Razorrayy

Strange vibes onboard Odyssey Of The Seas this current sailing. Only 542 guests. Ship feels very quiet...

One of the most frustrating part is Royal doesn't need to follow the CDC ruling, and they are testing everyone before boarding so darn-it-all let us cruise!!!

I am one of the millions of Canadians who took the first dose available, which in this case was AstraZeneca. I was fine with it because I wanted some sort of protection, but when it come to my second dose the AstraZeneca was removed from the clinics due a over abundance to safety.  Pfizer was then offered as my second dose as recommended by Health Canada, which again I trusted and received my second dose. 
 
I have a fully vaccinated status within Canada and some other countries, but the CDC has refused to accept this as. Fully vaccinated in which the cruise companies including Royal has said that they also don’t accept this as fully vaccinated. 
 
I have my dream cruise booked in February on Symphony of the Seas, I am not giving up hope and will make final payment in hopes it will change. 
 
How many other cruises lovers have fallen victim to this rule?

One of the most frustrating part is Royal doesn't need to follow the CDC ruling, and they are testing everyone before boarding so darn-it-all let us cruise!!!

What are your thoughts on cruising during the Christmas Holidays?
 
From a crew members point of view, it is by far the busiest time of the year. The ships are near enough full capacity every week, and there are a lot more activities to do onboard compared to the rest of the year.
 
I personally really enjoy being onboard for New Years Eve.
 
Do you think the ships are too busy, or does this contribute to the overall atmosphere?
 
 

This is where I stayed before the RCL Blog Freedom NYE Group Cruise at the the end of 2019.  The rooms are small but you can't really beat the location relative to price compared to everything else I researched that was in the area.  The staff was friendly and the room was comfortable.  
They do have Uber in San Juan and that's what we used to get from the airport to the hotel when we arrived.  Our room wasn't ready for our early arrival and they held our luggage for free.
Note that the cruise port you are referring to that is walking distance is NOT the one where your cruise will depart from.  The cruise ships depart from the Pan American Pier which is 10 minute car ride.  The cruise port that is nearby is the cruise port where the ships port at during itinerary stops.
A tip I will give you is to wake up really early on the day of the cruise and take your luggage downstairs and have them hold it for you.  They offer this for free but space is limited and it fills up very fast.  Usually the ships do not leave until 8pm from San Juan, so you have the entire day to explore the city on embarkation day if you wish and the hotel will hold your luggage while you do so.  Again, take it down early (like 6am early) so there's enough room.  There will be a lot of other cruise ship passengers staying at the hotel.  
The hotel also only has one elevator, so if you have mobility issues and can not do stairs, make sure to try and request ground floor ahead of time because the elevators on embarkation day will be very crowded and slow.
We took Uber from the hotel to the port and it was a 10 minute ride to the port entrance plus another 30 mins from the port entrance to the actual ship because it gets very backed up with one lane in/out and two ships in port usually.  It also took us nearly 30 minutes to get the Uber because San Juan streets are one lane, one-way and there is a lot of traffic stopping and blocking roads.  It can take 10 minutes to go a few blocks.  Give yourself plenty of time for this so you can arrive to get on the ship when you plan to.

We have done several B2Bs and it is nice having the same room but if you don't, it is very easy to move. Last January on Jewel, they knew we were moving to another room and got that room ready for us early so we were in that room by 11am(ish) and unpacking our stuff. They moved our luggage and our hanging items. We were able to upgrade for free last year from a balcony to a Junior Suite due to a large price drop so we took the upgrade since we'd never been in a Junior before. B2Bs are the best and I'd move from one cabin to the complete opposite end of the ship if it meant I got to stay on another week! Enjoy!

The absolute best part of a B2B is the last night. You'll see what I mean when you see all the luggage in the hall.....but not yours! Oh, and gloating (openly or between yourselves) is permitted. 

Go for the B2B and best of luck on the upgrade! 

@PrincipalTinker
Try this link: https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/mycruises/processLogin.do. That will get you into their website so you can access your reservation. If that does not work get back to us here on the board.

I've also read this quite a few times but in my CP for the Symphony TA in October the Dreamworks Character Breakfast has just become available.

