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Dinner 10/3/22 Coastal kitchen: filet night filet was so tender you really didn’t need a knife!sides: Escargot And then i was surprised with a song And cake to celebrate my birthday. The entire crew and even other patrons joined in to sing . I was very impressed!! Red velvet cake Romina our genie is very sneaky with the celebrations and I loved it so much!

I like it, but I have nothing to compare it to. I’ve never used any other language learning program nor did I take any languages when I was in school. It starts off pretty basic and builds from there. I review a lot of the earlier lessons frequently because my goal is not have to pause in a conversation and translate what I’m hearing, then have to translate my response before I reply. I have the app on my phone and iPod, so with headphones, I’ve been able to do lessons everywhere. I only use the microphone (for my own speaking) when I’m alone and so far I’ve had no problems with this part of the lessons. In addition to the Babbel lessons, I’ve been listening to beginner Italian podcasts and reading young childrens books. Babbel does have a program where you can talk with native speakers but I haven’t felt comfortable doing that yet Immersion would be the best, but that’s not possible for me. When I was 20, my appendix burst while I was deployed, and the closest place for me to get immediate medical care was in a Japanese civilian hospital. I spent almost a month there and by the end of it, I could understand enough Japanese to make myself understood and get the gist of what was being said to me. My goal with Italian is to reach that level of proficiency (and maybe a little higher). One bonus with Italian is the alphabet is similar to English. The only Kanji characters I could ever recognize were the ones for “No Smoking”.

Ask a cardiologist.

Matt: Not just a blogger, but a Chinese linguist, too!

Just got off a 5 night and it’s like Ashley said, our first sea day was day 2 and that’s when it was, 10am

Well I guess we know where @WAAAYTOOOwill be cruising next

I take 5 minutes to learn the important words/phrases in each new country port stop- Beer please, thank you, and take me to the ship.

It appears their new strategy of getting in new cruisers is happening in the casino department with the comped cruises. Many newbies to the casino are reporting a large amount of offers for comped cruises while many who have been cruising this past year and/or have numerous cruises books are receiving none, or next to none comps. The value is definitely there, however they need to take into account it will likely still be a rough year ahead until they get their crew trained and settled. The ships I've been on have had about 1/2 of the people sailing as C&A members. Of course there could be some who don't sign up for C&A but if thats still a lot of people who are new to the line. Are they impressed enough to come back? When the prices increase, will they stay? and of course the current economy impacts a lot of that extra $ people would use for travel.

We view cruising as a 4 week time-share (two B2B's annually). And with sons in FL and CA, we combine visits with them with our sailings.

Somebody get a napkin for @Sweetyso she doesn't drool everywhere.

Nobody can google translate faster than me!

Sorry to hear about your situation. I'm a firm believer in travel insurance. It came in handy about 4 years ago. My wife had a complication after eye surgery and the doctor told us not to go on the ship. This was at midnight before we were due to fly out in the morning with my parents. All four of us were reimbursed fully because of the travelers insurance. We didn't purchase it due to the eye surgery, we just always did and boy did it pay off.

Labadee was fantastic! Great weather awesome meal at barefoot beach! When we returned to ship we found this:wow genie Romina can really make things special . Above and beyond the call of duty

Check out our list: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/09/26/best-shore-excursion-every-caribbean-cruise-port

No for a few reasons. 1) Royal doesn't necessarily show all availability on its site. This used to be more obvious when comparing with the UK/European versions of the site but now both use the same engine. 2) You're far enough away that Travel Agencies may be holding unseen inventory at group rates. This gets returned to Royal at some point and either shows up on the site or could be used to satisfy those GTYs. 3) Even when a category shows as fully book/sold out, Royal can just decide to wait until boarding day to assign you a room. There's no rhyme or reason to why they do this. RoyalUp can also play a factor. They could actually sell ALL the interior rooms without leaving any for GTYs because they know some of those rooms will get vacated by people that bid for and win RoyalUps. Then, they give you one of the now vacant rooms and they've made extra money.

