melski94

I'm not sure issuing FCC per person is unusual. Cruises are very similar to the airline industry. For my airline tickets that I had for my cancelled March sailing, each person received a credit. It doesn't matter to them who paid for the airline ticket. This is the same reason each person gets cruise/airline points rather than whomever purchased the cruise/flight. If cruise points were similar to hotels and went solely to the purchaser, I'd easily be Diamond Plus now.

I am a Team Passport and take it in foreign ports (not in RC islands). This is always a hot topic and you will get different views. If you are American, you have 2 RC islands and 2 US territory ports so I would leave my passport in the safe. Make sure you bring some form of photo ID like a driver's license and that will get you back to the US. If from another country, then take your passports with you to Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. People say that a photo copy is ok and it is better than nothing but you'd still have to deal with your embassy to get a real passport and get home. If you have a passport in hand, you can get on any flight.

@joshgates I'd love to see a copy of what you have. I have Numbers too. This may be a better way to keep things. I'm just playing around and trying to see what I like. I'd rather do anything to keep me from organizing my daughter's room!

I'm looking to update my vacation spreadsheet in my free time. I typically have a tab for each cruise a spreadsheet that list the cruise, confirmation number, flights, drink packages, etc. Anyone have a blank one to share?

My response depends on if you are going on your cruise during a school holiday. If you are and there will be a ton on kids on board, I would suggest skipping the first night. AO is overwhelming the first evening with tons of kids, the staff is trying to make sure everyone is properly registered, and some kids are out of control (ie boys throwing ball around wildly as pinging kids in the back of the head even the quiet coloring kids). I would suggest going in a morning or afternoon session as it tends to have only a handful of kids and can be craft based. The other evenings outside the first one, it is much more packed than the daytime, but not as overwhelming as the first night. My DD9 is also shy and I tend to take her to some evening entertainment as she really likes the shows and has been scarred by AO. If you are going while school is in session, then the overall number of kids will be reduced and the evenings are not that crazy.

I'm following along! Can't wait to read about the pretend Suite life! Is poor @Lovetocruise2002 staying at home with the girls while her husband gets to go? Maybe there were no more suites left on this sailing?

I know others are fans of Nellie's Beach but with your age kids, I'd highly suggest the beach bungalows on Columbus Beach. The bungalow area is blocked off from the public so it is very easy to keep an eye on the kids, the sand is great for playing in and the water is calm. Plus, the bungalows are cheaper. This was our set up. We had 7 people and some wanted more sun so the attendant dragged 2 chairs next to the other 2. Later we took the 2 beach chairs to the water's edge. View from the bungalow to the water. We were on Harmony. The really crowded section is the public area on Columbus Beach. Where the line of chairs stop is the bungalow section. As you can see less, less crowded and some with bungalows just pulled chairs down to the water.

In Roatan, we loved the snorkeling there and I thought better than many of the other islands. We used Roatan Eco Tours the first time and the second time we booked with Daniel Johnson. Our trip with Daniel Johnson was cancelled due to Covid19, but we were really looking forward to the Snorkel, hangout, beach tour.

@Lovetocruise2002 I'm checking on some Grand Suites for your sailing on Oasis! I think I'm going to switch to your sailing!

I'm looking at Symphony, 3/12/22. I'll have my TA price Oasis just to see but Symphony seemed to have a better rate when I last checked.

Thanks @Lovetocruise2002 and @WAAAYTOOO I'd book for 4 just not sure of the older 2 kids plans 2 years out!

Question for my suite snobs: I'm looking at a March 2022, 2 bedroom Grand Suite. Can I wait to book the 5th and 6th passenger and get the same price as today's 3rd and 4th passenger or will adding them later reprice my entire reservation? I'm fairly certain I'll have a 5th passenger but not sure about the 6th. I'd prefer to book the 5th and or 6th in a year as things are more certain.

We made our decision early but on Monday my husband's company stated that anyone who gets sick after a cruise ship vacation quarantined for a minimum of 30 days unpaid (or use your vacay time). That made our decision much more tolerable plus we are still going somewhere. Many companies in my area are having a mandatory 14 days self quarantine if you go on a cruise ship. It is so crazy right now!

So sad for you but excited to read about your summer! What a tough decision.

Thank you Nancy Swope at MEI travel! She cancelled my Harmony cruise and booked us a Cancun all inclusive on a Saturday! Saturday morning, I emailed her to cancel and asked her to look into Cancun or Punta Cana. She gave me 3 options before lunch and everything was finalized by dinner! Amazing job and so appreciated!

We did Blue Hole and it was amazing. All the tour guides there will say to go to Blue Hole over Dunns River Falls.

When I was there they allowed handheld with a wrist strap.

You are absolutely right that you can be quarantined in a hotel but it is much less likely as people are coming and going all the time. If we are quarantined in a hotel room that is completely different than the perception of a cruise ship. It isn't right or fair that the perception of getting quarantined in a hotel room is bad luck but quarantined on a cruise ship would be considered poor decision making.

@Baked Alaska We did the same thing and cancelled our Harmony sailing. ?Super sad about it but the small risk of being quarantined would really impact my husband's job and I have a college kid who needs to be back at school. Just not worth it for us. MEI Travel booked us a trip to Cancun all inclusive. It will finally give us a chance to compare all inclusives to the cruise vacations.

It depends on the ship. I've seen registration on Oasis class ships but I haven't needed to do registration on Freedom or Voyager classes.

Are you past final payment date? If past final payment date, is she planning on being a no show? Technically, no as her room would just be a cancellation. The best thing to do is to try to swap 1 name from each reservation. You can swap the 2nd person on the reservation as long as one original person stays on the reservation. Then if your sister is on or not on the cruise, you just deal with going to guest services for extra keys. If she does go on the cruise, you can try to swap the names back but it isn't necessary if you can deal with the extra keys.

The rate onboard will most likely be more unless on your sailing the pre-cruise purchases were less than expected and they may offer a "sale". That onboard "sale" may or may not be what you see for the cruise planner. $45 seems like an old price for those restaurants and the prices could change between ships and sailings. I'll be on Harmony in 2 weeks and can tell you then. Personally, I'd look at the 3 night package if you are looking at eating at least 2 restaurants. If you are vigilant, you could get the 3 night for $90-$115. I saw it once at $90 and didn't grab it and am kicking myself for it!

We use the trip insurance from USAA. If you are a USAA member, check it out. We had to file a claim last year and it was very easy. A couple of things for CFAR insurance, many times you have to purchase trip insurance within 30 days of your deposit for it to take affect. With my trip insurance, you need to cancel 3 days prior to the trip (not the case with RCs insurance). It will be 75% of the trip cost that wouldn't be reimbursed (ie if airline travel can be applied to another trip that wouldn't count). Often times I don't get the CFAR insurance because the regular coverage is pretty good for what I need. However, we have 2 expensive trips coming up in the next year so I did purchase CFAR for Alaska and Greek Isles trips. Our normal Caribbean trip, the only reason to cancel would be covered (ie sick) for the policy I purchase. The cost for CFAR is pretty expensive so it is a balance. The biggest thing is to read the 40+ pages of the policy specific to your state and ask questions specific to the policy. If you have a situation that you are foreseeing as a possible reason for cancellation, call the company and ask about the coverage for your situation. So many times we assume we'll be covered and we aren't, due to the legal language to the advantage of the insurance companies.

Can’t wait to be on Harmony on the 15th!

I have that feeling all the time. Honestly, that is my dream cruise...a solo cruise!