Cruising With JT

I am excited that Royal has finally brought this fun style of dining to their ship! It was one of the things we liked about Norwegian but since we've become more Loyal to Royal, happy to see this available on this ship and hopefully others in the future. Anyone else a fan?

I logged into my Cruise planner for one of the first Odyssey sailings and I don't see it listed yet as a dining option, hmm... odd? I am able to book everything else though such as shore excursions, other dining options and internet.

9 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

Not for me.

I think my browser is on something then LOL... because I can still access my Cruise planner sailing for the sale that went on today, woot woot.

Hmm...I went to go do a price check and saw this:

20 minutes ago, twangster said:

The 98% crew vaccination is the easy part. 

The 95% guest vaccination part needs more clarification.

The premise is that they can skip test cruises if 95% of guests are vaccinated.  On which sailing?  Just one sailing?  All sailings?  Until when?

It's not like guests board a ship and live there forever like its a nursing home.  Three days later those guests get off and another 3,000 get on.

What happens if the first sailing for a ship has a 96% guest vaccination rate but the 2nd sailing has only a 93% vaccination rate?  Does that mean they have to stop and do test cruises before cruise #2 can depart?  Or do they need to cancel cruise #2 since it fell short of 95%?  

If they do sample cruises can they then sail with 0% of guests vaccinated?

If they have to cancel any cruise that falls short of 95% guest vaccination that leads to a high degree of uncertainty.   When do they cancel?  The day of the cruise?  A week before the cruise?  Two months before the cruise? When will guests know if the magic number has been reached?  

If they cancel a Florida cruise because not enough guests were vaccinated does that put them at odds with the Florida Governor DeSantis EO that says they can't require guests to be vaccinated?  Are they violating the Governor's EO simply by asking if a guest is vaccinated?

So many questions.

So many... yet so important. I am happy to hear about how frequently the meetings are now occurring between the CDC and cruise lines, it was about time. I think with continued engagement and development of solid plans and adhering to certain aspects of the CSO, there is a path forward, which is what the FL governor wants. He is in some sort of contradiction though when he wants cruises to return but doesn't want cruise lines to require vaccines. It doesn't work that way, Ron. 

7 minutes ago, mattymay said:

4 days ago.. Melbourne, Australia. Just making the point that you could be like this and the CDC probably still wont let you guys sail.

Wow that is nuts... It looks like Australia no longer has a pandemic or something? Lol.. no masks is crazy nor social distancing. I have seen some baseball events in the US with over 40,000 fans, some masks but mostly not... crazy... It still boggles my mind when I see large gatherings like these yet the CDC won't even allow cruises to restart sooner rather than later with all the safety protocols. Hopefully by mid-summer things are back rolling again.

31 minutes ago, mattymay said:

There are more people in this photo from the weekend than a full Oasis class ship. There are more people in this stadium than 14 full Oasis class ships.

 

No masks, no social distancing, no COVID....No cruise ships. The CDC aren't the only losers out there.

What in the... where is this? Recent photo?

Good to see this... fingers crossed.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/04/28/cdc-cruises-could-restart-july/4883450001/

I hope things are back to normal by November 1st. Any chance of the CSO being extended past Nov 1st? Or is that just crazy talk? We are talking about the CDC here...

1 hour ago, twangster said:

In other news... it seems the Odyssey crew vlogs have stopped.  I suspect Royal may have become involved.

Quarantine ends May 5 so it's not like they are all busy doing their active jobs.  

Yeah I've noticed that as well...not even a video from the original YouTuber Mansur Ashkar in quite some time. I tagged him on an FB post since he is a public Odyssey group saying more videos! And he saw it and acknowledged but hasn't posted anything. I guess we'll see what happens in the coming days but you may be right.

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Sure beats the studio interior cabins on Mariner waaaaay down on deck 2 forward. 

Think you can feel the breeze from the bow thrusters when they are used in that cabin. 

Wow that's crazy... I love breeze but not sure if I'd want the breeze to be coming from bow thrusters in an enclosed room lol...just shows how strong they are.

34 minutes ago, twangster said:

I expect the Odyssey cabin to be pretty much identical to that video.

Totally! I love it. Even with the slight obstruction it's all good!

3 hours ago, twangster said:

Maybe all you studio balcony folks will let me take some pictures to add to my cabin collection  

Sticking with my aft balcony since they are hard to come by on this class.

Feel free to take pics as well. Upon booking I searched online and found that Tony from La Lido Loca who I actively follow stayed in my exact room 6652 on Spectrum of the Seas. So pretty much the same room, different ship. 

3 hours ago, columbus_cruiser said:

We are across the hall neighbors - 6250.

Nice! Look at the size of that balcony! It wasn't available when I looked but our balcony's are bigger than the other Studio rooms so that's awesome!

6 hours ago, columbus_cruiser said:

The studio cabin for me was less than half the price of a regular balcony; and, I went ahead and pulled the lever and reserved a room. Is there a Roll Call for the inaugural sailing?

