JBC

I love Labadee.  A cabana or bungalow for a beach day is great, and the prices are a lot less than Coco Cay.  The lesser quality of the food doesn't bother me.  It's essentially lunch, which I really don't eat much at anyway because I don't want to spoil dinner.  Kids would enjoy Coco Cay better for the pools and water park, but my kids have told me the lines are awful in the water park when there are two ships at Coco Cay, which is pretty often.  Coco Cay is bigger, newer, more amenities, better infrastructure, etc.  Royal is also putting a lot of marketing behind it.    

I held the phone while my wife did it, and vice versa.  It's fairly straightforward.  
That said, it's all pretty dumb.  You can barely swab your nose and they can't really tell how hard you are swabbing or how high up in your nose you go.  These do it yourself tests are pretty easy to manipulate, if you ask me.  They need to get rid of the testing altogether imo.   

The total charge you pay for the package when you purchase in the cruise planner includes 18% gratuity.  You won't have any additional charges on your account for it.  Sometimes when you order a drink, the server will give you a zero balance slip to sign.  There is a line on there to write in a gratuity amount.  If you were to add additional gratuity on the slip, then that would appear in your account balance at the end of the cruise.  That is optional as you have already paid the gratuity.
I like to bring a lot of dollar bills with me, and if it is a situation where a server is delivering me a drink (at the pool, in the theater, etc) then I will give them a buck or two cash, instead of adding it on the slip.  If I walk up to a bar and order a drink, I generally do not add or give anything additional.  To each their own though.

I have never paid more than $60 for the DBP, and I get it on every cruise.  I have seen posts from people showing screen shots of $80 and $90 and that is crazy.  I am going on Symphony Feb 19th and right now in my cruise planner for that cruise the DBP is $60.99, which isn't crazy for a little more than 2 weeks out.  This cruise also only has 3 stops, one of which is Coco Cay, so plenty of time to use the package.  Maybe it's because it's a big ship, I don't know.  I just feel that over the years, as long as you monitor the planner, you can always get a deal on the DBP.  I easily get more than my money's worth out of it, but even I would have reservations paying $80-$90 for it.  That's like a 35% increase, which means drinks on board would have to go to like $17-$18.  That seems crazy, but with inflation the last two years, who knows, it's probably possible. 
I guess I better really step up my game on this cruise, just in case, lol.       

With gratuities that $60.99 becomes $71 pp/pd which is what I paid for our 7 day Harmony.  Getting to the higher side of my comfort zone but still a savings over buying individually.  Don’t drink much in my real life but all bets are off once I board.  Have no small children to supervise and they have never asked me to steer the ship!

We are going on Symphony the 3rd week of February (Me, wife, kids, sister, grandparents).  This was a lift and shift from last February.  Everyone in our group is vaccinated and boosted, and no one has any health issues.  At this point, I don't care if all the ports are closed and all the shows on board are cancelled, they could park the ship in the middle of the ocean for a week, as long as the bars and restaurants on board are open, then we are going!  It's better than sitting at home for another winter break.  It is a personal decision for sure and everyone is different.
Kids are getting older, grandparents are getting older, etc.  You can't get the years back.  That's how I feel.    
 

Fear not, don’t let your heart be troubled.  Cruise ship contraction are infinitesimal small (<1%) compared to anything on land.  Don’t be afraid, go enjoy life and live without fear.  Have fun, you are safer than your local grocery store.

We are going on Symphony the 3rd week of February (Me, wife, kids, sister, grandparents).  This was a lift and shift from last February.  Everyone in our group is vaccinated and boosted, and no one has any health issues.  At this point, I don't care if all the ports are closed and all the shows on board are cancelled, they could park the ship in the middle of the ocean for a week, as long as the bars and restaurants on board are open, then we are going!  It's better than sitting at home for another winter break.  It is a personal decision for sure and everyone is different.
Kids are getting older, grandparents are getting older, etc.  You can't get the years back.  That's how I feel.    
 

We are going on Symphony the 3rd week of February (Me, wife, kids, sister, grandparents).  This was a lift and shift from last February.  Everyone in our group is vaccinated and boosted, and no one has any health issues.  At this point, I don't care if all the ports are closed and all the shows on board are cancelled, they could park the ship in the middle of the ocean for a week, as long as the bars and restaurants on board are open, then we are going!  It's better than sitting at home for another winter break.  It is a personal decision for sure and everyone is different.
Kids are getting older, grandparents are getting older, etc.  You can't get the years back.  That's how I feel.    
 

We are going on Symphony the 3rd week of February (Me, wife, kids, sister, grandparents).  This was a lift and shift from last February.  Everyone in our group is vaccinated and boosted, and no one has any health issues.  At this point, I don't care if all the ports are closed and all the shows on board are cancelled, they could park the ship in the middle of the ocean for a week, as long as the bars and restaurants on board are open, then we are going!  It's better than sitting at home for another winter break.  It is a personal decision for sure and everyone is different.
Kids are getting older, grandparents are getting older, etc.  You can't get the years back.  That's how I feel.    
 

We are going on Symphony the 3rd week of February (Me, wife, kids, sister, grandparents).  This was a lift and shift from last February.  Everyone in our group is vaccinated and boosted, and no one has any health issues.  At this point, I don't care if all the ports are closed and all the shows on board are cancelled, they could park the ship in the middle of the ocean for a week, as long as the bars and restaurants on board are open, then we are going!  It's better than sitting at home for another winter break.  It is a personal decision for sure and everyone is different.
Kids are getting older, grandparents are getting older, etc.  You can't get the years back.  That's how I feel.    
 

