leesam82

I will be traveling to go on the Oasis OTS on JUN 17. I've been hearing from some blogs that the main parking lot that is covered is being utilized mainly for those with disable access parking and that most guests are parking out side in lot 2 or 3. I can follow up on my experience on Friday and let you know. 

Hello Cruisers! 

I wanted to know if anyone has had first hand experience with having a proctored antigen test at a pharmacy or other location.  I ask this because one of my family members just recived an  invalid test result. Luckily they tested on day 2 and tomorrow is day 1. So they are going to go to the same place to get tested again. While I do believe that there should be no issues, I still want to have a contingency plan. That plan is to have a proctored antigen test. I know Walgreens offers this and it is accepted type of testing as the family member is fully vaccinated.  I wanted to ask the community what the test report looks like and ensure that it has all the information that is needed. If anyone has done the antigen test for cruising on site please let me know. Thank you !

I also have this card. I only use it to book RCL cruises etc. I recently used the accumulated points to get an OBC. I have only used the BoA website to ensure I get the OBC. 

Also if you are not from the United States and hail from a country that had digital covid vaccine cards, make sure you have physical vaccine card. 

I have a family member coming to the US for our cruise from a country that has digital vaccine cards. They had to go to their local public health office to get an official copy. Also make sure that the covid vaccine card has the name of the vaccine, date of administration (each dose separately), and that it is in English. They initially had trouble getting their vaccine cards validated. 

Hello Fellow Cruisers! 

I checked in and was assigned a boarding time for all of the family for 10:30 for the upcoming Oasis OTS sailing out of port liberty. I wanted to know is there an earlier boarding time or is 10:30 am the earliest. Also due to logistics some family members will be there about 20 minutes prior to the assigned boarding time. Does anyone know if there will be porters there to take their luggage? Any insight would be helpful thanks!

I don't get sea sick but I know many family members do. For our JIC seas sickness kit we have 1) Ginger Chews 2) Dramamine, 3), Ginger Tea 4) wrist acupressure bracelets (Some people swore by them others say they felt nothing). 5) MQ Patch same concept as those acupressure bracelets you can find them on amazon 6) I also second the scopolamine patches. I know some family members use them. The only draw back to some of the patches is that they can irritate the skin behind the ears. 

1 hour ago, Philymic said:

Hi everyone! 
 

We are preparing for our second Royal Caribbean cruise later this year on Navigator of the Seas. 
 

We originally booked a 3-night weekend cruise. Our travel agent forwarded us an email and we learned the cruise had been extended to a 7-night cruise. Since we had already booked, we were told we are locked in at our price and will get to enjoy our original 3-night pricing. 
 

My question is we have already booked a deluxe beverage package with Voom and they still show as reserved on our account. Does Royal Caribbean honor this pricing as well even though the length of the cruise was extended or do I have to cancel and re-book for a higher amount?

 

Thanks!!!

I've never had this happen before the start of a cruise. However when I was on a 7 night cruise on the Allure OTS we got extended to 10 days to avoid incoming weather. We didn't have to pay anything extra for the drink package. 

2 hours ago, FirstFamCruise said:

Adding on to this question, I'm also a new cruiser and plan to take this on. Any tips / recommendations for carrying on the water? Esp if our rooms aren't ready right away, I can imagine this would be best in a roller bag?

Previously I have used one of those spinner carry on bags. I use it to put the water in there and our extra clothes. 

I personally always take a look at the final dollar amount rather than the % off. I've also know that they started separating the gratuities till the end. I think this started some time last year. So I don't pay attention to the numbers or percentages till I see what I am going to pay. 

13 hours ago, Rakaia said:

Was running when we were onboard at the end of May/beginning of June. Went twice!

Yay Im so excited to hear this as i'll be on board this friday!!!

12 minutes ago, BB1 said:

I too am a shareholder.  It is difficult to know what to do. I don't expect all the cruise lines to survive.  I think some mergers may happen. I don't want to sound like a Royal snob but I personally don't know of any other cruise lines that I would prefer over Royal or Celebrity so if they do merge with another line, I don't know if it would be of much benefit, but who knows?

Mergers are really hard because the cruise lines are so large as it is. RCCL owns Both Royal/Celebrity/and Silverseas. They also have significant investments in other cruise lines. I can't really see any of the major cruise lines coming together under one group (eg RCCL and Carnival or RCCL & NCL etc). This is because each cruise group is going to be highly strained. However what I can see happen is RCCL or other cruise groups divesting some or selling off some of their smaller cruise lines or cruise investments. We have already had many cruise lines selling off their older ships. I actually found the Dream Cruises bankruptcy a real interesting case study as the cruise line tried to do too much too fast without being a good steward of their finiacial resources. Overall I would say that RCCL has struck a good balance of conserving the resources and expanding/ updating their fleet.

1 hour ago, SaveTheSharks said:

Holy... As of writing this post, it's at ~US$46... Dropped about -16% in 3 days... But still staying optimistic that cruising will bounce back!! Just going to have to cover my eyes for now lol 

I just bought in again. I think there are some macro and world wide economics going on driving down the stock prices. 1) Obviously still having covid around 2) Price of gas 3) Price of employees / short staffing 4) Inflation of goods in general. 5) Not having a cruise restart in Asia market 6) Overall world wide unrest. 

Although with all these factors considered, I still think RCCL is a good buy because inflation will not last forever and there is still high demand for cruises. Again I am not professional stock advisor, but I bought in again.  Just try to look at it from the long term. 

