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Food was great, service was pristine, but the lettering was horrible, it ruined my pre cruise photos, 1 star, won't sail again

So most of the people we work with think we're nuts, but I bet some of you understand the excitement. We just booked a 7-night on Grandeur Jan 30, 2022. The "Island Hop" itinerary. We've only sailed on one Vision class ship.....Vision....and really enjoyed her. We're looking forward to experiencing Grandeur now as well. A humongous thanks to @michelle at MEI for her patience with us while we were getting our ducks in a row so we could book it.

The "C" must already be underwater because I can't see it .

Here's a copy of the English press release from Costa

That is what happens when public health agencies work in partnership with an industry instead of opposing it without science or data to support that position.

So the surgery went without a hitch. Got there at 6:15, was being carted into the OR right on time at 7:30. A few minutes later, I was in blackout from whatever cocktail they put in my IV before wheeling me in there. I woke up at 8:30, zero pain in the foot. Doc said the local injections he was giving me should be good for 8, maybe even 10 hours. He also said, and this is the part I wasn’t so thrilled to hear, that the skin was pretty tight after he sutured everything up. Even with the Z-plasty approach he used. His estimate is a 50-75% chance this is going to work. He said he was debating going the full skin graft right then and there while I was on the table, but decided to take a wait-and-see approach. There was nothing bad about the underlying tissue, and all the surrounding tissue looked good, so I guess he wants to see if I’ve got just enough Wolverine-type healing factor to pull it off. It’s just wrapped in an ace bandage, with packing underneath where he worked. No weight restrictions, but I do need to keep it elevated as much as possible over the next couple of days at least. He said on Wednesday I can remove all the bandaging and take a normal shower. No need to wrap the site in plastic or anything, but at the same time I shouldn’t scrub it or anything else “aggressive”. And then I’ll just need some gauze pads to cover it, and I can wear a regular sock. Fingers crossed this is as “mild” a recovery as he’s thinking it’ll be!

Thanks for checking @JLMoran. We've been below freezing for days and had some negative temps in the mornings; however, we've also been extremely fortunate and have kept power throughout. Most our area is without or still experiencing rolling blackouts. I need to start baking for Saturday's wedding tomorrow, so hopefully our luck holds. All faucets dripping with no issues there so far either. My sister lives 20 miles away and their power was out most of Monday. Brother in law had no power for over 30 hours and is now dealing with broken pipes. We've had 2 rounds of snow 3-4 inches the fist time and another couple inches last night. I guess the pool technically has water in it. A lot of them have frozen over in our area.

As long as there is a Schooner Bar and Boleros they can put a massive "Titanic of Seas" banner from stem to stern (as long as it does not block my balcony view). ? "It's not what is on the outside of someone (thing) that matters, it's what is on the inside". ? Stay Safe, Stay Apart, Stay Connected, Curt from Canada

I may get shot down for this but I am indifferent - I plan to be too busy enjoying everything that she has to offer on board to worry too much about what she looks like from the land ?

I’m halfway through season 2 already. This is a damn good show!

It’s the anticipation that keeps you going. If we did not have things to look forward to, life would suck! As soon as the new schedules come out, I start booking way in advance.

Why do you guys think the Oasis Class ships are the only ones with names that don't really go with the class name, besides The Oasis, Allure, and Wonder which are all kind of mysterious, when did they think it was a good idea to name the 2 ships in the middle of the class Harmony and Symphony??? Like, that sounds like it could be part of some other class called Melody Class!!! They seem a lot longer too, and out of place. This is just my opinion, but what do you think RCI was thinking? P.S. They could have done Oasis, Allure, Wonder, Marvel, Reverie, and Fantasy, all mysterious and whimsical!

Jean Luc does a pretty good job most days but he does go off mission occasionally in search of unknown lifeforms. I suppose Kirk would have been a better choice given a shedding dog in the house that produces some Trouble with Tribbles.

Who knows exactly why but a lot of market research goes into naming. It can be challenging to find a name that doesn't offend someone in some language and is generally clear of trademarks or registrations by similar companies. It's easy to look back and find fault but I'm not sure they knew 13 or 14 years ago how this experiment would turn out. It wasn't always cast in stone there would be this many. It could have been worse... Just look at Boaty McBoatface.

Just like pets, if you let the kids name the robo vac you potentially wind up with a lame name. Ours is called Sweepy...and he isn't very smart.

Probably not a wise or welcome idea while there are pandemic protocols in force. When is the sailing? The trick to making one work is the group where you can introduce the idea. It's really as simple as putting it out there and asking if there is interest. Sometimes a number of people will respond and sometimes only a few do. Trying to seek one type of every cabin can make for a long crawl so sometimes it is better to look for specific or unique cabins. An aft balcony instead of a regular balcony. A virtual balcony interior instead of a regular interior. Your GLS plays into this strategy. I think a cabin crawl is more interesting when it's not going to the average routine cabin but cabins that are not as common because people may be curious to see these types of cabin.

