JLMoran

I went through this as well, had redeemed 25,000 points for a $250 OBC. After my cruise was canceled I learned the following: Points are not returned to your credit card Royal retains the record of the point redemption / OBC value redeemed They will hold that OBC and transfer it to another cruise, provided: the cruise is booked within about 8 months of the cancellation (have to get the specific date from Royal; mine had to be booked by Apr 30, 2022 for an Aug 2021 cancellation) the cruise sails within 13 months of the original sail date (e.g. I had an Aug 2021 sailing on Vision, any "replacement" sailing must embark by Sept 30, 2022) Once booked, you must call Royal at 888-305-4626 to confirm the transfer of the held OBC; not sure if this requires that you also know the canceled sailing's booking number

I will never do the Flowrider, thanks to mobility limits. Well, that an acute aversion to public embarrassment as a somewhat distant second. ? I will never pay full / onboard price for a drink package; nor will I ever buy a drink package at all if the price is higher than I think is justified for my personal consumption habits. I will never do the belly flop contest (too skinny) nor the sexiest man competition (see above about aversion to public embarrassment; I know it's all in good fun and spirit, but I'm just self-conscious enough about my legs that I wouldn't have fun). And I will never do the Love and Marriage game, because I'm utterly incapable of convincing my wife to even attend it!! ?

Unless s I think that only applies to the Wonderland venues on Oasis class ships. For sure when my wife and I dined in Wonderland on Anthem in 2018, it had no bar of its own and we weren't offered to try their special cocktails.

Small but important point with this. If the coffee venue is labeled and branded "Starbucks", with their mermaid logo and everything, then it is not included in any package. Also worth noting that those branded venues will let you pay with your Starbucks membership card and earn stars, although you cannot redeem stars on board. Ships that don't have these dedicated venues (e.g., Anthem or Freedom) often still serve Starbucks-branded coffee at their "generic" coffee venues like Cafe Promenade or even the coffee bar in the Windjammer; in this case, it is included in the Refreshment and Deluxe package. Not all ships serve SBUX coffee in their general venues, and if not it's typically Lavazza brand; but this is something to keep in mind.

I always liked Jay London's one-liners when he was on Last Comic Standing (although I've heard that his show gets old real fast when it's an hour of that instead of just a few minutes). Here's what he looks like: And he almost always opened his act with, "You may recognize me, I'm the fourth guy from the left on the evolutionary chart." ??

I'm pretty sure I've gained my "Covid 19" (if not "Covid 20+" ?). Definitely gonna need a new suit for next year. As far as the dress code in CK, my wife and I were in a JS on Anthem in 2018 for a 5-night Bermuda sailing. Was too short to justify wearing a suit for me / fancy dress for her, so we dressed more like what used to be "business casual" -- me in chinos and a button-down shirt, I think my wife was in a pantsuit or else a simple dress. Turns out we over-dressed. We saw several other people there in the aforementioned jeans and either a polo or a casual t-shirt.

Agree on this for most of their coffees and espressos, but have you tried the blonde roast (regular coffee or espresso)? That's actually decent, and doesn't have the burnt popcorn taste of their other coffees. Maybe it's a function of me still not finding a proper coffee, but I haven't been able to drink coffee black for years. I have some kind of sensitivity to the oils, or something similar, that gets my stomach roiling if I don't put a little bit of milk in it. Not much, like 2 ounces in a 16-ounce serving. And it's definitely specific to the hot-brewed coffee, because I can drink their cold brew black (even though it's not a blonde roast). Sorry for the slight thread hijack. At least it's still on the topic of coffee. ? ️??

Most likely your husband will have to create his login, then give the info to your brother before putting his phone in the safe. IIRC, the setup process does check your info against the onboard records to confirm you have VOOM access, as well as what type (Surf, or Surf & Stream). And the access is good even on the morning of debarkation day, until I think 10 AM to allow for late-departing passengers in the last luggage ticket group. So everyone will be able to use it through breakfast and while waiting to get off the ship.

Agree with you on the first line. I found the MDR coffee to be barely drinkable once it got even slightly cooled off, and the stuff in the WJ was no better. But if you're saying that Starbucks coffee (or the Lavazza brand served on some of the ships' coffee venues) is no better than the stuff at Micky-D's, well... we're gonna have to have a LONG talk, my friend. ? Believe me, I don't think Starbucks is the best by any measure, and it's definitely overpriced. But at least their blonde roast and the Lavazza brand on board is good enough that I can drink it with a small splash of milk and no sugar, and still be able to drink it without wondering if they thinned the coffee with turpentine or something.

@WAAAYTOOO, some potentially bad news. Just read @Matt’s post listing the areas blocked off from unvaccinated guests, and Casino Royale and it’s bar are on that list. Hope that doesn’t end up being a deal-breaker for you, I know you and Dan typically spend a lot of time in there. EDIT: Realizing that list is specifically for Freedom. Hopefully by the time you sail it will have been updated for Symphony.

I think this one won't be an issue for you, as long as we're talking about the same "deep" nasal swab. The one that I think of as the "deep" one is where they put the swab so far up your nose it makes you cry and think they're swabbing your brain. I had one of those in January, and boy howdy did I not like it!!!! I have had many nasal swab tests after that, from February through April, for my two surgeries. Mix of PCR and RAPID-style tests. All were exactly the same and WAAAAY better -- nowhere near as deep and not at all painful. They only put it far enough along that you feel a tickling sensation, and likely as not you'll want to sneeze afterward. That's it. Very tolerable. This is from a guy who had to have nasal surgery years ago to deal with a deviated septum / snoring problems, and who still has relatively narrow nasal openings. So I really do think you'll have no problem wherever you go to get a PCR test. These newer swabs are just light years better.

