Gears
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Posts posted by Gears
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As most people know, the Royal Caribbean Group of companies made some modifications to their final payment deadline policy (likely to be temporary). They changed the policy of final payment required no later than 90 days prior to sailing to 60 days prior to sailing.
Yesterday evening, we received a detailed communication from Celebrity regarding all the Covid policies, etc. for our upcoming cruise at the end of February (booked back in the day of February 2021). Standard stuff and not much different from our RCL cruise six weeks ago.
However, there was one thing off.
Celebrity is offering complimentary home country re-entry testing (important for us Canuks) for guests with cruise reservations booked and paid in full prior to November 16, 2021...the old 90 day final payment deadline. But...they changed the payment deadline to 60 days. So, if we made final payment at the 60 payment deadline...we're SOL??
Let's see if our TA earns her stripes.
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17 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:
This is a major change. And a big logistical problem for some...!!
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7 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:
Does this work if you don't have internet? Hoping it's available on sihp wifi (or they have some other means)
As far as I understand you will require Internet. However, the Guest Services on a particular ship may have a way around this. Also, one person can setup/schedule more than one person...so not all people would need Internet.
But...you will need Internet to complete the ArriveCAN app...again, you can register more than one person.
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8 hours ago, cmariegold97 said:
So if we go to guest services on the first day - are they able to provide the QR code for this upon embarkation? Would rather get it out of the way fast than to wait till the last day. And in the event of a positive or what not, I trust they pretty much come to you in person is this correct? Kinda anxiety about the unknown. Embarking next week.
Yes, go to Guest Services when you can. The test is performed on the last day, but the sooner you get your QR code the sooner you can book your time for testing.
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2 hours ago, Cirasa said:
appreciate the info guys. "There is an app/website", are you talking about the Royal Carribean app or is this a separate app that you have to download? do you know the name of it? thank you again.
Separate website, no app to install. You will get a QR code to scan from RCL, it will send you to trustoneapp.com. The testing is done by Eurofins and TrustOne is used for the info and results communication. The test report is not actually produced by RCL.
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Just got off the Jewel yesterday and back to YYZ. Here are some things to be aware of:
- Do not assume Royal/Guest Services will reach out to you for your PCR test. Expect to ask.
- Testing typically takes place the day before disembarkation.
- They currently provide no charge testing for antigen and PCR, make sure they know you need PCR.
- There is an app/website to fill in your information, including passport number and some other details before you go for the test (you make your appt here too).
- You will receive an email with your results, or, if you don't have email access, Guest Services should have the results by 6:00pm.
- Make sure you review your results to ensure it says PCR test. We had a friend travelling with us who got a result saying antigen when he did in fact have a PCR test. It was sorted out by Guest Services, but not without a great deal of stress. If he did not specifically examine all the details on the document, it would have been a big problem at the airport.
Hope this helps.
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An oldie but a goodie...time tested and true.
- mnshortie21, Baked Alaska, shinebox and 11 others
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4 hours ago, Matt said:
If they swapped Cozumel for Bahamas, I strongly suspect it's so the ship can visit a country with a vaccine requirement so the line can get around Florida's anti-vaccine mandate law.
Pretty sure this is why they dropped Key West and replaced it with Bimini on our Jewel of the Seas cruise in a couple of weeks.
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Crunch, Crunch, Crunch - Carnival ships crashing into each other in Cozumel.
- GKMCruising, RWDW1204, 4ensic and 11 others
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We did the drive from Toronto to Baltimore to get on the Enchantment when it sailed out of Baltimore. That was an eight hour drive and not bad going down. Coming back seemed to take forever. It was just two of us...more people would take longer. Would probably not do it again.
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On 10/28/2021 at 1:29 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:
WOW ! That changed back very quickly ! Wonder if they were losing Key sales or if they really are returning to a pre-cruise tempo. Very interesting. Also nice if they truly are keeping the perks of waived room service fee and 25% off specialty dining. Those are pretty nice additions.
Seems the waived room service fee and 25% off dinning is not available with The Key on all ships/cruises. After the announcements, I went to our Nov 28/21 reservation and looked, no free room service or dinning discount. Too bad, I would have clicked 'buy'.
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1 hour ago, Fred567 said:
I'll be disembarking from Ft Lauderdale and flying out of FLL. I know the drive time is around 15-20 min but am unsure which flight I should book that I will make without outright running.
The ship docks at 7:00 - the 1st flight out is 10:30 and my preference as its also the shortest flight back home, but then they space out about 2.5 hours after that with much longer flight/layover times. I'm not sure how long it takes to actually get on the shuttle and get moving or how long TSA at the airport will take, so apx what flight time should I realisticaly shoot for?
I agree with CJS2766. Done this many, many times. Keep in mind...it's you and probably over 10,000+ other people disembarking from cruise ships at the same time. Without any delays of the ship docking (seen that a few times), it is not uncommon to require a significant amount of time to get to the gate. A 10:30 flight means the doors close at 10:30. Boarding starts closer to 10:00...which means you should be at the gate by 10:00. Budget 1.5 - 2 hrs to get to the gate after you get to the airport plus the wait for transport and delays getting from the ship...oh, and customs!...I would be budgeting to get off the ship before 7:00, probably 6:30. Your ship is not scheduled to dock until 7:00.