Um, I disagree....a lot spoiled! LOL!!

A standard cabin (non-suite) will have bar soap and a combo body wash/shampoo dispenser. You'll need anything else and if you're picky about hair products, definitely don't rely on the combo.

This is standard policy, no price match after final payment. Wr all got a little spoiled with the relaxed “Covid Policies”, but alas; they are gone

My wonderful TA @Sharla did explain to me that if you find that what you paid for your room now exceeds what you can get a higher lever room for you can call and they will move up to the higher lever room if there are any available. My example is we booked an interior on Wonder to add someone last minute like a week before final payment date and the price was almost 3k and I figured oh the price could go down closer in but since we no longer can get it adjusted past final payment then if say an ocean view or a balcony goes under 3K before sailing that we could call and move the interior room to the higher category. So at least a reason I have still been watching the price since final payment.

It won't be exactly 12am but around that time based on the port you will be sailing out of.

We stayed at Fairfield Inn and Suites a few weeks ago on a Friday night before our cruise. The rooms are large and very clean and comfortable. Price was only $150 and included breakfast. They provided water bottles in our room and at the checkin desk passed out warm cookies. Free mimosas on the Saturday morning! We ate delicious, hot free popcorn while we were playing cards in the large sitting area near the lobby after we had taken a walk around the area. There are a few restaurants within a 10 minute walk and a Wendy’s and a Dunkin Donuts just a 1 minute away! They do offer a shuttle to the port but it is $15/person and the time was 10:45 but we had 10:30 boarding so we opted for a Lyft which was much cheaper and faster!

We are flying into FLL and staying at the Springhill Suites (free airport shuttle & breakfast) in Dania Beach in 3 weeks. SAS Shuttle to POM $15 each then they are returning us to that hotel at the end of the cruise as we are staying one more night. Three nights at the hotel with AAA discount $500.

It depends on ship and itinerary. Some will be 5:15 and some 5:30, there is usually a 15min leeway so it not that big of a deal.

@bobroo good point!! I have also been noticing when booking on line if you ask for 2 rooms, they seem to be pricing you more for that option than for 2 separate rooms. At least I have seen some of that recently while doing pricing exercises. Would make business sense, do to the limited number of connecting cabins at times where both are still open to book.

All 'ya alls know any two adjoining rooms with their balcony partition open is preferable in many, many ways to some "connected rooms" designation, right???

Sunday lunch Izumi

Debarkation was easy but a little depressing. We had gotten a note in our rooms telling us due to marine traffic we'd need to be off the ship by 745 the latest. Woke up around 430am to open curtains to see the beautiful skyline and fell back asleep for another hour. By 6am we were ready to go and see if we should get breakfast from the Key offering but it was just too early and felt too rushed. We wound up just leaving. Luggage was easy for me but my friend's duffle was missing. After some yelling and a lot of back and forth it magically appeared in the area - I think someone grabbed it accidentally or it was left on the rack because we turned around and it was right there. I mean, right there. lol. I was in my car by 643. If my friend didn't have luggage issues I would've been in my car by 625. I had worried about the parking situation because I forgot to take note of the parking lot area I was in. It was ridiculously easy. I was worried about the overcrowded lot I was in. Again, ridiculously easy. Made it home in a little over an hour. Because it was so early I went home, unpacked, went food shopping and then told my friend I was home so I could pick up my dog. I had heard our ship never moved because of the high winds so the early debarkation was not necessary. Not thrilled about it but it was nice to be home. I had had a house cleaner friend clean my house for the first time ever. THAT was fun to come home to. I'm pretty clean but DAYUM she got every crevice and molding.

If connected rooms are important, I would have paid the extra $200, I think the odds of it happening with GTY rate are very slim. fingers crossed

My two year old son likes to wear his D+ pin on board!

We are board and in our suite.

