KristiZ

I use an app called Image Sizer (h/t @twangster) that does a nice job of squashing photos to a reasonable size for uploads.

I don’t know. I’ll have to test it and see! Our retirement plan includes big chunks of time onboard, just enjoying life. 8 years to go and I’ll get back to you

Code share is when two or more airlines enter into a marketing agreement to sell seats on one another but pretend they are on one of their own flights. If you ever listen at a gate that’s making announcements for boarding you can hear them say “welcome to flight 456 on JumpUp Air, flight 1234 on HappySmiles, and flight 999 on Stanglobe Air, departing Kalamazoo for Timbuktu”. That means it’s JumpUp’s flight and the other two have sold seats as part of a marketing agreement. It’s a way to make your flight network seem bigger and keep more of the pennies to yourself. Maybe more than you wanted to know

OK, if you really want Delta, you can go Charlotte-JFK-Athens. Not the cheapest, but nice connections. And if you're collecting miles that would be a plus. This often runs as a Lufthansa codeshare, so you might miss it if you're looking for Delta specifically. Similarly, Charlotte-JFK-Venice is a Delta route. Whether this is offered by Air2Sea depends on what kind of deal they can negotiate, and you probably won't know before January on that, December at the earliest. If you want to fly out of Greensboro you're pretty much limited to United and United code-shares. If you can work out a flight that is actually on SwissAir or Lufthansa rather than the US carrier, you'll be happier with the experience. Those are the two best options for you, unless you want to go to New York, Miami, or Atlanta for a few days prior to departure -- lots of options then. I can go on, if you want, but essentially none of the airline flight schedules will be solid until Dec/Jan timeframe so try to be patient

Where are you flying out of? I can tell you that as a general rule, regular foreign airlines run circles around all US carriers. (Low cost carriers are the same all over, however.) I was airline in a prior life, and I still fly a ton internationally, so I have Opinions

Just have the porter scan your set sail pass and give you new tags. Takes an extra minute but then everything works as it should onboard.

Please remove Oct 3, 2021 Liberty and Dec 24, 2021 Radiance Please add Oct 1, 2021 Serenade Thanks!

Not on this trip, but we head out on Oct 1 and my mom is going with us. Her cruise docs are same as yours, blank except for the tag. Ours are complete. Both were issued on the same day/time. She called Royal and asked and they said "we're working on it". Her setsail pass is fine though so we're not going to worry about it too much.

It's a brand new thing. You'll have to report back to us!!

If you bought the Abbot ones, they are 24/7

Try here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

I would totally do this, especially if it's your first time to Alaska. There is way more to see in each of those ports than can be done in one visit.

If it were me, I'd just refund it and move on. I think you figured all the options -- I don't see anything you've missed!

When is it?

THIS! Our October Med cruise ranged from 45F/7C in Nice to 80F/27C in Athens

For what it's worth, I have seen people stand in the assigned parking space and have their test administered and then walk back to their home or hotel. Once I used a lab in Miami (Express Gene) that advertised drive through, but they accommodated us when we showed up in a taxi and said "sorry! no car!". In that case they did actually have a tiny space in the office where they could test us.

Most likely they provide a cord that is least likely to accidentally get packed up with your stuff and taken home! ? ?

Wow, looks like Royal just updated their FAQ specifically disallowing the proctored home test. That's bad news ? Odd that the CDC will accept the proctored test but Royal won't. Hopefully this will be a short-lived prohibition! https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-need-an-rt-pcr-test-before-i-cruise-where-should-i-go

Hi! We got a local guy (who likely was normally a taxi driver) and booked him for the day. The hotel recommended him. He spoke English decently. We went to the Acropolis the very second it opened and he waited for us. Then he drove us by the Temple of Zeus, the Temple of Hephastus, the ancient stadium, and a couple of other spots where we spent 15-30 minutes in each place. In the afternoon we went to the Acropolis Museum (so we were inside during the hottest part of the day). As long as you aren't trying to park or drive yourself, you should be able to see a ton of stuff.

Athens is one of the places I would book a Royal excursion for sure, rather than 3rd party. The traffic is awful and I wouldn't want to risk missing the ship at the end. I also recommend something that gets off the ship EARLY, as the main tourist spots will fill up later in the day. (Plus hot!) Otherwise it's hard to go wrong in Athens -- so much amazing history and architecture!

There’s a neat old Russian cemetery in Sitka. We walked up to it from the port and then spent a couple of hours wandering through the overgrown and forested site. It was really fun!

We will be doing this for our Oct 1 cruise. Much more convenient than what we’ve been doing. I understand the wait for a proctor is a few hours right now, but as long as you plan for it the inconvenience is minimal ?

Just a PSA that anyone who pays anything for a COVID test should go ahead and make a claim after the fact with their insurance. Most insurance companies are actually reimbursing people. They just aren't advertising it. I have a super basic plan and just got nearly $1300 back from my assorted tests in the last two months.

Lots of CVS and Walgreens locations in the area. Brevard County has a testing center in an old Pro-Health location, but that appears to be more complicated (or at least not as well described online).

One of the best/easiest labs in Miami is Biocollections (www.biocollections.com). They do not require an SSN, you can use a passport instead. They offer 1-2 day turnaround PCR testing for $75. Drive-though, preregister/prepay online. Always has lots of appointment times.