HodgeNNicole

Yeehaaaw After allowing my Diet Coke loving wife get all the spoils of cruising for the last million years, I am looking forward to drawing in Diet Pepsi next Summer.

I just hope the Carnival/Pepsi contract lasts through next June!!! LOL

We are sailing on the Symphony 6/4 out of Miami got the call, text last night that she will be delayed and are now sailing on Sunday. We anticipated this possibility and just extended our stay at the Doubletree Biscayne Bay an additional night. 
to answer additional questions…..

Yes, they are honoring our COVID pre cruise tests, no need to re-test. 
We are missing Coco Cay as that was our stop on Sunday, however the messages stated they were trying really hard to reschedule the stop for later in the cruise to stay tuned. 
We are getting an on board credit for the cost of the day, any beverage/internet packages etc as well as any excursions paid for from Coco Cay. If we don’t use the full credit any additional will be refunded to us.

We are looking at it as a positive. In that the over-worked crew will have a day to catch their breath and recharge batteries, our cabins should be available when we board and we are on vacation. 
 

Now to try and find something to do for the day in Miami that is INDOORS with our very active 7 year old!

We are sailing on the Symphony Saturday, forecast looks like rain.  

Can anyone tell me if we will be standing in the rain waiting to get into the building for check in etc or if there are overhangs/covers etc?

We do plan on being there pretty close to our 11:30 check in time but just wondering, so we can pack accordingly.

I was going to set up the account in my name but it said "Patient information" I was afraid that the system wouldn't know what to do with the information. I will go ahead and set it up in my name and use my e-mail address and hope for the best.

We are traveling with our 7 year old non-vaccinated son on the Symphony on Saturday.  I got an e-mail to register him for his test at the port.  I registered him and got the conformation of his appointment. 

My question is this...

On his conformation it states to create an account at Bioreference.com to view his results.  However, when trying to make an account it requires his date of birth then stops me because he is not 18.  Does anyone know how to get notified of the results at the port on the day of embarkation??

Staying at the Doubletree Friday night before boarding the Symphony on Saturday.  

My 7 year old is a baseball nut so we got Marlins tickets for Friday night.

Is there a simple way to get there using public transportation or would Uber/Lyft be the easiest method?

We are trying to decide between the two for our upcoming June cruise.

Our main interests are the Monkey/sloths and snorkeling does anyone have any experience or recommendations??

Same thing happened to me I was able to check in my for our June 4 Symphony cruise 45 days out no problem.  

I kept checking a couple of times per day and ended up being able to get arrival time 2 days later.  I even called Royal and was only on hold for 1 hour to be told just keep checking..LOL 

Going to post on the roll call now.  Thanks for the help!

I tried checking in at 9:15 So Cal time thinking it was after midnight back East and could not even check in.

I was able to check in a couple of hours later but I am still getting the arrival time not available via the app and the computer.

Wondering if I want to brave the on hold times to try and call Royal???

We are finally 45 days from sailing!!!!!

I just checked in on-line with all my information but it says to check back closer to sailing for Arrival time?  

Has this happened to anyone else?

Anyone know how close to sailing will the arrival times open up?

I get the same response from the mobile app as I do using a computer??

I just signed on to ask the same thing.  It used to be 90 days.

I thought it might be 60 days now but I have been checking every day since 60. 

We are at 46 days now and still nothing???

Thanks for the quick response.  

You just saved me some money since we are not big enough drinkers to get the drink package but now will enjoy some frozen libations round the pool is 76 days not that we are counting or anything.

Do you get an actual "voucher" or is it loaded on to your sign and sail card?

Also is it 4 free drinks per Diamond member meaning 4 for my wife and 4 for me or is it 2 each for a total of 4?

Thank you for the feedback we are looking at that trip for our Symphony cruise in June.

Thank you so much I did not see that change on the royal website!!!

We are. on board. the Symphony the. 1st week in June with my un vaccinated 7 yr old.  Has anyone heard or experienced any opportunities to go off. and enjoy the beach by ourselves?

From what I understand we might be required to do a ship excursion but would really like to go to the beach and snorkel on our own??

I know things are changing pretty quacks just looking for. any recent updates.....

Has anyone stayed here recently? 

From what I read there are plenty of places to walk to and places to eat around the property.

We are taking the Red Eye in pre cruise and land at 9AM wanted to drop the luggage and explore the area a bit pre cruise.

We have tickets to the Marlins game Friday night (my 7 year old is baseball obsessed) just looking for options for a couple of hours in the morning prior to our room being available.

We will be there the first week in June if that matters.

Thanks for any tips.

Sailing on the Symphony in June..... (I HOPE!!!)

