JeffB

The problem that is probably giving you fits is going to be a reliable network either 4g or, if you have a cell phone and plan for 5g. Your PC is likely connected to cable or fiber internet with a much more reliable and fast download speeds. Even with a decent 4g network connection, video can be problematic. If you can get to a location where you can connect to the internet on your cell phone wirelessly, it will probably work fine.

From the CDC web site busting myths and vaccine misinformation. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html?s_cid=11353:testing positive after covid-19 vaccination:sem.ga:p:RG:GM:gen:PTN:FY21

Sure, Meclizine does not work for everybody and I've had conversations with neurologists who have told me, it's not very effective. Hell, a martini works great for me . Seriously though, the kind of symptoms described by the OP can be classified as a condition called Benign Positional Vertigo (BPV). It is a vary common complaint among seniors and there are reasons for it - usually none indicating a serious condition - hence, "benign" - beyond the scope of this answer. The standard of care for this condition when it becomes persistent is a referral to who I call the "dizzy doctor." Well, they are usually physical therapists or rehabilitation medicine specialists trained in evaluating your vertigo and treating it with positional exercises as has already been noted. I'd add to that posters comment that identifying exactly which maneuvers to perform requires a step-wise approach to identify exactly which one of your 6 semicircular canals (3 on each side of your head) is causing the erroneous signal to your cerebellum. Then, you'll be prescribed specific maneuvers to do at home.

Those RCL staff (or it may be terminal staff using tablets that connect with RCL's on-board health screening system) will accept digital proof of your negative Rapid AG test. Digital test reports might contain a QR code that when it is scanned your test results and all the required details of it (test date, type test, test result, time of result, etc.) are downloaded to RCL's system. I can't speak in detail about this issue but QR codes can be squirrely meaning the scanning device and associated software may not be able to read the QR code. I know this is an issue between countries in Europe. I've not heard that it is an issue between testing labs/clinics that produce a digital QR code containing test results and cruise lines that scan them. But for that reason, I try to carry a hard copy. If, in your case you can't print out a hard copy from your phone try this: on your phone, download the digital report as a.jpg file (there will be some kind of app installed on your phone or your phones browser to do that. Then email that file to yourself. If you have access to a PC connected to a printer (e.g. at home or office) open your email and print the attachment. Voila. Another option: return to the test center at the airport and ask them to print a copy of the results ...... that may be your best bet as I get from your post that you're traveling and won't be around a PC connected to a printer. Also airports have business centers. You may be able to access one of these and get to a PC that's connected to a printer. I'd say the chances of your digital AG test result on your phone working fine are high with only a minimal risk that it won't. Go with what you're comparable with.

Blood etoh levels (alcohol concentration in the blood) and the detection of the specific proteins associated with SARS2 infection (COVID) are not related in any way. Nor is a COVID test going to detect you are over the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle. Just in case you are worried about that.

Good catch ...... even though the proctored AG tests (e.g. Abbott's Binax Now among others) are considered reliable indicators of a COVID infection if present, the data suggests that a trained health care provider administering the test and having it read by that trained provider is a step up in reliability form the process available through a proctored AG test. My take is that this is hair splitting but it is what it is. I can't speak for other areas but testing provided by clinics within a pharmacy in south FL are easily accessible, have competent nurse practitioners who administer rapid AG tests and read and record the test results. You'll walk out with a print copy of the test results that meet CDC and FL State authority's requirements for reporting results. I recommend the U of Miami clinics associated with Walgreens pharmacies. You can call U Miami clinics directly, talk to a human and schedule a rapid AG test at a Walgreens that works for you. Good luck. We've got this.

Some facts on this phenomena: Your vestibular apparatus - the semicircular canals in your skull and on both sides of your head - send signals to your cerebellum at the base of your brain responsible for collating all of your sensory inputs to keep you upright. Perseveration is the term used to describe the continuance of input from your vestibular apparatus to the cerebellum even when you're not actually experiencing them (e.g., the rocking motion of the ship you were on yesterday and are off of it today). You can shortcut the sensation of continuing motion you're experiencing after debarkation by taking OTC Meclizine (Bonine). Preferred to Benadryl because Meclizine has less sedative affects than Benadryl or you can just wait it out.

