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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/08/2018 in all areas

  1. I came across this cruise by accident and saw a decent fare for 13 nights on a recently refreshed ship so I had a YOLO moment and booked it. This is a repositioning cruise, part of Adventure's migration from Bayonne, NJ (her summer home port) to Ft. Lauderdale (her winter home port). Day 1 - Quebec City Day 2 - Quebec City Day 3 - Sea Day 4 - Charlottetown, PEI Day 5 - Sydney, Nova Scotia Day 6 - Halifax, Nova Scotia Day 7 - Saint John, New Brunswick Day 8 - Bar Harbor, Maine Day 9 - Portland, Maine Day 10 - Boston, MA Day 11 - Sea Day 12 - Sea Day 13 - Canaveral, FL Day 14 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL I had a hard time finding decently price flights with decent times directly into Quebec City so I looked at Montreal and found a much cheaper flight. Adding a car rental and it was still cheaper plus I could fly first class less than coach to Quebec City so I jumped at it. No excursions booked, just going to wing it and work some days. This cruise starts with an overnight in place at Quebec City. That is actually a really great way to start because Quebec City is a wonderful old city with great history. While you could fly in days earlier you would have hotel and meals to cover so this way the ship is my hotel and meals are included. Cruising solo the fact I'll get 26 points in the C&A loyalty program wasn't lost on me. For some folks that takes 3 or 4 cruises to achieve. That also propels me to the point I'll get a glass block on Symphony on my next cruise. YOLO!
    9 points
  2. WAAAYTOOO

    Live From Lady G

    Day 3 Pulling into Kings Wharf right now. Finally no rocking and rolling ! Much appreciated relief. Momentary flashback to yesterday and last night. Lunch at Izumi. Delightful. Much busier than I expected but service and food were still great. Dinner at Chops was ok. Our steak on embark day was much better. Service was S.L.O.W. We actually got up and left before they even offered dessert which means we missed our red velvet cake (sorry, Sweety) dessert. We never got a receipt to sign or anything. I guess they know where we “live” if they need to talk to us ! Tonite is Giovanni’s. Back to the present. Coolish in Bermuda. We have no plans to get off the ship so likely we will just saunter down this evening and ride the shuttle train around the circuit. It’s one of my fave things to do here. One of the items that was lost in my recent luggage debacle on Liberty was a beautiful hand woven wrap that I bought in one of the craft shops here at Kings Wharf a number of years ago (it was my favorite wrap to wear at nights in the casino where it’s always arctic temps) so maybe I will see about replacing it. <Still pissed off that somebody took our bag in Galveston> To my great surprise Izumi is open today for lunch and is eligible for the dining package. I never even looked in the Compass b/c I figured today would not count as a sea day (arriving in port around lunchtime) but the lovely lady who has been at Izumi on Grandeur for as long as I can remember was walking through the WJ this morning hocking the sushi-making class and asked if we were coming to Izumi for lunch today. Dan’s sleepy eyes came to full attention immediately and a recognizable look of pure joy spread across his face instantly. Guess we’re Going to Izumi for lunch AGAIN today ! As a matter of fact, he has asked me twice, while I was doing this post, when we were likely to be ready to go. He’s so easy to please ! Just shove some eel, salmon or tuna nigiri in his face and he will agree to anything. ?? So why were we in the WJ for b’fast this morning instead of the D area of the MDR, you may ask ? B/c of the stealthy time change last night, I would answer. We got up at what we thought was 8:30 AM just to realize later that it was actually 9:30 AM and the MDR was already closed. PLUS, this morning at 10:15 AM was the Diamond event (referred to by us as the “cattle call”) and for reason not fully understood, Dan loves going to those things. I hate them but I went. At any rate, there was not enough time to eat a sit-down b’fast AND get to the D event by 10:15 thus, the WJ it was. Lovely b’fast, BTW. We missed Yogi and BooBoo and I’m sure we’ll hear about it from them tomorrow morning. They so absolutely adorable. You canNOT tell them apart. Dan has started making impatient movements towards the door so I think I’d better cut this off. Another best day on Lady G. Happy Columbus Day, everyone.
    7 points
  3. I wanted to let everyone know how accommodating the Concierge was on Liberty this July. As soon as I got back from the cruise I have been swamped at work and have not really had time to read our or post since the cruise. My Wife and 11yo Grandson were on Liberty July 22-29, cruising with our GS changed how we approached our cruise but all in all didn't change what we did much except we didn't go tot he casino. The Concierge on Liberty right now is Anis Tebbeb, I believe he was from Tunisia, he answered all of our questions, was very accommodating with my Grandson when we were in the lounge and basically did anything we asked, (We are not really needy people), one day my wife made an off the cuff remark about how they should keep a few towels in the lounge (There is a small sun deck off the lounge that my wife liked so we spent a lot of time there, it was close the sports court, rock climbing wall and water slides, so my grandson could go do something and come right back.), she was on her way down to grab a couple of towels when he told her he would go do it for her. To me, small things like this make a great cruise. Anyway, the big shout out to Anis came after we left the ship, our normal disembarkation morning was thrown off a little bit by trying to get an 11 yo out of bed and on our way, so we were a little off schedule, we, me especially, are a little OCD (lol) and I always check the room over 2-3 times to make sure we don't leave anything, so again getting the 11 yo out I only did a quick scan and then we were on our way. If you are familiar with Galveston, after you get your car it's not that far and you are on I45 North, we were on the highway when my wife realizes that she has left 2 very expensive pairs of sunglasses in the closet by the safe. I knew there was no way they were going to let us back on the ship, so I had my grandson get my briefcase where I had Anis business card and his email address. My wife emailed Anis, explained what had happened and we hoped for the best. Before we drove home (It's an 8 hour drive) my wife had responses back the Anis, saying they had found the glasses and they would get them to us. We found out through emails that Royal uses a company called Chargerback to handle lost and found, so they contacted us and we had to provide them a credit card to pay for the shipping and we were done. The longest wait was we had to wait on the ship to return to port in Galveston, so 7 days, then the sunglasses were shipped back to us. Anis could have just moved on and said we were past guest and moved to the new guest that were showing, but instead he took the time to provide excellent customer service.
    3 points
  4. WAAAYTOOO

