AshleyDillo

Woooo, boy. Folks aren't going to be happy about this one, right @WAAAYTOOO?

Yes, they will if you ask for one at Guest Services.

@Tanner IAH (George Bush Intercontinental Airport) in Houston does have the Rapid PCR testing, but it is $250 per test ($200 if they accept the NAAT Molecular) and you have to schedule it ahead of time. https://www.xprescheck.com/ For a full family of folks it might be cheaper to just plan to hang the extra couple days in Houston after the cruise and get tested for free at Walgreens.

RoyalUp is run through a third party, so it's really their proprietary algorithms that they've devised along with Royal's guidance that rolls out in the execution of accepting offers. There are probably many different layers to this. You have to remember that moving one cabin up with an accepted bid can cause a chain reaction all the way down the line as other bids are there to take the now-empty cabin. So your bid being accepted may not even depend on how much you bid, but more if the cabin you are currently in is in demand. Then there's also the case of having promised bids ready to go in the case of last minute cancellations. The room was gonna be empty anyways, so might as well move someone up.

Yeah, that doesn't make sense if they are letting folks use a birth certificate + drivers license combo in lieu of a passport. If something happens, it really doesn't make a difference if someone has the Passport card or the DL/birth certificate combo as it would be a mess to fly home internationally. That being said, if you have a Passport card, you likely also have a Passport so might as well use the Passport. I think Passport cards were mainly targeted for the Canada/Mexico/US land travel and became an alternative to a REAL ID compliant drivers license/ID as well while the states all switched over to it.

You should be able to book for just 3 people and that will lock in the 3rd person rate for any additional passengers, so you could add your son later at final payment time when you are more sure that he will be going. The only potential snag there is if the cruise hits capacity in some way they wouldn't allow you to add an additional person. Basically, once there's no more room left on the lifeboat for the rooms in that area, they can't add another.

I will be on that Sept 5 Allure sailing as well. Can't help you with your GTY survey as we've booked specific rooms in all upcoming sailings, but just wanted to welcome you to the message boards!

I had an interior on Freedom of the Seas and got a RoyalUp opportunity for an oceanview, promenade view, or balcony. I bid for the balcony at the minimum allowed and won it. Total price ended up being less than if I had booked a balcony directly even at the group rate for the cruise, so it was a win.

There are a lot of resorts in that area that have dedicated chairs and palapas for their guests. The beach is public, but the moveable chairs and shade are not. There are free, public palapas available but you aren't going to get those unless you get out there at dawn. I did see some huts and kiosks selling chairs and umbrellas, but sometimes you may have to wander down the sidewalk or beach until you find some. The natural shade is all up by the sidewalks along with the various bars, restaurants and shops.

No, it should let you buy it as a solo cruiser. It may be a glitch. I think I saw some folks find a really cheap price for the UDP but when they went to purchase it, it wasn't available. So it may be a glitch.

No carry over, but they don't have to be restricted to alcoholic beverages either. Use them on bottled water if you have leftover ones for the day.

I want to say the big tables may max out at 10. But if you have the TA link your reservations together and everyone has the same dining time (early or late), they should be able to arrange your tables to all be near each other.

They haven't released any info with respect to this yet as far as I know. It will be interesting to see if they work out something with the Bahamian government for port stops. If each passenger was responsible for figuring out their own Bahamas Health Visa, since the Freedom cruises aren't vaccinated-only sailings, some would have to figure out how to properly coordinate the timing of their test. CocoCay is technically still the Bahamas so all cruises visiting there may be faced with this issue.

It depends on how they are policing the entrance to the cabanas. I haven't done a thrill waterpark cabana, but I know some of the other ones used a wristband system so the cabana attendants could easily tell who belonged and who didn't. Now whether they want to enforce it or not is another thing. Being friendly and courteous and greasing palms can help with this, but you also have to be prepared to accept no as an answer. And you definitely want to be respectful of the other cabanas near you.

