Shari3

It is truly shocking to me when people are willing to speak about people in such insensitive and cruel ways (and those who choose to pile on).  No one is your families have a disability, illness, or difference so that you could manage the smallest bit of humanity or at least the sense to realize just how horrible you look to others when you prove you have none? People who say such things are far more disgusting to me than the people they complain about.
 

6 tests over 3 states & 4 households all negative!! Harmony here we come😁

Just found out that our interior got upgraded to a balcony!! This will be my 4th cruise and first one NOT in an interior! 😁 Have to share here because I am keeping it a secret from my teens. Their 2nd cruise and they really wanted a balcony but we talked them into accepting an interior because we won't be in the room much anyway. So they'll be over the moon!

I am booked for 6/23 on Liberty that has this port as well as La Romana.  Looking foward to seeing what others experiences are.  Exciting new ports for sure!

I am going on Celebrity in a couple weeks.  There are about 17 or 18 excursion options right now (For reference, only 12 or 13 in Nassau, so relatively more in Puerto Plata).  They have several that have animal experience/shows at a marine park.  There are hiking/waterfalls/jeep expeditions in various combos.  There is an excursion to boat out to a sandbar which is set up like a beach club.  There is kayaking through a manatee reserve and a few others as well.
As for the port itself, it is still a work in progress I think.

No, but another question, does anyone check their app 50+ times a day hoping for a new cabin number? 😂 Guilty...

I am not a huge fan of the CK.  I love it for the convenience (especially for breakfast) and there are a couple of menus that we like but for the most part, I can take it or leave it.  The location, convenience, views and slower pace (usually) are the big pluses for the CK.  The food itself is marginal (IMO).

Ooohhhh nice find. I tried doing a mock booking but it wouldn't me get past clicking on the cruise. Got the "Oopps something went wrong" message. Looks promising.

Liberty of the Seas from Cape Liberty NJ August 2023!

Liberty of the Seas from Cape Liberty NJ August 2023!

Liberty of the Seas from Cape Liberty NJ August 2023!

I'm not ok with allowing smoking in the casinos again!

Yawn indeed.
There's going to be variants. Lots of them. That's the nature of this type of virus.
We, as a society, need to stop be so hyper focused on every single one, especially with the prevalence of vaccines and effective treatments.

I never used the form since I think my MEI TA was assigned to me when I did a blog group cruise.
Pinging @Beci @Sharla @michelle @Jacki_MEI since I know they frequent these boards. 

It's not the virus itself that has a hold on the psyche of the population because we have lived with disease and viruses our whole lives. It's the over reaction of those in charge of us that has us scared and talking nothing but Covid19 as if it has the death rate of Ebola - it doesn't even come close.
As this is a cruise site, and I'm sure this thread will get locked soon enough, I'll keep the rest of my opinions on those in charge of the Covid response to myself.

Book early and have a MEI TA watch for price reduction. I've had a few happy emails saying my cruise went down. But booking early seems the best. We booked a cruise star class for 2023 as soon as it came out. Last checked and the same suite is $9,000 more!! 

@Baked Alaska follow your heart. Make a choice to enjoy what you can and roll with everything else. Going in knowing you may not be able to visit ports, or secure certain reservations as well as shows being canceled during this time but making the best of the rest.....go duck hunting! 
It is crowded, the staff is telling us they are at 100% of every cabin available to be sold that Royal Corporate said just for the Holidays, I love people who say no 75% who aren't on the ship right now, so be prepared, it's packed. 
If you can deal with this don't cry, turn that frown upside down and make it a different type of sailing, we are doing more room service and cabin balcony time.....knowing all this ahead of time will make it more palatable. I wish you a Merry Christmas! Celebrate the positives, who knows maybe you will make some new memories you would want to repeat even after this is all over. 

I think this is all a bit overblown. All they are doing is adding a few extra rooms where you have to wear your mask INDOORS. One is in a dark theatre, the other is in a smoky casino.  So avoid the casino and sneak a few deep breaths with your mask down while people are watching the show. 
When your job changes the rules, do you also throw a fit? Probably not if you want to keep your job. This is no different. 
I think Royal has been the most understanding and accommodating organization in regards to their customers needs and wants...giving back money, giving you incentives to stay. I mean come on. 
Change is going to happen!! (it's always Last Minute to someone)
And if there is a medical reason you or your loved one can't wear a mask all the time, then get a medical exception. 
Much ado about nothing. 🙄

There’s a very old joke about a prostitute that I won’t repeat here.  But the bottom line is this was a HUGE problem until Royal threw enough money at you?  So how big was the problem really?

