and beyond - the other concierge made sure to leave her phone with me whenever she could so I could use her hot spot when we were on the ship while in port because the wifi was completely dead and we really needed to reach family and the pet sitter on occasion. There’s some unfriendly staff around on ships at times. but there are tons of super kind and helpful staff on the ships in my experience. We try to remember them in extra ways as best we can.

That was what we did as well - we have only sailed in suites, but had a balcony through the casino so we bought the key to provide the priority boarding and a few of the benefits that overlapped with the suite benefits. It was worth it at the price point at which we purchased it, but I can’t see paying a ton for it. Since we did a B2B with a suite on the second leg, some of the debarkation day benefits were definitely wasted.

Anxiety is more common than depression, luckily somewhat easier to treat. But he needs to want to do it. The gold standard treatment for anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy or dialectical behavioral therapy (many licensed Psychologists can handle both of these). For more severe anxiety, the psychologist may recommend an adjunctive treatment with a psychiatrist (equal in education, this professional handles the medication part while the psychologist is trained to handle the psychotherapy part). But there is little more immovable than a person with significant anxiety - being angry with them or begging won’t change it. The rest of us may understand their fears are irrational, but the person experiencing it does not recognize that he/she is being irrational.

Agree that anything other than the Pin badge is tough to see. DH puts his Diamond plus pin at the bottom of his strap badge holder, but it is hardly noticeable. There needs to be something useful to do with all the pins though!

We just completed our health questionnaire on the app - I can confirm there were only three questions and that we were able to complete the questionnaires on the app for our 14th and 20th sailing today (13th) . The questions are (1) are you fully vaccinated for covid, (2) have you had a Covid booster, and (3) are you more than 23 weeks pregnant. (headed to the airport, I apologize if this repeats any prior info).

hopefully none of the cruises we take will resemble either one, although I would definitely take the latter over the former (and likely will be more of the latter in 20 years).

I can definitely see that happening. Sometime it is a guess on how much product to bring. But we are about to shove off so I will make sure to try it at over the next two weeks. The worst that can happen is that I look like I have ship hair

I never can remember that - but then I mostly ignore the hardware on the shower wall Fine curly hair, I don’t risk it!

We test at 7 pm tonight for our 14th boarding. Looks likely it will be the last time we do it for a cruise (although of course we will keep some at home in case of infection). I am in dire need of a cruise! The proof is below!

Wasn’t spanking your hand I just wanted to point you in the right direction. Actually when I have a question, the first thing that I do is search the board - you would be surprised how much great information there is here that may be 3, 8, or 40 pages back on ports, hotels, excursions, etc.

Hi - this thread began a few days ago on this same topic, the responses may be helpful to you

I do have to agree that the wording of these announcements has been horrendous - starting with the “welcoming” the unvaccinated. I’m not sure that they could be doing a worse job.