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  1. Day Three in Barcelona Well... err... this is my blog? It's Friday, and it's in Barcelona. Roll it! The Morning Show While the cruise director and activities manager isn't here yet, I can entertain you with some text! We slept in again (vacation allows for such activities), but did get up earlier to get us all showered and clean. Then, it was feeding time! We went to that same cafe we went to yesterday, and got some breakfast for some and lunch for others. Father and I got the omelette (still good!), and my mother got a cheese wrap, with lettuce, cheddar, mozzarella, and wrap? This is the Wrap ~ Can you spot the problem? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It's got a rice paper "wrap"! While not half eaten when served, it was still not what she expected, but she was hungry and decided to try it anyway. And the verdict was... It was good! Everyone at the table expected a tortilla "wrap" like we would get back home in the states. You can also notice the half eaten french fry: she ordered that as well under the impression of being served in a tortilla. The Mother: And can I also have some fries with that on the side? Waiter: Certainly Waiter's Mind: These Americans really order everything with fries... Even our amazing Asian Wrap! The omelette served as my breakfast __________________________________________________________ NO UBER! NO UBER! NO UBER! In other news here on the show, the taxi drivers are now back on strike. They are now protesting against a court decision that "puts their jobs in danger." They also decided to block a main avenue in Barcelona, stopping both the in and out traffic of the airport and the city centre.. If you would like to watch more about it, click here (4:09-6:40). Gaudi's House Since taxi's being on strike again, that ruined our plans to go into the Olympic village from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, so we decided to take the metro to the La Pedrera (or Casa Milà), one of the homes that Gaudi designed. The metro ride took about 30 minutes and some losing of direction on the way to the home. Once there though, it was beautiful inside and interesting to see how they lived and what Gaudi could do with his architecture and design. We got to see many things, including the rooftop, the attic, the main apartment and housing area, and other smaller exhibits in the house. The ticket for entry came with a free audioguide, that would automatically change tour numbers and give you the tour at your own pace. The rooftop terrace was my favorite part, once again like yesterday. We got to see some amazing sights and views, even more than yesterday with being more in the center of the city. A close up zoom of another Guadi designed building, the Sagrada Famillia Pictures of the view from the Rooftop Terrace House Model - Front Side (I think lol) Chimneys on top of Casa Milà ______________________________________________________________ The City and the Pool Bar Once done with the house tour, we decided to find some outdoor seating and get some drinks nearby the metro station home. We found a restaurant, sat down, and got some drinks to hold us over until we got back to the hotel bar. Once done with that and getting back to our "home" on the right station, we went straight to the pool bar at the hotel. While we didn't swim, we did get a few drinks before it closed at 7pm. We then once again, went to the regular dinner spot of the Marina (need to venture out more!) to get that same Paella that we got last night, and boy was it good! This time, we only got two though and shared amongst the table. Once done with dinner, it was time for dessert... at least for my father. He got that same pie again and said it was much better today! I tried a bite, and it was indeed better than what it was yesterday. Then it was off for a bath to soak the body and some rest! CraftyCat05's Riveting Observations The Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is labeled at a DEA in Spain. You could see a GNV Cruises' La Suprema rolling into port at 2pm today. Didn't get pickpocketed today on the metro! My father's ticket did not work with the metro gates, so he had to jump it. Let's hope we don't get stopped when trying to leave the country! No chanting outside the room (yet) as of writing this sentence, maybe Friday's are the quiet nights! Only one beggar has approached us on this trip. That's better than some other cities! (Paris... eh hem) Looks like the pool bar has switched to paper straws today like RCL is doing by the end of this year. We are saving the environment! (as they say anyway...) See you guys mañana!
    6 points
  2. Gotta keep the blog PG here. Was funny though, while walking around on the day we went to the cathedral, we saw a guy in the nude taking a smoke on his balcony. You could see everything. Those crazy spaniards!
    5 points
  3. Day 13 - Vigo Today was our final port day and we were in the Spanish city of Vigo. We didn't have any plans other than to have a walk around. There is a fort that you can walk uo to so we headed up through the old town to reach it. Being a fort, it is located at the top of a steep hill. Luckily for us, there were escalators to take us up part of it - Gibraltar could learn something from Vigo! The climb was worth it though for stunning views across the Vigo estuary and the fort is set in pretty landscaped gardens. There is also a nice memorial, consisting of a series of old anchors, to the ships that were lost during a war on the 18th century. After visiting the fort we took a stroll through the town back to the port area. I was really sure what to expect from Vigo but it was a larger city than I thought it would be and had an interesting mix of old and new architecture. There was also plenty of shopping to be had if you're that way inclined. We were back onboard early- around 12pm - and went for a bite to eat inbthe WJ before heading to the Solarium to relax and cool off. We stayed there until sailaway which we watched from