fireclan

1 hour ago, teddy said:

I’m not a BOA fan.  We had an AAA Visa card issued by BOA for many, many years.  About six or so months ago, Comenity (sp?) Bank started issuing AAA Visa cards, so we were sent new ones through them and told our old BOA ones were no longer valid  

A month ago we decided to bite the bullet and get a RC card.  BOA declined our app because we don’t have any other accounts with them.  Both of our FICO scores are over 800 but that didn’t matter….they didn’t even do a credit inquiry.

The actual written reason (and only reason) for declining our app was “Insufficient or no active accounts with Bank of America”. 

I agree. I'm not a fan of BOA either. It isn't a very good travel card (one of several reasons why I stopped using it) and maybe they did you a favor by declining your app!

By the way, just my opinion! 

1 hour ago, teddy said:

We saw crew wiping down stair and hall railings and common area door handles when we were on Anthem earlier this month.   I was surprised to see it still being done. 

This routinely happened on Anthem (at least during the winter months we cruised) prior to C19. Leaving your room in the morning and your door handle would be dripping wet, grab a hand rail on the stairs and yep!  a wet rail. Actually we were on the same cruise as you and my husband and I commented that we never once touched or saw a wet handle or rail on this cruise.

1 hour ago, teddy said:

I'm bound and determined to be up top for sail away.  I've never seen the Statue of Liberty.  While I'm not actually bringing ice fishing gear, I will have outerwear sufficient for the temperatures.

You look tall...you might need to duck going under the bridge.

Same here, but we leave Saturday. 

4 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We just completed our 4th cruise since the end of COVID protocols (we are unvaxxed).  Only once did ANYone ask us a single question about our wellness check.  That was on turnaround day for our B2B on OA in December.  The lady simply asked us to verify that all of our answers on the wellness check were accurate and we said "yes".  That was it.  Not even at check-in has anyone [else] mentioned the wellness check.  I think it is pretty much a moot issue at this point.

Thanks for posting your experience. On Saturday we'll be heading out on our FIRST since the shutdown as we are unvaxed also. To say we're  excited is an understatement.  I was curious (but not worried) about what to expect so your comments came at a perfect time!

Hahaha, human soup! That's exactly how I feel about hot tubs.

Is this your first baby? You'll probably hear every peep even on the balcony. I generally didn't start ignoring mine until the third or fourth came along...

@Neesa That is a beautiful picture! 

16 hours ago, TempoGL said:

Response via the BBB was essentially "here's 1/7th FCC, you can go (bleep) yourself."  I emailed mdayley last night, so maybe one of his people will get back to me with something resembling an appropriate response.  RC is very close to being on my list of businesses that are officially dead to me.

It's mbayley...

17 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Clearly old here but I don’t remember getting/being drunk to be all that much fun.   No balance, slurred speech, woozy head, often “praying to the porcelain gods”.  Not sure that would be something I planned to do

It's the reference to the "planning" of it that made me chuckle. 

Yep, old here, too. 

20 hours ago, James0225 said:

Needing some help...

We recently booked a cruise in which we will have a 4 year old and 7mo infant.  I noticed the infant policy states "any cruise that has 3 or more days consecutive at sea will require infants to be 12 months old on the first day of the cruise/CruiseTour.".

Does the embarkation day count as a day at sea?  I am worried that we may not meet this policy depending on how RC classifies a day at sea.

Our itinerary is:

• Day 1 embarkation
• Day 2 at sea
• Day 3 at sea
• Day 4 at port
• Day 5 at port
• Day 6 at port
• Day 7 at sea
• Day 8 disembarkation

Thank you for your help!

PS: I have reached out to RC already but figured someone may have experience this before and could help

If "reaching out" means emailing, you may want to call. Many here have reported never receiving replies to their emails. That has certainly been my experience in the past. 

26 minutes ago, GatorCruiser said:

$250 at gulhomars which I learned about on here ,so I’ll pay it forward 

And I was so interested in trying Blantons until this showed up...$250? (gulp). Guess me and Makers Mark will be remaining besties.  

