BrianB

Legal maneuvering on the part of the government to ensure there would be no future cause for a claim that the shutdown was unconstitutional, resulting in a finding allowing the cruise companies to sue for damages. That would entail huge amounts of money. No telling what workarounds were arranged by both sides to avoid that.

I don’t believe Pinnacle benefits transfer to the child.

I have four family members who got hit with Omicron. One was unvaccinated and had mild, cold-like symptoms. Two were vaccinated with no symptoms (discovered during contact tracing at work). They both had no reactions to either of their vaccines. One was vaccinated and had pretty severe flu-like symptoms…which was exactly like the reaction he had after getting the second dose of the vaccine. He’s young and in excellent health/condition. Looks like the reaction to the vaccine can predict a reaction to the virus.

Yesterday I cancelled my long-awaited, twice-postponed transatlantic cruise in late April. It’s a shame because I had the ship, suite and itinerary that I really wanted…and at a great price. But, with all these bureaucrats constantly changing the rules based on their definition of ‘science’…I can’t take the risk of being quarantined, or worse, on another continent. I’ll stay closer to home until things get much better.

I’ve done nine since September, number ten is this Thursday. Oasis in Sept and Oct…the rest on Anthem. All out of Bayonne, NJ. Here are some of my pros and cons. These are just my highlights and I’m sure each passenger has their own personal list. The Pros: Reduced capacity and everything that goes with it…easy boarding, less lines onboard, chairs available on the pool deck and solarium; Easy peasy safety drill on the app…love it! No more herding like cattle waiting for those selfish late arrivals before the video starts; Knowing every adult is vaccinated and tested…and every child is PCR tested prior to arrival and tested before boarding; Knowing the crew is vaccinated and boosted when eligible; The food, entertainment, venues, service and crew are fantastic as always. Biggest pro, I’m on a cruise! The Cons: Getting the Antigen test…always a bit nerve wracking knowing a positive test is a personal cruise killer. Wearing a mask, although for me it’s no big deal and makes me feel safer. A major con is the uncertainty…anything can change at a moment’s notice. Entertainment or itineraries changed or cancelled…port delays or denials…venues changing access times or limiting capacity. Changing protocols. And of course the biggest con…I may get quarantined. So far…after nine cruises, I’m used to it and feel like it’s just normal. I’m an optimist and I love cruising. I usually sail solo and do my due diligence. I know what the requirements and protocols are. I’m also flexible and know that anything can change. I guess I’m lucky that I am able to cruise often and feel bad for those who plan a family vacation just to be hit with unexpected changes. It is a challenging time to cruise. Hopefully we can all get through this in good health and get back to pre-pandemic cruising. I’m looking forward to it. But not the chair hogs…I’m not looking forward to them. You know who you are! Good luck!

I hate when I have a sticky S.

I had to call C&A three times because the promotion wasn’t applied to three of my cruises and each time they fixed it. Eventually the system caught up, because for my other cruises it was applied properly. The points for my New Years Eve cruise on the Anthem just posted yesterday and they were not double. So, I called again! Turns out it was my mistake as I had booked that cruise while I was on the Oasis on October 2nd. Two days after the promotion! Oh, well…I can be wrong…once.

The slot machines only count how much you play. Doesn’t matter how much you put in or cash out. Just how much you actually play. For instance…you put $10 into a slot machine and play 5$ each push of the button (twice) without winning anything, you receive two tier points ($5 per point). If you put in $10 and are lucky enough to win and cash out for $1000 after pushing the button only twice, you still receive just two tier points. If you put $10 in and get a couple of wins, allowing you to push that button a hundred times while your total goes up and down, and decide to cash out with your original $10, you will have one hundred tier points. They award points on play knowing full well that the house always wins…eventually.

I’ve seen sometimes where a price appears to be less than what was originally posted…but when you go to check-out, it bumps back up when tax is added…or gratuities. Buyer beware. Also, there have been times where something like the Coco Beach Club price drops and, after cancelling the higher priced purchase, the planner shows there are no more spaces available. So now I always purchase it at the lower price first…then go back and cancel the original one. Lesson learned. Mysterious, indeed are the ways of the bean counters…..

