DDaley

My Oasis sailing changed from Labadee to Cozumel and it took 8 days to make the change in the cruise planner. The same cruise changed AGAIN this morning to Nassau and Coco Cay so I am in the CP waiting place again, too.

I wonder if there will be another sale before Nov 3... Halloween savings?!?! 

2 hours ago, barjpoe said:

Us too.  Wanted to change the check in time but anything earlier wasn't available.

Keep checking! My Nov 8 Freedom has gone from a 3pm check in to 1pm and then bumped again to 12pm and my Nov 3 Oasis just opened slots as early as 11am when I had previously had a 1pm check in. 

6 hours ago, PRebecca said:

Somewhere someone posted a photo of the right test to purchase for cruising. I must stink at searching because I can't find it. I have this one, and am hoping we got the right ones. Anyone able to kindly verify or point me in the right direction? I know it's been discussed to death, sorry!

Yes, this is the correct, proctored test. Not sure why you got so many conflicting answers, it just needs to have the "Ag Card" designation. 

I sail November 3rd and was supposed to stop in Labadee on the 5th. Royal alerted me on September 10th that it was being changed to Cozumel.. following that timeline you'd think they would've told you by now.  

22 hours ago, Booscruize said:

Plus Jarell has never made this car trip and wants to see Alligator Alley. If you’re from Florida seeing an alligator is just a Tuesday but hey get your thrills babe LOL 

This made me actually lol! I have only seen a baby alligator once in New Orleans so I am on team See-an-alligator-while-in-Florida, too. Like @PPPJJ-GCVAB, I am getting off Oasis the day you guys start your adventure. Can't wait to see your posts! We S2S and get off Freedom on the 12th and I will absolutely need some fresh Oasis content to drown my sorrows! hahaha

I am sailing Nov 3. The check-in window was open, we checked in fully and got our boarding time and then they closed it for the 45 day thing. It re-opened yesterday and all  my info was intact as well as my previously selected check-in time. I didn't have to do anything. 

1 hour ago, CFL said:

Where did you get the mask lanyard from?

I had it made by a jeweler friend at the beginning of the pandemic, but searching 'mask lanyard' on a site like etsy yielded some great results. Like this one!

47 minutes ago, JustMeJoe said:

I've seen the type with a lanyard that lets it hang around your neck - Maybe? 

I am team mask-lanyard allll day (although I havent religiously worn masks since CA dropped the mandate in June) and love how easy it is to remove to eat/drink while also not having to worry about shoving it in a pocket and all the excessive fabric touching that goes with that. I have been on two vacations since covid and we just brought a ton of varying cloth masks each to deal with the constant need to swap it out for a fresh one. 

I could see the lanyard being handy when you're walking the ship and moving between locales that do and do not require masks.

26 minutes ago, twangster said:

Royal has indicated they will include testing for B2B and S2S (side to side) i.e. - changing ships.

I've thought about trying to do a Binax over Voom but there is a lot of risk involved if it doesn't work or if heavy rain blocks the internet when I need it.  Murphy's law - Voom won't work when you need it most for a critical activity.  

My cruises, an S2S to me, don't qualify for a Royal test as the second one leaves a day after the first returns, so I have a night in Miami booked. I am thinking of bringing the Binax/Voom as my plan A and having an Antigen test either booked or taken at MIA on that day in between as plan B. 

... wait, Binax could still be my plan B once I have LTE in Miami! Wow. And the 6 pack is a great find. Thanks! 

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Also consider the proctored at home test that Royal will accept.  I just bought a 6 pack as a backup plan.

Do you think this would work while on a cruise to test for the second one that leaves a day after? I will have voom! 

On my Oasis cruise Nov 3rd, the UDP has never been available for purchase and I got access to the CP over a year ago when I L&S'ed from the same cruise in 2020. I keep checking regularly but it has never appeared. My cruise directly following on the Freedom Nov 8 has had the UDP available since booking. 

21 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

The antigen test results come out within 15-30 minutes of testing

I just took an antigen test in Jamaica for my return to the US and it only took ~2 minutes to get the result! Crazy. But that test would cost ya. 

I got a PCR test at the CVS for my arrival there and did get it within 2 days. I hope you get yours in time! 

21 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

I just want to add a layer of protection to my “valuables”, mainly my phone and driver’s license.  I know it’s relatively safe especially on the private islands.  I “lost” my phone on Labadee but it turned up at the Lost & Found.

I have used a Loksak waterproof bag on solo beach vacations when I don't want my money/phone abandoned on the beach for the inevitable 30 minutes or more that I stay in the ocean. I bring my phone, hotel key and credit cards/cash into the ocean with me and clip them around my waist or to the float I am using with a fanny pack type bag like this one. My other items stay on the beach but the most important items come with me. 

