DunwoodyDad

If your rooms are next to each other or across the hall, I’ve been able to call back after booking and get the names switched. That way you don’t have to get the soda package for the kids unless you really want it.

Thanks. That’s definitely not much room for sushi. I just don’t want to pay for 6 people at Hibachi and then most of those order off the sushi menu (which is on top of the Hibachi cost, right?).

Sailing on Freedom in Dec. Our party of 6 wants to mostly eat sushi off the ala carte menu. Can we make a reservation for dinner? Are their non-hibachi tables on Freedom? Or just the bar?

At the end of the day, does it really matter other than maybe the casino opening? To me, once I’m onboard I sort of don’t care when it actually leaves port. I just got an 1130 boarding time for Freedom (12/27) so am pretty excited about that.

This was it! Thank you!!! All I did was logout of the account in the app (that you access by selecting Profile) and then logged back in and the Vaccine card upload option was back. I did not have to delete or reinstall the app…just log out and log back in. Thanks so much for the help!

Thanks Tony and great win yesterday (I’m assuming you are a fellow Nole based on your name). But I just tried about 15 times and I’m thinking the upload feature has been pulled down for some reason….maybe it’s getting updated/fixed or maybe they are swamped with images to verify and rethinking about doing this ahead of time.

I checked into my cruise early Friday morning got an 1130 check in! I am now trying to go back and upload vaccine cards. Yesterday I kept getting check in error messages when I would select “edit check-in”. I kept trying and eventually was able to get in and upload some, but at some point the option to upload vaccine cards just disappeared. I am checking today and it’s still gone. See the image below…initially the upload card option appeared as a choice between “Arrival Time” and “Health & safety”. Has anyone else encountered this?

Awesome input everyone. I’m definitely thinking now I will take the birth certificates as a backup but good to know some have used passports with an expiration date in the 6 month window.

Hi, a few posts back you referenced a walking tour map for Nassau. Will you please post that link? Related to that, how was the port area in terms of shops and restaurants being open?

Ok, I am usually more on top of these things but we are on the Dec 27th (2021) sailing of Freedom and I just realized 5 of our 6 passports in our family expire in February 22. At this point, given the passport backlog and logistics involved (2 of my kids are out of town in college and they have to renew in person), I don’t think renewals are possible. i called Royal about this and was told the 6 month thing was just a recommendation and that I should be fine. However, I’m starting to wonder if the passports will be considered valid given the things I’ve seen here about getting varied answers from the phone reps. I realize since it’s only going to the Bahamas that technically I could carry everyone’s birth certificates but that seems extreme. Has anyone dealt with this before?

Restaurants open?

If I could add onto the original question, does anyone know if the proctor sessions are available on holidays? We are sailing on 12/27 and I’m starting to get nervous about testing in either a CVS or at-home situation due with closings happening on and around Christmas.

Just posted this on another thread (slightly edited): All 4 of my kids have really enjoyed the teen clubs especially on the Oasis-class ships like Allure. The most important tip is always to show up in the teen club on the first night for the meet and greet which usually was around 8 I think. That’s when everyone introduces themselves and friendships are formed. My kids always did this, would make friends and then the club would be home base to meet back up with their new friends but they wouldn’t necessarily stay in the club all the time. I have a couple of slightly shy kids but they would really focus on this meet and greet event the first night to make friends. After that, I would still encourage participation in some of the scheduled events because it again brings the kids together.

All 4 of my kids have really enjoyed the teen clubs especially on the Oasis-class ships like Allure. I would lower expectations around how new the game tech is but think of it more as a way to play games with other teens. The most important tip is always to show up in the teen club on the first night for the meet and greet which usually was around 8 I think. That’s when everyone introduces themselves and friendships are formed. My kids always did this, would make friends and then the club would be home base to meet back up with their new friends but they wouldn’t necessarily stay in the club all the time.

