Leaderboard

Ok, I'm gonna try this blog thing again. We sailed Oasis in January to PDCC\Cozumel\Roatan\Costa Maya, and I attempted to "live blog". I think I posted about 4 times and it was like two days later every time, which by then I forgot all of the details of my days, so it wasn't a very good report. SO I will try this again. For one- we will have more than one Wi-Fi plan, so that will make it easier on me not having to fight the kid to use the log in, lol. This will be the same trio as the last trip, Myself, wife (Lisa) and 11yo Son (Chase). Wife has a Deluxe beverage plan, I have a Refreshment package (I'll be celebrating almost 2 years sober on this trip) and the boy doesn't drink much other than water and some juice, so he's going ala carte. This will be our first cruise out of NJ, and really excited to NOT be flying in. We live in South Philadelphia, right near the famous cheesesteak places and the Italian market (you may know this from the famous Rocky running scene-before the run up the steps) We are still going back and forth about getting there, I'm 99% sure I'll just drive but we have weighed the option of the train-but at the end of the cruise, I'm just going to want to get in and go. As for the cruise itself, we are doing the Port Canaveral\PDCC\Nassau run that seems to be the most common run from Port Liberty. Our last time on Oasis we had a boardwalk balcony and actually really enjoyed it, when I booked this one right after the previous one I picked another BW Balcony, but picked the very last one in the back- hoping for a nice view of the water and the aqua show (noise doesn't bother us). I then transferred the reservation to a TA, my first time using one. She got in touch with us a few weeks later to inform me that OV Balconies were available and would be about $200 more total for the three us to upgrade, so we jumped on that, moving to Deck 14, port side Aft with an ocean view balcony- we appear to be directly below the mini golf, which I assume won't cause much noise from above. This will be the first time any of us have had an ocean balcony, so that adds some excitement. Ok, I've laid the ground work and bored you enough, I'll update with excursions and other plans we have made as we get closer to sail time! Oh- last time we didn't do much on the ship other than Aqua show and Ice show, so this time we will be doing a lot more of the other stuff like comedy shows, headliners, game shows and such...I may even do a little Karaoke! Excited to bring you all along for our little journey.

Excursions Like a few of you on these blogs, a @twangster Alaska cruise blog is what convinced me to book this one. He always said to have a hefty budget for Alaskan excursions and he was not wrong! (PS. Can we all get together and group-fund his photo server fees to see those beauties again?) We are spending ~$750 per person on our 4 excursions which is a far cry from $75 pp/per excursion in the Caribbean. I have seen prices rise crazily since I started booking these excursions a year ago. I got the zipline in Victoria for $106 each - currently $194, Kayak in Juneau for $207 each - currently $324. Just wild increases!! Sitka I had planned to head out to The Fortress of the Bear in the morning via public shuttle, but just found out Sunday they’re at visitor capacity limits and will close the venue on days the town passenger count exceeds 5,000… which of course includes our scheduled stop. Hopefully I see some in-the-wild bears to make up for it! Instead, I found a walking tour map of Sitka, so we will still cruise around and see the totem pole trail, possibly swapping the Raptor Center in place of the bears. We do have a private marine life tour with Sitka Adventures in the afternoon! I found this tour simply by Googling 'Sitka tours,' knowing I wanted to get on the water in this port. Captain Gary has great reviews, I am hoping he will cruise us by Rockwell Island as I am a sucker for lighthouses. Icy Strait Point I bought all-day gondola tickets to the top of Alice Mountain through the cruise planner + a small boat whale watching excursion through Trip Advisor. I settled for this similar excursion in two ports because I didn’t find much else we wanted to do here (once we got it swapped for Skagway) and I wanted a smaller boat than the tours offered through RC. More chances for me to spot otters and whales and bears, oh my! Juneau I have dubbed this day Glacier Day as we’ll be cruising Dawes in the early morning and kayaking on Lake Mendenhall in Juneau in the afternoon. Hopefully we’ll be getting a bit closer to the glacier than we did during this day’s earlier drive-by. I had originally planned to take the Blue Bus straight to the Mendenhall visitor’s center and hike to Nugget Falls but am so glad I booked this since everyone’s future Blue Bus tickets were recently refunded. They’ve also reached their max tourist limit for this season and guests will have to make their way to Mendenhall on their own. I thiiiink I might also get Goldbelt Tram tickets for after our excursion, it’s just so hard to say no to a gondola ride and scenic mountain vista! Victoria We are getting in to port at 5pm (!) so this will feel a lot like a third sea day. We booked a zip lining excursion through Royal since we have such little time in this port. The venue (AdrenaLINE Zipline Adventure Tours) isn’t even open after 5pm during normal operating hours so we couldn’t have done this one on our own if we tried. The excursion wont get back until 9:30pm so I have a note to try and remember to start packing on the previous night. Boooo. We booked iFly on our first cruising day, and I also snagged The Royal Society of Puzzles on Day 4 at ISP (after all-aboard so I wont feel like I am missing out on precious port time). We love playing video games so an escape-room-ish situation with puzzles sounds amazing. Entertainment bookings opened at the 6 week mark but the only show available before boarding is Starwater in the 270. We have it scheduled for night 1 since I figure we’ll be at our freshest! Who knows what a day in Alaska takes out of you?

