Peter D

If you pre-pay gratuities upfront in your cruise price, it covers wait staff and stateroom services, and there is no obligation to pay more to those crew members after the cruise unless you want to. If you purchase beverages or specialty dining, then additional gratuity will be added to the purchase. As @Pattycruise, mentioned, you will get blank gratuities envelopes in your stateroom, and if you feel any crew members went above and beyond, and you would like to show additional gratitude, then that is a way to do so.

I doubt you would have any issues. As long as you are ordering the standard type cocktails, whatever the per drink price is on ship, your drink package should cover them.

I might actually have a guess for you. An Aerosmith tribute band named 'Aeromyth' has the following on their website www.aeromyth.com/shows : 17 Jun 7 Day Royal Caribbean Cruise Cape Liberty, NJ This is the Oasis of the Seas cruise before yours. I suspect it's common for entertainment to do multiple sailings given the effort it takes to get on the ships (covid etc). It is possible that they could do a back to back. Anyhow, this is a total guess, but who knows....

Royal Caribbean releases updated health protocols for cruise ships through April 14, 2022 | Royal Caribbean Blog This previous blog article could certainly be interpreted that changes are due today or at least updates.

We had ours open on Odyssey in December during 'height of Omicron'. I am confident to say that RCL will let you open them in September.

It's a very common practice. If the balconies can be physically connected, then you'll be able to open them up. perhaps NCL prohibited it due to covid protocols.

Gottlieb is on the Pfizer board of directors. That right there is a self-interest that should be weighed with his opinion on the topic.

This is what I see on Radiance sailing.

That's a bummer. That is how it would have allowed the 'add to cart' button, but it seems the newer looking cruise planner is much more controlled than the older version.

you have to select the 1:15pm time.

Ah I see what you are asking. No, you are correct, my Radiance photo package options also only include prints, no digital plans.

My trip for May on Radiance is showing the option to purchase the photo package and it lets me select the plan up to checkout.

Surf might work, but you are probably better off getting the surf and stream version. Even then, performance varies on different ships.

On October 21 2021, I had to cancel due to covid during the 2-day testing. I was on my next cruise on November 21 2021 after a negative antigen test. I'd say if you could/would qualify for the certificate of recovery, 11-90 days since positive testing, you could go that route without testing. Any sooner than that, you would be relying on negative testing. Antigen testing should not detect virus, because its more for the active infections. It's the PCR test that could come back positive. If you book something now, keep in mind that cruise with confidence is over.

Overall, I have not had any problem cancelling a previous booked excursion and rebooking for less money. I did have one instance recently where this did happen. I saw that the price was cheaper and cancelled my current booking. I then got errors that it was sold out. I was aggravated. Thankfully the availability reset and I was able to rebook it, but I was certainly panicked. As for dining, I have seen the 3-day dining sell out, so I would be careful if I were cancelling that.

I second this sentiment. With CVS testing going away, it seems to me that these proctored tests are going to be the more convenient option going forward. My goal is to have enough tests on hand for every testing event to cover any error/issues. My goal is also to have none left over when testing goes away (whenever that is). I am personally planning to have 3 kits for available for two people every time we test.

Kids tend to congregate in specific areas. Seaplex, Living Room, Fuel, Arcade. adventure ocean etc. Aside from Seaplex, those areas are adult free anyhow. Solarium will certainly be a 'safe' kid free space and of course, the casino. I guess it all depends on if you are prone to noticing other people's children. I am sure you will have a nice time. Anthem is an excellent ship.

I have only heard of the 'pillow menu' being a thing on the high-end suites on some ships and I am not at all sure if Radiance of the Seas offers it. I doubt any option that the cruise ship can offer you will compare to your own. My wife brings her own pillow on the cruises. My recommendation would be to bring your own that you know will be best for you.

I sincerely doubt anyone wears sunscreen in solarium out of concern for sunburns. UVB rays are the sunburning rays and glass blocks nearly all, if not all UVB. UVA is still skin damaging, (but not burning) and glass does not block it. So, if sunburning is a concern, I personally would not worry about it, but if sun damage is a concern, then it cannot hurt. All this coming from a guy that shuns sunlight like Nosferatu.... because I hate wearing sunscreen.

I seriously doubt RCL is managing the vaccination rates at all through booking. I think they ask if you are and probably note it, but they aren't trying to get to 95% through the booking process, only through the sail process. Hopefully things will be much different come November, but as things stand right now, I think it is correct that your children will need to follow the 'unvaccinated children test requirements' ie. the PCR test up to 3 days prior.

What about bringing the EMed test kits with you and do the testing remotely using them? I assume you can do the test over a facetime type smart phone connection. Is that correct?

I am also sailing out of Vancouver in May. I am flying into Seattle and driving into Vancouver. So I am technically entering Canada by land. I do not know if border agency will ask if I am doing a cruise, but if they do will they then say, where is your testing. I doubt they will. From their perspective, I am a landing entry and no testing is required. Once I get to the port, I only expect to interact with Royal Caribbean personnel who will expect to see my vaccination card and negative test results. The only question is whether it will need to be a 1 day or 2 day antigen.... I expect we will get better instruction directly from Royal Caribbean in the form of a 'healthy sailing protocols' email (at least I hope so...)

Citadel Hill in Halifax is cool if you like old Forts. Peggy's cove is also popular. Bay of Fundy is popular in St John New Brunswick. I would expect the weather in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to be warm. 60-70's.

absolutely. You would do just that. On your phone, you would go to 'logoff.com' and follow instructions to remove it from the wifi. Then you would go to 'logon.com' on your tablet and enter credentials to connect.

Good to know. thanks for the clarification.