WAAAYTOOO

Where there’s a will, there’s a way! However a 7 night in a regular old balcony may be cheaper than 3 nights in a suite. Plus 7 nights is way better than 3, unless vacation time is an issue. 
 
So after I booked our 7 night on Harmony, (to get us to Diamond Plus), I said to my husband that I should see if it would be cheaper to upgrade to a JS on Odyssey for our Holy Land/Greece. That’s a 12 nighter and a suite would be nice for a long cruise. 
 
He voted no! He said he’d rather take ANOTHER cruise! I love that man! ❤️ 

But it’s an ala carte menu so if they don’t want the app & dessert that comes with the  prepurchase, they can just order what they want? Yes?  I am not necessarily looking for the lowest price but for them to get whatever they want.  I also assume this can all be charged to my on board account via my son’s seapass card linked to my CC?

Thank you all!

The issue here is what we know the protocols to be today vs when your cruise will sail.
One constant thus far has been a lot of protocol changes, and I strongly suspect by the time your ship sails, the rules/requirements may have changed again.

This is true basically on a month-to-month basis. If you have a cruise booked for July 2022 as I do, they will not refund based on their new policy of making the unvaccinated cruise customers 2nd class. I was given the "policy is fluid" explanation and told to "wait and see" that it may change and was assured that at this time there are no full refunds available for any cruises other than freedom of the seas July 2021. 10 days after the call that might have expanded to include other near term cruises. I think you should call to check if the same refund is now available for unvaccinated passengers sailing out of Florida. 
Good luck. 

3 nights solo in any cheap cabin gets you 12 points.
Time to take one for the team ? 

I just did the math. After June 2022, we'll be 9 points from Diamond plus. A 3-night suite with double points would get us there.
 
Gotta find a way.

I think we need more information to answer this.
First off, download the apps before your cruise while you are at home or on a wifi connection.  Then there should be no charges assuming your wifi doesn't charge you.
If you download anything, including apps, over cellular you might be charged but that depends on your cell plan.  I have an unlimited plan that includes a lot of data in most countries so no charge to download apps for me.  Your cell plan may be different than mine so YMMV.
If you are out of the country and refused or forgot to download any apps before leaving the US try to find a wifi hotspot like at a coffee shop, bar or hotel.  
The best plan is to download any cruise apps before you leave the US.

@WAAAYTOOO, some potentially bad news. Just read @Matt’s post listing the areas blocked off from unvaccinated guests, and Casino Royale and it’s bar are on that list. Hope that doesn’t end up being a deal-breaker for you, I know you and Dan typically spend a lot of time in there.
 
EDIT: Realizing that list is specifically for Freedom. Hopefully by the time you sail it will have been updated for Symphony.

^^^^^^ THIS
Plus, to have Gold status, you have three points. The only way you get points is by going on a cruise. Pre-Gold is zero points. Offer is only to those with Gold status (for those with a minimum of 3 points), therefore those at Pre-Gold (zero points) will not get those double CA on that first sailing. BIG CAVEAT: This is how the CA page reads. Who knows what they really mean by it.
 

Looks like the judge gave the CDC until July 22 to respond. Original date was July 2, CDC wanted August 2.
 
No (free) PDF is available yet to see how that impacts the July 18 D-Day for the CSO

I submitted the question to RCL on the site, they have it, but no answer yet.  We've ended up with a couple of cards that still had open punches and they were honored on follow-on cruises.  We just keep them with our cruise stuff.
 

I got a C&A account before my first cruise. I manually signed up and didn't rely on an automatic account being created for my first cruise.

