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So I went through the deck plans and found all of the different ADA cabins and wrote them down. I received the Royal Up email for my Dec. 19 Harmony sailing.

I ended up calling C&A to inquire about the ADA impact on Royal Up. I was told that if you are in an ADA room they will keep you in an ADA room.

I went ahead and bid on the Ultra Spacious Balcony.

Fingers crossed this works, if it doesn't well I'll still have the Boardwalk Balcony.

@Alissa your 11 yo can stay at Adventure Ocean while you go onshore, if that is something that you are interested in.

On 9/9/2021 at 1:30 PM, stevendom57 said:

Are there cheap places in Mahahual to just grab a beach chair and enjoy the beach? I am hoping for something where I can just walk up and get a lounger, without having to make reservations. I don't care about all inclusive drinks and food, just a place to park my carcass.

Nohoch Kay Beach Club.  Best Fresh fish and shrimp!

One consideration is that many of these island countries have been severely impacted by Coronavirus shutdowns and economic concerns.  Many of the tour operations have completely shut down. There are less excursions right now, because business has not recovered. Some excursion operators have completely gone out of business.  That is one of the reasons that there are "very few excursions being offered".

On 9/12/2021 at 7:22 PM, teddy said:

Our recent junior suite cost us $500 total through Royal Up. 
 

Before I submitted the bid, I did a mock booking and it was $1700 more than we paid for our balcony guarantee, so we paid $1200 less than if we booked it. 
 

We personally have no problems with not getting the extra suite C&A points for this cruise 

@Teddy do you have any idea how Royal Up works if you need a handicapped accessible room? I know Royal has ADA Jr. Suites, but I'm not sure about the other classes/ suites.

1 minute ago, Scatmanjack said:

 

With Final Payment being moved to 30 days of sail date for some, can you do online check-in on App without having made final payment yet?

 

Online check in has been moved back as well.  My cruise is Dec. 19 on Harmony.  We are 90 days out from sailing today, but final payment has been moved to Nov. 19. We can't check in yet.

Matt has covered this in his videos and live streams.  If you want to walk off you can, but you will need to wait in your stateroom for them to call for walk offs.  They don't have groups congregating in places like they used to.  Not really sure how they keep people from all being at the elevator at same time?  Maybe it isn't much of a problem since capacity is still so low? 30-50% depending on sailing for passengers.

@WannaCruise Emma from Emma Cruises talks about at home tests in the U.K., so they aren't just in the U.S.   

Interestingly, the only at home test that is accepted by Royal Caribbean is the one where you have to call in via a video call and do the test over teleconference. That way there is proof that you are the person who is taking the test.

21 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

I could be completely mistaken but I was under the impression that the CAS discount is from the Crown and Anchor Society. 

@FionaMG You are correct. I am a Crown & Anchor Society member and all of my cruise bookings have "CAS discount" for Crown & Anchor discounts.  I went and checked my most recent bookings and that is how they are noted.

@MarineMoMmaBear Looking at my Christmas week Cruise, here is what I see for Holiday meals available in the Cruise Planner.

20 minutes ago, MarineMoMmaBear said:

So this is our first RC and holiday cruise and it the first ever cruise for our friends.  our travel agent found us a sweet deal on aft cabins Deck 7, is this a good spot or should we look at other location high deck etc.? What should we expect from a holiday cruise? Should we plan for a snazzy formal NYE evening or on classy casual? ...or what? would anyone suggest specialty dinning for that night? Super excited but need to chill and plan responsibly.

Mid ship is great for less movement, less seasickness. Aft balconies are usually spacious, though you may hear some engine hum at night. This doesn't ever bother us and instead lulls us to sleep. 

Dress is up to you, your cruise will have a " dress to impress" night. That can be very formal if you like, or festive and less formal (slacks/button down, short cocktail dress).  

Most specialty restaurants will offer a set holiday menu at a certain price. Not usually included in UDP plan.

On 8/4/2021 at 6:53 PM, smokeybandit said:

March 19-20

Right in the middle of prime Spring Break for Texas!  My birthday is March 17 and it always falls during my son's Spring Break.

10 minutes ago, Reigert2008 said:

You should certainly complete the Special Needs form and work with your travel agent to ensure all is arranged.  Here's the link to the form and the details.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/resources/guest-special-needs

 

@HtownHollyYes, what Reigert said.  My husband is full time in a power wheelchair.  We fill out a Special Needs form for every cruise we go on, as part of that they ask if you need assistance at the embarkation port.

I can feel myself going into Insulin overdrive already from all the rolls I'll be eating on my next cruise!!!!!

On 8/6/2021 at 11:41 AM, AshleyDillo said:

@bfranke1 I believe just experienced this on the Freedom..his son just turned 12 a few weeks prior to boarding.  He was treated as unvaccinated as he wasn't eligible to be fully vaccinated in time.

So if they are treated as unvaccinated, and Royal isn't letting any unvaccinated guests over 12 on cruises to the USVI/St. Thomas that means I need to cancel my family's cruise.  We aren't willing to cruise without our son on Christmas week.  I guess I'll wait a bit longer and see if guidance changes.

I am waiting to see what happens on this one.  If this requirement stays, it puts my family in a bad position.  We cruise the week of Christmas to the USVI on Harmony and my son turns 12 at the end of November.  He will have two shots by Christmas, but he will not have had time to do the two weeks after vax that are required to be considered "fully vaccinated".  Does anyone know or have any anecdotes about how the cruise lines are handling this?

TIA.

Welcome @OliverDarwin! Would love to see some of your photos, especially ones taken from cruises.

Just seeing this!  Thanks guys.  Since I missed it, Happy Father's Day to all you Dads!

That is a really cool looking bottle @JLMoran!

@Falling_Down My family is on the same cruise! Welcome to the message board.  I've sailed on RC before, just not on this class of ship.  Hope you have a great cruise!

Harmony of the Seas 19 December 2021. Christmas Cruise!!!

and my 16 August Explorer of the Seas Cruise was canceled by RCI.

3 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

I also really liked that, once they heard and saw I had some experience on horseback, one of the guides let my horse actually run in the water while everyone else trotted or walked. Now THAT'S an experience! Feeling those powerful muscles crash against the waves and not even take a break in stride

This is now a new LIFE GOAL for me!!  Thank you for sharing. That must have been awesome.

Does anyone have experience with how this all works?  This will be the first time since my husband became wheelchair bound that we will fly somewhere to get on a cruise. Do they let him use his motorized chair until the gate, and then transfer to a manual transfer chair to board the plane? Or do they do the transfer to manual chair at drop off near the porters?  We are planning to take the motorized chair with us, but as it weighs 600 lb. it will need to be loaded on plane as cargo I think?

Any advice would be appreciated. 

Thanks in advance!

Each time I've called Allianz about my rebooked and shifted Alaska cruise, they have been very accommodating and professional.  So far I like their service.  I have never had to make a claim with them, but so far they are answering the phone and helping with shifting dates for travel.