bossdog421

So looks like up to 9/15/20 is being canceled. Still going to ride it out. I mean i got 5 whole days past the new cancel date. If she still sails that means I would be on the first on Oasis out of NJ once things resume. I have no issues being the test subject for new policies.

Not looking great but worst case they cancel and I refund and do something else. I have some ideas but I'd rather be cruising.

*Rubs lamp* Come on Genie give me some magic.

On 6/16/2020 at 1:50 PM, ehw51 said:

Agree completely, time to make some noise. Just at least give us dates. They meet on thur so hope they get some answers.

While I'm not one to grab a pitchfork and make a ton of noise... I did send a message in the contact us section of their site. I asked for updates and threw in a couple lines about things opening up etc.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/resources/contact-us

So here we go. Final payment day is coming in quick.

Had to have the "what do we do discussion" with the wife.  Lift and switch isn't a viable option, it would put us too close to a cruise we have booked next year.  FCC doesn't interest me too much because i'd still want to do something this year(I. Need. A. Vacation). We are going to make the final payment on friday and hold on for the ride. If the cruise gets canceled we will just take the refund and make other plans.

Really hope things still go. This is what i want to do. Not losing hope yet!

PS: This diet is officially making me mad. 

3 hours ago, coneyraven said:

That shot of the skyline is insane.  Where is this?

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-jersey/wildcat-ridge-hawkwatch-trail

Hawkwatch. 5 minute drive from my house then about a 30 minute hike. 

Lots of cool stuff on that trail if you are willing to do some more serious hiking.

Double digit day! 99 days to go. Feeling good and worried about the date at the same time. A random post from someone in the FB group saying they called the port and said they will be good to go out of jersey in August gave me a bit of confidence. But still... the world has gone mad, and all that grouping together is likely to drum up more cases. We are on the cusp of reopening and don't think anyone is going to be willing to shut down again. 

I've always been a gambling man. My bet is still on things will go!!!

Diet update down about 14 pound overall. Had a pretty big plateau for about a week that I finally got passed. Another 16 or so to go.

Beautiful day in Jesery. Got out for a hike with the family.

So typically how I'm seen these temperature checkpoints go, the first check point is straight forward. Under 100.4 easy in. If you are over 100.4 you go through an additional screening process where they ask more questions and check again. I heard of cases where people with temps over 100.4 were still let through the check point after additional screenings if deemed safe.

I'm sure that process with vary greatly depending on the company's procedures.

On 6/5/2020 at 12:38 PM, mk-ultra said:

If you don't mind me asking, did you get crazy-good pricing on the Ultimate Panoramic Suite?  I booked the exact same suite for a Oasis April 2022 cruise the same day they released the it for booking.  The price on this Star Class cabin was ~$100 more than an L1 Sky Class loft, which was insanely good.  Now the price seems comparable to any other Star Class cabin.

Yes, very good pricing. Like I didn't want to wait pricing.  With that said this wasn't the only room  priced really well on this sailing.  Tons of sky level suites were insanely low too.

I never had any issues walking out with drinks. I would routinely go in by myself and walk out with 2 drinks for me and my wife for a nightcap.

4 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes.  This is a very dangerous trend. Be afraid.  Be very afraid

Very true. I am a suite cruiser, got my first star class booked got a feeling I'm going to have issues knocking it down.

8 hours ago, Cile said:

Did anybody try this in Coco cay. I am looking for next may and price is $1,399 . Do you think it is wort the price?

For a regular cabana that price is a pretty steep. I paid only like 100 more than that and was in the overwater cabana.  That said, i really liked the beach club area and the food was great.

God willing I'll be back there in September. I will not be doing beach club this time.  I just didnt get to see a lot of the other areas as there was no real reason to leave my cabana.

I was able to book a second cruise this year for super cheap. It actually needs a sale for this to a be a good thing. Time will tell.

I got a pretty good essential worker bonus so thats good I guess.

Aside from those not much else.

7 hours ago, jaredhamburg said:

The process of banging on the door made me laugh and me me think of the old Mervyn's ads where the person was saying "open, open, open."

