Blue Waters

Thank you!

I need to call guest services on Ovation. I am not onboard currently. RC’ ship call service is not working. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Day 14. Last day of the TRANSATLANTIC. B2B passengers were  not required to get tested for Covid and we no longer need to complete the EU passenger locator form for Italy. 
We have about 3800 passengers onboard currently. 

No B2B testing requirement on ODYSSEY. We have just arrived in Rome today and they won’t test us. We no longer needvthe EU passanger locator form either. Mask are still mandatory in Italy.

41 minutes ago, SailOR22 said:

Thank you for all of the Odyssey updates. We are cruising mid June from. Civitavecchia. You mentioned in a post that the ship is due to have a full house. Thank you for that information. We have been wondering what to expect. At one point cabin availability was abundant. Now there are only a few in the booking engine. 

Our host told us that around 2000 passenger canceled this Transatlantic cruise. I am crossing fingers for additional cancellations on the upcoming cruises. 
Royal also organized a special shore excursion for Rome, which was available by invitation only for B2B cruisers. First come first serve basis. 

Day 13 Update:

We no longer have reliable internet service. Our ship switched internet service provider when we reached the European continent. You have to constantly try to connect to wi-if, but most of the time you won’t succeed. IT crew is working on the issue, but so far they couldn’t fix it - this was the answer from the VOOM desk where people forming long lines.

The crew is not allowed to go to shore due to high Covid positivity rate. Most of them haven’t set foot on dry land for seven months. I feel for them. Our captain encourages all of us to wear a mask from day one in his daily briefing. 

We had a great time in Malaga and Cartagena. We choose the “Tapas tasting in Malaga” RC shore excursion. We had beautiful weather. The only downside, that our guide did not give us free time at the end. 
We’ve explored Cartagena of our own, since the cruise port is near downtown. Despite the rainy and windy conditions we had a great time and we had more Tapas. 

 

1 hour ago, MikeK said:

We are booked on the Odessey Transatlantic in October 2023 so I would like to know how your cruise goes also.  Thanks

Best cruise ever. If I wasn’t booked on Ovation for the Transpacific in October, I would come back to Europe  and sail the Atlantic on Odyssey again. 
We have wonderful weather conditions, really good entertainment, excellent food anywhere you go. Low passenger count is a plus. But it will be full house from May 7th. 
I’ve just realized today that we can control our room temperature, lights, TV from the app. I don’t know if this was available on our prior cruises, I never really looked, but there is a stateroom button in the app now. 
The only thing I don’t like that the Windjammer is self service from day one. But I understand that Royal has to go back to their old ways eventually. 
The internet service is uninterrupted all along. 
 

Day 6 Update: We have perfect weather, temperature is about 70 degrees, clear sky. Our beautiful Odyssey gracefully gliding through the ocean. We have a very relaxed atmosphere on board. The food is excellent, I should say the best we ever had on board.  We had our own “drill cruise” about a month ago to check out the ship, and we were very happy to notice at that time that the food was outstanding. Quality of internet service has not changed either. It’s very fast.

Due to the medical emergency stop in San Juan, we are skipping Island Of Madeira. We will be at sea for 10 days and day 11th is Malaga, Spain. Some passengers are disappointed, but I always just go with the flow. If it’s up to me I would just circumnavigate the whole globe without stopping. 
 

Another subject I wanted  to mention here for those who will be joining Odyssey soon, that the pricing came down on these cruises. We invited my husband’s father to come with us on this voyage (he is a senior -Holland America fan ) and he has a an ocean view balcony. With one 30 minute phone call a couple of days before the cruise, he was able to save $3,400 dollars. We also have my uncle here, he had an interior and he saved $2,300 due to price change. On top of his savings, He was moved to an ocean view balcony. RC just sent an email about the change before boarding. They did not say why. He couldn’t be happier. (they are both booked from April 23rd-June 5th on Odyssey)
They have lectures every day, which is great because my father in law was afraid that he would be board due to his physical limitations. They also have singles meeting every day, they have lunch together etc. He has a great time and constantly being entertained and found new friends. 
 

Both Odyssey and Wonder have the best internet based on our experience, which is great since we need good internet for our work. But I will keep you updated on the internet reliability. 

We are currently on Odyssey TRANSATLANTIC cruise. So far we have a fantastic cruise, very relaxed atmosphere. We have 1800 passenger (16 kids only) and we also have a beautiful Labrador on board, everybody’s favorite. The food is awesome, the crew is amazing. Good entertainment. 
We’ve just docked  in Puerto Rico due to medical emergency (not Covid related). I believe someone had a heart attack last night. After Alpha emergency call last evening, we took a sudden turn to south and our captain announced this morning we have to make this quick emergency stop tonight. We are already pulling away from the dock and heading out to sea. 

