Leaderboard

Part two: I forgot to buy travel insurance. so what happened with my British Isles cruise is, after realizing I'd be spending the night at Heathrow (provided I could find a taxi on the day of the Queen's funeral… Good luck… ,) I thought, "hey, why not stay on the ship and just take the transatlantic back to the United States?" Sounded like a great idea. I went to guest services to do so and I forget why, but for some reason they just directed me to do it all on my phone. So I booked the cruise on my phone while standing in the atrium of the ship. Somewhere in the process, I either overlooked the offer for travel insurance, or it wasn't offered. (possibly because the cruise was only four days away.) And though I always buy travel insurance, in the rush to get everything booked and settled, I forgot all about it. On day five of the transAtlantic, I thought to myself, "Wait....I never bought travel insurance." I figured it was too late and just hoped that would not need it. On day six I needed it. I had all the signs of a detached retina and had to go to medical. We were looking at our very last stop on land the next day in Spain and then we would be at sea for a week. They arranged for me to go see an eye doctor in Spain the next day. if it turned out I had a detached retina, they would need to do emergency surgery right away, and I would need to stay off an airplane for two weeks. So I laid awake all night, picturing having emergency eye surgery in Spain, while the crew on the ship tossed my suitcases overboard onto the pier and sailed away without me. I was traveling solo and was wondering how much it would cost to have surgery, have my husband fly out to help me, and then how much it would cost to stay in a hotel room in Spain for two weeks and then find my way to the airport and then fly home. $$$$$ It turned out I did not have a detached retina and I made it back to the ship in plenty of time for sailaway and everything was fine. And now I never forget insurance or hotel reservations. The End

Funny WJ story... I told Marla right after we boarded that the goal during the week was to keep my parents out of the WJ. My parents are both early risers and it's part of their cruise routine to head to the buffet before 7am. I told them leading up to the cruise that CK is way better and more calm and they should take advantage of that. First morning of the cruise, I woke up around 7am to find my parents gone. Got a text from them that they went to the WJ because they complained that CK opened too late for them. I got ready and headed to CK myself around 7:45am and texted them back that I was there. They ended up meeting me there and "tried a few things". Still unwilling to admit that CK was better. Second morning I asked if they wanted to go CK with me, they said they would "check out WJ first". They ended up doing a walk around but didn't eat anything. They joined me in CK for breakfast. By Day 3, I woke up at 7am to find a text from them saying they went to Starbucks to get coffee and were waiting in the suite lounge for CK to open up. They never went back the WJ after that.

After being SC a few times I felt the need to try and mimic the SC amenities when we were not SC. For YEARS I purchased the DBP, the internet package and the UDP. All I was missing were the Genie and the extra large suite. I was sure that this was the way to go ! Then, we began to realize that the UDP was just too much food. Not just that it was too much food, but that we were forcing ourselves to eat at specialty dining venues when we really weren't hungry AND going back to the same restaurants again and again. It finally occurred to me that if I only had a 3 night package I would have the freedom to eat just a snack at lunch time or even better, just skip lunch altogether ! No more guilt about passing up a specialty restaurant at lunchtime when I had already paid for it. Then, when the 5 vouchers for D+ started, I KNEW that we no longer needed the DBP since I rarely drink any alcohol to begin with. I still purchase the 2 person internet package b/c Dan and I don't share well LOL. But I no longer purchase the UDP or the DBP and I haven't missed either of them. SC is a wonderful treat. I am going to return to using it as a [rare] treat. Hopefully that will bring back some of the WOW that has gotten somewhat tarnished - at least, for us.

I can just see Matt's headline now... "Blog forum frequent cruisers show how absent-minded they can be on a ship, so for all the new cruisers out there, don't feel bad!"

Getting yelled at for fishing off my balcony...

