sk8erguy1978

14 hours ago, Ogilthorpe said:

while I relaxed with a cocktail wearing my shorts enjoying the ambiance

Sailed to Bermuda in May once, it was a bit chilly, I insisted on wearing shorts and flip-flops. Everyone thought I was crazy. LOL

Also upstate NY resident. I've sailed NYC in January nearly froze my wife out of the room (had to be on balcony for sail away and left door open).

We have sailed out of Bayonne in late March to Caribbean on Explorer, wasn't too bad especially by the second day.

We have sailed on Anthem to Bermuda 3 times. Don't have a blog or any public pictures, but she's a great ship with tons to offer. I'm obsessed with the solarium! You will not be disappointed.

My vote is for Allue as well. Never sailed her and love Oasis Class ships, as mentioned better suite perks, I love St. Thomas and never been to Puerto Plata.

Although, the Explorer itinerary is something I'd be interested in too.

I've been trying various refreshing drinks to feel like I'm on the pool deck.

I agree with @Lovetocruise2002, this is definitely a personal decision; in your shoes if I thought the price would never get that low again and a WOW REALLY (like the 40% drink packages) I'd get it... Otherwise, I'd wait until ships start to sail again.

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

Yeah, thanks for reminding me I could do the same! It's island time, baby!

4 hours ago, bossdog421 said:

Well I tried to stay positive but Corona has taken this cruise.

Sorry, know how much you were looking forward to it. We moved to next year after the CLIA announcement.

Good luck on your hail mary L&S! 

Diet: ugh, it's all of us struggling. I have to realize, I'll be remote for the foreseeable future. As @SteveinSC mentioned, it's time for me to get a routine, up my workouts (I am doing a little from home gyms still closed), and put away the alcohol during the week.

11 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

...like build a pool, hot tub

We talked about a pool this year hot tub last year. Think we will go pool but next year. By the time it's up and running, summer will be over in NY.

13 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Now I just need a Genie, oh wait, that's me, I'm the home Genie lol.

Same... And this Genie is making some Margarita's tonight!

4 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said:

Don't get me started on United Airlines.  I cancelled our flights back in April along with our cruise.  United made absolutely no effort to refund anything.  They simply directed me to their website to request a refund.  In order to request a refund "I had to cancel the flight first" and then request the refund.  The very instant that I cancelled a future flight credit was generated.  Then the refund request was denied because they claimed that I cancelled the flight.  I could somewhat understand except they were making daily changes to my flight that resulted in five connecting flights and tripling the time to reach my destination. United maintained there wasn't a "significant disruption" to my original itinerary even though some connections were impossible and one segment was cancelled. 

I'm in the final stages of a credit card dispute and it seems certain my temporary credit will be finalized soon and I will have a full refund.  It took awhile but RC made everything right 2 months ago.  Given all the complaints about RC, I can only say the United makes RC look good.

Yep. Originally things were denied. Mine was an uphill battle but honestly, not all that horrible. I had to lay everything out for them purchase by purchase, and submit a statement via some refund link. The status page made it seem like things were being denied too, but I just sat and waited for emails with every intention of disputing it with my CC. I was okay with the credit and received that quickly, problem was I had a bunch of paid upgrades and United just shrugged their shoulders "non-refundable." I had $793.00 dollars in paid upgrades vs the $376.80 base fare as my credit. I was going down swinging.

I could type a book of the chain of events but it was a mess to start because I was fighting for Premium Economy refunds after jumping on a First Class upgrade deal ... THEN we decided to cancel. In the end all the money went back to my credit card less that United credit.

6 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

It's not just Royal Caribbean who has been slow with refunds.

Yup! Took an act of congress to get my added upgrades with United Airlines refunded. Finally got the last $11.20 USD for two "September 11th Security Fee" for a two tickets booked with miles. I cancelled those flights back in late April.

I did cancel some cruise planner purchases on June 6th and June 20th and received those refunds around the end of June.

1. Due to hurricane Jerry last year we didn't stay an extra day in Bermuda. While upsetting, we had a few friends on board so the extra sea day was a great way to relax with them and enjoy our drink package.

2. Sign me up for e-muster if true!

Sorry about the cruise!

It was a few days before final payment of my September cruise that I knew we would cancel, especially since the extension to September announcement just happened. We also had a December cruise we knew we wanted to cancel as it was supposed to be a friends trip but everyone was having trouble making it.

I considered making final payment on September until Royal official cancelled (assuming we aren't sailing in September at all) but once my agent told me about the cancellation policy following you with a L&S that was enough to make my move on both cruises.

Cancelled September, moved December to September. I wasn't keeping the same stateroom category (upgrading) so no price to protect with L&S.

Another note. Do some basic math before deciding to wait and hope on a 125% FCC. Our friend taking the same September sailing considered waiting for Royal to cancel on them... We looked up the price and it was ... about ... 125% more. So, instead they L&S to protect their price & did it before final payment to not get locked into the cancellation policy if Royal does happen to sail mid September and they L&S.

Lots to do in Bermuda. If they enjoy a day at the beach check out Horseshoe Bay, busses are a few steps away that are dedicated to beach runs.

The crystal caves are neat, I enjoyed that. Also I hear great things about the Aquarium, Museum and zoo.