(I skipped yesterday so here is yesterday’s and today’s update.) Day 2: A perfect half day at Cococay We spent most of our day at Cococay and half of it was a perfect day. The other half, not so much. Let me start by saying none of the bad luck was Royal Caribbean’s fault, mostly just bad luck and some stupidity on my part. We got of the the ship, no problem. My wife dipped me in a vat of 9,265 spf sunscreen. She held me by my heel so I had an Achilles sunburn. After the sunscreen I got into the pool at the oasis lagoon, got a drink and floated around for about 15 minutes when I realized my iPhone was in the pocket of my swimsuit. Luckily it survived. Following the lagoon and a few more drinks, we headed to chill island where we snorkeled. My wife bought two full face snorkeling masks on Amazon for under $19 each, which also came with dry bags for our phones and ear plugs. The masks worked perfectly, the pictures from our phones in the dry bag were less than average. But the masks I highly recommend. We snorkeled by the giant rock and saw a lot of fish, but I’m not a strong swimmer, so the poor lifeguard almost had an anxiety attack watching over me so I gave him a break by giving up and sitting in a lounge chair. I absolutely hate the beach. We live near a beach and I loathe it. Our beach has year round freezing temperatures, a strong undercurrent, and sand. However, at Cococay, I didn’t mind it because I was resting in a lounger under an umbrella and a nice guy kept bringing me drinks. When my wife and sister in law finished snorkeling, we headed to the snack shack on our way back to the lagoon. I got a chicken sandwich and a brownie, my wife got the funnel cake. Back at the lagoon, a bird promptly stole and ate my wife’s funnel cake and to show his appreciation, he pooped on our beach towel. I headed back to the lagoon where I got a drink and then lost my seapass card. After retracing my steps in the pool for about 45 minutes, I gave up and reported my lost card to security. Then after being told several times to stop doing backflips into the pool by lifeguards, a kid continued to doing backflips into the pool, but he finally stopped when he flipped head first into the side of my sister’s face causing bruising and swelling. After that my 76 year old father slipped and fell. The lead lifeguard treated his wounds well, he was very kind staying with my parents the entire time and even arranged transportation back to the ship for my parents and sister in law who was helping them. I was done so my wife and I headed back to the ship where I waited in line with all the other careless people who lost their cards. I was given a temporary pass to get back on the ship. After a shower and a rest, I was issued a new card at guest services and then was dinner. I was hungry so I ordered two appetizers: Asian style pork tacos and a shrimp cocktail, two entrees: the garlic tiger shrimp and the salmon. Because I didn’t want to be a pig, I only ordered one dessert. Due to a medical emergency, we diverted to Nassau for an medical evacuation. A few people expressed their displeasure with the casino closing due to being in port. Following dinner was the ice skating show: 1887 a journey in time. The skating was amazing, but I had a hard time following the plot (that is if it even had a plot). Then another trip to the wonderland bar to try the rest of the cocktails on their menu. It was super close to closing time, but they stayed open later to accommodate our party of 9 (my dad stayed in their room.) the mad hatter was even super friendly to my 75 year old mother. She loved the wonderland bar and wants to go back. After a late night pizza and a beer, it was back to our room for bed. Day 3: a sea day Today was a sea day so we slept in, I got us coffee to drink on the balcony. Next was a quick bite to eat at the mini bites breakfast. Some of it was delicious and other things were just okay. Then off for more coffee at cafe promenade. The cold brew was great. My wife went to lay by the pool and I started drinking pina coladas taking them back to the room to drink on the balcony while watching the water go by. Then it was up to the pool deck to find my wife and watch the sexiest man contest. I didn’t last long on the pool deck and headed back inside. I waited in the rising tide bar where the bartender said it would rise in about five minutes. Fifteen minutes later we never launched and I received a text from my wife they were headed to the windjammer, so I got off the rising tide bar and has an unremarkable lunch at the windjammer. My nephew and sister in law boogie boarded and then my nephew headed over to the standup surfing flow rider. My brother was in line to zip line. We stood in between to see who would go first, but they both went at the same time. Then it was off to get ready for dinner. For appetizers I ordered the wedge salad and shrimp cocktail. For an entrée I got the seafood fettuccini Alfredo, and the soufflé for dessert. Like always the food was excellent, but the service was even better. The only mishap was the drink waiter spilled a Jack and Coke in my brother’s lap. He had to eat the rest of the dinner with a soggy grundle, which just so happens to also be the name of a band I saw at the Fillmore two weeks ago. On the way to the room to change my clothes, I found the stowaway piano player again. We saw him briefly at the wonderland bar last night. I messaged my family and they came down to see him. I tipped him and he asked me three times if I had a request. I declined the first two times and finally asked if he would play Let it be by the Beatles. He is by far the best entertainer on the ship. Next up was Grease. We all loved it, although my wife politely had to shush the older couple in front of us who decided that the middle of a Broadway musical was the best time to hold a loud conversation about their lives. I was also very concerned for the girl who sat next to the loud conversationalists that she would be unsuccessful at Candy Crush, but to my surprise she was better than I expected because she kept that game going for almost the entire hour and a half performance. There are nearly 6,000 passengers on the Harmony of the Seas this week and tonight it was obvious. The only other times that I noticed that we have that many people on the ship is every time I get on the elevator with all the other 5,999 passengers on the same elevator. Stray observation: We went to the bionic bar tonight. Although I love the concept, the cocktail wasn’t very good, but it could be I just picked out one of their cocktails. It’s amazing that someone probably graduated from MIT with a phd and then invented a robot bartender. It’s genius really. Although I didn’t like the cocktail, I really liked my bartender, R2-3PO. Nice guy, has a family back home, he showed me a photo. He married a lovely blender and they are raising 3 sweet, but rambunctious toasters. Tomorrow (or today) is a stop at St. Thomas.

