sk8erguy1978

Glad you're feeling better! Good to hear you're off pain meds quickly. 

19 hours ago, JLMoran said:

And why the heck is there suddenly a page about the merits of robovacs in the middle of my live blog?!?

That's what happens when you leave us unattended. LOL

20 minutes ago, twangster said:

Yeah but when I was married I would often receive tools as gifts.  One could argue that is basically like saying "Get off your lazy backside and fix something!".

Yep I've received tools too. One little set of small sockets and various bits I use frequently to tighten whatever or put whatever together.

Joking aside, I still buy things to make her life, heck our life easier, I just try to not wait until Christmas or whatever. Figure something like a Roomba is for both of us since I do actually help vacuum. Working from home through this pandemic has made that a bit easier. Don't get me wrong, I'd love tools, a grill, or anything else deemed "manly" as a gift. I'd just rather buy cleaning stuff she requests on a random April afternoon then her bday lol.

4 hours ago, JLMoran said:

Ours is a Eufy model.

I'll have to check them out. 

2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

 I want the Roomba...Hubby did not get the message for Christmas or Valentine's Day lol

Even something like a Roomba I refuse to buy as a gift, I look at it like "here go clean" LOL.

My wife also doesn't find my comments about how I outsourced her vacuuming duties.

Further, to her the robo vacuum is only good for "touch ups" but still need to vacuum weekly with the Dyson (she's a bit OCD / obsessed with mess). When she'll say something like "I have to vacuum" she doesn't laugh when I offer to help and press start on ROB. 

First seeing this thread. Glad the surgery went well and you're feeling better. 

Our vac is called ROB after the NES robot from the 80s. Never had one but always wanted one ... Like the power glove ... Always wanted that too! Anyway it's always getting stuck and lost. It's a Shark and replaced a Roomba. We will be going back to Roomba for sure.

3 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

I right click on the blue dots next to each thread I'm interested in reading and choose "open in a new tab" which opens all those threads to their first unread post.

Have you tried "middle click" (aka mouse wheel)? Unless you have a magic mouse or MAC in general, then you'll need a third party application, or command + click.

For the points @twangster and @Lovetocruise2002 have stated there is no way I'm sharing a cabin with two adults. I don't care if it's family, life long friends or a stranger at the pier - especially if I'm sailing with my wife. I'm also at the point in my life where I don't want to share a hotel room for a "guys weekend." Maybe I'll share a room for an overnight with a buddy with two beds, but that's it.

I also think the points they made about the pullout sofa & privacy are excellent and should be given serious thought. There isn't going to be another room available if things aren't what they seem.

24 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

The other thing to consider is how you would choose who gets the upstairs and who gets the pull out sofa?  Would that cause hard feelings?  Will you adjust the pay so that the people staying downstairs pay a bit less?  These are also things to consider if you are going to take that GLS.

Did a little suite in Vegas for a guys weekend, two queen beds and a pullout couch. The guy who ended up on the pullout didn't have to pay for the hotel room. He picked up a meal tab as a thank you. That was also the point when I realized I'm over room sharing. 3 adult men with 3 very different hotel habits (sleeping, neatness, etc) just getting too old for it.

23 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Health Screening, Illness Surveillance and Health Education

• All guests and crew will be required to test negative for COVID-19 prior to embarkation

You can test positive for months after COVID-19 infection. I wonder if they'll allow something like a doctor's note saying you're fine or you're just SOL. Tests are a must, just would be nice to know about certain circumstances.

18 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

Since I am sitting home instead of sailing on our 11 night cruise that was originally scheduled for RIGHT NOW, I will double down on my first statement.

Worst feeling in the world. I remember being in a virtual department meeting this past September thinking... I'm supposed to be on CoCo Cay right now. FORK ME! lol.

Don't think we've ever interacted but welcome back! We are booked for September which is basically a coin flip at this point.

If that's cancelled but other things are a go in Q3 or Q4 as some are predicting, might book last minute-ish, just need a little heads up for wife's job (nurse so cannot just take off last minute).

Fingers crossed!

We hope to travel to Clearwater or something in late March. Wife will have vaccine by then, I probably will not but worth the risk (we both survived COVID already, she got it volunteering as an EMT day after Xmas and passed it to me, minor-ish symptoms)... Wife needs a trip, she's been working through all this, whether volunteering as an EMT or her day job as an RN, scare after scare after scare after outbreak after outbreak ... You get the idea ... She needs a few days in the sun... STAT. 