Sunrise pictures

My favorite song is Don't Stop Believing so we named our restaurant "Just A Small Town Grill" instead of Girl and the guys sang it for us that night substituting the word Grill for me! How fun is that????

Our granddaughter's first cruise was at 10.5 months. She remembers details of the cruise that neither of her parents, her grandmother, or her uncle recall. To be fair, some of those details were during her special time with Gramps between 5:00 a.m. daily wakeup and 8:00 or later everybody else joins us in the Windjammer.

@ScottD, congratulations on your 2 year anniversary. I know that is a very big accomplishment. Awesome !

Checking entertainment for next week MO5AIC will be the headliners. If you followed my blog last year you might remember that they came for dinner in the suite and gave us a couple hour private show! They’re not only talented but down to earth fun guys. One or two of the guys communicate with the daughters now and then on Instagram, or Instacart or one of those chat things. He told her a month or so again they would be on this cruise but I thought he was joking. What a coincidence. Almost a year to the day! Looking forward to seeing them!

We are heading out on our first Alaskan adventure in less than a week! I booked this cruise last June, two months before getting married/going on our honeymoon to Greece and somehow at the time, all I could think was “we’re going to Alaaaaska!” The days have flown by and suddenly this once-mystical seeming month of September 2023 is upon us and we’re finally going to get to see some majestic Alaskan scenery before all the glaciers melt completely. I am most excited to sit out on my balcony and see waterfalls streaming down mountains, and check things off my Alaskan wildlife checklist (which includes a bear, eagle, otter and whale)! Itinerary This 7-night sailing makes four port stops. We were originally slated to visit Skagway on Day 4 but got it swapped for ISP due to the (un)available dock space in Skagway after a landslide last year. I was so sad since I had White Pass Railroad tickets at an amazing price, I so wanted to ride it after seeing it on an episode of Mighty Trains on Smithsonian channel. Guess it means we’ll just have to make it back to Alaska again in the future! (PS. Where my Mighty Cruise Ships fans at??? Best show on TV) Day 1 - Monday - Departs Seattle, WA Day 2 - Tuesday - Cruising Day 3 - Wednesday - Sitka, AK Day 4 - Thursday - Icy Strait Point, Hoonah, AK Day 5 - Friday - Dawes Glacier & Juneau, AK Day 6 - Saturday - Cruising Day 7 - Sunday - Victoria, BC Day 8 - Returns to Seattle Who’s Going - my husband (Adrian) and I (Daryl) Cabin Back slumming it in an Ocean View Balcony on the 12th deck (12254). Alaska is wayyy pricier than the Caribbean so I couldn’t swing a JS this time as it has been consistently priced about $2k more than our balcony. I need that money for lavish excursions!! Pre-Purchases As usual, I had to stalk the DBP for awhile before purchasing, we finally got it at $62.99, the lowest price I have seen since the pandemic! I am guessing sales aren’t great on our sailing since others on September dates have reported $68 as the sale price. We have two specialty dinners booked at Izumi and Wonderland on nights 2 and 4. I am still thinking about adding Jamie’s on night 6... should I give in? It just doesn’t seem worth $49 each. We ate there on Navigator but that was back when it was priced around $32 which seems more reasonable for the fare. I can’t wait to see what Wonderland is all about! I am sure it’s a one-and-done, but figured we have to try it out since it will be the first ship we’ve be on that has it as an option. If all else fails, at least we’ll finally get to taste The World as a consolation prize. We have a two-device Voom plan this time, we will see how speeds compare to sailing in the Caribbean. I am going to try my best to keep the live-ness up on this blog! Pre-Cruise We are flying in a day early simply because it’s a Sunday and my husband and I will already have the day off. There were about 5 safe options that could’ve gotten us up the coast from San Diego on the morning of embarkation but since neither of us have been to Seattle, getting to see a new city was a bonus! We used A2S and got the tickets for $120 each