Lexster

2 hours ago, SPS said:

For real, though, there are way too many hoops to jump through for these pharmacy based tests. The ease and convenience of the BinaxNow tests can't be beat!

RIP Scott Hall. 4Life!

I know I'm excited for the prospect of an adults only area. I'm hoping they have some more adult-centric activities. Let's all just be happy they're not copying Labadee and making it a suite-guest only area.

30 minutes ago, Ernesto said:

Can someone tell me if the new adult beach Hideaway beach in Cocokey will be nude beach ?

There's not much info on the area yet, but my guess would be it'll be like the Solarium on most ships. It's "adults only" in that no kids are allowed, but it's not like nudity is allowed. I think the days of "topless areas" like that involving cruise ships are long gone.

16 minutes ago, Terri Smith Johnson said:

Same!!  We think alike!  This is a delayed honeymoon for us...(second marriage).  My Dad was sick right after we married and we could not have a real honeymoon and then less than 3 months after our wedding, the pandemic hit.  Needless to say we are SO excited!!  Our Royal Up we just found out, was accepted.  Just a bigger balcony, but we will take it!  

Nice! We had to rebook due to the pandemic last year and my TA got us one of those rooms that is right next to a suite, so the balcony is a little bit bigger than normal.

16 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

Not only that, stop by the Windjammer, if something looks interesting, ask for a small plate of it. Taste it. If you like, you can come back later and have it for second dinner, or eat it right there and then for first dinner.  Its like a freaking Costco but only samples.  You don't have to commit.  You can browse and walk away.  

True! Much like the hobbits, you can have dinner AND supper!

3 hours ago, CruisingNewb said:

This is a very loaded question that calls for a very relative and/or personal response based upon the context.

If you were asking "better and worse" in terms of objective food quality such as freshness and temperature, then there could be several worthy answers based upon whether formal nights affected Windjammer crowds therefore the food sat there longer, etc.

If you are asking, based upon context, whether the overall aesthetics of theme nights were better or worse, such as Mexican nights are decorated more or what not, that would also be a fair question.

If you were asking about what's better (Caribbean food or Mexican), that would require a personal response that might not answer your intended question.  I have a feeling that is not what you were really asking though.

HERE is my response...Why not just go on all event/theme based nights, take five minutes to peruse the Windjammer, and if it doesn't seem appealing, go elsewhere.  That is the beauty of a cruise, so many options.  I would not avoid or choose a restaurant based upon forum member opinions alone.  I want to see, taste and experience it for myself.  But opinions do help. No doubt.

Have fun!

That's what I'm most excited for. You can just look through the Windjammer and decide if stuff looks good. Heck, if there's a dessert you want, you could feasibly take it with you to the MDR to eat after dinner

I ordered these as well. I was hoping they'd be there when we first got in our stateroom as a surprise for my husband.

39 minutes ago, BowTieBrigade said:

That’s what I said. 

Sorry! I totally misread your post somehow. I'm so tired of having to think about vaccines and stuff. I apologize!

1 hour ago, BowTieBrigade said:

See, I disagree. I believe the testing should outlive the vax requirement for reasons similar to those posted by @LollyPop above. Vaccinated can still carry, catch, and transmit the virus, if they have it. You know who can’t transmit it? People who don’t have it. So, if we really want to prevent spread on the ships, the way to do it is to prevent it from coming onboard by only allowing negative tests. 
 

(I fully understand the false negative/positive issues with the tests, the fact that being vaccinated does reduce your chance of catching and spreading Covid, and that the pre-cruise testing is limited by shore excursion exposure, as well. I readily admit that this is just a gut instinct and I have not analyzed the numbers WRT any of those issues above.)

Being vaccinated absolutely does reduce your chance of catching and spreading covid, actually. Does it stop it altogether? No.

Ah, cool, didn't know about the one-day passes!

You have to pay for all remaining days of the cruise. I believe you could feasibly sign up for an internet package on your third day and then you'd have it for the rest, but no, you can't only choose, say, days 2 and 3 and cancel for the rest.

16 hours ago, Landlocked CPA said:

Hi everyone,

Sorry, back again with another question.

This morning I was reviewing our vaccine cards and started to stress a bit over whether mine will be accepted or not. It is not one the typical CDC card, using the white cardstock paper. Instead, mine is on blue paper, folded to replicate both sides of the regular card. At the time, I didn't really care about the physical attributes of the card, I was just happy to get my vaccine. But now, I worry (I'm a worrier) it would not be acceptable and should get a replacement. Has anyone been able to board at Port Miami with a vaccine card that has ALL the required attributes, but is just on different paper? Additionally, would a replacement card cause an issue since it was not the same one I uploaded to the app during check-in?

I'm already stressing out over my husband's and youngest daughter's cards since all the information is in the same handwriting. The RC FAQs state they will be looking for fraud, and I'm really hoping that everything being in the same handwriting doesn't raise any flags. I do have pictures of their original cards on my phone. My husband replaced his to consolidate his vaccines onto one card, and we had to replace my daughter's because they switched her first and middle names on the original.

