JimnKathy

Between Adventure Ocean, all meals prepared and served for you and housekeeping in the cabin, I believe you'll be able to enjoy time spent with them without most of the hassles to slow you down. 

While Kansas Marine may be choosing to close down their Miami location temporarily, it doesn't mean that there aren't competitors out there that could consider filling the void. I would also suggest that this "closure" could be part of a strategic negotiation with the Port of Miami to obtain better lease terms once cruising picks up again. 

This whole case makes me wonder if the grandfather was under the influence of prescription drugs combined with some onboard cocktails. It is just a terribly sad tragedy for the whole family.

28 minutes ago, teddy said:

Perspective is important.  I mean we’re talking about a leisure activity here.

The Spanish Flu pandemic lasted from one to two+ years depending on the source.  By the early 1920s, life was back to normal. 
 

That pandemic ended and so will the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Covid will always be around just like the flu, but as time goes on, things will get better. 

It’s hard to see the end when we feel that we’re stuck in the middle. 
 

 

Excellent points.

I'd also add that wearing a mask for me isn't all bad, either. It helps to hide my little double-chin and lets me grimace at folks who try to do me wrong in public spaces. 

On 1/23/2021 at 4:20 AM, vmagestro said:

Do you know if that 12 bottles is per person or per stateroom?

12 per stateroom. 

That's one of those questions to get the correct answer prior to arriving at embarkation. I would expect that a regular mask is the way to go just to avoid any needless challenges...I call it "playing the COVID game". 

On 1/21/2021 at 3:49 PM, GregD said:

FVeteran cruisers recommend that each time you buy a drink from the bar, ask for a bottle of water too, and take it back to your stateroom to have an ample supply. On port days they will have places set up to get bottles of water to take with you off the ship.

Good advice. Even for those of us who don't do the beverage package, we'll just ask the bartender to hand us a few bottles of water after signing our tab...haven't been charged yet and end up having plenty of free water to drink without a hitch. Of course, you can also bring up to 12 bottles with you on board as well.

Terrific tool...a permanent addition to my travel folder.

My suggestion is to get a massage a day or two prior to sailing in your hometown...it's a better value AND will really get you in the mood to relax and enjoy your cruise!  

2 hours ago, RickinSTL said:

We're on Symphony September 11..   

Wow, we'll miss ya'll by a week...sailing the 18th and 25th. Happy sailing to us!

12 hours ago, krhardy said:

Like everyone else, I'm SO ready! I've flown, been to Universal, and Walt Disney World. All good things, but I need to get on a ship

Same here. We've taken short road trips, flown to visit grandchildren and a staycation or two...we're ready for our September B2B on Symphony. 

After booking cruises, just do what many of us do and keep your cruise planner purchases updated in a simple spreadsheet and price-check your purchases every week or so to see if you can capture any price drops...I always just chuckle at the 40% off sales banner specials.

17 hours ago, zjennk said:

We have been using the RC credit card for several years now. We use the OBC option and it has paid for a lot of shore excursions and beverage packages. The extra OBC also gives us more freedom to purchase some things onboard that we may not of budgeted for. 

If I didn't have the Costco branded VISA card, I'd definitely carry a RCL cc in my back pocket.  

FYI, Costco's branded VISA card pays 3% for any and all travel and restaurant purchases, 4% on gas, 2% at Costco and 1% on anything else. It has no annual fee for Costco members.

On 1/3/2021 at 8:48 AM, stevendom57 said:

Watch out for that complimentary food. Last time I was at Cococay the hamburgers told me "Eat all you want, you look skinny. I won't make you fat". Their compliments were all lies. 

So true.  We also had that crispy chicken sandwich stuffed with fried mozzarella sticks per Matt's recommendation...totally delicious AND totally calorie-laden! 

On 12/21/2020 at 1:06 PM, steverk said:

And 640,000 people die in the US of heart attacks each year.

...and 12,000 people fall down stairs and die every year in the U.S. Perhaps we should outlaw multi-story houses while we're at it?

13 hours ago, twangster said:

When I saw they were doing another $1B stock drop I knew it wasn't good.  You can't keep on "printing money" in this fashion and escape unscathed.  

Sadly they may need may need to do another. 

For the cruising public it's not so much a concern.  For any investor you'll need to be in for the long, long haul.   Long.

While I think RCL will continue to be a great cruising brand for many years to come, future earnings per share will be diluted by new stock issuance and a more than doubling of their overall debt levels (due to COVID). Bottom line is that the company management is in survival mode and is doing everything they can to keep things afloat (pun intended) while the world works on defeating this pandemic. Common shareholders just need to understand that it'll take the company many years to pay down their debt levels to make the stock an attractive investment.

I cut and pasted some RCL stock news posting earlier this morning that anyone who owns shares should be made aware. Like other cruise lines wading through this pandemic year, RCL has been issuing lots of new debt which places a pretty big drag on their balance sheet and income statement. Be careful out there when considering where to allocate your investment dollars. 

"Royal Caribbean Group's (RCL) credit rating is in danger of being downgraded deeper into junk territory by S&P Global Ratings, which citing expectations that the cruise operator's recovery will take longer than previously projected. The company's issuer credit rating of B+, which is four notches below investment grade territory, was put on CreditWatch with negative implications, as Royal's recently extended suspension of cruises through February is beyond S&P Global's assumptions, which was for operations to resume in a phased manner starting in the fourth quarter. "Accordingly, we expects Royal to burn more cash relative to our previous expectations and for leverage to remain very high in 2021," S&P Global said. The stock, which rose 1.5% in morning trading, has tumbled 37.9% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 14.1%."

I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a thing similar to a "golden ticket" to ease one's way as we move about.

I plan on getting a vaccination when it becomes available just to reduce the risk of getting COVID (I'm 59 in a few weeks). I also get a regular flu shot every year (going on three decades) and I rarely deal with getting sick for more than a day or two a year from anything other than a normal cold and/or allergy symptoms.

5 minutes ago, twangster said:

It's easier on the waistline as well.   

True dat! The smiling crew members will give me that "Durn dude, do you really need that 4th roll!?" look as I saunter away from the serving table. 

Disappointing, yet not surprising.

Knowing that vaccines are on the way and test cruises are beginning this past week, it really looks like sailing could begin late Spring or early Summer.

Coco Cay is an incredible place. As others have already noted, it's big enough and so well-designed that you never feel like you're on a crowded island, yet small enough that you can casually stroll wherever you want within a few minutes. The shuttles are plentiful, too. Simply an amazing amenity available for RC guests.

16 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I second that one! That might actually make it slightly tolerable.

I actually like the fact that crew members will handle doling out food at the buffets. It'll eliminate hundreds of folks touching the same serving utensils and keep people from actually using their hands to pick up bread, fruit, etc. and then put it back on the buffet. This alone may help eliminate the risk of norovirus & covid spread, let alone all of the other lovely germs that that one can acquire on any common carrier.

We just booked Quantum for an Alaskan cruise for August 2022...we are pumped like nobody's business! 

It is exciting to see this test cruise happen...nothing like "breaking the ice" to get all of us back out sailing again!

We scored a $49 price ($10 better than the previous sale price from several months ago) on the Coco Beach Club experience for the first half of our B2B Symphony sailing out 9/18. Interestingly enough, the price of 2nd leg Beach Club only went down to $89 (we had already picked up a good deal a few months prior at $79) after it had been priced at $169 for a good while.

Other than saving $4 each on a wine/cheese package and a champagne/strawberries package, we didn't find any additional discounts applicable to our B2B.