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Just booked a Brilliance cruise yesterday. Thanksgiving 2019. It was on the list of "free" cruises that I received yesterday from Club Royale...so why not ? So now we will be doing our FIRST EVER Side to Side (S2S). We will be on Brilliance 25-30 November, then drive down to Miami to catch Oasis (hopefully disease-free by then !) on 1 Dec - STAR CLASS <balloons drop, confetti falls from the sky !!> (also a [upgraded] free cruise from Club Royale !). Dan isn't real excited about the 4 hour drive from Tampa to Miami but he'll get over it. We will do some relocation recon while we're down there. He has decided that he wants SOUTH Florida for retirement. Come on, Oct 2020....

I took advantage of this sale and booked an Alaska tour for August 2020. Total savings is close to $4k.

I don't need to book anything else... I don't need to book anything else... I don't need to book anything else...

Hope your hungry for tonight's Windjammer Recon, theme of the night is Tex-Mex. Next up our Indian/curry selection Bonus shot of the Mongolian Stir-fry selection Next a visit to the dessert bar Wait, that is where the desserts usually are. Why is there a salad bar here? Ohhh, forgot to mention it is also Chocolate Buffet night. Have to say, good use of what has been used as the salad bar this sailing. Pictures for this recon were taken with my phone and tweaked in Lightroom. Good thing too, by the time I would have had a chance to grab my camera the chocolate buffet was showing major signs of battle damage. Also none of the chocolate buffet was self serve, crew members were assigned to various points to assist in serving guests.

Oasis returning to Port Canaveral:

I'm looking at this as a good sign that my cruise coming up in a couple months won't have noro. Like the Oasis cruise hit the statistical landmine and now the rest of us will be spared for awhile. Thank you Oasis travelers for taking one for the team!!! And I hope you feel better soon. ?

Well time to wrap this one up. Summary Grandeur of the Seas was our second cruise, with the first one being the Oasis of the Seas. Everyone told us we did it backwards, as we were supposed to start small then go big. I booked this cruise for the cost and also everyone I talked to spoke highly of the ship and its crew. She had very few detractors so I booked her even before we set sail on our first cruise. I’m going to touch on various aspects of the ship and give you my/our perspective of it. If I don’t touch on a subject/aspect you have questions on ask away. The ship: Launched in 1996, she has quite a few nautical miles on her; she shows her age in a few places. I observed a few areas on deck 5, where corrosion has eaten away a few doors/panels; but everything was freshly painted. Now that the bad part is out of the way; I found the ship to be tastefully decorated, clean and well maintained. It was very easy to get around to the various portions of the ship. The ocean was visible from many venues on the ship from the Centrum, all the bars, and restaurants, something that was missing from the Oasis. The room: We had and ocean view room on deck 3 directly across from the forward elevator lobby. The room was clean and everything worked. I experienced the clingy shower curtain, first shower it reached out and caressed by backside when I wasn’t looking. Thanks to hints I received on the forums, a few binder clips at the bottom put a stop to our affair. The bed was firm and we found it comfortable. We asked our room steward for ice on the first day and she dutifully provided fresh ice twice a day. I did hear noise from kids running in the hall several times and one night I could hear sounds from the storing of gangway equipment above us for about 20 minutes when we left Port Canaveral. Dining: Most of our meals were taken in the MDR. Seating at breakfast we had a short wait on a few occasions, but most of the time we were escorted right to the table. We had early traditional seating at a six top table; our waiter was Salmen and the assistant waiter was Jely. Salmen was charming and engaging constantly checking to make sure our meals were good. Jely was very sweet and her primary job was keeping our glasses full and clearing the table. Dining took anywhere from 1-1.5 hours from start to finish, although the 1.5 hour could have been partially due to the pleasant conversations we had with our tablemates. We did find out that the dining room opens 15 minutes before the assigned time. One couple liked to make the early show so they would take our orders first and usually got us out by 6:30. Were pretty easy to please and always found one or two things we’d like to eat. We had a few meals in the Windjammer; I found the organization in this one much better than the one on the Oasis. The food was typical buffet food, never had too much trouble finding a seat. I had a few lunches at Park Café, both times I tried the soup and carved meat sandwich. Both of those meals were light and the hot soup hit the spot on the couple of cool days that we ate there. Café Latitudes was a good place to get our morning coffees; we also had a muffin there one morning that was pretty good. Entertainment: We watched several shows in the Paladium Theater, and enjoyed all of them it was never hard to find a seat. In fact there were always plenty of open seats at each show. Mike was an excellent CD and CC was also very good as the AD. The Schooner bar was our favorite go to spot whether it was playing trivia or listening to the piano player or string duet. Two waiters were standouts in the Schooner bar and they were Kadek and Leslie. Whenever they saw us they greeted us by name and remembered our favorite drinks. The Centrum had a few good shows; however it was difficult finding seats at times and twice we found seats just off the stage area on deck 4 and when the show started our view was blocked by people standing in front of us or once everyone started dragging the chairs into the walkways to sit where they could see. Pool deck: Mostly due to the cold weather there were always plenty of chairs available. Finding chairs in the Solarium was a challenge a couple of times; all but one time we were able to find a lounger for a couple of hours, that one time we had to take a table and chair off to the side. The Solarium was open to all on the first and last sea day. The crew: Outstanding, excellent and superb are words that describe every crew member we engaged on the ship. We have already mentioned several of them here by name but there were many more who we met that were just as pleasant and great to engage. I don’t think we ran into a single crew member who wasn’t friendly and upbeat. Okay that’s about all I can think of to comment on if anyone has any questions I’ll do my best to answer them. Thanks for following along and oh yeah we booked the Majesty this April while on board the Grandeur. Next cruise incentives were reduced deposits ($100 pp) and they were offering onboard credit up to $600. FYI we got $50 for and ocean view on the Majesty, not much but $50 bucks is $50 bucks that wasn’t offered before we cruised.

