DublinFC

60 days out seems to be the time frame

We did this in March.  Plenty of room, never felt crowded.  I really wouldn't expect much more for a beach excursion.

We took this excursion before covid; the one we purchased was the adults one.  When we arrived, we got a minnie tour, there are three areas of the resort. One area is what I would call the deluxe area it has cushioned loungers and upgraded food, another area was the family area, and lastly was the adult's area.  There was a hut where we picked up our food, typical Caribbean beach food tacos, and such.  I'm not super picky but I thought the food was good and we definitely got our bellies full.  The drinks that we had were pina coladas, diet coke and rum and a local beer so don't know if there were some drinks that were excluded.
The adult's area was laid back no loud music, great drink service delivered to your beach lounger; the family area was livelier louder music, games, inflatables and such.  
When they say it's not all inclusive I don't know what they expected; as for us we just wanted a lounger, drinks, a nice lunch and water to dip our toes in.

I'll be that guy...In the past an un-activated/unused cup could be activated and used on future cruises. It worked about 5 years ago. Not sure if that is still the case. 
Regarding whether it is "right" is open for debate. There are things that are wrong morally and things that are simply regulated. Violating a rule that is imposed simply to make more profit is not morally wrong IMO. Besides if you paid for soft drinks and never drank any, here's your chance to get your money's worth.

@PPPJJ-GCVAB and @Ryan79 Thanks for the heads up.  I remember from previous bookings pre-covid that the items in the CP were available a little earlier than now or right about now.  I will keep watching the CP to see what comes up as we go.  Thanks again.

I would expect you to start seeing the CocoCay excursions by end of this month.  Typically CP sales occur about every 3-4 weeks and the Black Friday sale is known to be one of the better ones!

It varies widely for each sailing. One day they will just appear and can continue to appear until just a few days prior to your sailing. I had one booking where nothing showed up for a particular port until 30 days prior to sailing and other bookings that had everything pop up over 6 months before sailing, which most excursions populated about a year prior.

Get a balcony room, at least you will have fresh air if you need to stay in your room.

Get a balcony room, at least you will have fresh air if you need to stay in your room.

Get a balcony room, at least you will have fresh air if you need to stay in your room.

@Mattright now prepping for his Youtube chat tonight
 

I wouldn't have said "sand". 🙂
 

Canada's head is stuck in the sand so far down it may take a while for them to get it out.  I doubt they'll change testing when their cruise season is measured in weeks from being over.  

In my best Maxwell Smart voice: “Missed it by that much”
We are on Liberty August 28-September 4, and our October cruise goes to Canada. 

The biggest news here, (IMO) is that you can use a home non-proctored test !  Who is going to go to a pharmacy to get tested if you can home test ?!
Still waiting for unvaxxed to cruise w/o a test but this is still a nice big step forward !

(Not for Bermuda or Canada stops)
For All Sailings Departing on or after September 5, 2022 from U.S. Homeports with No Stops in Bermuda or Canada 
If your cruise visits Bermuda or Canada, test protocols for your cruise are in the next section. 
Guests 5 years of age and older who are not fully vaccinated must bring a negative test result for a COVID-19 antigen or PCR test taken within the 3 days before boarding day, regardless of the duration of their cruise.
Fully vaccinated guests 5 years of age and older must bring a negative test result for a COVID-19 antigen or PCR test taken within the 3 days before boarding day on sailings that are 10 nights or longer only. Testing is not required for fully vaccinated guests on shorter itineraries. 
Guests younger than 5 do not have any testing requirements.
Required testing for all guests, regardless of vaccination status, can be completed using any type of PCR or antigen test. It can be professionally proctored by a healthcare professional, such as your doctor or pharmacist, or you can use a home test kit. Home test kits are not required to be conducted under live video supervision. 
Tests must be arranged on your own and are at your own expense. 

I 100% agree to with you here.  We have until the end of February for our final payment date.  So IF Royal doesn't make a change then we have another option as long as NCL doesn't revert back to 100% vax requirements. 

This is exciting news!  I have already started looking at replacing our RC sailing for next May with a cruise on NCL.  Pricing, even with the FCC we have would be close when we add in the drink packages we have to buy with RC.  Not doing anything yet, but I am glad to know we have this option now.

This is exciting news!  I have already started looking at replacing our RC sailing for next May with a cruise on NCL.  Pricing, even with the FCC we have would be close when we add in the drink packages we have to buy with RC.  Not doing anything yet, but I am glad to know we have this option now.

I 100% agree to with you here.  We have until the end of February for our final payment date.  So IF Royal doesn't make a change then we have another option as long as NCL doesn't revert back to 100% vax requirements. 

This is exciting news!  I have already started looking at replacing our RC sailing for next May with a cruise on NCL.  Pricing, even with the FCC we have would be close when we add in the drink packages we have to buy with RC.  Not doing anything yet, but I am glad to know we have this option now.

Be sure to check the port/country COVID restrictions.  NCL currently says AFTER September 3rd, unvaccinated guests 12 and older will not be able to board ships to Bermuda, Canada and Grand Cayman.  Vaccinated guests 12 and older will still need negative COVID test results within 2 days of embarkation.  Those are host country restrictions. 
 

Next May is a long time away as far as protocols go. If you look backwards 9 months and where the industry was then is nothing like where it is now. NCL was 100% vaccinated (no one under the age of approved vaccines was allowed to sail) and they were testing everyone at the terminal on embarkation day. Royal had vax and unvax zones. Masks were required everywhere onboard. 
Hopefully by next May there will be zero restrictions and we will all be cruising in harmony. 

I just booked for March 2023 and the RCCL agent to me that we are allowed to cruise cause they lifted the vaccination requirements. On our reservation it states not vaccinated. No exemptions request needed. They just need to know the status of who in the room is vaccinated.! Wohoo my kids can cruise with me. I’m vaccinated but not my 16 year old. So happy that this is finally being lifted. 

Big step in the right direction !  Now….testing needs to go, too !