Done

Neither my wife or I are soda drinkers.  We brought home the drinks cups when the drink packages were first introduced.  We have 4 or 5 now and just leave them behind.  At least 3 of them we brought home are still in the cellophane wrappers. 🙂

We are moving from Diamond to Diamond plus after the first of a B2B cruise.  I sent an inquiry to RCCL about this and I received this 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.

The CDC document released justifying their extension of the Conditional Sail Order reported many cases of COVID-19 infection of both crew and passengers on cruises with > 96% vaccination rates of passengers and 100% vaccination rate for the crews.  The CDC did not name the cruise lines by name but what is apparent is the cruise lines were obligated to reported the infection data to the CDC but did release the same information to the general public.  I understand the business reasons to keep the infection data close to the vest.  It also reveals cruising is not as risk free as it seems.  
I would like the cruise lines to be more forthcoming with infection rate information so we all can decide for ourselves what the risks are and we are willing to take.
 
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/pdf/CDC-CSO-Extension-10-25-21-p.pdf
 

We just cashed in our non refundable OBC in the casino this morning on Symphony 

Does anyone know if RCCL adjusts the number of crew members needed for each sailing based on number of booked passengers?

I go through the cruise booking exercise about once a week until final payment date.  We have back to back cruises booked in 2022 and the price dropped on both cruises. We realized a combined $3600 savings from the original bookings.  I called RCCL and the cost of the cruises were adjusted and the balance we owed reduced.  Of interest we were given a NRD on cruise 1 and a NRD on cruise 2 when I called last week, but not on the original booking.  We never pay off the balance of a cruise until a few days before it's payment due date.  If we had paid the balance off, the price drop would have given to us in the form of onboard credit.  In that case we would have to make on board purchases we would normally not make to use it up.  I have read on the RCCL FAQ OBC's not used are lost. 

I go through the cruise booking exercise about once a week until final payment date.  We have back to back cruises booked in 2022 and the price dropped on both cruises. We realized a combined $3600 savings from the original bookings.  I called RCCL and the cost of the cruises were adjusted and the balance we owed reduced.  Of interest we were given a NRD on cruise 1 and a NRD on cruise 2 when I called last week, but not on the original booking.  We never pay off the balance of a cruise until a few days before it's payment due date.  If we had paid the balance off, the price drop would have given to us in the form of onboard credit.  In that case we would have to make on board purchases we would normally not make to use it up.  I have read on the RCCL FAQ OBC's not used are lost. 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.  It really helps!

@rcrabbOn the Oasis now on a back to back cruise. I received the consecutive cruiser letter in my cabin two days ago. It instructed me to go online and book a time slot for my Covid test. Today was the day before disembarkation. I went to the Conference Center on deck 3 and had my Antigen test. Quick and easy nose swipe. Results were emailed to me six hours later. Tomorrow, we meet at the theater at 8:30am where we will be checked in and receive our new SeaPass cards and wrist bands. We have to bring our passports, vaccination cards and the credit card we wish to use for our onboard account (even though the credit card is already uploaded during my online check-in). We then sit for awhile until they say it’s time. We leave the ship by scanning our old SeaPass cards. Security keeps them, although we can pick them up later at guest services. We go through the empty customs area…pause for the green check mark on the facial recognition system…then wait in line until it’s time to re-board…using our new cards. You have the same cabin, so it’s easy. If your were changing cabins (I am) you would need to pack only those things in drawers, etc. Your cabin attendant will use a garment rack to transport your hanging clothes from your old closet to the new one. Very convenient…no folding! Enjoy!😎

Carnival Cruises extended their health protocols based off the current CDC sail guidelines so one could deduce Carnival believes it will be extended.

Thanks for all the responses and advice.  We really like Anthem so it looks like any cruises from Port Liberty will be via airlines other than SWA.  I have found several alternative carriers that fly from MDW to EWR or we'll fly from ORD.

Yes , you can ignore the check in time of the second cruise.
We done B2B with Symphony several weeks ago. We got invited to do the test few days to the first part of the cruise. The test itself was on the last cruise day. On embarkation day we were requested to meet at one of the bars were we got our new card keys after a while we were escorted out of the ship , done quick face recognition at immigration and went to the sect floor to wait until escorted back to the ship. 

Thanks for all the responses and advice.  We really like Anthem so it looks like any cruises from Port Liberty will be via airlines other than SWA.  I have found several alternative carriers that fly from MDW to EWR or we'll fly from ORD.

Thanks for all the responses and advice.  We really like Anthem so it looks like any cruises from Port Liberty will be via airlines other than SWA.  I have found several alternative carriers that fly from MDW to EWR or we'll fly from ORD.

It's basically a choice on where you want the most inconvenience: Chicago getting to ORD, or NY/NJ getting to Cape Liberty. I personally think LGA to Cape Liberty is worse than most place in Chicago to ORD.

This is an excellent take.  Also, all things being equal, if I have to deal with disruptive traffic/travel, I'd rather do it in an area I am familiar with vs. an area I'm not.

I just received a new FCC for the balance not applied using the initial FCC.  The email they send stating unused FCC funds are held until the cruise has been taken is obviously out of date.  This good news for us.  We will be able to apply 100% of the FCC funds we have to our 3 booked cruises in 2022.

My wife and I always stopped at a bar/coffee bar while on the way back to our cabin, asked for and received 2 bottles of water for us.  They looked at our SeaPass cards to ensure we purchased a beverage package but never "rang them up".  We accumulated plenty of water bottles mid way through the cruise without them being applied to our daily free drink allotment.  I am not sure if we broke the rules or not.

This may sound like a complaint but is intended to help others who have similar plans as to how the apply accumulated FCCs. 
My wife and I have FCCs from previous cruises RCCL canceled.  We applied several of the FCCs to the first of 2 back to back cruises we booked for August, 2022 and we still had 2 FCCs that exceeds the combined balance we owe for both of the back to back cruises.  My plan was to apply my FCC to pay off the first B2B cruise balance and then take the remainder of that FCC plus my wife's FCC to pay the balance of the 2nd B2B cruise.  We would still have an FCC coming to us to apply to a yet as booked future cruise.
WHOA!!!   Not so fast says RCCL.  The FCCs are not applicable to taxes, fees, port expenses or gratuities.  Even with the $$$ deposit we made when booking we still have a balance on the first B2B cruise we have to pay out of pocket not covered by the FCC.  In addition, the balance remaining on the applied FCC will not be credited via a future FCC until AFTER we sail on the first cruise.  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.  I figured (incorrectly) the total balance owed was a shared balance and not distinctly separated sums.
In the end we will get all the monies granted to us via the FCCs but not without out of pocket disbursements.  To be fair the taxes, fees and gratuities from the canceled cruises were refunded as credits back to our original form of payment. 

I added the total of the FCCs applied minus the line item TBZ5 - Global suspension FCC and added the $500 deposit payment and it equaled the amount paid.  Seems wierd to me but I am sure it makes perfect sense to the RCCL accountant who came up with the system.