50 minutes ago, FloatyBoaty said:

MEI sponsors this blog and many of us use them. There is a contact form in the yellow box on this page: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com

My wonderful, very responsive MEI travel agent is @Jenn Greene

+1 for @Jenn Greene!!

What's reasonable for you and your family may not be reasonable for me. I loved the convenience of the DBP! But honestly, I stopped purchasing when it exceeded $48 per day! Now people are paying close to double that without blinking an eye. Whatever you decide, have a great cruise with your family. 

17 minutes ago, Al Miller said:

The article just says the one sailing where Miami was at the end. That was the problem on Anthem. I'm on for the upcoming Feb 4th sailing with a stop in Miami, but in the more sensible order that doesn't force the immigration/customs hassle. I still wouldn't mind getting Miami dropped though

I'm on this cruise, too. I'm  hoping the itinerary stays as is. A previous cruise 4-5  years ago had the customs hassle when the order of the itinerary changed. It was a PITA and essentially ruined most of a port day for many people. It happened to us in Port Canaveral, not Miami, and we didn't have anything planned or booked so we didn't miss an excursion but did miss breakfast (we survived!) and spent 3-4 hours sitting in a freezing terminal. 

No more "free" drinks in the Diamond Lounge. You will get 4 drink vouchers a day (at diamond level) to use wherever you want including the DL. 

I am so happy that your cruise is a go! I hope you, your daughter and grandchildren have a great time. 

Back in 2019, security in Puerto Rico stopped my sister from entering the pier. Why? Seapass only with no photo ID. I tried to tell her ahead of time, but she wouldn't listen. When I passed through and said I would get her ID from her stateroom and she started wailing and crying like a fool, they pushed her on through. 

We're on this sailing, too. Prefer a larger ship but the convenience of Baltimore and a cheap price lured me in!

27 minutes ago, FSUFAN said:

My recipe for a Margherita at home

2 shots of Blanco Tequila (I prefer reposado, but Blanco (clear/white) is probably more traditional)

1 shot triple sec

1 oz fresh lime juiced (about 1/2 lime)

Shake with ice, strain over ice in rock glass. No salt (at least for me - high blood pressure issues). 

NO simple syrup, no other "green" pre-blend needed. The triple sec is sweet enough. This is very clean/crisp tasting.

Two please!

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

For those of you having issues seeing all your cruises in the app, here's a work-around that I've found works for me:

Go down to the bottom of the home screen to where it says "browse our ships". Click on that and just pick any one. Open up any of the cruises. Then click on the profile icon and choose another sailing. I've found that usually makes my cruises repopulate. A couple of times, when it's not worked straight away, I go back in and open up the daily planner before clicking the choose another sailing and then they always seem to repopulate.

Thanks @FionaMG, your work around suggestions worked for me!

24 minutes ago, KevinJ said:

I'm having problems where the app is only showing my Jan cruise, I try linking my others but it says they are already linked. I did book my beverage packages for Jan through the app and got the expected price. Wanted that soda + voom deal.

This has been an ongoing problem for me for months. Shows my February cruise but not the three after that. I find the app pretty useless for me no matter how many times I update, uninstall, reinstall, etc. 

Kids sail free

2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

If you don't return to the ship, they will empty the safe and leave the contents with the port agent.  

I'm just curious how this would actually work, in reality. I imagine if you are involved in an accident/mishap and you (or the authorities involved) contact the proper cruise personnel in a timely fashion that you cannot resume your cruise - your personal items could then be gathered up and left with the port agent.  But what if you are lolly-gagging around town and lose track of time and you are literally pier running to get to the ship before the gangway is removed? I don't think anyone is gathering up your items, packing them and leaving them with the port agent. If they do, you might show up in the nick of time but uh-oh! All your stuff is left at the dock! 

I don't know, I'm not disagreeing with anyone, just wondering the logistics of the whole thing.

31 minutes ago, Xaa said:

The plan is to be in a foreign country without your passport because you're protecting them for what purpose?  This is the purpose of a passport.  Bring them with you.

I agree completely.

If the recommendation so often made is to cruise with a passport "in case something happens" in a foreign country, why would you then leave it behind when you're IN that country?