XtremeGK

We went to our pediatrician this week to get one for our son. I printed out the page on the Royal website that has the requirements and gave it to the doctor with his positive PCR test result. She was a bit bewildered by needing a letter (why isn't the positive PCR itself good enough as it is in other countries...I agree, but a discussion for another time), but typed out the letter on the spot using the guidance from the website and printed it at the front desk. For my wife, her PCP sucks, so we used a telemed option we found online. Had to pay for it, but worth it.

It's a known issue with the way the website displays the pricing -- KSF gets rolled into the 30% off for all discount line. If you do the math on it, you'll see that it is in fact pricing correctly.

Not difficult to find: Getting Ready to Cruise | Healthy & Safe Cruises | Royal Caribbean Cruises They're not going to tell you exactly where to get tested, but they do give you the guidelines required. They even tell you you can use the eMed tests. "Guests traveling into Denmark from another country should be sure to look into any requirements your own home country may have for exiting or re-entering its borders.On arrival, all guests from non-EU or Schengen countries must present a negative Covid-19 antigen test taken within 24 hours of their flight departure time. All Guests: Required Pre-Cruise Testing All guests sailing from Denmark will need to take one test before boarding, as detailed below. Tests must be supervised with the result provided on a certificate which includes the guest’s name and date of birth. Supervised telehealth tests are not accepted for unvaccinated guests – only for vaccinated guests. All tests are at the guests’ expense. Vaccinated guests who are up to date must show a negative result for an antigen test taken no more than 2 days before boarding day. Vaccinated guests who are not up to date will have a 1 day window to take this test. Kids age 5 to 11 who have been vaccinated may present proof of full vaccination and follow the testing protocols for vaccinated guests. Unvaccinated kids age 2 to 11 must show a negative test result for an antigen test taken no more than 1 day before boarding day. Guests under 2 years of age do not need to complete a pre-cruise test. eMed Tests Kits for Guests Traveling from the U.S. Through our testing partners, U.S.-based vaccinated guests may purchase antigen test kits for vaccinated guests that you can complete online with a supervised virtual video visit, wherever you are, 24 hours 7 days a week to meet travel testing requirements for cruise or flight. Learn more

30% off of $784 is $235.20. $235.20 x2 (passengers 1 & 2) = $470.40. + $854 (full cost of kids fares 3 & 4: $427 x2) = $1,324.40. Awfully close to your $1,326 discount there. So Kids Sail Free is calculated in the 30% off all guests on this. Your $255 per person = $1020 for 2 adults, 2 kids. That's your fares for 1, 2, 3 & 4 (including KSF -- $784 x2) = $1568 - $76 flash sale = $1492 - 30% off on guests 1 & 2 ($470.4) = $1021.6. Divide that by the 4 passengers and it rounds to $255/person.

I bring old hotel room cards for this very purpose!

You can generally tell which crew members are more interested in engaging in conversation, and I do enjoy getting to know those that are interested in sharing. One of our cruises, our MDR waiter had been on the Costa Concordia when it capsized. He stayed off the water for a while, but cruise ships offered far more money than anything back home. He was on his first contract back on a boat and admitted to a lot of fear at first. When we sailed, he was a little over 3 months in and said he felt far more comfortable, and being able to regularly have his pay sent back home had solidified he made the right choice. Even showed us his ID from the Concordia, which he still carried and was far worse for the wear.

Some ships seem to still include room service (on a very hit-or-miss level). We're sailing Adventure at the end of the month and given our cabin set up (DW and DS in one cabin, me solo in another), I only had to pay for one person, so I got it at $2/day more than Voom. Would get Voom anyway. If room service is by chance included, it will pay for itself even without using the Chops lunch or other perks. If it's not, it's still a reasonable price for Voom.

@Kirsten There are telehealth/online options for a Certificate of Recovery. They cost $60-75, but do offer 24 hour turnaround time. My wife and son both tested positive this week (I've been testing daily and remain negative), and we sail at the end of the month. We plan to do all the pre-cruise testing, but will also get Certificates of Recovery (my son is 3.5, so maybe it'll save him from needing the antigen test at the pier).

On another thread he notes that he was on the Allure sailing that missed CocoCay due to diverting to FLL for a medevac.

If I received compensation for every time I've missed CocoCay (for weather, not a medical emergency as this gentleman had), I'd be living onboard a cruise ship right now.