I just hope this opens the door to RCG over in Europe.

I like it a lot

We see the double points as a positive and a thank you from Royal for cruising. We feel that the customer loyalty program from Royal is the best of all the majors and by offering double points, it will allow Royal to build a more loyal base of cruisers which will ultimately benefit all of us with newer ships, more on board experiences and new itineraries. We are Diamond Plus and Pinnacle is so far off, but the double points will get us closer to our goal and will keep us loyal to Royal. We are a bit upset that L&S ended, we had an amazing price on a Grand Loft Suite (about a third of the normal cost) on the Quantum for a 10 night around Japan which cancelled in early February. This would have been our first Star class and we were so pumped as it was soooo cheap and great itinerary. Such is life, and now looking forward to our next adventure, fingers and legs crossed it will be really soon.

Yep, I have been on the phone many hours for many clients. This is part of what we do.

Reason number 725 to use a good travel agent. Then the TA is the one on the phone for 2.5 hours instead of you. It's happened to me and I am grateful for the hardwork of my TA.

What a day! We got an early start on the day, waking up at 6:45 so we could be at the mountain by 8. We rolled in right on time and there was already a giant line for private lessons. My daughter claimed she didn’t need lessons and so I decided to call her bluff and took her out for a few runs. Her first run down might have set a land speed record, but she definitely has the upright stance down. I could see her issue was forming the right “pizza” shape with her skis, and I had bought before the trip clips for the front of the skis to keep them together without letting the tips cross. The clips make shuffling your feet tough, but on the mountain she’s a pro. She can stop and sort of turn (assuming she remembers her right from left). I regained my form almost immediately and it was like riding a bike. Didn’t fall over once, although getting off the lift once I did leap frog my daughter when she tumbled. we skied for about 3.5 hours and it was pretty crappy day. Temps in low 40s and constant drizzle. It wasn’t so bad on the slopes but everything gets wet and my daughters gloves got too wet so her hands were freezing. Truth be told, I started feeling the lack of sleep, loss of energy, and distinct lack of coffee. at 12:30 we decided to call it and headed back to the condo. The worst part of skiing is the Sherpa part where you have to lug all the equipment to/from the car. She isn’t strong enough to carry all of her own equipment and one adult means you have to split the trips up. When we got back to the condo, I put up the clothes to dry and immediately napped. This was a deep and hard nap, like after a red eye where you don’t sleep. I woke up and felt still awful. Was I sick? COVID? Turns out I just needed coffee.

So... no surgery today, pushed out a week. Something came up that absolutely mandated I cancel last-second. I know how alarming that probably sounds, so I’ll just say that everyone is fine at this time and there is no more emergency.

Hi! Need some advice....We want to partake in a cabin crawl but I have never organized one before? Thought @WAAAYTOOO may be a good one to ask about this. We have a Grand Loft suite booked and I wanted to coordinate one with the Facebook group that is on my sailing. Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated! Andrew & Rob

All the reports that I read before the shutdown is that that the floating cabanas get assigned in the order that they are reserved and there wasn't a way to specify a cabana location. Whether a Genie could override the assignment or not is something that has been widely reported, mostly because the floating cabanas were so new and there hasn't been many experiences to go on by before the shutdown. You definitely need to reserve the cabana in the Cruise Planner before the cruise. Remember you can cancel and rebook if the price drops lower, so if you are planning on getting one, might as well lock in your reservation.

I think you have a great point. This was a missed opportunity to have a cohesive theme of names for the worlds largest ships.

