AOS out Nassau now requiring indoor masking

[3kidsncats]

14 minutes ago, nich3cats said:

So will he need two tests? This will be a deal breaker for me. Hard enough getting one. I have one scheduled for Wednesday august 18 but  CVS says they can not guarantee they will have tests that day due to inconsistent supply!

We are debating having him get an antigen on Monday for the visa, and we are currently scheduled for a PCR on Wednesday for Royal.  We would prefer to have the visa in hand before Thursday 

[KG1924]

4 hours ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

Remember when most were all happy & giddy about non vaxed passengers being treated differently than vaxed passengers? Ahh... those were the days a few weeks ago. Karma... she's one tuff cruiser!

 

Enjoy your cruises everyone! 

I don't really see how this is Karma....we purposefully booked this cruise w/ the thought that we wouldn't have to follow the very strict protocols and have cruising feel closer to "normal". That being said, we also booked knowing that things could change rapidly (as they have). My optimistic self foolishly thought it would improve by our September sailing.....that's on me to not be thinking realistically.  As of right now, we are still planning on going and will just hope that it's still going to be a great trip despite all the extra protocols. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

So on a whim, I decided to see if the Bahamas health visa had opened for my arrival day, a little before midnight last night.  It had, and I was able to complete and submit it, with approval and payment made this morning.  I now have a health visa and don’t need to test for Bahamas entry.  Unfortunately, my husband, about 5 mins later than me, was not so fortunate.  

I saw this yesterday in another thread:

 

 

[dswallow]

2 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I saw this yesterday in another thread:

 

 

 

The test you both need for Royal Caribbean will satisfy the requirements The Bahamas has for your husband since Royal Caribbean's has a shorter timeframe than The Bahamas.

[3kidsncats]

45 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I saw this yesterday in another thread:

 

 

Yes, yesterday was the last day to apply without the test requirement but they didn’t open up the 20th as an arrival date until late last night.  I just slipped in a very short window where they had opened the 20th arrival date, but not yet changed the application to require the test.  So I’m done.  Paid, visa printed and uploaded to VeriFLY for good measure.  We decided to book the antigen for the 18th for both of us, will do my husbands visa application when we have the results and be ready to go.  Now I’m going to go make some more masks since I have a fresh supply of filter fabric 🙂

[coffeebean]

On 8/5/2021 at 3:26 PM, mabt said:

 

Public clinic.  But I am in Canada, so the situation is quite different here.  I suppose it was a booster, of sorts, but the point was to comply with RCCL's specific vaccination requirements (which have also changed several times since I booked), not to boost immunity.

 

Were you originally vaccinated with two different brands of vaccine? The third shot was to align with one original brand?

[natefish95]

6 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

Yes, yesterday was the last day to apply without the test requirement but they didn’t open up the 20th as an arrival date until late last night.  I just slipped in a very short window where they had opened the 20th arrival date, but not yet changed the application to require the test.  So I’m done.  Paid, visa printed and uploaded to VeriFLY for good measure.  We decided to book the antigen for the 18th for both of us, will do my husbands visa application when we have the results and be ready to go.  Now I’m going to go make some more masks since I have a fresh supply of filter fabric 🙂

I'm in Nassau now and I highly recommend the thin blue surgical type masks. Masks are required indoors AND outdoors, and since it's pretty warm and humid, a thin mask has made it more bearable. 

 

Sidebar: I have never had to sanitize my hands as often as I have had to do today. Before you go in every store, you have put hand sanitizer on. My hands felt so sticky and gross. I even got a Diet Coke from McDonalds and the guard TOOK MY TEMPERATURE and made me get hand sanitizer. 

[satchimosmom]

17 hours ago, wallyj said:

Hi @satchimosmom, I believe DallasGuy75219 is correct. It was reported last year when many passengers had to cancel fights but they purchase their tickets thru 3rd party vendors or OTA’s(online travel agencies) think Expedia, Priceline, etc.,  the refunds if any went back to the ‘owners’ of the tickets. 
 

