Firefly

How exciting! Still waiting for my Sept 3 Mariner sailing to open up for check in. I noticed yesterday that the safety info is available for viewing on the app though. 

Our first RCCL cruise was supposed to be on Oasis on Christmas Eve 2017 to celebrate my grandfather’s 99th birthday. However, I tested positive for the flu 3 days before the cruise. Thank goodness for travel insurance!!! The rest of the extended family sailed and had a great cruise. My family rescheduled for the following June on Allure and were joined by my sister and her family. We had a blast. We have been cruising and planning cruises ever since. Love RCCL. 

We did a ocean view balcony guarantee booking once on Oasis because that’s all that was available. Like the poster above said it showed up as XB balcony guarantee. There was a neighborhood balcony guarantee available for booking too, so there was a difference at the time we booked. We ended up being assigned with a cabin on deck 14 under one of the big overhangs, (not the hot tub) and I was initially worried about noise from the pool deck above, but it was never an issue. 

Congratulations! Love watching your vlogs. 

3 hours ago, Matt said:

Existing Ovation and Serenade sailings are being maintained. Serenade got moved to Seattle, obviously, but those sailings are not cancelled.

Radiance got cancelled completely.

Any sailings before anticipated start date are cancelled.

With Radiance sailings being cancelled, I wonder if they will keep her in Asia instead of sending her to the Caribbean in the fall for her scheduled southern caribbean cruises. We have her booked for a 9 night itinerary Oct 29th cruise that hasn’t been available for booking since the CSO was put in place. We already booked a plan B beach vacation but I hope if Radiance won’t be coming to North America at all they would just cancel the sailings before requesting final payment. 
 

We have been making final payments as well since we had non refundable deposits and don’t mind the options offered when the cruise gets cancelled. We have taken full refund on one cruise, Lift and Shifted 2 others and more recently took the FCC on another because knowing it was going to be cancelled (8 night southern supposed to sail in June) we booked the same itinerary for next year out of a more convenient port for us. I don’t have any faith in our 9 night cruise in October sailing so booked a replacement for that for late 2022 this morning and will just plan on making final payment, taking the FCC and applying that to the new cruise. I do also like the fact that my TA will at least get commission when we make final payment and Royal then cancels. She works so hard and deserves every dollar during this crazy mess. 

5 currently booked, but waiting for the June cruise to be cancelled, and not to optimistic about the Oct cruise either due to it being a 9 nt that sails before that elusive Nov 1st date. Fingers crossed for the Labor Day weekend Mariner cruise that was lift & shifted from 2020. Much more optimistic about our 2022 cruises. Gosh I miss cruising!

1 hour ago, JT2 said:

June 19th Indy, e-mail from RC early this AM stating items in my cruise planner have been cancelled and cruise not showing up in my future cruises.

Augh, we are on this cruise too. Not really surprised, just really disappointed....again. Just L&S my February cruise, but of course L & S for June wasn’t an option. I’m nervous about my Oct 29, 2021 cruise now since it’s 9 nights. 

My 8 night Brilliance cruise in June finally changed over to Indy...but they put my husband and I on one side of the ship and our minor children on the other...what a mess. Hoping my TA can get it all sorted out. 

20 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

They must be doing it by sail date....as of this morning, I am still on Brilliance.

That would make sense. I’m on the June 19 sailing and it still shows Brilliance. I may or may not be logging in multiple times per day checking that...

16 minutes ago, LCinPDX said:

Do you know for sure that the itinerary isn't changing?  The email we received for our Aug Cruise on Brilliance said that it would visit "similar destinations."

For our date the itinerary is the exact same thankfully. 

Still waiting for my email from Royal regarding our 6/19 Brilliance sailing. My cruise planner doesn’t reflect the change yet. My only big concern now is that we had 2 side by side staterooms booked on Brilliance because our kids will be in one room with my husband and I nextdoor. Hopefully this doesn’t cause an issue when they move us to Indy. I thankfully have an awesome TA who will handle this for me if it’s an issue, but I will still be on pins and needles until the switch is complete.