Holy cow, only 13 nights for me.  Unfortunately I have a job that gets in the way of my cruising desires!!  Hoping the promise of the Nigerian prince comes through and I can retire and cruise more than 13 nights a year. 😄

This might help
 

We were in Giovanni's on lobster night and lobsters showed up at our table without us even asking for them, lol.

Hello All 
I wanted to just share my experience as my just returned the Anthem OTS sailing from Bayonne with a multi generational family group with one family member in a wheel chair and unvaccinated kids. 
The first thing I suggest is even if you have a set embarkation time is give yourself 30 minutes to an hour leeway. This is really for unplanned things that occur on any family trip (eg grandparents or kids needing to stop to use the restroom etc). To build upon this if you have unvaccinated kids build in at least 45 minutes as test results will not come out for about 30-45 minutes. You will not be allowed to board till the kiddos test negative. Plan on bringing a snack or drinks in your carry on.  I saw many hangry children including my own as the Bayonne cruise terminal only had a single snack machine available.  Also be aware that as you are waiting for your test results, you will need to be escorted to the restroom if you need to use it as the only restrooms available are in the general embarkation area.  Another thing I saw many parents complain about is that the service inside cruise terminal maybe spotty. I have T-moblie and I was not able to get cell phone service where I was sitting. This was a issue because my kids test results are sent via text msg and email. Luckily I was able to walk around the waiting area, found a spot with good reception forwarded the results to my wife who had another carrier with better reception.  I saw other families distraught as some had to repeat testing as the first set of results were invalid meaning they had to wait even longer to board the ship. Also keep in mind that only parents are allowed to wait with their children in the waiting area. So those traveling in a larger group should have grandparents or other travelers without kids get on board first. My embarkation time was at 1pm. I got to the terminal around 12:30 unloaded and parked. I waiting in the testing line with the kids from about 12:45 till they were finally tested at around 2 ish. We got test results in about an hour later and boarded little after 3pm. I would say that if you want to board at your embarkation time to plan for at least 1 to 2 hours of waiting around. 
The second thing I noticed on board is to plan a head as much as you can. I know this is annoying as you want to just be able to not plan when you are on vacation, but if you wanted to participate in the activities that require a reservation, plan it out as early as possible. My older one wanted to do the complimentary Ifly. However by the time I got on board and got the app working, every complimentary ifly was booked. I think next time I may try to get those that went on board first to try and book for my kids. Reservations right now for shows and activities are must. I did not mind going through the app to make reservations, but I don't think the app was designed in the most user friendly manner and there were many glitches with the app while I was on board. There were also some times onboard where I made a reservation for the whole party as all the staterooms were linked but there were other times where I could not make a reservation for some members of the party. Also I would state for parents with unvaccinated children that you maybe asked to split your part as the unvaccinated area became full. This occurred a few times on my cruise so I sent some vaccinated members of the party down to the lower level of the royal theater and stayed with the kids upstairs. I think if the app was better equipped i.e stating how many guests are vaccinated/unvaccinated, perhaps RCL could done a better job of ensuring that if you had a reservation that you could enter the show. I did see some very angry family as they were turned away even though they did have a reservation for the showtime due to capacity and seating. Maybe what they need to is actually have the ability to pick seats in the app itself and have assigned seating.  
Another takeaway came from the perspective of my disabled family member who travelled in his electric wheelchair. Overall there were always wheelchair spots available and accessibility with in the ship was never a problem. Also having the accessible stateroom allowed him plenty of space to maneuver his wheelchair around the room. The only times where accessibility was a small issue was during my time dining for breakfast at the main dining room. The tables that were available for the large party where more towards the interior of the MDR which was alittle annoying as the wheelchair did have a hard time getting to the table we were given for breakfast. But almost all the time the waiters helped moved chairs and even tables out of the way to ensure a clear path to where we were sitting. 
 
Overall this was another great cruise that was fun for my multigenerational family. I think with all the things I observed I will have a different approach the next time I sail out of Bayonne. I am already planning an even larger family trip on the Oasis. I hope this helps out parents and others on future sailings. 
 
 

FINALLY!!  The PROOF that this is RCI.  😂

You are going to get many responses here because people (including myself) are passionate about deck 17 and the loft suites. IMHO this is prime time the best location on the ship with both the suite lounge and the coastal kitchen in very close proximity. The CLS are mostly sky class with the expection being the star loft suite and the royal loft (there might be more).