Tira04

There are lots of different opinions.  If I hit the lottery, I would hand everyone $100 bills.  I have not hit the lottery and I work for a school district, so I am limited on my funds.  Everything you purchase has 18% gratuity added on.  If you give them $1 for a $10 drink, you are increasing their tip to 28%.  If you give them $2 you are tipping 38%.  You can also look at it the other way that $1 or $2 is nothing to you but it means a lot to them.  The short answer is money is relative to how much you have.

I'm really hoping the person you're referencing either misunderstood what was happening (perhaps was thinking of areas with pre-plated items that we as guests are free to grab), misused "self-serve" or is just plain lying because....I don't want self-serve back. I thought I would have an issue with being served and having to talk to staff regularly but honestly it was great; I never felt shafted on quantity and no one tried to rope into a long conversation. Plus...the buffet was so much cleaner!

I'm not sure what the music is like on coco cay, but could you not bring headphones? You can enjoy your music and not worry about it. 

I brought a bluetooth speaker and used it in our cabin, but didn't take it out anywhere. I would say to invest in some nice comfortable waterproof ear buds so you can have the music when you want it and not worry about disturbing anyone 🙂

I'm not sure what the music is like on coco cay, but could you not bring headphones? You can enjoy your music and not worry about it. 

William Wilson founded Alcoholics Anonymous. Friends of Bill W are AA meetings held on the ship. 

@smokeybandit thanks for the update. 
I just pulled this screen grab from the RCL website

Thank you for sharing all your experience. Sounds like you had a fabulous time! I hope I experience the same. My divorce became final 3 years ago and I decided to step outside the box and try something new, that I would never have done in the past. Nervous, scared, but very excited. 

We just docked back in Barcelona and I figured I’d jump on and share our experience with everyone. Would love to answer questions as I’m sure many of you had questions similar to what we had.
Overall, we had an incredible time and have almost nothing but good to say about our first “post-covid” cruise.
On our ship, that carries over 6000 passengers, had 900 on board. We heard we picked up 300 more in Rome, but can’t confirm that. We hear there’s 600 on the 8/29 sailing. The ship was unbelievably empty. We bid the lowest amount on a RoyalUp suite and won. So, we were spoiled with a bigger room and incredibly empty ship. Everyone paid so much attention to you. No lines at slides, empty mini golf, empty rock wall and flow rider… you could do anything you wanted. Shows were well attended, but still so much seating available.
One of the only complaints we had, sorry had to add it in, was the push for specialty dining. The first two days, literally every crew member that saw you, would give you a 5 minute spiel about the packages. It became very annoying. After day 2, we only heard it here and there.
Excursions had to be through Royal Caribbean, but they all went smoothly. Not my style of tours, but we were happy to see all of the sites. The tours were even smaller groups and some people didn’t even get off the ship. Shopping was usually cut out, as we weren’t able to go out on our own. We still managed to get some good souvenirs. Heads up on the churches… you don’t go inside. So ignore the “wear pants and sleeves” rule, or at least ask about it.
Testing went well. We had a test at the beginning and the end. A couple passengers did test positive and were immediately removed from line and weren’t allowed on the ship. You get your results before they even let you on. Nerve racking, but once you get the results, it felt so good to just get on board.
The new muster drill is AMAZING! You just watch a couple safety videos on the RC app and you get it checked off near the entrance of the ship. Takes 2 minutes.
Everything on the ship was open. Masks were required at all indoor spaces, so if you just hang out outside, problem solved. The staff was not even super strict about pointing out if a mask falls below your nose, etc. We even took our masks off at most tours, because it seems Italy is only “requiring” it for cruise passengers. In Florence, it blew me away how many tourists there were and we were the only group with masks.
Play bingo and go to the contests and auctions, because there’s no competition on the ship. Attend the casino drawings and raffles. We won more stuff on this cruise because our chances were so much higher. We even won a $1200 painting (3 groups at the raffle)
As always, food was amazing, shows were awesome, crew was all smiles, and everything felt very normal for cruising. Can’t wait for masks to become non-existent.
Let me know what else you want to know? For those holding out… just go. It will be worth it to be on an empty ship.

