CrznTxn

My wife always brings her own hair dryer and curling iron and straighteners are allowed. I know of no restriction to bringing more than one of each.

We hope they do not change the Cozumel date or cancel the shore excursion there when they change the other two ports. We booked a great priced excursion the end of last year there as well as Grand Cayman and Jamaica and do not want to lose that one knowing we will lose the other two.

This is also a shrewd business decision. If they delay the date from when folks cancel out due to COVID numbers, uneasy feelings, etc. then they get to keep the money and the reservations on their books longer. Makes the bottom line look better. In the pre-COVID days they had folks lined up to take those cancelled rooms, today not so much. Not saying good or bad, just a good business decision at the moment as well as good for the customer. When they finally get back to full capacity I anticipate the final payment time will move out again.

Yep, picked a couple of those up for our last cruise. You have to take the card and passport out to show any official but it keeps them together and pristine.

Wish they would let us know. We have the October 31 Liberty cruise that is going to Grand Cayman and Jamaica. Know Grand Cayman is closed and would be nice to know where we are going although it would be fine to go the Roatan and Costa Maya. Cannot wait to get back on Liberty.

It's funny because on the Blog it shows U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is going to introduce the bill in the Senate. Maybe pushing on both houses of Congress will get it passed. She did not mention that it would be just for native lands or tribes just for Alaska.

The App and the website are not synchronized to each other. The app allows uploading or taking pictures of your documents such as your vaccination card while the website does not seem to give that option. IMO they have updated the app during the COVID slowdown but not so much the website. That being said, on our recent check-in I could reserve the early time on the website and then went and uploaded the documents on the app. The option to add documents did not show on the website. As @AshleyDillo stated, check-in and snag that early spot and fill the rest out later. The time will remain for you unless you change it.

"Should" be acceptable. Personally I would not want to take the chance of getting to the pier and being denied because the Royal instructions state that it must be an original card and you have a 8 1/2 x 11 printout of vaccinations from your Health Department. See if the vaccination facility you received your shots from will give you a new card. My wife and I received our 3rd shots a couple of weeks ago (we take no chances) and her card did not have a spot for the booster while mine did even though we had them given at the same facility but a week apart. They filled her out a new card with all the information on the front so it would be in one place. We did keep the original card though.

We have never had luck with a Casino Upgrade price reduction. In fact the upgrade price they usually quote is higher than if we had booked the cruise without going through the casino. So the only upgrade we have gotten on the cheap is by Royal Up.

No to the Key especially right now. The perks would be fine if the ship was full and you wanted to get in the front of the line and the other few perks it gives but personally I would not get it even on a full one. Just not worth it IMHO. Our last cruise there was no waiting for anything and the reserved seating was actually off to the side for the shows which to me makes it worthless.

Our friend who is going to Alaska with us in two weeks submitted hers 5 weeks ago and was sweating bullets that she would not get it on time. Didn't really need it since technically we never are out of the US but to be safe we had her get it. Received word that the check was cashed last Friday and it arrived Tuesday. Big sigh of relief and maybe they are beginning to catch up. FYI she forgot to expedite it thus the panic.

I will say I like the reduced capacity at the moment as I can do many more things than in the past with hardly if any wait. The Flow Rider line was 15 minutes, there was no wait for the water slides or rock climbing wall and did not feel I had to hurry when playing miniature golf to keep out of the way. We also in the past have almost strictly dined at Windjammers or one of the specialty restaurants after a bad experience with one of the waiters in the main dining room. We were not really looking forward to this. This time the experience was fantastic and did not mind the evenings we visited there. Even though we were "My Time" diners, we seemed to be there about the same time each day and the host recognized us and sat us in the same area each night with a wonderful set of waiters (also helps she was one of the Washy Washy ladies at the Windjammer in the mornings). All that said, I would like to see more guests on the ship as the "crowd" entertainment was less attended so the vibe was a little more subdued than usual. We are not the party animal types in any way and the last "C" line ship we sailed on swore us off that line forever but it would be nice to have a little more life and people at the various theme parties. Looking forward to our upcoming voyages as the numbers slowly increase and enjoying the quiet times at the moment.

