Flowrider

We last cruised in February, literally the week before they stopped enforcing masks….  We’ll be cruising later in October and November.  I haven’t kept up on the latest.  I assume we’re still taking Covid tests pre cruise and needing vaccines, but what else isn’t back to normal yet?

1-Is check in 30 days out?

2-Is check in still assigned times that you choose online? Or are we able to board by status yet?

3-anything else? 
 

Thanks peeps!

Not really a scam when you see in the shop that they have a price match guarantee.  I believe it’s 30 days from your sailing that you can claim it.

34 minutes ago, wordell1 said:

Probably, but I would wait.

I’m with you, I’m not gutsy enough to try it…. Curious if anyone has done it!

Cruising on Sunday, which means we’re supposed to test on Friday. We’ve got the emed kits to test at home.  I was grabbing our passports and checking things when out falls our previous emed tests from our last trip. I looked it over and just realized something.  We took the tests a little after midnight in our time zone.  The reports came back in UTC….  
 

With that in mind, UTC time is Friday right now.  Couldn’t someone technically take the test right now and it will show up as Friday in UTC???

Heading to Labadee for the second time.  First time we went we just did the beach and water slide with the kids. 
 

What some highlights and good things to do while there???  What do you love or hate about it?

You could probably guess why we are by the nickname I use.  We love the Flowrider!  All the fun activities… ifly, laser tag, bumper cars, I forget what the trampoline ball thing is called with the 3D goggles.

Really enjoy Coco Cay!  The Broadway shows are a lot of fun.  Prior to the pandemic I feel like the shows were a lot better.  

The crew is a lot of fun to interact with… especially at the flow rider.  We’ve had a lot of amazing people there that have been so kind to our family.

Loved reading through this! So funny. We were just in this position until the last cruise.  Now we can’t wait to cruise again as Diamond people.  
 

I wish they had the old loading system where you loaded first by tier status.  Would be fun!

Don’t forget the zip line, rock wall, Flowriders, and the sports court always has competitions such as pickle ball / volleyball / free throws / soccer….

Is this currently open?

Thanks for all the information folks!

https://listindiario.com/economia/2022/01/11/704387/agenda-de-llegada-de-cruceros-continua-variacion/amp/
 

According to this news article they had 50 ships scheduled for stoping in Puerto Plata in January.  Curious why with recent cancellations Royal has stated the pier won’t be ready.

27 minutes ago, RBo said:

Congratulations! We are on the brink...

Mariner 2/12-17 will be that cruise for us where we cross over the Diamond threshold, but even more excited to travel as Diamond a month later when we sail Odyssey March 20, and again on Mariner to Bermuda in September! 

Oh man that’s such a teaser!!!  So close, that Odyssey cruise will be fun!

8 minutes ago, RBo said:

With the news about the construction delays in the DR, has RCL added Labadee back to Anthem's 2/11 itinerary? I am on Mariner 2/12 and RCL never changed our itinerary. Just curious.

 

This construction delay seems bizarre bc the pier is finished.  Ships have stopped there…

Our family of 6 finally hit Diamond status!  We’re looking forward to the perks, just curious how you redeem them?  

For example everyone should get a free photo… do you just show the sea pass and get it?  Or internet?  How do we each get our free day?  4 free drinks are on the sea pass?  
 

Well that’s lame!

6 hours ago, Matt said:

And it's a misleading stat. There were so few cases on ships pre-Omicron, so the number sounds worse than it it is.

It‘a super misleading to report it like that.  Statistics professionals cringe with how pathetic that looks.

Pretty sure all ships have the baseketball court and do picker ball.  Never seen one not do it.

3 hours ago, Matt said:

They're hiring for Labadee. Read into this what you will

https://www.facebook.com/rcgcareers/posts/5087420034636308

Wow, that’s interesting.  Starting to ramp up for the future!

9 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Covid among passengers won't impact to your cruise. It's covid/close contacts among crew (and the lengthy quarantine required) that's causing issues.

 

 

I’m curious if the CDC is allowing ships to do the 5 day quarantine they recently announced.  Or is it the previous 10 day schedule?

47 minutes ago, cotterb said:

We're currently booked on the Grandeur OTS out of Barbedos in March.  My mother and aunt are sharing a room.  In light of the recent reports of Aruba, Omnicron, CDC, etc I want to be able to consider our options.

With respect to the Cruise with Confidence program, if either my mother or aunt, but not both, want a refund, how does that affect the remaining traveler?  Will they get hit with a higher bill at the last moment?

Thanks

If one backs out, then the other will have to pay more.  Probably easier to just work it out amongst yourselves and remove one person.

5 hours ago, snoble said:

Ditto, only I'm on Oasis in February. At this point I suppose they could be holding out to announce changes until just before sailing, simply because there's so much volatility.

That and they want you to make your final payment first!

16 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I thought you couldn't book refundable fares for suites? I'd be all over that.

Wouldn’t know about the suites.  We typically book interior rooms or oceanview to save money.  Sorry I totally missed the title about suites!
 

We’re a family of 6 and we take advantage of kids sail free promotion.  What we’ve noticed is that if we start with the rate during the kids sale free promotion we usually pay more vs if we book when it’s expensive(and not on sale) and reprice it.  Overall rates seem to be better that second route.

The kids sale free promotion applies after the first 2 persons are full priced. When we had 4 kids under 12 y/o we would book the ultra spacious oceanview room or ultraspacious interior rooms(6 passenger rooms). Mom and dad were full price and then the 4 kids were free.  Now that 2 kids are older we book two connecting rooms and try and get one kid free in one room and one free in the second room.

We always book refundable rates on a few different dates. Whichever one or sometimes two end up repricing the lowest are the winners.  

We also commonly convert a refundable rate to non-refundable prior to final payment.

36 minutes ago, Matt said:

I spoke to Hotel Director on Navigator. The printer legit broke.

Thanks!

Last week on the Navigator we weren’t getting the paper cruise compass because the “printer broke.”  You could get one from guest services upon request, but nothing in the stateroom.

Is there a chance they are phasing it out for the app?  Not a fan of carrying my phone around the ship, much rather check the compass at night.