Ontariocruisers

I wonder if they permit handcuffs on the "Bliss Cruise"

Absolutely! I'm finding all of the complaining about canceled ports etc outrageous considering the state of the world. RC is trying so hard and I can't even imagine how difficult this has been for them. As we were on Freedom in early Dec watching a guy just losing it on the staff because he had to wait for his FREE covid test we were disgusted. We patiently waited while sitting comfortably socializing and drinking coffee....sounds pretty rough right!

Exactly, we were fortunate on Freedom in early December to get the free PCR test. By no means do they need to do it just because our County requires it. On a side note, we are seeing record highs of covid in Canada now so the PCR test requirement is clearly not helping much. I don't blame RC at all for stopping the testing, it's such a hassle for them.

This is what we are doing for our next cruise. Considering the 2 hour drive for us to Pearson airport, all of the waiting at the airport and delays etc can add up to 15 hours to get to Miami. 10 hours to drive to NJ and it sounds like a great spot to board a ship!

That was a big highlight for us a few weeks ago too, at Coco Cay we felt like we had a pretty private ship to ourselves!

We were on Freedom 2.5 weeks ago and the 2 of us were in between a table of 2 and table of 4. Not right at their table but more than close enough to have conversations with everyone. We were quite surprised

I wish it was permanent

We went ahead with our late Nov cruise once we found out the PCR test was complimentary on board. We were pretty blown away that RC was offering that but also figured it wouldn't last. An extra $450 Canadian dollars isn't worth it for us, we will wait to see what happens until we book another one. Glad we got to go.

So annoying that this is happening again, we got off Freedom and flew back to Toronto just under 2 weeks ago and had very little concerns. Crazy what 2 weeks can change

We skipped formal night, on the other nights we saw everything from jogging pants, jeans, t shirts, dress shirts/pants etc. I like to wear golf shirts and dress shorts and did so without feeling too judged. I got a few looks but wasn't worried about it. I'm sure shorts offends some but I feel like that is dressy enough for vacation.

Just add this to the list of the ridiculous decisions the government has made in the past 2 years!

Not sure if this helps but we received this e mail a few after we got back: You are receiving this email from the Government of Canada because you recently entered Canada. An Emergency Order under the Quarantine Act that applies to all travellers arriving in Canada is currently in force. You were informed of this Order when you entered Canada. This is a reminder that IF you were randomly selected to complete COVID-19 molecular testing, you are required by law to follow the directions you were provided at the port of entry and complete the test. We may follow up with you in the next few days to confirm your compliance with this requirement. Further details can be found here: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/fully-vaccinated-travellers-without-covid-19-symptoms-returning-canada.html.

We got off Freedom of the Seas 5 days ago, we never got off the ship in Nassau or Coco Cay so I'm not sure if it's different. When Customs asked at Pearson where our cruise went we said The Bahamas. She kind of paused and we said we didn't get off the ship and she shrugged and said oh ok and sent us on our way. I don't know if it's different if you get off the ship or just depends on the customs person.

Yes, and by the sounds of it the system is getting better each cruise. Ours didn't go as well apparently as there were a lot of people getting the test. We got the test done at 7:45am but had to wait 2 hours before they let us go. They want you to stay to confirm you test negative. Usually it is 15 minutes but it was running pretty slow. They had coffee water pastries so we just sat and enjoyed some conversation. We were just happy the PCR test was free. Oh and not sure if this is the case on all ships but the test was nowhere as violent as the ones we got in Canada. I had to ask after if they were sure it was a PCR test. We were quite pleased but there were some really upset people as it cut into their day at Coco Cay. We did not get off the ship so we had no complaints.

You will be more than fine. Our flight from Miami to Toronto last Friday was at 1:04pm. The PCR test was done Thur morning and we had the paper copy results in our stateroom Thur evening. We didn't have the internet package so we didn't even upload our tests until we had wifi in the cruise terminal. We had so much time and were super early for everything. All will be well for you, just make sure you go to guest services the day you board the ship and book the free PCR test. Have a great time

I wanted to share this story, my Wife and I have been together 10 years. We went on her first cruise last week and she wasn't happy about the $30 usd a day ($40 ish Canadian dollars) for gratuities. I didn't say much before the cruise and her plan was to go and reduce the gratuities at guest services. To clarify, I love her very much! She hasn't travelled much, this was my 3rd cruise and I have travelled a lot in the past. Day 1 she questioned why I was leaving cash tips for our lovely room attendant and still keeping reduced tips. I still didn't say too much because I was certain I knew the ending. As the cruise went on she was going on and on about all of the wonderful people being so great. We had great conversations with many of them in the Windjammer, main dining room, hallway etc. Our 2nd last day we were relaxing on Deck 12 at night and she said you know what...I feel so bad that I even considered reducing the tips and if anything we should give more. That was an amazing moment watching her come to the realization I never judged or faulted her for feeling that way, but I knew she would change her mind!

