YankeesFan4Life

1 minute ago, nelblu said:

I was reading some of the ship's tour, and it made it sound that there's a shuttle service.

When we sailed there in '19, we just took an Uber, it was a lot cheaper than a ship's shore excursion.  It's only a few miles

We played a bunch in the casino, and each got a $300 and $200 future cruise credit.  When we got back and checked Casino Royale, it went up to $400 each!  We had booked at Next Cruise on the ship and got a good deal for two cabins.  

My question is, if we are both playing together, and only handed one card, would we have gotten one bigger offer?  They said 2500 points gets you a free cruise, and the two of us combined had over 2500...

We stayed in Cocoa Beach before we went on Allure on 8/15.  We also sailed into there as a port of call on Adventure in '19.  Your best bet is stay on the ship!  It's a beach town, nothing much to do.  If you forgot something, you can always take an Uber to Ron Jon, shop there, there's a CVS and Walgreens next door to each other, across the street.  There's a cool pier a few blocks from there as well with some nice bars over the water, you can watch the surfers, or just go walk on the beach.  Nothing much at all to do in town, unless you went to NASA. 

Regarding the tracelets, they were absolutely no big deal.  Easy on and off at night, didn't even realize that it was on.  You get to pick your own color, and to be honest, I was a little jealous of the people who had the RCCL Logo on theirs, mine was blank!! LOL

When you get them to put on at check in, they tell you they are not waterproof, so I took mine off at the pool.  The lifeguard was all over me like white on rice!  They want them on ALL the time!  It's for everyone's benefit.

In regards to a place to go to eat near PC, we went to the Pier in Cocoa Beach.  Make a left at the crappy Days Inn that we booked, and walked out of, and there's a parking lot with a LONG pier.  At the end, the Riki Tiki Lounge, the food was great, the beer was cold, and its over the ocean overlooking the surfers, pretty cool spot!

I can attest to the ease of check-in.  We were also on the sailing, arrived at the port at 11:30 with a 1pm check-in time, and was on the ship by 11:45!

We had a 1pm boarding time on the 8/15 sailing.  We stayed over in Cocoa Beach (Radisson was real nice btw), and had to check out of the hotel at 11.  We ran down to fill the tank, then go to the port.  We were able to drop our bags off with the porters then leave and come back.  We dropped the car off at Budget, and the shuttle bus driver (Duane) was there waiting to take us back to the port.  We go to the port at 11:30, they asked what time our boarding appt was, and they let us in right away.  We had drinks in our hands at 11:45am!  Rooms weren't ready til 2, and our bags got up by 4.

They handled everything very well, asked for our vaccination cards MULTIPLE times, gave us a bracelet and a tracelet, took our ID pics and were on the ship in no more than 8-10 minutes after walking into the terminal.

On disembarkation day (yesterday), Duane from Budget was waiting for us at 8:45, got our car and went on our way by 9:10 or so....

No need to Uber from Budget...she even said they had 3 shuttles working the day before so they run back and forth every few minutes.

Read it somewhere, don't remember which one or where to get it.  Was it the roast beef or steak sandwich?  Windjammer?  Boarding Sunday and need to try to plan out every meal!! 😉 J/K, but I wanted to try the thing people have been talking about...

TIA!

2 minutes ago, karena1 said:

Not worried about it being negative, have had 4 of these stupid tests since March because we travel all the time.  Just one more thing to get over with.  I printed the documentation to take with me since it clearly states 3 days prior to sailing date.  So thinking we are good to go.  

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...that sounds like 3 to me, Saturday would be 4.  However, you can also think about 72 hours....Depending on when you board?  It's such a grey area.  I was on the phone with CS yesterday and they did tell me Friday for a Sunday cruise

I just looked, and I remember seeing either Woodford Reserve or Gentleman Jack as their "better" bourbon/whiskey. Now it's not there anymore, subbed with Buffalo Trace as what I see is their best Bourbon on the list, and I also thought I remember seeing a Reposado or Anejo Tequila.  Now there's not even one!  Patron Silver is the best they can do?  Come on Royal, you can do better than that for $58/day!!!