on the day booking opened, now my Google flight tracker says the same exact flight costs $838 per person!! We’re staying at the Holiday Inn Downtown because it’s close to the Space Needle and was one of few hotels available because of 2 large Seattle conferences that start Monday. I booked it last October so I have to assume people trying to find a hotel right now are scrambling. Everything I want to see seems walkable from this location! While in Seattle we are planning on seeing Pike Place Market, walking the waterfront, riding the Wings Over Washington ride (one of my favorite DCA attractions is Soarin’) and visiting the aquarium. I have Space Needle tickets booked for embarkation morning at 10am, mostly since it should be a lot quieter than the alternative options on Sunday afternoon. This is also nice because I was planning on riding the North Star first thing on boarding to see the city but it’s still broken down and will be until Quantum’s next dry dock. Feel free to ask any Quantum/Alaska itinerary questions. Having sailed only Freedom, Oasis, Navigator and Brilliance we are so excited to try out this new (to us) class of ship! Of course these boards/RCblog have proved valuable in getting me up to speed on Quantum class so I would love to help out future cruisers any way I can. Been watching this countdown since it was in the mid-400’s!! Ahhhhh!

I would think the leader of our Suite Snob Nation would only need to let Miami know of your wishes and it would happen! Seriously, I hope you do get to see them again. Such talent. And when they did the impromptu performance in our suite you could tell how much they enjoy what they do and their relationships with each other! Lots of laughing and joking.

Wow ! An Antarctic expedition ship would be awesome !

My sister did an overnight Amtrak journey with her family and she had 2 pieces of advice - 1. pack lots of snacks and beverages because the "dining car" (she put in quotes) isn't always open and choices aren't great, and 2. bring one bag with travel essentials because sometimes the suitcases have to go on a luggage rack that isn't always easy to get to.

Some things I felt very helpful. 1) Don't bring the giant stroller. There is not a lot of room in the cabin, and it take up a lot of space. Invest in a compact folding stroller. We had one that folded up the size of a carry on suit case and we could store it in the closet. Bring the baby carrier. You really won't want to fight the stroller everywhere and wait for elevators all the time. We used the stroller in port and in the Windjammer so baby could sit while we ate. 2) Call and request a pack and play be in the room when you arrive. The room steward will set it and a make it up each evening just like a bed, and then you don't have to bring one. 3) Bring WAY more diapers than you think you will need. If you can get in town early enough, plan a trip to Walmart or somewhere and buy a big box and just check that at the port like you would a suit case (pack 10 more than you think you will use in the diaper bag for boarding day). Or have some shipped to the hotel, but check with them first. Bring bags to put dirty diapers in and take them to the hallway or public bathroom trashcans. Those get emptied frequently and your cabin won't be stinky by diapers sitting all day. 4) We found that on some ships you could check out toys, or during the day they would set up the teen club for a few hours with toys for the babies and toddlers. 5) When you get on the ship, do not pass go, do not collect $200, go DIRECTLY to the nursery to fill out paperwork and get your reservations. The nursery fills up very quickly and you will find that it is harder to get a dinner break than you realized. 6) if you are nursing and planning to pump - request a medical refrigerator. The ones in the room are coolers and the milk will not keep. I found using the key words "nursing mother or breastfeeding mother' got me almost anything I needed with little to no argument. 7) visit the dining room after boarding and ask them to add a highchair to your reservation. That way it's already set up when you arrive. 8. For flying - pack WAY more diapers than you think you will need and 3 more outfits than usual. My kids were guaranteed to have a massive blowout somewhere in the process.

