Jax

We are staying here for 7 nights in December before we cruise over Christmas. It looks lovely, the suite we selected is newly renovated and the ocean front views, full kitchen and spa sealed the deal. Reviews are consistently very good but it’s nice to have a local include it! We are looking forward to our stay!

Oh I know, it’s one of the reasons we made the switch to Royal. Out of curiosity I checked on prices over Christmas 2023 and a 1 BR concierge class suite on Fantasy is $37150 USD or $50773 CAD Our star class ATS this Christmas is looking quite reasonable in comparison. Nuts….

I had no idea until recently how expensive park tickets had gotten. Friends just booked park tickets pre cruise in December and it was $3k with accommodations over and above that. What the heck…

Hi, I took a look and I don’t think a thread has been started for our upcoming Christmas cruise. Today was a big day for us; we made final payment! We usually cruise over Christmas due to hubby’s work schedule and our son’s school schedule and are looking forward to the relaxed cruise protocols and Canada travel mandates this year. Fingers crossed nothing changes. We are still relatively new to Royal so we try to explore new ships and staterooms. This year it’s Harmony in a 2 bedroom ATS. We have several other friends joining us (in their own staterooms) and are looking forward to making memories and having lots of laughs! We will be spending a fun week in Florida pre cruise.

@Rags1this may be the best genie surprise I have heard of! What an amazing night you will never forget. I needed more emojis.

We cruised last Christmas at the height of omicron and were able to fly, cruise, take land transportation and stay in hotels without getting sick. We try to keep our immune systems healthy by daily use of our at home steam shower and infrared sauna and we always book the thermal suite onboard to maintain access to these facilities. Plus weekly visits to our chiropractor. We stay in suites, eat at specialty restaurants, practice good hand hygiene, keep our hands away from our face and always avoid any buffets (we did all these things that pre Covid). We are cruising again this Christmas and are looking forward to the relaxed protocols. Last year we did try to limit our 16 year olds interactions in the 2 weeks leading up to our cruise due to testing requirements. Hopefully we all remain healthy this year but the risk of someone getting sick is always possible whether on a cruise or on land.

This may help. There are several resources and contact informations https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/dining-dietary-restrictions-customer-care

I am sailing Harmony over Christmas 2022 and 2023 and the unlimited drink package is $77.99 for both cruises. I use a USD credit card to avoid exchange rate fluctuations should I reprice any cruise planner items at a lower rate.

I can always justify the suite life, so if it works for your budget it’s worth it! It doesn’t have to make mathematical sense. It’s about making memories which are priceless.

Yes there is definitely a disconnect when it comes to federal vs provincial quarantine requirements. In Alberta there is no requirement to quarantine if Covid positive but if we test positive on a random test returning home we are required to quarantine for 10 days. Makes no sense and leads to a non compliance issue.

I used apple air tags for the first time last December and thought they worked great. They won’t prevent your bags from being lost but they may assist in locating them faster if they are. Our Canadian airline carrier doesn’t provide access to luggage tracking like other airlines do so for me it was worth having the AirTags.

Are you sure you didn’t copy and paste this observation from my Anthem blog. Definitely no wow factor other than the Aft views. This made me laugh. You know how much I love service.

Yay! What a relief. Did u use switch health tests?

Agree, your odds improve considerably with direct flights. Maybe get apple air tags for extra peace of mind.

We had a similar situation this past Christmas on Oasis where another couple joined us without star class or suite benefits. As others have said it depends on a host of factors; how many, whether they have the unlimited dining and refreshment packages, policies can vary from ship to ship and genie to genie so the extent to which they are included in activities and dining may vary. When the genie initially reached out he asked if others were joining us so that allowed me to ask how the process for scheduling dining and entertainment would work for our friends. I didn’t request any star class benefits for our friends and acknowledged up front that I knew they were not entitled to any. Our genie said he would take care of it and he did. He surprised us by including our friends in CK on night 1 (filet night) but at the last moment the food and beverage manager said it wasn’t possible. Which we totally understood because it was a Christmas sailing with reduced capacity limits. He included our friends in our escape room session, BINGO and rising tide bar. Our friends tipped our genie throughout the cruise. Dining was made easier due to the fact they had the unlimited dining package and refreshment package. Dining in your suite will not be a problem.