roundabout

State residency discount still sometimes shows up for me, but usually only on the sailings that are past the final payment due date.

Anthem has laser tag now?

No.

On Oasis the "piano man" (in the elevator) announced that we are being treated to ... the elevator music

Daughter, 7 at the time, decided to try the climbing wall.  She did ok but just could not get past one point and was frustrated.  Next time she came to try again, one of the (female) sports staff put on the harness and climbed alongside her, pointing out where to put the foot or where to grab, and eventually literally pushing dd's bottom up to help through the challenging spot (there were no other people waiting).

11 hours ago, Thorntor said:

DW uses the Reliefband Classic ($159) <skipped>

DW has been using these devices for years and swears by them (actually has two.).  The company has several different styles and price ranges.

In our family we have reliefband classic, as well as emeterm band - both work great, emeterm looks better than reliefband classic, and is not as expensive as the newer reliefbands.

In fact, used emeterm today to wipe out nausea caused by meds I'm on.  Daughter always wears reliefband (emeterm is too large for her) in the backseat of the car.

Stopped reading those - time for author/Insider to stop milking a single cruise with such garbage.  No more advertising money for them from me...

On 7/21/2022 at 10:57 AM, LovetoCruise87 said:

No one is going around suggesting that everyone test if they have the common cold or not. 

I wish testing for common cold, flu and the like was more common - and most importantly, people would not go on vacations or work in the office if they have one of those.  So sick of (pun intended) catching something on vacation or in the office.

Earliest you can test is 22nd.

On 3/31/2022 at 7:21 PM, jbrinkm said:

@roundabout - did your young person buy the whole $50 in credits at one time, or was it spent a bit at a time, adding up to at least $50 total? I feel like it would be easier to keep track if it wasn't "credits" but rather just 'at least $50' spent in the arcade prior to the last day.

Apologies somehow missed this credits machine did not work anyway and our young lady spent >$50 over several days.

On 4/24/2022 at 2:49 PM, 1st Mate said:

Has anybody tried one of these:

https://www.reliefband.com/collections/reliefband

Yes, I've been using the classic one since we started cruising (7? years ago) and now our 8 years old daughter uses it on car trips, and I have bought emeterm bracelet for myself.  Both work great - emeterm supposedly can be used without gel but is more effective with it (works for me without, some people who tried did need gel).

3 hours ago, Wanderlust876 said:

*** Distegard. No appts available.

 

Did you get a rush appointment? I was under the impression that it had to be a family emergency? I'm going to call and see. 

:(. Sorry there are no appointments.

I was able to get an appointment as I had a bit more time before the cruise than you have (the appointment was scheduled for just 2 business days before the cruise, per their rules).

There was someone very recently who was allowed to board with a photo of old DL iirc (lost wallet), expired passport is way stronger identity proof than that.

9 minutes ago, CruiseGus said:

Guess you have to determine how bad you want a stressless boarding process and to ensure you can get on the ship for your cruise.

 

Not to mention having peace of mind for covering any contingencies that could result in a need to fly internationally (everyone, regardless of age, needs a passport for that - which was the reason why my daughter has a passport).

24 minutes ago, LizzyBee23 said:

Which is funny because of the whole having to wait a week for a driver's license thing.

How expensive was the same day service?

$60 expedited service fee if I recall correctly.

Depending on where you live and when you are cruising - same or next day in-person passport service may also be an option.  See https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies.html and yes, cruise qualifies for international travel definition (did this for daughter back in September as her passport was expired, though being 7, she didn't strictly need the passport).

On Anthem both in Dec 2021 and two weeks ago, there was a water kettle in my balcony cabin.

In September on Oasis, $25 credit was posted to account on the last day of the cruise.  Make sure minor's card is used in arcade, offer is only for minors.

On 12/31/2021 at 6:54 PM, Pooch said:

Like this

Looks like the most common kf94 (South Korean standard, similar to N95) mask design.  These are my choice of masks due to range of sizes available and thus good fit, good protection, comfort.  I do use a clip to keep loops off the ears if wearing for a longer time.

On 11/16/2021 at 10:21 AM, LanceRomance said:

As an update. I checked a price of a cruise on Monday pre sale... and today with their "Greatest Deal Ever".... exact same price.... shocker.

Didn't they have 35% off every passenger?  For 2 people, that's exactly the same thing as BOGO 70% off.

1 hour ago, tonyfsu21 said:

This is news to me. It mentions PCR or Antigen, I don’t see a single thing that says you can’t take a “rapid antigen test”. This is the test they are conducting on children at the port prior to getting on the ship from what I understand. 

Unvaccinated children under 12 get a PCR test at the pier (in addition to PCR or antigen up to 3 days prior to boarding), antigen on the ship prior to debarkation.

Regardless of age, antigen tests prior to boarding are accepted, as are PCR.

On 10/23/2021 at 1:24 PM, ChrisK2793 said:

If your kids normally like going to the Kid’s Club while the adults go out at night, be prepared to make other plans.  First off, they’re only allowing 12 to 15 older kids at a time and you need a reservation.  We thought it would be hard to get in, but after the first night we realized why it was so easy.  All 3 boys, two who are 9 and one who is 11 normally love to go to kids club and pre-Covid begged to go every night even if we wanted to take them to a show.  
They hated it in there this time and called us in less than an hour to come get them.  They wouldn’t let them do anything but sit on the floor at least 6 feet apart from each other.  Which is silly because random kids played with each other all day in both the kids pool area and on the water slides, but at night they weren’t allowed near each other if in Kid’s Club together with masks on.  Even the 3 boys in our group weren’t allowed to go near each other.  They didn’t have the usual video game stations in there for the kids to play at or anything.  We ended up leaving the 3 boys in one of our rooms every night with orders they weren’t allowed to leave without calling us first.

Adventure Ocean experience will vary by ship (and perhaps by sailing).

We had our 8 year old daughter with us on Oasis at the end of September, and she couldn't wait to go to AO every day.  Spent a good number of hours there.  Kids were allowed to choose their preferred activities (play distanced, but still fun, games with others - I saw modified floor hockey and the like), Nintendo's, science experiments in the lab, or crafts.

This was daughter's 6th cruise, our first since pandemic started, and she did not complain that AO is boring.

As usual, YMMV...

Same night Nassau

Anthem in Nassau January 2019

7 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

Looks like my reckoning for the Double Points promo is wrong.  As a solo cruiser in a double occupancy stateroom I was expecting 4 points per night - a total of 28 points for a 7-night cruise.  They only gave me 14 points.   I made it to Diamond, but still... they owe me 14 points more

 

 

I'll call them tomorrow.

Your reckoning is not wrong - FAQ clearly states you will get 4 points/night https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/how-many-cruise-points-will-i-earn (screenshot was also posted by Mark_A earlier in the thread)

List of all such locations: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies.html