    Live From Lady G

    Day 2 Got up early (for us) and went to the Diamond side of MDR b’fast on deck 4. Normally they have the doors open so that it’s obvious that this side of the dining room is open but today the doors were closed. Being the cruise entitled folks that we are, we just busted through those closed doors and went in. If we had not just been on Lady G 2 months ago and known that the port side of the MDR was the Diamond side, we would never have tried to do that, but combined with our historical knowledge and the fact that we saw plenty of people already seated, we just “went for it”. The host did check our Seapass cards to be sure we were legit but then seated us immediately. We were thrilled to find that our favorite servers, Yogi and his twin brother, BooBoo were still there. They recognized us right away and Yogi even served our table even though it wasn’t supposed to be his table. Delightful b’fast. Dan had a Bloody Mary and I had a mimosa. Getting an early start on the DDP. Today’s special was onion and bacon quiche. Really yummy. Left a nice cash tip as we always do. After b’fast, went up to the Concierge Lounge to grab a cappuccino and say “good morning “ to Francis. As we left we noticed a sign in the Crown Viking Lounge stating that there is going to be a Private Event there later. What ? I can’t find my invite ! Humph ! We are going to have to change our lunch plans as Giovanni’s is not open today for lunch. Only Chops and Izumi, so we will either have to have B2B Izumi or B2B Chops or change our dinner rezzies tonite to Giovanni’s vs Chops. Oh, the unbearable pressure ! The seas were very swellish last night (and remain so today). Our room creaked all night. Luckily Dan and I both love these kinds of seas so we slept like babies being rocked by our mamas ! Some haven’t enjoyed the motion quite so much though. Dan is going for some sun and sauna action, neither of which appeal to me in the slightest, so I will either hang out in the room for a while or just head over to the casino. Can you guess which one is most likely ? ?? The suspense ends ! Heading to the casino ! Who didn’t win that bet ?
    3 points
  5. WAAAYTOOO