Aside from the vaccine test we'll take next Thursday, this is something I fear could end our first-ever cruise before it even begins.

I had a similar worry when I read on a different thread that someone was denied due to not having a lot#. Mine has the lot#, but just says WAG for the provider, so I got it in my head that they would deny me since there's no store number. I'm not sure where you got your vaccines, but I got mine at Walgreens and they have my vaccination record on file. I was able to log on to the website and print out my record. I'm sure most retail places have that, as well, if that's where you got yours. I'm going to bring that and my vax card and I would have to imagine that would be sufficient.

8 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

Post-COVID, Royal has stopped selling fever and pain medication. The reason I was given was that they did not like people with COVID symptoms self-medicating.

On the Wonder, they still did not have any Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen in the vending machines

 

Good point, I didn't even think about them not wanting sick people to try to medicate themselves without reporting it.

19 hours ago, LovetoCruise87 said:

The Dinosaur Store and Ron Jon's for sure and Caribe Brewery

• If you want to do only one thing and have never done it before I would suggest an Air Boat ride at Lone Cabbage Fish Camp. It is about a 25 minute ride from the port. 
   

Ooh, thanks! I hadn't seen the Dinosaur Store mentioned before. We'll definitely check that one out. We love museums.

In addition, there is a chat feature on the app. I believe it's an extra charge of like 2 bucks a day, but if you have kids, I'd imagine it'd be very useful to be able to message them or vice versa if they're trying to find you throughout the ship. This doesn't require the internet package, either.

14 minutes ago, EmptyNestTravels said:

Didn't know that. Is there a list of what ships these vending machines are available on?  I found a post from @Matt in 2018 that Symphony has a bank of vending machines dispensing health essentials; electronics, and souvenirs, toiletries & sunscreens, etc.  

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/10/31/spotted-self-service-merchandise-machines-symphony-of-the-seas

 Am now wondering which ships or classes of ships have those.  Does anyone know?

I'm pretty sure the Oasis-class ships have it. I know the Oasis of the Seas does since I've seen them on ship tour videos.

12 minutes ago, Leighq said:

I haven’t seen this at all so here it goes.  Let’s say as a woman I need time of month products and or advil.  Is there a place to get that or do I have to go to the medical bay?  

I know on a lot of the ships, they have vending machines that sell all sorts of medical items. They'd likely at least have advil or equivalent. 

22 minutes ago, pheenix99 said:

Depending on how much time you have, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is rather interesting if science is your jam. The Astronaut Hall of Fame is right down the road from KSC as well.

Also, check out Spaceflightnow's launch schedule. Maybe you'll get lucky and get to watch a launch up close.

I actually did look for launches. Unfortunately there won't be any on the day we're there. I've considered the KSC too because I love space, but I figured Cocoa Beach would be simple since there's a bus that goes right there and comes right back to the port every 30 minutes. It's my first cruise and honestly my biggest fear is something going wrong and not making it back to the ship on time.

25 minutes ago, KLA said:

That's honestly exactly what the Playmakers/SeaPlex area on Odyssey reminded me of. Broad assortment of games and easy access to bar/food at Playmakers with some pretty great ocean views. 

Oh yeah, I forgot about the SeaPlex! I've seen videos of it and I like the idea for sure, but I think it could be so much more than that. I hope they expand it on future ships! Heck, I say go all in and put some bowling alleys in!

Maybe not an esport thing, but I think it'd be cool to have a gaming area. I know some ships have an arcade, but I think a Dave & Buster's inspired place with food and a bunch of games would be pretty cool, maybe where a cover charge means you can play all the games you want (or maybe given a certain number of tokens).

One of our port days is Cape Canaveral and I see there's a bus line that goes right from the port to Cocoa Beach, which is nice and convenient. I've looked at vacation websites and stuff, but does anyone have any recommendations on things we should definitely look to do other than the obvious things like go to the beach or look around the shops on the pier? Any interesting places to eat that are highly recommended?

Now I'm worried that my card won't be accepted. My husband's has WM and the store number he went to. I went to Walgreens and mine just was WAG. They all have the lot#'s, though, so...I would hope that's sufficient.

I was looking through the cruise planner and saw the option for the Sushi and Sake. It says the chefs guides through the making and such. It sounds interesting. Has anyone do it before? Is it worth it?

Also...to the mod who approves this, would it be possible to grant me the ability to post without needing to be approved first? I promise I'm not a spammer!

3 hours ago, Matt said:

Here's a Cruise Compass from February 6th: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/oasis-of-the-seas/sun-02062022-0000

When seeing what the entertainment will be, does it matter what the itinerary is? Basically, will the entertainment basically stay relatively the same on Oasis regardless of what port is starts from and what its stops are? The latest cruise compass on the site for my May 8th itinerary is from October 2021.

I used Cruisesit.com and so far I haven't had any issues, per se, but I don't often get any communication from my agent. Definitely never got any alerts about prices going down, which is something they advertise as a feature. She did get me a good initial price, so I guess I can't complain too much!