Freedom it's been a few years, but LOTS to do onboard, she's a great ship. Make sure to sign them up for Adventure Ocean. 

Here are a few blog posts from @Matt:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/adventure-ocean

40 minutes ago, USCG Teacher said:

I've been fortunate enough to take a few through Europe, but I've never done Amtrak or Via.  I hope to correct that discrepancy sooner rather than later.  Having a son who is into trains will probably help to push the timeline along!

I did look into Amtrak from NY to FL vs airfare for a cruise. The price was a bit much so we passed. I'd be more into it than my wife anyway. Someday I'll do something.

34 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

My dream train journey 

https://www.rockymountaineer.com/train-routes/first-passage-west

That looks neat!

1 hour ago, USCG Teacher said:

This is my #2 U.S. bucket list trip, preceded only by taking Coast Starlight from LA to Seattle in a sleeper car, then driving back along the PCH.  Route 1 through the Keys looks like an amazing once in a lifetime type of trip.

I'd love to do any train sleeper anywhere!

1 hour ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I really don't want to drive all of the way down there one day!

That's actually on my bucket list. Fly into FLL or MIA and drive the rest of the way. I'd probably fly back from Key West vs drive back.

I tip on top of the included 18%. An extra $5 every few drinks or even a dollar every drink (or even every other) goes a long way and well deserved.

The dealers who take all my money. I always seem to sit at a broken slot machine too, I put money in but none comes out.

12 hours ago, crisgold52 said:

Travelguard at this time nor will ANY carrier insure against Covid-19 which is a known event. So on a ship if one comes down with Covid-19 the medical portion of that plan will NOT cover it. As a Canadian its making me think twice now as with our travel advisories in place, a lot of these insurance carriers don't want to assume risk by insuring covid and especially not when our Federal Government also recommends against no travel on cruise ships for the forseeable future. So I guess if the stars align and I do sail on my three nighter in November... I will be assuming risk without insurance covering covid-19.

8 hours ago, crisgold52 said:

Lucky. Are you in the US? I have no idea how US policies are underwritten  but here in Canada as long as the travel advisory is in place then all medical claims pertaining to covid 19 are not covered and its explicitly stated now in most policies if not all here in Canada. The only grey area that one could argue is IF they purchased their insurance before Mar 14 2020 as its insured assuming policy was issued prior to that date

https://www.travelguard.com/covid19notification

https://www.travelguardworldwide.com/covid19noticeCA

Paragraph one sorta says no, paragraph two says yes. These are the times to read the boring lawyer speak deep into the terms and conditions and not just bullets & notices. Hopefully, by September 2021 (next cruise) there will be some sort of vaccine &/or treatment and these sort of concerns will behind us.

3 hours ago, stevendom57 said:

Another issue that I have run into regarding pre-existing conditions. Many of the policies say that that you must purchase the insurance within 15 days for there to be a waiver for pre-existing conditions. The problem is, very few of them allow me to purchase 600 days in advance. And the ones that are available now are pretty expensive. So it's a Catch-22, buy early if you want the waiver but there aren't any (or many) to buy.

I looked for my September 2021 sailing and Travel Guard stops at July 2021.

4 hours ago, teddy said:

We never gave trip insurance a thought until January of this year when we saw someone evacuated out of Labadee on a medical helicopter.

I only have 1 image from when I first got into photography with an old PowerShot S1 IS that came out with too much noise to share, BUT our second cruise, first ever Royal Caribbean, the United States Coast Guard evacuated someone from our ship while we were in route to Bermuda. Believe it or not, it still took a few years before I embraced Travel Insurance, I mean I have health coverage from work, I'm good, right? (<-- I know better now :)).

53 minutes ago, Matt said:

Be sure that whatever policy you buy covers the scenarios you have in mind.

I second, third, and forth this! It's boring but skim the policy ... at a bare minimum go over the bullets and click any indicators (foot note things) of "who/what/where/when/why" something is covered that you want/need to understand it fully.

With that, I use travelguard.com for cruises, while my Sapphire Reserve does provide some protection, I don't always pay with that card and I get peace of mind from a full policy.

I normally wait until after final payment before buying a policy, Travel Guard doesn't seem to have any benefit to buying before I am "all in" on the trip.

2 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

How can I convince my TA to get me to a different ship?

I called Royal and they said your understanding of the policy is incorrect... Then continue the bluff with @WAAAYTOOO's suggestion.

18 hours ago, marti314 said:

If you are sitting there at the bar drinking quickly they wont question you except for if you get out of control.

2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

They'll want you to finish the first drink.

Yep, I've witnessed first hand. Friend orders drink, friend gets drink, friend asks bartender what someone else ordered as it looked good, bartender advised, friend requested, friend denied due to just being handed a drink, friend chugged drink at bar, friend then ordered other drink, bartender provided with a smile. That entire exchange was about 30 seconds.

However, exceptions have been made if a bartender or cocktail server trusts you (and you take care of them) as @CruisinForABruisin implied. I've had the guy coming around with rum punches hand me one as the cocktail service was coming back with my drink. He almost insisted I take it :). Also on my last cruise in the music hall I took care of the cocktail servers and they took care of me, no questions asked just kept the drinks flowing.