djandyb

Sep 2022 - Oasis

Food was great in MDR (bar Lobster Tail; can't blame them; should never be done en masse imo)

Service incredible.

Hoping for similar on Anthem in Sep this year.

13 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

When you connect to the ship's wifi network for the first time it will ask you if you want to use the app for free or use VOOM.  You select VOOM and it will ask you to create an account. You'll enter in the requested information for the person who purchased the package. You end up creating a login and PIN number. You can share that login/PIN with whoever you want to use to access the internet, but if you only purchased a 2-device package, only 2 devices can be logged in at the same time.  When the third device logs in it will warn you it's going to bump another off.  Effectively you can use it for unlimited different phones, tablets, laptops, etc., as long as you only have up to the number of devices for the package you purchased connecting at the same time.

Really helpful information, thanks!

How much is it for one day on the ship? TBH I want to be disconnected but best check in for practicality of travel! 

How does it work to share?  In fact how does it work in general?  I'm not fussed by having the internet but being able to check in etc for flights would be useful.

Was just going to find a bar in the Bahamas to use their wifi but if it's not too expensive, i'll get one package.  Can't be bothered spending £250 on internet; I'm loving the idea of being fully disconnected.

12 minutes ago, Someguy said:

I wouldn’t go back in town.  Too dangerous with only three hours or so.  
 

instead, check out the TWA hotel on site.  It’s a very unique venue and has a cocktail lounge inside an old constellation aircraft and plenty of other things to do for a few hours.

I've literally just been looking at that by utter coincidence; definitely thinking about that now.  Might just go there; hit the cocktails and some lunch then head over, check in then airline lounge.

I imagine if were to leave the boat at 9am; once Customs etc is done, baggage found and got an UBER across to JFK, it's likely to be nearer 12 anyway?  I have no concept of how long it will all take.

36 minutes ago, ellcee said:

If it helps, I live 25 miles from the airport which I've been able to get there in about a half an hour. It's also taken over an hour to get there.

Is there something in particular you'd like to see in Brooklyn? Morning Sunday traffic is minimum so you'd have a fairly easy time getting there. Also, if there is a time of year you plan on going see what events are going on at the same time. You'd want to avoid marathon days but there are a bunch of festivals you may be able to see. 

 

Best bet is figure out what time is optimal to arrive at the airport, figure out where in Brooklyn you'd like to go, the time of year - and then go from there.

 

Thanks for this!  Will be getting off the boat on the 2nd October.  No idea really where to head; I think we are going to go straight to JFK and either check in our bags or stick them in storage there for a few hours.  Thinking might just head to a local mall or something for something to eat.

Thinking logic is; get off boat around 9ish (customs etc) then maybe an Uber at 9.30am/10am then an hour to get to the airport?  Add 30/60 minutes to get bags sorted etc then we are around 12pm.  Will have 3 hours to get somewhere and back; not a huge amount of time to do anything far really?

17 minutes ago, ellcee said:

My only piece of advice is to leave extra time to get to JFK. Traffic is nuts on the Belt Parkway. 

 

 

We have at least 6 hours to spare....

We are disembarking on a Sunday in New York and we fly back at 18.00 to the UK.  I assume we will be kicked off the ship by 9.30am at the very latest which means we have a bit of time to kill in New York before heading to the airport (probably taxi around 14.30/15.00).

Any ideas on what to do for a few hours?  Trying to find somewhere to store our luggage, thinking of getting an Uber to Brooklyn (flying from JFK) and spending a few hours/lunch around there...

Any ideas?

This is such a relief, no more hassle about flying from the UK (and money saved!)

Very happy.

Who had September 5th?! Who is the winner?!

Starting with September 5th, for U.S. cruises that don’t visit Canada or Bermuda:

• Vaccinated guests won’t have to take a pre-cruise test on cruises that are shorter than 10 nights.
• Unvaccinated guests age 5 and up will need to test within 3 days before boarding, regardless of cruise length.
• Royal Caribbean will begin accepting results from self-administered home tests. 

