GKMCruising

11 minutes ago, RoHoCruise said:

During the double point promotion I booked a GTY Balcony on an 8 day cruise for me and the wife.   Last night (obviously after the promotion ended) I upgraded the reservation to a Jr. Suite (same reservation number).   How many points will I get?  

Should be 32, from what I've understood from Royal.

On 10/22/2021 at 3:49 PM, PG Cruiser said:

By my projections, I should be getting my first glass block on the Oasis where I get to 140 points.  Now for my second block, I'm expecting to get in on the Independence.  Now if I skip (cancel) my Independence sailing, I will get to 210 on the Wonder.  Do you think the Wonder will have the glass blocks available during the Inaugural?

In theory, even if they don't, they should be able to mail it to you once they get them.

On 10/21/2021 at 7:30 PM, Qeytondude said:

For those that have successfully used the Wild Card discount, after booking with the casino desk, were you able to then move the reservation to your TA?

Somewhat related - how does using the 5% or 10% myVegas discounts affect you being able to reprice a cruise? Will the discount carry over regardless of repricing, I'd hope?

2 hours ago, Doak said:

never heard of him

I hadn't either, but did some digging on CC and he sounds like quite a character, should make for a fun inaugural sailing.

2 hours ago, Rags1 said:

Mission accomplished!

You don't look like you've aged a day. Great work with the reenactment!

5 hours ago, 12thman said:

Serious question, does anyone know how to fill prescription overseas? I'm not able to get a year's supply before leaving only 3 months. 

I was thinking the same thing, would definitely be a headache to deal with. 

The other thing I've been thinking about - dining. I would *hope* that they do some local foods and rotate menus around, as otherwise you're gonna get real sick of eating the same thing week after week.

28 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Unless you go super frugal (in which case why go if you aren’t actually going to explore and see all the sights of the world) I don’t see how you could do this trip for under a quarter million for a couple

Yeah. I don't think I could do 9 months in an inside cabin. I'd have to at *least* have a window, but ideally a balcony or suite if I'm going to be onboard that long.

10 hours ago, kduszy said:

This makes no sense to do it once on board- so much easier and stress free to do it from home ahead of time.  

I'll agree, but I imagine part of the issue is with so many people still cancelling or being unable to sail due to COVID results, they don't want slots filled that they then have to try and cancel out.

8 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

Just keep trying.  I got mine for November after week of trying.

Tonight I also got the UDP for the Wonder Inaugural... Yay!!!   Patience Plue Persistence Pays!!! (alliteration intended)

We'll see you there then! I snagged it a few weeks back. It still at $196/person?

Inspired by this little gem from one of the RC Facebook pages - what's the strangest thing you've ever seen onboard?

If they started doing this every few years, I can imagine you'd get a decent number of people who would do the whole thing in sections, similar to people hiking the Appalachian Trail.

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Remote work on Serenade's internet.  Now that's funny!  

That's why they've got it scheduled so far out, gotta do some major upgrades to get her ready for it.

1 hour ago, bryresangel said:

Does anyone know why there is still a PHE? As more and more people are getting vaccinated, the risk of severe symptoms is declining (at least from what I have read). If people are getting COVID, but aren't getting as sick, aren't we moving more into the "treat it like the flu" phase?

Money allocations and certain other things can only be done under an "emergency" declaration, otherwise too much red tape. Leaving their options open in case they need it - easier to extend an existing one that institute a new one, most likely.

If I was retired with cash to burn, I'd be all over it.

Something tells me Super Mario will be enjoying this one - heck, it might have even been his brainchild.

3 minutes ago, BrianB said:

I received an email from Royal asking me to answer a survey regarding my experiences with pre-cruise Covid testing.

Questions included where I received my test (at home test, pharmacy such as CVS or Walgreens, clinic or doctor); the ease or difficulty in scheduling the test, taking the test, and getting the results of the test; Would I get the test again at the same location or would I go elsewhere…or choose to not cruise again. 

The last question asked me to add a comment regarding my pre-cruise testing procedure. My comment was about the anxiety scheduling, taking it and waiting for the result.

I'm sure they've had enough complaints, especially from people in areas where access to tests is hard to find, that they want to explore possible partnerships and options for making the process as easy as possible.

1 hour ago, MG728 said:

Does RC usually offer pre/post cruise excursions? (Like before embarks and on debark day?) and if so are these usually found in the cruise planner? There are none listed for my cruise but I was hoping some would eventually pop in!

I don't know if I've ever seen a pre-cruise excursion offered, but they do often have one or two post-cruise excursions offered. Just keep checking cruise planner.

@MattYou think we could get a temporary pinned thread on this at the top of the boards? I feel like we're getting almost one or two new threads on the Key daily right now.

21 minutes ago, mattymay said:

I'll place my bet on Icon of the Seas.

Nah, I don't think they'd want to take away from the upcoming debut of Wonder.

Yeah, something tells me this isn't about Lelepa... or at least I hope it isn't.

32 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Our Uber driver last time had to take an alternate route that didn't use the tunnel because the normal roads were closed because apparently people like to pay to get up early and run in the streets for medals.

I enjoy getting up early to run for medals. I would not, however, enjoy it on the roads in Miami. I'll stick to the mountains. 

51 minutes ago, rcrabb said:

The other wrinkle we encountered is the FCC is only applicable to the person's portion of the cruise fare named on the FCC.  We cannot apply the FCC towards the combined cruise fare for both of us.  This one did irritate me a bit as a credit card payment for total balance is apparently divided into the different accounting buckets behind the scene.

Yeah, we ran into this on our last cruise - they had split the FCC between myself, my wife, and our daughter, despite the fact that we paid no fare initially for our daughter as we caught a Kids Sail Free offer.

We *were* able to explain the situation to someone and get the rest of her FCC unlocked for use on the sailing even though it was technically over the amount of her fare, but as always, YMMV.

EDIT: Looks like @twangster beat me to the punch on the fact that FCCs can be used for other people on the reservation now. Glad to know that's new policy.

6 minutes ago, Jim D said:

Ive heard and perhaps they are just rumors about the bigger shows onboard only offering 1 showing?  It has been a long time since I have been on a cruise but I thoughts they used to have a earlier showing in the main theater for people who have the late seating in the MDR. And then a little later showing in the main theater for the folks who had the early seating in the MDR.  Because what I have heard is there is only 1 showing at 945 - which makes it hard for the 8pm diners to have a nice relaxed dinner with some cocktails and wine and be out of there to get to the theater by 930.  Is this only a Europe based thing or a smaller ship thing?  Has anyone else come across this?

Haven't seen this on any recent live blogs or my last cruise in September.

9 minutes ago, Matt said:

It is possible to board a cruise normally, but then disembark the ship before it officially ends. It's known as a partial cruise.

More info: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/partial-cruise-request

If I'm reading that right, it wouldn't work in this case, because Seattle to Juneau would be within the US and violate the cabotage laws. Correct?

11 hours ago, Egeria said:

I have not seen the one way itinerary in Alaska on RC. The lines that offer the one way trips tend sail between Vancouver/Seattle and Whittier (Anchorage). 

RCL does offer the one ways, at least they will next year.