Yep, people do. They are sold out on some of my sailings. They use dynamic pricing, so as there is more demand the price will creep up. For example, I have an over-the-water cabana booked and the current pricing on them is $650 more than what I paid for my sailing. Remember, the cabanas are for up to 6-8 people (depending on which you book) so the cost is a little easier to take when you divide it up with others. I'd hold onto one for the $160 price for now while you're thinking about it. You have until 2 days before your cruise to cancel it. After then you have to cancel when you are on the ship. But do remember that CocoCay has a lot of complimentary chairs and umbrellas available. Depending on the price of the Coco Beach Club for your visit you may want to consider getting a pass to that instead of a beach bed as a splurge. There are actually a few beds there which are first come first serve, but they are located by the infinity pool and not on the beach. The Beach Club is kind of like a resort within CocoCay and with a pass you will have access to some more upscale dining and service.

For price reference I just checked all my upcoming cruises that visit CocoCay and the beach beds range in price from $149-$199.

If you are serious about wanting one and willing to pay that much, lock it in at that price. You can cancel and rebook at the lower price if the price drops later. When you do that, book it under the other half's name before you cancel the one in your name so someone doesn't accidentally snatch it up when you release it!

Yes, you are only choosing which person you are booking it under. It is confusing, but basically you have to pick someone in your cabin. The shore excursion will be booked in that person's name.

And they are doing that, just not in Florida because they aren't allowed to.

Oh yes..I quite enjoyed that. Some very tongue in cheek comments peppered throughout.

Remember the intent of this whole lawsuit by Florida was to point out the CDC was overstepping its authority. It's a little late in the game for there to be a big, huge impact based on this order since they already are in the test sailings phase. If you read through the order it even discusses that the CDC argued that Florida couldn't have suffered economic harm from the shutdown. If so they would have filed this motion when the CSO was originally ordered instead of waiting in good faith that the CDC would come through timely with the framework to get the cruise industry up and running again.

Means that unless the CDC comes back attempting to narrow the injunction, then after July 18 they won't have the CSO hurdle to cross to get back into service. It will only be a matter of logistics and trying to keep everyone safe and healthy and happy, which as you can see from various topics all over this messageboard, can be very polarizing.

I don't really speak legalese, but my interpretation is that effectively this suspends the CDC from taking action against a ship for violating the CSO. But only through midnight on July 17, 2021, and then the CSO basically becomes guidelines and not requirements? And this gives the CDC a deadline to step up with better guidelines... ...based on science, which the CDC excels at ? Then Florida can come back and tell the CDC that yet again their guidelines are out of touch with reality and we have another hearing.

Matt posted them in the Royal Caribbean Dining group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/royalcaribbeandining/permalink/2892278091035732/ I nabbed the non-alcoholic page for you.

Jump to the conclusion at the end... Because of (1) Florida’s probability of success on the merits, (2) the imminent threat of irreparable injury to Florida, (3) the comparative injury depending on whether an injunction issues, and (4) the imminent and material threat to the public interest, Florida’s motion for preliminary injunction is GRANTED, and CDC is PRELIMINARILY ENJOINED from enforcing against a cruise ship arriving in, within, or departing from a port in Florida the conditional sailing order and the later measures (technical guidelines, manuals, and the like). However, the preliminary injunction is STAYED until 12:01 a.m. EDT on JULY 18, 2021, at which time the conditional sailing order and the measures promulgated under the conditional sailing order will persist as only a non-binding “consideration,” “recommendation” or “guideline,” the same tools used by CDC when addressing the practices in other similarly situated industries, such as airlines, railroads, hotels, casinos, sports venues, buses, subways, and others. (Docs. 45-4; 45-5;45-6; 46-4) However, to further safeguard the public’s health while this action pends, CDC may propose not later than JULY 2, 2021, a narrower injunction both permitting cruise ships to sail timely and remaining within CDC’s authority as interpreted in this order. The motion for the proposed injunction must support the proposed terms with current scientific evidence and fully disclose — if unavailable to the public — scientific evidence, including methodology, raw data, analysis, and the like and the names and qualifications of the scientists participating in the study, modeling, or the like. If CDC moves under this paragraph, Florida must respond within seven days. A hearing will occur immediately after Florida’s response. Additionally, if circumstances materially change at any time, either party can request a hearing to modify this injunction, a hearing will occur immediately (within twenty-four hours, if necessary), and an order resolving the motion will issue immediately. The parties are ordered to return to mediation before Magistrate Judge Anthony Porcelli at a time and place ordered by Judge Porcelli and in accord with the terms (including confidentiality) of the earlier mediation order (Doc. 51).