This is the link to the FDA letter that was given to Abbott Labs about extending their BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card which covers those part numbers. They are not specifically mentioned but covers all. This is the specific name that is on the test kit. http://fda.gov/media/147409/download

Early Walk off is where you carry your bags off the ship and not leave them out in the hallway the night before for deposit at the port. Generally you are off before everyone except high tier folks who want off early.

They give you a time to disembark. You go wait in your room by a certain time and they call your disembarkation group when it is time to leave. You can request early walk off.

The scanners are a great addition. Glad to see they added them to Galveston. We saw these for the first time in the Bahamas and as you said they were very quick. Almost did not even come to a stop going through.

(My apologies to The Night before Christmas) The lights sparkled and danced as we strolled down deck four, wondering as we went if there might be some more. With Ma in her flip flops and I in my shades, we stopped off at Boleros to get some drinks made. When out of the shrubs along the rail should appear, but a bright yellow duck that definitely did not belong here. With great care of the fowl it was plucked with delight, when something occurred that gave us a fright. The duck jumped around like it was sitting on springs, and dove over the rail like it just sprouted wings. To say we were dismayed you would not be wrong, as the path down below was away and quite long. The duck bounced along and came to a rest, when out of the blue a crewman did what's best. He snatched the fowl up and gave it a toss, back up to us smartly to remedy our loss. With a smile and a wave he disappeared from sight, and said to us both you have a good night. With a sigh of relief and a smile on our face, we quickly placed the duck in another hiding place. (Actual event on Adventure)

We sailed on Adventure in mid August and minimum bid on a Jr Suite from our balcony. We won that bid to our surprise and really enjoyed the extra room although after the cruise we sat down and looked at the time we spent in the room and figured a balcony is fine for the both of us as we are really light travelers and spend almost no time in the room. It cost us $300 total and determined that we could have better spent the money on other things more worthwhile. (We spent $300 on the balcony but we only spent $258 onboard during the whole trip) We may be in the minority on the cabin size but for us the adventure is about the sailing and the many things to do onboard and on shore and not time sitting in our room. The only nice thing I liked was the coffee maker (not really a coffee maker but espresso maker) but I could live without that for the money we would save. And for a final, the balcony on our upcoming Ovation sailing has a coffee maker in it already.

We have 8 cruises booked with 5 in the next 5 months. Vaccinated early and boostered this week (is that even a word?). Purchased enough Binax tests to cover us and a year's insurance policy. Why, BECAUSE I AM GOING CRUISING AND NO CDC CRAP IS GOING TO STOP ME! Started last month with Adventure and going to enjoy ourselves from our year and a half stoppage of vacations. The ships and folks aboard are cleaner and nicer than what we visit weekly and a whole lot less crowded. Only 3 more weeks till the next one.

The second half of your two week cruise (October 31) is to the Cayman Islands which will not reopen for cruise ships until late January 2022. We are on that cruise and have been waiting for the itinerary change as we have all our excursions booked. This particular change though looks like the tour operator is cancelling as they are suggesting a different excursion in Cozumel.

Couple the additional vaccination/testing restrictions, school starting and a short cruise I expect the numbers to be low at the moment. We have an upcoming cruise later this month and I expect that it will also have a smaller number aboard. Not a problem for us but it is certainly more interesting to people watch when there is a larger number of people aboard as your chances of seeing that "odd" character goes up.

Everyone must arrive at their scheduled time. Only Pinnacle members have a slight leeway in their boarding time (I believe an hour each side of their time). All others must adhere to their schedule.

Spend more time in the Solarium loungers by the pool. Was able to get in the Solarium hot tub this last trip which in the past was overcrowded but was running around too much to enjoy the pool loungers. Great place to sit back and enjoy a good old fashion book.

We use these for our badge holder at work. They are heavy duty and take the snap attachment on the lanyard or the regular snap hook. Easy to slide the card in and out with the thumb slot in the back. Used to (at least in Galveston) the vendors who sold lanyards before we boarded had slot hole punches so you did not need a holder.

If you have two rooms with two in one and one in the other someone is going to have to pay for a second person or solo rate in the single person room. Might talk to Royal about consolidating into one room if you have only three cruisers. With them trying to move everyone to a balcony or higher on the ships you may get a good deal.