Packing like you suggest is a really good idea. In all our travels, we've not lost or had a bag delayed yet (knock on wood). My bags have taken a beating. Maybe 6 or so years ago I bought a set of Samsonite Soft Sided Spinner luggage. It's as light (the material has carbon fibers interwoven) as the hard sided stuff. It was expensive but aside from one of the zipper pulls coming off (easily replaced) it has held up remarkably well considering what beatings bags go through. I also prefer the durability of soft sided luggage. When the light weight, hard sided luggage first came out, I tried it and in about 6 months I had holes/tears in the sides. I 've found the low cost stuff you find all over that the frames break down and they just doesn't last but maybe a couple of years if you travel a lot on an annual basis. IOW, you get what you pay for. But thanks for that great packing tip. Never thought of it.

I've heard members here complaining about RCL's IT Department. I'm pretty sure that Celebrity uses the same frame work for it's APP. I have a cruise departing Port Everglades aboard Equinox on December 10th. I uploaded photos of our CDC vaccination cards on Thursday of last week. After reading this thread and out of curiosity, I opened the Celebrity App. The message that said "validating your vaccination record" after I uploaded the photos is gone and replaced by a green "your all set." TBF, my cruise is just over two weeks away. It may be how quickly your vax record is "validated" is based on how far off your cruise is.

I stand by my "screw RCL's" use of Optum although I regret the use of the term "screw." One can parse the numbers but the more reliable vendor of rapid at home AG tests offering the best value is probably not RCL's Optum. It may or may not be an accurate position to say RCL wanted to use the purchase of rapid AG tests via Optum as a revenue stream. That's becasue we have no idea, at least I don't, what the contractual arrangements are between RCL and Optum. But knowing what I know about corporations and RCL in general, they're not looking for the best deal for their guests but rather to optimize profit margins in a very difficult time to do that - IOW, anything helps. Ask yourself why would RCL offer one single vendor and set up a link at the RCL web site to that vendor instead of providing a list of the many vendors out there offering the Abbot Binax Now test kits if there wasn't some kind of contractual stipulation that RCL will derive some benefit ?

That's exactly what this is about. It's not about increased numbers of guests needing more time. That's not a problem now, even with the requirement to arrive only at your scheduled arrival time and won't be a problem going forward. My take is, once you've boarded, who cares whether your departure time is at 4, 5, 6 or whatever. More over, what's driving how many guests can be accommodated is crew staffing. Many Asian crews have been vaccinated in their home country but not with the approved vaccines required for entry to the US. Sinopharm is popular in Asia but it's not approved in the US. I'm told that laid off crew in the South East Asian region, e.g. Thailand, Philippines, can't get AZ, Pfizer, Moderna or J&J vaccines because the Chinese demanded sole rights to distribute in delivery contracts. Apparently this is a pretty big problem for the lines - getting crew legally into the US. That's not going to end anytime soon. There are a lot of frustrated and laid off crew who are itching to get back to work and shipboard duty save for having been vaccinated with US approved vaccines. The processes, for example, to obtain waivers (seems sensible), bring crew in, administer appropriate vaccines, accomplish the quarantine and testing routines is complicated by politics and varying PH protocols in the countries involved. I'm told by experienced staff that what seems as the simplest solution - take the approved vaccines to the crew you want back - isn't going to happen because corporate is taking the position they won't do that. It's not a cost or logistics issue, it's conflicting medical standards between countries, vaccine politics and the costly red tape to get something like that off the ground.

I heard back from both my tour guide in Barbados and the company I booked with (Tours by Locals) and the tour my guide runs is not "Government Approved." So, in most cases, it appears if you sailing Celebrity, Barbados can not be visited on your own. Ship Excursions only. Having said that, check with the line you are cruising with. This may not be applicable to all lines and keep checking. This is a fast moving ball game.

