Riley

I heard the system crashed at Allure's Saturday boarding and it took FOREVER to get 5,000 people on. Glad I wasn't on that one, but hope nobody got too sunburned waiting in the very long line outside the terminal.

I for one will applaud - you've earned those scars!

This should be classified as reimbursable if you have a health reimbursement account (HRA) or savings account (HSA) through your employer or insurance provider.

If you test from where you're flying within 2 days RC will accept the same result. If you test on the 29th, fly out on the 30th and board on the 1st you can use the same negative test from the 29th. Good luck.

They are good in that there are protections against delays etc. but there are significant limitations in booking flexibility - if you need to change anything (even upgrading to an exit row seat, which costs a little more money) you have to work through A2S and can't make changes on the airline's site. Also it's best to understand your options ahead of time to make sure they don't route you home from Miami to Chicago via Seattle (real-life example).

Call the toll-free number (there's one on the Walgreens web site) to see where walk-in sites are available. There's lots of other sites to take a test, including the Miami airport and a rapid test site right close to the terminal but you'll pay out of pocket for those.

Every cruise, including back to back (each segment is counted individually).

We are D+ and just got off a cruise on the 25th of February. Free laundry was still being offered.

No. The only accepted at-home tests are video proctored ones. RC will not accept a test not overseen by a healthcare professional. NOTE: by the time you're cruising in 2023 the rules may have changed...

Most onboard credits can be used on board, meaning to buy drinks, fancy dinners, etc. There should be some "fine print" in your paperwork that specifies what it can and cannot be used for.

They do have water filling stations at/near the Windjammer but some are shut down due to COVID restrictions. If open, it is requested travelers don't fill their bottles directly (I have a contigo and just use a cup for the dispenser and pour it into my bottle). If not open the WJ will have people providing cups of water, lemonade etc. and will be happy to give you a few cold glasses to our in. Alternately the main dining room waitstaff will fill it for you from one of their handy water pitchers... the bar staff will likely do the same but I haven't tried.

That is a good question - if your partner is traveling and registered in the cabin they should get the benefit. There is an email and phone # on the FAQs, an dit might be worth time to ask.

If you plan on any shore excursions don't forget the bug spray!!!

Agreed it is challenging. I am doing two Atlantic crossings (one each way) a couple months apart and - even though I go FtL to Barcelona and then Barc back to FtL because they are different cruise booking numbers I could not book a round trip flight. Would have had to book two one-way tickets at significantly higher cost. I ended up just booking my flights directly. I also agree about "know what you're doing before you call" - the agent first wanted to put us on a flight home from Miami to Chicago via Seattle.... not gonna' happen, buddy.

It depends - I usually see the Shareholder credit applied to the account a few days prior to embarkation - I go to the shore excursions and it pops up as a message. OBC from RCL has been running really slowly, though and if you do not see it by the time you get on board it can sometimes not make it along, especially with back-to-backs. Good luck and stay on it. There is a phone number listed on the RCL shareholder support site and they can usually check and let you know.

For US patients it's no charge: they don't ask for proof of citizenship or anything but you have to register online ahead of time to pick a test time and location (Walgreens site is https://www.walgreens.com/topic/promotion/covid-testing.jsp and you can register up to a week in advance, I think) but I don't know what happens if you enter a non-US based address. Try it out and see if it works. Travel safe!

It depends - they usually re-issue new certificates in 30 days (and are running even slower right now) from when partial credit is used, but you can call RC and use the residual credit if you have the certificate # handy. I have all mine listed on a spreadsheet to keep track. So if you have FCC and apply part of it to a cruise payment you don't have to take that cruise and then wait - you can split apart and use the FCC to pay any booking.

Make sure RC accepts the test you're going to do. They will not accept self-administered at-home tests unless it's proctored.

Check with your credit card vendor as well to see what reimbursement options they offer in the event of cancellations.

They are but not too strictly - if you have a 1 pm tie slot and arrive at 12:30 you should not have a problem.

You can loop it around your lanyard if you don't enjoy wearing it on your wrist. Like other folks say, so long as you have it the crew on ship don't really care.

For back-to-back cruises I know you get a test two days before you arrive back in port. I *think* it is the same procedure for international air.

One point to consider - you would get double points as well as your wife but you would not be able to add those points together. So if you booked 2 rooms you would each get 14 points but NOT a total of 28. Only 14 points would be added to your total.

In the Windjammer they still have a few self-serve stations with water, lemonade and iced tea (they ask you not fill from the tap directly but I just use a plastic cup and pour). If they don't have stations open, just ask at the staffed drink station for a few glasses of water. You can also ask the guys at the main dining room to fill up your bottle - they always have pitchers of ice water. The bartenders will also have ice and water.

We usually bring a big bag of assorted chocolates (think Halloween mix, which you can find year-round) that we hand out to the crew around ship, plus some Tide Pods. Crew have to do their own laundry including paying for supplies and - especially when they could not get off ship - Tide Pods were a big hit. Other than that we ordinarily just leave $$$$.