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Sorry….been slackin’ off the past couple of days. Nothing of interest to report. Tonite is the last night on Radiance We will be in Tampa tomorrow and we will be disembarking with our luggage first thing, We will meet Gavin, the Concierge Lounge Concierge (something’s not right with that title…) at 7:00 in the Photo gallery (Deck 5). Hopefully we’ll be walking off shortly after 7:00. Speaking of the photo gallery, Radiance still has the old timey photo stands with thousands of hard copy photos to go through to find yours. SUCH a waste of time and money ! I can’t believe that in this day and age they are still analog with the photos ! I hadn’t seen that in years. Just WOW. We finally got to the Cinema to see a movie ! I kept meaning to do it for the past 8 days but finally did it last night. We saw “Haunted Mansion” a Disney movie based on the Disneyland/ World ride. It was very cute and we enjoyed it. The only annoying thing was they had subtitles for the hearing impaired and it was very distracting. I kept trying to ignore them but caught myself reading instead of watching ! Ugh. After my first night of success in the casino, the rest were awful so I quit going after the first few days, They’re really wasted points at the point in the casino year so I will hold onto my money in preparation for 4-1-24 and the start of the new casino year. We’re not getting any offers anyway so why bother ? We will be home one whole night before heading down to PoM to board Oasis (or Oasish, as I call it) for 7 nights going to Labadee, PDCC and Falmouth. I can’t recall the last time I was in Falmouth. It’s been a while. At least we will be driving to Miami on a weekend rather than during the week. It’s a BIT of a break to the horrid traffic. This cruise (one of Dans casino comps) is the one and only time we have ever received a complimentary upgrade on a casino comp. Not sure why….but the offer was for an interior and I asked them to price an upgrade to a Central Park balcony. When the rep came back on the line she said they had authorized a complimentary upgrade. Woohoo ! So this cruise cost us nothing but taxes, port fees and gratuities. We are in a CP with double balcony (12229). I didn’t even bother to do a RU. We actually really like the double balcony CP so we’re happy. So tomorrow is laundry and re-packing day. Off on another great adventure !

So yesterday was a pretty chill day. We were both pretty tired. Wife was in the spa from about 1-5. I did the flowrider, got a little work done, and watched the sail away around 4. We had MTD which I hate at 6:45 and it was a total zoo. Line wrapped around the stairwell. After dinner we did a little shopping and walked around the track. We were supposed to see aqua show at 10:15 but we were rocking and it was pretty windy so that was cancelled. We were both pretty exhausted from being up at 6am so the wife went to bed. I decided to hit the casino for a little bit, but should have just gone to bed. It didn’t go well. Here’s some pictures from dinner, and yes both of the cheesecakes are for me. Don’t judge me, I’m on vacation

Here are the tidbits of information from the Top Tier Event. The captain is not sure but said that the 3rd Icon class ship may be called Aura of the Seas, but we will have to wait and see. They may also reuse an older name so I guess we will just have to be patient. He said they were looking at building a smaller ship similar to Voyager class in size around 2029 to cater for ports like those in Australia. Possibly 2026 for Lelepa, but if it is that soon I am guessing it will be more like the original CocoCay and that amenities will be added over time. The C&A numbers for this cruise are: 604 gold, 182 platinum, 84 emerald, 174 diamond, 124 Diamond+ 24 Pinnacle The top 3 cruises are all from Brisbane with 1304, 1532 and 1925 respectively.

I enjoy running on the track when we're at sea and I go like 10 miles in 3 minutes. Eat my dust!

