AdventureKenandCar

Man…we reached C&A “Platinum status,” and we got this when we entered our cabin. 
We have to wait until our next cruise to get our pins?!

(My wife: “What are you going to do with that pin anyway?”

Me: “I dunno.  But it’s MINE!”)

We are scheduled for a Baltic cruise on Voyager of the Seas leaving Stockholm on July 3.  Unfortunately, SAS airlines has announced that they may be on strike a couple days before.  If, for some reason they do strike, and we can't get on any flights, obviously we won't be able to cruise on this sailing.

Because it is "30 days or less" within the cancellation period with RC, we will be charged 100% of total price (no refund) for the missed trip.

So, here's my question: can we transfer/reschedule our trip to a different sailing?  Does RC give credit for something like this?  Or are we S.O.L?

11 minutes ago, GatorCruiser said:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/10/politics/us-to-end-pre-departure-testing-requirement/index.html cool 

This is fantastic news. I’ll be looking for something more formal in the coming days/weeks, though. 

I've been following cruisetracker and Voyager's current position in Riga, Latvia.  Voyager is having its first entry of the season in Riga right now, and unfortunately is not at the port near Old Town Riga, but at the KS terminal - a 12km drive from Riga.  I'm not sure if Royal is offering shuttles to Riga, or any other options.

This is really unfortunate news for anyone on the cruises that overnight in Riga, as this will prove to be difficult to get to/from the ship.  Everything I’ve been reading said that RC (at least the Voyager of the Seas) docks at Riga Passenger Terminal, "...a short walk to Old Town.”

Voyager is scheduled to be in Riga now, on June 23, June 30, July 7-8 (the trip I'm on), and July 19-20.

16 hours ago, AHollyS said:

For me is was a great way to introduce international travel to a lightweight. 

At this point in my life all my vacations are Geocaching vacations. I'm trying to make finds in all the countries!

Yes!  Both of these reasons!

I kinda wanna know how this story ended!

If they keep getting bigger:

Ridiculousness of the Seas

Absurdity of the Seas

Outlandishness of the Seas

On 5/30/2022 at 10:16 AM, AdventureKenandCar said:

You'd consider not taking a transatlantic cruise because the Flowrider has a bump in the middle?  This is your make-or-break?

I need to apologize.  I didn't realize there is a whole Flowrider subculture within the cruise subculture.  It's interesting seeing "how" people cruise - for some, the ship is the vacation, for others the ship is the, ahem, vessel to get them to exotic destinations.  And for others, it's a specific event or activity that gets them on board.  Whatever floats your boat (groan), it's great that we all love the "cruise life!"

2 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

That said, the newer ships/cards have chips in them making it impossible to get it hole punched.

Bummer!  I liked punching a hole and using a lanyard. It was still easy to swipe it without taking it out of a holder or sleeve. 

It’s all a matter of preference. If you’re boarding in, say, Florida, and you’ve already been there, then it makes sense to get on the boat as early as possible to start cruising right away.

If you are taking a European cruise, you may spend a couple of days exploring a city before you get on the ship.  Then you may want to board later. 

You'd consider not taking a transatlantic cruise because the Flowrider has a bump in the middle?  This is your make-or-break?

It’s clearly one of THESE!  They just haven’t installed the other one yet. 

On 5/22/2022 at 10:54 AM, JP8 said:

Hello everyone! First cruise after the restart. Just wondering how long it usually takes for the vaccination record to be validated. Our status is still showing as ‘validating’. We’re not leaving until July 1st so there’s still plenty of time but just curious.

I'm in the same boat as you (so to speak.)  We sail July 1 from Stockholm, and I'm still getting the "We are validating your record" note on the app.

Please forgive me if this has been answered before, but I couldn't find anything specific to Baltic time zones vs. ship time.  Copenhagen and Stockholm are in the Central European Summer Time zone, and Finland, Latvia, and Estonia are in the Eastern European Summer Time zone.  
When you look at shore times for ports, it says something like "Tallinn, Estonia 9:00am - 5:00pm."  Is that really 10:00am - 6:00pm Ship Time?  Is it local time or port-of-departure time?  Does the Ship Time change time zones accordingly?  For an overnight in Riga, Latvia, we are reserving a rental car, and I don't want to schedule pick-up for an hour different than what my brain thinks it is.  Thanks!

