WAAAYTOOO

Another thing I prefer about Celebrity's protocols is that they specifically call out antigen only for testing.

We once went to the MDR, early in the cruise (day 1 or 2 I believe) to try and determine which night would lamb shank night since that's Dan's favorite dish. The attendant who helped us went to a closet and there we saw literally thousands of paper menus piled in what did not appear to be any coherent order. Eventually the attendant did find the lamb shank menu and determined which day it would be served but it was not a rational process to find that information. One would think that they had the menus posted somewhere but either that person didn't know where to look or this random sifting through mountains of random paper menus is the accepted process. From that experience I gleaned that there is generally very little variation in the menu planning. At least back then....all of the menus were pre-printed.

I just renewed my annual Allianz policy (US if that matters) and there was absolutely no mention of vaccination. Frankly, that surprised me. I expected there to be a requirement to be vaccinated but there is not (that I am aware of). They are still offering limited COVID coverage.

But won’t they be in violation of the [soon to be defunct, presumably] CSO if they sail with less than 95% vaccinated since they didn’t do a test sailing first ?

I just got one today for our 21 August sailing on Symphony....so probably 60 days out is the target.

Just got a RoyalUp offer for our August 21 Symphony cruise. Probably not going to make a bid as I'm pretty happy with our Suite.

Yes, they will bring roll away beds in but I'm not sure how many. More than 1, just not sure. There is definitely room.

Never won a RoyalUp bid. You’ve been waaay luckier than me !

We've had an Allianz annual policy for 5 years and knock on wood, we've never had to use it so I cannot comment on their service.

A bit of information relating to pre and onboard testing. OPKO Health subsidiary partners with Royal Caribbean for COVID-19 testing program | Seeking Alpha

Welcome back, Kayla !! Glad to see you back on the boards.

No one really knows what the new boarding protocols will be like but I would guess that the luggage drop-off will still be one of the Key perks. What might change is the Chops lunch on embarkation day since boarding, presumably, will be later than it used to be. Perhaps they will allow you to use your embarkation lunch some other day of the cruise. That would be very nice, I think.

Supposed to be on SY 8-21-21. Hopefully she will be ready to go !!

I absolutely agree with you on this. Since the abolition (I know that is the wrong word) of the CSO, will this now mean that NCL, Carnival and Celebrity can simply ignore the requirement to do test cruises and just march forward with their loosey goosey ~95% vaxxed program ?

That's a good question and is certainly depends on individual perceptions. For us it is really a matter of ambiance. You just can't beat the views in the Oasis class CK. In general, it is less hectic and certainly less crowded. Is the service or food actually any better than the MDR ? Many say "yes". We generally say "not really". We enjoy going to the CK if we are staying on Deck 17 but since we almost always have the UDP we generally only go to the CK for breakfast. It's nice to have the option to go to CK when the menu is agreeable.

Nope. You can do it the other way around though.

So glad you mentioned this. @ConstantCruiseris right ! The lobster meal at CK is NOT a lobster tail (I think they call it Lobster in Champagne sauce or something like that). It is some rubbery lobster pieces in a nasty orange sauce. It's not good at all, IMO. SO if you want the MDR lobster tails served to you in the CK, be sure and ask for the MDR lobster tails. If you just say, "I'll have the lobster", they are going to bring you the orange pieces and parts. Yuk. If you plan on eating in the CK on lobster night and decide that you want to have it, it is best to let them know ahead of time that you are going to want the MDR lobster tails so that they can have them handy. They generally will have some lobster tails available, but they will be sure and have enough of them if you tell them in advance. It is also true that the lobster tails served in the MDR are warm water lobsters and not NE cold water lobsters. If you're looking for NE lobster, you will not find it in the MDR.

They will certainly throw in the phrase, "...to enhance your experience..."

This is my understanding, too. Still unlimited access on the O class ships in the SL

Not a huge fan of Jamie's, but as @AshleyDillosaid, it's nice to have another option when you have the UDP. We usually do a lunch there. Their tiramisu is better than Giovanni's. That's the only thing they do better, IMO.

Yep. I see it now. I had missed that paragraph in my first reading. Willful ignorance, I guess. Oh well....money back in my pocket !

They are !!

Yep. We just lost B2B 7-17 and 7-25. At first glance it seems that their options to move this cruise are very generous. It seems to me (without indepth evaluation) that you can shift any 2021 or 2022 sailing. I assume it would have to be on OY. This is particularly awesome for us as these are both upgraded casino comps which ordinarily cannot be moved at all. I'm secretly a bit relieved as I was dreading what the boarding and onboard protocols would be for us (unvaxxed). This will give us a little more time to see how things go. I AM beginning to think that OY is cursed, however...?

Mariner does not have a Coastal Kitchen but you will have a private breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants (probably Chops). There is no private lunch, per se. On port days you will, most likely, have access to Giovanni's but it will be an empty, unstaffed restaurant where you can bring your food from the Windjammer if you want to do that. On sea days the specialty restaurants are open for operation so that option will not be available. Meals in specialty restaurants are not part of the suites benefits so aside from the daily breakfast. You will have access to the Suites Lounge (and the Suites Concierge), expedited check-in, embarkation and disembarkation (whatever that happens to be with COVID protocols). I have read that there is a new protocol for the "Behind the Scenes" tours so I have no idea what's going to happen with those. In the past, you would be offered 3 different tours - Entertainment, Galley and Bridge and you could choose any or all of those, if you want. We have no idea how those are going to be handled, going forward. I have never stayed in one of the Oceanview Panoramic Suites but I had 1 reserved for 7-25 on Indy. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you look at it !!) that sailing was moved to Odyssey so now I won't get a chance to stay in the OPS. I will be interested to see how they transfer that reservation since OY does not have a OPS. They're taking their sweet time in getting those transfers done !!

A Travel Agent can execute a hold on a cruise without deposit. The length of the hold varies but usually it is for around 48 hours. It does freeze the price.