MuttMutt

I would say no since we are able to use tests that are administered at home. I highly doubt there is much certification happening there.

No you can not turn the otc tests into proctored tests through emed or anything else. You MAY be able to go to a physician and use them their and get then to give you written results that are typed up on office letterhead but there is no guarantee that will allow you to board the ship. I have speculated on this for a while. But you will need to do all the legwork to find out. And the results can NOT be hand written. They must be typed. Otherwise you have tests that will work for your own information.

This we already pretty much knew before the tests were available. These are no different than the ones you can get over the counter at the big box stores. They give the user some information if they test but it's worthless outside of that.

Tests showed up finally. I think around 2 weeks for us in the Oklahoma area. For those wondering I took pictures of the box with most of the information.

Another issue is that when you do the upgrade through the bidding process you only get the points of your previous category from my understanding. So upgrading from an interior to a balcony isn't a big deal point wise but upgrading to something that would already net you extra points is not as worth it. Can't remember the bonus points for a suite solo but I am thinking it's like 3 or 4 points per day (not including double points from the promotions that were running) where a single room would be 2 points per day. If you are in the points race it's not worth doing a royal up bid.

Might be soon. Not long after my post above she got tracking information that says Saturday is the expected day of delivery. Too bad we are in a major snowstorm right now.

Information updated 2-2-22. We now have guidance on test extensions giving them a 15 month window of validity from their date of manufacture.

My girlfriend ordered some as soon as they were available. Nothing happening yet but I am in a small town about 40 miles from Tulsa so I am betting they are much more worried about getting people in the bigger cities tests than people living in places similar to me. No big deal either way since they would not be suitable for getting on the ship. I just ordered a set from eMed for the cruises, sadly the shipping went from 18 something to 21 something since my last purchase.

With the cruise with confidence there is information about canceling up till a couple days before the cruise with no penalties and if you are covid positive before the cruise they will give FCC's. But keeping one room and canceling another could be a pain under the same program. If you guys are in the points race it would be worthwhile to just do a solo in each room and then stay together. If you used a TA they should be able to handle things pretty easy. If you booked directly you will need to make calls and wait on hold to get things setup.

One of the issues is the way they were launching the rocket is different than what has done in a while. I believe it was said that this launch corridor hasn't been used since the 60's. The were NOTAM's and NOTMAR's issued but someone dropped the ball. One of the biggest issue's with this launch corridor however is that it basically runs the entire coast. So a ship in port effectively has to sit there till released and anything on the water has to stay around 10 miles away from the coast. It's been mentioned that these are both private companies and are both spending cash to sit around. I think they are going to have to make some way for them both to go about their business and neither one should take a monetary hit.

Should not have an issue streaming to a device from one of the streaming services they have a plan with. There is no limit on the amount of data that can be transferred from what I can tell. Most of mine was uploading but we also watched some video's on YouTube from time to time. And I agree with Jack, unlimited data service plan does not mean they can just connect up to the ships service while at sea and not incur a bill. It's similar to going to another country it would be best to call the cell service provider and get a letter in writing that the time on the ship is covered 100% under their plan and will not incur extra charges for the use. I only mention this because of your niece has unlimited data. If you guys are worried about extra charges on the ship for streaming I would hate for you to have a huge phone bill when you get home.

Almost past Italy now and they still stayed in international waters the whole time. Oh well I am sure they have reasons we don't need to know.

ROFL, well I do not mind dumbing things down quite a bit if someone needs it. But lets just say I am a geek and have a desk crammed full of developement boards, screens, buttons, and a whole host of other geeky stuff. Oh and I don't have cable, in fact haven't for just over 10 years now and for not much longer than that I haven't used streaming services like Netflix. I also watch a ton of TV and Movies. I get to do all that fun stuff because I am a Geek and have a server too, LOL. I am also mostly self taught and dumb things down for my girlfriend and many others at times without issue.