We might do a NJ Shore or Ocean City MD over the summer. Also a trip to NY Adirondacks where wife and her family own a few small cabins...

Gotta make some sorta back up plans ... And I'm grateful to have the means to do so.

Royal Caribbean? Nope. I might say something like "Anthem AGAIN" but in reality I'm only sad to not try another great ship and still LOVE Anthem. (Or whatever ship I've sailed on repeatedly).

NCL however, the Gem we are good to never sail that or any of their older ships. Smaller size, weird layout, ugly decor, etc. Their newer ships have our attention, but no immediate plans to book with them.

6 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I don't see any down side to L&S'ing your cruise into 2022....just be aware that they are only allowing "optional" L&S through 4-30-22.  The latest rule for L&S seems to be that you can only L&S your cruise past 4-30-22 if Royal cancels.  IOW I'm not sure they would allow you to optionally L&S your cruise past April.  If you make final payment and Royal then cancels your cruise, I believe they will allow you to L&S past May 1 but they are now only allowing 1 week on either side of your original sail date vs the 4 weeks that they previously allowed.  They are definitely tightening up the L&S rules.

I cannot speak for everyone who might shift 2021 to 2022 but the cost alone for my Sep 21 sailing vs Sep 22 is about $2200 more last time I looked. The 25% extra if they cancel doesn't cover the difference in price, I'll be L&S for sure. Back in June of 2020 I shifted my December 2020 cruise to September 2021 and cancelled my September 2020 cruise. A few days later I upgraded the shifted Jr. Suite to a Grand Suite, decent price I thought at about $4400. (That's how loose the rules were -- or my agent that good -- either way :)). 

5 hours ago, SymphonyNoob said:

Thank you for explaining that. I didn’t realize they tightened the time frame for the lift and shift. We have been exploring our options. We are currently on the Symphony May 8 cruise out of Miami and we don’t think it will sail. We also still owe 1300 or 1400 that will be due in February.  Also we are not sure when Royal will make the cancellation before or after final payment for us. 

Depends when in February. Price out next May's cruise and see if it's that different in price, maybe like me, a L&S would be the obvious choice. Of course if you want to go in May if it sails, you're committed to paying anyway. I have until July before payment and if things are still this vague in July, oy vey!

I'm fine with most of it.

Tracelets - what do they consider close contact? I'm assuming a lot more strict than what CDC considers. Could it be as strict as, was in same restaurant? Yikes! My vacation ruined for basically a non exposure. I understand why, but being quarantined to cabin is still a big fear of mine.

Can only drink at the bar? That is a game changer for me. I'm big on enjoying my drink package on the pool deck or upper pool deck. I don't want to sit at the pool bar, where the seating is already limited... Imagine if that's the only place to enjoy the drink!

We've only brought a bottle or two of my wife's favorite sangria a few times.

I have a friend in years past put non-alcoholic drinks in a duffle bag and hand it off to the porter. This was years ago, maybe 5, no idea if it'll still work. I suppose as written above, that does go against the rules. 

2 hours ago, loki007 said:

Just bring a plastic water bottle. There are lots of places to refill for free or better yet buy the drink package and get all the bottled water you can drink...amongst other fine cocktails 

Before the drink package days we'd bring refillable bottles, worked out great.

This probably doesn't need to be said, but we used the cups provided at the water stations to transfer the water to bottle. We never filled directly to be sanitary and courteous.

3 hours ago, whitsmom said:

I was talking about the article as I didn't read the FAQ yet.  My mother had no issues except for being sore at the injection site (the needle was a longer one that normal) for a day.  The vaccine goes into the muscle is why the needle was longer is what we were told.

So here is a question:  we have a New England/Canada cruise for October 2021 and I have out flights booked already.  We are to fly home the afternoon that we disembark, so how would I get tested before unless the airport has rapid testing?  Looks like another layer of planning now....

Glad she's doing well. You were told correctly, my wife is a Nurse and just took a course on how to administer the vaccine, she'll be doing it part-time if our local Ambulance Squad is approved to receive doses. 

That is the million dollar question. If a test isn't available until after you disembark ... yikes ... a 7 day vacation just turned into a 10 at least.

10 hours ago, whitsmom said:

The article doesn't mention vaccination one way or the other.  I hope that will be amended soon since the vaccinations are starting now.  My Mother (90 yrs old) got her 1st one Monday and she already has an appointment for her 2nd one.  I'm in the over 60 group; however, I have no idea when that age group gets theirs.  Fingers crossed!