Recently while surfing the RCCL website looking at cruises I noticed a number of great cruises with a "Flash Sale" savings. The savings for the two of us usually amounted to 550 dollars per cruise per cabin. We generally stay in a Grand Suite and prefer the smaller ships. We also enjoy Perfect Day at CocoCay and Labadee over busy shopping ports. I guess you could say we enjoy cruising, ships and the nice people we meet. Also smaller ships are all older which greatly reduces the cost of cruising. Long story short I was able to book eight cruises which all had Flash Sale savings which allowed us to book an additional cruise with the savings. We're trying to get caught up after the shutdown and this should just about do it. At 73 every cruise is a blessing. Bill

Oh, the old buy eight get one free marketing gimmick.....

Not knowing about the "tunnel of wind" when your cabin door and balcony door are opened at the same time ... The DND sign had fallen off our door. Our cabin steward came in just as I, in my bathrobe, was opening the balcony door to chat with my hubby and I hadn't heard the steward knock. We were docked in Nassau at the time, directly across from, of all ships, the Disney Wonder, who i managed to flash full frontal as my bathrobe totally opened in the tunnel of wind. I was too afraid to get off the ship in Nassau and half waited for the authorities to greet me upon our return to Fort Lauderdale...

On our recent Wonder cruise our room steward gave us his card and pointed out the barcode picture thing on his card. Told us if we need anything 24 hours a day to open that code with our phone camera. We did and it opened a web page where we could select lots items we might needed...Anything from extra pillows to ice. We used it to request ice one late night and within 15 minutes it was delivered to our room.

Sea day today and it’s finally a looovely day. This ship has rocked way more than any cruise I’ve been on, even worse than the Pacific! Even people we’ve been meeting with 50+ cruises under their belts agree it’s the worst. But today we’re cruising along as expected. Back to Cozumel! We met our excursion at the Royal Shopping Center across from the International cruise terminal. The other group never showed so we got another private tour! We were riding in a vintage Meyers Manx dune buggy that would NOT have been sanctioned by Royal due to the lack of speedometer and the gear would pop out after big bumps. Still super fun and we made it back in one piece. We cruised south past all the resorts I see you guys mention on these blogs, Paradise Beach looking best from the front gate impression alone hahah. We made it to the Southern most point, Punta Sur, and entered the Eco Park on a hunt for crocs. Unfortunately none were to be seen since they don’t actively feed them, better meals to be found elsewhere! Still beautiful though. This is essentially a Mayan speaker! Wind would whistle through the top acting as a navigational tool. After this was a trip up the Faro (lighthouse) Ceralain. Suuuuch nice sweeping views after the strenuous hike up the stairs. The door at the lantern is tiny so you have to squat down on all fours to get outside at the top. Worth it! Please enjoy the Marry Me driftwood with the NO response. Two $11 tequila shots later we were driving to the beach for lunch and hanging. We were also going to snorkel but the water temps left something to be desired. This combined with rainy skies led us to say no thanks to the snorkeling which we’ve done plenty of times. The fresh salsa was amazing! Lunch was good as free lunches go. Spent some time in the water after lunch when it warmed up and then we went back on the road seeing the east coast of the island. We went through the center ciudad where most of the locals live and made it back to the cruise port around 2pm.

Still waiting to leave in Grand Cayman, we’re 50 minutes late so far. Saw someone get disembarked to a waiting flashing vehicle on shore. Hope they’re okay! I actually saw the family waving her off from their cabin. They seemed cheerful and no one was in a stretcher when the tender landed. (Thank you, binoculars)

