Done

I am wondering how long Royal Caribbean or other cruise lines will continue to require negative tests as one of the requirements to board their ships? There no way to predict if the future holds a new COVID-19 variant and another surge. Will the current test kits be able to detect any new variant? Again, no sure way to know. We have booked B2B cruises in August 2022 and a Perfect Day/Caribbean cruise in October 2022. I will wait to purchase the proctored test kits closer to those dates if it appears testing will still be a boarding requirement.

I had the same experience, negative antigen, positive PCR just last month. I was infected October, 2020 with a mild case, and have long since recovered. I retested and got a 2nd antigen test and it too was negative. The pop up testing site was no longer sending out samples for PCR testing.

Yes a number of recent sailings have had COVID cases on board BUT the positivity rate is less than 1% compared with land based measurements. Last I saw Illinois had a 15.7% positivity rate. The numbers show your less likely to contract COVID on a cruise ship than on land amongst the general population.

I am not sure if this link is air2sea or not but the link is on the RC home page. At the bottom of the RC home page is a list of links one of which being in the far right column, "Book a flight." I selected that link and entered the required information for the first sailing of a back to back cruise. After the search for flights completed I changed the date search range to a day earlier and a full week later to account for back to back cruise. It accepted the changes and I clicked the "search flights" button again and it displayed flight information for the new date range. You have to pick and mock book the departing flight to get the returning flight. I stopped there as I'm not yet ready to book a real flight yet.

We had a GS on Vision quite a number of years ago and while the extra room was nice we thought is was too much for our needs. We book Jr. Suites now mainly to get the double nights awarded to our C&A standing. We also discovered a JS on Quantum class ships has a 1/2 bath plus a full bath.

Jr. Suites are still able to be booked with refundable deposits. I realize Jr. Suites do not have the same perks the other higher prices suites.

While I like the app I am an old school computer user and some of the check-in features are not available via the website. I originally uploaded photos of my wife and I several years ago but I cannot find the ability to update our photos via the computer check-in screens now. My real point is do not retire the website features and depend on the app totally. I would much rather work on my computer and rely on the app as an alternative when away from home.

Thanks so much!

I found a link that will give one access to the deckplans of all the ships (https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/deck-plans) web pages for a selected ship. I was hoping to find the PDF version for all the ships like is shown on the page I provided above. Does anyone know if they are available?

We have cruised from Port Liberty several times and the east coast "abrupt personality" was quite evident in a number of fellow passengers who were from local area. It isn't our style so we avoid cruises embarking from NJ/NY ports.

We did a "behind the scene" tour on a RCL cruise a couple years back. In the galley we were told the color of the cooks neckerchief was an identifier of their "cooking rank" or expertise. There were yellow, red and blue neckerchiefs and I am sure some others I do not remember. Does anyone know the pecking order of the colors?

That is a very good question! I think the only way to know for sure is to try other cruise lines to determine which one(s) best suit us and deserve our loyalty. I believe we stayed with RCL to obtain Diamond Plus. We booked Jr Suites for the larger tub/shower and cabin as well as to get the double points. RCL was also comfortable and we had a good idea what to expect on each cruise. Now that we see the goal in sight, the number of cruise nights and associated $$$ to get to the next tier is quite a stretch. Looking at the comparison of perks for all the tiers, flexible arrival as an added perk for Diamond plus would be the only tangible benefit of value to us. I think perceived value for the dollars spent is a matter of point of view.

Unfortunately for us, we do not see significant value in any additional perks for reaching 340 and 525 nights to keep us exclusively tied to RC cruises

We will reach Diamond Plus after our next cruise. I have said before, at our age the jump from 175 nights to 700 nights to reach Pinnacle is just too great for us to reach. I see Diamond Plus as our last realistic C&A tier and feel more freedom to try other cruise lines without the regret of not accumulating more C&A nights.

