Cruising With JT

59 minutes ago, 12thman said:

You didn't pay because you were in close contact. If it's for travel that's different, you pay for that. Had to do that earlier this year to travel.

I am hearing that you can do drive through rapid tests and they don't really ask you why you're there since you're sitting in the car? 

11 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

I wonder if you can use HSA money for travel covid testing.

I think you should be able to, since it is "health related". 

6 hours ago, SmoothJ24 said:

No… via email:

Odyssey of the Seas July 31, 2021 Protocol Update 

We can’t wait to welcome you onboard your sailing. Before departing, we have an update to share regarding our pre-cruise testing requirement. All guests 2 and up, regardless of vaccination status, are now required to provide a negative PCR or antigen test result for COVID-19 on boarding day. Below are additional details.

We understand that, for many of you, this is a new and last-minute requirement. We've added this additional precaution in the interest of all guests, crew, and the communities we visit. For the smoothest boarding experience, we strongly suggest you secure a negative test result prior to sailing. Doing so will allow you to proceed through our usual boarding process. However, if guests impacted by this late change cannot get tested before sailing, we'll offer complimentary testing on a limited basis and shuttles to an adjacent terminal for testing.

All other previously advised testing protocols remain in place for our guests that are not fully vaccinated.

 

Why would anyone get a test by themselves when they have to pay for it? Everyone is going to opt for the complimentary test from Royal in a separate terminal. From my understanding, rapid-antigen or PCR tests are not covered by insurance if they are related for a "travel" reason. They are only covered if you actually have symptoms. Not sure lying is a good idea either. 

7 hours ago, MarvinS said:

Yes, it was cancelled!  I felt the earthquake where I live (Kenai Peninsula).  I heard the tsunami warnings going off for a couple of hours before it was cancelled.  The earthquake felt a little different that others in that there were no hard jolts, but just a long 2 minutes of moving and swaying.  My hanging lights and chandelier just swayed back and forth, and there was enough movement that my grandfather clock stopped!  That was rare!  People along the coast do take this seriously, and I watched a steady stream of cars evacuating low lying areas.  The news reported that some of the coast guard ships based in Kodiak left port and headed out.  While out on the water, a tsunami is usually barely detectable, and only materializes once it gets close to shore in shallow water.

Wow 2 minutes of shaking sounds nuts... glad you are okay...

Inside cabin. No way. Balcony and above only!

2 days on Allure is going to be so hard!!

PS -- my favorite ship and cruise of all time.

Congrats @twangster!! Excited to hear about your experience as well. I know a few RCL Blog Insiders who are also going! I am not sure if you're one of them since I don't know your real name  

5 hours ago, CHRIS WONG said:

What do you think about the Solo Balcony Room I stayed in during my quarantine period?

 

Before quarantine, I didn't even know there were different types of balcony staterooms.

 

 

@CHRIS WONGI am staying in this exact same room when I board Odyssey in November. It's a great room perfect for 1 person! Looking forward to meeting you! I think you'll be in the casino so I will look for you there. Big fan!

I renewed it in Oct 2020 even though I knew I wasn't going to travel until 2nd half of 2021, had a feeling things would be the way they are now. Got mine back 9 weeks later. So glad I did it then though as now people are scrambling to get theirs back or paying that expedited fee.

I think COVID impacts everyone differently. I honestly think I had it when no one even really knew about it back in early December 2019. I had a 102 fever, cough that basically killed my lungs (couldn't even sleep), had to go to the doctor for some lung/breathing tests, loss my sense of smell and taste for about a week, the cough lasted about 3 weeks. My wife and daughter never got sick. I don't know what it was, but if that was COVID, you do not want to experience what I did. I am fully vaccinated now.

14 hours ago, griffinjam22 said:

I checked in for my October cruise this morning. Curious what the “wellness check” at the terminal entails. Of course what’s in place now could change in 3 months. The check in process didn’t even ask if vaccinated or not.

I think the wellness check is where we show them our vaccination cards and they make sure we are feeling okay? Not sure if this where they would do temp checks but that's what I'd assume a wellness check is.

17 hours ago, Matt said:

I had no temp checks when I sailed on Freedom.

FWIW, at Adventure Ocean on Adventure when I dropped off kids they did a temp check.

Good to know, thanks Matt! 

48 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Yes it covers any trips you have from the policy effective date until a year later.  

