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Day 7: Our last day is a day at sea We slept in today, okay I slept in today, my wife woke up early to sunbathe on our balcony. Once I woke up, we hung out together in the room. We were on the balcony, but it started to rain. This was the first rain I noticed since we embarked on this ship. We hung out in the room together for awhile and then headed to park cafe for breakfast before they closed. Ran into our family in Central Park. My brother and I wore our drunk 1 and drunk 2 shirts today (picture below). It’s not fair being the little brother because no matter how old I am, I’ll always be drunk 2 and when playing Super Mario Brothers, I’ll always be Luigi. We received a lot of positive reactions on our shirts, especially from our bartenders. My wife, brother, and sister in law rode the Ultimate Abyss and I was the holder of the phones and sunglasses. I beat them to the bottom and the elevator wasn’t too scary and was faster. The rest of our family just happened to be at Johnny Rockets where the Ultimate Abyss let out. We had more drinks because it would be false advertising if we we’re to wear drunk 1 and drunk 2 shirts and not drink. Lunch was at the windjammer followed by a trip to the room to pack our bags. The suitcases feel a little heavy for the plane, but there is no way to weigh them, I guess worse case scenario, if we have to take anything out of our suitcases at the airport, my dirty knickers are staying behind in Florida. It was our final dinner in the main dining room. Our waiter and assistant waiter have two large tables to serve. The other table was not there tonight so we received all the attention. Not that we don’t get most of the attention. Like I said before our waiter and assistant waiter really like my brother. I think our assistant waiter has a man crush on him. We stopped by my sister and brother-in-law’s room to pick up their device that weighs suitcases when you pick them up. 49 pounds and 46 pounds, we made it under the weight limit, I guess my soiled skivvies are safe…for now. I picked up a cold brew at cafe promenade and returned to my room where we watched a spectacular lightening show in the distance. At 9:00 pm was miniature golf, then the adult comedy show, followed by standing on the outer deck on top of the ship to see if we could see the SpaceX satellite rocket launch. No such luck, I guess it was too cloudy. Next is disembarking and a day at the Kennedy Space Center followed by a long flight back to Sacramento California.

Just got off Allure and we made our scheduled stop in Haiti with no issues or concerns.

Day 6: A sea day Sorry, I’m a day late again. We set an alarm again for breakfast in the main dining room where I had the same breakfast as the day before with the exception of adding cheese grits to my order. I’ve never had grits before so I had to try them. I probably will never order them again. After breakfast was cold brew coffee at cafe promenade followed by morning trivia. My wife and I answered seven out of 15 correctly, which is respectable considering how tough the questions were. I question the person that answered all 15 correctly. I suspect that Ken Jennings would’ve had a hard time getting a perfect score. About 11 am, 8 am back home, I had a coconut and pineapple smoothie. It was delicious, especially with Malibu Coconut Rum in it, okay, I had a pina colada. I had another Pina colada while watching my nephew on the stand up flow rider. I would’ve done it but I prefer my bones intact. Nobody wanted to join me in the main dining room for lunch, so I went by myself. The shrimp risotto was to die for and I had one of the best seafood sandwiches ever. I have eaten seafood every day on this cruise. So much seafood, I probably have more mercury in me than a 1970’s thermometer. Following lunch I met the rest of my family at the Windjammer, passing the stowaway piano player on the way. After the windjammer, it was down to deck 6 for the boardwalk and tequila drinks at Sabor. My wife, mother, sister, and sister in law rode the carousel. I would’ve rode it too, but my brother said if I did we’d exceed the international limit on jackasses for one carousel. Dinner was lobster, I had two, along with two seafood appetizers. After dinner were drinks at the ice skating showcase. It was awesome. Instead of a story, it was just routines and they were good. Following the ice skating showcase was the love and marriage show. It was hilarious and our cruise director was funny and had a quick wit. Then it was time for our late night pizza and bed. Next is our final day which is another sea day.