12:00 or after...if it was me.
- Neesa and PPPJJ-GCVAB
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Hmmmmm...I guess I will be writing up a report on Bimini!
Also...I am finding reports that there is now a cruise port dock in Bimini...can handle an Oasis class ship.
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1 hour ago, RCLRING said:
Hi I'm asking this for a friend cause she won't be able to get her Phillipine passport renewed on time for our November cruise but we've heard as long as you have the permanent resident card and US driver license you will be fine. We are visiting St Maarten St Thomas and Cococay if that matters. I'm finding conflicting information elsewhere so I want to see if anyone here tried it without a passport. Last time I tried to use my real ID but the staffs still asked for passports when I got on the line checking in.
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The explanation provided by RCL for the change from Key West to Bimini does not make sense.
The explanation is "Regrettably, this impacts our visit to Key West, Florida because of its distance from Mexico. Instead, we'll visit Bimini, Bahamas.".
Given that Bimini is approximately 175 miles northeast of Key West (further from Mexico)...and Key West was the first port of call...puzzling what Key West and its distance to Mexico has to do with anything.
The only thing I can come up with is that the visit to the Bahamas instead of Key West changes the vaccination rules they will use(?).
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5 hours ago, Grisell said:
Like many, I received the email from Royal regarding the change due to the NO authorization of the authorities in Grand Cayman to receive cruises.
I called Royal and I received the refund for the shores excursions I booked for Grand Cayman.
Well, for me this new destination ( Bimini), is not compere to Gran Cayman.
I am not excited about this change of destiny. I understand that for major reasons the stop in Grand Cayman is canceled. But I can't accept that Royal Caribbean couldn't find another destination like Coco Key for example.
Bimini can be a beautiful island, but for families with children or for seniors it does not look attractive.
I called Royal today to get cabins on the other ship leaving the same day and I had no chance. They couldn't get me a cabin at similar prices.
It's frustrating for me, as I chose this trip to take my mother on a cruise for her first time and on her birthday. We are a group of 8 adult people. The truth is that we prefer to cancel this trip.
I regret not being able to switch to another ship with another destination even though Royal may either compensate us for this change or take us to a better destination.
I am impressed that they are still offering this destination on this cruise and on the same day knowing that "Grand Cayman" is not going to be one of their stops.
*See attached.
I hope the Grand Cayman authorities change their mind and reopen their port.
Bimini Bahamas is the alternate for Key West. Costa Maya is the alternate to Grand Cayman.
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11 minutes ago, twangster said:
Can't get Chrome to refresh that page. Guess it's time to purge.
Unless you're on a ship...in which case it may be cached. Maybe open a trouble ticket with RCL IT?
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3 minutes ago, twangster said:
Hmmm.
Mixed mRNA with AstraZeneca Vaccine
Guests whose two-shot regimen consists only of 1 mRNA dose with 1 AstraZeneca dose will not be considered vaccinated. We continue to encourage the CDC and other U.S. government officials to re-evaluate this policy.
That's what was on the site this morning...since been updated to:
Mixed Vaccines from Different Manufacturers
We accept a mixed vaccination series consisting of doses from different manufacturers, as long as your vaccine series meets the following requirements:
- Must consist of at least two doses of vaccines that are fully approved or authorized for emergency use by the U.S. FDA or the World Health Organization.
- The 2 doses must be administered at least 28 days apart*
- The final dose must be completed at least 14 days before sailing.
*For guests sailing from non-U.S. homeports, who have a combination of AstraZeneca plus an mRNA shot (Pfizer or Moderna), the shots must be at least 42 days apart.
Mixed vaccines may not be accepted at all ports of call. Guests who are vaccinated with a mixed series may not be allowed to go ashore at these ports, or may need to undergo additional testing if they wish to go ashore.
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Looks like the policy has now been updated:
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-vaccines-are-accepted
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Who's up for doing a 274 day live blog?
- KristiZ, S0nny and WesKinetic
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Our November 28th cruise on the Jewel has a stop in Cozumel scheduled for December 2nd.
As of right now the itinerary remains unchanged.
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16 hours ago, DJsMrs said:
Hey fellow cruisers. Our ports of call for our cruise in December have just been changed and we are now skipping Labadee and Falmouth and stopping in Cozumel and Costa Maya.
I was looking forward to Labadee for a true "beach-do-nothing-day" and especially because my youngest was able to disembark as he's unvaccinated, so Labadee was easy.
Now, in order to have a beach day we will have to use an RCCL excursion (so my unvaxed sone can come) - which doesn't thrill me. I resent having to pay to go to the beach when we could get there on our own, but I completely understand having to protect the bubble.
With that in mind - does anyone know of any good beach/beach club excursions offered by RCCL in either Cozumel or Costa Maya? We don't have anything listed in our cruise planner yet... beach club would be ideal... pool and ocean would be the penultimate
Thanks in advance.
Have a read: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/07/08/paradise-beach-cozumel-2021-shore-excursion-review
Jewel of the Seas Cancelled Sailing Until February
in Royal Caribbean Discussion
Posted
Here's the announcement...
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/itinerary-updates