Poolside

Specialty Dining.

Specialty Dining.

Specialty Dining.

Anyone doing the World Cruise will be able to receive 4 blocks of the same ship🤣

We were on Sovereign of the Seas years ago and were lounging at the pool. There were a very large couple lounging with heaping plates of chicken balanced on their stomachs. After eating their entire plates of fried chicken they both set down the bone plates, walked over and got into the pool. Crumbs and a grease slick emerged as other swimmers quickly jumped out of the pool. They had to drain and clean the pool and needless to say the crowd was not happy with the chicken eaters using the pool as their bathtub!  

If only there were a way to have a centralized database, and a handheld computer of some sort that could produce a unique image of some sort that couldn’t be faked and another computer of some sort could read that image and decipher the vaccine information. 
 
maybe some day. 

I wonder how much trouble I would get in if I leaked the news here first...

Why do this to her?  Does she enjoy being made fun of or does she just try to be a good sport? It’s a vacation for everyone. Let her simply enjoy it. 😀

Not a fan, but to each their own. 

Final thoughts:
This trip has been absolutely amazing.  It was off to a rough start, but wow, it ended as one of our favorite cruises.  We worried about how cruising would be with all of the new Covid restrictions and if we would walk around with a scarlet letter on our heads bringing kids too young to be vaccinated on a cruise.  We were totally wrong.  Everybody on the ship was very nice and some even smiled, laughed, and played with the kids, especially the youngest two.  We didn't get a single rude comment or look from other passengers about cruising with kids.  The staff seemed so happy to be back at sea and were very accommodating. 
There were obviously things we missed like the Quest, Love and Marriage, World's Sexiest Man Competition,  and the Belly Flop Competition.  We also wish we could have done laser tag and the escape room, but there is so much to do even without those that it was still an amazing trip.  One thing I missed was the interaction that we usually get with our room attendant.  I don't think this was his fault though, as there are so many new rules they must abide by such as not going into the room when the guests are there.  It made the experience less personal with him even though he seemed like a nice guy.  The vaccinated only and everybody shows were also an annoyance at times when the everybody show ended up playing too late for kids.  Hairspray was phenomenal, but Steven commented that the minimal seating detracted from the ambience (there was less people to laugh and clap at key moments in the performance).   We also did not like having the Windjammer closed for dinner, but we were always so full anyway.  We only made one stop at the Windjammer this cruise, and we actually perferred how it is now with them serving you food.  It's nice not to have to worry about people touching all the food with their hands plus the food seemed fresher perhaps due to smaller portions being brought out at a time.  Sunil picked out all of our servers at the specialty restaurants and he did a fantastic job because all of the servers we had were wonderful (with the exception of the guy at Playmakers, but Sunil did not choose him).
We continually saw the Covid restrictions being modified.  Room service went from not being allowed in your room to allowed in if you go into a different room and then finally to closer to what it used to be like all within a one week period.  We watched a limit of five in a pool be modified to no limit.  The genies went from not being able to pick up your kids from Adventure Ocean to being able to.  Initially, we were told they were not doing the 2 for $20 t-shirts sale on this cruise because it puts people in too close of proximity to each other, but on day 6, the t-shirt sale happened.  Cruising is slowly returning to normal, and we watched this transition happen every day.
I would be remiss to end this without taking about Sunil.  If you are lucky enough to get him as your genie, you are in for a treat.  He truly made this trip unique.  He went above and beyond and became like family to us.  The kids are already talking about requesting him as our genie when we go on Symphony in April, which we are definitely going to do.  For anyone wondering, he goes home on November 27th, and then he is going back to Symphony in January. 
Lastly, thank you to everyone who followed along.  I hope this helped show what the current state of cruising is.  Happy cruising and best of luck to everyone!
 
 
 
 

Congratulations, you just graduated from Royal Math Academy!

I'm glad it worked in someone's favor!  You just made the cutoff 😂

Not sure it can get more flexible than “just not underwear”

We sail on the Ovation for 2 weeks starting Sept. 17th....its been too long without a cruise. Really looking forward to being back on a ship.

Please keep the thread CRUISE related.

We just disembarked from the Independence today (9/12)
Last Sunday we got to the checkpoint at the appointed time, I think it was 1:30, and Mrs. Cake's test result was not in order. You have to have something that has your name, date, and negative indication. So Mrs. Cake went to the nearest place that would do a quick test. She got back to the terminal at ten minutes to four and they lock the doors at 4:00, no exceptions. Once she got through the door, the staff was very helpful, even more than they usually are, and we got on the ship toot sweet.
Make sure your test results have your name, date of test, and negative result.
All's well that ends well. We enjoyed our cruise on the empty ship. I recommend it, there were no lines for anything and great service. Bring some hand lotion and a couple of comfortable masks.

NextDoor is so much worse, lol.

With an atypical crew to passenger ratio, the ice cream handler gets a dedicated umbrella holder.

What?  I'm booking more every week.  It's a great time to cruise.  No lines, no elevator wait.  
My test results from this morning just came in...

 
I'm cruising this weekend!
Bring.  It.  On.    

Today marks the 35th Anniversary of our first Cruise and our 38th wedding anniversary.  We have taken many cruises since 1986 (30) and thus far my wife has not thrown me overboard.  Hopefully we can be healthy enough to take many more!   Happy Anniversary dear wife (Kelley).  All my love and happy sailing.

Can we get a tie breaker vote here?!?

Is Royal Caribbean currently sailing or are cruises getting cancelled??  I'm scheduled for Oasis outta NJ mid October, i have read that normally can book on board activities around 60 days before cruise, I'm at 55 days and nothing??  its a 20th anniversary cruise and if there are issues, like to find out soon, so maybe can plan something else, getting a lot of different info but most is from Facebook so not sure if can trust??  anyone hear of any issues?? only cruise i heard had issues was a Carnival cruise.

This is the opposite of a @JeffB reply.

Not the ship because you know how to take personal responsibility for yourself.

I feel sorry for anyone in this situation as well, but seriously, people really shouldn't consider traveling internationally (including cruises) during a pandemic unless they are willing to keep up with the ever-changing rules daily.  You really have to stay on top of things.  A look at the website each day for RCI, and understanding the different types of tests that are acceptable, including turn-around times, would have really helped this couple out.  That, and actually reading the many 'forms' they have to sign off on.
I have friends that are (or have) travelled internationally and they are clueless.  I have no idea how they either get where they are going....or eventually make it home.