Random tidbits from Saturday, August 27…. We walked from the hotel to Target, crossing under I-45. Following the sidewalks it’s about 15 minutes one way. Walking direct (and not utilizing the sidewalks) it’s about 10 minutes. The underpass seemed a little sketchy. While I would have no qualms going through it by myself, my wife wouldn’t feel comfortable going alone. On the way back, there were four police cars helping a naked person. That was interesting to walk by. We spent most of the day relaxing and napping rather than going out to the downtown area. The temperature and humidity are kinda rough on us. In addition, our daily schedules at home have us up at 3-330 am, so that means we have woken up at 230 am local time both mornings here. For dinner, we got delivery from the Hubcap Grill. The burgers and fries were great. There were some issues with delivery, but they were the fault of the third party app, not the restaurant. The app my wife used was ASAP Food Delivery/Waiter, and they ended up giving us a $22 credit due to their screw up. We have 1030 check in at the terminal this morning. I expect it to take a bit longer than usual since one of the health questions were answered incorrectly on our daughter in law’s questionnaire. We were able to print out her Set Sail pass, but according to the Resolutions Department at Royal, she has to tell them she isn’t pregnant. To do so, we may have to step out of the normal check in process. I’ll let you know how it goes. We are planning on taking a taxi to the port. We’ve had multiple issues in the past with Lyft XL and four people with luggage, and we just don’t want to deal with any bumps this morning. Hopefully we’ll board with a minimum of delays. Last night’s sunset from our hotel room balcony.

Woo Hoo! I am back and excited about this. After 3 cancelled cruises in the last two years, I am definitely overdue.

Some random thoughts about my recent cruise on Wonder of the Seas (7 night Western Med) Most comfortable bed i’ve had on an royal carribean ship in a long time. Almost too soft for me, but way better then the rocks they have on Anthem This was my 4th cruise post “restart” — things are finally feeling “normal”, and I didn’t notice any staffing issues. Perhaps it’s because it’s a new ship and they are staffed with their best employees? It was night and day compared to my cruise on Anthem during Christmas. Staff was overwhelmed on that cruise Was fun to be an American on a ship that was so focused on passengers from Spain and the UK. MDR menu even had a rotating pie and a curry on the menu every night.

We just returned from Labadee last Wednesday and had a beautiful day. We only saw RCCL employees or people approved by RCCL. The beach and water were wonderful. It was perhaps the best stop of the cruise. Bill

The taxi from hotel to the terminal was $16 before tip. We used Yellow Cab. Liberty is the only ship here today, so there wasn’t much traffic as we got to the terminal. We arrived at 1010 for our 1030 check in time, so there was a little confusion in the area where the line for people waiting for check in mingled with the people who had just disembarked. Things were sorted out by a couple Royal reps quickly though. There were separate lines for the various check in times. Once we started moving, a bit before 1030, we were onboard in 40 minutes or so. It’s nice to be back onboard a ship. Six months is way too long between sailings.

Just an FYI - We attended the Captain's Corner question and answer talk this past week and received this information.

I have started one of my bucket list type of vacations. This morning I left Fresno California in a one way rental car. I drove 4 hours to the Los Angeles Airport. Now I am doing my 6 hour wait for my flight. I will be flying to Prague in the Czech Republic. From there I will be taking a train to Copenhagen Denmark. After a couple of days there I will be getting on the Voyager of the Seas for a Trans-Atlantic Artic Cruise. If this sounds interesting stay tuned for the details and pictures. Mike

Well we finally turned Diamond. Just awarded the points from our Oasis cruise from last week. Booked at the right time and received double points for our short Adventure 4 day cruise, 8 points and double for Oasis 7 day cruise, 22 points in those cruises because they were running a promotion. Anyway we really wanted to hit Diamond because that's really where some of the good perks hit. The 4 drinks a day for both of us will be very nice. Diamond club is a pretty cool perk. Really looking forward to our Oasis cruise in May now, our first as Diamond. What are some other cool perks for Diamond? What are some sneaky cool ones that you can think of? Maybe some under the radar?