Kerry Sanders from NBC News is onboard Celebrity Edge as well and he has done a really good job showcasing all the hard work the cruise lines have put in to restart the industry. I think Kerry Sanders my be an avid cruiser but he isn't allowed to say that on national television because in one of his reports he framed the original outbreaks on cruise ships last year as not being the fault of the cruise industry but do to the fact cruise ships were turn away from multiple ports which could have stopped any break. He is  probably one of the first if not the only national journalist to finally point out the truth.
That being said he did note in his report today although 99% of all passengers are crew are vaccinated, once the Edge arrives in port Celebrity will allow guest to go ashore and shore excursions have to be booked through the cruise line, the reason for the change is because there are unvaccinated children and some adults onboard.  In his report this morning he noted since the 2 cases onboard the Millennium, Celebrity on this cruise will test all unvaccinated passengers while in port as they return to the ship.   I don't know and it wasn't clear if Celebrity is doing this (testing unvaccinated passengers as they return) simply because of the media presence onboard the Edge, or if RCC is doing this as a test to see  if this is something they should explore rolling out to all RCC ships and test all unvaccinated passengers at least in the short term in port as they return back to the ship.
He also reported unvaccinated passengers in certain indoor settings are required to where a mask.  However when looking at his live shots from the pool deck and other outdoor spaces you can see both adults and children vaccinated and unvaccinated out and about with no mask on.  In an interesting turn of events customers onboard don't seem to mind the changes to the buffet instead of people serving themselves the crew serves you.  But the ship is only at 40% capacity so there are no lines no waiting it will be interesting to see if that change sticks around or if in time cruise ships revert back to self serve type buffets we've all become accustomed too.
One thing he always does is he talks to normal everyday paying passengers and the one thing they all say both vaccinated and unvaccinated is they all feel like they are finally on VACATION. Even though things are a bit different onboard they all have stated they feel like they can finally relax, breathe and have fun again.
I must say I'm shocked by NBC News at first I thought they were interested in a "I got you moment" but good ole Kerry Sanders is really doing a great job showing people who may not be avid cruisers just  how safe it is get on cruise ship. 

Because it was found it wasn't necessary
 
https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24463-royal-caribbean-group-hvac-study-low-transmission-of-particles.html

@Renate, Welcome to The Blog!   Thanks for posting. 
 

I may have had the drink package on that cruise.  

I am on the Oct 31st Allure. We had decided on a 10-10 because my mothers birthday is 10/7 but decide we wanted to do Halloween on a ship. We missed out on all our vacations so we are doing 3 days at Disney, 3 days at Universal and then getting on the ship. My mother is turning 60, hasn't been to either and they are on her bucket list. Other than some snorkeling at Cococay, I plan to just relax and hit the casino. I wanted to try star class but only sky class was left.

I read it as though they're taking the friend as part of their party.
And it is cancelable for a FCC under CWC up to 48 hours, but again everyone has to cancel. The full refund @WAAAYTOOO is referring to was what they were offering for the Freedom passengers, which I think was only offered because it gives the unvaccinated an out of they weren't comfortable with the restrictions.  I don't believe they are offering refunds otherwise because of the vaccination requirements. 

LOL Dan is Boeing/MDC/Douglas (which is the origin of the "bug"...which I'm sure you already know) so he made all 3 manifestations.  We ladies would just leave you gentlemen to talk shop and go find something more suitable to pass the time.... ?  There's plenty of time !!  We can find another cruise down the road where we can meet.  I love cruising with friends.

Wow.  Let's dust this one off.  It looks like this cruise actually WILL sail and they did not shortened it....and at this point it doesn't look like they will.  It was in hibernation for a VERY long time and I thought for sure it was doomed.  What they HAVE done, unfortunately, is completely re-do the itinerary which is a much less interesting itin than it was.  We are now going to Nassau, St. Thomas, St Maarten and St. Kitts.  So no more Aruba and Curacao...which completely sucks but I will just be happy to be back on a cruise, so I will make the best of it.
I am very, very disappointed that I will not be cruising with @Lovetocruise2002and her family.  We planned this one together and now we will have to go alone.  I will miss sailing with you, but we have other cruises planned together for later on, so I will just have to look forward to those !!
As most all of you already know, Dan and I are not taking the COVID injections so we will be among the unvaxxed on this cruise.  I think it will be of benefit to present this live blog from the unvaxxed perspective, providing information for any who are interested in what the unvaxxed "rules" and experiences will be.  It is NOT my intention to debate the virtues (or vices, as it were) of the injections.  I will not respond to any discussion relating to the injections or our decision not to receive them.  This is about our cruise experience and how it may differ from cruise experiences we have had in the past. I hope that respondents will respect that and allow this blog to live.  Thank you for that.
Just to be up front about everything, there are still a couple of situations that could derail (I guess I should have said "sink" LOL) this cruise for us.  In addition to not being injected, we also refuse the deep nasal swab...so if we are not able to find a PCR test that will satisfy the pre-boarding requirements, we will not be able to go.  We also need to find out for SURE that they are not mandating the deep nasal swab at the pier or onboard.  Those are questions that our Genie can answer for us (hopefully) so we are moving forward with plans to sail until we have information that would have us do otherwise.  The good news is, if we decide that we cannot cruise due to vaccination requirements/restrictions, we will get a full refund for this cruise...so it's kind of a no-lose situation for us.
Royal has made it clear that there are certain situations/locations where unvaxxed will not be welcome.  We still do not know what those places/activities are but again, our Genie will be able to help us with that information, I'm sure.  Short of not being allowed in the casino (which would also be a deal-breaker for us) we will comply without complaint.  Even if we aren't allowed off the ship at the ports of call (due to ports of entry requirements, for example) that will be a-ok with us.  We likely wouldn't get off at any of the new destinations anyway.  Once I have some intel on what restrictions will be in place, I will be sure and provide that information.
And speaking of Genies, we have not yet been contacted.  It's been so long since we sailed that I cannot remember exactly how far ahead of time they reach out !  I can't remember if it is 30 days or 60 days.  Of course, I suspect there will be many things that are different now from what they were 16 months ago, so nothing will surprise me, truly. Today is 57 days out and we still are not able to check in but I understand that many people are unable to check in for their cruises at 90 days right now.  Won't panic about that.