Don't you just hate when work interferes with important stuff like cruise blogging? I am so glad it's the weekend so I can catch up. Day Eight - Cruise Day Five - Curaçao Here is our Symphony parked in Curação. We were at the pier farthest from the town. I think it was a P&O ship at the closer pier but I'm can't remember for sure. We were doing another cruise line excursion today, although to be fair it was more of a beach transfer than an actual excursion. I knew this when I booked but there was method in my madness. Firstly, it included a stop at Curaçao artist Nena Sanchez's gallery. I had wanted to go here on our previous two visits to the island but had never managed to make it work for us. And secondly, we wanted to try one of the beaches a bit farther from the port so the cost of the excursion for the two of us was more or less the same as the taxi fare would have been but without the hassle of having to ensure we could get a taxi back to the port afterwards. The beach we went to today was called Cas Abao. So this was the "Cas Abao Beach and Scenic Drive excursion". There were two departure times, 8.45 am and 11.45 am. We chose the earlier time, partly so it wouldn't run over lunchtime and partly so we would be able to go back out into town afterwards if we wanted to. The weather was looking very unfriendly when we set off but at least it wasn't cold and I'm glad to say it eventually cleared up. First stop at the gallery. There was a nice expansive view from the top of the staircase leading to the gallery entrance. Note the little white building in the foreground of this one. Bathrooms! It's tucked away on your right as you approach the gallery entrance so not everyone notices it at first. Ladies, there's only ONE for us, so go there before heading into the gallery to avoid the worst of the queuing once others realise it's there! I had not realised that the artist had passed away; I kind of assumed she was still alive and working but apparently she died back in 2017 (the guide found out the year for me). The gallery is run by the artist's older sister, who survived her. It's mostly just a shop that sells prints of her work but that's what I was looking for. What more genuine souvenir could you get than a picture created by a local artist? In the end I bought two prints set in stiff card that are now gracing a shelf at home. I think if you wanted to buy something bigger or less transportable they would ship it for you but these two fit nicely into my bag. I'm very pleased with them. After a stop of about 20 minutes at the gallery we headed to the beach, where we would stay for about 3 hours. The excursion included a lounger in a dedicated space, a non-alcoholic drink voucher and a shower token. The space set aside for us was roped off and had enough loungers for everyone in the group. Some had full shade, some partial and some were out in the sun so it's best to try to be at the front of the group as you head onto the sand in order to get the best choice of spot. This is the third beach we've visited in Curaçao and it is the one I liked best (the others were Mambo Beach and Blue Bay Beach). It's a bit rocky underfoot when you go into the water though, so if you do have water shoes it would be a good idea to bring them. At the beach there is a bar/snack bar where you can buy drinks and food. We didn't so I can't say what the prices or quality were like but we did see some people in the loungers behind us happily digging in to some generously sized burgers. Next to that is a smaller bar that only has the included waters/sodas, which is where you pick up your included drink. Then you have the bathrooms and showers. The showers are outside and are only really meant for you to rinse off. There was a lady on duty by the showers to turn on the water for you and turn it off again after about 30 seconds so there's no point in taking shampoo and shower gel! And there is also what appeared to be a very well equipped dive shop. Details are available on the beach's website. https://casabaobeach.com/facilities/ WiFi is available free in the vicinity of the beach bar and the password was displayed on a poster at the counter. The signal was strong enough that it worked at our loungers, which weren't right next to the bar. The amount of time we had here - about 3 hours - felt perfect to us. Long enough to actually get settled, relax and go for a dip or two, but not so long that we were bored or getting too hot and frazzled. On the way back we had a bit of a drama. Smoke starting billowing out around our feet in the bus, accompanied by an electrical burning smell. We and others around us called out to the guide and the driver pulled over. The guide told everyone to get out of the bus and it was good to see that nobody panicked and everyone exited in an orderly fashion. The guide had us all move well away from the bus while the driver investigated. It turned out to be a short circuit in the wiring of the safety lighting and it was deemed safe for us to continue our journey as long as he kept the lights switched off. So we all got back on but had only gone a short distance when the guide told us the company operating the tour (FBTT Travel) was sending out another bus to meet us as they didn't want to take any chances. After we had changed buses everything went smoothly. We stopped on the way to the port to drop people off who wanted to stay in town and who would later make their own way back. We stayed on the bus as we didn't fancy traipsing around town with all our beach stuff. Plus we were hungry! With these delays we only just made it to the WJ in time for lunch. I heard the maître d' in charge telling the staff at the counters "As soon as these last people (us!) have served themselves, clear everything away!" Although we did not go back out again after lunch, there would have been time if we had wanted to, so that's worth bearing in mind if you're not sure whether to get off the bus in town or head back to the ship first. Tonight's dinner was the Caribbean menu. We think it's an OK one. It wouldn't be our first choice to skip for specialty dining. Coconut shrimp. Has never disappointed. DH's pork chop which he said was good but was too big for him to finish. He really liked the plantains although he mistook them for sweet potatoes at first. Garlic herb-buttered tiger shrimp. One of my favourites. It never looks the same from ship to ship and sailing to sailing but I always enjoy it. DH's pineapple cake, which he didn't really like, although he didn't say why. And my all-time favourite classic, the Royal Chocolate Cake. In the past, I would have had this almost every night. I was devastated when they took the classics away in the menu reshuffle. Most of the other desserts I had during the week were second best to this one. This being Valentine's Day, they had the Love and Marriage Game Show on in the theatre so we went along to that after dinner. It was quite funny but I've seen much better ones. I don't know what it was, I just felt the CD wasn't really interacting very well with the couples. And after that, and our usual casino and tea & cookies ritual, it was time to head off to bed in readiness for the next day, which would be another sea day.