My Pre-Trip Fun ☹ My adventure really started two days ago. I had a mini vacation as a warmup. I drive a passenger van full of High School Water Polo players to the California coast to play in a tournament. When I should have been home packing and planning, I was on the coast taking care of teenage boys. On Saturday afternoon we finished and I came back home as quick as possible to start figuring what I needed to pack. I got back, turned in my van for my car and then had my son take me to the airport to get a one way rental car. I finally got back home at 8:30 pm and figured out I needed to do laundry to have cloths for my trip. I got on my computer and started to double check paperwork and ……. THE POWER WENT OUT OK, wet clothes in the dryer, nothing packed and no packing list or documents printed. I gave up and went to sleep. About 4 hours later my 25-year-old son woke me up to let me know electricity was back on. Ok on to laundry and packing. I got to my dress pants and …. They were still at the Dry Cleaners. So I looked for my work pants and …… they were also at the Dry Cleaners. Well …. After trying on everything in both my closet and my sons closet I found a pair of dockers that will have to do. I finally got everything packed and got a few hours sleep. I left the house at 8:30 am to give myself time in case something happened during the 250 mile drive to the LA Airport. Now guess what happened….. everything went smoothly and now I am sitting in the airport for 6 hours waiting for my flight.

As mentioned by others, the Diamond drinks are a game changer. And what seems like a kinda new feature is that you can use them anytime of day, at any bar. Additionally, there are (2)50% off coupons for beer and wine for when you go over the 4 freebies. We also took advantage of the free 8x10 photos for each adult Diamond member. Also, utilized the one free day of surf Voom. We never stepped foot in a Diamond lounge so I can't speak on that. Might check that out on our next cruise

absolutely. and the big machine is really uniformly excellent, especially for the quality and volume of coffee it pumps out on the daily. it's very tasty!! sometimes we like to do a shot or two of espresso with hot water, americano style and it's just crisp and delicious. you have the right idea!!

Everyone has their preferences. I make cheap stuff with flavored creamer at home so anything the machine spits out is an upgrade to me. I'm not picky.

I’ve used Diamond drinks for the protein shakes at the vitality spa. I’m pretty sure the juices are included. You can always ask first.

Not your browser. We all have same problem. Hoping it's site maintenance and not a big nasty surprise.

I assume they are trying to be attentive to give good service and possibly earn more tips. I would not worry too much about it, but if you see the staff member, you could always politely let them know extra towels aren’t wanted.

Congratulations! I'm literally sitting on the balcony of our cruise that will push us over into the shiny Diamond land. Can't wait to join you and take serious advantage of the perks! I'm not a big drinker so the 4 per day bigger is more than perfect. I probably wouldn't do more than 2 even with the juice option! (Don't drink coffee)

None at the moment, except for Starclass on some ships that were Wow enabled before like Harmony. Since the restart Royal has not offered wow bands or allowed old wow bands to be reused.

Congratulations! The free photo is a nice perk.

Not to be harsh, but just because someone may eventually post that they made it to the airport on time or with plenty of time to spare for an early flight does not mean at all that you will enjoy the same experience. You do not state what time the other flight is, but if it's later than 9:00AM do yourself a favor and take that one. Remember Murphy's law.