Pretty sure if you call DL, you will be told Air2Sea owns the ticket and you need to go thru them to cancel if you eventually need to. Air2Sea will charge a $200 cancellation fee per ticket, unless RCCL cancels. 
 

I thought a person reported Air2Sea tickets would be refunded if you did not like the newly released ‘protocols’, but your cruise is in September and the new protocols are for   ‘August’ so if they continue into September, you might have an out there to get a refund of all your cruise expenses to Royal.

 

Call Royal to confirm.

Thanks for the info.  This will be our first and last time using Air2Sea!  Ugh. 
 

Does anyone know if we go for a FCC if that includes a full airfare credit?  

[Bailey & Sophie]

8 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

Now I’m going to go make some more masks since I have a fresh supply of filter fabric 🙂

 

What do you use for your filter fabric? 

[3kidsncats]

8 minutes ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

What do you use for your filter fabric? 

It’s from Filti (just add dot com) is rated 16 MERV so effective for the small particle size of the Coronavirus.  So far so good — been using it since last spring for the whole family and no one has caught Covid.  

[Bailey & Sophie]

1 hour ago, 3kidsncats said:

It’s from Filti (just add dot com) is rated 16 MERV so effective for the small particle size of the Coronavirus.  So far so good — been using it since last spring for the whole family and no one has caught Covid.  

 

I'll have to look into it. Is it warm? I've been using iron on non-woven interfacing. It's warm and my nose runs.

Making masks is so much cheaper than buying masks. 

[3kidsncats]

22 minutes ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

I'll have to look into it. Is it warm? I've been using iron on non-woven interfacing. It's warm and my nose runs.

Making masks is so much cheaper than buying masks. 

Hmmm.  Not sure if it’s warm or not.  Live in the desert with high temps and generally no issues, but inside is air conditioned.  I did notice on one trip that it was overly warm, but temps were in the 110+ range.  I like it because it sews well, has the great filtration rating, can take light ironing and can be washed.  Iron on interfacing also can be on the stiff side and possibly doesn’t have good breathability — this is nicely flexible and also not so dense that it interferes with breathing easily.  I use a cotton or silk fabric for the “fashion” fabric, and sheer silk for the lining.  Silk has electrostatic properties that attract and hold particles so it’s a good choice for a mask. 

[Bailey & Sophie]

1 hour ago, 3kidsncats said:

Hmmm.  Not sure if it’s warm or not.  Live in the desert with high temps and generally no issues, but inside is air conditioned.  I did notice on one trip that it was overly warm, but temps were in the 110+ range.  I like it because it sews well, has the great filtration rating, can take light ironing and can be washed.  Iron on interfacing also can be on the stiff side and possibly doesn’t have good breathability — this is nicely flexible and also not so dense that it interferes with breathing easily.  I use a cotton or silk fabric for the “fashion” fabric, and sheer silk for the lining.  Silk has electrostatic properties that attract and hold particles so it’s a good choice for a mask. 

 

Nice info to have. I'm sure I have some leftover silk somewhere.

When I first did research on how to make masks there was a lot of info. I clicked onto a quilting website that recommended a light weight iron on interfacing. So much has changed!

I made our masks over a year ago and really need to make more. I rarely go out so wearing a warm mask to grab milk at the store is no big deal. 

Thanks so much for the info. Appreciate it.

[kearney]

7 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

It’s from Filti (just add dot com) is rated 16 MERV so effective for the small particle size of the Coronavirus.  So far so good — been using it since last spring for the whole family and no one has caught Covid.  

How do you get a tight seal around the edges... that has been my concern about many cloth masks.. One reason I don't like to wear them..on vacation...is my glasses fog up.. defogger does not work that well.. and the heat buildup inside the mask makes it unbearable in the summer heat.

[Mommy oooo]

On 8/5/2021 at 2:39 PM, jentravelrn said:

Suspect they must have had more positive cases on this week's sailing...

I’m on the July 31 sailing.  There were no positive cases this sailing.

[kearney]

1 hour ago, Mommy oooo said:

I’m on the July 31 sailing.  There were no positive cases this sailing.

Good to here... are you masking in public areas?

