CrznTxn

Yes, that is correct, 4 points per night stay. We have two suites booked later this year and are looking forward to them.

As 75% of our cruises have gone out of Galveston or Houston (when it was open) we were thrilled when Royal decided to build the new terminal in Galveston. Cannot wait to cruise out of there and have the amenities that they have in some of the other ports we have cruised from.

Less desirable location is a relative term. As long as I am on the ship there is no undesirable location.?

I think the negotiations with CDC as to how soon the crew will be @ 98% is ongoing for the cruise lines to announce firm sailing dates. The sooner the better for me. I'm not giving up hope for my July 4th cruise since the crew was in Miami yesterday getting their vaccines.?That gives a three week buffer from their 2nd shot 2 week waiting period and sailing date.

Carnival is supposed to start in August with 8 ships, 5 out of Florida and 3 out of Galveston according to the news report forwarded to my wife. IMG_4285.mov

Have Liberty in July. Hoping they can work out the logistics so we can go on the 4th. Watching the live feed from one of the YouTube Vlogs showing the two Carnival ships coming in now. Even though they are not RCCL it is a great day to see cruise ship arriving for the first time in over a year in port!

Will probably do one CoCo Cay excursion for the two day visit and just use the other day for recovery. Did notice that the Cozumel excursions are very limited compared to other ships and sailings.

We have one of those October 31 cruises and would hope if the magic date is November 1 that Royal would delay the cruise for one day to allow is to go and for them to gain revenue. However, I would not hold my breath.

We purchased Excursions for our cruises later this year at the end of last year and beginning of this year when the pricing was very low. In part I believe the low price was an enticement to lay down some money for RCCL to hold. Now we have booked one for August out of Nassau and am waiting for the pricing cycle to hit the lower side. Even that said, we have noticed that the bottom end cost for the excursions has crept upward which may be due to the possibility that we will get to cruise. We will see as we get closer to June and July if the pricing skyrockets up to make up for the closures this past year and a half.

The latest in chair hog prevention

Prices will fluctuate each week. This week the prices are high, next week they will drop. Lately they have not dropped as low as they were at the beginning of the year which considering cost of living and COVID is to be expected. Actually had a price drop on a shore excursion today after the sale ended which I then cancelled and rebooked. The price during the "sale" was higher. To mimic the others, keep track of what you want and don't stop looking. With the future Cruise Planner Credit you can cancel and rebook almost instantly.

The wife and I have standard backpacks that we carry during embarkation. It holds all our essential items for the first day and makes it easy to carry. For shore excursions, she carries the backpack and I have a dive bag that will hold all our my snorkel equipment, towels, towels clips, etc. One essential item is a giant industrial ziplock bag that we carry in each pack that we can place her backpack and towels in for the occasional rain shower, to keep out the sand and to hold the wet towels back to the ship.

Have one booked this year over Thanksgiving and probably will have one next year. We missed the West Coast sailings and were so glad to see them return. Airfare to the West Coast is almost as inexpensive and long as us driving down to Galveston from DFW so it is a no brainer for us.

I think it comes down to age and expectations. On earlier cruises we had ships with large common areas with extravagant art and decorations that was impressive and blew everyone away. As time went on the opulent "common" areas grew smaller, the ships grew bigger and decorations were replaced with wiz-bang features to attract the younger families such as @twangster mentioned water-slides, bumper cars, etc. It comes down to which ship and what crowd they attract. The various cruise lines within RCG and other providers have specific target features that attract the crowd they are trying to please. The decorum and features on a Celebrity ship are different than that on a Royal Caribbean, on a Silver Sea, etc. Not that any of these are bad, it is just what people look for when they are going on a cruise and whom they are expecting to interact with. I love the water features, thrills and fast paced attractions but my wife prefers the calm and art. I like large ships with lots to do and she prefers smaller intimate ships. I look forward to the latest and greatest and she likes classic. So we try to spread it around and experience as much as we can.

On our May cruise cancellation we were told there was no option to receive 125% Cruise Planner Credit and the money was returned on our credit card within two weeks. We received credit on two previous cancellations but the RCCL folks said it was not an option this time. Guess since they are looking to sail within the next several months they did not want to give away more of their money. Did notice the future shore excursions have gone up in price.

Have 3 with Royal and 1 with Princess this year and 1 with Royal and 1 with Princess early next year....so far. Since we have not had a vacation or day off since this pandemic started (blame the 24/7 work at home availability syndrome) the amount of days off keep adding on. My boss will start missing me when we finally get to sail.?

