JSB_Z51

Quick question.  I thought the Cruise Planner had listed arrival and departure times but now I dont see it.  Does anyone know the scheduled departure time from Aruba?  I vaguely seem to remember this was a late departure but could be wrong.  Thanks!  

Slightly off topic but related.  Sailing in 2 weeks.  We did our check in, got a time slot etc.  App is pushing a notification to check in.....gonna ignore it as I printed paper work with an 11 am check in time.  But thought I'd ask here if I am missing something obvious. 

Either way weird, right? 

On 7/3/2022 at 9:50 AM, BrianB said:

@JSB_Z51…I took these photos from behind iFly during sail away in March. It was cold! The FlowRider was flowing. You can zoom in and see most passengers were wearing wetsuits and some of the crew members were even wearing parkas! Even one brave(?) soul was wearing just a bathing suit.

My late November sailing is a few weeks away and my Wetsuit arrived from Amazon today.  I plan on being on the Flowrider as we depart NY Harbor.....wish me luck and preferably mild weather lol

We are about 40 days out and there still aren't any onboard activities to book like flowrider lessons.  Any idea when that is generally available to pre-book? TIA

We are going out of Bayonne for Thanksgiving week.  Same inteineary an trip that was cancelled in April 2020. First time we don't have to fly, we will be on vacation about 45 minutes after we leave the house lol. Glad we won't have the stress of flying etc.  

Question for maybe @BrianB

Thoughts on the Flow rider the first couple of days of this cruise since its in Novemeber.  Is it even open and if so, sounds like I should bring a wet suit....I can't get enough of that thing......even better if I am the only nut to brave it November

Thanks @BrianB, that answers my question, off to Amaz9n to shop for a wetsuit

We are going out of Bayonne for Thanksgiving week.  Same inteineary an trip that was cancelled in April 2020. First time we don't have to fly, we will be on vacation about 45 minutes after we leave the house lol. Glad we won't have the stress of flying etc.  

Question for maybe @BrianB

Thoughts on the Flow rider the first couple of days of this cruise since its in Novemeber.  Is it even open and if so, sounds like I should bring a wet suit....I can't get enough of that thing......even better if I am the only nut to brave it November

Priced what was a great deal to me for Anthem out of NJ where we live.  Grand Suite, family of 4, all in price around 6900 for Thanksgiving week 2023. Given all the craziness we have witnessed the past 2 years, I reached out to my TA to price the itinerary as a refundable fare.  She came back with a price of over $10k!!!!.  Same suite,, same room etc..  So an over $3K premium for the "privelage" of getting my $1k deposit back if we cancel.  That's insane to me. Side note we were booked on the same itinerary April 2020, we were part of the first cancellations in that Mid March 2020.  So seems like it is just not meant to be for us

As much as we have enjoyed many cruises, I suspect  it is time for us close this chapter and move on to some other types of vacations.  Maybe I am just being dramatic lol. But between the outrageous pricing IMO, the vaccine mandates, questionable ability to get a refund, risk of quarantine or failing a pre-boarding Covid test, I think it's time for me to give up.  Maybe we will try a few years from now when I am over the sticker shot and things are a bit more normal and predictable.   From my seat seems a bit outrageous but to each is own.  

Rant over lol.  

To all who recommended cruiseplum......THANKS!!!!! Way closer to want I am looking for to target what cruise to go on.  Thanks again.  

6 hours ago, Toby said:

why would they want to make finding cheaper fares easy?

I don't expect them to, there are likely 3rd party sites.  I do expect a better user experience, their site is awful.  Thanks for that tip, will give it a try.  

I know I am not alone in saying the RCL website isn't the best user experience.  Trying to check out some 2023 itineraries.  We typically book a Grand Suite.  It's way too many clicks to get to my all in price for my family of 4.  Then you have to press the back button on your browser 3 to 4 times to get back to your search results to price another itinerary.  

So my question is for you  experts out there, is there a better tool or 3rd party website that shows a grid of all in prices that compares multiple dates and itineraries.  Finance/Accounting/Microsoft Excel Nerd here.  Numbers speak to me better via a grid or spreadsheet lol.

Second question. Any sites you recommend to keep on eye on pricing that alert you of price drops?

Thanks in advance and happy sailing. 

11 hours ago, TonyYOW said:

Wow, I love Cointreau! Can you buy it on board? 

Absolutely, its a bargain at that price

So looks like Bayonne itineraries are out.

