Marc

We (my husband and I) cancelled a December cruise in early September. After six weeks of not hearing anything, I called to find out. The FCC had been issued and emailed to... get this... our deceased son's email address. He's been gone for two years, and somehow Royal Caribbean managed to associate his email address with our FCCs for a booking made and cancelled in 2021.
The person on the phone did give me the FCC numbers so I can use them, but they were unable to re-email the certificates to my email address as they'd been issued to the other one.

The CDC has three possible criteria for ending the ban. November 1, 2021, is just the fallback one.
If the Secretary of Health and Human Services no longer declares COVID-19 a "public health emergency" or if the CDC Director rescinds or modifies their order would also result in the ban being over (or modified).

My guess: they'll try to match what you have now, otherwise they may upgrade you. (Note that neither of the sailings below were guarantee bookings, so your experience may vary.)
I L&S'd two (back-to-back) cruises (a Mediterranean and the following transatlantic). This was from one Oasis class ship to another.
The Mediterranean cruise transferred over and kept the same cabin. The transatlantic, however, was sold out of grand suites, so they upgraded us to a crown loft suite. I wasn't expecting that, and although I'm disappointed not to be able to stay in the same cabin between the two sailings, I think this is a very reasonable option.

Unfortunately, no.  You need at least 3 people on the original reservation to lock the booking price down.  At this point if you add, you will be re-priced at prevailing rates.

Hey @Richard Huntington! Fancy meeting you here!
After my husband got the news that we're getting that fantastic discount, he figured out how much we'd be saving over our cruises next year. With four weeks of sailing, and assuming we could've gotten the drink package for just $50/day, the net savings is a bit over $2,000.
He then started calculating just how many carats that'd buy. 

Hey @Richard Huntington! Fancy meeting you here!
After my husband got the news that we're getting that fantastic discount, he figured out how much we'd be saving over our cruises next year. With four weeks of sailing, and assuming we could've gotten the drink package for just $50/day, the net savings is a bit over $2,000.
He then started calculating just how many carats that'd buy. 

Hey @Richard Huntington! Fancy meeting you here!
After my husband got the news that we're getting that fantastic discount, he figured out how much we'd be saving over our cruises next year. With four weeks of sailing, and assuming we could've gotten the drink package for just $50/day, the net savings is a bit over $2,000.
He then started calculating just how many carats that'd buy. 

Hey @Richard Huntington! Fancy meeting you here!
After my husband got the news that we're getting that fantastic discount, he figured out how much we'd be saving over our cruises next year. With four weeks of sailing, and assuming we could've gotten the drink package for just $50/day, the net savings is a bit over $2,000.
He then started calculating just how many carats that'd buy. 

Hey @Richard Huntington! Fancy meeting you here!
After my husband got the news that we're getting that fantastic discount, he figured out how much we'd be saving over our cruises next year. With four weeks of sailing, and assuming we could've gotten the drink package for just $50/day, the net savings is a bit over $2,000.
He then started calculating just how many carats that'd buy. 

My family and I went on Liberty of the Seas in 2007 (during her inaugural season), and I fell in love with Royal Caribbean almost immediately. The next summer, we sailed on Adventure of the Seas. I was slightly disappointed that cruise because I felt I was on the less pretty cousin. I basically said to my self, Freedom class or bigger for the future.
Last year, we had an opportunity to go on Mariner of the Seas after she was Royal Amplified. What a difference that made! I'd have no problem going on any Royal Amplified Voyager-class ship now, and will be doing so in June 2020 (Explorer of the Seas).

My husband and I did Escape the Rubicon. We enjoyed it a lot. We did "escape" which I think was a result of us all communicating and working well together.
I'm going on Symphony of the Seas in a couple of weeks and I'm quite disappointed that the escape room on her is the same one because I'd really like to do another one again.

Same here! I got it for this cruise (also at $152) and also for a Freedom of the Seas cruise in October for $126! The Black Friday specials were really good.

Thanks for sharing this find! I was able to get the drink package for our cruises in January ($52/day on Independence) and March ($56/day on Symphony). These are better prices than the $60+ they'd been until now.

I am sailing on the Symphony of the Seas October 2019. I see the Ultimate Drink Package is currently going for $52/Day on the Cruise Planner...
Does it ever go lower? If, so, what is the cheapest you have seen? and when do you think it will go on sale again?
Thank you!

I've had 3 people request access to the sheet. Please like this post to confirm if you are one of them, just so I am sure that they are real accounts and connected to the blog.

Wow... I wouldn't have thought this could be true.
According to Royal Caribbean's beverage package info (I've highlighted this new info):
  I found out about this from this tweet where Royal Caribbean specifically said, "I can confirm that milkshakes are included in the Deluxe and Beverage Packages. Rest assured, we'll get our website updated ASAP." A friend found out that they had specifically done that.
They didn't add it to the Refreshment Package, though. I guess that this is the only non-alcoholic part of the Deluxe Beverage Package that isn't in the Refreshment Package.
Wow.