Today we are going to check out hideaway beach for a little bit then get back to the ship for some flowrider this afternoon. Then mama Mia at 5.

Pretty over cast and windy today at PDCC. Luckily we got the hideaway pretty cheap after some price drops($26.99), because with the cold Caribbean water and not great weather we didn’t stay long. I would say in warmer months it’s probably worth and upcharge here as it was not overly crowded, plenty of seats available, and the no kids is an added benefit. I think around $30/person probably worth it. If they start going crazy and trying to get $80, I wouldn’t pay that for it. Now we are just back on the ship relaxing in the solarium. Will head back to the flowrider this afternoon as I still need a lot of practice. Then mama Mia at 5 tonight.

BAM!!! I am so excited!!

Well, it is finally time for another cruise! Yes, we are sailing from Brisbane on a 7-night cruise to the Pacific Islands with 2 port stops: Noumea and Mystery Island on Quantum of the Seas. On this cruise, we are in a Grand Loft Suite on deck 10. We chose Quantum primarily because it is less expensive than Ovation and is better value for us. We also wanted to cruise again with Hailey, who was our Royal Genie last year on Quantum. We have sailed from Sydney many times, so we are not concerned with the scenery on the sail away; it gets dark quickly anyway. I think this blog will be a mini-blog, as the itinerary is similar to the one I blogged last year, so there will not be too much new information to impart. We flew into Brisbane from New Zealand yesterday morning and are staying near the airport at the Novotel. It is a convenient location for getting to the cruise terminal in the morning. The hotel is clean and quiet, despite being near the airport, and there is an outlet mall around 100 metres away that also has a few places to eat. We spent the afternoon wandering around the mall, and made a few purchases— who can resist a bargain? After a good night’s sleep, we took an Uber to the cruise terminal at around 10:30am, which is about a 15-minute trip and cost around $30 AUD (approx $20 USD). It is important to note that there is no public transport to the port, as it is in an industrial area far away from any amenities. There is parking available at the port if you have a car, though I do not know how much this costs. Our genie, Hailey, had an unexpected medical issue and is returning home prior to the start of our cruise. We were very lucky to bump into her outside the cruise terminal before she left for the airport. It was great to see her again, and even though we are sad not to be sailing with her, Hailey’s health comes first. We are happy she is returning home and will be able to get the care she needs in Korea. So now for this cruise, our genie will be Wilfredo (Willie), who was the concierge for our last sailing on Brilliance in November. This is his first time as a genie, but we are not demanding, so he will be able to ease his way into the job. Getting onto the ship as a Star Class guest is very quick and took no more than 15 minutes. We were escorted every step of the way by a lovely pier genie as she expertly handled a guest who complained to her that, as she had purchased the key with priority boarding, she should be receiving the same level of service. At the end of the gangway, which is actually quite a long walk, we met up with Willie, who escorted us straight onto the ship. We went right to the assembly station and completed the final step of our muster drill. The gangway from above Our cabin was already ready, so Willie took us up to our cabin. It felt similar to the royal loft suite we had last year, just on a smaller scale. Perfect for the two of us, though I will miss the hot tub on the deck. After settling into the cabin, the food started arriving on a regular basis, but we headed up to the CK for a light lunch. I just had some scallops and bread, which was just enough considering all the food we will be eating on this cruise. After lunch, we spent some time refamiliarising ourselves with the ship before heading back to the cabin for some R&R. We left Brisbane just after 4:30pm in glorious sunshine and calm seas, now we have 2 sea days and a clock change before we reach our first stop in Noumea. After watching our departure from our deck we heading up to the suite lounge for some nibbles. The lounge was not overly busy and there were plenty of seats available. While there we caught up with Willie and made a few changes to our daily schedule. Then it was off to Coastal Kitchen for dinner which was quite busy. We had organised to sit at one of the tables at the very end in the partially walled off area which was a bit quieter than the main restaurant. The food was very nice, I had the chicken leg as a starter, a dish I have not had before, but enjoyed very much. For the main we both had shrimp crusted pollack with rice which was also fabulous. The meal was rounded off nicely with vairhona chocolate bar dessert. After a quick wander around the shops and an order of Starbucks coffee it was back to the cabin to relax and retire for the evening. Some quick observations 1) Fish and Ships has changed back into a Dim Sum noodle restaurant. 2) Royal has learned the correct way to spell theatre, now if only they could learn we have holidays, not vacations. 3) We received star class wow bands. Wow bands where not in use last year. See you tomorrow for the next installment.

