Rene Desmarais

Some western countries are starting to ditch entry testing. I can't see Canada (or the USA) doing that right now, but it's coming

I am still crossing my fingers for Canada to follow the US...Antigen when arriving by air, attest to vax status at the land border.  That would be best case scenario.  All others lead to still having to be extra cautious on board so that we don't end up testing positive at the end. That's such a downer lol

Perhaps, but this probably isn’t what your swimming through in your backyard. The many positives certainly outweigh maybe a few negatives. 

FEBRUARY 11 - 8:00AM EST - Wonder is in the Atlantic Ocean, south of Portugal

Same here …… we have Symphony tomorrow …… then Wonder in March and Alaska in June that I can’t cancel because we have too many other people going with us that would be mad if we cancelled  ……. But after that, if it’s going to be masks, boosters, and/or ridiculous protocols, the other 6 cruises I have booked from that point on will all be cancelled.  It’s time for the cruise lines to tell the CDC to go to hell. 

I told you anything is possible with these clowns.
 
https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-greg-hunt-mp/media/pandemic-emergency-measures-extended-to-april

In other words, they're thinking about thinking about it...

I just put the cruise with confidence Australia price match to the test.
 I have a NZ cruise on Ovation next February and with the current wow sale  it’s a couple of hundred bucks cheaper with extra $350 OBC.
I emailed my agent and they said Royal Caribbean matched the current price ,no questions asked.

Keep calm ... all is well in the universe again

Lived in Fl all my life so I guess I'm used to it.  There is a new invention call air conditioning.  Every car, business, and home have it.  We live inland some so the hurricanes (when and if they hit} are usually not as strong as on the coast.  If you invest in a whole house generator you have beat the hurricane thingie by about 90%.  It's all about how you are prepared.

FEBRUARY 10 - 11:00AM  EST - Wonder is departing from Port Cadiz, Spain

I'm surprised no one has posted from Matt's blog:

Beginning February 15, 2022, the stricter mask rules will go away and that means guests will not have to wear face masks at venues designated for vaccinated guests only, such as select bars, lounges, restaurants, shows and Casino Royale. 
Royal Caribbean International Assistant Vice President of Guest Experience, Aurora Yera-Rodriguez, told travel agents protocols will go back to the way they were before the stricter mask rules were added due to Omicron, "After February the 15th, we'll now allow smoking in the casino again. That is actually aligned, with us going back to protocol the way they were before, where you don't have to wear a mask in vaccinated areas."

I did not miss the smoking in the Casino.
I won't miss the masks in the vax only areas!
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/

Embark tip: The best way to go with the test result is printing it, but if you want to have everything digital, before arriving to the port make a screen shot for the results of all the people in your cabin. The reason is sometimes the internet signal in the port is not good and it can take a loooong time to be able to show the results, and there is nothing that can be made before showing the results. When you do the screen shot make sure that is the full page and you can see clearly the name of the person, type of test, date it was taken and, of course the result.
Debark tip: Make sure to put something distinctive on every piece of your luggage so you can recognize them right away: A ribbon (NOT red, please), a bright tag, a pompom, duck tape, etc. This is not only for you to spot your luggage but for other people not to take it by mistake. You have no idea how many times it happens that when someone go to get their baggage they cannot find it because somebody took it and is already gone. The other thing you can do that is very helpful to find quick your luggage is to take a picture with all the pieces when they are ready to be left outside your cabin with the number tags and whatever you put on them to be recognized, so next  day at debark if you don't find them right away it would be easier for the agents to help you. This is really a good way to do it.

You're not wrong. Humidity is brutal and then there's the russian roulette every summer of will you or wont you get slammed by a major storm.
I tend to forget about all of that when I do my 1-3 hour drive to the ship instead of flying.

I could never live in Florida. Hurricanes and heat and humidity. No thanks.

But man that sure would make cruising more convenient.