I quoted directly. As did @RWDW1204. It's not an article but CDC FAQ.

I hope your mom doesn't have any side effects from shot two, or you. 

Best of luck and fingers crossed.

15 hours ago, Linda R said:

My question is........If you have had the vaccine (that I have already rec'd) matter?  Mainly to be excluded from getting a negative Covid test?   Any thoughts?

Yes. You'll still need to provide a negative test.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html

Quote

What if I have had a COVID-19 vaccine?  Do I still need a negative COVID-19 test or documentation of recovery from COVID-19?

Yes, all air passengers traveling to the US, regardless of vaccination status, are required to present a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery.

32 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Ok, great that a lot of people got the same email. Am I reading too much into this by thinking maybe they know they aren't going to sail anytime soon or this year at all? I just got depressed typing that.

25 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I don’t think that you are. I took that to mean that they don’t think they will be sailing until fall...hopefully

I received the email as well. I agree, it means at least September to me, but that's my pessimistic side speaking.

I was very optimistic about September but not so much anymore. It's already a shifted cruise, hopefully we can shift again. The Grand Suite is just under 2k more for September 2022. 25% extra leaves me ~$700 short the difference.

If it did happen yesterday, it would be nice that they update:

Quote

As of May 6, 2020, our enhanced Cruise with Confidence program gives you even more flexibility.

Maybe they don't consider it an update to the CWC but it would get people to look closer and be a bit more transparent.  Also, a little history of the changes would be nice.

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

I am assuming constitutional lawyers advised Cuomo he can't ban travel from other states.  I'm not even sure the 14 day quarantine would hold up in court if challenged.  Only Congress can limit interstate travel and commerce.  No state can ban another state.  They can talk about it all they want but if they ever tried to close borders to any other state they'd be on the wrong side of the US constitution.  

The quarantine rule is something I'd love to see play out in court.  It is based on a presumption of guilt, that an individual is a threat when they haven't been proven to be a risk to anyone.  

Yep. Besides being handed the form at the airport (not sure if they are still doing that) there is no way for anyone to know you're visiting or you left and came back. "Must complete the form" but it's basically on the honor system, as is quarantining... And, still allows travel to & through NY state, as you mentioned. 

9 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

Wow ... I don't think there are any state to state restrictions here.  New York didn't care for it originally when other states were going to ban people from New York.  When things got under control in New York,  I think Cuomo in his infinite wisdom was going to ban 30 or so states from coming to New York.  As far as I know, everyone ditched that idea.  

NY has several travel restrictions and a form you're supposed to fill out. I believe (have not traveled outside of NY other than NJ) you're handed the form at the airport. Outside of that, I believe it's all voluntary with essential workers being exempt. 

https://forward.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory

1 hour ago, monctonguy said:

Realist....glass half empty kinda view here.

Much better to temper expectations moving forward than for people to have a unrealistic blind sense of optimism for something that probably wont happen...no?!

Technically, the glass is always full 50% air 50% water LOL :).

That was my attitude last March for last September. I kept saying it wasn't going to happen or we wouldn't want to sail early on. My pessimistic attitude allowed me to make a rational decision before locking in thousands of dollars interest free to Royal Caribbean. Now that we are cancelled until May, I was optimistic about September 2021, but I'm shifting back to my pessimistic attitude. I even started looking at what's available for 2022. Although, if they do sail in 2021, even if it's the winter, we might try and score a "last minute" deal on another sailing. 

49 minutes ago, Snowchaser said:

Now the bad part, another 467 days to wait.  But who is counting!

Ugh! We sort of* did a L&S September 2020 to September 2021 back in June 2020. Now it's finally ~252 days away. Fingers crossed it sails.

* We had two cruises booked that we wanted to "merge" to September 2021, September 2020 & December 2020. December was supposed to be a cruise with friends but no one was signing up (probably because of flying, hotels, etc). We also knew we wanted to upgrade September 2021 to a Jr. Suite (September 2020 was an OV Balcony - ended up going GS, but I digress). So, we cancelled September 2020 and received a FCC. December (since it was a Jr. Suite already) was "shifted" to September 2021. We upgraded to the GS shortly after, my poor agent :). 

I said all that because that's the power of a good travel agent. She worked all that magic that I probably would have had a ton of no's and bad advice from Royal's customer service.