My June 19th 8 night Brilliance sailing still shows up in my planner, but the switch to Indy will make the kids happy. Just hope I can keep my cruise planner purchases since they are keeping the itinerary and simply replacing the ship. 

The last cruise I took was a quick 4 night on Brilliance with my youngest son on January 30th. We homeschool and took the cruise to see the Mayan ruins at San Gervasio (I wasn’t comfortable heading to the mainland without my husband with us). We had the best field trip ever. The other highlight of the cruise was our assistant waiter, Mauro. He did magic tricks each night and took care of my son like his own. He was awesome! 
 

Chocolate Martini - yum

6 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

I agree it's a little unfair to focus on the cruise industry more than any other form of transport, etc.

As @FManke just alluded to, I would be much more nervous about flying in a small, pressurized metal tube with 200 or more strangers potentially hacking and sneezing all around you for hours at a time. You would think that people that are concerned would focus on the airline industry a little more.

 

I totally agree. Haven’t heard of any airline flights quarantining passengers when they disembark, and there are many more people entering the country daily on an airplane than from a cruise ship. With the airlines, the flight crews just turn around, board another flight and life goes on. And what about the thousands of people that are visiting the various theme parks each day around the country? I would be much more concerned about being exposed at Disney World than on a cruise. Ironically I was at Disney about 5 weeks ago and even then there were a few people wearing marks in the park. The next few weeks will be interesting for sure. We are supposed to board Symphony in four weeks and this whole mess has definitely put a damper on our excitement. At this time we are still planning on sailing as long as the ship sails. 

On Oasis class I love relaxing at the Trellis Bar in Central Park, and coffee and pastries out on the balcony in the morning. On my favorite ship so far, Brilliance of the Seas, I love Schooner Bar and the outdoor couch seating next to Windjammer. Honestly, just being on any cruise is my happy place.

I get the new log in screen, but am unable to get into any of my cruise planners.

Following. We are sailing Explorer on the same itinerary in December...way too far away! Have a great cruise!

I think you will be fine with that timing. We tendered in Grand Cayman last month and it wasn’t bad at all. They began issuing tender tickets about 2 hours before the first scheduled tender and if you get there early you should have no problem getting a low ticket number. The tender boats were quite large and they usually have several running, especially first thing when you arrive. Usually when you book the third party excursions they request your ship info including time your arrive/depart. They rely on ship passengers for business and definitely want to work with you to make your excursion happen. Have fun!

In St. Maarten, we’ve been out with these guys twice and had a great time. Small group on the boat so no crowds. Short walk to their boat from the cruise pier and they are make sure you are back to your ship before on board time . https://coconut-reef.com

In St. Thomas, we’ve been out with https://www.stthomasadventures.com . Absolutely amazing snorkeling with turtles and a reef that we were the only people snorkeling at...and there were 4 ships in port that day. Best excursion we’ve ever taken and worth every dollar. We are booked with them again for our visit in April. Can’t recommend them highly enough. 

I felt this way last year after a particularly rough last day at sea before disembarkation. It took a good 3-4 days of being back on land before I felt normal again. We just returned from a cruise on Saturday and I didn’t have issues this time but my husband is still feeling it ever so slightly today. We haven’t found anything that really helps it go away faster, but it does eventually go away. Hope you feel better soon!

I’m sailing on Brilliance this Saturday,  Dec 7, cannot wait!!!

Add me to the cruise addiction club. After an 18 lull in cruising (how the heck did I afford Disney cruises when I was just out of college?!), we cruised on Allure last June with my sister and her family. Loved that so much that it led to a cruise without kids in December and the obsession began. I love following along on live blogs here and spend my treadmill time each day watching cruise vlogs. I may or may not have been looking at future itineraries already this morning

I informed my husband this morning that a Panama Canal cruise is now on our list of future cruises to book. Your pictures are amazing and convinced me it’s worth the time and price. Looks absolutely incredible.