Pratique

I seem to remember the raffle was only offered for the first couple of days of the cruise.

The last time I booked onboard (in 2019) I was entered into a raffle and won a few hundred dollars OBC. Do they still do that?

Ah, nothing like consistency of messaging... lol

I ran a comparison and its mostly what they say in the email regarding residency and forum selection. The Covid stuff refers to the cruise line's policy on the website. I can't find a policy for after the end of April, maybe I'm looking in the wrong place though.

The contract refers to the cancelation policy, which is "100% cruise fare refund for you and your Travelling Party, if any of you test positive for COVID-19 within 10 days prior to the cruise or at the terminal" and "Coverage of all costs of COVID-19 related medical treatment onboard, if you test positive for COVID-19 during the cruise." https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/if-i-test-positive-for-sars-cov-2-what-is-your-refund-policy-and-costs-covered This ends April 30.

Those bids are not any better than the going rate for those cabins, and they rarely seem to be if you are starting from a Sky Class cabin. It's really just a way for them to shift any excess inventory down to the inside cabins while maximizing revenue.

I recently received a Royal Up email (actually they have since sent a second one) at about 75 days out. We are already in a CLS. The minimum bids are absurd.

A dealership in Central Florida once let me pay the $16,000 balance on a new vehicle after trade in using a CC. Initially they said that they don't like to do it but it was a Saturday and the finance guy didn't want to wait for me to go to the bank on Monday, so they let me do it. It's up to the dealer I suppose.

You can't spend it when you're six feet under.

Out of curiosity I spent a few hours researching Celebration. Although the Excel ships have added many suites, they are all modest in size. The forward and aft suites have incredible balconies but all of the cabins are somewhat ordinary for a such a large ship. As far as I can tell, there is no dedicated suite lounge other than Loft 19 which is open air (?), and not much more in perks other than concierge services, free soda, and free room/laundry service. Overall it would be a step down from Royal's offerings.

It does have the same effect when the effect is to remove yourself from an unpleasant situation without raising your blood pressure.

This made me chuckle. Many years ago my then-girlfriend and I went to a nice restaurant for lunch on my birthday. It was intended to be a good day but the service was horrible. The only time we saw our server was when she took our order. She didn't bring out the food or even the check - those were done by others and only after we had to ask for them. We paid the bill but left a zero tip. No sooner had we walked out did the manager come chasing after us, daring to accuse us of shorting the server on her tip. When I explained the situation, saying essentially life is too short, he said that I should have come to him first. Of course, we never saw him either, until we left. Getting up and leaving is the only thing that works.

The problem with these Oasis sailings out of New York is that because of the sailing time they don't arrive in Florida until 1 pm, which is too late in the day to be getting started landside even if you are just going to Kennedy Space Center because that closes at 5. We are probably doing this sailing in June just because we can drive to port instead of flying to Florida first and we only care about going to Coco Cay and spending the rest of the cruise on the ship. Otherwise it is a lousy itinerary. There isn't even enough time in Port Canaveral for us to rent a car and go visit our friends in Central Florida.

I worked at Walt Disney World for 12 years. 2-3 hours is not worth it. Barely enough time to visit the gift shop.

Wipe Out Bar Deck 16 aft above the theater. Access via Deck 15 past the sports court.

The day Royal Caribbean gets their IT act together will be the day I buy a lottery ticket.

Well now we know that they know they made a boo-boo. I was just asking my wife where our muster station is. 'Cause I have no idea and it's cold outside lol.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. It sounds like many things are just as they always have been. Except for the suite bathroom amenities. Marva is the best, glad to hear she is still around.