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Bags are about packed. Just need to do the usual last minute things like toothbrushes etc, makeup etc. The Boss is still figuring out how the weighted blanket gets packed. In the morning I have to take this goof ball to puppy camp. I am pretty confident that when I load the bags in the car, I will suddenly dislocate my shoulder. THIS JUST IN........THE BOSS MAY BE JOINING THE BLOG!!!!

Well, for the daughter it’s shoes…..

Airport mimosas!! It’s 5 o’clock somewhere. RIP Jimmy Buffet. I mentioned to the bartender that we were star class, but she just looked at me like I was an idiot…..so I had to pay for these.

So we had a nice relaxing morning doing all the things. All the bags are packed and ready to go. For those keeping track….the weighted blanket has made the cut. Final tally, not even close to @Jax 174.7lbs loading the car to head to the airport now!

Hello everyone, I am finally here and will be adding my thoughts to this blog when I can. I'll be eventually adding to my profile etc while we have this prolonged layover in BWI. @Ampurp85 Thank you for the compliment on my hair. @GregD showed me your picture from your last blog and I love your purple hair too!!

So our first flight made it to BWI easily. Now we have a bunch of time to kill because our next flight is delayed an hour. We found a place to get lunch. For the beer folks, there is a Flying Dog taproom here are the airport. The food is decent and the beer is cold. Fittingly, they had a burger called The Boss, so of course I had to order that.

On the plane. @asquared17 this is the way we are supposed to sit right?

I feel the weighted blanket things puts a whole new spin on my 5 checked bags and 3 carryons weighing in at 268 pounds. Just saying….

Because the Commodore 64 that hosts RC’s website can only do so much? Honestly, I think that part of their system doesn’t refresh frequently enough for modern standards. However, spending money on IT improvements to quicken customers ability to see something that isn’t time constrained sooner possibly isn’t the best use of funds. I’d argue being able to book more than four on an invoice would be preferable or at least I could argue the potential cost savings. Or in my case, simply being able to show the correct amount due on the invoice.

Annnnnnnd I’m out of here. Pretty sure I broke the sound barrier heading to my car!

Spouse and I both fly/travel a lot for our respective jobs. Whenever we do, this GIF constantly gets texted back and forth between us along with the "fly safe!" mantra.

Casino As I mentioned in an earlier post, the casino was insane most evenings. Like @Ampurp85, I seem to have better luck during the days when the casino is fairly slow. Once things start getting crazy at night, my luck goes bye-bye. We played more video poker on this cruise than we have ever done in the past. It's kind of Dan's new "thing". We even played some kind of pig game (can't remember the name of it) which was fun. We needed just a few points to get to the 2000 level so we sat down there and got what we needed. I find the whole video poker thing to be too stressful. I have to "think" too much and I got bored really fast. But then I get bored with any kind of slot machine. They just aren't my favorite way to lose money. As [bad] luck would have it, we found absolutely NO good luck on the non-smoking side of the casino. We opted to spend more time on the smoking side and that just doesn't agree with me anymore. I am a former smoker but I just can't tolerate it now....plus you go home stinkin' to high heaven. UGH So we made our 2000 points (we only used Dan's card in the machines so the cert is in his name, not that it matters) so we got a very nice certificate and have already booked an 8 night Oasis cruise in January 2025. I got a $$ of cert so we combined them to help with the cabin upgrade and other associated expenses. A free cruise can get very expensive !

Coastal Kitchen As you may recall from my earlier posts, they would not permit us to use our BOGO coupons except for the first night and since we wanted to enjoy the filet on night #1, there were no other chances to do any specialty dining unless we wanted to pay full onboard prices. Uh...no. So we decided that we would eat in the CK every night since the Maitre'd said that we would have no problem making reservations for all 4 nights. We had 4 dinners, 3 breakfasts and 1 lunch in the CK. Believe it or not, that one lunch that we ate there is the one and only time we have EVER had a lunch in a CK on any ship ! We have always either been Star Class or GenPop on an Oasis class ship and before becoming Pinnacle, we had no access to the CK unless we were in a suite and the only suites we've ever had on an O class ship, were SC suites and we were eating our lunches in specialty restaurants for the most part. The service in the CK was amazing. The Maitre'd, restaurant manager and our own personal server (Anelyne) were just spectacular. I could not have asked for better service. Period. The food was hit-or-miss for me. Dan was a cappy hamper the whole time. He loved everything that he got and so he was in heaven. I did not care at ALL for 2 out of the 4 menus that we had. I've already discussed the night that they gave me the wonderful a la carte options from the kids' menu. That was really a good recovery for that night and I thoroughly enjoyed my low budget chicken parm. But the last night. Ugh, Dan had his beloved lamb shank but there was absolutely nothing on that menu that even sounded remotely good to me. I finally opted for the cauliflower fried rice and it was....not good. The breakfasts were very good but it'd kinda hard to screw up breakfast. Standard stuff. Nothing amazing. The lunch was fine. Nothing spectacular. Dan and I split a chicken sandwich and fries. I guess this immersive CK experience reminded me that I am not, and have never been, a huge fan of the CK. It's not awful but it's nothing special EXCEPT for the views and the extraordinary service, both of which we have always appreciated.