@Ampurp85I I hope they tip you for being their travel Genie. This is nuts so far lol. I admire you for going along with it. I would have thrown in towel long ago.

My frame of reference is for 11-12 month olds (twice) so it should be close but might not be perfect. To do today: Make sure you have a crib reserved for your stateroom unless you are bringing your own. Depending on the ship these may be mini-cribs or may be pack-n-plays. If you are particularly concerned about perfectly flat sheets and whatnot I would recommend bringing a pack and play sheet as the stewards frequently just use a regular flat sheet folded a few times, its not perfect if they toss and turn. For flying: You are allotted a car seat, stroller and diaper bag for the infant regardless of whether the infant has a seat. I recommend utilizing all three, you will probably need to gate check the stroller and the car seat but once you get to Miami you can pretty much use any transportation you want. We usually book a hotel with a free airport shuttle and then uber/livery service to the port. Order diapers and have them shipped to your hotel. I usually check with the hotel and ask if they would let us send them a day or two early and how they should be addressed to make sure they end up in the right spot. Most will work with you. If something goes wrong you still have 12-24 hours to make an emergency run to a local store to grab something if needed. Freedom has a baby splash pad so dont forget swim diapers. Once on board register at AO as soon as possible and sign up for your nursery slots you are limited to a certain amount (usually somewhere between 8 and 24 hours) depending upon how many other infants are on the cruise. Pick times you know you definitely want/need prioritizing earlier in the week. After the first couple days they usually remove the hour limit and you can add more times. Everything else is more or less the same, just be mindful that you will probably be doing less due to nap schedules and limited infant/toddler energy.

Also, the spreadsheet is just for me . It is easier to have plan when I board to give to the person making the reservations.

My wife and I did the land portion of this land/cruise portion first. We finished up Denali and got to the Port in Seward on Friday, September 1st. Early on the motor coach the "adventure guide" informed us that she was just notified that the Radiance had a "propulsion system issue" that they were working on and our cruise might be delayed. We finally got to Seward about 5:30 and boarded the ship with no problems nor mention of any ship related problems. Once in our cabin, the captain made an announcement that the problem wasn't fixed, the ship had to go to dry dock and the cruise was cancelled. He did mention that we would receive a letter detailing the reimbursement packages and comps. We quickly headed to the conference room where four staff members were assisting guests with return flights home through Royal's Air/Sea. Within 1.5 hrs I received an email with our flight arrangements for Saturday night. So we headed to the nearest bar for a few complementary drinks then off to dinner. Saturday we took the last shuttle bus back to the Anchorage airport and caught our flight home later that night. Are we disappointed, yes of course. Butthese things happen and it was out of our control. We did get to see Denali and a few of the small towns around Denali. Didn't see Mt. Denali because of the clouds nor did we see any wild life but we really enjoyed that national park. We were totally satisfied with the way the captain, his staff and crew quickly reacted to this problem. Very professional, we can't complain. We look at it this way, we travelled to Alaska and got to have dinner and a night on the Radiance of The Seas. By the way, she's a beautiful ship for her age, just a "little" problem with her propulsion system. rjac