Sorry I missed posting this last night. Day 5: St. Kitts, the dolphin experience We started with breakfast in the main dining room, we set an alarm and everything. I loved the classic Benedict, I’m a sucker for hollandaise sauce, a hash brown, and the corned beef hash. The hash brown was small, and I could’ve eaten 13 dishes of the corned beef hash, it was that good. Next was St. Kitts. My wife brought cash and her iPhone. I figured since we didn’t have service in St. Kitts, there was no use in bringing my phone. Remember the last part because it is on the test later. We split from our group and went on our dolphin excursion. As we were waiting, we went shopping at the shops. The workers in the shops were a little pushy, but not overly aggressive. We got souvenirs for the grandkids and some of our kids, but only the ones we like. I’m just kidding, we love all three of our children, but one son wants something from the Kennedy Space Center, so we are holding off on getting his gift until Sunday. My other son, wants an island girl. After shopping we got into line for our excursion. We were early, we just didn’t know how early we were. While in line we figured we were in the 10:30 am excursion line and ours was at 11:15. The excursion person said he could get us on the earlier excursion and put a green wrist band on both my wife and myself. This too is important to remember for later. On the bus I noticed some people were wearing different colored wristbands, but being the introvert, I didn’t ask, which I should’ve. When we arrived, we put our stuff in a complimentary locker, which was an ease on my mind and it was then time to get fitted for life jackets. The man brought me a large one, how cute is that. He soon realized I needed an extra large one. After instructions, we were in the water with the dolphins. One of the most exciting things in my life. We did commands, petted, gave belly rubs, shook fins, and touched the dolphins, and it was fantastic, my wife loved it too, but was a little disappointed because we were supposed to be pushed and pulled by the dolphins. I grappled with removing my life jacket, and for a split second, I thought I might win, but winning was not in the cards for me, but luckily, one of the workers tapped in like a WWE tag team partner and we were victorious. My wife was already off to inquire about the pushing and pulling. When I caught up with my wife the employee said the person at the dock put the wrong wristbands on us, if only someone spoke up on the bus, stupid introverted me. They accommodated us by allowing me to struggle back into a life jacket and took us back into the water just my wife and I. They kind of separated my wife and myself, which is a little problem because I have severe hearing loss and couldn’t take my hearing aids in the water with me and I rely on her a lot to communicate with me. If you are following along with my live blog you have found out I’m super sized, have hearing loss, and sleep with a CPap machine, you are probably wondering how my wife snagged such a catch, she probably wonders too. We had a quick push and pull by the dolphins and then it was shower off, get dressed, and off to the gift shop to buy photos. We realized we forgot our debit card, we didn’t have enough cash for photos at $40 a piece, but they did take PayPal. I have PayPal but my wife doesn’t. My wife had her phone, I didn’t. They were pushy when it came to selling the photosand I asked if it were possible to get a link and buy them when we get back to the ship. Their response was now or never. I tried for about forty minutes to log into my email on my wife’s phone to buy the photo package which was 2 for $80 or all forty-five photos for 100. Because my iPhone uses Face ID to log in and I’m not very smart ( my wife is so lucky to have me), I finally gave up and lo and behold, they suddenly came up with a link to buy the photos when we got back to the ship, but they were quite rude to us about it. I know I seem to complain from time to time, but really we are having the time of our lives and will never forget what a great time we are having. Back on the ship I ordered our photos and after several emails back and forth, we got the link to the photos a few hours later. The photos are great, but we are only able to get 42% of the photos to download on our phones before we get an error message. The link is only good for a month so we will need to figure it out. Back on the ship was dinner at the main dinning room. Our waiters are the best on the ship. Unlike me, my brother is a big personality and both our waiters are drawn to him for most of our meals. I ordered the ahi tuna, but since I don’t like my fish seared, our waiter had it made well done. I know the chef probably cried himself to sleep last night because he had to cook it well done, but it tasted wonderful. After dinner was the headliner show, a singer, comedian, and impressionist. His voices of other people were spot on, but the show was mostly geared toward gen X and baby boomers. My nephew and niece knew almost none of the people he was impersonating. Then it was off to sabor for margaritas and off to bed. Stray observation: Our room steward is amazing. I have a bartender who not only remembers my drink order, but also my name which is cool because I’m pretty forgettable. In the public men’s rooms, I like the comic strip panels over the urinals even though they are lacking in plot, character development, and a character arc. Next up is sea day two. We have three sea days this week.

Neighbors cat that crosses into my yard was not impressed when I tried to test it today.

Self testing is effectively equal to no testing. Not much of a point to it.

In February on Brilliance our sailaway had us leaving the dock around 4:30pm. All aboard was 4pm, sunset was at 6:06pm. At 6:40pm we were approaching the bridge. The sun had set but there was plenty of color left in the sky. We were still about 20 minutes away from the bridge. We had a specialty dinner booked for 8pm. An early seating might miss the bridge so if that is important maybe specialty dining with a 7:30pm or 8pm reservation would be a good night one approach while preserving early seating for the rest of the cruise. Nov. 19, 2022 sunset is around 5:36pm so everything will be just a bit darker on your sail out. PS - It can be windy and cold on the front of the ship with the sun down in these cooler months. Bring a warm coat or wind breaker.

I am usually reminded that the survey is important without reference to particular ratings. It's been several years since MDR staff told us they strive for 10-level service.

This is what we had waiting for us on Liberty today.