7 hours ago, deep1 said:

Yeah yeah, I know there is a lot of chatter about dropping testing like other companies have done. Right now though we are still required to test. Here is the building problem that goes with it. Lack of places to get the testing done.  In the past I have had a pretty rough go with Emed. One set of tests was sent already past the extended expiration date. Another set came without the drops. A couple second wifi disruption voided yet another. So you can see that my trust in them just isn't very strong.

I had a testing company in neighboring town that I made bookings with. Drove by the place a few days ago and building vacant and telephone no longer in service. So.... I look up on google and Bing, Covid testing near me. About 25 places came up . Mostly CVS, Walgreen's, and rite Aid. all three have been cancelling, or not testing people without doctors scrip, or not testing any more period, or not even fully open due to staffing shortages. There were a hand full of emergency clinics listed. Most not doing any tests, a few were but not rapid.  So I find myself scrambling. I live in Monmouth County, New Jersey for the summer and will be doing Oasis out of Bayonne middle of next month. Does anybody have a RELIABLE place in this area to get tested at?

Agreed, we are flying from the UK to the US so will need to get a test there before our Cruise (Oasis end of Sep) and there's a huge lack of testing centres.  The EMED things aren't available in the UK so it's getting very difficult to get tested in the timeframe needed.  RC are very behind the times with testing being abandoned everywhere, it makes testing not very profitable anymore hence everywhere closing.  Bit of a nightmare!

21 minutes ago, Pooch said:

Protocols are currently out through the end of September I believe.  So my guess is the change, if there is to be one, will occur with the release of October protocols.  And yes, my magic 8 ball agrees!

It's looking that way; gone very quiet from RC on this front.

Unbelievably frustrating and pointless given where the rest of the industry is.  Will put off booking tests until the very last minute but it's an extra hassle/stress that I could really do without before flying to the US!

Interestingly; New York is beginning to close some of their testing sites.  Given NY was one of the major places testing was so widely required; still holding out hope that its removed before Mid September..

9 hours ago, deep1 said:

They better do it soon if they are gonna do it. The places that test are stopping or even closing up without any notice. I saw the place I go emptied out today. Had a bad run with the home tests. CVS and Walgreens locally have been cancelling most. They are having to close certain hours or even days cause they cant get staffed. 

Thats a very good point; in the UK testing is quite difficult to get now.  Most places have shut down and the UK government isn't offering routine free testing anywhere.

As requirement dries up; there will start being a shortage of testing places!  Either the price will plummet or it'll get even more expensive; another thing RC need to consider pretty quickly imo!

1 hour ago, coneyraven said:

Since Carnival announced on Friday that the Pre-Test for fully vaccinated folks on sailings under 16 days takes affect on 9/6 --- My guess, for the fun of the post is, they'll make the announcement today or tomorrow, taking affect on Thursday, 9/8.  Pure speculation, but since Carnival's announcement, I agree with you that, like Thanos said, it's inevitable.  In fact, to my knowledge, RC is one of the last ones to drop it.

 

I hope so; hoping 4 weeks of data will let them make that decision compounded with competitors getting rid.  I imagine they would rather have a few routes were tests are required based on cruise ports whilst others can be kept free of testing.  I don't have an issue with testing per se (that's a whole thread to avoid) but the hassle of it vs uncertainty for UK people travelling to the US is something i'd love to avoid (and the cost obv!).

Fingers crossed for it to be gone for September!

Hey,

What date do you reckon testing will be dropped?  I say this as an inevitability given everywhere else (bar countries that are keeping it up) have dropped it.

I only ask as we are going on Oasis end of September and still no clearer to how we are going to get a test done with the timings etc (flying from the UK).  Obviously don't want to book a testing slot somewhere at quite sizeable expense (most are pay in advance and non refundable) so leaving it right up until the last minute.