Hmmm....this is really a hard thing to quantify.  Some people truly enjoy the service of a Genie and some think they are completely overrated and unnecessary.  How's that for a non-answer ?  I'm going to be completely honest, here.  I am one who loves, loves, loves the Genie and Dan honestly doesn't really care for the Genie service.  The first time we did SC it was so new and so different from anything we had ever experienced, we both really enjoyed it.  The second time and the third time, etc. Dan began to resent that the Genie always seemed to be interrupting us for one thing or another.  The door bell and/or phone seemed to ring incessantly...which is true. They were always bringing something or dropping by to take something away.  If Dan got his way every time, we would probably never do SC again.  It's just too much commotion for him.
To answer your question, yes, I think having a Genie is going to be even more important in the restart than they ever were before.  Once they start to ramp occupancy back up I think things like specialty reservations are going to be more and more difficult to get.  I think things like expedited boarding and disembarkation are going to be more and more valuable.
One of the services of SC that I really love is the fact that they do your laundry for you.  You can have it sent out once a day, twice a day or never. I really enjoy this service.  They bring it back to you on hangers with your unmentionables in a bag.  There are so many things that are nice....
Is it worth the money ?  I guess I think it is. Many disagree.  It's hard to really quantify the level of service that SC provides.  Many will say....I'll just buy the UDP and the DBP+Voom and I will have the same thing, minus the Genie and save myself $$$.  But that's really not all there is to it.  On the first 2 SC cruises, I hosted the CC Cabin Crawls.  We had no less than 40 people on each of those who came to our cabin and were offered all the beer, soda, water, and food from the specialty restaurants (most of that food came from Jamie's/Giovanni's).....all at no charge.  We also offered champagne and wine (which we paid for but it was very inexpensive).  It was so much fun to show off our suite and have everyone enjoy themselves.  On each of those Cabin Crawls I know for SURE that we "sold" Star Class to at least 3 couples....so it's probably in Royal's best interest to cover such events.  Sky Class gets complimentary room service from the MDR menu.  Star Class gets room service from any and all of the Specialty Restaurants.  Big difference.
As far as what the Genie can do that you cannot do for yourself, the only thing that really comes to mind are the reserved seats at entertainment venues.  It's nice to be able to arrive at an entertainment venue just minutes before it begins and have the specific seats that you want, reserved for you.  Here is another example.  We had a credit card issue on one of our SC cruises.  The CC company (which was the Royal Caribbean Visa card, BTW !!!) began declining our onboard charges.  YIKES !  That was a real problem for us almost instantly as we charge considerable $$ to our onboard account at the casino.  The Genie talked with the revenue dept. and it was resolved - or so we thought.  Next day....charge declined.  By now, Dan was furious not to mention the fact that it was embarrassing when the casino pit boss had to tell us that our cash withdrawal had been declined.  Oh boy....  We tromped down to Guest Services, hoppin' mad.  It just so happened that another one of the Genies just happened to be there...and b/c the Genies all know who the SC guests are, even if they are not the Genie, he recognized us and asked if he could help.  When Dan explained the problem, the Genie disappeared behind the GS door and reappeared very shortly - this time with the ship's Revenue Manager - and this time, the problem was fixed...for good. Perhaps our Genie should have done this in the first place, but it was nice that it finally got handled properly by a fellow Genie.  They truly are a team.  We are always told that if, for some reason, our Genie is not available, feel free to ask any Genie for help. 
If you can afford it, SC is definitely a treat.

I’m pretty sure that anyone who is unvaccinated and does not want to comply with the protocols can receive a full refund as opposed to FCC, if they choose that option.

@Baked AlaskaThat"s why I love this blog, there is always someone to lend a hand. Thanks so much. Sending email now. Still plenty of time to decide but I am finally excited about planning again.