Sometimes you have to just let people fail and be disappointed with the results. It's sad to say but you can't force someone to do something good for themselves. They will either do it or not. If they fail who can they blame? Done it more than a few times and it has worked out. I am still replacing the roof on the house and I told my helper (girlfriends son) that we needed a bunch of shingles moved and that if he did one a day it would be a lot better than doing a whole bunch on one day. He failed to do a little work ahead and had to do a whole lot when I reminded him. I can bet he won't forget the next time.

For internet and some shore stuff the sale that started today seems to have been the best in a long while. Got a dive that was stuck at 125.99 for nearly 6 months and had dropped to 115.99 last week dropped to 102.99 today. Internet is still running higher but my girlfriend wanted to be able to text and talk to her son every day so we splurged a little for 2 device surf and stream and that was at one of the best prices I have seen. I know it's hit and miss sometimes though. It's why it's worthwhile to track prices when new sales pop up to see what a good price range is vs a bad price range. I have seen more than a few things go way up during a sale and then drop afterwards. It's just like everything else in life, you have to be smart about the purchases you make and ready to see if something better pops up.

Looks like they not only avoided the straight but stayed in international waters. Looks like they made a turn to stay out of the territorial waters south of the island. No clue why but I can imagine a few reasons for that especially if they have workers on board finishing a few things up, I can imagine that it can cause issues tax and employment wise for a shipyard worker who might need to fix something here or there while under way. And yes I know RCCL accepted the ship but that doesn't mean it's 100% perfect but if they don't want to delay they can put in a punch list and let work commence while they get a few other things done on their end.

If there is some sort of issue using the proctored test in another country all you have to do is go get a cheap VPN service (sometimes can be found free but I don't know how much I would trust them) or set something up so that you can VPN back to a computer sitting in the US and access the service that way. I use WindScribe for most of my stuff but I was able to get a lifetime on StackSocial for about 100 a couple years ago and others can be found there if you want to look around. Wireguard is what I would recommend for those people setting something up for themselves. Basically install the software on your home computer and make sure that ports are forwarded only for Wireguard in your router then connect up using a phone or something while not in the house (best over wifi from someplace like Walmart or somewhere else with free internet) and make sure it works before you leave out. Wireguard is literally available for everything https://www.wireguard.com/install/ and once a few things are setup it is pretty easy to deal with as there is no true "client" "server" relationship with it. For forwarding ports I suggest looking up your router on https://portforward.com/ and go through the steps.

Looks like they are doing pretty good now. In international waters headed towards their next port.

With kids (especially boys) might i suggest a can of air freshener as well. Never a fun day when the boys are hitting the bathroom and the smell of their visit lingers for an hour, lol.

Not sure about cruise mapper but most of the sites I've seen have vessel tracking pull the data from vessel finder. https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/WONDER-OF-THE-SEAS-IMO-9838345-MMSI-311001033 And the tracking map. https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9838345 Its funny though. Vessel finder will often display data other sites try to charge you for. It was also fun to use on the ship as you could also see other ships nearby and look them up.

I take one of these with me almost everywhere. It will fit a full bottle of wine in it. We actually went off the ship and through the check in process while on a B2B with it full of wine. No one said a thing. It was a good day to say the least. I actually did a livestream after getting back on the ship that day.

So when you want to print something like the set sail pass information I tend to just select the part of the page that i need and then use print selection in the print settings. No other junk just the page with some info amd the Barcode. Another option is to tap print screen on your computer and then open up your favorite graphic or picture editor and then crop this down and resize however you need and then print the resulting image.

You could try making a new email address and see if it can be changed and will go to that one. Not sure about the systems in use but that usually solves the problem.

From my understanding you can get a waiver on the drink package but only by calling in to set it up. I mean say you have someone with an alcohol allergy or someone who is a recovering alcoholic in your cabin. It's hard to force both people to buy a drink package. This is supposed to be on a case by case basis and I'm not sure of the stipulations but a phone call doesn't cost much other than some time. Can't remember where I read about it and it's been a while but there should be a way to not force everyone to have something if one basically can't use it.

They are pretty similar selling the same tests. Some people have had issues here and there with each of them. I have been keeping a bit of information here for others interested in the expiration dates and any issues with shipping.