The slot machines only count how much you actually play. Not how much you put in or cash out. Usually each $5 bet equals one point.

Sneezing, coughing…same as always. But, everyone is masked so not a big deal.

On the Anthem…one of the earliest opening bars is the Sunshine Bar in the Solarium. I get my morning ‘Dirty Mimosa’ there every day. I think it opens at 7am.

…but what they don’t tell you is, although it went to “Level 3” they actually have 50 levels of customer support. Levels 1 through 10 are the “Make it look like we give a crap” level. Levels 40 through 50 are the “Gee, this one just won’t go away” level. Good luck!

I have submitted requests a week before my sail date and had them approved. Several times I never received word from them whether they were approved or not, but the OBC appeared on my account…sometimes three days into the cruise. Or I do get an email saying it was approved and applied…but don’t see it until up to three days into the cruise. Once I received a telephone call from them letting me know my request was approved. But that was pre-pandemic. Recently, when my request was denied…I received an email telling me it was denied because I had other discounts already applied. When I emailed back requesting an explanation, I never received a response. I assumed it was because I was taking advantage of the solo cruiser discount that comes with my C&A level as that was the first time I did it. On another note…when I called to reprice one cruise due to reaching that level…I was told it is not combinable with other discounts. Whichever discount gave the best benefit would be applied. For that cruise it was the discount for NJ resident. Knowing how different agents have different information, I’ll just keep trying.

Hopefully the predictions are correct and this Omicron surge peaks near the end of January, and the numbers of infections drop as quickly as they went up. The one constant in cruising so far is…changes can happen at any time. And during these changing times, March is far away.

This was our scheduled end of cruise day. So we just arrived home at 8am rather than 6am. There is no additional parking garage cost. By the way, the garage is still $25 a day. The plan to increase it to $30 a day has apparently been delayed.

Wait! I play solitaire!! ….oh………never mind.

On the Anthem, we received a letter in our staterooms this morning reporting the ship will be arriving at approx 8am due to a problem with one of the azipods and speed has been lowered. Although the ship is operating at 100%, the decision was made to lower speed as a precaution. I’m assuming the azipod will be evaluated while docked in Port Liberty today. Hopefully, it’s just a minor issue and can be corrected quickly. All air and hotel arrangements made through Royal will be automatically rescheduled. All other pre-scheduled transportation (such as a flight, train ticket or rental car) that incurs a change fee will be reimbursed up to $200 pp domestic changes and $400 pp for international changes.

Mojo…mojo…mojo…^^^^^^^^^^^^

I love that they can meet me one time...and remember my name for the entire cruise! I'm lucky I can remember what deck the restaurant is on...or which end of the ship. I sometimes end up at the theater at dinnertime and at the restaurant at showtime!

Today, while on the Anthem on the last day of a 9 night cruise, I received notification that my RoyalUp bid for an owner's suite has been accepted for the Anthem cruise on January 20. So twelve days prior to the cruise. This is the longest time pre-cruise that I was notified.

I agree they are amazing. It's also amazing how they can repeatedly perform these seemingly mind-numbing tasks and yet still be pleasant...always saying hello when I pass them in the stairways and public areas. Even late at night. I can tell from their eyes that they are smiling. Impressive!

Once, during a port day, I saw a lifeguard being tested. A supervisor snuck up behind and dropped a small child-sized weighted mannequin into the pool, which immediately sank to the bottom. The lifeguard reacted instantly...blew a whistle and jumped in. He got the mannequin off the bottom and, carefully cradling it to support the head and neck, brought it to the side and began resuscitation procedures. It was impressive to watch. Going from a seemingly bored stance to frenetic activity in a second. Afterward, another lifeguard immediately took his spot. After, of course, the pool inspection ritual where the relieved guard, soaking wet, still performed his part before leaving to get dried off. Amazing display!

I envy you. The only laps around the pool that I can do...is strolling around the outside of the pool.