the cantilever hot tub. This was another scenic sailaway as we sailed out of the estuary with mountains on both sides. We then went to Studio B to watch the Ive Show 'Freeze Frame'. It was another great show although 4 out of the 8 performers fell with 3 of them falling twice. Luckily no one was hurt and they carried out to supportive cheers and applause from the crowd. There was a Queen tribute band on tonight called The Bohemians. We didn't fancy it as well as going to watch Freeze Frame. As we were having a pre-dinner drink in Vintages, the cruise director made an announcement apologising for having to cut the first performance short and cancelling the second performance as the lead singer's voice had gone partway through the show. He was extremely apologetic and announced that a film would be shown in the theatre instead of the second performance. We thought that this was completely reasonable as it's one of those situations that can't be avoided but the cruise director was so apologetic it made us wonder if people had complained about the first show being cut short. Dinner in the MDR followed and was our final formal night with lobster on the menu and the chefs parading through the dining room. Apparently we've broken the ship's record for the amount of pizza consumed with 27 thousand slices under our belts - I guess we know where the Brits stand on the Sorrento's debate! Finally we grabbed a drink from the Champagne Bar and watched the Britannia Rocks show on the Royal Promenade which was fun. Tomorrow is our last sea day as we sail back to Southampton.
    5 points
  4. Your pictures are great!!! Thank you so much for NOT including one of the above!
    4 points
  5. Lol! Me too! But I can do better than that! I have a bachelors degree in French ( from the ice age)as well as courses in Spanish. Two years ago I tried to ask directions in the Paris airport and the reservation agent looked at me like I was speaking a Martian language. She scowled and pointed me to a sign in English. I guess I lost my accent as well as vocabulary. From then on, I just spoke English although I could read most of a menu so I pointed. As far as Spanish goes, my daughter who had high school Spanish in Texas, spent a summer in Guatamala in a Spanish emersion class and they untaught her Tex-mex pronunciation and taught her Castillion Spanish. I guess there are as many types of Spanish as there of English!!
    3 points
  6. We just returned home on Monday night from the best Alaska cruise and land tour ever! We had great weather the entire time. I will do a review when I have a little more time.
    2 points
  7. There are 4 instead of the normal 3 ports, the 2 extra shows besides the normal 5 or six entertainment options, plus other activities or special tours to be announced. Plus the employees should be on their best behavior with the bosses onboard.
    2 points
  8. Thanks so much for blogging your trip! We're in the process of researching for our first European cruise in 2020, and I'll be taking notes and asking lots of questions, I'll apologize in advance for that! My high school Spanish teacher was from a town not too far from Barcelona, and she taught us about the different "Spanish" they spoke in Spain. She spoke Catalan, and admitted that it was strange when she came to teach in the US having to actually "learn" Spanish, as it was so different than what is actually spoken by everyone she knows. We learned a lot about the differences between Spanish and Catalan, and she often taught us both. Two years I took both French & Spanish, and my basic knowledge of Catalan helped my when I added French my junior & senior years. She made it very clear that if we ever actually visited Spain, what she was required to teach as 'Spanish" wasn't what we would speak in most of the country. LOL Fast forward to today, many, many, many years later, I basically speak NOTHING. Hoping it all comes back to me when we get to Europe.
    2 points
  9. We had a unique Hubbard Glacier experience in 2001. We were on the Radiance for inside passage and Hubbard Glacier and B2B 2 night to Victoria. Yes, we were in Skagway on 9/11. Very strange to be on the ship, far from home and basically no one could get off or on because no planes were flying. Anyway back to Hubbard, the captain seemed to shut down all the engines and we stayed there for a long time as we had “a moment of silence “ in the absolute quiet and solitude and majesty of the glacier. The only sound was glaciers calving. It was like being in the most holy cathedral on earth.
    2 points
  10. If someone can convince @Matt GC 2020 Halloween I'd consider letting my kids skip school too ?
    2 points
  11. Toss up - Amber Cove by Carnival in the DR or NCL's Harvest Caye in Belize. In the case of Amber Cove in 2015 it's a new country that wasn't accessible by modern medium sized ships (Carnival doesn't have larger or mega ships). However it's a private port, for Carnival Corp. branded ships. In the case of Harvest Caye in 2017 it's almost a private destination like Cococay or Labadee but close enough to Belize to run excursion from. A lot of unhappy cruises step off at Harvest Caye thinking they have access to Belize only to learn very little is included such as food, beverage or activities and you can't get there from here. II's not promoted as a private destination like NCL's Great Stirrup Cay (right beside CocoCay), instead it's labeled as Belize on itineraries. It almost serves as a pier to operate excursion to Belize but you can't access Belize without an excursion so it leaves a lot of unhappy cruisers feeling like they been dumped on an isolated money trap island. Go back on the ship or spend money. No self-exploring Belize. Both are notably different than what is proposed here. In this case a 3rd party is building the port so many different cruise lines can use it, like most islands. For both Amber Cove and Harvest Caye you will likely only see the Carnival Corp. or NCL holdings branded ships using those private ports.
    2 points
  12. LadyB

