JimnKathy

Say a prayer of extreme gratitude that we live in a world where amazing vaccines can be created and distributed so quickly to help save so many lives and help us get back to "normal". Then, it's off to the first bar we can find to have an "embarkation" cocktail and get the B2B cruise party started on Symphony. ?

I wanna talk about which specialty restaurants are open on sea days.

One thing I find pretty bizarre is the concept of requiring test cruises FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL SHIP. Seems to me if a cruise line can successfully complete one or two test cruises in total, it proves that the protocols employed are working correctly and that the cruise line is good to get the regular sailings out to sea.

Sep 18 and Sept 25 (B2B) - 2021 - Symphony of the Seas (Eastern & Western Caribbean) Aug 29 - 2022 - Quantum of the Seas (Alaska)

Matt, we just joined the Insider family today. Thank you so much for creating such an amazing blog site. Your always positive attitude (particularly during this crazy year+ of COVID wackiness) is an enormous blessing for many. Carpe Diem to you, sir. ?

I've yet to read any CDC guideline updates in regards to drinking protein smoothies laced with Kraken Dark Rum outside in the Solarium...mask, or no mask? ?

I won't be surprised if Symphony doesn't sail by mid-July at this point...August 1 for sure. But then again, I really don't know anything about anything. ?

This entire thread is a huge reason why using a TA on the front end can be invaluable. Unlike an individual cruise customer, a TA typically does a HUGE amount of business with a cruise line and can typically resolve challenges in a heartbeat that might take someone doing a direct booking days of frustrating calls and emails to resolve. Not to give you a hard time, but why would you purchase nonrefundable airline tickets (most of them issue credits if you need to cancel...that's why we love Southwest) and/or nonrefundable hotel reservations when you have multiple moving parts given COVID/normal travel delays, etc.? Most hotels I've done business with over the years will give you up until 24 hours prior to your check-in to cancel if needed.

That's really the crux of dealing with any sort of pathogen...don't touch your eyes, nose or mouth after dealing with the public until you wash your hands. Ever since I was a little kid, healthcare professionals have expressed the importance of washing hands frequently throughout the day to minimize the risk of getting sick...managing COVID is no different.

This is the key takeaway from the flurry of updates we're seeing from this past week! ? From a satellite perspective, my take on things is that we're about to be back in sailing mode from U.S. ports in no time...and that is a wonderful thing for ALL of us cruising fanatics! ?

1992 on Empress (I think) for me. Snorkled the day away and swam to the sunken plane spot. I remember eating some delicious BBQ chicken on the island and having to get on a small landing boat to get to and from the island. Needless to say, visiting the 2nd time in September of 2019 was a TOTALLY different experience! LOL ?

All I know is that my wife and I went out to dinner and then dessert/drinks at two different restaurants tonight in Memphis, TN and everyone was out and about (including restaurant employees) totally mask-free. It felt like the world has opened up again. Let's get these ships sailing, folks! ?

I'd say the odds are getting better every single day with all of the positive announcements this week. ?

Fantastic news...thank you for posting this inside information! We're sailing a B2B on Symphony beginning September 18! ?

This latest announcement tells me that sailings from U.S. ports may be happening more quickly than we thought earlier this week. ? Because airline flights are more plentiful and cheaper from Baltimore, Miami, Fort Lauderdale ports, etc., it makes it far more attractive from a customer perspective to book trips vs. finding flights to Bermuda, Nassau, etc.

If we were traveling with a larger family/friends group, I think the cabana would be an awesome amenity to have, especially if the cost were split between another couple or two. With just the two of us, the experience found at Coco Beach Club should do the trick for us. Since we have a B2B booked in September, we also booked B2B experiences at Coco Beach Club, too. ?

Yes all the way! ? We aren't day drinkers, but we do like delicious food and we enjoy a bottle of wine with dinner and maybe one cocktail and/or beer here and there. We can get free water bottles as needed when dining and/or drinking an adult beverage simply by asking for it. We calculated that the Unlimited Dining Package is perfect for us. We get 40% discounts on wine bottles, a great deal on all of the specialty restaurants that we love and can still imbibe that occasional cocktail or two while keeping our alcohol cost well below what we'd pay for the drink package even when it's on a big sale. Since we're not the day drinking type and are happy with the regular coffee in the morning, we're better off spending our additional dollars elsewhere. If I were 25 again, I'd do the Deluxe Beverage Package in a heartbeat, baby! ?

We have a B2B on Symphony departing Sep 18...we'd be thrilled to do nothing but one Coco Cay visit two weeks in a row while spending the rest of the days at sea.

Mask requirements are easing up effective Saturday here in TN, too. It's definitely a sign of the reopening is well underway.

We just enjoy totally relaxing, eating great food, drinking delicious wine and not having to make any "adult" decisions whatsoever while on a ship. I hope and pray that our September B2B on Symphony sails...the latest CDC test sailing pronouncements concern me to the core.

Looks and sounds like a classic government "shakedown" of the cruise industry. It would appear that the cruise lines haven't made the necessary "voluntary" political contributions into the campaign coffers to effectively "encourage" the CDC to adjust the health guidelines to reflect actual science.

Being one of the Oasis class ships in the fleet, RCL is just getting Symphony ready to make some money once cruising starts again from Miami.

Uber / Lyft are inexpensive, quick and dependable.

Here's a little trick I learned on Symphony while checking out the PCs in the Library. If someone forgets to log off, you can get a little free access to check-in on airline flights, read emails, social media, etc. While it doesn't work all the time (and I certainly wouldn't rely on it), it allowed me to knock out a few things without the Internet package on our last sailing. Going forward, we plan on getting the basic package just so we can consistently keep in touch with friends and family back home...depending on other folks forgetting to log off one of the Library PCs really isn't a good plan.

Truth! If you can't find a way to have incredible fun on a modern cruise ship, you're gonna have a problem finding fun anywhere! ?