rox

2 swings and 2 misses !

Good news !!  All of the electronic poker tables are now GONE !

Yup. 
 
it’s part of my attire at this point 

I have to wear a mask walking across a large, deserted parking lot when going to work at 3 am and when alone in a cooler breaking down pallets of 75+ lb boxes. 
 
Wearing one on vacation won’t bother me in the least. 

New CDC ruling makes wearing a mask during the entire cruise mandatory....  Even if you're on deck with no one near you, it would appear.
At what point do the restrictions and limitations outweigh the fun and relaxation of cruising? 
I'm starting to think that even if the major lines get cruises going in July, the cruises will probably be fairly dystopian. Maybe short runs to Coco Key or Labadee? 
What do you think? How drastic do the limitations have to be for you to decide to wait 6 - 12 more months?
 

We will be sailing with Royal Caribbean for the first time next year. We decided to go big and book a Star Class room!!!
I've read a lot of posts about the experience and we are really excited!!  I have a couple of questions I couldn't find answers to.
On embarkation day, can you have lunch ordered/served in your cabin?  At the ports of call, how is the boarding handled? Is there a priority line?

Sorry to hijack the post but does SC get you to the front of the line on slides, carousel, and wall climbs?  Similar to Disney FP?  
 
BTW, I loved the trip report by lovetocruise2002. Thank you. 

Totally depends on the ship.  Different food and beverage managers have different rules when it comes to embarkation day food delivery.  As much as your Genie wants you to be happy, they have to follow rules as well.
Other than embarkation day boarding, there is not a dedicated Star Class line ports of call.  People return to the ship at all different times at a port of call, there is usually not much of a wait.  In the odd situation that there is a crowd, some Genies have been known to meet their guests at the gangway for a faster boarding.  @WAAAYTOOO had an experience like this but again, it's an extreme situation, out of the ordinary.  
I blogged about our first time on SC here if you want more info: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/10695-“i-dream-of-genie”-–-star-class-harmony-of-the-seas-–-031019-031719/
Most important thing to keep in mind is that with all the info out there, it's very easy to fall into the trap where you want to replicate someone else's experience.  The basics of SC is the same from ship to ship, but the smaller details are not consistent unfortunately.  What can be done on one ship, may not be able to be done on another.  That leads to disappointment for some people, and it's directed to the Genie most often.
 

How does one join the poker tournaments on board the ship? I can only see the "final" on the cruise compass.

Grandeur is next.  

Michael Bayley just announced the retirement of Empress of the Seas and Majesty of the seas will be leaving the fleet.  I wonder if Vision of the Seas is next?

Sad news. Got a C&A newsletter email today with the following:
Serious bummer, I had wanted to sail Empress on one of her 7-night Bermuda or the CA/NE sailing that goes all the way down to Montreal before she got retired from the fleet.

I just won a satellite tournament on the Allure last week and won a Cruise on the Oasis in November 2020 as well as a seat in the Royal Poker Finals tournament on the Oasis.

Welcome to the boards!  I have a cruise in December as well - I too wish they would make an announcement already as I have to re-allocate those 10 vacation days to be used before the end of the year.  Normally I'd just take them off anyway, but 10 days at home in a row doing nothing (not including the weekends) would drive me bonkers!  ? 

I do not expect any sailings in December to actually happen, to be honest.  I think it may take time to get everything through the approvals and such.  Maybe some of the 3-4 nighters from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale will happen first.  Jut speculation though.

You can try contacting Royal Caribbean directly (as this is just a fan board) to see if they can offer you any ideas on when notifications are coming.  My cruise is just over 30 days out and not a peep...

I feel there will be an announcement this week. There are many people that need to make or cancel flights for Dec sailings. We have one Dec 12 out of Miami on Symphony and never purchased flights since they would only offer future flight credit if we canceled. Regardless, even as bad as we would like to cruise again, we are not sailing until some of the restrictions are lifted. 

When will RCL let the current passengers know if their Dec 2020 Galveston cruise has been canx?? So that there is enough time to make arrangements for air and hotel room canx!!

Yes, it's possible.  Up until last year that's always how we traveled to ports, because my husband is very afraid to fly.  We live in Minnesota and we drove to Seattle, Vancouver, and Boston.  But it's a 2 day trip each way to ANY port for us, so it adds 4 days to our PTO, which is why we only did it every couple of years.  PTO goes fast when each day is 10 hours, lol.   It also adds 4 days of pet sitting fees, so we'd prefer to not do that anymore.  It'd be tough just for those reasons, but I guess it wouldn't be out of the question.

This question depends on where you live, but with the pandemic, once cruises start up again, will you drive to your departure port instead of flying?  We are in Ontario.  I have a bad back, which means that I can't sit for long, so would not be able to handle a drive to a Florida departure port.  And before, I wouldn't consider driving to New Jersey (8-10 hr drive...vs a 1.5 hr flight).  But with the pandemic, I am thinking thinking we do the drive to New Jersey to avoid airports.  We would still need a hotel for a night though to split up the drive and would need to do many stops.  Both our August cruise and our December cruise are out of this port.  March is out of Port Canaveral so no choice there.
What about others?  Will you drive until this goes away to avoid flying?  And if so, how long is your drive?

Congratulations !  What’s the date of the RPT sailing on Oasis in 2020 ?  We are on Oasis on 6 Dec 2020.  Hadn’t even thought about the fact that it might be a poker cruise !  Matter of fact, we are on Oasis THIS year Dec 1.

I’m so glad that I went with MEI back last October. I had always booked direct but we’re doing a bucket list cruise next year to the Med and I needed an experienced TA for all that it entails. 
 
I use Sharla and she’s been great. We had a symphony cancelled in May and took the FCC and OBC. Rebooked for October which is now cancelled. She got our OBC reissued and FCC applied to next May symphony. 
 
Highly recommend! 

I have never used an MEI TA, but based on what I've seen posted on this site the answer to your question about an MEI TA to recommend is:
YES!
They're all that good.

I highly recommend @Sharla. She is always responsive and personable. She answers inquiry and requests in record time. I totally jive with her. My many specific requests and criteria don't seem to phase her one bit. Her knowledge has saved me money. She price checks and sends emails with savings when successful. 
706 742 5358
SharlaM@ MEI-travel.com 
 

Location no longer matters when dealing with a TA since most no longer operate out of a physical location.  They will respond to phone calls, emails, texts, etc, whatever is the most comfortable way for you to communicate.  I'm sure others will chime in with their specific MEI TA recommendations, but you will find that any of the ones that you would be assigned to from the Get A Free Quote sidebar on the main page of the blog should be very well versed in Royal Caribbean cruising.  You aren't married to a specific TA.  If you don't happen to jive with one for any reason, you can always choose to go with a different one.

Agreed that location doesn't mater.  I've had two agents at MEI one in FL and one in VA while I'm in MA and they were both responsive and very helpful.  I highly recommend Michelle over there she's great!

Hello all,
After booking many cruises on my own, I have sen the errors in my way. It seems like many of you have had nothing but good things to say about your MEI TA. With that in mind, even though I am sure all of them are great, is there one that you recommend? Does location matter? If so, I am located in Virginia.
I am wanting to book  my first ever Alaska cruise for 2022 and want to make sure I do it right and get whatever help I will need since I'm a newbie to the Alaska cruises.
 
Thanks all!
Carlos