leesam82

One suggestion I have is to watch youtube videos, royalcaribbeanblogs.com has a lot of youtube videos found here. You can find answers to many questions as a new cruiser. That is how I found this site. There are also other vloggers that can help you answer questions about your specific ship on YouTube as well.

I definitely second that comment about the live music. Its so nice to see so many live musicians onboard. I was also amazed at the passenger talent when I went to the finals of on board karaoke contest on my most recent sailing.

Hello Sorry you had to go through that. This exact thing happened to my family member on our most recent sailing. One thing I would suggest in the future if you are taking the Walgreens rapid NAAT, I would call if you don't get the results within 3 hours. Majority of the time the tests are already completed they just haven't sent out the paperwork. So you can ask the pharmacy staff to print out a copy for pick up. This is what my family member did so they were able to have the test results for our cruise.

I would say that overall Royal Caribbean provides the best experience for everyone in the family. Everyone of my cruises with Royal has been a multi-generational trip with young kids to grandparents. I have always enjoyed the fact that Royal does a great job to catering to each generation in the family. There are plenty of things for the kids to do, as well as enjoyable things for the grandparents. Plus having grandparents onboard was great when we wanted someone to watch the kids if they were not at adventure ocean.

I had a huge family cruise on the Oasis OTS. We got back and my mother tested positive after she started feeling a little under the weather. I personally have been on two cruises during Covid and have personally lucked out not catching anything. With that said, I was at Disney World in April and My kids and I all caught covid. Luckily everyone is vaccinated so the symptoms were pretty mild. Unfortunately anywhere you go that has a high density of people one will be at risk. This could be cruise ships to amusement parks and everything in between. My advice is to understand the risks, mitigate the risks as much as one can, and hope for the best. I personally think that COVID will be with us and it will be a part of cruising as like any sickness like norovirus.

I have had family members use this on our recent Oasis ots sailing. They are usually great. However one thing to think about is that if you don't get results within two hours call the pharmacy and have them print out a lab report copy as you want to make sure to pick it up. Some of our family members didn't get the results email till way after 24 hrs.

Hello I have traveled twice with my brother who is in an electric wheelchair. We have been on the anthem ots and currently sailing back on the Oasis ots. From our experience RC does a good job for disabled passengers. He was in a accessible interior room on the anthem and a accessible central Park balcony on the Oasis. Both rooms are nice and large can accommodate a wheel chair. They also have automatic door openers which is nice to have. All of the public venues are accessible. This is not to say that traveling with a wc will have no issues. The issues are with more other passengers or the number of passengers. Shows can be hard especially since everyone is trying leave the theater. We just stay and let other out first prior to leaving. Also we had many waits for elevators do to not having enough space.

Just recently got on the Oasis ots sailing on June 17th. They were checking everyone's negative covid test results. What could be happening is that some port terminal agents are not checking if the test results have a Clia or certificate number on the lab print out. I would not risk this. Please make sure your lab report has everything required by Royal.

I agree. There is already a business relationship with RCCL. I am thinking since carnival made this move, we will see something similar with RCCL. To be honest it makes a lot of sense to do. I could also see them doing something possiblity building a casino/sports book section in the app as well.

@spursfreak21 they were free last year when I was there in November

@NewRCCruiser22 it won't show up on your app , but if you have your sea pass card or your sea pass via the app there will be a little note letting you know you have the drink package. I used my app to get my first drinks on board as I didn't have my sea pass card yet.

Currently on the Oasis for the 17-24 June sailing. I will say that overall the staff are trying to do their best. There are definitely staffing issues on the Oasis. This doesn't mean things will be horrible. It just means that the same level of impeccable service that many crusiers experienced when they were over staffed and had a very good passenger to crew ratio isn't there anymore. Last year on the anthem both the head waiter and assistant waiter knew everyone of guests' names. Both were amazing. We literally never had to ask for anything. It was almost like they read our minds. This time on the Oasis, the staff are working their butts off with handling what looks to meet like too many tables. Many times at the dinner at the mdr I would ask for a refill on a cocktail and wouldn't get it in time or it would be the wrong drink. I don't really blame the staff. I think royal bit off alittle too much more than they can chew. Which is understandable as any business would want to recoup their losses during the pandemic. I will still give kudos to the staff trying to make the best of current staffing and passenger levels.

Just clarify from experience and as a scientist who works on diagnostic tests, the posters are correct in the three choices 1) regular PCR which sent out to a third party medical lab 2) rapid PCR also known as a Naat. Depending on the machine that is being run you can have results in like 45 mins. The interest thing about the machine that run naat test is they are a hybrid of PCR and an antigen test depending on the brand of equipment 3) the regular antigen test ( many Walgreens have now stopped offering this) The problem arises actually after the test as there is red tape and other hurdles that need to be addressed. My advice is that if you took an Naat from Walgreens and you know that you have the correct email with them ( check that you have a confirmation for the test) then I would call and ask for a print out. I would also caution those using Walgreens regular PCR tests as their needs to be a thrid party medical lab. So even though the PCR process only takes about 4 to 8 hrs depending on the PCR method, you may not get results in 24 hours. much of is has to do with the fact that medical labs do what is called sample batching. Meaning they aren't going to waste reagents to run only a few samples. They will wait to have a full load before running. Another issue is the transit time from collection site to the lab as there can be logistical issues. The sample could have been misplaced and then run later or there could be a delay in delivery of the sample. My last bit of advice would be if you are expecting results with in a certain be time frame and you don't get one, call back and ask.

The last time I saw a this was in 2019 pre pandemic. I have not seen it recently. I am itching to participate in one.

Currently at the port for the Oasis sailing. Garage is disabled only.

Some one on the oasis jun 17th roll call also mentioned something similar occuring. I personally have never had my check in time change.

@SewerUrchin43 yah I think at about half time I resided to the fact that there would be no game 7. At least there will be the Stanley cup finals going on.

Glad to hear it was taken care of.

@LCWind I spoke with the pharmacy staff today. I still have not received the email. So out of an abundance of caution I asked them to print out my test report. I was told by the pharmacist that it is the same test report that is given via email. This is the first time that we have experienced such a delay in test reporting with the Rapid NAAT. I would reach out to them and have them print a copy for you. Hope this helps.

I would order tests from emed and do a proctored antigen test. Antigen test are less sensitive and less likely to give you a false positive.

I was able to get an appointment today. My family member decided not only to re do their test at the original location but also go to Walgreens for the rapid naat. The stress level is so high right now because Walgreens has not sent me the results and it has been more than 4 hours. I have called them and they verbally confirmed the test as negative which is a relief but I still don't have paperwork. They said it could take anywhere between another 3 hours to 24 ish!!!! I was told by the staff that if I don't get the results with in the next few hours to give them a call and they can have the a copy of the lab report printed. Has anyone done this before? Is this the same report you get via email?

Aww Man I just checked my card and I didn't have an offer

I would see if you could contact the Canadian Passport office to see if you are able to expedite your passports. I personally have not heard of Non-US citizens being able to travel with only a birth certificate even if they are Canadian.. If you had other forms of ID such as global entry or a passport card I would say it would be ok.

When I was on the anthem of the seas last year I saw a lot of football games on the outdoor tv or at the pub onboard. I am really hoping to get to watch game 7 of the NBA finals onboard the Oasis of the seas in a few days.

Does the print out have the dates of the doses you received? That was a big sticking point when I called royal Caribbean.