dodgestang

Hard to ignore/not feel flustered....I got my 10 yr old scheduled....but now I appear to be getting DAILY reminder emails...1 for each member of my party that has not scheduled a test yet....and no one from RCCL can explain why and if I actually need to do something or not

Our Genie was more than happy to set up a pro shoot for us.........obviously not what you are asking.....but......we got some great glamour shots for a high price....but got stuff that will hang on our walls for decades to come.  Really captured a moment of time....and now with how we lost 2 years of cruising...we look at the photos and then our kids now....and can't believe the change.  It's also really funny....since I am all about candid/action shots in my own photography.....this guy did a cool mix of it was sorta posed....but then shot some candid reactions to stimuli.....sorry.....just reminiscing....18 days till I finally get to sail again....so feeling nostalgic even though I know it will be completely different.

Why am I getting emails for all members of my cruising party telling us to schedule Antigen testing for day of sailing when of the 5 of us, only 1 is under age 11 and needs the antigen test day of cruise?

Calling the help number associated with the email is 100% useless as the poor woman can do nothing more than read the policy and not answer the question of WHY all 5 of us got a request to schedule the antigen test.

Additionally when trying to sign up/register for my 10 yr old...I am presented with "We are unable to verify your information. To complete your registration, it is important that you contact Royal Caribbean International. Click here for contact information" error message that RCCL rep on the other end of the line when calling the number provided also can not assist with.

9 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Does it matter what kind of PCR test? Minnesota offers saliva PCR tests.

RCL 'email' only says it has to be a PCR test.  Nothing more specific.

1 hour ago, KristiZ said:

For example, CVS pharmacies do rapid PCR testing with results in 1-2 days. So does Walgreens. There are some at-home options these days, too; Pixel is one that comes to mind. A number of major airports have onsite labs now too.

Tell me where you're at and I'll give you a list if you want -- I've done an ungodly amount of research on testing in the last six months  

We found local CVS who swears they will get us PCR test back in max of two days which has destressed.....only a little bit.

When I was told we may need to get testing to get on the ship in Nassau I didn't think anything about it.....I figure run out to the local drug store they do rapid testing cart the whole family over.....couple hours in and out and done.

So today I get an email that says it has to be a PCR test.....which can take 3-5 or more days 'depending on demand' to get results.  So that means I have to take the test 5 days before sailing (because I can't take it 6 days before) and hope i get results back in time?  WTF is this......am I reading this crap wrong?

Got an interesting email from RCCL today......we are doing a Christmas sailing on Anthem in a Star Class cabin.  In short the email was "hey I work on the private journey team, the cabanas at CocoCay are filling up, if you want went better book one....and list out the remaining number of slots available for all cabana types.  I was planning on getting a cabana so I ran over to the cruise planner and made a reservation.....but the email also went on to say they could help with any excursion type (even ones not currently offered in cruise planner).....I have never heard of this team/group before....has any one here?

9 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

At dinner, the night before you get to Coco Cay, the Genie might tell you, “Looks like it will be raining tomorrow.  Do you still want to get off the ship ?”

LIAR LIAR LIAR....everyone knows it never rains at Coco Cay

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I have never experienced anything like that but then again, I do not look for it, either.

We have....seems to come out the most when you use star class perks for high demand activities that involve kids like bumper cars and roller skating on Anthem.

Thank you

2 hours ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Yes that was our first idea, its only 5 days but all of a sudden my wife is feeling bad in her words "dumping our new baby off" for 5 days. Our in laws LOVE kids and her mother is a nurse.

SHe'll get over it.  Sell it as "rekindling her time" and book her a package in the spa

Our Daughter was 8 when we need to fly to Italy for a wedding a vacation (2 week trip)....we left my mother in law a rolling over and sitting up baby that slept through the night.  We got back a baby that could move (roll over or sit up) and didn't sleep....because she held the baby for 2 weeks straight

Send Baby to grandparents for June cruise?

And on edit.....

