Reigert2008

In reality, how close to a cruise could you really book? I always thought it was three days before boarding, but even now it looks like I could book the Hamonynfor December 5th. Of course, I chickened out and with having to fly to the port, and my wife not being able to go, I decided to not deal with it. But earlier this week the price was tracking at about $800 with gratuities and insurance for a 7 night cruise in an inside GTY cabin. I’m kinda mad at myself for not pulling the trigger, but maybe next time!

We did nothing to signup for the Sara Alert program, we were auto enrolled. I had read about it on some site that I cannot find now and assumed that we woudl have a QR code or something to scan to signup when exiting the ship (much like at the airport in Puerto Rico), but nothing was ever said. We just started receiving the emails 2 days after our cruise when we were already back in KY

You know what works even better than moleskin? a Compeed patch. We've been using these for years and have had great success. https://www.compeedusa.com/products/ We get them at Walgreens / Walmart / Target

That makes sense. The only thing my brain came up with was changing my room reservation to get a different muster station, but I thought that was crazy talk.

That’s what I was going to suggest. I understand the desire to get two rooms, but if the kids are too young to be ina too on their own, I would assume people would only get connecting rooms. I certainly wouldn’t want to leave kids in a non-connecting separate room, regardless of how close the rooms are.

As a curious person, can I ask why someone would want/need to know before they board? They’ll direct you to the right place. Just curious.

There generally a vending machine down in the medical center. I’d check that out and then you could always ask and explain why you need it. Couldn’t hurt.

YMMV, we were on the first sailing of the Explorer and the table next to us had 3 parties of two sitting together and they did not know each other. We overheard them all discussing that they didn't know why they were all seated together. Each party of two were adults and they all happened to be from Texas, but there were many empty tables around where they could have been spread out more. It was all very weird, especially for the first sailing back. We never heard them determine why they were seated together and they stayed there for the whole week. For the original poster, I would certainly reach out to your travel agent. They can tell you what size table you are at and put in a request for a table just for your party. Once on the ship, go to your MDR location and they can show you your table and accommodate changes as needed.

If anyone is still following along, it looks like we received the Sara Alert emails for 10 days after the cruise.

My suggestion is to make the reservation in the app for when you want to eat and then you’re covered in that rare case that they get busy and take reservations first. We did that back in August on Freedom and then in November on Explorer. Then you’re at least covered. same with the shows, make the reservation and at worst you don’t even need it. note: we only made windjammer reservations for breakfast, not sure they even took them for lunch. Never really needed it,but just in case.

Your dining team can get you in and out as quickly as you want. We are a party of two and eat in the MDR all the time. Our servers on Explorer a few weeks ago asked if we had shows or whatever to help with the service speed. We didn’t but we never spent more than an hour in the MDR on our cruise and that was us really killing time. There’s generally lots of other options available, but we’re still in COVID times so just know what you want to order when you walk in (there’s a menu outside the dining room you can view).

Using a good travel agent would also help in preventing a last minute issue.

If I remember correctly, we were in the chill island area. The snorkeling was ok, didn’t really see much, but that’s par for the course. I’ve always just snorkeled at the private islands and never really seen anything great, it still have fun. we just did a snorkeling excursion in St. Thomas and didn’t see much there either. The best place I’ve snorkeled was in Bermuda. There was a place across from the dock (about a 5 minute walk) and it was only $5 to enter for the day and I saw some amazing things there. good luck. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/perfect-day-at-cococay-wayfinding-map.pdf

I believe there is a cost, it would be in your cruise planner. It’s basically an equipment rental and then you snorkel on your own where you like. My brother in law did I it back in august. I have my own equipment, so I’m not sure of all the details.

I agree with everyone, we’ve done 2 cruises since August and have felt far safer on the ship than we do at some family gatherings. For the most part the ship is a controlled environment and at least you know everyone is following the published protocols. once you get off the ship, you’ll find yourself checking out peoples wrist for a vaccination band

In an effort to NOT start another RoyalUp thread, i'm putting my question here since it is relavant. Say you win an RoyalUp bid, but do not find out until close to your cruise and have already printed your bag tags for the ship. Does royal get your luggage to the right place even if you forget to tell them about the cabin change? Or what if you find out you "won" as you are boarding and have already dropped your bags off with the other tags. Thanks.

I think it depends on what you are looking for. We just got our Refreshment package for $17 per person per day when it was $30 in the cruise planner last week and had dropped to a previous low of $23 a few weeks ago. We typically don't do excursions, specialty dining, or internet, so don't have a history on those items. Royal knows that a lot of people are looking at the DBP so why would they deeply discount it during a known sale time (like black Friday). They know they will get a lot of sales during this period, so why not make a little extra money. It's still far cheaper than buying drinks onboard. They can always discount it again later if they see that a percentage of cruisers on various sailings need to be enticed to make that purchase.