We will be staying on Odyssey for 2 months. I am here to answer any questions you might have. 
 

6 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

Oh no that sounds terrible! Especially since there is no other deck choice for grand suites.

What room were you in, if you don't mind me asking.

Port side mid section.

15 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

Really curious if the suites all being on the top deck is convenient or not...

Visually it seems like a lot, being so far from the pulse points of the ship, but maybe it's not that bad?

Just got back on 8th of April from Wonder. We had a grand suite on deck 17. It was the worst cruise ever. There is a stage built right at the end of the suites , so the life bands who are performing are above the crowd around the pool. Therefore we had to deal with the constant loud music in our suite, and the vibrating walls and vibrating floor most of the time. The beautiful large balcony is filled with bulky, uncomfortable furniture. So is the suite.  Our televisions did not work, they were interfering with each other. The maintenance and IT people tried to fix it every day for a week, they couldn't.  Food was terrible. Ship has a narrow feel to it and low  ceiling. Claustrophobic. Many passenger were unhappy with he whole design. It is not what we RC cruisers are used to.

4 hours ago, Royalwithcheese said:

Thank u, this trip will be my honeymoon. If i test positive for covid, but my wife does not. Do we get to quarantine together?

No, you will be moved to the Covid quarantine deck, and your wife will be isolated in her room. After 3 days of isolation, they will do a PCR test on her and if she tests negative, she will be free to roam, if she tests positive, she will be moved to the Covid quarantine deck. 

Couple of thousand new passengers board weekly. 

Day 7. Update: “Not So Perfect Day At CocoCay”

I woke up in the middle of the night for violent shaking of the ship and acknowledged that we are sailing in rough seas, again, so I thought. After an hour or two, since I couldn’t sleep due the the rough conditions, I decided to get up and investigate. I thought I saw some lights of another ship coming through the gap of our balcony curtain. I wanted to figure out how is that possible if we are sailing out at sea.   As I’ve stepped outside to our balcony in the cold and windy darkness, for my biggest surprise, we were docked at CocoCay (probably for hours) and the Vision Of The Seas was docking right next to us. It’s date night for Allure & Vision. Under the spell of night they transferred all the sick crew from Allure. While still dark Vision pulled away from the dock and headed out to sea. The huge waves are crushing to the shore and washing over the pier.
I figured there is no way the captain going to let anybody off. At 7:30AM the captain has announced that due to the current rough conditions we can not get off. He said we will probably leave soon, but he will let us know shortly. We are hitting the buoys every 10-15 seconds and the ship is shaking violently. We can hardly wait to pull away from the pier. I hope our bow thrusters are in good condition

I wish the crew a quick and full recovery. They are the best!

Unfortunately it is because Covid. Sunday morning (2nd day) the captain said we won’t be able to go to St. Thomas and St Kitts, because our Covid positivity rate is 1.4% of total population of the ship (2500 passenger and approx. 2000 crew). Therefore he worked out a new itinerary (at sea| at sea| St Marteen | at sea | at sea | CocoCay | Nassau | Ft Lauderdale ).  I have talked to a taxi driver from St Kitts (who I know) over the phone, I wanted to find out if St Kitts allow any ship in at all. He said yes, cruise ships are able to dock and passengers let off to explore. Which is encouraging news. We will be staying on Allure till end of January. We’ll see. We haven’t received an update on Covid positivity rate since then.

We have boarded Allure on Saturday afternoon. We got to the port around 4:30 PM. The parking lot was half empty. Terminal was empty, just a couple of agents waiting for last minute passengers. We were on board in less then 5 minutes. We are sailing with 2500 passengers.  Life couldn’t be better. As we were heading to the open sea, the captain welcomed everyone on board and reminded everybody for the new mask protocol. All crew are double masked (KN95 + a 3-ply mask) All crew is required to remind passengers to wear their mask at all time indoors. I haven’t seen anybody indoors not complying so far. Even if you are sitting on the Promenade, just hanging out, everybody is masked up. The captain also prepped us for 30 knots wind. We got to Nassau at 5:30 AM but due to high winds we couldn’t enter the channel. Nobody could on Sunday. Continued  our voyage, heading south. The captain just announced, that we will be back to Nassau On Saturday, and we will stay there till 6:00PM as the weather conditions have been improving. He is giving us a couple of extra hours.  We won’t be able visit St. Thomas & St. Kitts. We will be arriving in St Marteen tomorrow at 7:00AM and we will visit CocoCay on Friday. Lot’s of onboard activities, shows and entertainment. Windjammer is open for dinner, and they will have Caribbean night tomorrow. The crew is constantly wiping the hallway walls and all other public services. There are crew members serving guest at the Concierge Club. No more self service. The air in the casino is fresh and crisp.  No more smoking….and no! No more people are sitting in the casino  with a drink in front of them unmasked. That does not “fly” anymore. The crew is amazing, working extremely hard. Many of them working double shifts. For those who canceled this cruise enjoy the picture below

