AshleyDillo

Everyone 12+ has to purchase an insurance policy that covers COVID. However, if you can prove you are vaccinated they will accept that in lieu of proof of insurance.

You don't typically get any C&A points on a non-revenue cruise.

Yeah, we aren't a beach family at all but somehow keep going an Eastern Caribbean itinerary over and over again. A big strike for me with St. Thomas is they doesn't have typical taxi service there. They use open-air vehicles and the charge is per person based on where you are going which can add up. Then they sit and wait until a vehicle is full before they'll even leave. It's one of those ports that I would always recommend a group do an excursion or arrange private transportation just because of the cost. The first time I ever went we rented a Jeep and drove all over the island, which is more of my speed for an excursion over a beach or shopping. They drive on the other side of the road there, so that was quite thrilling at times. Otherwise, we may hop off there and walk around the immediate port area and then get right back on board and enjoy an empty ship. I've never done Antigua before, so that will be a new one for me that's showing up on some of my upcoming itineraries. It looks like a lot of the notable sights there are walkable from the port, so that's likely what I will do there at my first visit. It looks a little more enticing shopping-wise than St. Thomas too.

There's the typical cruise port style shopping area if that's what you mean. However, the Oasis ships do not dock at the Havensight pier which has a much bigger port shopping area. Oasis class ships dock in Crown Bay. There's a much smaller shopping area immediately at the Crown Bay pier, but it's really not much at all. You can catch a taxi to the shopping to Dronningens which is basically their main street where you'll find some local shops here and there but most of the typical tourist things like Harley Davidson..it's that kind of an area. If you go all the way over to Havensight there's more cruise port shopping but you can catch the sky ride to Paradise Point from where, which is kind of cool if you've never been before. It's a one-and-done most likely, but you will have an awesome view from the top of the bay and can order some yummy drinks and enjoy the scenery before taking the sky ride back down. It is going to run you likely $25 a person for the ride, though.

UDP covers meals whenever a specialty restaurant is open, so basically not for special events. But yes if there's availability you can have lunch at Chops. Johnny Rockets and Playmakers will also be covered. However milkshakes at Johnny Rockets are not. I agree with @Ampurp85, the soda package only makes sense if you drink at least 3 sodas a day. If tap water is ok otherwise, no need to bother with any package for the kids. You can get bottled water for free during the Happy Hours in the Suite Lounge which are handy to have on-hand for shore excursions.

Looks like it should be the beach right in front of the infinity pool. Kiddo should have plenty of room to play in the sand and then he can play in the pool too.

Under the current CWC, the deposit will become an FCC that can be applied to another cruise. Outside of that, typically yes most suites (GS and up) are non-refundable deposits by default.

Yay! Glad to have you.

Refund applies to all July and August sailings from Florida now.

Oasis is August 22-28! https://www.facebook.com/100057105533884/posts/273912684522247

That's only a default time slot for the first night. I think with some dining packages they auto assigned you to a place the first night. You've always been able to schedule your specialty dining to whatever times you want with the package once you get on the ship. With being in a suite you will have a jump start on this as the Concierge can make your reservations for you when you get the welcome email or when you get on the ship.

It reads as though if you booked the cruise between those dates you are exempt from the insurance requirement. Haven't seen any clarification as to why it's this particular window.

You will be able to watch the aquatheater shows from your balcony and they have rehersals during the day, so that's very fun to watch. AO got revamped on Oasis and it's actually a much newer concept than on Harmony. @Matt has blogged about it in several places and he was hesitant at first but he loves the new AO. During the revamp they redid the entire AO area and there's a lot more interactive technology involved. The area is more open and the kids have more choice in what they participate in. It's not like before where if they didn't want to participate in the activity that was happening they didn't have much else to do. More and more I read your responses, I definitely think Oasis would be the better choice for you guys.

They aren't anything official and can be organized by any group. Find your Roll Call here, on Cruise Critic, and Facebook and ask if they have one going or would have any interest. It's a lot to coordinate a Roll Call, as coordinating any group activity is, so I prefer to join other ones. If no one bites in just doing a crawl and you still want to show off the room and play host, just offer and coordinate with people a specific time for them to meet somewhere and you can lead them to see the room where you can have everything set up to play host with your Genie's help!