We are sitting at the gate waiting for our plane to arrive and just watching airport operations. I saw this sign on the back of the tug and thought it was cute. slight traffic jam at the gate. This place has been fully boarded for quite a while. Eventually they brought a few more bags and loaded them on the plane. You can see our plane creeping in the background waiting to get to the gate. Finally our plane is at the gate. Next stop Houston. Despite the delay, this travel day hasn’t been horrible.

One of us... One of us...

We’ve sucked her in

Can I just say how much I hate staggered deployments. lol I cannot move on any of my bookings for Summer 2025-March 2026 until they release WN and UT. This is so annoying.

@Lovetocruise2002 while playing luggage Jenga this morning, we have determined my suitcase is too large. Following this cruise there will be another Beis order placed.

I didn’t even add up the carryons we are now at the airport waiting for our Starbucks order. 1 hour total from leaving our house to being through security. Not too bad. Our airport is going through some renovations so about 15 minutes of that time was trying to find a parking spot.

Each cruise I like an Easter egg of surprises is how I look at it.

Yep, when you sail out of Texas….you do Texas things

Does that mean we all have to behave now?

I just finished my Sydney to Auckland cruise on Celebrity and had a wonderful time! For anyone from America is considering a similar cruise, I'm going to give a quick lessons learned. 1. Both Australia and New Zealand are beautiful countries with fun, clean and safe cities. Both have extensive natural areas that are worth seeing. Both are proud of their heritage and their native populations. Be sure to spend extra time there 2. Most places will take your credit card without issue. That's more true in Australia than New Zealand, but you don't need a ton of local currency. 3. I didn't see very many currency exchanges, so bring some local currency with you. 4. People in both countries are very friendly and helpful. 5. Most of the New Zealand ports are industrial ports and require a shuttle bus to go ashore. On my itinerary the ones that required a shuttle were Dunedin, Wellington, Napier and Christchurch. Auckland, Bay of Islands and Tauranga did not require a shuttle. On my cruise, the shuttle cost $10USD. 6. Do your research ahead of time. Lots of stuff to do in each port, but you don't want to just wing it. 7. The plugs in Australia and New Zealand are different than any other country I've ever experienced, but they are compatible with each other. Be sure to get the proper converters before coming on the trip. I hope this helps someone. To all the Aussies and Kiwis, thanks for the great time!

Ok...so we're home. Fairly uneventful last couple of days. I will just throw out some random thoughts. The Shows Aqua Theater show: I had forgotten what a real Aqua Theater show is like. Allure reminded me. It was all about the diving and the water talents and less about aerialists, stomping and splashing. While nothing beats Aqua80's on Oasis (primarily b/c of the musical arrangement), I think OceanAria is a close second. I almost decided to skip it. I'm glad I didn't. Ice Show: Blades is very different from what I am used to with ice shows. I liked some of it and I hated some of it. I think the hardest part for me was that I was unfamiliar with some of the music and that made it hard to enjoy. It is what it is. The skaters are all very talented and that's always fun to watch. Blue Planet: I was very surprised to find that a great deal of this show has changed since the last time I saw it ! This is another one that I nearly skipped but I'm glad I went if only to see what has changed. I suppose someone must have fallen from the living tree at some point and they basically quit having the performers "hiding" up in the tree. There were still some performers "hiding" in the roots section of the tree but primarily the performers "coming to life" in the tree branches is now GONE ! They also changed the music. I recall there being a whole section of Beatles music which is also gone. There are parts of the show that are little changed but great parts of it have changed significantly. No wonder this show is now a "snoozer" to some. I felt it was a snoozer, too. Mama Mia: I enjoy the Abba music but I have always hated the "plot" of MM. We DID skip this one this time. One and done for us. Stupid and pointless with the music being the only redeeming part of the show.

They gave you a full burger but only half a beer? Two stars maximum

Or the person who stole his shoes.

Also frustrating is having two open bookings made at next cruise that now expire on Tuesday when short Caribbean likely comes out Wednesday. So much for making open bookings based on opening schedule. Now decision is give up on board credit and likely price increases to wait for short Caribbean or book now without all available options. First world problems.

Right? lol All 4 of us share a checked bag and we keep it under 50lbs. If we didn't, Hubby would be really mad and we would be those at the check in desk with the suitcase opened

Just wow. First the Boss's hair is beautiful, hopefully the picture isn't just showing high/low lights Second these luggage totals are .......illuminating. My brother and I share a checked bag, which we keep under the 50lb limit. Then my carry-on is 23-28lbs. I don't think I've ever even made 100lbs in totality of all bags and my longest trip was almost a month.