Maybe when I'm of retirement age I'll change my tune.

The big ships sail from Port Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. The other port in Florida is Tampa, but it can't handle a big ship because of the bridge.
Ft. Lauderdale and Miami are about a 45 minute drive away from each other and Port Canaveral is only another 3 hours away at the most.
If you're going to be driving to ports (consider gas, tolls and parking) then you pretty much can reasonably look anywhere along the east coast from near Port Canaveral south to Miami. If you want to minimize some of those costs, then you should look for something close enough to one of the ports where you can get a cab, Uber/Lyft or a friend to drop you off at the port.
Ft. Lauderdale and Miami city proper are going to likely cost more $$ than the Port Canaveral area. Ft. Lauderdale and Miami are closer to airports, though. But if you're going to factor in the costs of parking and driving to the port no matter what, you can look further out to the suburbs and the West Palm Beach area or even Port St. Lucie. 
It also depends on what you want out of where you are living. You could go more towards the Central Florida area (Ocala - Orlando - Tampa) and probably find some more value, but again your commute to the cruise ports will be a little more costly.

I have an entire thread about moving to FL as it relates to cruising. 
There are so many things to consider but after many visits and much analysis, we chose the Treasure Coast as it is equidistant between MIA/FLL and Port Canaveral.  It is only slightly further over to Tampa.  We chose this area strictly b/c of its location relative to the cruise ports.  
We built a house in Port St Lucie, which is 1 hr north of West Palm Beach.  This area is exploding with development which is both good and bad.  Prices are becoming completely unreasonable and we are fortunate to have made our move when we did (signed construction contract in Sept 2020 and moved down here in Nov 2020 while the house was being built).  FL is like anywhere else….different parts of FL have different vibes and different influences.  As a general rule (always exceptions), south FL is more expensive than northern FL and the west coast is less expensive than the east coast.  The interior of FL is rural.  These are all generalizations and there certainly are exceptions but that will give you a good rule-of-thumb.
I guess if I have any advice it would be -DON’T WAIT.  I mentioned prices.  It’s really getting insane.  The base price of the house we built has gone up $109K in 16 months….and you can’t build my house right now at ANY price b/c all of the lots are long gone. Of course, like anything else, it depends on what you’re looking for.  We wanted an over-55 gated community but there are plenty of other  options.  Since you are going to be snowbirds, I would definitely recommend some type of gated community just for the security since you will be living elsewhere for months at a time.
There are many others on this blog that have made that move somewhat recently, so, no doubt, you will get lots of other advice !

We all have different tolerances to different protocols.  
The testing doesn't bother me.  The Abbott at home test kits have been a game changer.  So easy and convenient.  If I test positive I shouldn't cruise.  That's pretty obvious.  So be it.
It's a not a fool proof protocol.  Yes there is a gap and potential for exposure in between testing and boarding.  No single protocol by itself will ever be 100% mitigation against the virus.  However in terms of impact to me, testing is pretty minor thanks to Abbott and eMed.
Masks on the other hand are another story.  I'm not going to introduce my own thoughts here because this is a cruise forum.  I tolerate masks because I have to in order to cruise. 
If I had the ability to pick a protocol to drop, it would be masks.   

I never believed them, not for a moment!

(Can you please help me delete all my incriminating replies?)

What about all those rumors it was cancelled?
Sorry, couldn't resist. I've been spending too much time talking to @twangster
Great news!

Maybe the Freedom convoy can get us out of this before March Break? 😂

Check in is open for Wonder’s first three sailings! (website only) Can I get an AMEN?! So excited! 

I agree with this one.  All protocols I can live with.  This is one so stressful because you pretty much don't know if you are really cruising until two days prior.  For someone like myself who normally looks forward to sailings way in advance, this is a serious buzz kill lol.

Latest from Michael Bayley on when protocols could go away: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/02/04/royal-caribbean-sees-many-covid-19-protocols-going-away-once-cases-drop