BND

The "kids" who got in trouble were old enough to know better (teens) but their parents gave up their responsibility. As Bobby (CD) said on EN,(and he's seen a lot as CD), the problem is the parents who come onboard and don't parent their kids. They want to be kids and party themselves, so they set their kids free and expect the cruise line to babysit them as they wander the ship. I just get tired that every time someone posts on here about kids behavior, someone has to come on and say those that expect parents to parent "hate" kids. And, then proceed to say "adults are worse". Nope, not that at all. But, I can assure you the worst I've ever seen out of adults is some rudeness and occasional drunkeness. The kids that roamed on EN were absolutely obnoxious. Of course, they thought they were funny. Some were running everywhere and almost knocked down quite a few people. I've never seen any adults running all over the ship.

Jennifer, the concierge tested positive and was quarantined. The CL concierge was trying to manage both lounges.

You are missing the point. Parents aren't all parenting their children. That's the problem. I highly doubt there were NO issues. We were on EN over Easter with 490 children. One family got put off at a port due to their children's behavior and their lack of dealing with it. At least one was caught trying to use an adult's seapass to buy drinks. Others were caught climbing the fence to the water park on Coco Cay. One bought a group of friends into the DL and ate all the appetizers. It clearly states no children under 21 without an adult in the lounges. And a few were caught making out in the lounges. Those are just the ones I heard about. We witnessed a lot of other behavior that just didn't need to happen. This is entirely about lack of parenting. It's not the cruise line's job to parent someone's children.

There is, but security can't be everywhere. And, the parents are choosing to not be parents and enforce the rules which means they aren't following them so warn them once and then leave them at the next port. Everyone onboard shouldn't have to deal with other's misbehaving children.

You no longer need to upload your test results.

They are the same class. EN was cut in half and stretched in 2005. 73 feet was added. It's actually about 8,000 tons larger. In the "stretched" areas, cabins were added, as was a Boleros and deck 9 , more deck space was added. On Deck 10, bridges were added.

Marc is on Mariner now. He tries to stay working out of PC because his two daughters (young) live in the Orlando area. There is a Bolero's in the extended section. Also, a bar on the pool deck that wasn't open yet in April. They were short staffed and cruises were operating at 40-60% full. We're back on 22 July for a 6 night Bermuda cruise and I'm interested to see what has changed since April as they are sailing more full. We love the smaller ships. We get to know the crew. We met Bobby Broughton (CD) on his very first cruise for RCI on GR out of Baltimore a few years ago and had him again in April. We stopped and talked to him on the first day and a couple more times. You see the same barstaff and some, like the ones in the DL and CL get to know you and your cabin number for drinks.

I'm glad I don't have to even think about the Real ID. Between a passport and a US DOD military dependent ID (DH is retired) I'm good. My regular DL is good for a couple more years so no plan to renew it before then. We cruise with our passport and it is more than worth what we paid for it. Over the lifespan of the passport, it works out to about $1.08/month. Seriously, anyone who thinks that is overpriced better not be buying Starbucks on a regular basis. Passports are a great value.

I haven't heard of any Covid medical evacuations.

We were just on a 20 night b2b on EN in April. It was our second and third cruises on her. I have yet to figure out why people expect an older smaller ship to have a lot of bells and whistles and tons of things for kids and some active adults to do. That is not what the smaller ships were built for. Honestly, when the older smaller ships were built, they were actually the largest ships at the time, but they weren't built to be playgrounds. They were built to sail on, dine on, see shows, gamble and relax. Viewing is fine and there are actually a lot more inside areas to view from than on the larger newer ships. Besides out door decks, there is a Viking Crown Lounge with large windows and the Centrum has large windows on several decks with seating. We have also cruised on GR seven times and Vision once. We're back on EN in July. And, the ship isn't old by maritime standards, but apparently it is by some cruisers standards.

1. It varies. Sometimes if there are older people who move slower or need help, then it can slow down boarding, but not by much. We've always had good experiences with buses except for one time where it was a small bus. We had good seats at first, but then others (young with good knees) grabbed them on reboarding and left me with a seat on the bump which meant my knees were in my face. And, my knees weren't happy, but no one cared. 2. We do them just because we feel like it's easier and you know for sure timing. Although we've done a few non-ship sponsored, especially in the US. 3. Restaurants vary. Size of the excursion and the location. 4. It varies. Most excursions give you plenty of free time to shop, eat, enjoy a beach.

Royal used to have some reviews on the website, but those have been removed. Unless someone reviewed one on the ports of call thread or in a cruise review, you won't really find them. You can google and sometimes some will pop up but not always.

No one really knows. My DH and I have been around people who have tested positive a day or two after we've seen them and we've never tested positive. My DDIL who is an RN has been exposed several times at work but only caught it from my DS after he went on a business trip to LA a month or so ago.

Kind of like how conversations in real life go all the time. You start with one topic and it leads you to another related one. Plus, what else is there to add to the topic? The title really says it all for flying into the US.

"Rampant"? Nope. Are there cases, yes. Are there many more who don't catch it? Yes. Rampant is a relative term and all the reports are really without context. No one on a cruise can accurately report they actually caught it onboard if they're going ashore in the ports being visited and had to travel to get to the cruise. Once again, there is zero proof that testing pre-cruise makes any difference. The only way to do that is with control groups which would mean ships sailing without pre-testing for comparison at a minimum.

We've received offers well before 30 days on all 4 of our cruises since restart. More like 60 days.

I always thought that too about my appetite, until 4 years ago when I got sick. I had been having gall bladder attacks without intense pain for several years, so no idea. But, then, it decided that wasn't enough and it gave me lack of appetite, nausea, tachycardia, and exhaustion, inability to really digest food, etc. Worst feeling ever is to sit down to a meal and not want to eat it because not only don't you feel hungry but after a couple of bites, you can't because you just can't. Although I lost 24 or so lbs in 4 months, I have gained it all back, but never want that feeling again. Gall bladder came out and appetite came right back. My sister caught Covid a few weeks ago and although her case was mild, she lost her sense of taste. She still doesn't have it back so she gets hungry but can't taste her food. My DS and DDIL and my BIL also all had it about the same time and none of the three of them lost their taste.

But the actual "all aboard" time is 30 min before sailing. OP was asking a specific question.

You're the first person I've ever seen say that the biscuits and gravy are good. They are nothing like homemade buttermilk biscuits (I'm from TX btw) and the gravy just doesn't do it.

I always get a plain omelet in the MDR or WJ. They always want me to add cheese, but nope. The omelets are just better and I prefer "dry" eggs. I cannot eat wet or runny eggs.

Best: dessert crepes Worst: Curry but that's because I don't like curry. I also can't eat seafood (shrimp in particular). Don't particularly love the burgers in WJ either, but they'll do in a pinch.

Yes, that has not changed, yet.

My DS and DIL both had covid about a month ago after a vacation (not a cruise). My DS' company policy (Fed Contractor) is 5 days quarantine and then 5 days in a mask. My DH and younger DS both are Fed Contractors also and their companies have the same policy. Hasn't been an issue. I have no problem with it and neither do they.

Funny thing is, we did a b2b on HOTS in Nov/Dec and EN in Apr and received offers for all 4. We didn't bid because we didn't want to change cabins for our b2b's. So, not spoiled lol even though we were on low capacity cruises in Nov/Dec, not as much in Apr.

My DIL is an RN in a GP's office here in VA and they have basically the same policy. Her office is part of the INOVA healthcare system. It appears that it's commonplace across the medical field and not just in CA. Positive just doesn't mean what it did two years ago.