9 days to embarkation, 8 days to travel. Went through my cruise stuff yesterday. Verdict: I have too much stuff. Part of it is for my kiddos as well, but....there's still a LOT. I spent part of the afternoon trying to consolidate and decide if I really need it. Bezos cup clip made the cut though, @asquared17. I actually had a mild panic attack that maybe I should get a bigger suitcase. Maybe? Or I should stop over packing. One is easier than the other. Today's project: figure out my cruise outfits and conference outfits. It appears I need to pack for 10 days without laundry. Ugh. I'm not sure I want to use RC laundry, and I can do a bit of sink laundry, but it's just not the same. I may need to find a laundromat in my conference city.

For you duck hiding people I found this in the stairwell. I’m not really into the duck thing, but my wife drives a jeep and there is a whole duck thing with that(which I totally don’t understand), so I figured since I saw this I would grab it for her. She was so excited.

Not sure I'm going to do a live blog for this one since it's rather "ordinary". We are home - at least for the next 18 hours. Laundry is going. Repacking or should I say, reshuffling has begun. I actually find this repacking thing to be more stressful than packing from a dead start. Some things are clean, some things need washing and some things are ??? Dan is terrible about hanging his worn clothes back up....so I am never really sure what has been worn and what hasn't. So I'm "sorting".

That common 18 knot running speed (even when sleeping) is impressive to your app.

Thank you so much for introducing me to this artist. I really love her work. I just added this to our afternoon walking agenda for the day we are in Curacao (we are diving in the AM). Her style reminds me a bit of a children's author & illustrator I know - Susan Stockdale. I used to babysit for her kids when she was working on her books so she gifted my kids with signed copies when they were born. Something about Sanchez' "Yellow House" appeals to me so I may pick up that print, and I love what you said about purchasing a souvenir created by a local artist. Do you happen to know if the prices were on par with what they would be if you order online? I am desperately trying to figure out what the menu order is for our cruise later this month so I know the best day to go to Wonderland (preferably Italian night but also not a huge fan of Caribbean night). The activities populated, so I can see dress suggestions for each night - I know night 2 and 7 are formal & dress your best. I believe usually the Dress Your Best is also Royal Night with the lobster - was that your experience? Was A Taste of Italy also White Night (I've seen a few jokes about this in trip reports)? I don't think our meals are accurate in the app planner... EDIT: I reread and you did say that white night was not Italian, but also that your menus are different b/c of Superbowl so never mind! Italy question rescinded...