Awesome! Did you grab 7252? I grabbed 6652 last night, looking forward to this cruise! I am on a rollcall on FB if you're interested, but it's called November 11th sailing since that was the original sail date before RCL reduced it from 9 nights to 5 nights: https://www.facebook.com/groups/277090759997068

I haven't looked for one on CruiseCritic yet or here on the RCL Boards. 

19 hours ago, twangster said:

Just keep in mind no double CAS points for studio cabins.

Normally a studio is 1x points.  A double occupancy cabin is 2x points when solo.

With the double points promo 1x becomes 2x, 2x becomes 4x for solo.

For example:

Five night cruise normally = 5 points in a studio cabin.

Five night cruise normally = 10 points for a solo in any cabin that isn't a studio cabin.

With the double points promo:

Five night cruise = 10 points in a studio cabin.

Five night cruise = 20 points for a solo in any cabin that isn't a studio cabin.

Same logic for suites,  Solo in a suite with double points promo is 6 x # of nights in points.

So am I understanding this correctly? For my 5-night solo studio balcony cabin, I will get 10 points? I wanted a balcony no questions so spending double $ to get 10 more points wasn't worth it for me. I need fresh air haha.

19 hours ago, twangster said:

All Quantum class do.  Odyssey has 12 studio balconies IIRC, just behind the hump on deck 6 & 7.  Some are partially obstructed, deck 7 is better than deck 6 for obstructions.  

Oops, wish I knew this last night when I booked LOL. Booked on Deck 6 instead of Deck 7, hey it's closer to Two70

19 hours ago, twangster said:

A 2F studio balcony popped open on the 11/15 sailing a few weeks ago but didn't last long.  I looked at it but for a few hundred more I decided to go for double points.  Absent of the double points promo the 2F is fine and some have really deep balconies.    An extra 10 points for a 2E obstructed balcony was worth a few hundred for me.

It's far enough away that asking your TA for a waitlist is a solid strategy.

It's also only 5 nights so consider an interior or virtual balcony with a waitlist to something better or just sail in an interior.  Same beautiful ship, same activities.  How long do you spend in your cabin?

Once ships restart or when Odyssey starts in Haifa it will sell out quickly so don't think too long or you'll be watching it on social media. 

I booked one last night! 2F Super Studio Oceanview Balcony is what they are calling it. There were 2 left so I had to grab one. I was debating between 7252 and 6652, both behind the hump, port and starboard side, respectively. If I had known about less obstruction I would've booked the 7252 but I am in 6652 for the 5-night Inaugural sailing! The 7252 is now gone as well. Without the insurance it was only $1190 which is a really good deal and I wanted a balcony not an Inside or Oceanview so had to go with the Studio balcony. A regular balcony with double occupancy for a solo cruiser like myself on this one was I think double the price. Can't wait! @twangsterIt sounds like you're on the 11/15 sailing as well?

@twangsterThis is awesome, thanks for all the finds! I am subscribing to each and every one!

Keep them coming. I am tempted to book the 5-night inaugural sailing on 11/15 in a solo studio balcony room, what are the odds you think of it happening? My TA thinks sailings could begin from the US by end of summer so I am hoping that is the case! I sooo wanna go on this ship! I went on Ovation and it was epic and Odyssey looks even more epic from a Quantum-Ultra class ship.

Unfortunately I don't see it happening... and this is why people are booking cruises outside of the US now... me included... my first US sailing isn't until December so I hope the CDC gets their stuff together by November... this could go on forever from the US really... there has been chatter about whether cruises will ever be sailing from the US again...

The CDC doesn't stand for Center for Disease Control, it stands for Completely Destroying Cruising.

And another... "S I B I N Story O' My Life"

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVKYM6wtEZ2PxFQ0GClTgoA/videos

Found another crew member on Odyssey -- Dhruv Tara

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjQhvvA_xsJ8c7r5iYGbx5Q/featured

Thanks for sharing @twangster didn't know about this until I came across this thread. Subscribed and looking forward to following more videos, and going through the ones he has already created  Odyssey is a beautiful ship. We went on Ovation 2 years ago to Alaska and loved it so I know this ship is going to be spectacular with even more amenities onboard.

1 hour ago, LifesEz said:

Double points with a few qualifiers like when it was made and that your C&As were on the booking to my understanding. You can read about it on the RC C&A page. It is why I am in a suite on all 5 cruises I have booked. (Total 41 Nights x Suite (2x2=4) = 164 points)

17+16+28= 61. Another 5-Nights in a Suite (2x2x5) should do it if correct.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/crown-anchor-society

 

Nice!! Thanks for the info

Double points are so awesome! I am nowhere near you guys in the C&A status, currently Gold with 17 points 

Am I understanding correctly that if we have any Suite booked (Jr suite and above) we basically are getting 4x the points non-Suite folks would get? So I have a 4-nighter booked in a JS, instead of 8 points I would get 16, and on a 7-nighter I would get 28 points? We got 2 Jr Suite booked and 1 Crown loft booked between now and Feb 2023!

I was talking to my wife and we've decided to focus on being Loyal to Royal going forward, we love their ships and what they are all about

Price Alert

Check your rates! Our Jr Suite for December 2021 just went down by $620 from what we paid 2 days ago!! Oh yeah!! Great way to start the day!