1 hour ago, BigKarl said:

I have a cruise coming up in Sept. and I have "Onboard credit" from my RCCL Credit Card that I want to share with my family members that will be sailing with us.  If I add them to my Credit Card account will they also share the Credit that we have in the account?  If this can be done, how would I go about getting this done?  Can it be done online or will I need to link my credit card when we get onboard?

I am unsure about what you are asking. I have the RCCL card and I recently redeemed my points for a share OBC. I put it towards my reservation. I think a shared credit allows others in that specific stateroom to use if you get a non shared credit it is only assigned to the card holder. 

16 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

For me it is one that never let's my water glass go empty. I am on Wonder of the Seas and Joseph has been on point all week. He doesn't even let me get to half full.

I would agree. I think just some one who is overall very attentive. We had an assistant waiter on anthem of the seas who was very attentive to the whole family's needs. He was very good in making sure our drinks were full and was always there if we needed anything in particular. 

I specifically cruise for two reasons. 1) I love the fact that I do not need to plan too many things in additional to the cruise itself. I don't need to call and figure out what restaurants to eat at etc. I don't need to worry if the restaurant is accessible. For me cruising is very convenient. Everything is right there. Essentially its a traveling all inclusive resort that moves to different ports. 2) I love the mulit-generational activities on board. I do a lot of traveling with grand parents, kids, other parents. It is nice knowing that there is something for everyone no matter the age. I personally think RCL has done a pretty good job of emphasizing this. I have family members that want to just do nothing and enjoy the sea breeze and read, while others want to go to the casino, and others who love the onboard shows. Cruises have a good mix of things for everyone in the family. 

On 6/4/2022 at 7:05 PM, jabberwk said:

I've always hated having to carry around a purse while I'm traveling but I can't get by with just pockets (and sometimes there aren't any pockets anyway). I'm considering a fanny pack but haven't used one since I was a teenager. Opinions? Other suggestions for something small that I don't have to *carry*?

I like use a sling bag. so I don't look too much like a child of the 80s hehe. Here is what I use while cruising. 

Hello Cruisers

I know that this topic has come up before I did try to look for it so I didn't' have to post again about it but couldn't find it. My two kids are fully vaccinated and RCL has accepted their vaccine information via the app. However I still received an email for my kids to sign up for the pre boarding testing. I just want to make sure with others that this is just because of their ages and that this email was automatically generated. If I am missing something please let me know thank you 

On 3/3/2022 at 11:32 AM, Toby said:

As I understand it the boarding time assignments and stricter adherence to them was implemented as a health protocol to reduce crowds to better facilitate social distancing.  I am wondering if helps with the boarding chaos that would result pre-pandemic as everyone arrived at the same time to get on the ship? 

Looking into your crystal ball, do you think the assignment and enforcement of boarding times will be a practiced continued as capacities increase?

My prediction is that the stricter boarding times are here to stay. I personally think it has made for a slightly better terminal experience where the wait times in the terminal had decreased. However this was prior to the increased capacity. It looks does look like with the increase in capacity 1) RCL is disembarking the previous passengers quicker ie not being able to stay in their rooms till they can disembark 2) delaying some sail always to allow for more times for passengers to embark 3) increasing the passengers at each embarkation times. 

I will have to see how this goes in my June 17 Oasis sailing

I definitely agree. I would also add a level 2.5: Worrying about every time someone in the family has a cough! Praying its not Covid 

I think overall it is up to each cruiser to make that decision. If you feel that you won't get the service expected for the amount you paid, I would definitely hold off till the staffing issues become better and supply issues are resolved. However if you are willing to be flexible and would rather be on board then by all means. This was the same choice many cruisers have faced earlier in the restart of cruising. Some cruisers did not want to come on board when masks were required because it would hamper their enjoyment of the cruise, while others felt it did not impact them at all. In the end its really a a matter of personal choice. 

For me I booked my cruise for June 2022, knowing that there may be issues on board from covid to staffing. But I am willing to go with the flow.

Unfortunately I don't think you will be able to know till it gets closer. However what you could do is possibly prepare for some rain. Maybe pack a poncho or other rain gear. 

Yup not that is not normal I would keep on checking and maybe even reach out to RCL for check-in help. 

@msfraserLuckily I believe that RCL has moved away from NAAT to the antigen testing (10 min quick test) for unvaccinated kids on the day of embarkation which is great because you get results much faster. When we went on our cruise in this past November we did not get to embark till nearly 3 hours after our scheduled embarkation time due to the wait to get the kids tested and waiting for the testing results. I would also pack a small snack and something for your little one to play with  just in case you get stuck waiting. I think it is going to be up to the port but hopefully if your family arrives a little earlier they will just let you test.  Good Luck and Fun Sailing!

When I was at coco cay this past November, I was waiting in line at one of the thrill water park slides and as you were going up the stairs you could see some support infrastructure in one corner of the island. It looked to me like there were housing for the staff that reside on the island, generators, garage/ repair facilities for the trams, and satellites arrays.  

Hello, 

Last year I took my kids to a place called curative. Depending on the location they will either do the PCR or the Rapid NAAT type which are both accepted by RCL. The Rapid NAAT is nice because you get results pretty quickly. I know for a fact that Walgreens offers the rapid NAAT, I am unsure about CVS. Also be prepared to test on embarkation day for your child. If you are traveling with other family members that are vaccinated have them board the ship first as there will be a separate line for kids that need the embarkation testing (At least this was the case at Port Liberty in NJ last November).