Btw, anyone know if they serve PBR on board???? Yeah, I'm a wine and Bourbon snob, but love my PBR's!!!

1 minute ago, karena1 said:

The information clearly states 3 day prior to your sailing date.  So we leave on Sat.  3 days prior is Wed.

It's a grey area, many conflicting answers. I booked mine on Friday for a Sunday sailing, just to play it safe and not have any issue when I get to the port.  I wish you luck, and hope that you don't have any issues.  It's just one more thing to add a ton of stress to this already stressful time...Just hope its negative regardless! 🙂

11 hours ago, karena1 said:

We have appointment next Wed at CVS to get the test for our August 14th Adventure

 

We are on Allure on the 15th, and when I called to ask where my edocs and luggage tags are (10 days out now...) the rep told me that Thursday will be too far out, and recommended me getting my test on Friday at the earliest.  I'd check and make sure, Wednesday seems out of the "3 day" time...

13 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Everyone is tested for the return flight to the US from Nassau. 

Gotcha. We have a closed loop cruise from Port Canaveral, so that won’t apply to us…thx

@Coconut Crew maybe I missed it in the previous posts, but if you were asymptomatic, why were you tested?  Do they random test on the ship?  And glad you and your family got home ok, hope everyone gets better soon!

19 minutes ago, ray985 said:

This calculator helps determine if it's worth it. It has the average drink costs based on the recent sailings. 

https://cruisespotlight.com/drink-package-calculator

At that rate I’m in for a $550 refund from them!!!!  It definitely pays to get the drink package!

We did a private tour with Rony's.  Brian was our driver, and he was fantastic!  We brought coloring books and school supplies for underprivileged children, which he set up at a church, went to the chocolate factory, sloth and monkey spot, toured the island and he took us for an amazing lunch across the street from the pier and we had IGUANA and beer and enjoyed every minute of it! 😉

Scenario.....Hi Customer Service Person, I lost my bracelet (but I really gave it to my unvaccinated friend) can I get another one???  How will they combat things like that??

I live 15 minutes from Newark airport. Pay me and I’ll drive ya!

From what I heard, the texting will work at no charge if you have the VOOM.  My question is for anyone who had the VOOM, are you still able to use iMessage on board to each other and back to the States with ease??

Thumbing through the app and looking at deck plans, it shows American Icon Grill aft on Deck 3. However nothing is mentioned on the Royal website or ship info about it. Anyone know if it’s open or available to dine in?  Reviews online say it’s a bit better than the MDR and at no cost, and definitely something I’d love to try but no info!!!

24 minutes ago, MrMarc said:

They blocked that a few years ago.

They blocked what? iMessage?  I was told by them that I could use iMessage to text with my kids back home. So even by having the VOOM surf and stream I still need to pay $1.99 per???

2 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

Was just reading an announcement about it — costs $1.99 pp per day, must purchase for entire cruise.  We have the voom package for our first week, so going to see how WhatsApp works with WiFi first, before deciding to pay for the RCI version.  Being able to text when traveling with friends or family is very helpful.

$1.99 per?? What the actual?!?! Even if you have VOOM??  Either way if you’re connected to WiFi can’t you just use iMessage if you’re both on iPhones?

3 hours ago, Missusdubbya said:

 

Jungle Top zip line restaurant, iguana was delicious!

Must be, thanks so much!!!

5 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Due to the ease of logistics and time, most are getting the J&J.

That makes a lot of sense, the one and done. However, I know a guy who supplies medical supplies to the cruise ship industry and he said they are mostly getting AZ. But then again, nobody really knows the truth 

Jersey weather sucks Nov-March. Not uncommon to have a foot of snow dumped on us at any given time. That being said, Newark Airport very rarely closes because they have one of the best ground crews around. Kudos to them!  However, like people said before, don’t think you’re getting outside for a couple days, probably at least til you get down to The Carolinas. Always the casino and plenty of indoor activities. I live 25 minutes from Bayonne and have never and will probably never cruise in the winter from Jersey just because I think it’s a waste to not be able to utilize the whole ship for 3-4 days. Just my two cents…

Just got mine back this morning.  11 days total