In the last two days, I've completed booking two more 7-Night Mexican Riviera cruises on Navigator from Los Angeles. That's 3 for the two of us, and 2 for my Wife and other friends or family. That makes five bookings on this ship since last fall. Why would we concentrate so much on one ship with the same itinerary each time? Well, I've been envious of the folks that live close to the ports in Florida or elsewhere. A quick jaunt to the port for them and voila! We're taking advantage of an effortless 2-hour flight to L.A. on the same day as the cruise, and in the same time zone. The airfare is less than half the cost of flying to Florida, and a hotel is not needed. I know flights can be late or cancelled, so that's taking a chance flying the day of the cruise, but flights from PDX to LAX are so frequent, if our flight was cancelled, we'd likely find a replacement flight at the next counter. When we cruise from Florida, most of the folks we meet are from the Southeastern states. And when we cruise from L.A., most of the folks we meet are from the Western states. Sounds like other Westerners already knew what we've discovered. And the Mexican Riviera is wonderful! I don't think the cruise industry is represented seriously in Los Angeles, but now being frequent cruisers from there, we're learning the ropes.

I asked Bard, Google’s new answer to ChatGPT, to write a blog post about my upcoming cruise on Ovation OT Seas. Here it is. I recently had the pleasure of taking a cruise on Ovation of the Seas from Hawaii to Vancouver. It was an amazing experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a luxurious and relaxing vacation. The ship itself is absolutely stunning. It's one of the largest cruise ships in the world, and it's packed with amenities and activities. There's something for everyone on board, whether you're looking to relax by the pool, explore the onboard shops, or take part in one of the many activities. I especially enjoyed the ship's two theater shows. The first show, "The Music of the Night," is a tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals. The second show, "A Chorus Line," is a classic musical that tells the story of a group of dancers auditioning for a Broadway show. Both shows are incredibly well-produced and feature talented cast members. I also enjoyed the ship's many restaurants. There's everything from casual buffets to fine dining restaurants on board. I especially enjoyed the Italian restaurant, Jamie's Italian. The food was delicious, and the service was excellent. The cruise itself was a great experience. We stopped at several ports in Hawaii, including Honolulu, Maui, and Kauai. Each port was beautiful, and there was plenty to do and see. I especially enjoyed hiking in the rainforest on Kauai. The cruise ended in Vancouver, and I was sad to see it go. It was an amazing experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a luxurious and relaxing vacation. Here are some tips for planning your own cruise: Book your cruise well in advance, especially if you're traveling during peak season. Choose a cruise line and itinerary that fits your interests and budget. Pack light clothing, as you'll be spending most of your time in the sun. Don't forget to pack your sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat. Enjoy your cruise!

The next morning we were in Grand Cayman! We were supposed to anchor and tender from the west side of the island, giving us easy access to the city center but due to winds we ended up anchoring off the south shore instead at Spott’s Landing boat dock. We were able to contact Adventura Cayman about moving our bike rental delivery and were able to pick those up right at the tender dock. The tender operation took foreverrrr and we weren’t able to board one (the first allowing non-excursion guests) until 11:45am. Since the original arrival was supposed to be 10am we lost a good chunk of the day waiting to go ashore but still had a nice time! On the approach to GC. Another Holland America ship was already anchored on the west side. Lucky little duckies! We grabbed some cocktails at the pool bar to transfer to our insulated tumblers. Pro DBP usage while on shore. After getting the bikes we had a loooot farther trip to pedal to Hell (the new location added 7 miles of biking before we even got to the original drop off point) so we ended up giving up after 9 miles and lounged for a bit at the lovely Coral Beach along the famed Seven Mile Beach. $10 entry pp but it included chairs in the shade. First bike pit stop because the scenery demanded it. Por queeee??? Looking back towards the ship (we anchored with Carnival Pride) Packing my beach float on my back the entire way. Iguana statue almost got me. Got a lot of nice ones like this, biking and iPhone photography is a hard combination! Coral Beach shady seating area. There is no seating on the beach due to erosion. Only beach access is by way of staircase. Poor floatie-less souls making do out there. After a fun $50, 12 minute taxi ride from Georgetown (we gave up and locked up the bikes, 11 miles of biking was enough for one day and my butt is still feeling the effects of this endeavor nearly a week later!!!) we were back in the tender line for 5:15 all aboard. When we got back on board the only food available was from the Park Cafe, but after waiting in this lengthy line I finally had my first taste of a Royal Kummelweck. Delicious with gravy! We enjoyed ours on the balcony and waited for sail away. Departure ended up being delayed so we got to enjoy a beautiful land-side sunset. After this loooong day we decided we didn’t want to do a full MDR dining experience and headed for the Windjammer. It was balmy enough to dine out on the aft deck which is so nice. The 11 biking miles + buffet food coma really set in after dinner and we did not make it out to any of our planned shows. When we returned to the cabin Charles had added a bat to our crew (Splits Bird still seen donning his sunglasses on the table in the background)!