I'm hoping for 1st September for testing being dropped; surely a month of the other cruise lines doing away with it will be enough or will Royal really hold out for that long? 

1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

We are Oasis for the first time right now and the ship is absolutely amazing. Nothing can prepare you for the size and everything there is too do. It's beyond our expectations already. 

One thing we are having a very big issue with is main dining room availability. We boarded early at around 10:30 yesterday. By the time we did the safety drill, made reservations at 3 specifically restaurants all the good slots for the main dining room were basically gone for the entire cruise. Normally we wouldn't care because of my time dining. Every ship we have been on was no problem getting in for my time dining. Last night we literally couldn't even get in, we ended up leaving for the Windjammer which I don't like to do the buffet for dinner. Now admittedly we doing so much we were late getting to the main dining room at 8 o'clock. But like I said we couldn't even get in. 

Is this typical of Oasis? If we head to the main dining room at say 5:00/5:30 will it be better luck getting in? Adventure just a few weeks ago was absolutely no issue getting into the main dining room. Any advice would be great here, thanks. 

 

That's interesting to hear... We are going in September (end of) for the first ever time on Oasis and went for the 8pm dining everyday.  Is that a better option than the MyTime dining? 

Amazing; ok.

Still not sure what to do!  Be great to hear from any UK people but looks like we could just use our NHS app with negative test results (also saving a lot of money in the process!)

Ideally the tests will be gone by end of September but who knows!

Yeah think we ended up paying nearly £1000 for a whole week of drinking for two..

We will however get our monies worth.  Having the drink package at Cococay will be a game changer I reckon; we could easily drink $200/$300 worth of Booze in those few hours alone!

Through in a few coffees/milkshakes/smoothies etc during breakfast, it works out pretty good value.  I will be drinking some top shelf old fashioneds!

Interesting... So the proctored testing thing, is that checked?  We can take a test here in the UK and it's recorded on our NHS app (which also saves our vaccine records).  It doesn't state whether it's proctored or but states the result of the test and when.  Would that work?  Thanks for your repsonse!

Hi,

RC are really unhelpful in answering this question so wondering if anyone from the UK had travelled to New York for a cruise.

Due to our flights being cancelled, we will now be in New York 3 days before the cruise.  This probably means we need to get a test whilst in New York (although we could do it on the morning of the flight at 3am!).  Firstly; how do we find out if a test in the UK is FDA approved?  Heathrow has a few options for testing but can't confirm if FDA approved or not.  They are done in person so assume that would be ok?  If not, in New York, can we use the free centres set up? Do they email results?  It says open to anyone but no idea if you just turn up or not...  Some of the prices advertised are insane for private appointments.

Hoping this all becomes academic and they get rid of testing by September but I have a feeling RC are going to hold out for the rest of the year..

There's an official Royal Caribbean Excursion called Manhattan Highlights followed by a transfer to JFK.

Thinking instead of getting a taxi into Brooklyn (we are doing Manhattan in the days before the cruise) then finding somewhere to store our bags for a few hours...  Then head out for lunch/sightseeing before the flight back to the UK.

We have a flight from JFK at 18.00; assume need to be at the airport for 15.00.  If they are going to kick us off pretty rapidly; say by 9am and assuming Custom is quick; that's roughly 5 hours to kill.

Thinking either to book the Manhattan highlights tour with airport transfer or is that literally 5 hours on a bus or potentially head back to Manhattan; find somewhere to store luggage then get lunch somewhere...

Love to hear suggestions and/or ideas on what do/where...

Thanks.

I really hope it's the case for September.. Flying from the UK to NY then having to sort out testing is an expensive nightmare.  Complete waste of time to boot.

Stupid - makes no real logical sense.

Guess assumption is that they try this and see what happens then move it to 7 day etc... Hoping this is the case by September as this is causing a major headache for testing having to fly to New York from the UK.  Need to sort out testing when we are there to potentially risk not being able to go on the cruise.