NAR but is it me or are summer 2023 prices way more expensive?  I have typically paid about $8K for a Grand Suite for a family of 4.  Everything I am seeing after a quick search is 12K or more.  Maybe I need to search a little better, but intital search left me a little shocked. 

My must buy is a couple of bottles of Cointreu for my Margarita's at home.  For $20 a liter bottles compared to $45+ in NJ it's my must buy. 

To each their own.  For my family CK > MDR.  We ate CK for every Breakfast, Lunch on Sea days and Dinner except for our 3 specialty restaurant dinner reservations.

That said service was fantastic since we were there so much which contributed to our positive reviews and experience.  

Patiently waiting for July 2023 out of Bayonne NJ.  

Not to be controversial, does anyone think the vaccine mandate will quietly go away ever or will it be a requirement indefinitely?

8 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

Been there, done that!   Chops at 5:30PM, Izumi Sushi at 9:00PM

We would be great friends .

I just really like to eat.  Slightly ashamed but not really

I think a better "double dipping" strategy is a specialty restaurant reservation at 5pm and another one at 930pm. 

My favorite kind of post since I live to eat.  Wish these boards so more action like this!

Woah.....I read that subject way differently!!  lol

47 minutes ago, JasonOasis said:

You are absolutely right.  The airlines have been far more aggressive than the cruise industry in fighting the CDC from the very beginning of this pandemic. I said this when I first joined this blog site in 2020 COVID did not arrive in the US via cruise ship it arrive via airplanes. And I get the irony I work in the airline industry but I'm fighting for the cruise industry because I firmly believe the cruise industry has been scapegoated, unfairly targeted, shut down, dragged through the mud, held to a higher standard just to resume operations, not given a dime in bailout money (I could go on for days) all while the airline industry has positioned themselves as necessity to keep the economic engine of America running and therefore should not be subjected to any CDC oversight. What a ******* joke!!!

Although Fauci continue to throw around the idea of a vaccine mandate in order to travel domestically within this country I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say it will never happened in this country because there isn't a single airline in favor of it.  The airlines in this country want the public to believe they all compete against each other, they don't like one another but that is an illusion.  The truth is this nations airlines have a powerful lobbing machine in Washington D.C. perhaps not as powerful as the NRA but close to it.  And that machine has been working overtime since the beginning of this pandemic to keep CDC and Fauci at bay.  The unfortunate truth is cruise lines pale in comparison when it comes to the power the nations airlines wield.  And that is just the nations airlines lets not even talk about the hotel industry.  My husband and I went again to Las Vegas in mid December stayed at the Venetian yet the CDC wants me to believe I'm SAFER at the Venetian in Las Vegas than on a cruise ship with vaccine mandates, negative COVID test 2 days before boarding, 60% capacity, social distancing at all venues, and more. 

Oh I can't stop laughing at this bull(fill in the blank).

To add my 2 cents to your well written view, IMO all of this comes down to money and when that happens following actual science, common sense and true risk assessment goes out the window, hence demonizing the cruise industry and losing many peoples faith in the CDC's latest proclamation 

17 hours ago, JasonOasis said:

Oh no you are perfectly safe going inside all of those establishments and taking those modes of transportation. 

The only thing where there is increase risks of COVID exposure is on a cruise ship per the CDC.  For an agency that claims to follow the science and the data why then do they continue to single out the cruise industry when both the science and the data shows lower risks of COVID exposure on a cruise ship than any where on land. They are still trying to use COVID to gut the cruise industry and it totally unfair.

The CDC is a joke.

I hate to come off as a crazy conspiracy theorist but what is that saying by politicians?  Never let a good crisis goto waste.

That said IMHO I think the bias toward the cruise ship industry is the negative view and overstated negative impact cruise ships have on the environment.  So its a great industry for certain politicians to target and hate. 

All of us here know the cruise ships tend to be cleaner and better sanitized than any land based resort and that was pre-covid, can only imagine protocols have improved beyond pre covid days.  Most of the ignorant and negative commentary comes from people who have likely never cruised.  But what do I know.  Rant over. 

16 hours ago, Neesa said:

 AND an emotional support dog with a dyed purple and blue tail. The dog also dines in #CK every night.

Where does he goto the bathroom? Hopefully hot on the fake grass on the mini golf course!!

Enjoy your trip.  In case this wasn't posted already, ( the ignorance in the comments are outrageous but not surprising to those of us that love to cruise)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/12/22/royal-caribbean-covid-outbreak-odyssey/

Was hoping to see Bayonne NJ itineraries.  So still waiting here.

That feeling when you get a notification from this thread and hope its the Go Go Go message that it was released but then it isn't lol