Swar

When I was at band camp...

I generally bid @$5 over minimum. I have won most of the RU bids @8/10. over the last year Of course that was low occupancy sailing times. I am getting a lot of Club Royale upgrades for my wife and I. We combine the offers, when we can, and end up with Junior Suites and some free play.

I booked for 2, then cancelled the other person a week before cruise. On the phone, I was told 1 point per night. However, the 2 points did show up on my C&A account. 

All the sudden the flu is back - wonder where it went the last two years. lol  Wear a mask if you want to, don't wear a mask if you want to: 'Merica, Europe, and the World (except for Singapore and China). I think the winter in Florida is going to be INCREDIBLE. 

No one I know is asking for any test results. Vaccinated or not.

Some people feel entitled no matter the location or situation. If he did "live" on the ship, he should have been even more considerate than your normal passenger. My mantra is - treat others how you want to be treated.

Many times, my wife and I both carry on our own 12 packs. Only been questioned one time about it. I had put all 24 cans in a single carry on. Luckily, we actually had two staterooms on that particular cruise.

Get rid of Wonderland? I know, I know - some people love it. We tried it for the second time. Still a NOGO, Bad food and the "performance" is lacking. Change them all out for a Hooked, Mason Jar, or Playmakers. No real ship work to be done. Just a change in mindset.

On one cruise, a guy wore his robe to the casino every day. Not sure he was wearing anything underneath. 

Got ours on the Symphony while onboard. August 2022

10 hours ago, Kenneth said:

So clearly 200 points is the new target to start receiving offers from Royal Caribbean. Typically how much does one have to spend to hit that threshold?

Slot machines: $5 bet equals 1 point, Video Poker: $10 bet equals 1 point, Tables: who knows? arbitrary 

My worst ship is the one I don't have scheduled yet. I like them all!

We do a daily coffee stop and meet people before dinner. Nice to have a quiet spot with a concierge to help us out. Drink vouchers and lifeboat drill are great things

You have to schedule the meals once onboard. The 5:30 on the first day is just a placeholder with no real significance. Get there early enough to do a specialty lunch also. My first task when doing UDP is to reserve all my meals - even before muster.

Just send them a picture of a positive covid test. 

I have gotten very few offers in the last two months - Signature. My wife, who is Prime, is still getting a few. After booking my yearly cruise, I still got tons of offers for several months. I have done 18 cruises since October 2021 - 2 of them paid for. I cannot complain.

I'm on Allure right now. App is working but not the internet site.

8 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

The email states DoNot arrive earlier than your boarding time otherwise you will be turned away until your time arrives. We have 10:30am so it will be interesting to see if I notice anyone being told to wait.

Currently on the Allure. Check in time was 11:00 A.M. They let us in the doors @ 10:30 - basically anyone who had boarding times from 11 - 12:30 were ushered in. Then security could not do anything until 11. On the ship by @ 11:10. Lunch at noon. Room ready @1 P.M.

I know Celebrity and one other cruise line are not doing stops in Bermuda on the way to Europe. My belief is that Bermuda will adjust to the "norm" fairly soon. Seems to be pretty easy now:

"effective Aug. 22, 2022.

Previously, unvaccinated travelers 12 and older were required to apply for a medical vaccination exemption in order to visit Bermuda no less than 10 days before arrival.

Travelers will be required to test again on day four, but there is no quarantine or 10-day test."

Shuffleboard 

We rented a car in Curacao last time and are doing it again next week. You can explore on your own for @$100 for the car. We had 4 people and one excursion would have been more than the car. We had snorkeling gear and hit a few beaches. No car in Aruba for us. There is a bus station really close to the port. Going to a beach with a restaurant over the water.

Between my wife and I, we've had @50-70 offers between Oct. 21 and now, She is Prime. I am Signature. Offers go from $200 to Jr. Suite. Majority balconies for me and interiors/OV for her. I am finally out of offers for now, but booked through March 2023. I consider all offers a nice gift and really don't feel entitled to them.

2 hours ago, Eddy said:

I simply do not understand why anybody would want to spend $70,000 + to do that and risk their lives and others.  

Heck, I understand completely. I've jumped out of aircraft, scuba dived, graduated Ranger School, gone to war a few times, traveled the world, and lived life to the fullest. If you live in a cacoon, are you really living? At least the lady was enjoying life up until the unfortunate attack. 

I called RCL yesterday. Basically, you can have the UDP and then purchase individual meals with a set time and date. Once onboard, cancel the individual meals and get your UDP put in the slot. Your money is refunded sometime later. Ties up a lot of money. Usually, the ship will have a meal reservation desk manned somewhere on embarkation day.

I may use this method for Hibachi, since there were only two bad time slots left on our last cruise.

Sad news out of Nassau. A Harmony OTS passenger has passed while on a independent snorkel excursion. RIP

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2022-09-06/shark-attack-in-the-bahamas-kills-58-year-old-american-woman

Not sure of a menu. We sailed in a Symphony JS a couple of weeks ago. The pillows were HUGE. I normally use three pillows (two under the head and one to elevate my leg) and actually like the balcony cabin pillows better.