la_croisiere_s'amuse

Your YouTuber was probably not lying. 🙂 In the early days of at-home proctored testing, there were not many options and they were significantly more expensive. But yes, you can now use the free tests and a $20 appointment.

Took the words right out of my mouth. 🙂 DH and I currently have fairly serious cases, after dodging it for 2 1/2 years. We are contemplating switching up our vacay plans and taking advantage of the fact that for the next couple of months, we can get on a ship with virtually no worry of quarantine! If nothing else, the thought gives us something to live for while we're miserable. 😄

Correct. If you didn't book with a refundable deposit (which it sounds like you probably didn't but it can't hurt to verify), you would forfeit the deposit, but anything else you bought through the cruise planner--excursions, dining, beverage packages--would be canceled and refunded to you.

Crazy, isn't it? I'm not 100% convinced they still exist, whereas we used to have head waiters like this guy from a family cruise many years ago. He made napkin chairs for the teddy bears on formal night and helped them drink their wine. Now he got a GREAT tip! 😄

Not unless you store it in a vodka bottle. 😄 I would however double-bag it.

SO MUCH THIS!! I always take home a big stack of paper to recycle, most of which I only glanced at. That being said, I've also lost track of how many times one of us was aware of some activity that the other was not, because it was listed in the paper Cruise Compass but not the app. 🤨

It's interesting how many people have mentioned the Sovereign as a "hook" of sorts. She's probably the decommissioned ship that I remember with the most nostalgia. Of course, that's partly because it was my first Grand Suite and I thought I had hit the peak of luxury! 😄

Yes, thank you, I've been corrected three times now. 😄 Things have returned to the pre-pandemic terms. Good to know!

I had similar problems, at a size 10-12. 😒 The only shops where the clothes would reliably fit me catered to my mom's (or grandma's) generation, which didn't exactly fit my young professional vibe. 😄

Glad to hear you and your daughter enjoyed your cruise! 🙂 I share your frustrations with not having complimentary restaurants on the pool deck--sometimes you just want to grab something quick and get right back in the pool, but not badly enough to pay for it. 😉 For what it's worth, many other Royal ships have complimentary venues on the pool deck (El Loco Fresh, Dog House). Worth checking into if that's important to you.

Sadly very common in Italy. I remember my confusion when I first lived there--people would get out of their cars carrying their car stereos. I asked what that was about, and was told that they are always removable, because otherwise people would break in and steal them. Quite an eye-opener for me!

Agreed, if you got 12 negative tests, now is definitely the time for a big sigh of relief! 🙂 Health questionnaire can be done at check-in.

I'm also a bit confused as to whether it's actually aft facing or just located in the aft of the ship ... if it's aft facing then OH MY GOODNESS YES, that is prime real estate! That said, it's your opinion that matters. If there are other JS available on that sailing, you can sometimes switch to a different one if you call Royal and don't mention the whole Royal Up scenario. Just say "Hey, I'm in Junior Suite XYZ and I'd like to move to Junior Suite ABC." Doesn't always work, but worth a try if you're that unhappy with your upgrade.

I agree, "you and your traveling party" is a bit ambiguous so you might get a wide variety of responses. 🤨 You don't all live together, I assume? If so, it's a bit more straightforward. If not ... if at first you don't succeed, call, call again! 😉

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm mistaken, but I didn't think Emerald was eligible. Can anyone confirm/deny?

Hey neighbor! 😄

Whoa, that is straight out of a soap opera!!

I can't quite bring myself to "like" this, but I'm so glad she had a great trip and you have great memories. 🙂

Wait, you won that cruise, or you won one on that cruise? If so, no wonder you were hooked. 😉

I feel bad laughing at this, but I must confess I did. 😁 I'm also divorced from my first cruising partner, and it sounds like both of us are in much better places now! 😊

Yes, after two and a half years, COVID has finally caught up with us, and this variant is no joke. 😞 I'll probably recover just fine, but man, I really need to escape to my happy place in the meantime. Please play along? 🙂 I'll start: September 2004, Majesty of the Seas. We only did a 3-day "just in case we didn't like it." 🤣 A hurricane sent us to Key West instead of Nassau, but I didn't care in the least. I was totally hooked, and kept returning to the Sovereign class even as I gradually ventured onto larger ships. The only downside was that my first cruise was in a JS, and it took me quite some time to be willing to try anything less. For the record, I can now be perfectly content in a standard OV balcony! Okay, who's next? 🙂

Precisely, that's the main issue. We typically pay a bit extra to our cabin attendant, MDR wait staff and anyone else who has made a big difference in our cruise, but we rest easy knowing that the dishwashers and such are also being taken care of. I'm not a Royal employee nor do I have any spies at corporate, but to the best of my knowledge, the idea of "Royal taking a cut" is nothing more than a conspiracy theory. People whom I trust have said that the daily amount is divided among various positions within the service staff. 🙂

I typically don't mess with it unless the difference is substantial. That being said, I agree, it's usually been more like a week or two to see the credit.

Great news for the cruise we booked on July 16th. 😒 Seriously though, I really don't object. Absolutely EVERYTHING is increasing in price lately. We can argue until the cows come home about whose fault that is, but certainly isn't the hard-working crew members who are usually supporting families at home in economies that are struggling worse than ours. I'm happy to give them a little extra hand. And, as has been pointed out: anyone who feels they've been dealt with unfairly has options.

I initially read "expansive" as "expensive." Talk about truth in advertising! 😄