New achievement unlocked: Pier runner on the first day!

Cough, cough, (photoshop), cough, cough. Oops. Did I say that out loud? Darn it.

The Allure is darn near perfect, IMHO

Dry Dock is going well on Symphony!

Common courtesy, like common sense, hasn't been so common for about 20 years.

Almost there! Carryon only achieved! I have to say, joining Alaska’s Lounge last year has worked really well for me. I got the membership last year because we had a huge long layover in Seattle, and it has been so worth the $350 for the year. Its hours, its people, its facilities and its menus (both food and bar) are incredible. Flew into Seattle yesterday afternoon, took the train into downtown, met my daughter and spent last night with her. She brought me down to SeaTac about 6 am, made it through security and up here enjoying breakfast by 7 am! This will be my 6th time using it, and I have 8 months and three more trips to go! It does make it much easier (and comfortable) to travel with planned (or unplanned!) layovers.

Symphony Of The Seas has just set the record for most people crossing the Atlantic on a cruise ship! Here's what you can expect to do with 9 days at sea, crossing from USA to Europe, on one of the largest ships in the world!

Had a great day in Cozumel! Just sailed away, leaving Serenade behind us. Gonna do some blog catch up now since we left so early to get to GC tomorrow. Yesterday after a rousing game of Bingo we tried our hand at the Corn Hole tournament in Starquest and found our way to the helipad where we saw Serenade following us to Coz. I’ve only ever been to the helipad at night on previous ships so it was really cool to see the bridge and the sweeping views during the day. Hellooo sister! Last night we had dinner in Izumi! The placement of this restaurant feels like such an afterthought. The only way to access it is at the veeery back of deck 12, past the kids pool area and we definitely got pretty wet on the 3 minute voyage since it was raining fairly hard by then. We got two rolls, Tonkotsu ramen and teriyaki. I don’t remember the rolls being only 4 pieces on any other ship. It was the only time I’ve eaten sushi and haven’t been stuffed full afterwards! I continue to like the Izumi mochi even if the skin is a little on the thick side. The funny part of this meal was the overhead speaker completely going insane and crackling with a loud static noise for the last 15 minutes or so of the meal. The manager was going around letting us all know a technician was coming but that he couldn’t fix it. A couple was entering as we were leaving and I wondered what they thought of the ambiance Bird doing the splits towel art. ¡Ole!

We booked a Baltic Cruise over two years ago because we wanted to visit St. Petersburg. Needless to say that port was cancelled but the nightmare was just beginning. We made it to Heathrow from LAX when my wife noticed that the small bag with all of my medications was not in the carry on. I left the bag on the counter at home so that at the last minute I could put my Insulin in it so it would remain cold for the flight until I reached the ship (I forgot and left it on the counter). I was able to enjoy the cruise but my Glucose level Was averaging 500mg/dl and I had to watch what I ate and drank. When the cruise ended we were stuck in Copenhagen due to Bad weather in Canada. We were given a hotel room and they Booked us a Flight back to LAX the next day. To our surprise, when we arrived back at the airport to board the flight Air Canada did not follow through with the new flight booking and we were stuck for yet another day. By Day three in Copenhagen they finally had us on a non-stop flight to LAX Confirmed. While waiting to board the flight I began feeling very bad and started hallucinating but was afraid to tell anyone for fear they would not let me board the plane. One of the ticket counter Agents that recognized me and knew of our plight grabbed our boarding passes and arranged for us to sit in First Class for the trip home. To this day I do not know what my Glucose level was because the meter only reads to 800mg/dl and this time it just read "High."