If you have any health things going on, make sure you pay attention to the pre-existing conditions verbiage so you understand how far back your particular policy will look if there's a health issue you have to make a claim for. 

You should be able to cancel any policies you have already bought.  You just need to read the terms of them before canceling to make sure.  Sometimes it will be pro rata amount back if you cancel.  Most people don't consider that if something happened during the period they bought the policy to the present day, whether it be 2 years or 6 months before the cruise, some policies still have a cancelation insurance coverage piece.

Great info, thank you! I have reached out to my agent to see what's possible. I will look at the cost of getting insurance for my cruises individually and then see if the annual cost is less with similar coverage. 

11 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Prices differ and mine is through Allianz as a FL resident.  Mine has been less than $500/year for just myself and includes basic coverages:

 

That looks pretty good. I am guessing the annual plan just sticks with you for any trip you take within the year? Now wondering if I can cancel any policies I already bought?

8 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Since you are scheduling several cruises, just get an annual policy.  You should come out ahead by not needing to purchase individual coverage on a couple cruises and you'll also be covered for any other non-cruise trips you happen to take.  Great to have in your back pocket for any weather flight cancellation mishaps or road trips troubles more than 100 miles from home.

I will have to look into that. How much is an annual plan do you know? I have 6 cruises remainder of 2021 and 2 in 2022 so far, 1 in 2023.

12 minutes ago, stevendom57 said:

Medical evacuation amount looks low to me. You can easily get some insurance for < $100 that has $500k for that.

Yeah that's the unfortunate thing, I shouldn't of bought this insurance. Allianz has better coverage (below) by default (the one I selected) for better pricing on another sailing. Going to see if I can cancel the one I originally bought after final payment online. Thanks.
 

When booking through Royal (either direct or online) there is an option to purchase their "Vacation protection plan" through Arch Insurance Solutions. Has anyone bought this before? I usually purchase travel insurance through Allianz but figured let me try this one since it was a booking that I had to make online real quick before transferring to my travel agent.

How does this work? Do we just print out the content/details on the link below and that is our insurance coverage?

https://www.archinsurancesolutions.com/coverage/Royal

I also have a 21 page PDF document where on Page 5 it shows the below. Is this same for everyone? Can't really "customize" the coverage from what I can tell. It wasn't cheap either at $149 for a 7-night cruise. Just want to make sure I am covered.

Hi all,

On Royal's website for their health protocols, I am not seeing anything about temperature checks at the terminal, onboard the ship, or when embarking/disembarking. Did they remove that requirement?

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/the-healthy-sail-center/getting-ready-to-cruise?dPort=seattle

Allure of the Seas back in December 2013 when she was the world's largest ship! Still my favorite cruise of all time. Through the years I bounced around between Norwegian, Carnival and Royal, and even did a Princess, but now have decided to truly be Loyal to Royal. My next 9 cruises booked are all on Royal Caribbean. Let's go!!

9 minutes ago, dswallow said:

The double points offer has simply been amazing for helping reach that goal more quickly than I'd have considered possible.

I found this on Super Mario: Royal Caribbean's #1 Cruise Passenger Super Mario Records 8,000th Cruise Point (cruisefever.net)

Based on that, I'd guess he's somewhere a few hundred points shy of 9,000 now.

Very nice!!! I am currently Gold with 17 points only but will reach Diamond by my December cruise on Navigator. The double points promotion is amazing!! An early congrats on getting to Pinnacle. Being Diamond+ right now must feel nice! It will take me awhile to get there and who knows how long it will take for Pinnacle, maybe my whole life once the Double points go away lol.

Wow @ Super Mario amazing.... 8000 points and counting!!

2 hours ago, twangster said:

Each block has a hologram of that ship class and the name of the ship.

Wow @twangsterwhat a beautiful collection. Silly question, but I am guessing you are Pinnacle?

3 hours ago, dswallow said:

You are not alone doing that. On the other hand with double points it gets a little silly.

Wow Doug...that is an impressive journey to hit Pinnacle... Anthem of the Seas in Jan 2022 correct? Almost 1000 by end of 2022...wow! I don't know how many points Super Mario has...but this is impressive.

Do they start at Diamond and above?

Yay!!! I want my crystal block!!! Haven't yet got one.

Just booked Oasis! Mask or no mask lol.. going to experience this amazing ship!