Old and Lazy

This is my May 3 cruise.  I’m thrilled if Radiance can actually board and sail since they had an issue with an azipod that caused cancellation of last weeks cruise.  

Only 3 more days till Cruise Day and soooo looking forward.  Even if we don’t make it to Labadee. (Seeing lots of “sold out” for many excursions - hhhmm interesting)  It’s going to be a great time.  

Due to the issues that are now going in with MGM, Cesars, and nearly all the Vegas properties, it makes me think of Royal Caribbean.
Based on my Royal IT experience as an end user, is it even fathomable that Royal would have the cyber safe guards to prevent something like this??? Do they have the cash to pay the ransom??? I don’t think anyone of us is optimistic.
 
So as a guy who is sailing next Saturday; my strong advice to anyone with an upcoming cruise, take the time to print out your cruise documents today; it’s just some sheets of paper.
 

I’ll share some personal experience with entry to Canada and American citizens with a past DUI conviction.   My US conviction was in 1997. I finally bit the bullet and applied for a pardon in 2012. My wife and I married in 1999 and she has dual US/Canadian citizenship, so we go there frequently.  Luckily, when I finally applied for a pardon, there was a Canadian Immigration officer at the Calais, ME/St Stephens, NB port of entry who was willing to take the time to walk me through everything.  

I was never asked for any documentation when we cruised to Canada last fall, but I damn sure had it with me.
Disclaimer: My information was current as of 2012.   I would be surprised it it’s gotten any easier.  
 
Imagine getting ready to disembark at a Canadian port for your shore excursion and dealing with this:
On the surface, an American citizen with DUI conviction is prohibited from entering Canada. 
 
If you go to a border crossing with the intent of entering Canada and are not asked, you do not have to volunteer the information, and can go on your merry way.  If asked, and you lie, and the Canadian Immigration does a background check, you will be 100% banned from ever entering, no chance at a waiver or pardon.  If you tell the truth, it’s up to the Immigration officer at the port you are entering at to decide if you should be granted a waiver for that trip only .  I forget what the cost was, but an on the spot waiver will cost you.  If you cross at a port of entry where the Canadian Immigration office is closed, you’re sol.  (Many times we drove a longer distance when going to my in-laws so we would be crossing at a port with 24 hour immigration staff in case I was questioned). 
 
You can petition the Canadian government (federal, not provincial) for a pardon. As I recall, it was $500 Canadian, but I’m not 100% sure as it was a while ago.   The pardon is not guaranteed, and it’s not fast in coming if granted.  It’s quite a process.  

Showing my age here, anyone else remember Paul Harvey?
As you have all been so kind and supportive through the trials and tribulations of my brother’s attempt at his first cruise, wanted to fill you in on the final outcome.
1. Royal refunded port taxes, fees, prepaid gratuities and DPB.
2. AON insurance issued FCCs for 90% of the unrefunded cruise fare.  This was confusing because they issued 2 FCCs but he only received 1.  They are reissuing the 2nd.
3. SWA returned the points used for the cancelled flights and gave them $650 in LUV anytime vouchers.
So in the end he had to eat 10% of the cruise fare ($177 we had a very suite deal) and the cost of the insurance ($148).  We are now looking for another cruise to book. I will take one for the team and go too (the things I do for my brother😄😄).  I won’t ever be able to recreate the deal we had on Harmony but at least he got what I consider reasonable compensation for his ordeal.
Thanks to all here, my RC family! 🥰

Have a cruise in 29 days and still no spa options in the planner.  Going with friends who would like to book some spa activities and have not been able.  Crazy.   

I think I know what it is
 

So far Stepan has been very responsive and e-mailed us back sometimes with in the hour, but no more than the next day.  He did confirm that the Star class WOW bands will be available for our sailing and every request has been granted so far.  (Although we haven't asked for anything too crazy :))
We are now 3 weeks out and getting very excited!
 

We prepay the 18%.
 