Day 1 Harmony of the Seas August 21-29, 2022 Like a kid at Christmas, I woke up early this morning, 5:30 am to be exact, which wouldn’t be bad, except I’m from California so it was really 2:30 am my time. We took an uneventful shuttle from the hotel to the port and check in and security couldn’t have been any smoother. The port employees were super friendly and helpful. Our 10:30 am boarding was pushed back slightly, but we were on the boat by 11:00 and that wasn’t with any special boarding status. I had a drink in my hand as soon as I hit the first bar. A painkiller from Boleros. The best drink so far. We went to the windjammer to eat and make show reservations. A nice gentleman was walking around offering Bahama Mamas and I didn’t want to offend him so I got one. I ate mahi mahi, roast beef, and potato wedges, the food was okay, what you’d expect from a buffet. I finished my drink and left to the pool deck to find a bar with a blender. I ordered a lava flow with kraken. The bartender didn’t know how to make a lava flow while giving a valiant effort. I give him credit for trying something new. While drinking my lava flow, that nice gentleman offered me another Bahama mama. I had to politely decline his offer because my wife told me to slow down. I had three drinks in an hour and it was only noon or 9:00 am California time. We mustered, checked into our room and unpacked before my wife headed out to get a pedicure at the spa, I warned her about the high pressure add ons they try to sell you. She assured me she wouldn’t get suckered, so naturally she bought an add on. Next was sail away where we passed Kennedy Space Center, where supposedly we could see the rocket on the launch pad for next Monday’s launch. We didn’t see it. After sail away we headed to dinner. I ordered two appetizers, the Maryland style crab cakes (delicious) and the escargot. The escargot was just okay, but much better than I remember the taste of the garden variety snails I ate from our yard as a young boy. Maybe boy me put too much salt on them back in the day. For my entrée I had the prime rib, which the horseradish au jus sold me, unfortunately I tasted no horseradish, bummer. The apple blossom pastry and ice cream for dessert was tasty. I had a glass of Merlot with dinner. After dinner we got separated from our family so I talked my wife into going to the Wonderland bar for a drink. I had the white rabbit Rita and my wife had the smoke rings. If you go on Harmony of the Seas, I highly recommend you get the Smoke Rings, for presentation alone it gets an AA++++++. Next was the Aqua theater show Fine Line. I’m mixed, because there was way too much dancing for my taste, but the high divers and slack liners were amazing. I almost had a heart attack with the high wire act. Fricken amazing. I liked the show, but wouldn’t see it a second time. Next was Nick Reeve playing piano and vocals at the schooner bar. He was terrific. Then it was a slice of pizza at Sorrento’s followed by a trip to the room for a shower and bed. Stray observations: I was so worried about getting seasick, but so far nothing. I told my wife she had to take care of me if I vomit because of our wedding vows, in seasickness and in health. She’s not buying it. The sea seems flatter than my first girlfriend, no, no, no, it’s not what you think, she was run over by a steamroller our senior year. We didn’t work out, not because she was flattened, it’s just I could be a little much and her patience grew thin. But don’t feel bad for us, I met my wife and she married Flat Stanley. They have a small family. The USB outlets in our room don’t work. We reported it, but it hasn’t been fixed yet. With rechargeable hearing aids, phones, my Cpap and other things we play power outlet roulette. Tomorrow is Cococay, I don’t know if anyone is interested, but I’ll report back tomorrow night. Good night.