Hahahaha no no. I'll be more clear, from our door to the hotel in the Miami including all of the travel it took about 15 hours. You must think we are pretty easy going if I was ok with waiting 15 hours for the shuttle! Bahahaha

No worries, I actually thought autocorrect changed it for a moment!

Windjammer was open every night for dinner so I guess that tells us the ship was at least 50% full. There were hardly any lines for anything and we barely ever heard a thing at night in our room. I would love to know the capacity as every time we went to Sorrentos and the cafe we pretty much walked right up.

We aren't sure what the capacity was or how to find that out. Would be curious to know though. Seemed like not many got off at Nassau but the Coco Cay day felt like we had our own private cruise ship!

We didn't have our phone for most of the cruise, for all that we did we didn't feel it was necessary. Most did have their phones though, each to their own for sure.

I wrote "VeriFLY" not verify. That is required for American Airlines.

New to the board and first Cruise ever for the Mrs. and Mr's first RC cruise. Sailed Carnival twice 13 and 15 years ago. Flew Toronto to Miami the day before, 2 hour drive to the airport with all delays, waiting, time at the airport it took close to 15 hours. We are going to try driving to Bayonne next cruise which is 9-10 hours. Pretty over air travel and being herded like cattle and all of the waiting. Shuttled from Fairfield Inn to the cruise terminal. Well organized and everything went smoothly. We were on the ship around noon and walked around the Promenade. Beautiful ship, staff absolutely amazing! We loved the slices of pizza, loves the coffee and desserts! We ate the pizza one slice at a time 2-3 times a day. Ate at the Windjammer for dinner the first 2 nights and it was great. We had great conversation with Aaron in the Windjammer. The last 2 nights we ate in the dining room which was amazing as well. We had french onion soup, tiger shrimp, prime rib, all so very good. We had breakfast in the Windjammer every morning which was great. Love the wash stations and the washy washy hostess who had to get firm with a few people that didn't want to wash their hands. 2 years in this pandemic and people like that is why we are still in it. Also several people still not washing hands after the restrooms in the airports and on the ship. Disgusting and sad. Our room was deck 8 Promenade view. Next cruise we will do deck 6, felt too high up but was still great and so quiet. We did not get off the ship and that was our plan. We aren't big beach people and we enjoyed the empty ship on the 2 port days. Coco Cay looked great but the views were more than enough for us. We soaked up a lot of sun on the ship and didn't have any regrets not getting off the ship. The layout and ease of getting around the ship made it that much better. We enjoyed wandering around getting coffee and finally just being on vacation again. Pretty calm sailing compared to my first cruise out of Long Beach. All in all what a terrific time we had and RC did a great job in all aspects. We look forward to sailing with RC again out of Bayonne. 10/10 and no complaints. We made sure to write names down of every crew member that impacted us. Passed their names along on the review e mail. Now we want to go back soon but will wait to see what this stupid omicron does first. Signed 2 happy RC cruisers! Also we used the fitness centre one day on the Wednesday and had a great full body workout that left our muscles quite satisfied. We work out a lot but on vacation we limit that to once or twice. Great workout facility with everything we needed. Took the stairs a lot so got some good cardio in as well. I rode the flow rider once to say I did it. Might do that once per cruise.

We got off Freedom of the seas Dec 3. Pre trip we were stressing about this as well but no need to worry, they have you covered and the tests are complimentary! Thanks to posts on this board we knew what to do. Go to guest services on day 1, they will schedule the tests for you for the last full day (ours was between 7:30-8:30am and we got a paper copy in our room that evening. We were told the wait would be 15 minutes but there was some confusion so it took a few hours but we were not upset since it's free and great of RC to offer that. While we waited for the results they had coffee, water, pastries to hold us over. Lots of complaining about the wait but we didn't. We enjoyed chatting and relaxing while we waited. Once you are clear they send you on your way but remember you don't get a copy of it until the evening. Still seems like a work in progress but they are trying! Once we got in the cruise terminal we uploaded our negative test to verifly and arrive can and it was approved pretty quickly. Hope this helps ease your stress a little bit. Enjoy your trip!

For some reason we were unable to make reservations for the shows using the app. We went to guest services and they couldn't figure it out either. They were really good though, booked all of the shows for us.