We are going on Symphony the 3rd week of February (Me, wife, kids, sister, grandparents).  This was a lift and shift from last February.  Everyone in our group is vaccinated and boosted, and no one has any health issues.  At this point, I don't care if all the ports are closed and all the shows on board are cancelled, they could park the ship in the middle of the ocean for a week, as long as the bars and restaurants on board are open, then we are going!  It's better than sitting at home for another winter break.  It is a personal decision for sure and everyone is different.
Kids are getting older, grandparents are getting older, etc.  You can't get the years back.  That's how I feel.    
 

We are going on Symphony the 3rd week of February (Me, wife, kids, sister, grandparents).  This was a lift and shift from last February.  Everyone in our group is vaccinated and boosted, and no one has any health issues.  At this point, I don't care if all the ports are closed and all the shows on board are cancelled, they could park the ship in the middle of the ocean for a week, as long as the bars and restaurants on board are open, then we are going!  It's better than sitting at home for another winter break.  It is a personal decision for sure and everyone is different.
Kids are getting older, grandparents are getting older, etc.  You can't get the years back.  That's how I feel.    
 

We are going on Symphony the 3rd week of February (Me, wife, kids, sister, grandparents).  This was a lift and shift from last February.  Everyone in our group is vaccinated and boosted, and no one has any health issues.  At this point, I don't care if all the ports are closed and all the shows on board are cancelled, they could park the ship in the middle of the ocean for a week, as long as the bars and restaurants on board are open, then we are going!  It's better than sitting at home for another winter break.  It is a personal decision for sure and everyone is different.
Kids are getting older, grandparents are getting older, etc.  You can't get the years back.  That's how I feel.    
 

Good morning from Nachi Cocum in Cozumel. BeUtiful, 83 degrees.
Our Aqua 80s and Cats shows on Oasis have been canceled.  I'm fine with that. Not a Cats fan and there will be other opportunities for Aqua 80s (HELLO DEC 2022 WONDER RCG GROUP CRUISE!) 

$200 is steep for the beach club.  I echo what others have said and feel $80-$120 is about what I would be ok with paying for passes.  Wait for a sale.
And while I have never had a cabana there, if you have regular passes and get off the ship first thing, you will have your choice of spots, and the attendants are just as good/timely as I imagine they are in the cabanas.  I can't speak to the difference, but I have never had to wait very long if at all for an attendant the times I have been there (for drinks).
I'm going there this February during winter break week on Symphony and we bought the passes for $118 a few months ago.  Currently they are "on sale" at $179.  I always keep an eye on it and will watch for any Black Friday sales but I am not expecting them to go lower than that.      
 

This!

This!

This!

To always have one in my hand. LOL

You may be interested to know that not a single employee of Walt Disney World has become infected since they reopened and that, to my knowledge, not a single case of C-19 has been tracked and traced to that venue. That's not saying someone didn't get it there but news like that hasn't made it the media who would jump on it if was true.
How do I know this? The NYT published what amounts to a mea-culpa for writing a piece shortly after the decision to re-open the parks in Orlando deriding it and claiming it would turn into a terrible hot-spot of C-109 spread. Well, not surprisingly, that didn't happen and,  credit where credit is due, the NYT apologized for spreading fear.
You can count on the same sort of thing happening if cruising restarts. The media will probably warn us of catastrophe and dire consequences but will more than likely end up with egg n their faces. 

Thank you, Jeff. Great response.
I agree with all of your points! Not worried at all about being infected ?
I've already traveled to Walt Disney World and St. Lucia...just ready to sail again.
Just trying to decide if New Years might have a better chance of sailing since it's a week later...decisions, decisions.
Thank you!

You can tell them you are feeling sick and might have been exposed.  There's no polygraph test that comes with the COVID test.
Just saying.

The other things that bothers me in this NRD conversation is why should that be a factor when Royal is cancelling the cruise?
They cancelled the cruise.  I didn't. 
I still want to sail Allure even if it isn't AMPED on that date.  I'd even fly to Florida to do it.  Change home ports, just let me sail.  Nope. Royal won't let me.
So given this is all on Royal, why should I have to book refundable?  
It seems the motivation and reasoning to book refundable is to protect yourself when Royal is being completely unreasonable when they decide to move me to another ship and downgrade me to a vastly inferior cabin compared to what I booked.  Hmmm.
I respectfully disagree that the "solution" to this issue would have been booking refundable.  A reasonable company wouldn't have put me in the place they did in this scenario.  
A guest should be able to book a non-refundable fare and maintain an expectation of being treated fairly when the company chooses to make a drastic and unprecedented change to the booking.
Allure is going somewhere on my date.  They aren't scuttling the ship.  Someone will sail in my cabin on that date.  Why can't it be me?  

The percentage off really doesn't matter, Royal plays with that math all the time.  Generally anything under $50, regardless of whether it is "on sale" is a really good deal.  Oasis class ships seem to be a tad higher, anything in the low $50s is good.  The lowest I ever paid was on Adventure and that was $44.  I think I snagged in on Harmony 2 years ago for $48 or $49.  I am on Oasis in February and I bought it recently at $53, no sale.  It hasn't gone cheaper yet, but I am always monitoring my cruise planner.