Personally, I don't have a problem with not getting off in any Caribbean port while on a Caribbean itinerary cruise. Destinations are not the primary reason I cruise the Caribbean annd I do so frequently sometimes spur of th moment as I live about 15 minutes from Prot everglades - $10 Uber or Lyft ride. TBF to Celebrity (and probably RCL) when I took my first Caribbean cruise on Equinox the week after Edge became the first cruise ship to make a revenue sailing from Fort Lauderdale, I think there was only one port (Coz) we could explore on our own and that changed the day before we got there (could still cycle through the port stores just couldn't go out in town). The rest were ship sponsored excursions only. I booked two and they were surprisingly good - the largest one had 22 guests, the other 12. Quality guides and great tour. Besides that both of them were under $100pp - I think they were like $65. My advise, especially if you love to cruise and have been to Caribbean ports once is to roll with it. Things change day to day. If you think exploration of a port on your own is green-lighted and you book a private tour on your own and you subsequently learn things changed and that port is now restricted, cancel the private tour (most will offer full refunds) and take a look at what the Excursions Desk is offering or stay aboard and take in a movie.

First, get the EMed proctored AG tests direct from EMed - the 6pk costs $150. I ordered mine on their web site and they were delivered in 3 days - no charge. You can pay to get them overnight. Download the Navica App to your phone. Abbot and EMed - the makers of the BInaxNow AG tests (both types - non-proctored and proctored) and the lab Abbot selected to officially result AG tests - have partnered with Navica to provide a means for you to present either a digital QR code or hard copy letter as proof of proctored AG testing. I've used them for boarding Celebrity Millennium out of Fort Lauderdale last week without any problems. IOW, no question they were acceptable proof of a negative test. Second, the expiration date on the test kit box (only one test in the proctored kit, two in the self test) has probably been extended. I don't have the link but if you Google expiration date extension for Abbot Binax Now test kits, you'll find a letter from Abbot (check to make sure it's the most recent letter, there are several) that shows the extended expiration date for the test kits by product number (also on the box). The ones I bought in July, had an expiration date in October but was extended until February 2022. I carried that letter with me when I boarded Millennium just in case. Didn't need it then but will carry it again in December when I board Equinox and in February, 2022 when I board Reflection. Also, besides your digital proof that will reside in the Navica App (easy to use) you'll get an email from EMed Labs that will have an attachment containing a letter that is a hard-copy of your test results with all the required information on it. Download it to your PC and print it. Carry that just incase your phone or internet connection poops out when someone is asking for your test results in the terminal on boarding. Finally, the Binax Now unproctored AG tests, although they can't be used for poof of COVID testing to board a cruise ship can be used, for example, as a screening tool for upcoming holiday gatherings with family or friends. It may sound like overkill to some but surveillance testing of attendees to large family gatherings, especially if there are vulnerable, at risk family members attending, is a good way to make sure you won't become one of those super-spreader events. Even if you can get some but not everyone to get the tests (in FL, I see plenty of them in CVS and Walgreens and are about $23 for two tests), its a good step in mitigating spread. Finally, screw RCL for charging more for these tests than you can get commercially and direct from EMed.

Well, this is pretty simple. I will cancel my privately booked tour in Barbados if I need a PCR test within three days of entry to get outside the terminal and meet my tour guide. No big deal...... except my tour guide loses income and continues to struggle financially. What's frustrating is the differences among country's entrance requirements pertaining to the pandemic. Not just in the Caribbean, although it is particularly stupid in this small region, but just about anywhere on earth that might be considered a tourist destination. This isn't hard. If you're vaccinated and can prove it your risk of spreading SARS2 to Barbadian locals is so low that the benefits to the tourist trades by allowing visitors meeting specific vaccination requirements to enter outweighs any disadvantages or risks to the local health care system even though it may by record be unable to cope safely and within its resources with a serious outbreak. The Caribbean Islands have a health consortium that can review the data and establish uniform and sensible travel rules in the post pandemic period (where we actually are now) for it's membership. Why can I visit Tortola or Antigua virtually unrestricted but have to show proof that I'm not infected with SARS2 to visit Barbados. Insanity. OK, done with rant ..... but it made me feel better.