leesam82

Hi All 

I am doing some last minute prep prior to getting on board tomorrow for my Anthem OTS sailing. I had a question about tipping. I usually will tip extra on top of gratuities for the dining staff and for the room steward. I also will tip bartenders early to ensure that I am always on their radar. I will be bringing the usualy US Dollar. However prior to the pandemic I have a lot of small bills from the countries I've visited for work and vacations.  I wanted to know if its fine to tip utilizing currencies that are less common. For example I have small bills in pesos, bermudian dollar, & forints (Hungarian currency). What are your thought? If i can use these small bills it saves me a trip to the bank atm and I can get rid of these bills as I don't have any plans to visit these countries any time soon.

Thanks!

Sound like you guys are having an awesome time. I am book for anthem on the 21st right after you guys get off. Can you tell me the passenger capacity? ALso how was the water temperature at Cococay? I know my kids will want to go swimming in the ocean. 

I'lll be heading to bayonne in a few days to go on the anthem sailing on the 21st. I'll let everyone know  what the price is. 

For my sailing I went thorugh a site called curative www.curative.com. They partner at major sites throughout the united states. I was told by the testing center that I will be going to that they do open on christmas and christmas eve for limited hours. I do not know if its all sites on that do testing. 

12 hours ago, DuaneG said:

Cruising on the Freedom of the Seas November 29-December3 and about a month ago they changed the departure time from 4 to 5. Now today I get an email saying it has changed again from 5 to 6 because of new CDC guidelines. Are they getting that backed up at the pier with asking you if you are vaccinated 100 times or are they just being super cautious?

I recived the same email for my Athem of the sea sailing in a few days. previously. 

My gut feeling is that they are increasing capacity on the ships. So now instead of being at around 50%, i think ships will be at around 65% which means there will be additional guests trying to board. They have to spread them out and need some more time. 

On 11/13/2021 at 9:59 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Remember that it must be a certified birth certificate. A copy will not suffice

That is an a good point. The birth certificate must be the official birth certificate. Hospital or commemorative birth certificates do not count. 

On 11/11/2021 at 7:08 AM, DunwoodyDad said:

Ok, I am usually more on top of these things but we are on the Dec 27th (2021) sailing of Freedom and I just realized 5 of our 6 passports in our family expire in February 22. At this point, given the passport backlog and logistics involved (2 of my kids are out of town in college and they have to renew in person), I don’t think renewals are possible.

i called Royal about this and was told the 6 month thing was just a recommendation and that I should be fine. However, I’m starting to wonder if the passports will be considered valid given the things I’ve seen here about getting varied answers from the phone reps.  I realize since it’s only going to the Bahamas that technically I could carry everyone’s birth certificates but that seems extreme. Has anyone dealt with this before?  

I would bring your driver's licence and a birth certificate as a back up. Because you are only traveling to the Bahamas which is part of the western hemisphere travel initiative which allows US citizens to travel to certain countries without a passport. 

that is from the US Customs & Boarder Patrol https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/western-hemisphere-travel-initiative/faqs 

On 11/11/2021 at 7:43 AM, Pooch said:

Mine just went up yesterday.  DBP had been $67 at 20% off and $58 at 30% off with an on board price of $84.  Yesterday the on board price increased to $88 and 20% off is now $70.  Maybe this is in anticipation of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale so that a higher % off results in the same old sale price.  

I agree with this assessment. I am sure RCL like other travel companies use dynamic pricing. Many retailers increase prices prior to a big sale and then advertise the sale as a even larger saving than it was. My suggestion for the cruise planner would be if you see a price you like just buy it and keep track of the price. That way if you do see a better price you can always cancel and purchase it at the lower price.. 

Hello, 

I was on the Oasis's Sister ship Allure of the Seas in 2019. I personally did feel that it was worth i, but that will really depend on your traveling style and who you are on the ship with. I dined at 150 Central Park, Chop's grille, & Izumi. The reason why we enjoyed it was it gave us something different to eat than the usual MDR food. Secondly it allowed us to experience a different dining ambiance.  My kids especially loved the hibachi at Izumi. 