Can attest that the Loksak bags work great, no water has even broken the seal and I swim for loong periods of time. Also, I have used the same set for the last 10 years of vacations so they are durable as well, aside from the plastic getting cloudy over time. 

46 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Or can you also float on other shaped floaters?

Yeah, I always bring my own low ride floaties to lazy rivers, sitting in the donut tube hurts after awhile. 

1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said:

A precedent has been set - I had to be coaxed out of one at the Westin Scottsdale at closing time by hotel staff.

Haha I once managed 63 laps in one day at the Harrah's SoCal, we kept track with a mulch tally as we floated along. 

I have only stayed in an inside cabin once as an 11 year old on Sovereign and decided right then it was not for me!

On my other 3 cruises I have stayed in a junior suite (called Signature on HAL) and now you all have me nervous that my next 3 in a row in an ocean view balcony are going to be too cramped! This shower sounds awful, how did I not take the tiny bathroom into account?! 

We'll see if I turn into a "JS and above" person after our S2S November 3rd-12.

We stopped in Antigua in August 2019 and did a Royal excursion that circumnavigated the whole island so you could see all of its "365 beaches" from the boat. At lunch they stopped on the southeast side of the island at a secluded beach for lunch and snorkeling. I believe in the cruise planner it was called Antigua by Sea? The lunch was great and of course the boat staff was fun and entertaining. 

This happened to me on my Oasis cruise to Labadee in Nov, had a snorkel/speedboat tour booked and then one day it was just gone from my calendar and order history, no cancellation or anything and the cruise planner credits were back in my account. The same speedboat tour is still available without being combo'd with snorkeling which I found weird, too! 

6 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

If you book through Air2Sea, the flights are refundable up until final payment (for your cruise) so if they price drops, you can re-price your flight.  It's a no-brainer.  Book it as soon as fares are released and watch prices.

How do you go about repricing Air2Sea flights? Do I just call Royal if I see a lower price or do I have to somehow cancel and rebook? I just made my first booking for a San Juan cruise next year. 

I brought one of these on our southern Caribbean cruise and used it in St. Thomas, St. Kitts and Barbados. We used it on beaches where there were umbrellas and chairs for rent and set up directly next to them with no objection. I've also brought a tent like this as a 3rd carry-on on a plane and no one batted an eye as it fit in the space between my seat and the fuselage. I loved having it! 

PS. my second favorite cruise/beach purchase were a pair of these floats, everyone was asking where we rented them from! They fold up super small and only take a couple breaths to inflate.

On 7/2/2021 at 2:28 PM, Baked Alaska said:

Are you SURE that it is cancelled and not just sold out? Sometimes excursions drop off when they've sold out (rather than putting the "sold out" banner across the picture).

Yep, it's no longer on my calendar and I was refunded the money  

12 hours ago, Jill said:

I booked a corner aft JS on Radiance for Alaska (which I’m told is in high demand) but it is under the windjammer outdoor seating.

Oh no! I have this JS on Brilliance and didn't even thiiink about the location, booking it immediately upon seeing that mega balcony. At least we usually wake up early but I am now dreading the scraping sound of chairs being pulled out at dawn. 

I logged in the CP and was glancing at my calendar when I realized a Labadee excursion I had purchased last November for Nov 21 was missing! It is operated by a third party (Labadee Speedboat & Snorkel) but the speedboat-only variation of this excursion is still available for sale (and at $16 more - for less of an excursion) which leads me to believe they didn't go out of business due to the pandemic. 

I find it odd that I had to find this out on my own, does Royal not alert you to cancelations on excursions? 

3 hours ago, wannabecruiseexpert said:

Do you know if there's a sandy area that is not by the beach cabanas still inside the beach club? 

According to this cabana map the area between the two sets of floating cabanas looks like your spot!

On 6/10/2021 at 12:27 PM, JLMoran said:

You clearly haven't seen Urinetown.

"It's a privilege to pee!"

I have been in this show (Little Sally -“too much exposition”) and it turned out to be the one I wouldn’t mind doing over and over, even as weird as the premise is. 

@steverk Thanks for the live blog, it was great! 

I have flights in November of this year booked but I did use flight credits (from May 2020 and then moved to Nov 2020) to do so. So I didn't actually put any new money into those flights. 

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

You can add after booking.

I am looking into Air2Sea to get to San Juan in April 2022, do they add it to the overall total I need to pay off on that cruise? Or do you pay for the flights up front?