MuttMutt

Ok for those impacted by the recent sailings being canceled you can get a 125% onboard credit but you have to make the request by December 16th. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/until-when-can-i-request-the-onboard-cruise-credit is the information and https://rcgpcpoffer.questionpro.com/ is the link to make the onboard credit request. Otherwise the cost of the excursions will be returned to the original payment.

Yep, not that I didn't expect it. Now the question is how do I get the excursions rolled into the 125% credit... Already canceled the rooms for the trip down to the port.

Fully expect this and possibly longer. The only bad thing is it feels like things are being strung along too much. If the CDC had just said, "Hey we are going to shut it down for the next 12 months," the lines would have done more of a cold storage of the ships and saved some cash and people wouldn't be sitting in limbo wondering what is going to happen. I think most of the lines still have the same plans to cancel the majority of stuff till at least May and figured that when I booked my 5 day. The plan currently is to roll it into a 6 day in mid May and see what happens then. If it is canceled as well then December is probably going to end up being a 7 night, but if things work out the way I hope while on the 6 night I will probably do the 7 night in December anyway. And I understand why the lines are not shutting things down either. They are still getting bookings for stuff and they are then able to kick the empty can down the road a little and still have enough cash to keep the fleet going and stay in the black. Say things are good by May, the extra 25% that people earned is a drop in the bucket when things get rolling again and they can easily offset that with small price increases and a few less sales or reduced sale amounts later on. At this point unless the CDC comes in and shuts things down for at least 12 to 18 months there is no reason to start mothballing stuff yet due to the costs associated with doing so and then taking the ships out of that state. It's just all a little frustrating but I am sure they are also getting some work done on things they didn't expect to do until later on down the road too. So the ships should be in good shape and look pristine when they get back to it.

Awesome. Thank you very much. I finally feel complete now that the mutt picture is up... sorry I'm a geek. Lol. My gaming channel has a similar mutt picture.

LOL, I am in the same boat... So to speak.

For the PADI fees part sure I can see that being covered but worth the wildly varying fees and such between shops I can't see being able to do it for 100% free. I guess it's something to ask a shop though.

Yeah, I wish I had a dry suit on my last dive. 60 degree water and I hate to think what was in there for sure. I helped a little while 3 vehicles were pulled out of the Missouri River just down from Kansas City. I was looking at the map yesterday and cringed. Their "water treatment(sewer)" plant was just up river. No wonder the muck near the shore was so foul. But hey, pulled a 80's Chevy Cavalier out that had been in the water since the early 90's, a Pontiac Fiero that was dumped around the early 90's as well and a Chevy 1500 club cab pickup that was from around 2000. In some of my home lakes I go on trash patrol's and clean up can's and stuff that have been in the water since the 70's and anything else I come across and can bring up.

It really depends on where you are at and the time of year for doing the training dives. A lot of people choose to do the pool and classwork (even though it's mostly online) at their local shop and then do a referral so they can do the open water dives wherever. It ends up costing a little bit more but you will have nice water to do it in. My certification in Oklahoma was in a pond that was about 25 feet deep. Basically just deep enough that you really need to worry about equalizing and buoyancy control. Cost was around 350 at that shop and the only rental was mask, snorkel and fins which they will give you a credit for if you purchase gear through them. Personally I would just buy a set of fins on Amazon along with a decent glass lensed mask and snorkel before class. You just have to make sure that the fins are for SCUBA and not snorkeling or freediving which can be a pain. I am also of a different mindset for gear than most people, I have rebuilt a ScubaPro MK5 and 109 that I put on a pony bottle as well as a MK20 and a G250 that I use for my main stuff and working on my Gen 4 Air2 right now, I get TONS of flack about it because it's "life support" equipment. I can work on hydraulic systems and not have leaks or issues and have done much more intricate and dangerous things as well, a regulator is basically a hydraulic system and tearing it down give me a huge understanding advantage over someone else because I KNOW how it functions. An advantage of doing the pool work and certification at home is that if you have difficulty with things like equalizing or using the gear you will be able to try again until you get it right. PADI has a do it till you pass successfully program. If you are on a ship you will be more stressed to try and complete things and then if you have a problem you may have to take another cruise to be able to complete things. I was doing advanced certification in Jamaica and there was a young lady doing open water certification who had issues equalizing and spent most of her time on a boat while her boyfriend did dives alone. Once you pay someone for training you are more than likely not going to get a refund but can "come back any time" to try again. Not saying this to scare anyone but it's something to think about. At the very least doing the pool work at home is worth it just because of that. But if I had the opportunity to do things again I may have opted to take a trip to an island and do my actual open water dives at full depth in the ocean instead of in a pond. The advantage I have had though is I am not afraid to get into low visibility water either. Over the summer I was doing lake cleanup in Ardmore, OK at lake Murray and vis is often just about 6 to 8 feet. Some people will have a hard time switching between low vis and high vis dives without some practice. But I have to agree that booking a cheap inside room and not much else is a good idea if you are going to do the certification on board. And get all the online classwork done as far in advance as possible and be sure to go over everything right before the trip and possibly during while you are getting some down time. BTW I have all the offline english training video's if someone wanted to watch them on their own. Just PM me for info if you are interested.

Very cool. Would be awesome to see sometime. Then again I would love to go into the hall and be there during the building process as well. The best thing I will get to see is the SV Seeker launch which should be sometime next year. If you haven't heard of it this guy in Tulsa, OK is building a 74 ft long boat in his front yard. Bolted the anodes on it myself last week.