We are sailing on the same cruise, also in a balcony cabin, and I also use a CPAP. My TA noted this when making our reservations and included it on our travel documents. If I were you, I would have your TA contact RC Special Needs Dept and request an extension cord and distilled water be provided to your room for both of your CPAPs. I read somewhere that there is an outlet located under the bed which is the perfect place to plug in the cord for your CPAPS.

Thought this article from The Street was interesting. It basically says that cruise lines don't charge enough for the value you get. That you can take a cruise cheaper than a comparable vacation on land. My wife and I have known that for sometime. We live in the north, we often look for a cheap cruise out of Florida in the winter because it's cheaper than getting a hotel, not even counting the meals, entertainment and free activities you get on a ship. If you figure in transportation costs (about a 22 hour drive or 2.5-3 hours by plane) it was still a good value and would be the same if you stayed on land or took a cruise. When you fly down (when flights were cheap) but pay $200+ night for a hotel room the night before the cruise it offsets the value somewhat. I used to drive 17 hours straight, spend a night or two at the inlaws* house then drive another 2-4 hours (depending on which port we go out of) for $100 in gas. Maybe two or three times that now with the higher gas prices. We have a 8 day cruise the end of November (just after Thanksgiving) that with on board credit from our travel agent, stock and other incentives is costing us less than $100/ night for the two of us. We will drive down to the inlaws house straight through. Spend the night and then it's a 4 hour drive to the port. We have another cruise the first week of Feb. I think that one is costing us $107/night (after OBC rebates) and is a two hour drive from the in-laws house. *inlaws=94 year old mother in law w/alzimers who now lives in a home near us. FIL died last year. My wife maintains their Florida house. We would live there in the winter but for my 95 year old mother and 94 y/o MIL. ...Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC, Virgin Have a Pricing Problem Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean, along with rivals MSC and Virgin Voyages have returned to sailing with ships that can carry their full passenger loads. In many cases, the two public cruise companies are actually sailing at 90% or higher capacity. Neither has quite hit pre-pandemic passenger levels, but they're well on their way to getting there. Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein shared a lot of positives during the call but did point out a major problem. "We are delivering a great all-inclusive vacation experience, convenient, great dining and entertainment choices, fantastic itineraries, beautiful and innovative ships, and the most amazing onboard teams, providing a hi level of personalized service than you can find anywhere on land or sea," he said. "The issue is we are way too much of a value. We should not be priced at a significant discount to land, which is exactly the case today, anywhere from 25% to 50% based on itineraries." Basically, it's cheaper to take a cruise -- a vacation that includes all the food you can eat -- than it is to take a comparable trip on land. That's very good news for would-be passengers (and what Weinstein said is very obvious to people who cruised regularly before the pandemic). Neither MSC nor Virgin Voyages are public, so they don't report results but you can book many trips (there are always exceptions) on those cruise lines at prices well below what each line charged pre-covid. Royal Caribbean, Carnival, MSC, and Virgin can only raise prices if demand increases. Weinstein has some ideas as to how to do that. "As our brands have now been increasing their advertising investment, we will increase awareness and consideration and actively target those that are new-to-cruise. While we're still carrying a higher proportion of repeat guests, we have seen an improving trend in new-to-cruise and are already two-thirds of the way back to 2019 levels," he said. Advertising (and low prices) can bring in customers who have never cruised before, but that's not the only way Carnival expects to bring those passengers onboard. "About one-third of our guests have historically been new to cruise. And as you probably know, two of the most important drivers of new-to-cruise are word of mouth and advertising," the CEO said. "With respect to word of mouth, after the pause, we have been building back our army of advocates that leave the ships, spreading the word about the unparalleled vacation experiences we deliver day in and day out."