 No one expects any single person to pay a crew member’s mortgage, but additional tipping, even a dollar or two, in the aggregate, goes a long way and it’s generally safe to say the crew members appreciate it!
Our rule of thumb is for cash is:
1. $1-2 per alcoholic drink ordered;
2. $1 per visit to a carving station, omelette station, or any other personal service station;
3. $10 to stateroom attendant the first night, then $5 a day, with $10 to $20 on the last day;
4. $2 to $5 for every sit down breakfast or lunch, and $10 per sit down dinner;
5. $20 to $40 per adult per night for casino (we don’t need to go crazy);
6. $10 per day for miscellaneous amenities like sundries;
7. $20 to $30 for shore excursion tipping;
8. $20 to $30 for port day souvenirs;
I always plan $100 a day in cash to cover the above. So for a 7 day trip, $500 to $700 is plenty for us. Now that is the minimum that I take. But keep in mind we prepurchase pretty much everything, so we don’t feel the need to pay much more out of pocket. 
 
Carrying $500 to $700 in loose bills is hefty. We are talking 6 inches of cash. So to help with that, I use $100 at the casino, and try to make change when we can. $50 in singles, and $50 in fives is a good head start.
Always save a little cash for pre-cruise and post-cruise transportation tipping and such.

That "Airmini" sounds great. But, it's between $880.00 and $999.00.  And like you said, insurance, in my case Medicare/Tricare, won't pay for it.  I may start saving my pennies for my wife to get one.  Her Phillips CPAP has been on recall for about a year, she was told not to use it. and we just got an email from Phillips that they are behind (well duh) and it may take up to an additional year to fulfill the recall.  
It's funny how when you are given a sleep study and it's determined that you need a CPAP "IMMEDIATELY", hurry and get it done, they said, hurry you are in danger of a heart attach, they said, hurry your effecting your spouse, they said. 
Now that insurance money isn't involved:
 

I made myself an app for my cruise in Coda: it has my packing list, a countdown, trackers for Small Wonders and my drinks, etc. 
I am very ready to get my day started. My train ride was pleasant — Acela First Class apparently includes a surprisingly good meal and open bar — but because I had no plans for Newark beyond waking up here on embarkation day, I’ve been counting the minutes until it’s reasonable for me to request a Lyft to the port since I exited The Other Penn Station. 
The Royal app now has the activities schedule for the cruise loaded and is allowing me to add things to my calendar, so I’m killing time looking at what will be on offer. Based on what I see in the app and what I’ve heard about the last few Oasis sailings, I’m preparing myself for a trip with neither Aqua 80 nor Cats, but I will survive. (Aqua 80 is a real loss; Cats is just bad in a way I find bonkers and amusing.)
 

Final thoughts…. In one sentence it was a learning experience.  I’m glad we only went 4 days for our first sc royal cruise mainly because I don’t feel bad for waisting all my money and not knowing what to do. I am going to look at this cruise as a training wheels cruise lol! I learned a lot of what not to do. 🙃
Pros. 
Embarkation you get ushered through. We had 9 people so having a genie really helped speed that up. 
The purple card… show your card and you will be treated like royalty. 
Prime seating… best seats in the house baby! 
Specialty dining…. access to any place you want to go. 
We had Yeungling beer that was supposedly not available. Whatever strings he had to pull thank you! 
 
