peacefrogdog

6 hours ago, Jax said:

this! There is no end in sight to this control; you could put off your upcoming cruise only to be faced with more restrictions.  Canada’s healthcare system has failed to build capacity to deal with Covid related hospitalizations throughout all 4 of the waves; giving government the justification for continued lockdowns and restrictions.  Sadly,  I don’t see anything changing going forward. 

Unrealistic to expect hospitals to raise capacity the past two years when provinces can't afford to hire more staff let alone build new hospitals or ICU's.  The capacity of Canada's public system can't be built up at all without significantly raising taxes!  This is not to say that there isn't wastage of health care spending because there certainly is. But not enough to build new hospitals. 

I think someone, not sure who, has to make a call and decide that we as a society should approach COVID like we deal with the flu every year. Unfortunately some people do get sick and pass away from the flu every year, but we don't shut down society due to the flu - we just aim to prevent its impact.  Aiming to completely limit spread of COVID is not realistic.  Hopefully getting boosters will limit the likelihood that even as we get it, we don't get sick , most importantly those at highest risk.

How far is the walk from South Beach to the central part of the island where the Skipper Grill is located?

Anyone else still waiting for their reservations to be transferred? 

My sept 22-29/22 Allure cruise is still showing up as cancelled on my dashboard. Although my TA had sent an email saying we were being moved to Wonder - would be nice to actually see it in our account.

Appreciated. Sounds like the question is how do-able this will be during COVID times.

Have a cruise booked on Mariner and travelling with one of my son's friends who has celiac disease.  I've read all teh posts showing the different GF options available in the MDR. I've also read that the Windjammer had a separate gluten-free section, that Sorrentos' can make GF pizze, CocoCay has GF burger buns and corn-based tortillas, and that in general the MDR staff is very accomodating.

My questions are: 

1. Especially to those who have sailed on Mariner very recently:  since cruises started re-sailing, have their been any changes to the availability of GF options?  I'm wondering specifically whether there have been any changes to Windjammer in relation to the availability of GF options.

2.  If anyone has recent pictures of MDR menus that would be greatly appreciated.

3. Does the Dog house have GF options for buns?

On 9/15/2021 at 8:42 PM, TonyYOW said:

This is exactly what I was going to do for my cruise on the 27th. Rapid test at Shoppers drug Mart on Saturday evening (40 bucks, takes 15 minutes), fly in on Sunday, cruise is on Monday. 

Now I'm just wondering whether RC provides a complimentary PCR at the end of the cruise. 

Tony: after your test on the 25th, can you update us on the type of documentation Shopper's provides you and what type of antigen testing they do?

On 9/16/2021 at 8:18 AM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Yes.  The concierge on Allure confirmed that they would provide testing for those who needed it to return to another country.

Do you have to be a concierge level guest to get the testing on board?

On 9/15/2021 at 7:34 PM, smokeybandit said:

I wonder what the difference is between the PanBIO test and the American Abbott antigen tests. Maybe not anything other than a different name for non-American markets

I'm wondering that myself.  Doing a quick google, the PanBIO doesn't seem to be mentioned as being available in the US which tends to reference the Abbot ID NOW test. However the two tests look to be different, so I don't think it is just a naming thing for different countries.  This is why I want to be as sure as possible that Royal will accept the results of the PanBIO test that Shopper's offers.

On 9/8/2021 at 4:13 PM, Eggbert said:

My wife and I are booked on the Allure for Dec. We will get our test at Shopper's on Wednesday, fly Thursday, and board the ship on Friday. Not sure yet how to arrange the return test - that has to be a PCR for our return to Canada, whereas we only need the antigen screen to fly and board outbound. Any suggestions or experiences would be welcome.

Were you able to find out for sure whether Royal accepts the rapid antigen test at Shopper's?  I understand it is the Abbott PanBIO one.

My friend owns a Shopper's Drug Mart and said that they offer the Abbott PanBIO rapid antigen test that is administered by one of their staff/technicians. 

The RC website states:

• Any Abbott brand test administered on site by a pharmacy technician or other health professional is accepted. This includes the common Abbot ID NOW test administered by many pharmacies. The test provider must provide you with a proper results document (no handwritten notes).

The way it is worded, it certainly seems like this should fit RC's requirements for a test. However I would feel more secure if someone from Royal explicitly stated that they will accept the results of the  Abbot PanBIO test.   My nightmare is to assume this , only to get to the port and be denied boarding because of a technicality or something specific to do with Canada.