    Santorini

    Any suggestions for Santorini?
    1 point
  13. Hello all. My wife and I will be doing out first transatlantic this October on the Independence. since we have so many sea days and we love eating in the specialty restaurants and love Shushi we planning on doing the dinning plan. Now our plan would be to use the specialty restaurants frequently and not eat in the main dining room. What advice would you give in regards to Tipping. We have always giving more then the recommended amount providing additional $$$ to individuals that have served us. They always do a great job. But now we will be eating at the specialty restaurants MOSTLY so do we cancel the waiter portion of the auto tip added to the cabin account and give that amount (in addition to the extra) to the individual waiters when we eat? Do the waiters in the specialty restaurants share in the auto tip amount? Hope this makes sense? Thanks for everyones input!!! Rich
    1 point
  14. Probably at the Golden Corral or Out Back Steak House. He's a growing boy, you know.
    1 point
  15. Day Four in Barcelona Woo, it's getting hard to count these days in Barcelona. Luckily, I won't be needing to do that anymore, cruise day tomorrow! Breakfast After yet another morning of sleeping in and taking awhile to get moving, we went to none other than... Bites, same cafe we've gone to all of the other mornings. We have become regulars! Got the same dishes as we got the first day at Bites, 2 Omelettes, and Eggs Benedict (runny, not hard). We then talked to the concierge about what to do today. The plan was to go inside Sagrada Familla, but the tickets were sold out by the morning. We ultimately decided on the plan we did today. The Plan™ So... What was The Plan™? It was to: Take the bus and tour the outside of the Sagrada Familla. Then take a rickshaw bike to Casa Batllo, the other main Gaudi house in Barcelona. Then find a way home after taking the audioguided tour. The Plan™, in Action! Ok, so with The Plan™ in action, we got a one way ticket from the bus driver on the V21 towards Montbau, which had a convenient stop right by Sagrada Familla. Once in view, it certainly was magnificent. All of the intricate details really did pop once up close to the church. You could see the nativity scenes, and many other things, but I will let all the pictures do the talking. The exterior of Sagrada Familla. You may note all of the cranes in the picture, Sagrada Familla is still under construction and is expected to be completed in 2027. ______________________________________________________________ It really is beautiful, and all of us were just in awe while viewing everything Gaudi had designed for the outside of this space. In comparison of what it looks now to what it was at 1882, here is a picture of the first stone being laid for the Sagrada Familla: The first stone being laid at the Sagrada Familla (Courtesy of this Facebook post) ___________________________________________________________ If you do plan to visit Sagrada Familla while in Barcelona (and you definitely should!), get tickets early and from the official website (sagradafamilla.org/en). Other websites are sketchy and you definitely shouldn't book it, especially in a foreign country. Biking and Casa Batllo Once ready to head over to Casa Batllo, we decided to find a bike with seats to take us to our next location of interest. We found a nice Scottish guy who has his own bike touring company to take us a taxi over to Casa Batllo. After a pleasant conversation about Barcelona, taxi strikes, and business, the ride totaled out to be €40 after a tip for the great ride. After skipping the line for tickets (thanks internet!), we entered the magnificent (use this