Fox Forlenza

You should also note that the insurance reimbursement for tests thing is already a headache and a nightmare. Don't count on quick reimbursement. Could be months, as none of these companies have a quick and easy way of doing this. So plan to have the money out of pocket for a while.

It is still for sale, so perhaps just a rumor at this point. Anything is possible.

@PattycruiseWell, we also aren't taking into account the requirements for Canada. I don't know what those are, and that may be dictating the terms of return.

Well, if RCCL requires this we will be canceling and ending cruising as long as the rule is in place. Ending up in the hospital to go on a cruise is not happening. (I had a nasty allergic reaction to the vaccines first sets of doses but went through it to cruise, I won't be doing that again.)

Thank you for the share. This stuff is always fascinating!

No reason to purchase a separate plan for each person if you are doing the combo deal.

Reminds me of our trip back in November. Oh, the ship was shaking and rocking and smacking. It was pretty intense at times. The ride out that night was pretty bad as well.

Just making me sick with worry. This is crazy. One after the next.

Thank God. We paid off our cruise in May (I know, dumb) already and were getting nervous. I'm so up in the air about it all. I don't know what to do.

I found this thread...

Yes, between the cups we get at the theme parks and on the ships, we collect quite a lot. Thank you for the suggestion. The theme park ones can be reactivated when we go (we just pay for it). So I'm 100% sure RCCL can do it, but not sure they would/do. It's an interesting question, though. Would remove a lot of waste for regular cruisers. Saves them money and helps the environment.

Yes, as a life-long bartender we would call that one of two things (just a little lesson): 1. Shot/shooter if served straight in the glass (no ice/mixer). Also known as "up" as in "straight up". 2. If over ice it's called "on the rocks" Getting a drink "up" also uses a few other terms: Up - straight up, outta the bottle into the glass (aka neat shot) Up Neat - Same as above (usually a double, though) Up Chilled - straight out of the bottle, shaken over ice, then strained into a shooter/shot glass. Keep in mind drinks like the martini are made with no mixers (unless it is a dirty martini, lemon drop, etc.).

How much is the benefit? Is it worth it?

I am hoping Labadee is open by May. We really don't want to go to Coco Cay again. Not that is wasn't great, but it wasn't for us. Granted we had a rather unpleasant experience with the weather, but that wasn't within Royal's control. I get cold doing water related activities if the temperature is under 90 outside haha, so a November trip to the Bahamas wasn't gonna pleasant anyway. Also, we like to go to new ports, and try to avoid repeats.

I see a lot of fraud happening. It could easily be manipulated. Another way for the government to stick additional costs to private insurers, thus increasing the premiums. 8 tests a month per person? That's almost $200 worth of testing, starts adding up quickly.

Imagine if Disney Cruise Line offered kids free... wow... that would be something.

This should answer that. Last updates from onboard pax with Covid are still showing the 10 day minimum. Perhaps they will update, but as of recent reports (which are anecdotal), it's the full, not the shortened. Also, remember, the CDC guidance is 5 days with 5 days of mask wearing post quarantine since you may still be contagious.

My understanding of the rules states that the quarantine rooms don't have to be negative pressure anymore, but the cabins still have to be on a separate HVAC system, so you would not be able to stay in your booked cabin. 100% agree with this. It's not even the beginning of generous, considering community spread numbers are at 5% or lower for "having a handle". Also, there are not many mitigation efforts at this point that can stop omicron, so chances of hitting 3 in a 1000 is super duper easy.

Under "Destination" in the cruise search, just select "Repositioning"

You also have to look at the fact that, when you are trying to find out the percentage of vaccinated vs unvaccinated getting COVID, a giant variable is missing. Many people who do not experience symptoms (and that's from both groups) will not get tested at all. If you have no symptoms, why test? Thus we will never know the true percentage of that for the land-based numbers. Not to mention I know a heck of a lot of people between both of my jobs, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, who had mild symptoms and did not test either. So there goes that data set. And that applies to the ships as well. We look at very low numbers of positivity on the ships, which is great. But I highly doubt those numbers are every a tiny bit accurate. With a totally vaccinated population on board, symptoms appearing are going to be rare, thus you could have a ship with a ton of positive people, but only test a handful that are experiencing symptoms or were in close contact with a positive case. In addition, just because you test negative and immediately isolate and wipe down your hotel room, etc doesn't mean you will stay negative. If you were exposed even 48 hours before the test you may still test negative and then become positive after the test. Especially considering the tests with the new variant being unreliable per the CDC. There are way too many variables to consider at this point. We will never know the true numbers, and honestly do we need to?

Sometimes life isn't fair, sadly. I think requiring vaccinations at this point isn't fair. I also don't find it fair that certain lines mandate the vaccines even if you are allergic to the ingredients in them (I am and cannot have another dose per the doc), thus potentially permanently kicking you off the ships. I certainly hope they never require the boosters, or I will have to cancel all of our trips.

You can also purchase something at one price, and if it is lower you can call and cancel that item and repurchase it at the new price.

Of course with some of these being canceled through April (granted that one is due to the ship going dry dock), it still has me worried about our upcoming trip. I remember almost getting an ulcer with the stress pending our November 2021 cruise, and I really don't want to go back to that.

Haha! I also live in Maitland, so we drive to all the FL ports.

Yes, that sounds absolutely ridiculous. Granted they probably still have PTSD from the beginning of the pandemic, but still.