Matt V

We used Safeway (grocery store pharmacy) . Rapid NAAT for $99 for unvaccinated child.

We do prepaid and accept it as a cost of cruising. But, do the staff actually get the full amount? Or is RC taking a cut for themselves? And is it just to supplement their wages that RC doesn't want to cover? Like restaurants in the US?

It ended up being nothing in the end for us. Just an automated email.

We had one that needed a test. Got in, took the test. Took like 45 minutes to get the results while waiting in a crowded area with other families. Then we had to give that negative test paper at the check in counter. They had to take pictures of it for their system or something. Got to the final check point right before the ship and they couldn't find the test they just put in the system. Had to take out all of her paperwork again, they couldn't get the photo to save on their tablet. Sat there for almost an hour while they troubleshooted it until they just gave up and just let us on the ship.

We are there now and thankfully we have an excursion through RC later. We got off the ship earlier and it was complete chaos. Two other RC ships, Disney, Carnival seemed to dumped everyone out at once on a pier under construction. So fought our way through the crowds, bought some expensive trinkets and got our butts back on board. We only have 7 hours to hang out. If we didn't have the excursion through RC, we'd just stay on board. Not worth risking it doing a private one and getting back in time.

Currently in Bermuda on the Enchantment of the Seas. I was all paranoid about the paperwork (travel authorizations, negative covid tests, vaccine records). Haven't been asked once to see any of it by any Bermuda official when either getting on or off the ship. I say have it on hand but definitely not the scrutiny I anticipated.

Thank you. I'll ignore it.

I'm confused. I got two emails today to register my children for embarkation day antigen tests. The one is 4, so that makes sense as she is unvaccinated. But the other child is 7 and vaccinated. RC knows this as we provided his vaccination records at online Check in that they approved. Do I just ignore it and don't schedule it for him, or do I have to call RC? I'd like to avoid unnecessary testing.

I took screen shots of the ads where it showed the ship with all these features that didn't exist, just in case I wanted to dispute it and get my deposit back. Based on the pics and verbiage, it looked as if it was a revamped ship. No where did it say soon to be amplified, or in progress. I don't care really. Cruise was canceled like all the others I booked. Not going to argue with you.

In this person's defense, I booked that ship a couple years ago, maybe less, stopped counting at this point. It wasn't until I came here that I found out it was not amplified and wasn't going to be. However, RC's website made it appear the upgrades were a done deal. I didn't care because I booked for the itinerary, not the ship. But the website was really misleading. I hope at this point they are not advertising features that the ship doesn't have and won't get anytime soon.

All this testing stuff, forms, fees, red tape has me so stressed out that it's impossible to enjoy the trip.

So when it says kids 2-11 will get a test within 24 hours of embarkation, is that in addition to the one they get at the port?

Thanks!

Does anyone know if cruises have started up at the Port of Baltimore?

Royal FAQs says of anyone in your party test positive for Covid up to 14 days before departure, they'll issue a 100% cruise fare refund. I don't want to go on my cruise anymore and I want my money back. Worst comes to worse, won't be too hard to catch it.