Wow... I wouldn't have thought this could be true.
According to Royal Caribbean's beverage package info (I've highlighted this new info):
  I found out about this from this tweet where Royal Caribbean specifically said, "I can confirm that milkshakes are included in the Deluxe and Beverage Packages. Rest assured, we'll get our website updated ASAP." A friend found out that they had specifically done that.
They didn't add it to the Refreshment Package, though. I guess that this is the only non-alcoholic part of the Deluxe Beverage Package that isn't in the Refreshment Package.
Wow.

Wow... I wouldn't have thought this could be true.
According to Royal Caribbean's beverage package info (I've highlighted this new info):
  I found out about this from this tweet where Royal Caribbean specifically said, "I can confirm that milkshakes are included in the Deluxe and Beverage Packages. Rest assured, we'll get our website updated ASAP." A friend found out that they had specifically done that.
They didn't add it to the Refreshment Package, though. I guess that this is the only non-alcoholic part of the Deluxe Beverage Package that isn't in the Refreshment Package.
Wow.

Ah, thanks! I did a search for "milkshake" and didn't find that thread.

Wow... I wouldn't have thought this could be true.
According to Royal Caribbean's beverage package info (I've highlighted this new info):
  I found out about this from this tweet where Royal Caribbean specifically said, "I can confirm that milkshakes are included in the Deluxe and Beverage Packages. Rest assured, we'll get our website updated ASAP." A friend found out that they had specifically done that.
They didn't add it to the Refreshment Package, though. I guess that this is the only non-alcoholic part of the Deluxe Beverage Package that isn't in the Refreshment Package.
Wow.

I just had a strange chat with someone at Club Royale. I was calling up to apply my latest certificate to an upcoming cruise, and she mentioned that just based on the points from my last cruise alone, I'd be Signature.
I know I didn't earn 25,000 points during my last cruise, so it's certainly possible she simply misread the number off her screen and added a digit. Otherwise, I wonder whether they're changing the number of points per dollar wagered. I haven't seen anyone else say that, so my basic assumption is that she made a mistake.

I don't think you're giving them enough credit.

Actually, that's not what I was saying in my second paragraph. What you describe is, indeed, how you earn points. If you've wagered $24,000 through the machine (factoring in replaying of winnings), you'll have earned 4,800 points ($5/point) which qualifies you to receive a certificate for a balcony or $1000 discount. This part is unchanged from my previous expectation.
What I was talking about was the existence of a second metric that had been unknown to us. This metric seems to be that if you lose $X, you may also qualify for a certificate. I don't know what $X is, but I do know that I had ~2,500 points, and yet I qualified for a balcony certificate due to this other metric.
This goes to the frustration that those of us who have been with Club Royale for a while have been expressing. In the "old days", the system wasn't fancy, but you generally knew what you were getting (not counting the issue of opaque points accrual on table games). For slot players, you'd earn a certain number of points. After that cruise, you could call Club Royale and get some cash value for those points (significantly more than the $20/1,000 points they offer in slot free play now) as a "cash rebate" for your next cruise. During your next cruise, you'd go to the casino cashier and they'd simply hand you money. That's all there was to the program, but at least we understood it.

Actually, that's not what I was saying in my second paragraph. What you describe is, indeed, how you earn points. If you've wagered $24,000 through the machine (factoring in replaying of winnings), you'll have earned 4,800 points ($5/point) which qualifies you to receive a certificate for a balcony or $1000 discount. This part is unchanged from my previous expectation.
What I was talking about was the existence of a second metric that had been unknown to us. This metric seems to be that if you lose $X, you may also qualify for a certificate. I don't know what $X is, but I do know that I had ~2,500 points, and yet I qualified for a balcony certificate due to this other metric.
This goes to the frustration that those of us who have been with Club Royale for a while have been expressing. In the "old days", the system wasn't fancy, but you generally knew what you were getting (not counting the issue of opaque points accrual on table games). For slot players, you'd earn a certain number of points. After that cruise, you could call Club Royale and get some cash value for those points (significantly more than the $20/1,000 points they offer in slot free play now) as a "cash rebate" for your next cruise. During your next cruise, you'd go to the casino cashier and they'd simply hand you money. That's all there was to the program, but at least we understood it.

That may not necessarily be the case. If one's cellular provider supports it, one may be able to text (both SMS and MMS) as well as place and receive calls while using the ship's WiFi (with an active internet package). I have Verizon Wireless and they support WiFi Calling which extends their service over WiFi networks. There is no extra charge for this service and all use over WiFi Calling is considered domestic use.