Hi Amanda, You are spot on about Celiac Disease! It was a precursor to my cancer. Oncologist said that my type of cancer usually comes back within 5 years after chemo. Mine did not, probably because I've been so good about being gluten free. The info which you shared is so very valuable to us fellow celiac people. Thank you so much!! We usually have the Johnny rockets shakes at least once per cruise. We were on a back to back last November on the Explorer of the seas. The first week we had our shakes they were very yummy! The second week the man behind the counter said No, the shakes are NOT gluten free!! I was very worried that I had been glutened the previous week. The manager said that they changed "suppliers" since last week, that last week the mix was gluten free, and this week it is not. He even brought out the box, and the label said "WHEAT" ! I told him he saved me a lot of grief & pain, and maybe even lengthened my life. Bottom line.... it never hurts to ask even if you've had it before.

WJ has dinner on every ship afaik.

I appreciate that you want to "save the waves" on vacation, CrimsonCruiser! I'm actually the opposite, I "save the waves" year round at home reusing towels a couple times before reaching for a fresh one, so while I'm on a cruise, I throw caution to the wind and enjoy the fresh towels and never reuse. I love coming back to our room and finding all fresh towels and a re-made room!

It's a ghost town in the early AM (based on Harmony and Indy over the past few months). Be aware, not sure how long you exercise, but the coffee machine may not be prepped and ready until 7am and breakfast was put out later than it used to be on both my recent cruises. My wife gets up even earlier than you to go running most mornings (yes, she's nuts) and my routine had always been to go to the DL for several early morning cappuccinos and a couple pastries (I call it pre-breakfast). I had to settle for my coffee at 7-ish on both ships. One DL concierge told me HQ decided to not leave the coffee machine on overnight as they often had pre-covid b/c they found too many people were breaking it while it was unattended. Made no sense to me b/c it's on and unattended all day between breakfast and happy hour but oh well. Minor annoyance but I still enjoy my free cappuccinos.

You book it onboard. When you purchase it the discount will be figured in the price you pay. We have the same thing with our D+. May also look at the internet before sailing. Sometimes you can get it cheaper than 15%.

congratulations!! diamond is such a fun achievement the last time we were in CK for dinner, our server did a doubletake when he saw that i was diamond and said i had to be the youngest person in the fleet i know he was just being kind but it made me laugh. (i also have a young face, i suppose ) the diamond lounge is nice to visit in the early mornings; i used to get up early to exercise around 6 and then hit the DL on my way back to the cabin for a quick yogurt or fun pastry and coffee. it's not usually as overrun as some of the other elite lounges (or at least, it wasn't pre-covid, so take this with a grain of salt!) and typically is quite mellow and relaxing. part of that may also be due to the fact that you have to haul it down to deck 4 on the oasis class ships, which is usually pretty quiet in the mornings as there are no shows/entertainment happening at that time. i am excited to use the free drink coupons now for all day (and also at coco cay thanks to @twangster's helpful reminder) and am so happy to offset my poolside treat/drink without having it hit my seapass card! also did not know it could be used for freshly squeezed OJ in the 'jammer, another special treat i would not have ordinarily taken advantage of if needing to pay ala carte for it. and don't forget you can also use them at wonderland for drinks at the bar!! (clearly i have my drink plans all mapped out hahaha) sidebar: does anyone know if it can be used for freshly squeezed juices in the vitality cafe?

was looking at oasis sailings for november/december '23 and got the same error message. unsure if the site needs some refresh or perhaps my browser does

May 14th Bahamas.

We board in 9 hours!! Some quick notes from our last couple of days: - we tested Friday morning and had our negative results before we even walked all the way home. -we flew with Vueling for the first time. Their check-in lines were absurd, but probably to be expected for a bank holiday weekend (which I had completely forgotten about). We went into the premium line by mistake (only had priority not premium, so shouldn’t have qualified). But they let us go through anyway because otherwise we most definitely would have missed our flight out of Gatwick. The agent’s decision to show mercy was like a sliding doors moment on this trip being successful or not! -Our transfer was waiting for us at arrivals but without the car seat I had paid extra for (and one of the primary reasons I booked an expensive transfer in advance over grabbing a taxi). We’re using the same company to get to the port tomorrow so we’ll see if they improve, else I’ll probably cancel the return trip to the airport after the cruise. -I’ll review the hotel after check out tomorrow but so far it’s been a good choice. -Barcelona was HOT and muggy today. I greatly preferred visiting in spring. -Dinner was a complete miss. We love tapas and intended to go to Guell Tapas right at opening for dinner, but I had to work and by the time we got there the wait was too long. We ended up walking into El Drac de Saint Jordi in the Gothic Quarter. Serve yourself tapas with cava. Food was boring, cold, and small. On the plus side, Wonder won’t have to work too hard to impress us with its food at this point. We are looking forward to our Windjammer lunch!