Something is wrong with that system. I used to be able to do it until I asked for the low fare guarantee to be granted. We realized a hefty savings but never received an updated invoice after I paid the balance on both back to back cruises. When I try to get the invoices for either sailing the automated system denies the request and says we booked through a travel agent. I booked it over the phone with RCCL. I called customer support and they said our database records shows we booked over the phone and was unsure why the system failed us. She sent the invoices and I attempted it again a week later just for grins and the request is still denied with the booked through a travel agent response.

Does anyone know why November, 2023 is not an available choice when searching for a cruises online?

I have read the cut in the number of suites to make room for a new "neighborhood" for star suite guests only similar to Celebrity's "The Retreat" or Norwegian's "The Haven"

How does a price check result in a price increase?

I asked a similar question as we are moving from Diamond to Diamond Plus after the first of a B2B cruise. This was RCCL response: We are happy to know that you are planning to be with us onboard the Ovation of the Seas! We also want to congratulate you on your upcoming upgrade to Diamond Plus status! You are correct in your understanding of the way your status upgrade will be applied. As your status will upgrade at the end of your first sailing, you will be able to enjoy your Diamond Plus benefits on your next sailing. We do want you to be aware that for members whose status is upgrading on a back to back sailing, we ask that they inform the Loyalty Ambassador onboard during the first sailing of their upcoming change in status. Please let the Loyalty Ambassador know of this change and they will be able to note this change so that we are sure you receive your Diamond Plus benefits on the second sailing.

We book Jr Suites as our first choice. On Quantum class ships JS's have both a half bath and full bath with tub/shower. If you get a Quantum J4 JS you get a half bath and full bath with a tub and separate shower with a rain head. We booked a Grand Suite around 10 years ago when RCCL used to do the Mexican Rivera cruises and while it was nice it was over the top for our needs. I guess if we had a larger income they might be a regular thing for us. As an aside, I see RCCL has returned to the west coast and Rivera cruises with some other itineraries as well. We got preferential boarding when booked in a JS on Symphony out of Terminal One in Miami. On Explorer at Fort Lauderdale Port, booked in a JS, we were turned away from Suite boarding and directed to Diamond boarding based on our C&A ranking. So, it depends. My advice is try for Suite boarding and see where it goes.

I made final payment on our cruise to Alaska. During that same credit card billing cycle we cancelled a specialty dining reservation and booked another. RCCL refunded the amount of the canceled dinner TWICE. Their internal checks must of caught it. Instead of cancelling the extra refund credit they took that extra refund from our cruise fare payment and it left us a balance left for the cruise. The "Pay Remaining Balance" button was grayed out BUT the subsequent cruise invoice showed a remaining cruise fare balance in the amount of the EXTRA refund. While on hold for a supervisor to help figure it out I matched the numbers up and realized what had happened. It got it fixed but check, check, check everything!

We have a large number of rewards points with Southwest. We live in the midwest and have to include air transportation costs in the total cruise cost. Using points helps us reduce that cost. SWA leaving EWR forces us to take Port Liberty off our list of possible departure ports. The hassle of transit from LGA to Port Liberty just isn't worth it.

We want to eat at at least 2 if not 3 Specialty Restaurants and I think buying the 3 night SR package was a good idea. We realize we need to use 1 reservation the first or second night, However the dining times offered us for either night's dining are 5:30, 6:00, 8:30 or 9:00 pm. None of those dining times appeal to us. Once onboard, can we change our reservation time to something that works better for us?

We got 30% off DBP for our August 2022 sailing about 3 months ago. It went up to 20% off before the current 30% off sale price

I thought I had been short changed by RCCL until I realized FCCs are only applied to the cruise fare itself and not taxes, port fees or gratuities. BTW - this is documented in the FCCs Terms and Conditions that I should have read more carefully. That could be an answer to your mystery. As far difficulty getting the page to work I too have had that issue as well I found if I logged off from my RCCL account, then shut down the browser (I use FireFox) waited a minute or so then tried again I had success. The issue I have seen multiple times is no ships available in the Ships Name drop down selection box. There was also a new line item on our invoice after FCCs were applied - TBZ5 - Global Suspension FCC with a cruise fare discount amount subtracted. I haven't done the math but I *think* it is the 25% bump given when RCCL suspended our cruise(s) in 2020 and 2021.