    Live From Lady G

    I am not going to promise lengthy entries but I will try and provide some daily observations. 5 night Bermuda cruise. Deluxe drink packages for both of us and also Ultimate Dining Packages. We were able to have lunch at Chops on embark day using our UDP. While there, (BTW we were the only ones in the restaurant until just minutes before we left when 1 other couple came in. It was a wonderful “private” lunch) the maiter’d made all of the specialty dining reservations for us for the rest of the cruise. Very nice. Good news for Sweety - they still have red velvet cake at Chops on Lady G ! Yippee. Dan and I shared a slice. More than that would have been decadence and an obvious exercise of “cruise privilege”. I’ve already reported the delay in leaving port (5 PM vs 4 PM) due to Fleet Week activities. Cruise Director is Bob Leininger. I don’t know yet who the AM is. Will report if/when I find out Capt is Thordur Thorsson. We’ve sailed with him many time. Very good Capt HD is Adriana Tibaudo. Don’t recall her name so no opinion yet Diamond Concierge is Carlington Berry. We’ve had him as our Concierge before. Suites/D+ Concierge is Francis Calimag. While the casino is officially closed tonite (til we get out of Chesapeake Bay) there are “free” slot and BJ tournaments at 8 PM tonite First time I’ve seen this. I guess they will just be for “fun”. The casino hostess (Joyce Ndubane) was the asst casino hostess on our Liberty cruise last month. Near the end of that cruise, she left Liberty and we knew she was coming to Grandeur so it will be nice to see her again so soon. Dan’s suitcase has not yet been delivered. He is already gun shy since Liberty lost our luggage last month (never been recovered, either) so he’s a little “concerned “. Actually , he’s napping at the moment so I guess he’s not THAT worried. The planes have quit zooming overhead so I guess his interest has waned. More later if anything of interest pops up.
    2 points
  6. Day 7-8 - Sea day and Back to Barcelona . I must Admit I am too lazy with finishing this blog this time , I guess a combination of work, Blog fatigue ( @Matt every "live blog" I am adding I am admiring you more and more , where do you find the strength to update the blog every day ?!), But I can not leave it open like that , so here is the last days on the Symphony. We started the only sea day we had with some coffee over the balcony before heading to the WJ (the only thing that was still open) for a breakfast. I went outside to look what is going on around the pool to learn there is no lack of empty chairs which is nice (and yes it was sunny most of the times). I guess the ship is just big enough to handle pool chairs issue , the upper deck was even emptier. we walked around the ship to see if we want to participate in any activities (and to make sure we are doing enough steps even when its a sea day) we went to check the solarium pool , which reminds me to bring the picture of the sky bridge (you can access it only from the solarium later we decided to split , I went to rest and my spouse went to catch some sun (our balcony was not on the right side for it). we regrouped later and went to eat lunch at the boardwalk hot dog stand , I liked it. across , we found a chocolate fountain which you can deep in fruits or marshmallows, tasty but very messy (at least it gave my spouse opportunity to lough at me seeing my face ? ). Post lunch I went to visit the Casino while trying to be very careful not to harm too much what I gain, it was OK , went to ask the Casino host when they are handing the certificate he told me not to worry and it will be handled later on, it was strange as most of the times they already handle it on the six night of the cruise but I did not argue although when ever someone tells not to worry its a good sign for me to start and worry (mainly at work) . We both went to see the sexiest man competition, it was fun , mainly for my spouse . As we missed our reservations for SKY show (due to dinner in the CK) I went to the reservation desk to reserve it again , no issues we got our reservation for 5 PM. We went to the theater around 4:40 PM and got a seat at the second row in the middle (first row was reserve for start class customers) and order some frozen PC to get into the mode. The show started on time and was very impressive although I am sure they will work to make it even better. Dinner was at the WJ , it was nice to see they finally brought out the decorations Post lunch we went down to the Casino to use the points we collect so we will not loose them , asked again the Casino host about the certificate and I have been told "not to worry" , you can guess, I never got them (although I had enough points) , later I had to call the RC number to get the certificate number but yet did not got the list of cruises that we can use it.Next we catch the I skate 2.0 show, it was fun to watch although we had to stand most of the show.As a lesson learned from previous cruises we decided to go to sleep early , it makes the disembarkation day more bearable. We woke up to see Barcelona sunrise , At 8:15 am after two bagels from park cafe (we hate WJ on embarkation day), we went out of the room directly to the gangway , it took us overall 10 minutes until we were on the taxi to the hotel (including collecting our luggage) comparing to last time it was very fast as usually there is a 15-30 minutes waiting line for a taxi. 15 minutes (and 15 Euros) later we already checked into our hotel (our flight was only on the next day) , lucky