It's mostly all inclusive. Captain Jacks (Wings and fires), beach club and the big water park are the only things not included outside of excursion activities / items (things like water skis, cabanas, & day beds, etc)

There are a few snack shacks around the island to grab a bite at and the main dining venue that are included. Both have a pretty good selection depending on what you are looking for (the chicken sandwich at the snack shack is as good as people make it out to be, try it!). Drink package works the same as it does on the ship. Plenty of loungers around the island both by the pool and the beach that are free. Kids water attractions included, of beach type games and events are around too.

I can't wait to go back and explore more than just the beach club!

45 minutes ago, twangster said:

Why isn't there greater consistency with the suite product and benefits across the fleet?

Big reason I have been hesitant booking on the smaller ships.  I have oasis this year and anthem next year. Not sure I'm going to want to go a class below anthem at this point... but those itineraries do look nice

38 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said:

My question would be, "As with every problem, there is an opportunity to make something better. Given the questionable state of Royal's reduced customer and travel agent services, what have you learned, and what will you do differently going forward?"

Craft your question as if you were a reporter trying to gain knowledge for your audience rather than a rant or vent.

I'd love to say I'd come up with a great question but I'd likely go full caveman and just say "Need vacation. When cruise?"

Sorry about your cruise!

August first is good news though! Gives me more hope for my September booking.

1 hour ago, coneyraven said:

Yeah, you're like me, we both know the area well enough that, even though we're not locals, tourists we are not.  We really know how far Disney is, how much it costs, etc..... and considering the time we're in port, is it really worth the effort? ..... no matter how bad I want to ride Soarin over in Epcot (still kills me that Illuminations, Reflections of the Earth is gone).

The fact that they refer to the port as Orlando, can be really misleading, plus people have no idea travel time, and what a nightmare I-4 and Fl 417 can be.  One wrong turn and you're on the turnpike headed south, lol.

Yeah in confident it could be done with out much hassle it just wouldnt be enough and i want to focus on the cruise.

I'm pretty sad i havent been to disney in like 4 years. There was a point were we were going at least once a month (before we even had kids lol). Then we moved to jersey and we going once a year for a while... then we started cruising.  I have magic kingdom down to a science. I draw up map routes based off of fast pass times I can do the entire park before 2pm as long as you are there for the rope drop and that's with stops for food and characters.

A lot has changed and there is a ton of other new stuff happening so i can't want to get back. Now I need a good 5 days at a resort (poly please!) to fully enjoy myself there. 3-4 park days a resort day and some time at disney springs. Still havent seen the avatar or star wars areas. We are going to need to go in the next year or 2 because a lot of the "magic" is going to fade when our daughter hits teen years. I know she'd still have fun, its just not the same as they get older. I mean look at this... Sword in the Stone. I have been to Disney HUNDREDS of times. This is something i will never forget... Watching the act, I getting called up,  the sword doesn't budge... Oh i tried... I was gonna break that damn latch holding it in for all i cared. Then my daughter gets called up. I about shat myself. The look on her face and how she felt after pulling it out was just pure magic... i cant describe the feeling any other way.

I view my vacations as a time to build unforgettable memories for my daughter. Disney did a great job of that but cruising seems to be a good transition into less kiddie trips. Hard to give up that stage... but its coming whether i like it or not.

5 minutes ago, coneyraven said:

Interesting Day 3 plan .... Ours is somewhat similar ..... my mother & sister will be driving over from St. Cloud and we'll all go and have a nice meal.  One of out favorite places is Squid Lips - Over Water Grill (not to be confused with FishLips) --- it's located on A1A on the south side of Cocoa Beach (below FL 520).  Not sure if they have Cubans, wouldn't surprise me if they do.

I loath seafood. So I typically avoid places that have names with anything sea related as the entire place usually smells of fish. There was a place in Coco Beach that I was going to try earlier this year but I inlaws brought me a sandwich from one of my favorite places in the Tampa area so we skipped it. I'll probably try and get us to go there this time.

The Florida plans are still up in the  air. Not sure if we are just hitting the beach or driving up to the space center just yet. Its probably going to depend how much is open. I'm a huge Disney fan but we already decided we were not going there, just not enough time at the port for us. We like to have a full week when we go to Disney. I do miss the days of having annual passes and just going for a couple hours whenever we wanted.

Yeah day 1 one I will play by ear.

I do plan on trying the filet at both ck and chops. I'm a bigger fan of ribeyes luckily my daughter loves steak so I'll have her get the filet at chops and ill get a ribeye and just try hers.