TLDR; Mariner still has it, great ship and a great cruise. This is my first trip report and I tend to ramble so apologies in advance. Travel/Embarkation (TLDR cake) We drove to Orlando from NW Fla. Stayed at the Comfort Suites Orlando Airport. Good stay, unremarkable. Used points to book, felt safe, clean, shower hot, included breakfast was ok. This was our first cruise in a Junior Suite. We were parked and in the suite lounge area in minutes, and tho I didnt check exact time it felt like we boarded very shortly after our 10:30 check in. Absolute breeze. MDR (TLDR breakfast was amazing dinner was hit/miss service was good to great and attentive the 2 nights we ate there and for breakfast) We ate breakfast every day there. It was really good, and often great. we tended to get there at or shortly after opening I had the express breakfast (2 scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown, wheat toast) 4 days, the market vegetable bowl 1 day (it was not as good as Harmony last year) and the best was the omelet which I inexplicably waited until the last day to have. The wife (who is decidedly not a breakfast person) had the cheddar cheese grits with bacon which she enjoyed). We ate here first two nights. The southern fried chicken is an abomination. I advised my wife not to get it, but there was nothing else that interested her. The only thing worse than the way it looked was how it tasted. As a life long southerner I am personally offended they call this 'southern' fried chicken. I had the spaghetti bolognese first night. It looked at tasted JUST like hamburger helper spaghetti. Here is the thing, I don't mind hamburger helper spaghetti. It was hot/fresh, and took me back to middle school where the lunch room spaghetti tasted just like it. The peanut butter wafer/cookie thing for dessert was shockingly great. Description is not good and it looks basic, but it was amazing. One thing I need to mention. EVERYONE noticed my wife didnt eat the chicken and asked her about it. She was polite and didnt say it was terrible. Both servers and the head guy offered to get her something else. Second night in the MDR we had the beef tenderloin and it was pretty good. Hot and cooked as we ordered. Mashed potatoes were good, not great. Portions were noticeably smaller but that is fine with me. We don't tend to eat huge portions and the servers always asked if we wanted more. we were in/out in an hour or so both nights. Never felt rushed nor like it was taking too long. I will strongly consider eating in MDR every night on our Mariner cruise in Oct based on our experience here. It was solid if pretty unremarkable. Specialty dining (TLDR, good sometimes great) We ate lunch in Jamies on embarkation day and it was ok. I did it mainly to have a calm lunch and it was that. I was not worth fifty bucks plus additional tip. We ate Chops 3rd night (Labadee) and it was pretty unremarkable. It seemed very busy. The steak was not as seasoned as I recall. I always get my steak rare and the filet I received fit that bill. Not much of a char and it was rare. Jamies was 4th night (Falmouth) and it was also unremarkable. Wife had Lasagna which she enjoyed and I had the chicken parm. Service and food was good not great. Izumi was 5th night (sea) and it was very very good. Food good, chef good, service and everything. I have eaten at Izumi on Harmony, Independence, and Mariner 3 times and this seems to be a pattern. The Izumi on Mariner is very good. Chops was 6th night and was as remarkable as the first visit was unremarkable. Steak was rare but had a great char, and was seasoned perfectly. Maybe the best steak I have ever had on RC. Fantastic visit. Excursions (TLDR terrific) This was our first visit to Labadee and it was great. We had a beach bed on Adrenaline Beach and the service was great. The drinks were very meh (something I will touch on later) but the view was nice and the bed was a nice base. we were in the water and saw some people wander into the bed area and make themselves at home. If you ever wonder what would happen if you tried