We're on the same cruise with our 3.5-year-old son. Walgreens near us in central NJ do rapid NAAT -- my parents sail this weekend, made back-to-back appts on Thursday, swabbed at the same time and had both results back in 90 mins. Can book that a week out, so we plan on making Saturday & Sunday appointments for the little guy (Sunday as a back-up in case Saturday is inconclusive).

PreCheck is one of the greatest things about travel. I fly semi-frequently between work and vacations, and typically fly out of Newark -- so easy to get your money's worth (and in my case, it's paid for by one of my credit cards -- we only pay for my wife).

Only taking one double points cruise, but it's doing its most important job. Starting at 66 points, so need 14 for Diamond. Wife wanted to limit the spending on a purely points-motivated trip, so 4 nights on Adventure out of Cape Liberty (live less than an hour away) to Canada. Booked interior solo. 4 nights + 1 extra point for solo doubled up gets me 16 points. And thanks to price drops, moved myself up to an aft balcony -- which my folks graciously decided to make the upgrade cost a birthday present. Interior was costing me under $500 all in solo. With the Diamond drink vouchers, my wife and I will forego the DBP on our 9-nighter on Oasis next summer. So the <$500 saves us from the >$1000 in drinks next year. Mission accomplished.

A lot of very good points here. We also don't know exactly what repairs are happening. We all know supply chain issues are a HUGE hold-up these days, and who knows how many items needed are stocked somewhere. Would not surprise me if a lot of cruise ship "parts" need to be custom made for that particular class of ship.

Has anyone else had room service included on a recent sailing?

Our second set arrived last week and are the Abbott tests, just like the first. I have seen the IHEALTH tests at our grocery store pharmacy.

Wondering if we'll get a similar email for our Canada sailing -- their protocols are testing within one day of embarkation, but Royal hasn't said anything yet. DS is only 3, but his 3-day window for PCR wouldn't be affected because he'll get the antigen test at the pier.

Depending on how early before your cruise you come in and where you stay, it's actually very easy to avoid NYC proper pre-cruise (avoid NYC? Really? Work there long enough and you look for ways to avoid it). If you fly into EWR, stay in Jersey City or at an airport hotel, you can always take the train/PATH into the city for dinner or sightseeing. Hotels near the airport will be cheaper than in the city and easier for getting to the pier in the morning. If you're coming in for a few days pre-cruise, staying in the city isn't a crazy idea at all.

Right now, they're saying antigen test within one day of boarding, so we'll see if they adjust to two days to match the CDC.

Count me (another NJ resident) among those saying no. Docking in the morning means you have to deal with NYC-bound rush hour traffic. Good luck with that. Newark is by far the most convenient airport to Cape Liberty. Southwest pulled out of there, but check United -- they're the dominant airline and it's their largest East Coast hub. Might find some decent fares.

I feel like we've diverted or stepped it up for a medevac on more sailings than we haven't. I've had trips that have returned to Bermuda nearly 8 hours after we departed for a medevac via pilot boat, arrived in San Juan 3 hours early to offload a patient at the pier, even diverted to Gibraltar on Quantum's TA for a passenger medevac.

I'm taking a points run cruise this May to get DW and I to Diamond. 100% unquestioned that I'll have the DBX for that. For next year's 9-night cruise once we're Diamond, we won't be getting it (it's part of the justification to take the points run cruise this year -- spend under $500 on my solo fare to save over $1000 on our 2 drink packages next summer). We bring refillable water bottles that we fill using cups at the water station (bring on a 12-pack of waters to bring ashore at ports), our 2 bottles of wine. We may end up buying a drink each some days, but many days, our 4 drinks will be enough to cover us. Would we get additional drinks (alcoholic or otherwise) if we had the DBX or Refreshment package? Probably. Do we need them? Not really. We'd end up with the fresh squeezed juice and specialty coffee drinks just to get our money's worth. DW drinks regular coffee every day at home (I don't drink coffee at all) and we drink whatever OJ is on sale at the grocery store.

True -- Just have to weigh the hassle of the fact that an Uber pick up would be at the airport terminal, NOT the Amtrak stop. Have to take your luggage over to the AirTrain to a terminal, then down to the arrivals pick-up.

Nearest Amtrak stop is likely Newark Penn Station. Best bet for hotels is probably Jersey City. Ubers are plentiful in north Jersey, so while they're not walking distance (though I don't think I'd consider the NYC terminals walking distance from Penn, especially with luggage), they're not an expensive ride, either.

Congrats on the wedding -- great choice of date. Easy to remember in future years. And congrats on scoring a helluva deal on the drink package. I haven't seen much below $60/day since the restart.