Cons….. 
Despite all the messaging back and forth soo much was not done that was said would be done 
I said “we are foodies we love cheese chocolate and peanut butter. M&ms chips and dip macaroons and soft chocolate chip cookies. these would be great for snacks in the room for when we are hungry. Also late warm bites we like wings seafood and crab bites” 
He responded and said “i will work on this for you.” 
Day 2 and on our table was pretty empty.  We had our drinks but no snacks or food It was this way the entire cruise. We had to call and ask for food if we wanted it. I feel like when there is a family booked with a kid that snacks should be automatic. Maybe someone got them instead of us or something got mixed up in translation.  Other thing I see kids are usually the interest of the genies. Sasha was not. She did not get a gift or anything. No good bye gift or anything like that. Not sure if that is normal that they give gifts or not. I figured with $1000 for a 4 day Sasha would have had something from the genie to remeber him by. I took her shopping to make her feel better. David and I got an anniversary gift. on day 2. I told her not to feel bad and she got over it. 
 We did order room service late one night and then another day we called Nityam and asked if he could bring Sasha some strawberries as they are a favorite and were her special request. I just felt like we shouldn’t have had to be ordering food every day as we had spent soo much time upfront emailing what we wanted and confirming. 
Things on the ship seemed to close early. By 4 and 5 pm outdoor activities seemed to close down. I’m thinking that was for aqua 80. We had to find things to do with our daughter who is a late owl. Oh hey arcade! 😜
My takeaway. Even though it didn’t go as planned… I learned some valuable lessons for our next Star Class cruise. Yes we are going again! I think Star Class can be an amazing experience! We just got “that one cruise” that happens every now and then out of the way 😜 I see soo many blogs of where it was amazing and am totally giving this another try as I know our next one will be amazing.  I will definitely just book my immediate family and book a longer cruise from now on. I will also use my voice more despite what my hubby says. I’ve learned that I am a fan of longer cruises vs short ones. 😉 Pack patience and lastly just be great full that cruising is back. Hey we could be shut down again but we are not. These guys are trying and I’m grateful for that. Cheers to cruising  being back woo! 
 
 
 
 
 

Here's a spreadsheet I put together for our star class cruise.  It's got a lot of tabs and information, so just use what makes sense for you.  On the schedule tab, I left the notes for us to our genie so you can see the types of requests we made for shows/activities and dining.
Cruise Packing List - Star Class.xlsx

If you use the app you can jump right to selecting the arrival time and go back and fill in all the other documentation information later.
You will need the passport number/expiration to fully complete the check-in.

View of the Aqua Theater from Stateroom 9727

I have sent an email prior to our sail date to [email protected] with our reservation #, room #, name and that my husband uses a CPAP machine and would need distilled water and an extension cord in the past.  They have always responded that these items would be in the room upon arrival. And… they have been there.  Full unopened gallon of distilled water and an extension cord.  No problem at all. 

I have sent an email prior to our sail date to [email protected] with our reservation #, room #, name and that my husband uses a CPAP machine and would need distilled water and an extension cord in the past.  They have always responded that these items would be in the room upon arrival. And… they have been there.  Full unopened gallon of distilled water and an extension cord.  No problem at all. 

We are currently sitting at the dock on Freedom of the Seas, and the Bahamian government has not allowed the ship to disembark. It has been two hours past the posted arrival time. The Norwegian ship at the next island over is also not docked. Not sure what the issue is as we were in Nassau yesterday. The ship has not communicated any COVID issues and stated that RC HQ is working with the Bahamian Tourism Agency.

Weren't the 2024 caribbean bookings supposed to be released a couple weeks ago? I haven't been able to find anything showing it was delayed. Looking to book an April 2024 sailing. Just take my money already! 

It was.  Then Omicron happened and Symphony is going into early dry dock leading to the HM-Wonder; SY-HM debacle.

Drinks package costs $2 more per day in sale than it did a few weeks ago. 
 

Here are some photos of the new Galveston cruise terminal construction, taken this afternoon from Liberty of the Seas. It looks like things are moving along nicely!

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted.  My wife and I checked out Le Petit Chef to celebrate our anniversary. Very interesting place.  For those that don't know what it is, search youtube.  It's definitely a place that is easier to see in video than explain.
Also, I found some pieces on display from the RMS Olympic.  Very cool!  Given the history of Olympic's two sisters, a superstiscious  person might be uncomfortable.
We arrived in Barbados this morning.  This was supposed to be our last stop, but was moved forward without explanation.  Rumor has it that Barbados required a test within 5 days and they moved it forward to reduce the number of tests everyone had to get.  
Anyway, the only way off the ship is with a ship based excursion.  We took a snorkeling trip and saw a bunch of endangered turtles and a couple ship wrecks.  I recommend this excursion if anyone is coming on a later cruise.
Well, time to get back to the fun! I hope everyone is looking forward to their next cruise!

If they follow the same schedule as past years, it will be late fall 2021 when they release May 2023.

3 of my co-workers had very rough cases of COVID.  I don't want any part of that, so I got my first shot 2 days ago. 
As far as risks go, I feel that the risk from the vaccine, although real, is small compared to the risks of getting the disease.