I would stick to your assigned boarding time. I would like try to get there too early or too late as things have changed. I have a 1pm boarding time on the Anthem OTS. I plan on getting to the parking deck a little bit earlier than my boarding time to ensure were are being processed at 1. 

This may longer be valid with the state cruising is now. However when I went on the Allure OTS in 2019, I found that the onboard embarkation deals for specialty restaurants were actually cheaper than if I bought through the cruise planner. Granted i think the savings were only about $10 pp. I also think that it will always be a gamble as I am sure that sometimes it maybe cheaper on the cruise planner. 

On 10/24/2021 at 7:07 PM, BrianB said:

October 24…For the first time since the re-start, the Windjammer Buffet has opened for dinner on the Oasis of the Seas. The passenger count for this week’s cruise is finalized at 3,630. That’s almost 500 more guests than last week. Almost 1,600 more than just four weeks ago. For a ship that holds approximately 5,600 double occupancy…the numbers are rising steadily. Hopefully we keep moving forward…back to normal cruising once again!

Were there any restrictions with regards to vaccinated vs those with unvaccinated in their group? 

Hello 

This is what I found on the US Customs and Boarder Patrol Website. Which run the US ports. 

You can always call the US State Department and double check. I ran into the same issue. 

When it comes to the Real ID Drivers Licence the state department did confirm that you cannot travel on Real ID alone if traveling to countries that are part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. It would need to be accompanied by a birth certificate. However some states in the US offer something called an Enhanced Driver's Licence but it is not offered in every state. With that Enhanced Driver's licence you can travel without a passport to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean (all countires listed under the Wester  Hemisphere Travel Initiative). 

I hope this helps. 

I recently received this email from RCL. About my cruise in november.  

The changes do not bother me. I am wondering if they are leaving later because they are expecting more passengers to board for this cruise and want to have a larger embakation window to spread passengers out further. Just wondering what others think. 

17 hours ago, Reigert2008 said:

You need to link the two reservations for this and for dining.  You can link them in the app/website, have your TA do it, or call Royal to do it.  Once the reservations are linked, one person can check everyone in. I’ve been doing it for my in-laws for a while and just checked in three different reservations a few months ago. My mother in law and father in law don’t even know how to login

 

Last I heard, the reservations have to be linked before you embark so that the cabins can be seated together.  If you link it in the app, I would still have your TA or Royal confirm they are linked for dining.

Yes Linking the reservations is important. I had three reservations to link. Once they were all linked I was able to check in for all three. 

22 hours ago, ChrisK2793 said:

Day 7 which was also the day for CocoCay ….. kids couldn’t get off the ship there until the results of their test came back.  Luckily for us, we got our kids tested first thing and their results were back by 9am.  We were in CocoCay from 8am to 4Pm.  A lot of families who tested as early as 8am weren’t allowed to go to CocoCay until AFTER 12 noon.  I’m not sure why they didn’t do the testing on Day 6 which was a sea day.  They’re allowed to do it 2 days before returning into the country.  It would have saved many families from missing over half their day at CocoCay.

 

Question for you. Did kids need to get tested for other ports prior to disembarking? Does anyone know if testing for cococay is a standard procedure currently? I am going to be at CocoCay in november and would want to plan accordingly. 

I am sailing on the Anthem of the Seas in November with a 5 and 7 year old and we had to select a dining time. I am very sure that MTD is not an option for cruisers with kids. Although If MTD is not available because they want to control the unvaccinated population on the ship, would the windjammer be an option for them? 

Hello All, 

I recently had the experience of being very nervous when as I am booked on a cruise with RCL in November.  I am in the process of renewing my passport and with all the delays with processing am very afraid that I would not get it back in time. Unfortunately for me I do not have a birth certificate from the the US and I would not be able to travel with the Drivers license and birth certificate. Luckily I have a trusted traveler ID issued through global entry. At first I was unsure if I could use this for cruising. After speaking with RCL and looking at their website I was told that I could. RCL website unfortunately listed FAST SENTRI and NExus trusted traveler IDs only. Then I called the US State Department and confirmed with them that cruising would be fine with my Global Entry Trusted Traveler ID.  (T

I recently checked in for my cruise with my ID. I then became nervous again as I checked in as in the documents it listed ownly FAST Sentri and Nexus. I was horrified and thought I would not be able to check in till my passport came. After talking with Both RCL and the US State Department again, I was told that the issuing of the ID was actually from SENTRI as behind my global entry trusted traveler ID card I did see the Sentri logo. I was told that I needed to select Sentri as the issuing department for the trusted traveler id. SO I wanted to share what I learned from my ordeal with those on this message board. 