I was also on this sailing and had a great time even with the new mask mandate indoors.  There were vaccinated areas only like the Schooner Bar and Champagne Lounge.  Testing was a pain and I did have to set up accounts for each of my kids.  Everyone had their results quickly and got stateroom letters except for me.  Mine seemed to take an extra day.
I was able to use Verifly to fly out of the Bahamas and the lines were not too horrible for my family.  Security and customs were a breeze.
I found the wait staff very willing and helpful.  The kids were getting soda and ice cream all week that was poured or served to them.
All in all, I loved the empty ship because we never experienced any lines for activities.  It was a bit sad to see empty chairs on the pool deck and sun deck on a sea day.
I will say my family is vaccinated and our kids are over the age of 12.  While we were disappointed in having to wear masks, we understand the necessity and thought RCL was very accommodating by handing out both paper and cloth masks to guests.
I found it awful to wear masks in the Bahamas and Cozumel outdoors; a necessary evil at the moment.

RCCL should have every right as a business to enforce whatever restrictions / requirements they see fit.  Until there is herd immunity, RCCL should not have to risk shutting down again.  If there are customers who are pissed because they can't travel unless they are vaccinated, do something else instead of cruise.  The virus will continue to mutate forever.  I wish there was no virus and everything were normal but that is not our reality.  Until we realize this isn't a freedom issue but a health issue, cruising will continue to be a high risk vacation. 

I honestly can’t think of a cruise ship cabin I wouldn’t stay in.  ?‍♂️

I'll stay in just about any cabin.  
Even the worst cabin on a ship is better than being stuck on land!

I'll just add we should all assume mask mandate onboard going forward until we hear otherwise.

She tested positive.  End of story. 
The mix up that resulted in her getting a bracelet did not cause her to become infected.   
She knows her vaccination status.  She chose to play like she was vaccinated using the bracelet to go into areas she knows she didn't belong.  The signs don't say "purple bracelets only", the signs read "Vaccinated Guest Area".  She knew she was breaking the rules.

Got a free ride home in a private jet.  Hard to complain about that.
Mixups are going to happen.  No system will ever be perfect.   
She needs to take accountability for her actions rather than trying to cast shade on the cruise industry.

This is one where I firmly (but kindly) disagree with @Lovetocruise2002
Suites are great but you can actually go back to a non-suite cabin without your arms falling off.  
 

My Norway cruise on Jewel is mid-summer 2022 so I'm hoping over the next 16 months we've come far enough that international travel won't look like it looks today. 

Not sure if there is a way to organize it but if you go the Roll Call forum and look to the top right corner, you can do a "sort by title" and it will sort it for you by ship name (alphabetically).

Hey Anyone ever been on one of these routes?
 
My mom got a future credit from her cancelled Aug 2020 cruise and we are interested in doing something a little different. But we are waiting until at least 2022. Should we book it now in the hopes that they wont cancel? (who know's whats going on in the next few months let alone a year)

The 'Learn to play' session in the casino. I'm not a gambler and never been to Vegas but I thought it would be fun to have a 'play'session to learn. No one else was there and the staff were not very enthusiastic so they only explained some rules to me very quickly. Not exactly the fun session I had envisioned!
 
Also, the art auction! It promised champagne that never materialised and was painful to watch as an art conservator! Haha. ?

I'll get the shot as soon as I'm eligible.  Maine has changed the priority list a couple times, so now I'm hoping to get it by May.
I know two people my age (early/mid 50s) who have been dealing with lingering Covid crap for a few months now.  Both still have blood clots in their lungs, and one is having heart problems.  I'll take a vaccination please, thank you very much.

idga... about masking on a ship.  I'll wear it wherever the rules say I must.

Yep, I have lost a 30-something year old friend, and two friends' fathers. I have no desire to mess around with it and will get the shot the moment I am eligible. 

3 of my co-workers had very rough cases of COVID.  I don't want any part of that, so I got my first shot 2 days ago. 
As far as risks go, I feel that the risk from the vaccine, although real, is small compared to the risks of getting the disease.

They may not remember every detail like you will but they will remember the trip in general terms and that establishes the basis to travel more later in life.  
I recall highlights of a trip to the UK including being able to touch and climb on Stonehenge or taking a massive hovercraft car ferry across the English Channel among a lot of other highlights but I can't articulate the route we took or every city we visited.
More importantly it established in me the concept that traveling far away from home and seeing the world isn't to be feared but embraced.