Make plans for a march delivery next time

Royal Suite historically got the walk on service, but Owners and grands get help with reservations and stuff (If I remember right....it's been over 2 years now since I was on board and 30 months since I was on Granduer (ship without Star class)

Who's the concierge on the Adventure of the seas?  And anyone who has sailed in the higher level suites the last 2 weeks...did they do anything special for you?  Inquiring minds and all....I know pre-covid when on a ship without Star Class, the Concierge still would do some nice high touch things like escort you on board if were in one of the top suites, reach out to by email a week before sailing, help with reservations, etc...

When we had to do immigration on the boat our Genie walked us to the front of the line at the time of our choice.

Perhaps with COVID testing on board they will make that process smoother for you.

The free drinks, dining and wifi has a real tangible benefit for us.....we've never even seen the MDR on Anthem.

13 hours ago, BarbieBell said:

Well we leave in 10 days and frankly the fun of cruising is about to hit the bricks. No matter how excited you get and how much you’re looking forward to your cruise, you know deep down if there’s a way for the cruise line to mess things up they certainly will do it.  Of course they always seem to have a good reason and we loyalists keep supporting them.  Hummm, it’s not that this is such a terrible change (not good);but it just keeps piling up. So they have 10 days now  to cancel or otherwise wreck another dream. 

I will keep my fingers crossed for you.....I'm sure its much worse than you think......wait....that came out wrong

hehe.....you'll manage to find a way to have a great time I am sure.

The July 10th change is a perfect match for the August 7th change

I wonder if this will cause a decrease in cabana prices if they can't have two ships in CocoCay at the same time?

12 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

So agree with you about antibody and natural immunity.  I think it will come about soon.

The joys of living through history.

15 minutes ago, Zacharius said:

It's getting back to normal. I've flown first class quite a bit domestically during Covid, albeit on AA, and the service has definitely come back from the April/May days. 

 

I got fairly buzzed on an AA DFW-SEA flight last month

Flew First on AA for Thanksgiving and Chistmas travel 2020 (so 6 months ago) and it was mask on, sit down, shut up, and don't ask for anything because you aint getting it....I hope they are almost back to normal for my flights in August to the Bahamas

14 hours ago, KristiZ said:

And first on/off the plane, and not having to sit next to a stranger…

You've obviously never met my wife.

<rimshot>

The only call out I will make is that since Covid.....first class travel has been a little bland.....no drinks, no food, just a better seat and no one hassling you about bags

23 minutes ago, dswallow said:

If it's just two people, you probably could book two connecting ocean view balcony rooms for a lot less, and still each earn 4 points per night.

You're talking to a guy who starts his search for a cruise with "Is the royal available" and then decides if he's willing to work down the category list or just change the date.   We all have our vices.

Booking a suite now.....means double, double points.  so 4 points per night sailed....can't go wrong with that either

You have a year...well 9 months.....when they do the L&S as I understand, they just book the next cruise (to secure the room) then they have manual back office reconciliation to get it back to the price you paid.  If you don't see it updated after a couple weeks, that is when I would call....and the hold times will also have died down by then.

I knew my July 31st on Oasis wasn't going to sail MONTHS ago.  I didn't need royal to tell me that, it was obvious, so I used the programs that Royal made available and shifted it to Adventure in early August (and saved money even with airfare).

I know my 2nd week of August cruise to Alaska from Vancouver wasn't going to sail MONTHS ago.   I didn't need royal to tell me that, it was obvious, so I used the programs that Royal made available and moved it 2022 (which is the second time I moved it since it was originally a 2020 cruise).

I looked at the landscape and made a decision using imperfect information and optimized my outcomes using the tools I had available.  You could have moved your July 1 cruise pretty much at anytime but decided to wait for RCCL to make the decisions for you.

I feel your pain, I do, however, Royal sailing in US is at the mercy of the US Gov bureaucrats....who do nothing fast.  But once a decision gets made, Royal as a business needed to be a position to capitalize as quickly as possible and turn on a dime.....if they had cancelled all of July earlier, then they wouldn't have any cruises in place to use as test cruises now that they have a pseudo green light to start.

Classic Monty Hall conundrum