Back on the original topic, it is difficult to say when sailing will start again but there is good news on the horizon that folks thought would not happen (can we say government spokesperson) in that Texas will open their COVID-19 vaccinations to all ages starting next Monday. Also we have eclipsed the number of infected folks with the number of those vaccinated. May not be true in other places but the train is gaining momentum and the light is beginning to show at the end of the tunnel. We have a cruise set for July and am hoping with sailings starting in other countries the pressure will be to open up the US as well. Be that as it may, we also have cruises booked for September, October and November of this year and January of next year to make sure that we have a reserved date if it does reopen later.

Would love to sail out of the Bahamas but the airfare at the moment is the killer as our "low cost" provider suspended flights to Nassau in January and has not announced a restart date. We have five other cruises scheduled for this year and early next and the wife wants to wait to see how they are going before we commit to flying there. Not opposed to flying as we have other sailings scheduled for the coasts but the airfares there are reasonable. Guess we will wait until after the first rush is over.

One of the things that we have found in our state for our friends and loved ones that are not "age" eligible is the inoculation centers have "waste" lists each day where people did not show for their scheduled vaccinations for whatever reason. At a certain time, the center starts contacting those on the list to come in and receive their shot. This is irrespective of their age. You have to be able to arrive at the center within a short period or the center will go to the next on the list. This has allow less waste of the precious vaccine and gotten more people with shots in the arm. These lists are not widely published but if you look you can find them. Maybe more centers could be proactive like this and get even more people vaccinated.

We had two cruises cancelled last year that we took the 125% Cruise Planner Credit and moved it to two this year. We worked through the Casino Royale folks and they moved the credit to existing cruises we had booked already. Worked fine and hopefully we will not have to move it again as they are later in the year. May's cancellation we had to take back as a refund as the Casino person my wife talked to told her he could not give us the 125% and move it to another one of our cruises. Depends on who you talk to.

As an American who grew up overseas, I always had a passport. It was a requirement along with early day visas, limited entry/exit and such. When the wife and I were married she immediately got a passport and although it was rarely used (one trip to Europe) it was a mainstay in the household documentation. We even got our kids passports when they were little on the thought that they might eventually need one, which they did and were grateful we got them. When we were introduced to cruising it was no issue and we have renewed them every 10 years as it comes up. Surprise trips to Europe and down south of the border for work made trips easy. As others have stated, you need the passport if you are stranded at one of the stops and miss the ship. Had first hand view of this in Jamaica when we set sail and a couple came frantically running to the pier late. Everyone on board was waving to them as we left. Don't leave home and the ship without it.

I am not sure if the CDC was asking to review the technology for release to cruise or they were asking to share the technology for possible distribution to other carriers. I would make sure the technology is locked down tight before handing it over. Lot of money and innovation invested here. I can only hope that is was to release to possibly cruise and they are impressed with the technology.

We took each of our grand kids on a cruise when they turned 5. This was a rite of passage that they and their parents looked forward to as they approached that magic age. The reason for the single child at a time was so we could concentrate our attention on that particular one and not have to constantly move to track and entertain them all. Once we had taken all of them on their cruise we then took each of the families units separately on a cruise with us. Mom and Dad were responsible for the tracking of their kids and getting them in and out of Adventure Ocean but we did do total family events together such as the water features, shows, etc. We separated each family unit so there was not a conflict as to who got grand parents attention. Now each of our kids are planning their family vacations with cruises as well as trips to Disney, etc and each of the grand kids keep asking if we will be taking them one at a time again at an older age to repeat the great times they had when they were younger.

I will say the CDC here in the US did a good job on the documentation of the vaccinations. My "Covid-19 Passport" is now ready to go and have it clipped in my passport

These restrictions are like everything else in life. You have to stop at a red light, you might get lucky if you do not but eventually you will get tagged. Just because I have to obey traffic laws does not mean I refuse to drive my car because I do not like some of them. Will wearing a mask cause me to not enjoy the ocean breeze and sunshine, no. Will staying 6 feet away from a fellow passenger cause me to not enjoy the Dining hall, Windjammer, shows, getting a drink at the bar or simply walking the ship, no. And in the past I wish I was further than 6 feet from some of the fellow passengers. Will wearing a contact tracing bracelet cause me to not partake in a cruise, no. Just the chance that we can get out on the open deck and feel the sea breeze is more compelling than some minor, inconsequential items and restrictions that may be around for the next year. We are fortunate that where we are we are allowed to go out to eat, visit recreational areas and play sports (even for an old guy I still get out and play). There are restrictions like masks and distancing but it has not stopped us from continuing life. If requiring a vaccination (already done), wearing masks, taking tests (done several times) are a requirement to travel to a vacation especially a cruise so be it. Let the sailing begin and I for one will be one of the first in line.