This is the one I use and it has been amazing. It only has USB-A connections. https://us.anker.com/collections/chargers/products/a2142 i wpuld also suggest low power mode and not using the internet. Was recently on a cruise with my teenage niece and contrary to her belief, she did survive without her phone

We had this happen to us on one of our trips to Disney world. we just hung things up in the room and let them dry over a couple of days. What I suggest to you is that you hang up some things and use the hair dryer to get them "dry enough" and then once on the cruise, hang things in the closet of your cabin to dry (and use the hair dryer again) Also, I would ask your cabin steward for some options and explain the situation. Royal may dry your things for you at no or low cost. The worst they can do is say no. My wife once got something on her shorts while at a show and when we asked if they had some detergent we could "borrow" they just washed and dried them for us. Because of this situation, we have since lined our suitcases with a garbage bag while packing just in case it gets left in the rain. Good Luck!

We were recently on the Explorer for a 7N Cruise and here was our break down: 5 nights were labeled as Casual 1 night labeled as Dress Your Best 1 night labeled as Formal On the casual nights i wore my khaki shorts and a t-shirt, on the two other nights i work jeans and a polo (one night we were at Izumi). My wife and i were discussing this last night and our recommendation is to pack at least a pair of "fancy jeans" and a "nice polo / blouse" to have in case you happen to be on the cruise where they start enforcing things that they have not been enforcing. You would at least be able to run back to the cabin and change real quick. We did have a "long time cruiser" turn up his nose when we walked in with our shorts on one of the casual nights, but he had worn a full tux on formal night, so he probably has a different opinion My thought has always been that if what someone else is wearing "ruins your experience" then you probably aren't paying much attention to your own business.

@Psycho and Barb As promised, here are the Cruise Compasses (and related notices) from the November 7th sailing of the Explorer from San Juan. @Matt can post them with the others if he likes! Thanks! Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day01_11072021.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day01_11072021_WelcomeBackCard.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day02_11082021.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day03_11092021.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day03_11092021_WashandFoldSpecial.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day04_11102021.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day04_11102021_PoliticalUnrestNotice.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day05_11112021.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day06_11122021.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day07_11132021.pdf Explorer_CC_7N_SouthernCaribbean_Day07_11132021_DepartureInformation.pdf

Here is the link to the Royal Caribbean site. While this board is extremely helpful it is a fan site and you should really rely on the Official site for exact details for your situation. Pre-Cruise Testing -- https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/pre-cruise-testing Related Royal Page about the tests -- https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/is-there-a-telemedicine-option-for-pre-cruise-covid-19-test Protocols -- https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center We did the eMed ones before our cruise last week and it was easy. You will need to create each adult thier own account for the app /site. Not sure about kids, since that did not apply to our situation. I would recommend you have at least a few extra test kits in case a test is damaged or something goes wrong. Some people recommend 2 test kits per person, but you will need to decide that on your own. I agree it is stressful. Good Luck! If you use the eMed tests, you should watch this video it shows the exact process (and even what happens if you make a mistake) --

All at the Puerto Rico Airport. That is the site. you can fill out the form ANYTIME before you arrive and then print out the QR code that is provides (save a copy as well!) You will need that code and your vaccination proof / negative test in order to leave the international airport in San Juan. Once you leave baggage claim to head out the doors, they had a person that that checked your docs and maybe your temperature (not sure on that one)

If you need a connecting room, your TA (or yourself if you did not use a TA) should reach out to Royal for this type of assistance, there may be adjoining rooms available in another area of the ship and may not show up on the public site. For interior rooms, i know there is a "connecting interior" type which change the pricing. If you are worried about the strangers, i think the door is locked by Royal and you both have to request it to be unlocked? We just stayed in one, but were sailing by ourselves and didn't even try to open the door. Royal had moved us there a few weeks before our cruise Good Luck.

Yes! We were on the first sailing last week! I have the cruise compasses and will upload them when I get them scanned in. Check in was a breeze, as long as you had all your paperwork in order. We were in an early boarding group and of course lots of people showed up hours too early. We had a short wait to get into the 1:00 PM line after arriving at about 12:45 PM and dropping luggage off. Then we breezed right on in and onto the ship. On the ship things were smooth and no issues that i could see. The Windjammer was open for dinner, so I assume it was at least 50% capacity, but never asked anyone. Several ports required excursions to explore the city, but the ports had "approved vendors" at the port you could use if you are against booking through Royal. We used Royal for our excursions, and they were all great. Disembarkation was smooth as well, just wait in your room until your tag is called. FYI, if you are traveling to Puerto Rico, there are some non-Royal things you need to know. Of course, YMMV. You need to complete a travel declaration form in order to leave the airport and must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test < 72 hours before arrival Many stores/restaurants require proof of vaccination (and ID) to enter Some Hotels also require proof of vaccination or negative COVID test when checking in (we stayed at the Sheraton in Old San Juan both pre and post cruise) Masks are required indoors and when outside in groups of > 50 people when disembarking the ship, they will auto enroll you in the Sara Alert program and you will get a survey via email each day to ask about any symptoms. We received our first email yesterday (once we were back home) and received another today. Not sure how long we will get them, but we are answering them to be safe and not inadvertently get a fine.