My wife and I had the same discussion last week on Navigator. It was our first cruise back at full capacity. While we enjoyed the uncrowded ships it was also really nice being back on a ship that had some 'life'. I was a little worried about crowds but was quickly reminded how cruise ships have a way of dispersing crowds. Other than pool decks on sea days we never felt 'crowded', lines were non existant after day 1 and we had a fantastic cruise. I'll take the 'old' experience than the half full ship with masks and testing requirements anyday.

My wife and I were just talking about our experiences sailing during the pandemic. It really was the best of times and the worst of times……from getting OBC for prices drops after final payment to our sailing on Adventure with 480ish guests to having to wear masks everywhere and the stress of testing.

I would call because we were just there this past summer and we rented one on the beach. The children were everywhere. Good luck, please let us know! Only one person rents them, you rent it and bring the others up to the cabana capacity.

5+ years ago that was the case. Her issues are minor compared to where she had been. She is back to work and living a normal life. Thank heavens.

This translates to "Can it be done without a computer? Too much trouble to get a computer? Can I use VOOM on my phone?" Yes you can easily log onto the ship's Voom with your phone. Once you connect to the wifi, it will prompt you.

@MattG 6 inches approximately.

Yeah, they're always at least 20 foot cords. We have to keep well over half of it rolled up so it's not in the path of anyone getting up in the middle of the night.

Are the extensions they provide large enough if you're sleeping on the far side of the bed? Going to cruise on Navigator the seas and it looks like the outlet is quite a distance away from the bed

Yep

Once your cabin is assigned, you can call and request to change it to any available room in the exact same category as the assigned room. (Keep in mind the category is going to be more specific than Inside or Oceanview. There are actually quite a few categories within those broader designations.) The odds of getting connected rooms when doing a guarantee booking are not high. Especially considering you may not be assigned until very close to the sailing date and ships are sailing full these days so 2 available rooms next to each other is a hard thing to find.

Jeff you mentioned you aren't doing AOTS, I believe you might be able to switch the cruise over to them if it isn't too late. And if it is, I know that they've given RC some sort of designation as being autism friendly. I would contact RC's special needs department and explain your situation, perhaps they could make arrangements for boarding? It's been many years since my little guy (now 20) needed accommodations on board, but I do recall that if the right people were made aware, they'd do everything they could. Your TA might be right, it might be on your official paperwork/info, but my concern would be getting that information to the right people with the right timing. Also, can you stay in Civitavecchia itself the night before the cruise, to minimize the craziness, instead of coming in from Rome city? I recall it's a bit of a schlep from Rome to the port.

We need More!

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.

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.

I have sailed with a C-Pap many times. I always make a request at booking to provide an extension cord and distilled water. Originally, the cord and water were waiting for us in our room. On later cruises, the items weren't delivered until I asked our cabin attendant. But they've always been supplied. On some ships, the 110v outlet was convenient to the bedside, on others, the extension cord was plugged in elsewhere in the cabin.