GaryAA

8 hours ago, CruisingOz said:

Hello Gary,

Yes we are on the Symphony 5th Feb 2022. So looking forward to it. We are then jumping onto the Radiance which in theory is cruising to Key West

If you have your heart set on visiting Key West, there is a Key West shuttle from Miami's airport that is running 3 times per day. They were running every couple hours before the pandemic. By the way, did you decide to get a Grand suite for this cruise? After reading your post about Grand suites, we changed our junior suite to a Grand suite.

We have cruised several times in junior suites on the Anthem and have liked them. You basically get priority boarding and Coastal kitchen access if space is available. Our future cruises on the Anthem and Ovation are also booked in junior suites but we are considering upgrading to the Grand Suite but the price difference is $2500-$3000 more. Part of that may be due high demand for future cruises.

I failed to mention in my previous post, we fly home from Key West so we don't have to drive back to Miami. Adding Key West to a cruise is enjoyable. We've done it several times. 

Are you on the Symphony 2/5/21? We are on that cruise then drive down to Key West for the following week. It is a 3 hour drive. 

I'm curious what the protocol will be like when the Adventure and Vision sail this summer as far as mask wearing and smoking in the casino.

24 minutes ago, JasonOasis said:

Royal Caribbean does not want its guest to leave the casino to have a smoke.   They want you to stay in there as long as possible so they can drain a few dollars from your bank account.   Also I've noticed when they are fueling the ship the only place smokers can smoke is in the casino and they take it very seriously.   On the newer larger ships like the Oasis Class and Quantum Class they really do a good job of pulling in the fresh air into the casino.

Although I don't smoke, I don't think cruises should be 100% non-smoking that sounds like it would be hell for anyone who smokes.  And having a 100% non-smoking policy only forces people to hide their smoking (smoking in cabin, public bathrooms or on their balconies) which could lead to unintended consequences.  I'm willing to bet apples to oranges the reason Carnival relented was because they were discovering guest were still smoking onboard.  So why not dedicate several areas on the ship as smoking sections and for those of us who are nonsmokers if we choose to venture into the smoking section then we are choosing to deal with cigarette smoke.

Oh I agree with not having a 100% non-smoking ship. I’m sure Carnival had a hard time enforcing it, especially with crew members. I also understand why they don’t want guests leaving the casino to smoke, I just choose to avoid the casino.

On 3/31/2021 at 3:12 PM, vanelli56 said:

Well.... Alaska is off the table for us... we thought about holding out to the bitter end and hope that there was still a chance for AK to be a go.... but there was just too many signs saying it most likely wont happen... even with all the pressure on the CDC. Also... what kind of cruise would it really be with all the potential restrictions and rules etc. 
So we bit the bullet and have lifted ours to 2022.

The countdown is on again.... for the 3rd time. 

We are still holding on to our August Ovation booking for now but will probably cancel soon. We have another one booked in August 22. I was really hoping the August 21 cruise would sail at half capacity, that would have been nice.

I really wish the casino was non-smoking. We cruised on the Carnival Paradise when it was 100% non-smoking ship which was great. As much as I like to play blackjack, I avoid the casinos when there is smoking allowed. Yes, I can smell it on the non-smoking side too.

My very first cruise on Carnival Ecstasy in 1992 had skeet shooting on the back of the ship with shotguns

I'm also booked on the Symphony  December 4th. It is a backup to my 12-day Anthem cruise December 12th. It is possible to do both if they both sail  At this point, I'll be happy with either one.

We had 5 cabins on the Freedom and opened up the dividers, it was great.

9 on the books. Ovation 8/21 (doubtful), Symphony 12/21, Anthem 12/21 (doubtful - 12 days) , Symphony 2/22, Odyssey 3/22, Ovation 8/22, Explorer 12/22, Voyager 12/22, Symphony 2/23

Make sure your name on the airline reservation matches the name on the TSA precheck. 

2 hours ago, Floski said:

Four cruises, four stays at the Radison.  It's super convenient, and we like the layout.

Excellent pool and pool bar.   We park for the week, take the shuttle to and from the port.

We have stayed several times before cruises. Their shuttle service is we’ll organized. They sometimes have entertainment on the weekends at the pool bar. If you have a big family, some of their suites have two king beds and a pull out sofa.

If you like beer, the Florida Beer Company is behind the Homewood Suites. They have tours and beer sampling. Nice little brewery.

We actually hired a tour guide for the day. Look for the taxis with blue flags, they are certified tour guides. The guide we used drove us around in a minivan and tailored the trip to our interests. They can get into areas the tour bus can’t go. We set up our tour guide in advance. He was there at the dock when we arrived. We usually do ship excursions but this was way better. 

St Maarten - You can catch a water taxi ($7) near the pier and go to Great Bay beach within sight of the cruise ship. They have beach chairs to rent with umbrellas for $20. The ship excursion we did to Orient Beach had umbrellas with the chairs too. Orient beach is a nicer beach but after being to St Maarten many times we just take the water taxi across the bay.

Homewood Suites (newer property) and Raddison (older property but nice pool & poolbar). Both have shuttles to the port.

2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We will not get a vaccine unless forced to and we will never ever get the mRNA vaccine under any circumstances.  We're waiting it out...

That’s exactly how I feel. I may get the Johnson & Johnson if need be, but I’ll let the masses get theirs first.

I just booked a B2B on the Voyager from San Juan in December 2022. My first experience with Royal Caribbean was on the Mariner. Up until that point, we had been cruising on Carnival but the Voyager class swayed me to Royal only cruises.

2 hours ago, Va4fam said:

We are on a similar booking January 2022 on Anthem as our 11 nighter (and Diamond status) was pushed back from this year.   I am seriously considering booking a 7 nighter out of Florida for the same week just to cover my bases.   But those prices..........oh no !!!

I don’t like the prices either but then again we have not spent any money on cruises in the past year, that’s how I justify it anyway. 

I’ve had a cabin switched after being booked for months with no explanation, can’t imagine the frustration of having your cruise canceled.

11 hours ago, MrB said:

More than other classes, these ships look like a low barge with a sideways high-rise hotel on the top. Yes, this is the trend and there are some very good reasons why this is the case, but there is a proportions problem with the boat part and the hotel part.

I've thought this as well. I've been on the Anthem and have trips scheduled on the Ovation & Odyssey but still prefer the Oasis Class and Freedom/Voyager class. I think the Freedom/Voyager class ships are most aesthetically pleasing in the fleet.

With the connecting balcony rooms you will also enjoy two "connected" balconies with the divider opened up. 

50 minutes ago, twangster said:

To be clear, I don't double book due to uncertainty related to the pandemic.  I often double book due to "ICan'tMakeUpMyMind-itis".

I often see two very compelling cruises and I can't decide which one to take so I book both while I think about it.

That comes into play also. It depends on whether I'm scuba diving or doing more laid back things so it is route dependent for me.