for us , they had the room ready, it was the Holiday inn express hotel , it had exactly what you expect from such hotel and enough for a post cruise. we slept a while went out to walk in a very nice avenue which was full with local restaurants. We stopped in one of the restaurants for a branch with beer, it was very tasty. we continue few minutes more until we got the coastline, from that point we walked for 45 minutes more near the sea just to get to the Barcelona Aquarium and to the only mall which is open on Sundays. few hours later we return back to the hotel just to catch dinner , we went again to Tapa Tapa (which I started to call it the MacDonald of the tapas bars ? ). Our flight back was at 9 am ,we left the hotel around 6:45 , we had a 9 hours connection at Vienna so we bought a combine tickets for the airport train and the subway and did our way to Vienna center (17 minutes). Vienna center (or the old Vienna) is beautiful and many interesting building are very close by . We spent few hours at the center (including lunch, Vienna schnitzels ) and took the subway to visit the Schönbrunn palace (Which I bought tickets online once we landed), they are not allowing to take pictures inside the place so I have excuse for not sharing any. The visit took around 1.5 hours as we took the limited tour , you can spend there easily half a day (the gardens are very big). Once we finished the tour we took the subway back to the train station, we had some extra time before the airport train departure so we went to the supermarket which is located inside the train station to buy some Austrian chocolates. At the airport we spent and hour in the star alliance lounge and we finally took our flight home. Some General observations: 1. Symphony - a wonderful ship , always something happens, 22/7 activities (although during the night time less) , it was never crowded (beside the WJ but even than it was not too bad). can wait to board it again. 2. MDR - food was as always, with some ups and downs , service was very prompt , we had the MTD and got the same table during the two times we were eating there. 3.WJ - comparing to last time I felt the food quality and verity were less but still we found some good options for a quick meal. 3. Coastal Kitchen - Very good , we were eating there 3 times , service is excellent and the food was very good , we had no issue to enter (although we were at a JS) or to reserve for next visit (first reservation I just call them from the room the rest we done with the host). The host was very very friendly. 4. Cabin - we were at a JS deck 9 , it was excellent , so much room to put everything and really enjoyable - downside the room is so comfortable that you want to stay in. 5. Entertainment - Hiro , SKY , Ice skating shows all were wonderful , live music was good and the different events were fun , the house singers could be better. 6. CD/AD - We had BB as the cruise director and some temp AD from Brazil , the chemistry between them was not the best but maybe because the AD came for a short time. Bobby Brown was Bobby Brown , it was not a disaster or something I can not enjoy because he was organizing it but I saw better. For us it did not took anything out from our experience. 7. Casino - Machines were OK like last time , I will say until now Symphony treat us well (both of the times we were cruising), Table games had the endless shuffle shoe which I do not like so did not play too much , when I played it was not that good. Casino host - he was doing some Knowledge transfer during this cruise and I got the feeling that he really needs a vacation, but again its a big ship. 8. Pools and slides - Always we could find were to seat , the lines to the slide were not that horrible. 9. General service - Everyone were very nice and did allot of effort to help. 10. Passengers - The captain did not gave the exact numbers of each country , just that we have passengers from 90 different countries . I think we had many from UK, US, Spain and allot from Israel as it was a vacation week at Israel and I guess many took advantage of it. The captain even force the only Hebrew spoken officer (and apparently the only Israeli crew member on the ship) to say some words in the captain reception, that was the first time I ever saw the security officer being presented. 11. RC application - It was working most of the times , we did the online check in via the application that worked perfectly (expedite boarding) and we could see the updated cruise activities , still the folio was never updated and from time to time I had to restart the application.Hope the will fix it soon. 12. Embarkation/Disembarkation - both very quick around 10 minutes - good job RC. 13. Drinks - we did not took the drink package as it is a very port intensive cruise , we bought some drinks, used the two bottles of wine we brought with us (dinner time) and use the Casino prime privilege that I had , I took almost every evening two drinks (one for each) no issues at all (I just had to show the card) and usually left 5 to 7 $ tip each time. All in all I think we spent around 120$ over drinks. Until the next time, thanks for following and for all the comments.
    2 points
  7. We had a similar experience to you @tiny260 in the YC on the Seaside in July. Same week as you actually. When leaving, I regretfully left behind a pair of Tory Burch shoes (the women here know how heartbreaking that is) in the closet. They were almost brand new. I realized it when I was unpacking that night at home. Anyway, MSC also uses the same system except my story doesn't have a happy ending. We filed all the necessary things, contacted our butler, room attendant, and waiter (because we too had their cards) and nothing. No response from anyone. Still loyal to Royal....