Can anyone tell me if they were recently allowed to move about freely in Costa Maya/Cozumel/Roatan? I have friends that have been to Mexico recently and masks were recommended but nobody bothered them about them.

We are not cruising until June but it will make or break our trip if we are forced to take part in a ship excursion rather than being allowed to go to the beach ourselves.

Our 7 year old will not be Vaxed. 

With the recent changes, I am hoping that will no longer be an issue in June but just wondering what it is like currently before we start getting excited for the cruise

Thanks for your comments pertaining to the Port Freedom!!

On 7/6/2021 at 11:36 AM, thinfool said:

To the OP, worried about a refund....Cruise line boilerplate....if you cancel a cruise before final payment you receive any/all of the $$ back that you may have paid for your sailing.  Deposit, monthly payment, etc.

If you wait until after final payment date you lose your deposit.

Hey Thinfool,

I was thinking about this but... if PRINCESS cancels me how does that effect the refund situation?? I had so many cruises canceled and re-booked the last 18 months I have no idea how much money is mine and how much is the 125% princess offered etc??

I live in California so we only selected this trip because of not needing flights etc. so this is an easy 45 min drive to the port so no other travel issues needed just the cruise.

 I have an an amazing TA she has been with me for over 30 years and I feel bad for her during this mess.  I am sure she will help me forge myth way through the process.

Thanks for all the comments.  I will just wait until they tell me I can't cruise instead of cancelling.  One would think since they are telling me no that there should be no reason I can't get 100% of any money back.  If I cancel they might fight me to refund anything.

I will not be subjecting my 6 year old to the vaccine until at some point in the very distant future.  I am not comfortable subjecting him to something that is unproven to be safe from long term issues to protect him from something that he is highly unlikely to get.  I am not saying this to make a statement just simply saying I am not comfortable without additional information.

After just under 435,679 cancelled cruises we finally booked the Grand out of Los Angeles for a little 4 day weekend getaway on Sept 30.  We have had this booked for almost a year and it looked like we would be the 2nd cruise on her after the great Cruise Lock out.....

My wife and I are fully vaccinated, we have a 6 year old and the 3 of us have been counting down the days.....

Here is where it gets sticky, they are saying we can't sail unless fully vaccinated.  Well, my 6 year old is not eligible.  From what I understood  the ships would be sailing about 90-95% vaccinated to allow for people that can't be vaccinated and/or young kids?? 

After 1.5  hours on the phone with Princess my Travel Agent and I are still uncertain?? The only thing we know now is my final payment is not due till early August and we MIGHT know more by then.

Anybody have information or want to split the cost with us on a raft that we are planning on strapping our son on to and dragging behind the ship?

2 hours ago, DJLDRUMS said:

Watching for the next announcement in mid April announcing cruises being cancelled for June and July, unfortunately, that seems to be the pattern on how announcements have been coming down. Let me go one step further asking those who booked through RCI or a TA where they had cruises booked prior to April and May as well as in those two months. Have you received a notification that your cruise has been cancelled and what were your options.

Thanks in advance to those who reply.

I booked through TA and I just got off the phone with her.  Was able to Lift and shift to 2022. (we were  on the 5/22/21 Symphony , shifted to the 6/4/2022 Symphony) it  was actually substantially easier than dealing with all the future cruise credit stuff from our previous 4 or 5 canceled cruises dating back from May 2020.  I didn't get an e-mail from RCL but my amazing TA contacted me as soon as she was notified earlier this morning and took care of everything.

Instead of being upset at the end of the Lift and shift policy.... Does anyone beside me think that it could signal the actual beginning of cruising again May 1??

Let's try to be positive....

We are booked May 22, 2021 I am trying to remain positive.  My question is no doubt if they are starting the engines on May 1 no way they will sail at more than 50% capacity by May 22 so how is it going to be determined who goes and who gets cut???

We are mixed, would be great to cruise on a ship half full but I don't want to mask up and more importantly I don't want to be stuck with the masses and forced into ship based shore excursions.  So if this is the case I would want to pass and try my luck next year.  

Just trying to figure out how that would be handled???

Positive vibes to be sailing again soon!!

I took a lightweight camping hammock on the allure last year and took plenty on naps in it. The issue will be your height. the width of the balconies are only about 10 feet wide and that leaves you with the hammock pretty high off of the deck so entering and exiting becomes a challenge.  (especially after a couple of cocktails).  or it you make the hammock lower it is not very comfortable for anyone  very tall.  I am only 5'6" so it worked out OK.  In fact I used it more as a swing type seat then a hammock.

Bottom line is yes you could easily sleep outside in it and not worry about getting locked out unless someone purposely locked you out so be nice to your cabin mate...