OOOHHHHH.....one of my favorite things !! Let me first say that, as @Lovetocruise2002often mentions, all Genies are not equal...or at least, they each have different gifts and strengths. Much of the success of your Cabin Crawl will be dependent upon your Genie's party skills. Having said that, I will also make one more disclosure and it is tied in with the one above. I have read accounts, over the past couple of years, where the Genie has balked at organizing a large Cabin Crawl and has suggested to their SC pax that in order to arrange such a soiree, there would be a per-person charge. Hmmmm....so I think you may need to be very strategic in your approach to this. I would suggest that perhaps it would be best NOT to give a lot of advance warning to your Genie about your plans for a CC get-together. That is completely contrary to my original approach to doing a CC get-together. In the "early days" I always told my Genie up front about the event so that he/she would be prepared...but in more recent years, I have sprung it on them at the last moment and downplayed the event to keep it from sounding like a gala. Some Genies really seem to enjoy doing party events, and some others really seem to resent it. A lot will depend on who you get as your Genie. I have never had a Genie try and charge me, but I have heard of others whose Genie DID indicate that there would be a charge. That totally sucks. I hope it doesn't happen to you. Avoid using the words "Cabin Crawl" with your Genie. Call it something else. So....my first piece of advice is - keep it to yourself until you are onboard. My second piece of advice is, try and keep your event to 25 people or less. That is often hard to do when you have an open forum like a FB group. If you have a good indication that your group is likely to be larger than 25, I would reconsider being the host of the event. I have found that my most successful CC get-togethers have been when someone ELSE is the host and I just tag along as an interim stop. My third piece of advice is....if you are just an interim stop, and not the host, do NOT try and participate in the extended CC. IOW, don't try and go to all of the cabins along with the mob. You will have enough to do to keep you at "home" and organizing for your own event. The first 2 of these that I did, I tagged along with the group and went to everyone else's room and by the time we got to our suite, I was exhausted and found that I would have been better served to have stayed in the suite and made preparations for the others to arrive. This is particularly important for CC for GLS (and really...any SC suite on a Q class ship) and ATS. Those suites are SOOO far away from everyone else...it's such a trek. For the event itself, assuming you are allowed to cater without charge, the Genie can order food from any specialty restaurant (assuming your event is during normal operating hours of that restaurant), provide unlimited amounts of beer, water and soft drinks (there is a charge for wine and champagne, but it's very nominal in the greater scheme of things), get plates, napkins, silverware, table cloths, ice...literally everything you need for your party. It is very difficult and very expensive to get hard liquor brought to your cabin but it can be done....with persistence. We never bothered with liquor. It's just too much trouble. I strongly recommend that you approach your Suite Attendants to get an ice chest for beer. Room service will bring you those useless champagne buckets that hold nothing. You WILL need an ice chest and I have found that the room Suite Attendants are your best source for that. They will also be the ones to get your ice for you. Give THEM plenty of head's up. Timing the event is kinda critical. As I mentioned before, you can only order specialty food during restaurant operating hours and you will want to do this on a sea day so that means you will need to do this in the afternoon (between noon-2). Historically, cabin crawls are held on the first sea day immediately following the Top Tier event, which usually means around 11:00 AM. That's too early if you want specialty food - and you do. There is danger in waiting until the afternoon, but it really can't be avoided. People will get busy with something else and forget or just blow it off b/c they get sidetracked. Jamie's/Giovanni's food seems to lend itself well to CC get-togethers. The meat planks they serve at Jamie's are ideal. Just make sure that they deliver the food on the PLANKS and not in plates. This happened to me once and it doesn't have nearly the presentation on plates as it does on the planks. Finger food is great. Food that needs knives and forks is less desirable just due to logistics. Everyone will not be able to sit down at the same time. The Genie does NOT attend the event nor do they "help" other than ordering everything and coming to make sure that everything is on target. Room service will bring all of your tableware and then come and collect everything at the end of the event. You are responsible for serving and hosting your event. It is possible to get a server (for a fee...don't ask me how much $$. I've forgotten) but this might trigger the whole "fee" conversation. I would probably avoid that altogether. There will be lots of tipping involved. Make sure you have adequate bills for room service, suite attendants and folks I'm sure I'm forgetting. You will likely see each of these people only once...so please remember to tip when they provide the service. You will likely not see them again (except for the Suite Attendant and the Genie, of course). As for being the organizer, if that's still what you decide to do. I found it easiest just to keep a spreadsheet, which I updated periodically and published on my Roll Call site (I don't do FB so I have no idea how you would publish it there) with the names and cabin numbers for those who were interested in showing and another column for those who only wanted to "crawl" but not "show". Another hint is....you might think about limiting the number of cabin types to 1 cabin. IOW, you don't need to show 4 different inside rooms, or even 2 different Owner's Suites. They are similar enough that there's no need. Just limit the "showing" to the first person who signs up to show their cabin type. It's great if you can get lots of different cabin types...but not lots of the same type. Too much running around....and another reason to NOT be a crawler, yourself. Another reason to have someone ELSE be the organizer is....there is definitely a skill to organizing the flow of the crawl. You will most likely want to be at the END of the crawl....so whoever organizes it, just make sure that they know that you want your suite to be last. First of all, being last gives you the most time to get prepared and being last allows people to stop and enjoy themselves. If there are cabins left after they visit you, they will not feel as comfortable lingering. I guess that can be a good motivator NOT to be last but I always enjoyed having everyone hang around, enjoy their drinks and chat. Sorry, I did not intend for this to be so long !

DITTO!!!

First seeing this thread. Glad the surgery went well and you're feeling better. Our vac is called ROB after the NES robot from the 80s. Never had one but always wanted one ... Like the power glove ... Always wanted that too! Anyway it's always getting stuck and lost. It's a Shark and replaced a Roomba. We will be going back to Roomba for sure.

I'll be there with ya! And, nope, I won't notice it at all, either.