Then no problem! Spending spree on mom!

Oasis has the biggest Splashaway Bay to date on a Royal ship if that's a big deal for the kids. However it's kind of a tie for me between Harmony and Oasis. The lower deck ATS is larger, but Harmony's decor just feels more modern. I loved the ATS show on Oasis but not a fan of CATS. I found Grease on Harmony much more enjoyable. The food is a toss up too! On Oasis you have Portside BBQ, Giovannis, Playmakers and El Loco Fresh. Then Harmony has Wonderland, Jamie's and Sabor. Man..isn't it great Royal still has so much variety within the same class ship?!? Unless you are trying to make this decision, of course.

Maybe, but I think that has been in all bookings since COVID going back to 2020. Now they're just requiring the non-vaccinated to foot their own insurance since statistically they would be the ones who would have more severe cases and more of a chance for needing emergency care that comes at a high cost when traveling. I just don't get if you booked an August 2021 Allure sailing, for example, back in November 2020 you would have get the insurance, but if you booked that same cruise last week you wouldn't.

I don't think that one was approved for the under 18 set yet, but I might be wrong. I believe he can still sail, provided you get the insurance policy. Royal is probably selling them, so you definitely should call and ask about that. He will be considered unvaccinated just due to timing. However you do have the option to get a refund for the cruise now. August cruises from Florida are now on the Healthy Sail Center list.

@WAAAYTOOO Well since they added August 2021 sailings to the Healthy Sail Center, at least you'll be able to opt for a refund for your cruise if things don't change with the restrictions for you.

I totally get and understand that and it makes sense. I just don't get why that magical 3-month booking period is exempt from that requirement. It doesn't affect me at all, but it still bugs me not to know.

We opted out of the motorcoach to the port and did the train instead. We didn't do Goldstar service, just the regular cars but it was absolutely worth it! We got to leave our luggage out to go on the motorcoach, made sure the land tour guides knew we were not going to be on the motorcoach, and they put our luggage on the bus with everyone else's. I mean we already were on the tour that did the most train segments and we still opted for more train. And would do it the same exact way all over again.

@WAAAYTOOO nailed it. You absolutely get all the benefits of Star Class. You get access to the Genie. in fact if you don't find out that you won RoyalUp to Star Class before your Cruise Planner closes, when you get onboard the Genie will help get your dining and drink packages canceled if you had purchased them. Basically the only thing you won't get is if they were offering an extra OBC for booking that specific room in the first place. Drawbacks are if you have 2 rooms and you win RoyalUp, you can't just combine the 2 rooms into the new Star Class room and cancel the other one AND the Star Class perks will only be for those in the room that won. However, you only have to pay your bid amount for the first two passengers. So for example if you had a room with 4 people and won, all 4 get the Star Class privileges but you only pay the bids for 2 people. It's a bit of a fun game thinking about it in this era of uncertainty..with folks about to CWC 48 hours before sailing..I'm sure there may be quite a few Star Class surprises throughout the fall.

The pre-purchase for Izumi sushi is a pre fixe menu, so you're better off just making the reservation and paying at the restaurant. However, you may need to check if you can authorize it to be charged to your onboard account if you won't be there with them to give your card at the end of the meal.

The package covers any specialty restaurant whenever it is open. Order some Izumi sushi to go, grab some nachos from Playmakers to bring to the Aquatheater show, as long as they're open you can eat. I've visited CP150 and Chops in the same night (although I only did a takeout order for Chops for my evening visit). You can even schedule multiple reservations for yourself in the app in the same evening.

My first thought went to was that a typo and they meant March 2020, which would have been near the beginning of the pandemic? But then why wouldn't anyone booked prior to today, no matter when they booked pre-pandemic or not, be exempt? Would have been easy enough to word it that previous bookings are grandfathered in. It's a big change in policy either way. The only significance of March 19, 2021 I could find was that was the day they announced they would be starting to sail Adventure from Nassau in the summer. Maybe the focus on that time frame is because they didn't want to penalize the passengers who already booked on Adventure to having to get insurance for their kids? Just re-read and it's only for Florida ports apparently, so scratch that thought process.