March 2024 1 - Hoppy2BHere (Allure) 1 - Monctonguy (Liberty) 10 - Lovetocruise2002 (Oasis) 10 - WannaCruise (Wonder) 10 - MLH (Harmony) 10 - fireclan (Anthem) 11 - MarcD (Independence) 11 - Cactus527 (Freedom) 15 - Snotarni (Allure) 15 - smokeybandit (Adventure) 15 - Mark_A (Odyssey) 17 - OCSC Mike (Wonder) 23 - jbrinkm (Symphony) 25 - Sweety (Radiance)

I hope so. We have a 3 night package plus 2 BOGO's so hopefully we will be able to do Portside. I love eating there !

I've done the reverse, from Miami to Port Canaveral before moving to Florida. Car rental was easy, least expensive option and it provided an opportunity to swing by a Target at my own pace to pick up more sunscreen.

a double balcony on oasis!!!! YESSSSSSS!!!! can’t wait for that liveblog

She sounded very enthusiastic about the idea!

I've never had this happen before I connected to wifi on the ship, but when I go in the app, I can see all of the daily activities for my cruise. I double checked that I'm not looking at a different sailing (I sometimes switch over to look at something or other) - it is set to our cruise on March 23. I can also tell that it is ours because I see my show reservations noted, for example where the adult comedy is listed in the daily schedule, I have the little blue "reserved" rectangle in the corner. I see the little rectangle for all of the items I've reserved mixed in among the other activities offered. Anyone else? I wonder if that also means that our menu order is correct?

No, Royal assigns the cabin category or higher. But not inferior. We made 10 cruises. 5 booked without agency directly on the site in GTY. 1 only has been with an obstructed cabin... the next 2 cruises are already assigned too... The savings achieved remain important!

I am looking forward to Sorrento's pizza on board (strange, right?), though I don't think I've ever seen this much pizza at one time anywhere. Costco for the win tonight!

Did I mention that I am very jealous, and I want to be like you when I retire lol One day dry dock!

You actually go up a flight of stairs, go around near the helipad, then go back down on the other side. So you get steps and flights in one session

I thought that too, but my cruise is 8 night long, so the rent for the days needed (9 or more) is ridiculous.

Royal App is Royal Crap; IMO for many many reasons.

The percentage discounts are largely meaningless. If you monitor the cruise planner prices regularly you will often see that the final price with a 30% discount is cheaper than with a 50% discount! The only number that matters is the one on the bottom line! The best strategy is to buy when you see a price you can live with and then keep checking. If the prices goes down later on, you can cancel and rebook.

Royal has been trying to kill MTD for a few years now. They made MTD chaotic trying to make MTD unappealing. This appears to be the final nail.

Day Seven - Cruise Day Four - Aruba (continued) As I mentioned in part one of today's adventures, we were due to eat at 150 Central Park tonight. I booked this during that sale they had with special prices for C&A. Without knowing at that time what menus they would be having in the MDR on which nights I used an educated guess to pick a night that I reckoned would be one we didn't like. Super Bowl skewed that and I ended up switching this booking from night three to night four. To change it, I had to go to the actual restaurant. The guys at the kiosk in the promenade tried in vain to do it for me and it was only when they called a manager over because the line behind us was getting bigger and bigger and bigger that they realised they couldn't change a cruise planner booking. Anyway we got it changed to night four without any issues while still holding on to our special price. The MDR menu that we skipped for this was the Mexican menu. Also, tonight was "white night" attire-wise. This was hands down the best meal of the cruise (although Hooked, later on, would be a very close second). I would happily have eaten here every night if it weren't for the upcharge. I know, dream on. The bread was very good. For starters, DH had the pumpkin soup. His face was a picture when the server brought the bowl with just the bits in. Where's my soup???? He was very bemused to see it being poured in from a jug. He thought it was nice but a bit on the sweet side. I had the roasted organic beet salad. I absolutely loved this. So good! We both had the lobster thermidor for the main course. It was very tasty. And we both had their signature dessert, the fried cheesecake. DH thought it was wonderful; I thought it was nice but no more than that, being that I am not a big cheesecake fan. The portion sizes were nice. We were pleasantly full when we were finished but not stuffed to the point of feeling uncomfortable. However, bearing in mind the amount we ate, it really wasn't worth the upcharge, even at the reduced rate. People around us were eating far more than we were for the same price. This is the main reason why we only very rarely book specialty dining. I really wish they had à la carte pricing at all of the specialty dining places or a lower-priced option for folks who don't eat much. After dinner we went to see the aqua show, Hiro. Usually I would have booked this for the very first night it was offered (which was actually day one on this sailing) but taking the itinerary into consideration, I reckoned there would be a better chance of it not being cancelled on night four when we would be sailing very slowly between Aruba and Curaçao. And also I reckoned it would be warmer and so more enjoyable sitting in the open air. There were a lot of people in the standby line tonight. We reckoned many of them would have been folks who had had bookings for the previous night's cancelled show. I don't know if they all got in, but the replacement show for them, on night five, did go ahead, so hopefully everyone did get a chance to see it. Having seen these shows before on Oasis and Harmony, our expectations were high and we weren't disappointed. This was one of the highlights of the cruise. Again; i was too busy watching it to get much in the way of pics. Definitely a do not miss!

