The Easiest Embarkation Day EVER!

Hola!

As many of you know, we recently sailed aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas! It was our first Oasis class ship and we had an absolute blast! I can go on and on about the ship and it's million wonders but, I wanted to make this post about the process leading up to embarkation day and the embarkation process. Checking in through the Royal app, the at home Covid-19 test required at the time of our sailing, and being on the first maskless sailing! We have been home exactly one week and I still can't believe how smoothly and quickly our embarkation was!

Want to know how to board your next Royal Caribbean cruise in about 6 minutes? Read on!

The Royal Caribbean International App

Royal Caribbean stepped up it's app game to handle the pandemic. This is a huge benefits for current and future cruisers. From deck plans, to games, to menus, a lot of what you need can be done from the app. Some things must wait until you board and connect to the ship's wifi, like making reservations for shows however, getting cruise ready has never been easier.

The first thing we did was download the app. Just go to your App Store and download Royal Caribbean International . Once you sign in, add your reservation and start planning your cruise. You can checkout deck plans, see where your cabin is, check where the MDR's are, or how to get to the Lime and the Coconut bar😉. These are just a few things that you can manage on the app.

Keep an eye on the Check-in Date. You may not have the accessibility to check-in right away depending on how far away you are from your sailing. But the app will have the date when check-in opens up. Set up an alert/alarm on your phone for that day. If you're anything like me, you like to be one of the firsts ones on board. So I always aim for the earliest check-in. This time we had the 11:30am slot. Make sure you do as much as you can prior to arriving at the cruise terminal. Once I was able to, I checked us all in. That included, some personal and emergency contact information, our vaccine information as well as our vaccine card photos, and our personal photos. Do not forget your passport or government issued ID. The day prior to embarkation, you will be able to fill out the health questionnaire on the app, complete that as well!

Tip: PLEASE do not get to the cruise terminal before your scheduled time.

Covid-19 Testing

Nothing stresses me out more than testing prior to traveling. I'm sure I am not alone on this. Trying to get an appointment that is within the window allowed can be an adventure in itself, and do not even get me started on the stress and anxiety of waiting 24 hours for a results! I decided that I was not taking chances and I was doing the at home test that was approved by the cruise lines. It is an at home, proctored test via video chat.

It took about 25 mins from start to finish and 15 of those were waiting on results. Once done, I had my hard copy with QR code results within 2 minutes.

Tip: Make sure to bring a printed copy of your results. While the app is great, it tends to slow the process down.

Safety Drill

While Covid is awful, it also brought on a new era to the cruising industry. Gone are the days of gathering in a certain location of the ship (your muster station) along with a couple of dozen strangers waiting for the safety drill to take place. Again, Royal Caribbean upped the game with its's contactless safety drill on the app. This series of short videos can be watched from your phone, then you must go to your muster station and a staff member will scan your sail pass (on your app) which lets them know you have completed your safety drill and now your vacation can start!

Tip: Watch the safety drill the morning of embarkation. Once you board the ship make your way to your muster station to be checked-in. Once checked-in, head to the nearest bar or buffet 😉. Happy Cruising! ( This was the first thing we did after we ooooh and ahhhhh at the beauty of this ship).

Going Maskless!

This doesn't have much to do with the actual embarkation process but, we happened to be the first sailing so let's chat about it!

At the time of our cruise the Federal mask mandate was still in affect. That means that at airpots, on planes and cruise ports, masks were worn. HOWEVER, on February 25, 2022 the CDC eased up the mask mandates within the cruise lines and Royal Caribbean updated their policies on mask wearing. So the minute we had one foot on that bad boy, the masks came off and it was the first "normal" cruise post pandemic. The staff was still wearing them but the service is still top notch! On my post Getting Back to Cruising masks were still worn indoors so I definitely had a different experience on this last cruise.

All in all , from the minute we handed our luggage to the porter to when we set foot aboard Oasis of the Seas, I am not exaggerating when I say, it took us about 6 minutes. Want to start your cruise vacation early? All it takes is a little pre-cruise prep.

• Do all you can on the Royal app. Check-in as soon as you are able to.

• Make sure you print your negative test result.

• Complete your health questionnaire the day before embarkation

• Arrive at the terminal at the time you are scheduled for ( you may not be let inside if you show up too early).

• Have on hand your app opened to your sail pass, your passport or government issued ID, and your negative test result print out.

Tip: If you can, arrive at the day before your cruise. This is will allow ample time and it lowers the chances of missing your cruise. Plus, it means you get an early start on your vacation!

I have to say that we were truly impressed with how fast and easy our embarkation process was. So far it is definitely the easiest embarkation day ever! I really hope when we are back at a 100% things remain as smoothly as we experienced!

Have you cruised recently? How was embarkation? Let me know in the comments!

Have travel questions? Looking for travel tips? Or suggestions on what topics you want to read about? Email me at info@holabeachestravel.com .

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