That's a really nice looking fence! Lots of my neighbors have been putting up new fencing, but it's white plastic and while it doesn't look cheap, exactly, it definitely doesn't look nice in the way that this does. There's just something about wood, combined with the care and detail around the installation, that makes fences and similar structures look so much better.

Wait, when in 2018?? That was the year that we went, sailing was on Freedom of the Seas from March 31 through April 7 (8-night sailing). Had the same boat captain (with his fiancee on board; they have a story around that as well that ties into his escape), now I'm wondering if we were on the same boat on the same week! ?

Hi @adwo41, welcome to the forums! I haven't used the dispensers myself, but I know that the Bionic Bar on Anthem charges the gratuity as it covers the staff regularly cleaning and restocking everything. I would imagine that the wine dispensers will be the same, since those also have to be cleaned regularly as well as restocked.

Laughed as I read it, because my very first cruise on Freedom in 2018 had our waiter come to the table the night before lobster night, purely to ask each of us how many lobster tails we expected to eat. I told him four, and just like your picture above I was given a full plate and a plate of just tails. And then 20 minutes later, when he saw both of my plates were empty, he brought another three tails and set them in front of me. Not in the middle of the table for sharing. In front of ME. Of course I ate them. It would be rude not to. But in the back of my head, I was seeing that scene from Bill & Ted where the server is standing behind Napoleon and chanting, "Who's a piggy? Who's a piggy?!?" ?

If I don't like the kid that I pulled in on my line, or I specifically want 2 boys and 1 girl, can I do catch and release?

Reading all the screw-ups made by the stone subcontractor over this project makes me seriously think this PM or his GC needs needs to find a new stone team. Very glad your husband wasn't hurt by that one piece coming loose, and I wager the PM is even happier since he narrowly avoided being put under a liability lawsuit. Between that and the money I'm sure he's losing due to rework required from all of the other mistakes these guys have made, sounds like it's time for them to go. After all, if it's happening to your project I'm sure it's happening to every other project they're involved with. Very glad to hear that the final bits are getting into place and that you have something approaching normal access to your yard again. I'm assuming the weather will still be great for pool use for at least a few months after they're done, and fire pit / outdoor kitchen use all year 'round, so hopefully you'll still have half the year to fully enjoy this big home improvement!

Eh. Here in the US that's all lumped together as "middle school". ?

I think @Lovetocruise2002's grade 6 lesson plan review board might have a small issue with that particular class. Unless the drinks were all made "virgin" of course. ?

Hey, if there's one thing students learned this past year it's how to do school remotely. It'll just be reversed; you'll be remote on the cruise ship, and the kids will be stuck sitting in the classroom. Think about the teaching possibilities as you show them islands and talk about volcanic activity and erosion, or how isolated ecosystems like those lead to unique and varied wildlife. Get creative, I'm sure the school board will totally approve the remote teaching opportunities. ?

I ate at Jamie's on Anthem in 2019, I'd rate it mostly better than the MDR. About the same as Romano's Macaroni Grill on most items, but only Olive Garden level on some others. My problem was the inconsistent quality of the offerings. The truffle tagliatelle entree and the arancini appetizer were both to die for. But their "garlic bread" appetizer was literally puffy pan biscuits with a little garlic oil and parmesan drizzled on; it tasted like something I could buy at a supermarket and warm up in my oven at home.

Thanks for all the comments, everyone! She's already working another manga competition; this time the manga can't contain any dialog, nor any discernible writing that could convey plot or meaning. The whole thing has to convey the plot, emotion, and meaning purely through the artwork in each panel. Amusingly, she prefers this; she hated coming up with the dialog and having to lay out the artwork in a way that would leave enough room for speech bubbles. Now she can focus entirely on the artwork. ?

Thanks for sharing this, @steverk! Has Celebrity asked everyone, or at least those with proximity contact to the two who tested positive, to be re-tested in a few more days to confirm zero spread? I would think that might be necessary given the week-long incubation period, but at the same time you now have everyone off the ship and it’s… sort of..? not their problem any longer.

@Blondie511, if you have any port days with evening (well after sunset) departure, try to get on the Northstar then. There is typically little demand for the Northstar on a port day, so even without a reservation you could ask to be wait-listed and not have a problem getting on. Seeing the port area at night from an elevated POV is really something. Did that in Bermuda and it was great. Tricky to get photos because the glass is very reflective, but workable. You can see pics I was able to take that came out decently in this specific post from my last live blog:

I would imagine the tests are the RAPID antigen (viral protein) tests, rather than antibody. Assuming they were, there is still a chance for false positive compared to an RT-PCR test; but, I can confirm from personal experience that even if you were very recently vaccinated and therefore full of spike proteins (which I believe is the antigen being tested for), it does not generate a false positive. I had to get a RAPID and RT-PCR test at the same time ahead of my last surgery, and I had received my second vaccination shot just a week prior. Both tests came back negative. As The Washington Post article linked by the OP notes, there are expected to be some measure of "breakthrough" cases in vaccinated people, which includes infection by one of the variants that the vaccines don't completely protect against. The two who tested positive clearly hit that low-chance lottery.