    2 points
  8. I just got home from a wonderful cruise of 5 days western on the Brilliance it was a solo and I had cabin 4587 a solo cabin which I was a little apprehensive when I booked but truthfully it was all a single cruiser needs. everything was in the perfect place it didn't bother me that there was no light or window to see out never gave it a second thought . The 2 1/2 hour drive was a pleasure and that's hard to say after all it is I-4 .Smooth sailing till the fiasco of road work in O town arriving in Tampa was another story after the sign on I-4 telling you to get off here you are on your own through Ybor city you can see the ships but have a hard time getting to them after 5 turn arounds a police officer sitting on the side of the road began to remind me of an owl on a fence I swear he was laughing at me I spotted one of the private lots directly across from the ship maybe 2 blocks I had spoken to my TA about them and she said go for it after all they were 30.00 cheaper then at the ship and I was getting tired of being law enforcements enertainment I could almost hear benny hills music playing as I went past them.this lot is a family owned business the greeter said park there pointing to a great spot in the front he said lock it and keep your keys without warning he scooped up my luggage and put it in his very modern van and away we went 2 mins later I was tipping the porter and in less then 3 mins I was walking the plank onto the ship room key in hand and it wasn't 1045 yet I tried to get to 11 to the windjammer but the hoardes of hungry Vikings frightened me so I went to the park café and a couple fresh kemmelwerks yea no crowd the café is hidden and not easily spotted by the nubes I have not sailed this class before but I have a new love the schooner is huge I have never seen one this big great service fine piano the only minus is the casino smoke dominates everything it amazes me that these magnificent ships can be completely refurbed every 5 years new rooms put on new restaurants put in but they cant figure a way to vent the casino to the outside instead of the smell throughout the whole ship the crew on this ship are one of a kind I have been on a lot of royal cruises and never felt so genuinely welcome and appreciated I did not attend any shows frankly there not my thing I watched the movies nightly poolside and absolutely enjoyed the football games sunday and Thursday this is more my speed and by the second night the kiddee mobs were in full swing and even that didn't bother me this cruise was spot on in every way except the food in windjammer breakfast was outstanding eating on the outside dining area was a treat watching a new day begin then there was lunch pan after pan of slop pork chops so dry they were inedible same old mashed potatoes watery gravy two tables full of cheese and fruit which was very fresh the chicken wings yuck skin soft and slimey BUT something new was added really good hand formed burgers cooked to perfection on fresh baked buns with every topping imaginable what an improvement and it was available lunch and dinner the entire cruise in a section called American now for the other big plus Brilliance has no sorrentos so I went to the park café once again pizza was created there and very well NOT one bit like the soggy crust under done saints awful cheese all new cheese sauce toppings and a great crispy crust is it new York or new jersey I think not but it is a pleasure to eat and worth waiting in line for I also noticed they no longer cook it on the pizza pans and sits there till they serve it which was why the crust was always soggy they now have racks in the serving area and the moment it comes out of the kitchen it goes right to the cooling rack obviously royal has people reading these blogs they are are improving and in a big way no longer the p poor school lunch room of old and I sent corporate a thank-you for the improvements the fish they pile into those pans are seldom edible fish can not sit it dries quickly they made a salmon fillet encased in a puff pastry excellent but the five other fish dishes were awful I suggested that rather then offer a dry piece of meat like top round at the carving station when is the last time you saw a rib roast or tenderloin now they dropped to the cheapest piece of meat available it should be served immediately not left under a heat BUT seafood cooks super fast shrimp scallops salmon branzino can be cooked most all seafoods can be cooked to order very fast salmon a little butter minced garlic some shallots or lemmon grass bingo a fine meal I heard many seafood requests cod is a favorite oh well off the food this ship is an older royal masterpiece meticulously maintained combine it with the best crew I have run into yet and the attention to detail is obvious I recommend this to everyone its not the symphony the oasis and not even the freedom but if you want the true traditional cruise with PLENTY OF ACTIVITIES try Brilliance you wont be disappointed CRUISE ON MY FRIENDS ps the red velvet cupcakes are for Sweety
    2 points
  9. I'll be on a ship, enjoying a cruise. They'll keep us safe, not worried about it at all.
    2 points
  10. Started prepping for the volcano hike today. I should be ready in 40+ days in time for my Serenade cruise
    2 points
  11. PG Cruiser