Yeah. I’m talking about the double points. Just hate to miss the promotion if I’m probably booking a summer 2022 cruise anyways. I just know whatever I choose, there is a pretty good chance I will have to switch. We are currently discussing everything from a week in the Caribbean, one of the shorter cruises out of LA, and maybe even something in the Med.

I was wondering about this when I saw the article that the promo was ending soon. I was thinking I could book a cruise for this summer knowing there is a good chance I might have to move the ship/date in a couple months once I know my family schedule better. I read the FAQs on the RCL website but didn’t see it addressed, but after reading the comments above it sounds like if I move the sailing then it is most likely a new booking and would lose the double points offer.

Just read the story on Matt’s blog and I’m curious what everyone thinks Richard Fain meant by this: "Our focus is therefore on 2022, not the remaining months of 2021," Mr. Fain admitted. "Obviously, we don't like giving up on any period, but we are more determined to do well in 2022 and 2023, even if that means accepting short term hits this year." So for 2021 does this mean big discounts to sell more of the empty cabins (even with reduced capacity) and take the a hit on passenger margins? Or maintain pricing and continue to sail with very empty ships? I’m assuming he doesn’t mean cancelling some very empty sailings in order to maintain operations going into 2022. Thoughts? full story: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2021/09/23/royal-caribbean-group-ceo-looks-2022-when-cruise-bookings-really-take

So at this point does it seem like the original check-in dates will be restored? Or should we be planning around the new dates that are appearing in the app much closer to sail date?

I guess this is just a reaction to them seeing a higher than normal rate of people cancelling or pushing out cruises instead of making final payment tied to current COVID numbers. By moving it out, they are giving time for things to get better and keep people focused on 2021 sailings.

All great input everyone. I think overall I would prefer the differences of Freedom but not sure it’s worth the significant difference at this time. I have checked air and can get a similar or cheaper fare going into Melbourne which is about 45 mins away and I think is easier to deal with over Orlando. However, that’s still a 45 min drive vs 20 or so in Miami. The issue is do I want to deal with fees to change ships, or FCC, etc. And will whatever the change costs be reduce the savings with Indy to where it’s definitely not worth it. As barbeyg suggested, I might watch for a little while and see what happens with Freedom.

We are booked on Freedom out of Miami two days after Christmas this year. When I priced options and booked in June, i was looking at both Independence out of Port Canaveral and Freedom and they were very similar prices for basically the same 4 day cruise on very similar ships. I chose Freedom only because it was amplified more recently. But now, prices have significantly changed and it looks like I could save almost $1,000 in total for my family’s 3 cabins. So, question is .. assuming I can somehow switch, is Freedom a much better ship? Or are we essentially talking about the same experience.

Thanks and I’m definitely leaning away from it especially after seeing PGs lunch above and besides my family loves the Windjammer. One thing I wasn’t clear about is the $23 pp extra was compared to us getting internet packages for 6 devices for the cruise. So is the lunch (plus the priority stuff) worth the $138 for the 6 of us? Im still not sold and would rather spend that on something else onboard.

There was definitely a real, printed Indian menu in the MDR when we were in the Mediterranean (summer of 2019). It was at our table and wasn’t the big bulky menu you usually see in the MDR. When we asked our waiter about it he said it was usually only given out to the passengers who are Indian, but available to anyone who was interested. I told him to keep bringing it to our table every night since I love Indian food. There was also a native Italian menu that had dishes like Cacio e Pepe in addition to the MDR Italian staples. I wasn’t sure if these were a function of sailing from Italy, but would love to know if others have seen these for US based sailings.

I’m not sure if this is news, but I’ve heard Matt say a few times recently that The Key is not for sale yet, but it is on my December 27 cruise on Freedom. Trying to decide right now if it’s worth the extra $23 pp for my family of 6 right now… ?

Not only does Voom work seamlessly for texting with family members onboard and back at home, if you enable WiFi calling that works like you are right at home as well…I mean almost too well. I got calls from work while on Jewel in the middle of the Mediterranean and decided to answer and the other person had no idea I wast back at home.