Other then the difference in the sqfsq ft, in the spacious ocean view balcony there is a sofa, in the balcony there is a loveseat.

40 minutes ago, Newtocruises said:

Thanks! If I’m printing I’d like to have a copy for myself in case any port disembark rules change. Do you keep the results or just take a picture of them? I think I’ll just bring 2 copies in case.

They just glanced at the print out, they did not even took it out of my hand. Same with the vaccination card. We completed the check in on the app and we were on board  in 5 minutes. We also arrive to the port as late as possible. It works great for us.

I have been told during our last boarding process, that printed version is preferred by RC so you can avoid technical issues due to poor reception inside the terminal building.

You might not be able to access your negative test on your phone.

Go to this link and you can explorer every deck. The stateroom will be marked for max occupancy.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/allure-of-the-seas/deck-plans/2068/03

Did Allure missed any ports so far on this cruise?

And did the captain announce Covid numbers? Can anyone tell me what is the capacity on board currently?

We were on Allure  two weeks ago (capacity was 4000 passengers = 66%) and there was no announcement whatsoever regarding how many Covid patients on board. Although the captain did ask me if I feel safe cruising on his ship, my answer was yes, as long as I stay on deck 17 in my tiny little cruising bubble.

My husband and I  suppose to board the ship on Jan 8 and stay on board for a month, but I am struggling a bit if we should or shouldn't.

My husband and I used to live on RC ships full time for about 3 years before Covid hit. We had an awesome time and a fantastic life  traveling all over the world, running around to catch the next flight, next ship...Then Covid hit the world and from one day to the next we found our selves  grounded at our base-camp (aka home), locked up and waiting for this whole nightmare to pass. In my mind I was positive that we will be back on a cruise ship shortly. I kept myself busy with running my own windjammer in our kitchen, the cancellation aftermath, re-booking, new cancellations, moving bookings, changed ships, changed itineraries, keep track of FCCs, refunds, payment dues. Spent hours, days, weeks, months by talking to RC customer reps over the phone.  Meanwhile I kept a close eye on the virus situation around the world. We were determined to return to cruising as soon as possible ,,,if it is safe and enjoyable. We currently have over 30 cruises booked, and we planned to return cruising full time on Aug. 8th Odyssey. However after a long discussion with my husband ( we are young and healthy btw) we decided not to go back to cruising just yet. I follow all the cruise news, kept in touch with some crew members, and of course kept in touch with a few full time cruiser friends who we met during our voyages. At this point and time, cruising for us would not be the same experience yet, it is too complicated taking flights, crossing international borders, restrictions, testing before flights to certain countries etc. I do not want to pretend that everything is normal, just because I can board a cruise ship. We just got an email from one of our friend who went on a cruise for the first time since Covid shut down, and he said the atmosphere is not the same at all. With a heavy heart, I've called Royal and cancelled all of our cruises for August and September. We haven't gone anywhere in the last 15 months because we were just fully focused on reclaiming our cruising lifestyle. We had to change plans and will travel within the US, dry land and follow the cruising industry. If the time is right we will be back. Just follow your gut feelings.

5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

All vaccines will work just fine at keeping you from getting really sick.

 

Also remember we had a surge last summer due to a new variant.  And that surge was much worse

I have 2 friends currently sick (unrelated to each other) with covid, they got fully vaccinated with Pfizer months ago. One is in the hospital and the other had to go  to the ER yesterday and got hooked up to an iv drip. He said he never felt so sick in his entire life. We live in the Tampa Bay area, FL.

Adventure of the Seas had two families with covid on board last week, they had to get off in Cozumel and taken by an ambulance.

My husband and I used to live on RC ships full time for 3 years pre-covid, traveling with them all over the world. I was really hoping that we can get back to our real life by now. We have 38 cruises booked, starting on August 8. We are young and healthy but we are not sure if this is the right time for us to return cruising. Which is really devastating. The last thing I want is to get covid on a cruise ship and not let back to the US. That is a very scary thought.