    Live From Lady G

    Try Googling "Lady G" and you'll understand why I had to ask. LOL (Note: I honestly did not know who/what Lady G was?)
    2 points
  12. Same here. Thank you Royal Caribbean for gifting us the 1550$ that was due. These scheduled website maintenances are the best! ?
    2 points
  13. Dude, you look like the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman!
    2 points
  14. Sweety

    Live From Lady G

    I am full of joy reading your blog. I told James we are going back on Lady G soon.
    2 points
  15. mworkman

    News Flash!

    I think i'm going downstairs for some Sorrento's Pizza. ? That is all. ? Shocking isn't it.
    1 point
  16. I am on the Harmony of the Seas Eastern Caribbean itinerary right now. We are stopping in Labadee, Haiti on Thursday. No mention of any damage so far.
    1 point
  17. Thanks for the live blog, @Traveler! Much appreciated, and glad you had a good time. Don't worry about not keeping up with the live part, vacation and down time are more important.
    1 point
  18. I’m getting in on this late, but have to add my two cents. My wife and I are so frustrated and fed up with CR. Every time you turn around they change the rules and it’s always NOT in favor of the player. I’m especially pissed because they NEVER work with me to accommodate my needs. They tell me how they have to follow strict rules and blah blah blah. Then two weeks later my dad tells me they are accommodating his request with no problem. I also see here that people “talk with managers” in CR. I have asked on two or three occasions to speak with a manager. I have ALWAYS been told no, you can send in an email to voice your concerns. My wife and I are so fed up with the casino program since they have ruined it. It used to be extremely player friendly and fair. Now it’s a scam with certificates that we wind up throwing away because we can’t use them as we are not retired and book our cruises in advance. They have made the casino program beneficial to retirees and no one else. I guess they will change it when their players start dying off. I will just go to a land based casino to “bank” my points and get real casino hosting in the process. Did I mention that too? The casino host can’t comp ANYTHING anymore. The only thing that has been consistent from CR are two little words...I’m sorry. That’s all they can say about how crappy the program has become. I’d love to go back to rebates, casino rates for all cruises, and real host benefits and comps. Seems like many on this thread miss those things too.
    1 point
  19. I do know, only because I asked my wife why she was paying an ungodly amount of money for a small piece of leather with a gold emblem on it...
    1 point
  20. I'm thinking @WAAAYTOOO will be back with no issues since Thursday morning Michael will still be way south (like Georgia) --- As for bumpy rides, I would hope nothing like what we dealt with last year going over, then under Hurricane Jose --- I'd just as soon not have to deal with that again. As for Michael, I think the real challenge will be for those boarding on Thursday, the 11th, for the 9-nighter --- that could be a fun ride down the Chesapeake. Either way, praying for calm seas .... we're 17 Days out and counting until it's our turn on Lady G.
    1 point
  21. Today is Canadian Thanksgiving...I am thankful that you are blogging this trip. I completely love this itinerary. Definitely on the list of cruises to take! Following as always.
    1 point
  22. YAY!!! Enjoy. Looking forward to your pictures, as usual!
    1 point
  23. Holy crap ! Talk about port-intensive ! What a wonderful find.
    1 point
  24. Great strategy going to Montreal instead to save some money. Following along. This is a bucket list worthy itinerary.
    1 point