Hello, Who is scheduled to be the CD on Sept 18, 2022 Voyager sailing from Boston?

I hope so because no Oasis cruises are coming up. You can search and see them, but once you click to book "oops something went wrong" pops up. That's on every single Oasis cruise next year out of NJ.

Ok here is another interesting twist that I have to be honest, I'm worried about. Its not just that Oasis cruise. Its ALL Oasis cruises for 2023, at least the ones from NJ, I didn't check any other ports. Any Oasis cruise in 2023 from NJ gets the same exact message. I'm worried, are they taking Oasis away from NJ? Do they do things like that with no notice?

It is Greece that has sets these rules. Not RC

Serenade in May used Chops for the Suite/Pinnacle breakfast. It was a great way to start every day and I did start everyday there. To put it in perspective Radiance class is somewhere around 44% of the space of Oasis class. Understanding there is less than half the space leads to understanding there is much less real estate for many of the things you might love on Oasis class, including no space for a CK. The kids space is limited with a simple water play area compared to larger ships. In its day it was pretty freaking awesome with a small water slide but by today's mega ship standard the kid water area is very small and limited. Full suites don't include Voom on this class. No dedicated suite restaurant. The Concierge Lounge is something I like on this class. It features a bar with seating that makes social opportunities very easy if you enjoy that but it also has smaller seating areas if you don't want social interaction. I've met some great people in those CL's. Much more so than any Oasis class SL. There is no Solarium Bistro on Radiance class. There is a small deli food area in the Solarium which is where late night pizza and daytime Kümmelwecks are found among other choices. It's a scaled down Park Cafe from Oasis class, or the origins of Park Cafe found on Oasis class is another way to look at it. It worked and is popular so Park cafe found its way in a larger scale on Oasis class. I love the outdoor seating aft of the WJ. In May in the Centrum was a pair of ladies who were playing classical music on string instruments. That's not my thing but the music was so beautiful I stopped in my tracks walking through the area to go somewhere and I immediately forgot where somewhere that I was going was, so I sat down and listened until they finished. I've had Central Park moments like that on Oasis class and this was just as special. Serenade has a small movie theater. Unique to this class. Casino gets smokey, quickly. Only downside I can think of. Smaller ships are not for everyone. Being older and smaller it offers a classic cruise experience absent of zip lines and bumper cars and skating rinks. You are doing the right thing by researching so you can have the proper expectations which is the key to enjoying any older ship.

Puerto Rico has an agriculture bag inspection that you have to send your bags through before you can check them. It's usually pretty quick, but it is an extra step. Checked bags and carry-ons had to go through it the last time I flew out of there. We did an excursion and were one of the first groups to leave the ship. We weren't cleared to leave the ship until 7:30am. Everything would have to go smoothly for a 9am departure. There are several potential choke points in your way. Seems like a stressful end to your vacation. We had a late evening flight and chose to kill time doing an excursion that dropped us off at the airport, which was pretty enjoyable.

FYI, this is happening for other Oasis sailings as well, not just your specific one. The last sailing that I can get to pull up is the last 7-night April 2023 sailing out of Miami before it does the 4-nighter and goes up to Cape Liberty. The 4-nighter won't pull up either.

I personally wouldn't be comfortable with that departure time. Even if the ship docks on time at 6a, it still has to clear Port Authority. On a perfect day they would let people self-assist debark about 645a. In theory that could get you to the airport in a taxi by about 715a, again if everything was perfect. While 715a would be ok for checkin with bags, you couldn't be much later than that. I would be too stressed!