I was instructed to take off the ace bandage and packing today, and just start using gauze pads and a regular sock. So much more comfortable without that bulky material and constriction around my foot! And also moderately less painful. Today or maybe tomorrow is supposed to be the last of the “worst” days, so I’m hoping that means I’ll be starting to wean off the meds Real Soon Now and getting down to just Advil. I hate feeling so loopy for so much of the day. Had to change the gauze after just a few hours, but I was also moving around a fair bit while making breakfast and coffee and then moving stuff off the floor so our robo-vac, “Puck”, could do the twice-weekly run through the living room and kitchen area. The doc did tell me no restrictions around movement or putting weight on the foot, and said to do as much of my normal home routine as was comfortable starting today, so there you go; I imagine that moving around helps circulation and improves final skin elasticity after it’s healed up.

I’ve posted this before but here you go. It doesn’t get more convenient then this:

Considering that Italy was one of the hardest hit countries at the beginning of the plague, it is notable that they are among the first to get "normal" cruising up and running. It's nice to see !

Maybe in person it'll be better but I'm just not a fan of how the windows interfere with the lines of "Odyssey". Makes it look fairly unrefined and like a first draft instead of a final placement.

I like it.

I'm saving judgement until I see it with my own eyes.

Not really a fan of the new style. I don't think it looks as refined as the rest of the fleet. You certainaly will not have any issues knowing which ship is from a far

Dont care for it either as it looks like a Billboard sign advertisement.

As @twangstermentioned, the floating cabanas haven’t been around that long. We haven’t tried one yet but have one rented for one of our upcoming Mariner cruises inSeptember. My big concern is and always has been, whether the water would be warm enough to get the full enjoyment out of its use. ...but I think you will have no problem with that, in June. It would be best, if it’s something you really want, to reserve one when the price is right for you. The floating cabanas is one of the few things that the Genie cannot do on your behalf. Once they sell out, they’re gone and the Genie will not be able to get one for you. Unlike the Barefoot Beach cabanas on Labadee, whose sales are withheld from the Cruise Planner, the floating cabanas are on sale to anyone so they could, conceivably, sell out. The Barefoot Beach cabanas do not go on sale to the general public prior to sailing, so the Genie can snag one of those for you, if you’re going to Labadee. Is it worth the price ? Only you will be able to answer that question once you’ve tried it. Since you will be Star Class, all of your drinks will be included so I’m sure you can the best of that ! Here’s hoping you sail in June. Let us know how it goes.

No arguments here, I'm 100% Team TA! ???

Agreed. If they aren't going to sail I'd rather not deal with FCC ?

I can reassure you!! Of course at those ages it won't be a relaxing vacation but it will pack so many memories into their little brains that can never be erased...no matter how old they get. And by the time cruising is back they will already be a little older!! Our 5 grandkids continually talk about the adventures we have taken them on...it's truly heartwarming. I also worked up until a year and a half ago so had all the stresses you mention. BUT...being on a vacation is different than having them at the house and being on a cruise just seems to work! I promise you that you will never regret spending whatever time you can with them...as exhausting as it might get...because memories are worth it!!

So the local lasted about 13 hours! Started to feel pain creeping in about 8:30, and took two Advil while it was still just a whisper. But by 9:15 it was mounting to a bit more than a dull roar. I know it’s important with any pain meds to take them before the pain is really bad, so took it right then and waiting now for it to fully kick in. Probably going to be zonked out before long, so I’ll get a good night’s sleep. And then a good morning’s sleep. And a good afternoon’s. Yeah, pain meds typically hit me like a Mack truck once they fully kick in. Part of why I like to get off of them as fast as I can. ?? But I also feel that itching my Nonno called “knitting and purling”. So there’s definitely some healing starting up as well.

We stay at the Marriott which is next door to the Doubletree. Those two hotels are connected to a mini-mall that separates them. In the mini-mall is a Starbucks, few restaurants, hair salon, deli, fruit smoothie shop, etc

This is our first Jr. Suite on Allure. We're looking forward to the Coastal Kitchen. ? Plus we got the drink package ? All set for our cruise this December.

Have boat shuttles from US ports to the Bahamas and then board the cruise there. Most of the lines have their own islands anyhow. This is my personal idea. That way people do not have to fly out of the country. And it would be just a short trip over anyhow. Coming back though would be the challenge. The CDC IMO is doing everything they can to destroy the cruise industry, of which they know nothing about, obviously.

The line to get our rental took a while, maybe 45 mins or so. But we had plenty of time. They processed us fairly quickly and we were on our way.

[Please forget that I just said, 2 days ago, that I would not book any new cruises] Just booked the 9-4-22 14 night Voyager out of Copenhagen repositioning to Boston. So excited about going to Norway, Iceland and Greenland ! It's expensive but I was able to get a casino discount so that helped quite a bit.

I can win the lottery, I can become president, I can get a seat on space x, all very unlikely.