Servers are probably pretty heavily loaded and I know they have been making backend changes as well for the apps and checking in and such. My guess is the IT guys need to spin up another server and offload some of the work for a few things. It's been worse now that people are trying to do black Friday shopping as well as the regular stuff. If they cancel out till March or April I think it will get a lot worse for a couple weeks with a chunk shopping for a new cruise and another chunk clambering for cash back.

You can go look in your purchase history and see what you paid previously. You will have to look through and expand the purchase you made to see exactly what you paid at that point. This will all be in your trip planner section. Can't help more right now since my internet is having issues and can't log in properly.

Dives on Adventure of the Seas for Feb 5th 2021 are more than I already paid. Internet access is the same as has been shown previously, same for the unlimited onboard dining, and the drink package. Overall not impressed but no different than I expected.

Just tried on my tablet (android) with Brave browser which is based on chrome and it comes up though logging in is broken.

I am wondering if these things will survive a couple atmosphere's of water pressure. Most of the ports I end up in the water and that would be a major advantage for me instead of carrying a dry bag I could just keep it on me. When I was in Jamaica the place I was staying at had a simple traditional key and it ended up going 98 feet under water with me without issue. Got back and told them they should frame that one since it was a very well traveled key. When I dive at home I generally lock my stuff in my pickup and then lock the keys in my toolbox and take the toolbox key with me while under water, only thing I worry about is losing it but it's a minor thing, I use a simple chain link to hold it onto my BCD.

If I was running the show the first thing I would do is cancel anything sailing directly from the US. Then start working to start cruising from ports that are not in the US. I am sure that there are enough people who are willing to fly to another country and then get on a ship. As long as they do it smart they can at least start making a few bucks and show they can do things safely. As far as how it's all going, looks like the CDC is going to cancel everything they can and some people in congress want to see it happen for as long as possible. If the CDC is going to cancel ships they should look at grounding the airplanes as well as all other public transportation while they are at it.

Yeah, looks like I was correct and not long after they made an announcement either a lawyer or the CDC themselves made contact and said it doesn't work that way. I am also guessing they will probably prioritize Crown and Anchor members over general public. Why do I say this, well if you have been on a cruise with them you know some of how things work and are less likely to do things that will cause issues.

I thought the cdc was not allowing employees to act as volunteers because of the employment tie. It's kinda hard to be a volunteer when you are volunteering for whomever writes your paycheck. All the "pick me" people are a pain but I think the cdc will have the final ruling on that decision.

Well in a way I was able to check in. Or at least it said I was done. The app still fails but the website processed through late last night. Was not able to pick a check in time but only my check in is complete and my companions is not yet. The final page does have some interesting information though.

True but it could be similar to other viruses where it may take a couple exposures to stick. From my perusing information all of the vaccines require multiple doses to be effective. After that point it should be at the very least a short mild illness or complete prevention.

Didn't buy the drink package on my first cruise. Honestly I am not a big drinker to begin with and with the things that were happening in my life at that point I don't think it was a great idea. I did carry my insulated drink container and the staff had no issue filling it up for me at meals. Hopefully even with the new protocols they can do that for me on the next one.

Well technically there are two ways to inoculate with a virus. One is exposure and the other is through a vaccine. For thousands of years it was all done with exposure. But I do hope that an effective vaccine is released and readily available. The readily available is the part I think is going to surprise most people as it will be going to lawmakers and people in places of power along with healthcare workers and first responders before the rest of us.

I believe December 2020 so no check in is available... https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/11/03/cruise-industry-announces-it-will-extend-voluntary-suspension-of-cruises-through-december

So check in window opened up and I tried to get started. Have my passport information and such and the person I am planning to go with is waiting on hers to show up. Put my info in and trying to go past the initial screen it fails on the app though my information is there and saved for the next time. Going online just fails before I can do anything. Wondering if this is due to only one person having their information in, current issues with their system, or possibly the plan to cancel so why take the information. Another note the deck maps are currently "unavailable" in the app. This is all for Adventure of the seas. Anyway is anyone else having the same issue or issues? Haven't looked at other ships for the deck maps. But wanted to at least get partially checked in so I could get a time slot.

It's one of those things. You have to ask yourself if it's worth the fine or not. I think it runs like 3.00 per bottle for the taxes and sadly it's a PITA to try and ship and get around it. However if it's in a bag the odds are they are not going to stop and search you either. It's also an American pastime in a lot of ways, figuring out a way to stick it to the tax man. When I went they had the table and made it all look imposing and such, many people walked past and said "Nope." I do know that I am really looking at a bottle of Vanilla Tequila from the port in Cozumel. Tried a little bit when I was there before and people in the US would be using it to bake with IMHO, it is also thick and nearly a syrup. Was good stuff for sure but quite expensive so only for sipping. And if you share it with someone and they toss it back like a shot you smack them on the head and charge them ten bucks for the next one. A 250ml bottle is about 50.00 US and in a shop right in the port.

Exactly, make the trip at your own pace. Can head there when the weather is good and take some time. Cruise's are nice for some places that are a little smaller and for a quick chance to test things out then go for a longer trip later on. My first cruise I actually dropped off some bags in Jamaica so I didn't have to pay to transport them on a plane. I was in Jamaica for two weeks a couple months later and did my advanced open water certifications while I spent some time just knocking around MoBay. There were a few days where I spent most of the day just chilling on a hammock.