Reigert2008

I was having trouble with it as well for an upcoming cruise, but now was able to get it assigned and got an 11:30 AM time!

this would be a great question for a good travel agent. If you’re not using one, I’d consider it for future bookings.

Just checked both my upcoming cruises and in November I now have a $25 OBC. No idea why.

I’m still thinking it’s capacity, since these two cruise show up currently. I’d also think a lot of people would be commenting if they had cancelations. I was watching Baltimore since it’s relatively drivable from home

I just noticed it as well. I’d been tracking a cruise from Baltimore leaving 12/31 as a possible last minute deal, thinking the price could drop after the newer mask policy. When I started tracking (before the policy change) it Was about $750 person for an inside GTY, yesterday or this morning it was $950 and just moments ago, or on the site. I’m thinking it hit capacity, since the price had increased before disappearing.

Thanks for sharing! This will help those of us who may need to order in the next few weeks and allow for planning.

Hopefully things turn around for you. I’m sure it’s frustrating when changes occur at the last minute. I’m not sure this would qualify as “WORST CRUISE EVER”, but to each their own. stay safe

I agree. I hope this is the start of banning indoor smoking completely. We go to a land based casino in Ohio that is smoke free and it is doing well, so i don't think smokers would avoid the casino on the ship.

If it were me, I would probably do a cruise or two and use the internet a bit, but not for work, to see how the service really is. Of course, each persons job is different and has different requirements, so YMMV. For me I know there are certain things that I absolutely could not do on a cruise, since it could be time sensitive and internet could be unreliable. I also know that there are other types of my work that I could easily do from a cruise without issue. For me, as I’ve been talking to my co-workers about trying to work from a cruise, the expectation is that it’s a “best effort” and I could be not able to work. if they only way I could go on a vacation required me to be available for a lot of the time during the days,I’m would consider doing a different type vacation where I’d be able to control more of the variables, like a house rental in a neat location or something. on s you’ve done a cruise or two, then you may be able to make the call for yourself. I’ve done many cruises and am just now really thinking about working from the ship? You could also find a cruise where you minimize your days away from work, such as a 5 night cruise that leaves 9th Friday, where you have two weekend days built in. This is just an example and Royal may not have one that fits that. when I was in school one night a week, we used to vacation from Friday to Wednesday since class was on Thursday, but that was before we discovered cruising! good luck!

Thanks! I’ve only had issues with my personal VPN being blocked, and figured the corporate level ones should work. I was thinking I could just use my personal machine and remotely connect to my work machines, but it’d probably be a better experience for me to lug the work laptop along as well

Thanks!

Hijacking this, since I just thought of it. Do you know if VPNs are allowed on Voom? I’ve been thinking of taking a solo cruise and trying to work remotely, but sometimes (rarely) even the hotel network will block a vpn connection. thanks!

that's what I think as well. It would not be a good use of staff to have someone standing there all day counting people in and out of the hot tub. Royal can only do so much without closing things down and it does start to fall back on personal responsibility for people to follow the posted signs. I think some people want to cause an issue, in order to try and get some sort of compensation from Royal. If any area was too full due to policy or our comfort level, we just moved on. There's so much you can do that focusing on one thing is a waste of the vacation.

There is not a single answer for this. Your best bet is to look at the Healthy Sail Center for details that may pertain to you. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center

Listening to @Matt's podcast from yesterday and he mentioned having a way to find your luggage in the terminal. We use decorative spandex luggage covers similar to the ones at the link below. Not only can you easily find your luggage in the hallway of the ship, the terminal, and at baggage claim, but they also have protected our luggage from getting stains and such on them. We started using them with our current luggage when we first got the set and on our first trip, the cover received a big mark on it (like it had rubbed against something), but our bag still looked new. We're now on our second set of covers, but the luggage still looks like new after 4 years and many flights. https://amzn.to/3F436eP - link to Amazon, I shortened it with Bitly

Print out EVERYTHING! Your set sail pass, the covid test, etc.. it is far easier to flip through a stack of papers than apps on the phone. This is what we did, but you will not be able to board early. Royal is really enforcing the check in times at all ports. We arrived at the port about 15 minutes before our check in time, dropped off our luggage with the porters and breezed right in. Any earlier than that you will be standing around waiting. We stayed at the Sheraton in Old San Juan and much like the rest of the island, it's a quick ride to get to the port. There were many people who where way too early for thier time and it causes a lot of confusion with the lines and getting people through. We like to board as early as possible, so keep checking for an earlier check in time.

I’d recommend interviewing several agents to find one that meets your needs. I’d also reach out to a local spot that you already deal with to see if they have any travel agent recommendations.

In my opinion you should eat in the MDR on day 1 if you plan to eat there most nights. Night 1 gives your staff the ability to meet you and you can let them know your plans for the week and if you will miss any nights. You can also let them know that you want to see the bridge and they could “box up” any courses should the time come. however you also need to determine which is more important and do the vacation how you want. Maybe you step into the MDR and do an appetizer and entrée, taking dessert to go? good luck!

In the future, I’d recommend Using a good travel agent for your bookings.

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.