that, they did not stay there long). We did the Chukka/Good Hope Estate excursion thru RC in Falmouth. I considered cancelling due to a number of reasons. We went and I am glad we did. It was a chill day by the pool area there. We climbed the water fall and went down the water slide. I didnt take enough cash on this excursion, but the gift shop area took cards. We got a South Beach bed at CocoCay and thats it. Absolutely perfect day (pardon the pun). I will have a hard not doing that the next few times we go there. Just a great beach day. Calm, quiet, amazing. The crispy chicken sammich is curiously great. My wife only like Chik fit A chicken sammiches, but she got one and was blown away. Bar/service (TLDR meh) I think this is the first cruise I did not get value from the DBP Only a few bars had Buffalo Trace, most were out of it The quality of the drinks was wildly inconsistent. I always try to stick to ordering certain drinks from certain bars, but based on the person making it there was not telling what you might get. This went for tenders at the same bar. Some would make drinks differently leaving out ingredients. Club soda for example. Gavin in the Schooner Bar was my far the best on the ship. I was sitting at the bar waiting when he came back in from not being there a while and several people broke out into applause. The Viking Crown Lounge remains one of my favorite spots on any ship we have been on. Just a great spot Entertainment (TLDR high and low) This to me is where the Voyager class ships fall far short of the Oasis class. Gallery of Dreams needs to be replaced The comedian was hilarious in the welcome aboard show. I really wanted to make the adult show with him but we didn't. Ice under the big top was really fun to us. I think I have seen people say otherwise. Nothing to be said about the skaters that hasnt already been said. Amazing talents. Trivia in the Schooner Bar was fun Cabin (TLDR wonderful) As mentioned earlier this was our first time staying in a Junior Suite. I got a great price on it, and figured the only benefits would be priority boarding (not a huge one for us) and double points. I was wrong. The closet was astonishing. The extra room and the 'side' window that was great for extra light changed how we used the cabin. Some afternoons instead of hanging out elsewhere we would nap in the cabin. The only thing worn on the ship I noticed was the balcony railing. It looked like it was sanded then left. Almost seemed too uniform to be wear. It was this way as far as I could see both ways on deck 9. this will almost certainly change how I approach booking cabins in the future, it was that enjoyable. I cannot say we have ever had anything below a good steward, but Levy was great. The best we have ever had. 9558 was quiet, clean, in great shape. Accessories First time with a sound machine and we LOVED it. The cabin was quiet but this made it seem more so. cordless fan was great. Too bad I am an idiot and didnt take a micro usb cable to recharge it. So once it was past initial charge it was a paperweight. It worked great for that. Magnetic hooks are must do. It seems like each cruise we find more ways to use them European outlet adapter. Great, yes, get one for these older ships Packing cubes, meh whatever. Maybe we just dont know how to utilize Assorted Motion. The water was pretty churned up and the first 3 full days the ship moved as much as I have ever felt on move. We didn't get sick but I understand many did. I had some pretty crazy videos of water shooting 10 feet in the air out of the pool. They postponed the belly flop contest because of it. Fellow passengers. It seemed we noticed more Brits on this trip. Fewer kids. I heard many complaining about the behavior of other passengers but didnt notice any myself. As always, we met several wonderful couples and had great conversation. Sorry for the length and scattershot nature of this. If you are still reading and couldnt tell we love Mariner. We never felt crowded, the sea views are great, the value it there, and we will see her again in October. Brad