Think they cranked the smoke machine a bit too high.

As bad as it probably was, they received a free cruise out of the deal, for those that were not ill I wonder if they consider that a fair trade off? As @SpeedNoodles said earlier, it is not always easy for some professions to be able to schedule time off from their job. I agree though, this should bode well for the rest of us, I'm on Allure this Sunday, so I'm hoping (And washing my hands often) it doesn't strike twice.

You might find this post helpful. It discusses airport transportation and all things Galveston... All Things Galveston

I just did all my spreadsheet figuring to see if I thought I would hit the $42 per day based on the prices I've seen posted here before I pulled the trigger & purchased. Since I figured I would I bought & now I don't have to think about it on the ship & I can just go & enjoy being on vacation! 17 days to go

Oh sure --- I'll try that, while holding a plate of bacon and my coffee

Now you will cruise 3 times per month then. ?

....again?

Freedom of the Seas

It does my heart good to see all these people breaking out their spreadsheets.

Not 100% sure on that. One certainly wouldn't get any state pension so you'd need to support yourself including a significant sum required for health insurance. Add that to the house prices and the additional taxes I'm sure they would charge to a non-citizen and it would be a pricey retirement. My guess would be that if someone was wealthy enough to do all of that, then anything's possible. For most people I would think it is more that they would be priced out of retiring there rather than it being impossible. At the end of the day, they could make a fair amount of money from a very wealthy retiree. One thing I didn't mention is that one of the key ways that Bermuda raises public money is through customs/excise/sales taxes. As you can imagine, when you're a 'tax haven' charging no corporate tax to the huge financial institutions, and you don't charge your citizens income tax (expats are charged a low flat rate tax for not being Bermudian) you need to make money some way. And as an island with no other land mass for hundreds of miles, tracking what comes in to and out of the country is an easier prospect which they can then tax. How that links to the 'wealthy retiree' angle is that Bermuda will already be taxing all imports but luxury imports get an even bigger bump. If you're a wealthy person in Bermuda and decide you want a fancy car, I've heard the sales tax on that is 100% i.e. you will pay double the retail amount for that car. I don't know the specifics on taxes on buying properties, but I would wager if someone is wealthy enough to be retiring to Bermuda and has enough money to buy one of the properties that non-Bermudians are allowed to buy, the taxes will be pretty significant. Other interesting tidbits regarding customs/excise from my experience - They take customs checks at the airport very seriously. Visitors get a light touch as long as they state that nothing is remaining on the island and they don't say anything suspicious to the immigration officer. Residents (and more specifically expats) are more likely to get a full search of their luggage and if anything is found that wasn't properly declared and the duty already paid, then they will get a fine of 2 times the duty payable, or 4 times if they think you've been deliberately dishonest. In fact, to avoid people heading of the the US and coming back with the newest smart phone model, you have to register the serial numbers of your electronics with customs. When you are searched they will check the serial number and match that to their records. Another island oddity is that the post service will not deliver packages from abroad to your home. They keep all packages at the nearest post office and deliver you a card to let you know to come and pick it up. When you get to the post office, you then need to open the package in front of the postal worker so that they can see what you got and assess the appropriate duty on the item. The lesson there for residents is, don't order anything from abroad that you aren't happy to open in front of a stranger!