word a lot, because everything in Barcelona is magnificent!) and very colorful home. There really is a stark difference between Casa Batllo and the other home we saw yesterday. There were no sharp edges or lines in the home, making the home all the more unique. This home had a lot more to see, and even had an Augmented Reality component to the audio guide. This allowed you to see what the house would have looked like with the furnishings and people milling about. I feel this house had more to do and see, and would definitely recommend this one if you had to only see one of the Gaudi houses. But if you have the time, do both! Various artifacts and objects at Casa Batllo ____________________________________________________ Dinner So, today was my mother's birthday (shout out to my mother for having a birthday today!), and we decided to celebrate by having.... Another dinner at the Marina! We were planning on going to Enoteca by Paco Perez tonight, but after we saw the menu we decided to go elsewhere as it didn't have anything we would have liked (or been able to eat, pesky allergies). But, as a request from the birthday girl herself, we just went back to the Marina for some burgers and some flatbread pizza. The pizza was great! Only problem was that I didn't order it! I got the burger, which was ok, but very overcooked. The pizza though was great from the bite that I had, and I really wished then that we had just split two of those amongst all of us. Oh well... Luckily all is not lost, as for the real birthday dinner we will have Chops Grille! Glad we had booked that, especially after my unimpressive burger and I need some good steak! (Didn't take any pictures, just imagine the best flatbread pizza you have ever seen, and then two hockey pucks with cheese and some ketchup. That was our meal!) CraftyCat05's Engrossing Observations. Miscellaneous Words, and Recommendations We had yet another peep show today! At Casa Batllo, there was this woman who had a very loose fitting dress, and could see part of her cleavage! Those crazy Spaniards! Was much quieter outside last night. Fridays and the weekends must not have as much partying. The rickshaw biking tours here in Barcelona are a very fun and enjoyable. Would recommend. While the metro trains are not air conditioned, the busses are. Would recommend the busses over the metro. The second Gaudi house had a much more extensive gift shop, again why I would recommend it! The audioguides are very well worth it to use at the two Gaudi houses, would recommend and pretty sure they are free to use! DM any idea's for beginning words at the start of these blogs or ideas for CraftyCat05's *Blank* Observations. Would be cool to see what you guys can come up with! Glad you are enjoying this! Really is fun and a pleasure to write. Expect many Periscopes tomorrow, while most of you probably can't watch it live (those pesky timezones!), you can always watch a replay! See you tomorrow, on the ship!
    1 point
  16. Definitely ain't heading off to bed yet, still gotta finish writing todays post! Coming in hot shortly.
    1 point
  17. Loving your photos, @CraftyCat05! I know you are heading to bed soon, but I hope you and your parents have a very happy embarkation day tomorrow!
    1 point
  18. I just got a model of the Navigator of the Seas as a gift from relatives who were on that ship recently. I also get them every cruise and have models of Enchantment, Explorer, Serenade, Oasis, Allure, Anthem, Harmony and Symphony. If only I could get ones from the Jewel and Independence. Who else likes to get them and collect them?
    1 point
  19. Well, you are on a cruise tomorrow... The Symphony model looks fantastic BTW.
    1 point
  20. Howard