We had an Alaska cruise on Quantum in 2023 and in 2022 Quantum was having that engine trouble. Now we have another Alaska cruise booked on Radiance for 2024 and now she is have engine trouble. Good thing correlation isn't causation, but still maybe I need to stop booking Alaska cruises...

Yeah, I'm already looking at cruises for next spring or summer from NJ, we have that MSC from Miami this time next year, but other than that- I'm definitely looking at NJ\NY and Baltimore for an in between one. And yeah, we tried a cheesesteak in Miami a few months ago and that was rough! Thank you! I was actually worried about my last cruise being a bit of a struggle, but got through it fine so I think I'm good to go on the cruise circuit.

Ok, I will decide for you. You're blogging. The end.

Get in line! They are supposed to take me first! lol

You're correct - I meant Icon.

Come on! Actually we’re pretty boring. I just try to make us sound better on here!

Due to the long queues, we were stuck in rush hour traffic so the journey sadly took even longer yet again. And I forgot that I was in America and almost didn't tip the driver (since we don't usually do that here) . But finally, I arrived at my hotel - the DoubleTree Boston Bayside. This was decent, a standard DoubleTree fare, cookie for check-in and all. My room was a decent size and perfectly comfortable for the two nights I spent there. A downside was that the hotel was a bit out of the city, had to take the MBTA red line into the centre from JFK/Mass to Downtown Crossing. In typical tourist fashion, I didn't know how to use the ticket machines or ticket barriers. Then it was through to the train. Sadly this is where I have to give Boston a thumbs down, the red line gives this city a bad, bad name. Perhaps I'm spoiled coming from Western Europe but I've never seen a more underinvested, decrepit subway system in all of my life. And the train took ages to go about 4/5 stations, it kept stopping for no reason. Finally into the centre area, I walked around for about 20 minutes until it started raining really, really heavily. Even as a Scot, it was brutal. Needless to say, I ended up going into the nearest restaurant I could find - a place called Back Deck. They had an interesting twist on some American items. But I was just glad to be out of the rain and to have some food:

Monday - August 21st The day started at 9am with an Uber from my apartment in Glasgow all the way to Edinburgh Airport, this journey takes about 45 minutes. After checking in my suitcase and going through security, I went to the Plaza Premium lounge in the airport for a couple of hours. I managed to catch the last of their breakfast offering and enjoyed the views of the planes coming in and out: The flight was DL123 from Edinburgh to Boston, we left around 1.30pm. This was a good flight, for the first time in a while, I lucked out in having a vacant seat next to me, and was near the front of the plane by my standards (row 19). I highly recommend Delta if you travel to Scotland from the States, their transatlantic product is far better than United IMO. They use 767s as opposed to United's crap 757s so it feels more spacious, the planes feel up to date (with USB chargers) and the service is usually pretty good. After around 7 hours, we landed at Logan Airport. Unfortunately, this is where things got a little pear-shaped, as most of the booths were closed, meaning that we had a queue of about an hour, I was definitely thankful that I walk fast and was near the front of the plane, otherwise it would have been longer. It took so long in fact, that my suitcase had been taken off the belt and was literally sitting there waiting for me at the baggage claim. Then it was into a taxi to my hotel in Boston.

While the cup does work for a two-week period, keep in mind each cruise is treated differently. So, if you get soda without having a package on the next cruise and they look at your seapass without a soda descriptor on it you can be banned.

Day 41 The options for shows opened up at 42 days and so I booked all of our shows. Now I am curious as to whether or not the blind gent will want to go to the shows. But I would rather err on the side of caution and book everyone. We have: Day 3: OceanAria 7:30pm Day 5: Blue Plane 10pm Day 5: Comedy 11:30pm Day 7: Mammia Mia 2:15pm Day 7: BLADES 7pm I had made a spreadsheet of dining times. I have to reconfigure the venues and possible times now that I know what time the shows will be.

It's extremely rare. Just use common sense in choosing your vendor and timing. I usually check the port of call forum at another popular cruise site, ask here, and check TripAdvisor for highly rated excursions. Vendors don't have hundreds or thousands of great reviews by getting people back to the ship late. All that said, everyone has their own comfort level. Just because it works for me doesn't mean it's right for everyone.

It literally took me about 15 tries and as many minutes! HAHAHAHA!

Day 40 So, after fiddling a little bit I realized that my spreadsheet is a moot point. Everyone wants their money's worth and said they only want to do specialty dining, . Since we have two shows on Day 5, I need the earliest dinner as possible that night. Trying to wrangle 7 full individuals, with 5 being vintages, I need dinner to be over before 9pm. Which means my dinner plans have to function around that one night. With only six specialty restaurants and 10 total meals of lunch and dinner to plan, I have to make sure the repeats are spaced out. I was told that we must eat at Samba grill at least twice because my bff is all about the meat and that Sabor should be every day because, duh tacos . Five out of eight people decided that they wanted to do ATVs in any port but now there aren't enough spots left and also, they don't want to pay the prices because they saw them for this price on a third-party website. I tried to explain they seem to function on CP/vintage time, they can't really afford to do third-party excursions because they might miss the boat. My brother, bff, and bff's mother are booked on the Beach Snorkel in Costa Maya. Which my bff has just become so extra over. He is actively looking for a wetsuit, underwater camera attachment for his phone, and telling everyone his is "snorkel diving" for the first time .

Possibly, but my advice is to make plans on your own instead. Many tours are easily booked through third parties if you search for that tour online.