1) Make sure you have documentation well in advance of your cruise so you do not need to be worried about getting your passport in time. Passport renewals and application times vary depending on where you send your documentation. There is a number to call if you sent in your application and will be traveling within two weeks to help expedite the process. Please also know that passport cards are also acceptable for travel. 

2) US Citizens can travel in through the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (see the Customs and Boarder Patrol for listed countries) with a drivers licence and birth certificate (must be from the US). 

3) Other acceptable forms of documentation are: An Enhanced Driver's licenses ( This is not the Real ID. But rather an even more enhanced version of Real ID and is not offered in all states in the US).  A Trusted Traveler ID issued by FAST, Nexus, or Sentri.  The global entry trusted traveler ID card is issued by Sentri.  If you have a trusted travel ID card check the back to see what logo is printed as that is the issuing department. 

I hope all this information will help others and prevent the many gray hairs that have formed on my head as I head for my first cruise after the restart!

LaGuardia AIrport is located in Queens NY. It is pretty far from port and there will always be a lot of traffic. Being from the area, I try to avoid going to LaGuardia airport. when i fly domestic I usually go to ewr. Internationally i fly JFK. Unfortunately because EWR is a united hub your best bet is to fly united into EWR. Hope that helps. 

I agree my guess is they are going the same route as NCL and their villas on their island. 

When I was on the Allure in August of 2019, I was able to snag the DBP at about $47/day I also lucked out because they extended that cruise due to a hurricane and didn't need to pay extra for the extension. Overally I agree with smokeybandit, that anything under $60 is a decent price and anything under $50 is a really good price. As other posters have advised too I would weight out with what you would drink on board. In the end as long as you think its worth it i would say go for it. 

I am currently booked on the Anthem of the Seas on Nov 21, 21. On my cruise planner the DBP is at $57/day I did see it for $50 previously. I am thinking about just booking it and repurchasing it if it goes down lower. 

I learned this from the casino host on the Allure of the Seas. She told me that rather than going to the cage or charging my room to charge a credit card to gamble with, that one should go up to a slot machine and use the credit card on the machine itself. Apparently this avoids some fees. I did not try this hack when I was on the allure, but family members i was traveling with did. I will ask them for a better explanation. 

Game wise, I usually stick to single deck blackjack. I try to play the $5 minimum. and then double up after a losing hand to cover up the previous loss. I've had luck and some success this way. This is a weird gambling habit of mine but on black jack i never come in in the middle of the deck. I always wait till the shoe is complete. Its just my superstation, but for the most part it has worked out for me.  

Another piece of advice for new gamblers is definitely go to the learn and play. This goes for any casino really. They are always more than happy to help you learn the game. 

Thank you so much for this heads up! I did get the lower offer of $200 off $500 on my card. 

On 9/20/2021 at 1:36 PM, fa-li said:

I'm curious if there's a target date for full capacity cruises to resume?  Do we think by spring it will be like old times?  Or are they taking it more slowly?

I am sure there is a lot of accounting behind some of the capacities. I do think they are going to increase capacities slowly because RCI would not want a high number of cases on board as it would discourage future cruisers. I also do think that there is lower demands and some travelers I know are still waiting for there to be consistent protocols before they book a cruise. Unfortunately with the times we live in its hard for RCI not change or adapt their protocols with what is going on. I have not been on any reduced capacity cruises yet, but I have heard its been great. 

Unfortunately it really depends on how quickly they can process things at the passport office. I recently renewed my passport but am sailing out in november. I was told that they do try to take into account your travel date if you put one on your renewal. 

My suggestion would be as a backup I did if there was a way to travel without a passport. I was told by RCI that cruises leaving from the US and returning to the US I could come on board with an Enhanced Driver's Licence and Birth Certificate. I was also told that you can travel with your trusted traveler ID card from Global Entry Sentri Nexus or FAST.