Everyone says the filet is better at ck, so I have to try both to compare for myself!

I'm sure they can vary just like royals. Guessing peak times they are higher. I was there in April a couple years back. I really enjoyed it too.

18 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Chops is usually the only specialty open during lunch.  They don't have any special Star Class lunch.  Portside and Playmakers are open that first day and don't tend to be crowded either if you want options.

Nope..CJs isn't covered on Coco Cay.  Not sure why..but alas.

The lunch menu at portside seems to be lacking some key items i like for BBQ. It is an option though, I'd probably side with Chops or picking around the suite lounge offerings.

Boy Star Class  magic really doesn't have any powers on Coco Cay huh? CJ not being included seems silly. It's wings and fries.. Snack shack it is then!

Thanks for the info!

22 hours ago, Andrew72681 said:

What’s hilarious is listening to DCL stories about what people pay for cabanas. It sounds like it makes the CocoCay prices seem downright sane. 

I stayed in a cabana at Disney's Castaway Cay for $550. I thought the pricing was in line with RCCL's "standard" cabana, and the cabana seemed way nicer at castaway... Well, standard cabana vs standard cabana.  The over water cabana at Coco Cay was way better but for triple the price and it being over water  it should have been.

With all this dieting all i can think about is food. I know i'll have a genie and they can do all of the meal planning but i'm a bit of a plan freak. I have the entire cruise mapped out for where / when i want to eat already. We enjoy going to the venues so i doubt there will be much in room dining except for breakfast. We'll play that by ear once we see how much room there is for dining in the suite.

Food plan -

Day 1 - Leaving Jersey

Lunch - Special Star Class lunch? Chops?

Dinner - CK Filet night? Will move if its a different night

Day 2 Sea Day -

Breakfast - CK

Lunch - Playmakers

Dinner - Giovanni's

Day 3 - Port Canaveral

Breakfast - In room

Lunch - With inlaws somewhere in FL. Cuban sandwich??? For those that read my last blog i like me a cuban sandwich. lol

Dinner - Izumi Hibachi

Day 4 - Coco Cay

Breakfast - Johnny Rockets

Lunch - Snack shack Chicken Sandwich. Maybe Captain Jacks for some wings. Is that included with star class?

Dinner - Chops

Day 5 - Nassau

Breakfast - In room or CK

Lunch - Something at Atlantis - Maybe Playmakers

Dinner - 150 Central Park. This is the only one i'm not sure of. The menu doesn't seem great to the 3 of us. Might skip this one and just go to CK.

Day 6 - Sea day

Breakfast - CK

Lunch - Johnny Rockets

Dinner - Port Side BBQ (maybe in room)

Day 7

Breakfast in room

Lets see how well i stick to this in a couple months.

Great now i'm hungry.  

I'm already booked in September and have no plans on changing it unless they cancel it. If i could go earlier i would.

As for the discussion of masks. I wouldn't say it's a deal breaker at all but i wouldn't be happy if they were required everywhere. It just doesnt work. Dining? Pool / spa? Open air decks? Kids club? I think a compromise would be requiring them when attending shows where its much closer quarters for long periods of time. If there is any mask requirement good luck enforcing it, half the people that are wearing them now aren't wearing them properly which defeats a lot of the purpose.

Temp checks are fine. If they have some sort of rapid testing i'd be fine with getting that done too (multiple times if needed). Spacing chairs out a bit inside and out would help too. Little things like that would at least provide some peace of mind. I'd feel comfortable without any of that too.

I'm around this virus a lot, and the first month or so was without the "proper" ppe. Proper hygiene and common sense go a long way (yeah i know more is needed but my point remains).  Unfortunately both of those seem to be hard to come by when you are dealing with the masses. There will always be a risk.

Edit: Didn't realize i already posted in this thread. I need a vacation lol... Oh well, the first post wasn't this detailed.

5 hours ago, JLMoran said:

They've made the ship's pizza into a Covid-19 cure?!? OMG, I don't care how unlike NJ pizza it is, I'll eat that $*%& all day if it keeps me safe! 

 

 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

I'm  one of those odd people that hated pizza for decades, then i moved to jersey now i love it. Don't think putting the cure in sorrentos would change my mind on me eating that. Tried it once on the last cruise and I wont ever again. If the wife and daughter went to get some i would go elsewhere.

Put it in a lava flow and now we are talking.