I look at the Deluxe package now more or less value over the Refreshment. I'll sit and figure out (spreadsheet time!) how many "enhanced" drinks are needed to take full advantage between the two. Also factor in preferences versus the stock happy hour list for DL/CL/SL. At the same time I'll view it as an insurance policy. If I make more claims against it win, if not oh well.

I will be live blogging starting next weekend. I had a blast doing it in September on Oasis. Very excited not having much of a specific plan for our day at Saint Maarten. I do know that we will head to the French side to start in Marigot. Then off to some beaches and some views. Who knows so stay tuned!

Neat trick I found about the self service booking form....I had called and apparently it was very busy time with high wait times....so I filled out the form after 20 minutes and forgot about it. Got a call within 24 hours from Casino agent. When I filled out the form I just noted the offer and the sailing (which I knew didn't line up)....so then they called me and we figured something out. It's funny....7 days ago I was swearing I wouldn't sail with them again because of the terrible execution on the free play chips (that is no longer available at the time of this post)...and now I am going out with them again in April. *sigh*....it doesn't help that the wife has fallen in love with the carefree life style of being on board ship.

I'm on dog shift, too. Usually 10 hour (9pm-7am), but we're so understaffed that it's often 14 hours (or on my supposed weekends). I've got Free Cell down to a science.

ABSOLUTELY, I would gladly loose a stop or two in order to gain a free cruise! I work in healthcare and am constantly using hand sanitizer and washing my hands when in this kind of environment. It is ridiculous how people use the bathroom and do not wash their hands, and then decide that they go to the buffet and start eating WITHOUT touching any hand sanitizer. (Yes I have seen it happen personally)? I guess some don't realize that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" to quote Leonard Nimoy.

I was going to try to get it done over Christmas break but unexpected parental health issues induced an unexpected trip. All is well now.

Just booked the 10 Night Alaska Family Tundra Express Cruise Tour on the Radiance OTS August 11, 2020.

Day 8 &9 - Sea Days I really love sea days, as they are so relaxing. Up early to grab a cup of coffee and up to the pool/track deck to catch the sunrise, then off to a leisurely breakfast in the MDR. Day 8 started with the Captain advising us that the seas would become increasingly rougher throughout the day. True to his word by the time the second formal night the ship was rolling side to side. It became a challenge walking trying to anticipate the ships movement before you stepped off. After dinner it was off to the Headliners Show featuring Marcus Terell; songs and dancing to Motown, Soul and Pop Hits. He and two ladies that accompanied him put on a pretty good show. To end the evening we were back in the Schooner bar for music, talk and drinks. Day 9 the ship was still rolling but not as much as the day before and it gradually ended with calmer seas and us reaching the mouth of the bay at around 3:00 pm. One final dinner in the MDR to say so long to our table mates, waiter and asst. waiter. After dinner we went to the Parade of Flags in the Centrum; several of the countries represented put on a show as their country was called. We missed the Farewell show as we were just finishing up our dinner. They evening was capped off with a few drinks in the Schooner bar and saying goodbye to two of the wonderful waiters we had there. Managed to catch us sailing over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.

