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. 

1 hour ago, Curt From Canada said:

1). Live Music.  Dancing is "OK" with a DJ, but dancing to live music is a real treat.  Boleros and Music Hall ... here we come.

2). "A la carte" cruising.  Being able to choose what the experience is (rather than "Always Included style") allows us to pick only the things we really want.  The amount we drink, eat, stay connected, and "play" with the "expensive" toys (Coco Cay, on board extras, excursions, etc) varies from cruise to cruise ... choice is something we must have.

3). Entertainment ... To see Broadway/West End at sea is a real treat.  Some of the other larger ship entertainment is "off the charts" (The Gift ... definitely not you).

4). Higher Level Loyalty Perks ... we have not done our homework, but the Royal program seems to have some significant advantages.  Our sense is they will "pull back" over time, but compared to others they seem to have a significant advantage.

5). Did I mention Live Music?

 

Curt from Canada

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. 

3 hours ago, FireFishII said:

I want to give everyone a heads up.  Back on June 17 and 18th, my family of 6 were getting their pre-cruise Covid tests. Our cruise was on June 19th. Most of my family had issues. 

One sister elected to get the a lab test on June 17th, the one that takes 24-48 hours.  Why the full blown test? I don't know why but that is what she thought she needed.  But she started to worry so she went to CVS for a second lab test.  Yes. Another 24-48 hour test.  It was a good thing that she did because she never got the results from the first test. These tests were taken in PA.

My husband and I went to our NH Walgreen for a rapid NAAT test on Friday morning.   We were supposed to get our test results in 2 to 4 hours.  No such luck.  It was only after 12 hours and after our flight to FL that we had received our test results.

My second sister and her husband went to Walgreen in Florida on the morning of June 18th for their rapid NAAT tests.  They never received their results.  They ended up spending $100 EACH for a rapid test at the Royal Caribbean terminal.  The crew wanted my sister to wait for her original results.  Fortunately,  she asked to be given the new tests since she NEVER received the first results.  She was about 2 hours delayed in boarding.  She had an 11 am boarding times.

My brother from Vegas was the only one who did not have a problem. 

Talk about pressure!  I hope our experience is a one off problem and no one else runs into these problems. 

 

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.

On 6/17/2022 at 3:36 PM, Brando95 said:

Kinda surprising that MGM went with Carnival since they've had a relationship with RCL and Celebrity for awhile. Would be nice to see Caesar's sports book get on board with Royal since that is my preferred players club anyway in Vegas (at least on the strip)

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. 

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Are they still holding Royal Poker Tour satellite tournaments on the ships ?  I don’t think they e had a tournament for the past couple of years.  Just wondering if they’re still doing the satellites.

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. 

9 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Last week was finally time check in for our cruise in late July. Anyway we like to board as early as possible or at least get to the terminal as early as possible. We chose the earliest time, 10:30/11:30 and now today I see it says, See you at 9:30. Now I love it, earlier the better but have you ever seen an arrival time change before on its own? 

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 

45 minutes ago, MelD said:

Hello

First time on your blog and maybe someone will be able to help me with this.
We are travelling next month on Oasis of the seas with 3 kids and I’m not sure if we will receive the passport on time. Since the kids are Canadian citizen, could we use their birth certificate for cruising? I did my check-in on Tuesday and there is an option Birth Certificate+ No photo document, but when I call customer service to confirm, their awnser is never the same. We are visiting Cape Canaveral and Bahamas (Nassau and Coco Cay)

Thank you 

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. 

5 hours ago, Paco said:

Question....regarding the vax cards....on the website:

Proof of vaccine in the form of the original vaccination record document issued by your country's health authority or healthcare provider that administered the vaccine.

I don't have the original card but I do have the printout, with the QR code, that I was able to get on the California Digital Covid 19 portal.  Is this good enough?

This is also what I sent when I did my check in and my vaccination has been validated.

Thanks!!

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