    Lisbon

    Just stepped on board Navigator and stop at Lisbon is a couple of days. We don’t fancy doing an organised excursion but would rather go for a quick stroll into the city for an hour or so. We have an 8 year old & a 13 year old with us so with that in mind - what I’d the one thing you would recommend we do/visit/see in Lisbon? Many thanks......
    1 point
  21. Safe journey home. We are T -8 days for our 6 day cruise and starting to feel very excited.
    1 point
  22. @hayley_bopp, what a great blog, along with the pictures and scopes! Loved following your trip. Safe travels home.
    1 point
  23. Excellent news. Enjoy!!
    1 point
  24. Sounds like a possible new port in the DR. per the article, several cruise lines have shown interest ; RCCL, NCL, MSC and Virgin. Article states, once complete, will be able to handle the "largest cruise ships in the world". Hey i love the Caribbean so i'm all for a potential new port! http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/costa-maya-s-parent-to-develop-new-puerto-plata-cruise-port.html @Matt if this violates any policy of the site, please feel free to remove this.
    1 point
  25. We saw All of Denali for 3 straight days. Our tour guide said we got a special treat there. The weather was perfect.
    1 point
  26. Great blog! Loving this while in Barcelona.
    1 point
  27. Pooch

    Leaving the kids!

    Just remember for all of you leaving kidlets with Grandma & Grandpa, maybe a little reciprocal vaca as a thanks?!?! I love my grandkids more than anything in the world but having them for days at a time is a lot of work. I would NEVER say no but just because I say yes doesnt mean it isnt a lot to take on whilst you reconnect! Of course maybe its my grandkids, crazy monkeys all of them!!!
    1 point
  28. twangster

    Canada/New England

    Using this logic, try the lobster in Canada, eh?
    1 point
  29. I have Quantum booked in November 2019 sailing from Singapore. Looking at my paperwork it says: Your deposit has been posted to your reservation..Final Payment is due by 11 SEP 2019, 5:00 PM EST My booking is refundable, but I'm in the US. Perhaps different rules for bookings made in your home country? If booked direct, call the Crown and Anchor team who can also do bookings and/or review them. Ask them when final payment is due.
    1 point
  30. Update Realized I never updated you guys. I was able to rebook everything and get here in Barcelona on time. I had to go though Heathrow instead of Miami, but all was well. Took an American 777-300ER to London, then a British Airways codeshare to Barcelona. Now enjoying the sights and soon the be cruise! Glad everything worked out.
    1 point
  31. CGTLH

    Canada/New England

    The area where the tenders drop off/pick up is just a quick walk away from the shopping area. Shouldn't be an issue if the tour ends with plenty of time to spare. This is the spot where the tenders operate from: https://goo.gl/maps/g8dnFrZKiMU2
    1 point
  32. JLMoran

    Luggage Tags

    I got my e-docs with the luggage tags 45 days out. Email sent to me a with a link to the PDF.
    1 point
  33. JLMoran

    Leaving the kids!