[Magicat]

10 hours ago, natefish95 said:

I'm in Nassau now and I highly recommend the thin blue surgical type masks. Masks are required indoors AND outdoors, and since it's pretty warm and humid, a thin mask has made it more bearable. 

 

Sidebar: I have never had to sanitize my hands as often as I have had to do today. Before you go in every store, you have put hand sanitizer on. My hands felt so sticky and gross. I even got a Diet Coke from McDonalds and the guard TOOK MY TEMPERATURE and made me get hand sanitizer. 

That has been our life here in Mexico since May 2020.  Plus we have the disinfectant pads you need to walk through too.  We'll feel at home there. 😎

[3kidsncats]

2 hours ago, kearney said:

How do you get a tight seal around the edges... that has been my concern about many cloth masks.. One reason I don't like to wear them..on vacation...is my glasses fog up.. defogger does not work that well.. and the heat buildup inside the mask makes it unbearable in the summer heat.

I insert wire into a channel over the bridge of the nose

[lazydayz]

On 8/5/2021 at 10:08 PM, natefish95 said:

I'll comment before this thread gets locked...

 

I'm boarding on Saturday and yes I'm disappointed and annoyed at the sudden last-minute changes, I booked this cruise knowing things could change at any minute and the cruise could be cancelled altogether if Royal so chooses. 

 

I'm still packing my bags tonight and am so excited that I get to go on a cruise in the first place. I'm fortunate to still be employed and have the financial means to cruise. I'm fortunate that my COVID test came back negative this morning. Do I want to wear a mask? Hell no! Am I going to abide by the rules and not make things difficult on the crew? Absolutely. 

 

Bottom line, quit your b****ing and deal with it or cancel. The CEO does not care what one person thinks. Cruise Critic does not care what you think. Y'all can find me at the Solarium Bar on Saturday with a big ass smile on my face and a cold drink. 

Have a great cruise!  

[mabt]

14 hours ago, coffeebean said:

Were you originally vaccinated with two different brands of vaccine? The third shot was to align with one original brand?

 

Yes.

 

Specifically, Pfizer / Moderna / Moderna.  All administered within 12 weeks.  Ridiculous, but it is what it is.

Edited August 7, 2021 by mabt

[joanne59]

We were booked on AOS for 9/11 sailing and decided to change to Allure 9/5 out of Canaveral. With the change in protocols, we decided to skip the entire Nassau experience/flight/hotel routine. Lost $400 in total with Air2Sea but would have easily spent that on hotel, taxi and the extra travel day before cruise. Now just driving to the port and am thankful for RCCL making the change. We were on Freedom last weekend and as vaccinated cruisers, we found the masking policy was very simple to follow. 

[Shorewalk Holmes]

10 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

I like it because it sews well, has the great filtration rating, can take light ironing and can be washed.

 

I think it's wonderful that you're making these, and spreading the word about the value of masks with good electrostatic properties!

 

Not sure about washing them though, unless you recharge the mask afterward.  You may already be doing that, but just in case you aren't, here's a good paper on the effects of recharging electrostatic-based masks with an ordinary hair dryer.

 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809920301624

 

 

[3kidsncats]

46 minutes ago, Shorewalk Holmes said:

 

I think it's wonderful that you're making these, and spreading the word about the value of masks with good electrostatic properties!

 

Not sure about washing them though, unless you recharge the mask afterward.  You may already be doing that, but just in case you aren't, here's a good paper on the effects of recharging electrostatic-based masks with an ordinary hair dryer.

 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809920301624

 

 

The filter fabric is the workhorse, but yes, you want to maintain the benefit of the electrostatic properties 😊

Edited August 7, 2021 by 3kidsncats

[coffeebean]

4 hours ago, mabt said:

 

Yes.

 

Specifically, Pfizer / Moderna / Moderna.  All administered within 12 weeks.  Ridiculous, but it is what it is.

At least now you are in compliance with the cruise lines to be considered fully vaccinated.

[Mommy oooo]

8 hours ago, kearney said:

Good to here... are you masking in public areas?

Kids  and a handful of adults were masking indoors.  From what we heard there were under 1000 guests on board this sailing.