jticarruthers
Members-
Posts
2,078 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
19
Everything posted by jticarruthers
-
Think it depends on what you are doing/trying to accomplish. For me I got up each morning, grabbed breakfast and logged in for a half day of work. Logged off at lunch, went and met up with my parents and spent the afternoon/evening doing things with them. Saved me 2-3 days of PTO and didnt really feel like I missed anything on the cruise. Now when i cruise with my GF/friends group I wouldnt try it because we are straight into "pool fun" etc by mid-morning.
-
I did a little "WFH" trial on Harmony at Thanksgiving so the internet might be "newer/better" than some ships. I logged my laptop into the ship Wi-Fi and connected, then hotspotted my laptop so that my phone could get Wi-Fi through the laptop. That allowed the code to come through to the phone to do the VPN. I generally found it ok, video on Teams was unreliable but audio was fine and email/data was ok if slow.
-
CDC Voluntary Cruise Ship Program Ends
jticarruthers replied to twangster's topic in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
If I am feeling healthy, not really. I never used to test myself for any other diseases/illnesses just to see if I had them, not sure why I would want to with this one going forward. -
CDC Voluntary Cruise Ship Program Ends
jticarruthers replied to twangster's topic in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors
I don't really count as "Loyal to Royal" anymore but I would probably jump in a heartbeat since I have a decent pool of people that want to cruise but cant ... the group on Carnival wins over "Loyal to Royal" without a doubt. -
I tried a few years ago, cant recall if it was Bayley or a predecessor. As you indicate I got an almost immediate response from one of his "assistants" who completely ignored what I had said in my message and trotted out a "canned response". Then ignored my explanation of the actual problem and hung up on me. That was the day I stopped being "Loyal to Royal" and started branching out to other cruise lines, in general it has worked out well for me
-
Never-ending Cruise Sale
jticarruthers replied to cottoncandysunsets25's topic in Royal Caribbean Discussion
Royal has been "on sale" for years now, the sale goes away the price doesn't change, its all marketing ploys and every now and then someone screws up their math and some people actually do get some savings from a "new sale". Buy it when the price works for you and then price check from time to time to see if it has gotten cheaper. -
Oh I agree in general, spent most of my life overseas so its definitely not a "travel is bad thing". Just not something I am willing to deal with when the rules dont stay in place long enough to plan for, I have better ways to relax than trying to figure out which papers i need, to prove what, today.
-
I have a couple of friends who work in the Travel Industry and after hearing all their tales of woe trying to shepherd people through the ever changing rules from country to country, I decided there was no way I was going to mess with international travel until all this stuff is done, not worth the hassle. Bad enough dealing with the machinations of our government never mind having to worry about what all the other ones are thinking.
-
I have never seen anyone id'd in the solarium but with that said (as noted above) if you look/act like you belong you should be fine ... if you stand out chances of getting checked are higher. Personally, age doesn't bother me, behavior does ... but i rarely get to be in charge of making the rules
-
I would amend this to some societies have learned to live with the virus and are getting tired of waiting for those that haven't. I do get that it is a process that everyone has to go through to get to their comfort level but kind of like the vaccines, those that haven't gotten them at this point never will and those that aren't getting comfortable with living with may never get there either.
-
Changes to diamond lounge drinks
jticarruthers replied to Royale's topic in Royal Caribbean Discussion
Nope Diamond has essentially been converted into 4 free drinks per day and a few other minor perks. -
CoCo Cay Pricing Getting Ridiculous
jticarruthers replied to WannaCruise's topic in Royal Caribbean Discussion
I'm still cruising regularly but my spending has dropped like a rock, just not worth it to pay the crazy prices. CocoCay is free if you just want to enjoy the beach and snorkle with your own mask -
WARNING: COVID rapid testing is not rapid!
jticarruthers replied to FireFishII's topic in Royal Caribbean Discussion
Walgreens had an issue with their system on June 16th. My son tested and his results still havent come through "via email" despite the automated response telling us repeatedly that it would resend them. Eventually spoke to a human who said their email system had crapped out for the day and to go to the nearest Walgreens and request a reprint. Worth knowing for the future that apparently ANY Walgreens can print out the results for you if you ask. -
How many people needed to receive a group discount?
jticarruthers replied to xps15z's topic in Royal Caribbean Discussion
I have done a couple of group bookings (company I worked for was willing to make it a company event). It can be a lot of work but there is some savings. I think it was along the lines of: 1 free cabin (excluding taxes, fees, gratuities) for every 8 cabins .. call it about a 10% discount ... and then we were picked up $50 per cabin OBC. -
Definitely can see both sides. For me I am starting to get past my "I miss cruising" phase and headed into my "I miss hanging out with my group of friend's while on a cruise" phase ... since a good number of them cant cruise because of the restrictions that has me looking at "where can we go as a group without boarding a cruise ship" which reveals lots of other destinations .... and ultimately is going to cost the cruise lines business if they are the only vacation destination that doesn't allow the unvaccinated to participate.
-
Still not open but i did see something saying the lazer tag was open this past weekend (didnt get down there to confirm it but it was listed) which is a change from two weeks ago,
-
I herd/saw both articles/rumors. The Carnival one sounded like basically "medical exemptions are on the honor system". I dont recall how Carnival is setup vis a vis the whole %of unvax/allowing exemptions deal. It might basically be meaningless since they can only take a very small # of unvax individuals anyway. I know the common wisdom is that it is going to be a while yet, i just dont see how much longer one tiny segment is going to be enforcing rules that no one else is even thinking about.
-
It was not two weeks ago, they thought "soon" ... I can let you know later on today if that has changed.
-
Just sailed Equinox in May. Generally happy, very different experience from an Oasis class though. Ship was in great ship, food was good, they were having staffing issues so service was willing but limited. The target audience was a little older than us though which was fine since we were looking for the ABC islands and some pool days - mission accomplished.