13 hours ago, SPS said:

Empress and Majesty are no longer in the fleet and, to my knowledge, they were the only ships able to port there before travel restrictions to Cuba were reinstated.

Bummer!  I sailed Empress in July of 2019...2 weeks after cruising to Cuba was suspended.  We had the whole trip planned out.  I hope to get to Cuba some time!

46 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

Mixed emotions from this report.

I was anticipating the challenge of having adult beverages going for the entire 13 hour flight from San Francisco to Barcelona. (Can’t drink with a mask on)
My wife and those passengers sitting around me will now benefit, as will my liver.

The jet-lag is going to LOVE you!  I'm looking a similar conundrum: Chicago to Stockholm.

10 hours ago, FrHoffard said:

How far out from the cruise can you print every thing (except the COVID test results)? Thanks

The RC app tells you how the date of check-in.  (7 days for me!  )

On 5/9/2022 at 3:11 PM, Psycho and Barb said:

@OCSC Mike, Totally agree.  We had a tag torn off one cruise...Talk about a nightmare trying to get our bag.  We now only use the plastic tag holders that attach with wire rope.

 

So, where'd you score these?  Do you have a link?

8 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

4. air freshener for the bathroom.

On our upcoming cruise in July, with 2 adults and 2 teenagers, we have decided on a Family Rule:

If anyone has to do #2, walk to the common bathrooms (outside Windjammer, etc.) and do it there.  If convenient.  We ALL share the same space!  And besides, those bathrooms are more spacious, and better ventilated.

When we sailed on Empress of the Seas, my family had the BEST crew interactions!  Granted, Empress is the smallest ship in the RC fleet, so it was a lot easier to meet crewmembers.  On the day of embarkation, they announced a "crew passport scavenger hunt" type event - participating families/teams were given a scorecard listing a whole bunch of countries, and a line for a signature.  Teams had to find a crewmember from each country listed and get their signature.  The evening before disembarkation, we had to submit our completed scorecard.  Team with the most signatures wins (with extra points for ship officers.)

Because the ship was so small, all the crew mostly knew each other, and where they were from.  Some were easy (someone from Indonesia), and some were more difficult (someone from Madagascar.)  But we got a lot of help from the crew! "Oh, Madagascar?  There's only one crewmember from there.  Penelope, who works the spa, is from Madagascar!  That's where you'll have to find her!"  By dumb luck, I was in the Windjammer standing behind a guy with striped epaulettes standing by himself, so I struck up a conversation.  He turned around, and was the Captain!  And he was from Italy (check!)  Our family came in second place behind two women who had done this kinda thing before.  It was fun to compare notes.  "Did you find Penelope from Madagascar?"  "Oh, yeah!  In the Spa!"  They also gave us a few great tips (which I don't want to post on here!)

I'm not sure if they do this on bigger ships, but we certainly had fun on Empress.  Has anyone done this on another ship?  It was the best way to interact with the crew!

We (our family of 4) will be limiting our exposure time the week before we travel. Masks when we’re out, additional hand washing, etc. Maybe take Emergen-C and/or echinacea for a bit. 
We are on Voyager for a Baltic cruise, so we have a long flight from Chicago to Stockholm, and will have to figure out the Covid antigen testing when we get there. 

On 5/2/2022 at 9:56 PM, CruisingOz said:

Initially you need to watch the safety video and weighed…indicates your weight so they can put on the correct elastic bands…

What are the weight restrictions?

So, in the excitement of booking my July 2022 trip on Voyager, I didn't find anywhere to mention that we're celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.  I know that, in Matt's "15 Little Things that Make a Big Difference" video, he mentions "putting it on your reservation" (along with mentioning it to any crew member you encounter.)  I totally understand that nothing is guaranteed, but it could hopefully be a fun thing if something comes of it.  And my wife would be really surprised, too (solidifying the decision she made 25 years ago!)

My question is: is there a way to add this info to my existing reservation?  Is it worth it?

...or you could become a Geocacher...

My 50-something, 200+ lb-self did the Flowrider on Allure and it was a blast!  I immediately “beached” myself at the bottom of it, and had everyone cracking up. But eventually I was able to ride it better, and had fun. Just don’t take yourself too seriously.