Actually, this is the same number of bags we usually bring. The Boss was just distributed items differently to bring the blanket.

Albany, NY. Southwest allows 2 checked bags per person for free.

Yeah, that part was pretty confusing, lol. All of this is a little odd so who knows? Wife already said "I guess we should go on Utopia before she leaves then." I was already going to compare Utopia B2B's with Wonder 7N's for our usual June/July dates but if Utopia is significantly more I'd have a hard time paying it given how similar they are and you kinda lose part of turnaround day. If they prices are similar, I don't mind.

You are mistaken….Smiling ALWAYS helps

Probably not on a shore excursion, but they will make an appearance on “country night”

64 Days!!!

I want to see your daughter wearing those cowboy boots out on a shore excursion.

I bring 3 Pairs of shoes tops. But alas I am a male.

So wow. I mean the average luggage is under 6lb ...........so what do people bring that 28lb for children/teenagers means they don't have nothing in there I consistently keep my luggage at a good 28-35lbs and this includes a fan......which is often the heaviest thing in my luggage. Also, yaaaaaay just two days away from sailing and shenanigans.

That will be added to the next Bezos order! Have to travel frequently for work and need to carry my own bags so having a lighter one would probably be better! the week I spent out in San Diego was awful sleeping wise without it!

…and not dysentery

I also find this so frustrating when doing our holiday planning as it takes over 6 months to get the full schedule. Aus/NZ are also one of the last to come out and ship consideration is important as the itineraries don’t vary much. If it is a new ship to the region we cruise local. By the time all the deployments are out prices have risen if we decide to head to Europe or the US instead. At least it looks like Ovation is finally moving on and we will get something new to replace her.

That is actually a negative for you my friend. That's why The Boss is packing that weighted blanket lmao

Thanks @Sara_MEI, and for those running into the issue, @Lovetocruise2002's original assessment was correct. Seem to be issues with KSF promotion on a lot of the new deployments. For those booking I would check your invoices or the "price by guest" feature online. If it is showing anything other than taxes and fees for those under 12 (and you verified that your cruise is not in a blackout window) then you will need to get revenue involved. Unfortunately even that is not straightforward, the MEI team was able to get one of our reservations addressed within a few hours but the other took 2 days. +1 for having a travel agent, would not have wanted to deal with this on my own.

huzzah!!!!! i guess i need to start doing a cumulative tallly. my 100lbs is just for the checked luggage but i think im at least 65lbs in carryons…

Not at all!

how does anyone ever have room in their luggage?!?! the mind boggles HUZZAH!

Sorry but I've never seen soft shell crabs available on Amazon. They're kind of hard to find in Coloradl. And that's a quality looking sandwich. Just perfectly sauteed, not deep fried.

So this is the teenage daughter....Supposedly The Boss went over her packing list with her so hopefully she has everything. I will verify soon when this tooooo long shift is over. This is ALLLL The Boss. She practically cocoons herself......me, I hate them. I prefer to sleep.......without getting too TMI.......with the barest minimum of things. Give me a pillow and a sheet and I am happy. Ask The Boss....I'm confused as well

You'd be shocked how many policies can be danced around simply by being genuinely nice to people.

We had quite a shipwide quest for lunch munch. As I’ve said before, we rarely eat lunch at all….especially since we eat an early dinner, but b/c we CAN, I guess, we HAVE been eating lunch on this cruise. Dan wanted to go to the Suites sun deck for a bit - but failed to find it so ended up lounging with the poors somewhere. Who knows where. When he came back to the room I told him that I would go with him to FIND the SSD since I haven’t been on one in a very long time. So we trekked to the front of the ship, entered the forbidden zone, did a perimeter check and realized that the bar up there isn’t open (in port today) so decided that since we are on a ship we MUST eat ( @OCSC Mike Must be subliminally messaging me) so we began plotting where this meal would transpire. I am one of a handful of adults in the world who really enjoys the dogs at the Doghouse so my vote was for a dog. Dan is shunning nitrite-infused junk food so he turned up his nose at the notion of a dog. He wanted ELF (as if that is any healthier ??) (I await @asquared17 reaction) but I vetoed that one. We were at an impasse. He finally blinked and said he would go with me for a dog, a miscommunication b/c I thought he had changed his mind about eating there…but instead, he meant that he would go with me but NOT eat so I ended up eating a dog (sans the bun). That left him hangry. Hmmm. I decided to return his generosity by going with him to ELF. BUT the line at ELF was endless and it wasn’t moving. Ok. Plan C. We decided to see if the CK was open for lunch on port days. We didn’t know. Up to 17 we went. By now it’s 1:15. They were open but closing at 1:30. Dan finally got a Caesar salad and I looked on with love and support. Waaay more work for lunch than was necessary. Somewhere in this long tale Dan acquired a margarita which was pretty tasty. Now it’s nap time.