Day 4: St. Thomas We started breakfast with the continental from room service, but my wife didn’t order coffee because supposedly the coffee tastes better when I go out to get it in the morning. The bagel, cream cheese, and orange juice was good, but the donut was the worst donut I have ever had. I never in my life thought I would say I had a bad donut. After breakfast, my wife got ready and went shopping for a beach bag. I stayed back at the room, but I figured Valerio probably wanted to get our room picked up so he could go about his day. I didn’t find my wife in the shop with the beach bags, but instead in Regalia fine jewelry. To make a long story short, we need to downgrade our room in an inside room, maybe even the onboard brig for the rest of the cruise. Why couldn’t she find a dollar tree on the ship? Lunch was at the Solarium Bistro, the food was good, nothing to write home about. We did St. Thomas on our own. We got into a taxi at the port and the driver told us what the fare would be. While he was driving, he must have received a memo from corporate headquarters informing him of a price increase because when we arrived at the sky ride ( or two blocks away where he dropped us off, the price increased $2 per person. The sky ride was cool and the view amazing, but there wasn’t a lot to do at the top of paradise point. We took great photos and had a drink. My wife and I had a banana daiquiri it was delicious and our server was great. The people running the sky ride were friendly and helpful. Whenever my father got on or off the tram, they stopped it for him because of his mobility issues. We rode a taxi back to the ship where all but myself, my wife, my brother, and my sister in law got off we continued on to Magen's Bay. The driver was so cool and drove us there for the quoted price. He even stopped by Drake’s Seat so my brother could get a geocache. One thing I learned is in St. Thomas, traffic safety is merely a suggestion. Magen’s Bay was beautiful, but we didn’t have a lot of time there. Our ship arrived almost 2 hours late due to the medical evacuation the other day that took us off course. Two taxi drivers got into an argument over us. I thought it might go to blows. The taxi business in St. Thomas is cutthroat. I could see a series on Bravo: The Real Taxi Drivers of St. Thomas. Back at port, my brother and I returned to the ship while my wife and sister in law continued to shop. I will admit I did worry my wife and sister-in-law might miss the boat, but they didn’t. When my wife returned to the ship, we went to the windjammer, but stopped first at the schooner bar to hide a duck. It was ten minutes until the LGBTQIA get together and we had a cute duck with rainbow hearts. At the windjammer we enjoyed the jerk chicken or as my wife called it, The Rick chicken. After dinner another trip to the bionic bar and then the adult comedy show. I really enjoyed the show, but definitely one comedian more than the other. After the comedy show we rode the Rising Tide bar and played the card game I launched on Kickstarter and had extra copies after I fulfilled all the orders. We finished the card game where all the “adults” laughed and had a good time, while the “kids” (early 20’s) just put up with us. On the way back to the room, my wife stopped by Sorento's for pizza and made friends with two little kids (it was past midnight) because she misses our grandkids. Stray observation: now every time we return to our room, our room steward greets us while he unlocks and opens our door for us. The service is beyond what we expected. Tomorrow is St. Kitts and swimming with the dolphins.

Well technically the testing will be dropped on Sept 5th like all the other lines, but it was announced today. Anyone who had in Sept is a winner, winner and gets a chicken dinner......or the chicken sandwich from PDCC when they sail.

Welcome to the message boards! It'll be cheaper online than onboard!

Thank you for this post @Amanda92. My wife needs to eat gluten free and the amount of effort the staff puts into accommodating her dining needs is top-notch. Recently on Odyssey, the effort was ramped up even more than on previous cruises. They did a great job modifying just about everything. (Especially, the apple pie a la mode!) We agree about the pizza at Sorrento's. Unless you ask for it to be baked a little longer, it tends to be underdone. I can't tell you how much stressed is eased off of her mind by not having to worry about mistakenly being served glutenous items and by knowing she is going to be able to eat delicious, well prepared foods throughout our vacation. One note about Odyssey (and possibly other Quantum ships): The Café Two70 staff were terrific about gluten free options! We visited for breakfast on our first morning and a staff member assisted with preparing her breakfast sandwich with a gluten-free bagel (Udi's). This staff member (Rohman) and another (Emmanbien) obviously made mental notes of this because for the remainder of the cruise, whenever we would enter Two70, one of them would seemingly appear out of nowhere right next to her to personally ask her would she would like to have! Fantastic!