    My wife and I will be taking our first cruise without the kids in October, and first vacation of any sort without them in about 15 years. And since they'll be 18 and almost 15, we're leaving them in charge of the house while we're gone! ? They're both very responsible and we know they won't burn the house down or throw any wild parties. And the grandparents are only 15 minutes away, so if something truly bad happens they'll be able to help out. But it'll still be a little nerve-wracking when the ship is sailing away; I'll be rapidly downing a couple of margaritas that day, for sure!
    1 point
  34. I hope they ended up with very loud neighbors...
    1 point
  35. rjac

    Halloween cruise

    You know you WILL have to post some Halloween photos of you and your wife.....or else Matt will banish you from this forum to the CC forum!
    1 point
  36. monctonguy

    Midnight Buffet

    You're going to find that ALOT has changed since you cruised last!!! A lot les pampering, a lot less included in the cruise experience and ALOT of extras to pay for if you want to enjoy them...... Not saying you wont enjoy it...but a lot has changed with the cruise industry in 15 years for sure. My first cruise was less than 10 years ago and a lot has changed even in that short time.
    1 point
  37. I'd love to see options in Colorado but sadly will have to wait for a major rise of ocean levels before a cruise ship will be home porting anywhere near me.
    1 point
  38. Paml514

    Midnight Buffet

    Thanks all. It was less about needing food, and more about another element that made cruising (ice sculptures, crazy desserts) a special experience. Was hoping to share it with my kids so glad I didn't "talk it up" to them.
    1 point
  39. Ha! My wife can attest that I'm not that cool.
    1 point
  40. Yup, you are definitely physically fit. Unlike me; I'm just physically pffft!
    1 point
  41. I try not to have overbearing rules about who you can and cannot link to. If the info is relevant, link to it!
    1 point
  42. Cool. With all the new ships being built by many cruise lines, more ports is a good thing.
    1 point
  43. Day 9 - Toulon Back to the south of France today for a visit to Toulon. As it is a Sunday, we were told that there wouldn't be much going on in port and lots of people seemed to stay on board because of this. This is a large naval port for the French and there were several naval ships in that my husband, who used to be in the Royal Navy, found interesting so we decided to get off and have a look around. The ship actually docks across the bay from Toulon in a little town called La Seyne-sur-Mer. From here, it's about a 20min taxi or water taxi ride into Toulon. There was the option of getting a local water taxi for €3.90pp each way or RC were offering a direct water shuttle from the ship for $18pp return. Although this was double the price ofthe local option, it was far more convenient as the local option was 15-20min walk from the ship and as we didn't have much time in port, we went with the RC option. The water taxi took us right past all the naval ships and dropped us off in rhe middle of Toulon's marina where there were several waterfront bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. There was a tourist landtrain there which cost €7pp but we decided to just have a wander around. We soon came across a bustling vegetable markets with more varieties of tomatoes (amongst othe things) than I ever knew existed. I bought some different herb combinations ready to pep up my post-cruise diet of grilled chicken and fish! I also tried the local street food dish made of chickpea flour and olive oil. Unsurprisingly, it tasted mainly of chickpeas. We carried on exploring the town and taking in the beautiful architecture f9r a little while before heading back to the marina for a drink before getting the water taxi back. The afternoon ws spent just relaxing before dinner in the MDR. This evening's show was a hypnotist which we went to see as we're interested in the psychology of it. I was quite surprised that the theatre was absolutely packed and there were quitea few people in the later show who'd already seen the earlier show. After that it was time for bed ready for Barcelona tomorrow.
    1 point
  44. With 300+ days you are likely better to wait for a sale, US Thanksgiving comes to mind.
    1 point
  45. I'm going to be on the Symphony in May 2019. They are advertising 10% off the refreshment package so I thought I would order it. I've tried three different times. I go through their whole painful process and when I hit enter, the purchase stops and it gives me some crap about my credit card (which works fine, just ask my wife). Makes me kind of wonder what's going on? I haven't called because we're still over 300 days from the cruise and I can get the package on the ship if I have to.
    1 point