  25. What I meant was from a basic "how to be seated with people you know" perspective. You're correct with MTD larger group dining is a challenge.
    1 point
  26. Have an awesome trip, @twangster! Hoping that TS Michael doesn't turn his gaze your way.
    1 point
  27. Quick answer- no. Not all of us were linked. I think the total was 17. It turned out not everyone asked to be linked, very annoying. I was linked to two other couples and another was linked to the rest of her family. Between the both of us the dining manager was able to figure it out and put us all at the same table. If I ever did this again (please, no thank you), I'd email RC ahead of time then just check once I've boarded.
    1 point
  28. Yippee ! Maybe we will have to stay in the Atlantic a few extra days ! I never have that kind of luck ! I will say, this trip to Bermuda was the roughest we have ever experienced and we’ve done this itin a lot. Last night there were barf bags posted around the ship. I haven’t seen that since the infamous Bayonne repositioning cruise on Explorer a few years ago. I can’t imagine it being much worse going back but it’s always rougher going home than going out b/c you’re normally sailing into the wind on the return trip. No idea what the hurricane might do to the normal wind pattern. Guess we’ll just have to find out...but it would be damned shame if we had to extend our cruise by a couple of days. NOT
    1 point
  29. Matt

    Taking Izumi "To-Go"

    Adding onto what @CGTLH said, in my experience, you can almost always call into Izumi when they are open and place a to-go order. I've had very good luck with this strategy.
    1 point
  30. Matt

    BRILLIANCE IS BRILLIANT

    I really enjoyed my Brilliance cruise last week. Great ship!
    1 point
  31. I bet cruise planing is....
    1 point
  32. All deck 6 staterooms on Quantum class have the lifeboats directly below the balcony. That's the obstruction -- you don't have a clear view down to the ocean.This YouTube video I put below should give you some idea of what your view will be like. The room is just three cabins down from you, so the balcony view will be similar. You may not have all the lifeboat crane / winch hardware in the way like this cabin does, but then again you might have something pretty similar. Starting at 1 minute in, you can see the balcony view. What I noted as I watched it was that right at 1:14 (and ONLY for that 1 second) you can start to see further down to the left that the lifeboats and winch hardware appears to be a bit lower, so there may be a bit less of an obstructed view there. I've put a screen shot of that particular frame below the video. Going to the left is heading towards your room, as this same YouTuber has another video of cabin 6660, which I can see is located on the right side of 6658. Still frame showing the next winch just barely visible to the left of the one sticking above the balcony line. That next winch is almost hidden by the balcony divider and glass. So, you may have a slightly less obstructed view than this room has, depending on where your cabin falls relative to the lifeboats and winch hardware. Honestly, from @twangster's reporting on his multiple Alaska trips, it might be worth it to switch to the ocean view and get the extra loyalty points with the single supplement fee, as long as you are OK with spending that extra bit of money (or getting it back? Not clear if the $200 difference is less or more for the OV room). He noted that he was constantly moving around the ships he was on when they would go to the glaciers, or would be sailing through the channels and giving lots of scenic views on both sides of the ship. Had he been in a balcony room and just staying on his balcony, he'd have missed a lot of great views.
    1 point
  33. PG Cruiser