If this doesn't workout, my backup plan is to get a PCR test at the airport a couple days before, but I'd rather not have to pay that much!

Hoping to book either a floating or beach cabana in CocoCay Beach Club as part of a delayed graduation gift for my daughter.  However, it needs to fit within our budget which makes me a bit pessimistic because the two cruises we have booked are during prime sailing seasons (post Xmas 2021 and July 2022) and it looks like the days we are there there will be another cruise ship present (for Dec we are sailing on Indy, mariner is docked at the same time. For July we are sailing Mariner, Symphony (!) is docked).

What has been the best price people have seen for either of these two cabanas?  If you recall how far before the sailing you saw it, and the month of your cruise that would be great to help us predict whether it is likely to get a lower rate.

update: our TA got them to agree to switch us to the VP suite at the same price they were offering the GS.

I guess if they were willing to charge us more to get our originally booked VP  back, they figure they can charge even more to resell the GS we just gave up.

Now just need the COVID vaccine stars to align.

Update - we waitlisted to be put on a VP suite. They got back to us today to say a VP was available, but they want to charge us $1800 more to effectively move 'down' from a GS to a VP.  Crazy on so many levels. My TA is looking into this to see if they can just move us at the same price point, given all we are asking is to be in the original VP suite that we originally booked.

Thanks all - have asked them to put us on a waitlist for the VP. Great idea.

It is clear royal won't 'give' us anything, and even doing a search for either balconies or the interiors near where the GS are located show they are currently not bookable (presumably because they're already booked, unless they are on hold for something)

In my situation, every RCI rep has said 5 in the GS is totally fine and that they will provide the roll-away no problem.
What I meant about RCI not caring about fitting 5 comfortably is that the with the rollaway there, there isn't much walking space, there is only one bathroom etc. I.e. they don't care enough about all the concerns raised here about a GS not being comfortable for 5 (even with the roll away) to be a good reason to give us a complimentary upgrade to an owner's suite.

Thus far, through my TA we have: 1) inquired, and was outrite denied the next step up (Owner's suite), 2) said we will cancel our cruise if not upgraded, to which RCI said the GS is already an upgrade to VP (in financial terms only) and that they are already giving us the more expensive suite at the rate of a VP, as well as have allowed us to keep our refundable deposit despite being in the GS. My TA has talked to 5 different RCI reps so far.

RCI seemingly doesn't care that the GS may not fit 5 comfortably as long as we pay. 

We are only Platinum level in C&A Society, so have little pull there.

Other than continue to ask/threaten cancelling, anyone have other practical tips that would actually help us get  RCI to give us a more suitable room? 

update: My TA just got confirmation from RCI in line what everyone here thought:

1. there are no, nor will there be, pullman's in the GS.  

2. No one in RCI can explain why the deck plans show pullmans.

Are Navigator's sofa beds the ones that fold flat like a futon? Or ones more like a trundle bed?

50 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Maybe they added the pullman indicator to include rooms where the rollaway is also an option which would explain the loft suites getting it. 

I can't see how 5 adults in a GS is going to be comfortable at all, though.

Their Twitter feed is saying this as well.  

Very misleading!

If we do this, we would be just using the GS to sleep. Hoping to spend most of our time then in the CL lounge and other areas. I'm actually more concerned about fitting 2 on the sofabed. 

I'll keep checking the deck plans to see if they change. In the meantime, at least they've protected our refundable deposits even though we are now in a GS so I have until March 2021 to decide whether to cancel.

Found this post regarding the GS on the Allure, with the rollaway in there.  But no pullman:

Here is what I see when I try to do a dummy booking.  1278 did have a * beside it before it got assigned to me.

Appreciate everyone's thoughts and interpretation about this.

Through my TA, RC has flat out said no to a OS , and a 2-BR GS is not available on that sailing. The only offered us the option to pay an additional 1600 to upgrade to a OS. However, we currently have a refundable deposit registered (that RC agreed to allow us to carry over from our VP suite, even though typically GS are only booked using a non-refundable deposit). With still some uncertainty about COVID and the availability of a vaccine by then, not to mention not knowing how strict my country (Canada) will be regarding travel to the US by then, having the deposit remain refundable is important to us.

My TA also spoke with 3 different RCI reps who each said there is definitely a pullman in 1278. I agree it isn't in the deck plan on the RC website and I too was unable to see any pictures of that cabin nor any GS at all that had a pullman. But when you do a dummy booking, a number of different GS are marked with a * that indicates a "3rd pullman available".