Aulayan

I can give some insight.  This is a week older than Brian's info, but it's rather informative.

Due to my early in flight (never again), I was at the port by 9 am.  Our check in was noon.  And it kept raining off and on.  My own fault, I didn't expect anything until noon.

Around 10:30 am, a guy comes out from the port and announces to every group "In line" (Aka underneath the large section that was covered from the rain) that he would be sticking to exactly what peoples boarding passes say.  At the same time the genies start coming out and grabbing the Star Class people.  At 11, another guy comes out and starts making his way down the line announcing, "Pinnacle, Suites, Star Class or 11 am check in times, come up to the line." About 15 feet from us there was a roped off queue area.

A few minutes later a woman approached us and asked how old our child was, and after I told her he was 9, she told us to go wait by the doors.  So despite our noon check in time, we and every other parent of an under 11 were allowed in early to process through the covid testing.  Downside: I had intermittent signal inside of the port. Outside was max, inside was frequently dead.  Waiting for the results of the covid test with no internet connection to check email was a kind of afterlife punishment I hope I don't earn.

The Facebook group for the cruise announced that by 12 to 12:30, they were just processing whoever and weren't following the boarding passes anymore.  I don't know what changed except for maybe fast processing.

I was rather surprised on my recent cruise.  We put up some door decor, the person across from us had a 'On Honeymoon' decoration and I saw on another deck an Autism of the Seas door decoration and that was it.

I didn't pass by every room but I did walk by a lot of them and I was shocked at how few were decorated.  Then again, my first cruise was on Disney and at that point I was shocked at how many were decorated.

Soooo I'm going to open up a can of worms.

Is Specialty at this point even worth it?

I just got off the Oasis and did two specialty restaurants and 5 nights at the MDR.  Chops and Giovanni's Table were the two we did.  And the opinion of my wife and I were on both specialty restaurants were 'The food is the same quality as the MDR'.  I've heard in Ye Olden Times that the various cruise companies MDR's were tripe (at best of times), but word was that most of them have put more effort into their food.

Our only previous cruise was Disney and the specialty restaurant on the Magic (Palo) was heads and tails above their dining room (And is still the best meal I've ever had).  Giovanni's is about the same price as Palo, Chops Grille is slightly more.  Neither of them blew me away and if looked at from a pure Cost to Enjoyment ratio, was much lower than what we'd get from a on-land restaurant.

Now there is a lot we haven't tried.  Portside BBQ we did do for lunch and it was good.  We were a poor Balcony Family and thus couldn't try Coastal Kitchen, nor did we do 150 or Playmakers or Izumi or Rockets. (Izumi I could definitely see being a draw, as with BBQ, because they're a specific kind of food not in the MDR)/

So, was I missing something? On other ships are they amazing restaurants? Or is it more just a destination away from the MDR at a high price point?

FYI, piggybacking. Don't use the taxi service. They're three to four times more costly than an uber.  The cost just to get to Newark Airport from Cape Liberty today could've funded a shore excursion. 

The pictures of Oasis at Perfect Cay really capture how *bleeping* huge it is.  Great photos! Thank you!

Please do not take over the ship to extend your cruise! I desperately need to get on it on 10/10!

I absolutely love that you have the anchor right at your balcony.

Sadly, due to my strategic error in flying in the morning of, I will be showing up early.  Carrying luggage to restaurants or sightseeing with luggage is...not a fun thing.  I won't expect early entry.  More like hanging out nearby with a phone/tablet.

It's quite interesting that this board is a very small sample of RC's cruisers, yet the last week on Odyssey there were 3 members all in Star Class with the same Genie! 

Great write up! Thank you for this.  Also jealous of your B4B!

I have loved this blog! Thank you so much for posting. It's been so full of information that I've been surprised you've had time to write it up AND do things on the ship.

I mean how many of us long to do what 'Super Mario' does? 

Those are awesome.  especially since the second I got my Vaccine Card it went inside my passport.

Congratulations! Though this does not feed RCL's coffers at all!

Tried the hospital she got it at, they refused saying "Eh, what you got from the Department of Health should be fine. My manager is using one of those for her cruise next week."  I would've been more comforted if that manager had used it last week...

I tried calling Royal multiple times about this but after I go through all the prompts, it rings once and then gives me endless silence. Sooo going to the unofficial but collected wisdom of the blog.

My wife lost her vaccine card.  She was able to go to the County's Department of Health but all they'll give her is a complete vaccination history (Which does include dates and of course the covid shot). Will this be enough?

Today the luggage tags were released and I saw a slight error on my documents.  The Royal Shuttle would pick me up from the airport AFTER my check in time.  LESS Time on the ship? This cannot be!  So I called Royal to cancel the shuttle service and decided I would Uber instead.  Or walk. It's only 10 miles through Newark. Nothing could ever go wrong.  (No, seriously, we'll Uber).

Whilst on the phone with the Royal Agent she asked if I was interested in upgrading from my Central Park Interior to an Ocean View Balcony.  I decided to just humor it and go "Sure, how much?"  She punched the numbers and stated "It's actually cheaper."   Currently to upgrade through Royal Up it would cost, a minimum, of $250pp.  Sooo, HOLY *EXCESSIVE EXPLETIVES DELETED* WHAT AN UPGRADE!!

For those that have read this far, I do have a question:  Since the Luggage Tags have been issued and state the incorrect room number, will they eventually do new ones or must I use these?

October 10th 2021 Oasis, THIRTY DAYS BAYBAY!

HOW DID THEY DO THIS?!  I mean we're below capacity, it can't be a double booked room.  This is astounding.  Congratulations!!!

49 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Nice I can get an American breakfast instead of (in lieu of) Covid?  Sounds good to me!

It sounds nice, but have you ever coughed up a bunch of eggs and bacon in your lungs?

I can't answer that, unfortunately, but I can point out that in your Cruise Planner under the Gifts section there is a birthday cake option.  I do not know the quality.

Anything bought on Royal Caribbean's website under Shore Excursions is an excursion.

But is this at Coco Cay? You don't need any excursions bought there at all.

1 hour ago, KevinJ said:

Any idea how long it takes after leaving the pier to get to the bridge? My son well be all over that photo op. I'm thinking about our dinner reservation timing. Right now we're MDR at 6:30 which seems just about right to miss the bridge.

I don't know for sure, but based on the test cruise it took them an hour but they did a little tour of the harbor first.  Given they go at the bridge at high speeds to cause the squat effect, I'm assuming 15-30 at the most if they head straight to the bridge.  If they do a tour first, hour or more.

2 hours ago, BrianB said:

I hope Oasis is sailing with limited capacity in September. But I’m conflicted….I really want Royal to get back to normalizing cruising, as quickly and safely as possible….but I’m really looking forward to having that unusual experience of less people on board!

I'm hoping the October 10th sailing is at 30-50% capacity and then after that it can be at 100% Capacity.

I have a question on a couple of areas on the Oasis of the Seas (And, I guess, other Oasis class ships).

The Cantilevered whirlpools and the Sun Garden.  Are they both part of the Solarium meaning 16+ Only, or are they outside the Solarium?

Both of those seem like an awesome spot to take my kid, especially the Sun Garden with the large overlook since the Helipad is closed off to the public.  But obviously if they're Solarium areas, that'd be a no go.

Currently, and anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, the Conditional Sail Order will expire before Harmony comes back to the US.  Now if (when) the CDC extends that order, then they'll have to schedule a test cruise for Harmony.  But while I'm sure everyone expects the CDC to extend it, nothing can be planned until they do.