Found this tiny blue guy this morning

Sorry folks no pictures from last nights dinner at Chops. This being our favorite venue I completely forgot to take food pictures.We were also joined for dinner by Federico our genie. A great conversation was had by all. The food was excellent.Hubby and I had crab cake and Lobster.

I'm not sure about that @jbrinkm, but I prefer and recommend Columbus Cove. It's the furthest away so even though it has the inflatables I find it the least chaotic. There is a lunch setup right down on that end. There is plenty of shade and the beach not so rocky. Arawak is there but out far enough that the noise from the participants is muted by the beach. Downside for your folks is that it is far. They can take the ferry over, but the ferry does not do return trips so they will have to walk or get on a shuttle.

Depending on price another option would be to get the 3 meal specialty dining plan. This may save you on all three meals to make it worth while

Or if the work trip doesn't happen... take both cruises!

Somehow i know exactly what you mean!

Yeah having taken the tram and buses in Scotland and in a lot of European countries in general, the American transit system leaves a lot to be desired. That looks like white bread, grilled chicken, and a pickle.....please say it taste better than it looks.

Yes, there are 2 Production shows in the Royal Theater: Sequins & Feathers and Sonic Odyssey. There will also be headliners on other nights. They do not do reservations for the Royal Theater but you generally have to arrive early for a good seats. 270 has a lot less seating so they do reservations for Starwater and also perform it more often than the Royal Theater productions

We’ll just look how you roll Ratchet! It took me 2 1/2 years to learn how to post a picture!. But I agree this cake was the most thoughtful

This was my favorite cake that Lusi made! My husband and Jay surprised me with a retirement party, and this took the cake pardon the pun!

Possible help for your new legally blind friend, but first a story: I’ve been wearing hearing aids since my early 30’s - genetic thing. Four years ago when hubby and I went to the movies he got me the “new and improved” hearing device from the ticket guy to hear the movie better. Hubby listened to how this updated model worked. He got it programmed and slapped that sucker on my head. After a few moments of the movie I decided to make the sound even stronger, so I moved the switch by the ear. Now I’m starting to hear odd stuff - like “he touches her hair and she smiles.” WTH, maybe this movie is trying something different by explaining verbally what is happening. After 20 minutes, hubby grabbed it from head and messed with the volume. Ten minutes later I feel like I just need to turn the volume up, so I messed with the volume again. The movie goes back to explaining what it happening. Later in the car I told hubby that I enjoyed the movie but found it a bit painful to have to hear what was happening when I could plainly see what was happening. Was the movie people trying something new? Hubby said he could hear it coming from the head phones so fixed the problem but I turned the problem back on, so he figured that’s what I wanted. Apparently, I kept turning it from the hearing impaired mode to the legally blind mode. My point is: Royal might have something to enhance your new legally blind friend’s experience! You should check.

Thank you for confirming my original thought! If I could just get the 150CP garlic bread in place of the Ultimate Garlic Bread I would give in and pay it. I am now seriously considering this idea! $21 makes it all sound a lottt more worthwhile. And I could try the Truffle Tagliatelle for @asquared17! haha

After lunch was the star class bridge tour. Our Genie was our tour guide. He did an excellent job. Sorry folks I only took one picture.

Lunch found us back in Coastal Kitchen. We decided that we would try something different. Yes it was delish and we will have it again one day on another cruise. Antipasti Entree Salad Grilled Shrimp andSpinach Salad Penne Pasta Primavera this is made with mushrooms …yum

I would avoid anything unethical while cruising. If I wanted soda for two trips, I'd pay for two trips. With the complimentary beverages, I am never thirsty. An occasional a la carte soda really hits the spot.

Breakfast in Coastal Kitchen Baja Eggs

@SweetPea you guessed it .I Will BE A GRANDMOTHER!

We are on board. This was the best checkin ever from car to in room we were zoomed through everything. Pictures below of star loft . It also includes one picture of when we first walked into the terminal.

This is true and I already told them after this one they are on their own with bookings.