We now travel with a US credit card but before when we didn't have one we would choose "2" and then exchange cash prior to the cruise and pay off our onboard account with cash.  It was a lot to carry around but we found it significantly cheaper to exchange ahead of time at a land based currency exchange.  It's been a while since we've done that.  We've had our US credit card for a while now so I don't even know if that is even an option anymore.  Someone here asked a similar question before a few months ago and a few of us Canadians use a US card to travel.   Might be worth looking into if you travel a lot.  I'll see if I can find the previous thread.

I do agree it is worth not having sticker shock after the cruise is over.

It was a glitch! Somehow the computer reverted to the non promotional price. Spoke to a wonderful woman in customer service named Stacey. She was able to get me an even lower fare! Wonderful customer service, and I can't wait until our January cruise! 
Thank you to all of you for your help! 
I will have to come back to this forum since you are all so nice! 

I find the drink packages to be more of a convenience buy rather than saving $$ buy.  Certain few can get ahead of the break-even point.  But after a few straight days of "beating the house", most people will become drink fatigued.  With the drink package, you pay a fixed price and won't have a "surprise bill" at the end of the trip.  
If the other items in the drink packages interests you such as the specialty coffees, purchasing a coffee drink card and then the alcoholic drinks a la carte may be another option.  
 

Not really sure it "forces" one to drink more.  It's really a question of your mindset.  I bought the package and already am of the mind that I will probably lose money on the deal.  However, I know if I hadn't spent the money now when I can be done with it and have it out of my budget, then on the trip my penny-pinching mindset would have scrutinized every drink I bought.  Now I can drink whatever, whenever I want and not think twice about the payment.  a weird way to think of it in the long run I know, but it works for me!  Same thing with the balcony.  It's my first cruise and most of the shows / night clubs just don't sound all that appealing.  It is comforting to know that should I find myself not in the mood for "partying" in the evening I always know I have a bottle of wine, a cribbage board, my wife, and a balcony waiting on the 8th deck
 

It can be.  It depends on you.
My thought is the drink package is a lot like booking a balcony room versus an inside room.  If you have a balcony, you will force yourself to spend more time in your room to take advantage of the balcony.  Likewise, I feel having a drink package compels you to drink more than if you paid for your drinks individually.
If you drink cocktails mostly, 4-6 is not a lot to get to per day.  Especially when you start mixing in coffee in the morning, bottled water, etc, which brings the daily "break even point" down.  2 drinks in the afternoon, 2 drinks at dinner and a drink or two after dinner and you're even.

When I sailed Oasis in 2016 the Sofa folded down like a futon, my son did request a foam mattress to make it more comfortable.
Remember to not be shy in asking for stuff like foam mattress or extra pillows.

I often get asked about online reviews, like "I read so many negative reviews about ____ of the Seas".  Positive or negative, take it with a grain of salt.  Experiences are subjective, but I know it certainly makes anyone feel better to know everyone else enjoyed something.  

Sounds like old bitties on cruise critic 
I admit I'm a bit of a Royal fan, but I feel at some point one takes a leap of faith and trusts the cruise line as a whole. In my opinion the standards are relatively equal across the fleet.
In my years researching iv never heard of a black sheep ship, it's not like there is one ship you should stay away from. There is however many different styles of ships that offer different things. Huge mega ships with different neibourhoods, large high tech ships, large promenade ships, mid size promenade ships, smaller ships offering many views of the ocean, tiny ships offering short trips to different ports. All these different styles offer different experiences for different people, the debate over what's best (subjective) will NEVER end. But there is no bad apple or ship to stay away from, just different flavours.

Another reason why they shouldn't use the Voom name for all ships, it just cheapens the respect that the Voom name had.
 
BTW I heard a wise sole say that near the teen club gets the best signal.

According to posters on Cruise Critic, that's the plank that they make you walk for catching booze in your checked luggage. ;)

Gratuities going Up & Room Service
 
This is one of the reasons I have started to included my gratuities when booking any future cruises, because at least I think once you have agreed to pay during the booking your price is locked in.
 
Room Service
 
I think this is a much larger move for Royal Caribbean to save money, by charging for room service less people will use the room service. This will allow them to have less staff in the kitchen and less waiter on hand for these deliveries.
 
I do think that some ships in the fleet should still offer room service complimentary for added value.

The re-positioning cruise from cape Liberty to Galveston looks amazing!!!
 
https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/14NightSouthernCaribbeanCruise-VI14R054?currencyCode=CAD&sCruiseType=CO&sailDate=10%2F23%2F2017