The vast majority of my cruises are on Royal Caribbean but occasionally I will cruise with another line. Recently, I booked a cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line. I was utterly amazed when I looked at my cruise summary on their website. It was wonderful! It listed all the details, payments, addons (like promo drink packages, specialty dinner packages, etc.), trip information, ship information, and so on. Basically, it had all the information on my cruise laid out in a very user friendly way, the way that Royal Caribbean used to have it. I knew I wasn't happy when RCL changed to the Cruise Planner and now I know why. I wish RCL would, at least, go back to the cruise summary information page the way they used to have it.

We will be on Oasis shortly after she is amped. One reason why we are so excited about that cruise.

You do not have to schedule MTD in advance. You can wait until you get on the ship to schedule exact times or just show up to MTD for dinner. There are two lines for MTD. One for reservations and one for no reservations. We schedule in advance and if we decide to eat somewhere else we tell the hostess we will not be there that night so they can release the table.

Alas! That explains it and answers my question- you’re right, it does still say it on parts of the website. Thanks.

I think the decision to end the cruise early has to do with public relations aspect more than any logistical issue.

I think the height restriction on Mariner for the two slides was 48 inches (my niece was too short and we had to avoid them so she wouldn't get sad) - he *might* be okay!

Oh man.....I just can only say yum! I could just eat dessert for dinner! Jane

Trying to make up for some lost time. Theme for the night in Windjammer was Caribbean night. Mongolian Grill yet again was the made-to-order selection for the night. Caribbean night selections ^ These were labeled as goat, oxtail, and chicken curry. ^ Fish warning in the next two pictures Getting a better look at what hides in the back corner of the picture above. Yup, that is exactly what you think it is. Whole fried fish, labeled as grouper. Wow, what a selection on last night's theme. Time for a close up of curry goodness Finally dessert bar Plus the cake in a giant pan Bonus feature for the night, Sangria. Not sure if it was the real deal made with wine.

Entering Windjammer like:

Sucks when 3% of the population ruins it for the other 97%...... Sounds about right though in todays society..... As long as I was in the 97%...I wouldn't mind losing one stop and getting a full refund back..pretty sweet deal really.

Because it's the right thing to do ...

Thank you for your service.

I found baseball card pages work great for making a keepsake binder. Eventually I'll add maps of the itinerary with each page.

Wait....we're supposed to work while at work???

Toss in a few night time shots of Adventure.

so its a 2 month dry dock! surely some info must be coming out soon so they can gather interest for future cruises

Unfortunately, this will never happen. The liability is too prohibitive. That's why you don't see any swim-up bars in the US. Just too risky.

I don't think they will get rid of the sports court but could totally see them getting rid of the ice rink eventually. I worry that if they put in aft pools, they will turn into suite only access. I wish allure already had a playmakers... It sounds like an amazing meet up and hang out place! Jane

Whoa! In the words of the Monty Python... "And now for something completely different".

Like This. All Together?

Adding slides and Skypad to Mariner was a lot of work but they did it. Demolishing a bar is easy. That won't stop them. I suspect it's a matter of weight balance and budget balance. Water slides would be a bigger bang for the buck but could be more costly and heavier. It's anyone's guess. They might just change a few minor things, add a Playmakers Sports Bar. Laser tag is easy, it's inflatable in Studio B. Escape Room would be easy. Convert Solarium Bistro to Hooked. Some of those changes generate new revenue.

I do not disagree - but I also wouldn't be surprised if they did.

It seems like it'd more or less get a lot of the features introduced on Harmony and Symphony - anyone have any ideas if the Abyss would be a possible addition?

I'd like to know too @FlowBro Ty, I just booked her yesterday for march 1 2020!!