    Profile Pic

    Thanks, @firebuck . It worked.
    1 point
  34. More cruises/ships leaving from Baltimore would bring a tear in this guys eye! Baltimore is less than a 4 hour drive from our doorstep and would be extremely welcome! About the only thing that would be unwelcome would be I95 traffic around NOVA& DC!
    1 point
  35. This is irrelevant and moot since she transported the drugs, etc. onto foreign soil/waters.
    1 point
  36. Indeed. I suspect Labadee will be fine. Strong concrete buildings. I'm more concerned with local residents whose housing isn't always built very well.
    1 point
  37. The other factor is the amount of time to market the cruise. Transatlantic sailings are often cheaper cruises to begin with, few people can take 2 weeks off and pay for a flight to Europe for mostly sea day after sea day after sea day - hardly a compelling itinerary. Normally they want to market any given sailing for as long as they can. Selling an early November transatlantic is tough enough, doing it with 9 months until final payment is due is making their job of filling the ship that much tougher and that's assuming they announce it within a month.
    1 point
  38. WAAAYTOOO

    Live From Lady G

    Dan’s suitcase finally arrived. How did the 2 of them even get separated ? So weird. Anyway, it arrived shortly after I completed my last post. We had Izumi for dinner (Matt !!) and it was delicious. We ordered a mountain of food and I am certain it exceeded the $70 limit but our bill was $-0-. We left a $20 cash tip. So worth it. Tomorrow lunch will be Giovanni’s and dinner tomorrow will be Chops. When we got finished with our Chops lunch, we happened to pass by the entrance to the deck 4 MDR and there was a sign saying “Private Event”. I think it may have been the special luncheon for B2B’ers. Don’t know that but just a guess. Going by Twangbot’s sophisticated spread on such things, we purchased 2, 1 device Voom Surf & Stream plans. They applied a D+ discount to each. This is the first time I’ve ever purchased Voom. We’ve had the plans that are included for Star Class before but never purchased separately like this.
    1 point
  39. Lovetocruise2002

    Late Boarding

    Wow, that really puts to test Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart..." ?
    1 point
  40. rjac

    News Flash!

    Kummelwek sounds better.....if you can find any!
    1 point
  41. WAAAYTOOO

    Cruise from Baltimore MD

    Sitting in the Best Western Hotel and Conference Center now, waiting to leave for today’s Grandeur sailing to Bermuda. Kind of a gloomy and overcast day but it will be nothing but sunshine and rainbows once we board !
    1 point
  42. This is a long standing debate on here for years. I have seen everything from shorts, t-shirts and flip flops (and that was on formal night) to tuxedos in the MDR. Probably the only thing would get you turned down in the MDR would be swim wear. Relax, your on vacation so dont worry about what others are wearing. Your suggestions of dress pants and button shirt on formal night are fine. Jeans and collared shirt will do just fine on other nights in the MDR.
    1 point
  43. I will be on this itinerary in November. I'll be traveling solo so I should have some time to chat with you on this thread about the ports and the onboard experience as well. I'm still researching on the ports myself.
    1 point
  44. Yes The Lines Were So Short And Thanks For Reading
    1 point
  45. Or In My Case To Get Back On The Flow For Extra Practice For My Next Cruise Thanks For Reading FlowBro Ty
    1 point
  46. Mine too! @twangster you can venture from RCCL but don't venture too far away from here. You are not replaceable!
    1 point
  47. Day Four Miami I got up when we were a mile away from Miami And Went To The Sports Deck And Pool Deck to get a timelapse of the enter to Miami. After That I Went To My Room And Waited For Them To Call Walk Off. We Were From The Ship To The Shuttle In Less Than Ten Minutes. We Went Through Costumes In Less Than A Minute.
    1 point
  48. I know how much work it is because I attempted it myself and live blogging takes a lot of time. Have you thought about starting your own blog? twangsterstravels.com has a nice ring to it..
    1 point
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