  46. It never hurts to consider other options. My only NCL experience is so long ago it's not relevant any longer. When I've looked at NCL in the past, before becoming Loyal2Royal, my research led me to a couple of conclusions. By and large the experience is more similar than not. The devil is in the details. Free at sea isn't really free, it's bundled into the cost. Any time I narrowed it down to a specific ship and sailing then compared costs the age old proven rule came to light - nothing in life is free. That's for me and my purchasing habits. I'm sure for some people the bundles work out for them. Once in a while you can find a deal that is an outlier. It seems people point to these like they are rule but any time I priced out an exact sail date it was never one of those outliers. Mini-suites in my research led me to conclude it's just a slightly bigger balcony cabin. Not really a suite and shouldn't be compared to a JS on Royal. When looking at NCL there are great variations from ship to ship. You really need to focus on one ship and reviews for that ship. While Royal's fleet has evolved and you can clearly see that evolution from class to class, NCL ships are more random. In some cases they acquired a ship when another company went broke mid-construction so they started with someone else's design and adapted it to NCL on the fly. They've also experimented more in design so it isn't an evolution so much as "... and now for something completely different" . There is nothing wrong with that, but those experiments haven't always worked out so well. Turns out there is a reason no other cruise line tried some of them. NCL internet packages don't work for me. There are many people who love to completely disconnect when cruising. For those people the internet plans on any line are irrelevant. I could never work from an NCL ship like I can on Royal. Like the ship design, internet across the NCL fleet is wildly different from one ship to the next. The newer ships have decent internet but the older ships have really bad internet. 250 free minutes of really bad internet is just really bad. They've simply made no attempt to modernize internet across the fleet like Royal did in 2013. As far as loyalty programs, for my needs Royal is still tops but that is what I look for in a loyalty program. I've sailed five lines. I suppose had I never tried any other line I'd be further ahead compared to where I am now but I am where I am. In the end it hasn't stunted my advancement in C&A that much. Competition is a good thing. It keep Royal in check. Please sail other lines. Every time someone doesn't book Royal it lowers demand and causes Royal to lower prices (or keep them from increasing). That's a good thing and I thank you for taking one for the team. A cruise is what you make it. If someone gave me a free cruise on NCL's worst ship I'd still have a great time and not because it was free, rather because I don't do bad cruises.
    1 point
  47. I believe we booked about 6 months out, and yes we are going in less than two weeks
    1 point
  48. We have a 9, and 11 year old. Girls. This past December was the first time we let them go around on their own on a ship. And it was baby steps...like allowing them to head to the buffet and we meet them there, going back to the stateroom while we finish dinner etc. I was hesitant but they wanted to try. I have a good friend who has a 10 and 13 year old and they have been cruising for years and she has let her girls go around for at least 3 years now. Her theory was how far can they go on a ship? I am a big believer that you have to supervise your kids but also read their comfort level. And then if you do let them go, go over safety rules with them first as you would in any public setting. Hope that helps. And welcome to the boards.
    1 point
  49. twangster

    VPN

    OpenVPN is not tolerant of high latency. At least not some version. OpenVPN on BSD using UDP for example doesn't work well over satellite. SSL VPN and IPSEC VPN work fine on Voom, even the geosync satellites with 600+ms latency. I routinely use Cisco AnyConnect (SSL or IPSEC) and Tunnelblick on OSX on Voom using TCP and have no issues. Both to corporate and to my home ASA firewall. I've also used Juniper's VPN client without issue. I too have set up many VPN servers and/or firewalls in my lifetime and the only ones that don't work well on Voom are OpenVPN based and/or UDP based. I also make numerous wifi calls over Voom. Sometimes multiple hours long sitting on boring conference calls. So I'm not sure who that facebook page belongs to but they have a very different experience from mine. Even the MagicJack app worked on Oasis. I will say though that the only Carnival ship of 10 I've sailed where I could get even SSL VPN to work was the Breeze. The rest? No way.
    1 point
  50. clmsnskr

    VPN

    I was able to VPN to my corporate network from onboard with no issues at all when I was on Oasis back in March 2017. We use Cisco IPSec VPN
    1 point
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