My win on night #1 was at Ultimate Texas Hold’Em. I usually avoid slots but I did play some tonite. They just bore me. I played some Gold Rush game and I was lost the entire time. Even when we were playing a bonus I had no idea what to do. I got frustrated and just cashed out even though I was staying “even” to slightly ahead on it. It was so crowded, noisy and Smoky, I just had to get out of there. I left Dan at the bar. He’s “home” now.

You can book Celebrity at Next Cruise, however, I don't believe the open bookings from Next Cruise are interchangeable between cruise lines. For an open booking, you get a reservation number. That reservation goes with you when you apply that open booking. The cruise that you select will have the same reservation number as your open booking and the booking date will actually be the date that you purchased the open booking. So because reservations numbers are not interchangeable between the two lines, logic would say that you cannot use your open booking to book X. However, I would be pleasantly surprised if someone else has different info and is able to do it.

Funny you mention that. My wife grabbed one for her student teacher in October b/c she drives a Jeep. I had a Jeep Cherokee in the 90’s but if there was a duck thing back then I never got the memo.

Thats interesting Mike. I knew they did that to a few ships. If we ever get on the Enchantment, I will get bored and check it out.

You just hope the reality is as good or better than the anticipation.

Sound plan, should work out for you.

Depends on the policy. Some say “immediate family members” whether or not they are traveling. Check your policy. Hope he recovers soon.

ArriveCAN was always matched to my passport and not shown to CBSA. I crossed a number of times when ArriveCAN was required, driving and flying, and ArriveCAN compliance was noted on screen to the CBSA agent when they swiped my passport. It's only when you didn't complete ArriveCAN would you really find out that it mattered. Visitors would get a slap on the wrist, Canadian residents faced the possibility of crazy high fines.

The way I'd play it is go up and see if there's anyone taking reservations at Izumi. Maybe you can make them all there. If not, Chops is right across from Izumi and you can do it there.

Allure on the 11th

YES thank you! You caught it in time for me to edit so I fixed it!!!

Thank you, Potato is pleased that you find her attractive. She definitely did not help while I was going through my stuff earlier; in fact, she got into a wrestling match with her sister and fell part of the way down the stairs. Aka normal day with Potato. Senator Meowkins IS THE BEST CAT NAME EVER!!!!!! Maybe your cat can join my friend's dog named POTUS for some sessions, lol.

March 17 on Harmony. Can't get here fast enough.

The only way I sleep in late is when I go back to sleep. Oh I wake up at 6am on vacation, but I don't get out of bed, especially to walk a track.

@GatorCruiser and @Matt are on that 3/17 Wonder with me. One would love to meet up, I've heard the other likes to hide, and I'm an introvert IRL... so we'll see how that works out.

What the jogging track is during peak sunbathing times:

Crew members with the 300 foot hoses at 5:30 AM? Yes. It gets pretty wet. I feel bad running through their freshly cleaned areas.

This 4 way split screen was top notch special effects back then!

I didn't know either. But according to google it is a bar on Icon. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/sgp/en/cruise-dining/the-lemon-post?country=SGP

We are currently on Anthem and have used all the speciality dining, MDR, windjammer etc and ALL have been absolutely excellent, no complaints whatsoever. No matter how much choice is on offer, some folk will always complain!