My husband always just pack tennis shoes, his are black. He wears them with a tux and no one really looks at men's shoes. People are usually distracted because he wears a LED light up bow tie and suspenders.

I was talking to a friend today who just came off a ship this morning. He is a frequent cruiser. He recognized some things have changed but we both agreed that the food is still better than what's available in our respective kitchens at home.

I think the photograph needs no explanation!

Most hotels have a bag hold at the front desk. Give your hotel a call and see if they will hold your bags until check-in. We’ve done that plenty of times.

On our last 2 cruises we were able to listen to both of the muster video/audios while still in the terminal. OA was excellent with the muster drill as they had all of the muster stations set up before anyone even boarded...so you could listen to the videos in the terminal and then walk straight to your muster station as soon as you boarded. It was awesome. Of course, there were still those flakes that hadn't visited their muster stations, minutes before we were due to set sail, but for the rest of us that know what's going on....OA did it RIGHT !

for what it’s worth; i do my muster drill while we’re waiting to board then all i have to do is mosey on over to our station for the check in. piece of cake!!

Update: I received and email announcing the cancellation of the PP on my 5-26-23 Mariner sailing. It is showing "refunded" in the purchase history. Still showing the $100 OBC so it seems to be going as planned. Still have 3 or 4 more refunds due...but I don't expect them immediately.

Seems like I'm in the minority so far , but I had a blast on it on Odyssey. I would definitely have done it again if I was on a ship that had it. That said, I can see how it may have issues. My "blast" was partly because I ended up using it wrong. Easily swayed by the VR I kept my legs curled and used apparently quite a lot of force when jumping. On lookers said I was twice as high as other participants and swinging all over the place. I SWEAR I tried to follow the rules and keep my legs straight but the virtual rocks and mountains I was jumping over sent signals to my brain to duck, tuck, dodge and swerve lol. I apologized profusely to the staff monitoring me and while he took it in good humor, I think I could tell he definitely had had a hard time. I'm sure to him it looked like I was intentionally doing whatever I wanted. I'm sure the staff are in worse position to get kicked in the face or worse, not to mention other issues such as what @Ampurp85 mentioned. I'll be sad to see it go, glad I got my chance, and interested to see what comes next

Yikes ! That dock/pier where you did the croc hunt looked a bit ricked-ish. I'll bet if someone went through the floor boards of that, you'd've seen a croc soon enough ! LOL Glad that didn't happen.

I have never had an issue with UDP dining reservations through the concierge. When I get the concierge email, I email back with everything that I would want to reserve once on the ship. The only thing the concierge has not been able to reserve are escape room times — that you need to do on the ship. On Odyssey, the concierge found helpful times for iFly and the thing that goes in the air as well. Given our great experiences with the concierge, Sky Class is a great option for a smaller group. For my whole extended family, Star is great, but without priority for activities, it loses much of its appeal.

BTW, Rhapsody is still doing 2 stateroom visits per day until April. Barbados excursion and transfer to the airport was pretty nice. Got to see different parts of the island, like Bathsheba beach. Got to the airport at least 3 hours ahead of my flight. Waiting for the Jetblue agent took longer than getting through customs. You can buy Mount Gay Rum at the airport. And you get on the plane outside. I mean why not, it's gorgeous weather. I would do this itinerary again, but maybe add Curacao and Tobago. Rhapsody is a great ship for solo cruisers and those with no kids. Overall a great time was had by all!

I am in Sky on the Wonder (Crown loft) June 25th, 2023. I will give you all the details while onboard. We booked this on another sailing with friends, parted ways and were going to cancel. (Well teens parted ways, so.....) Devil on one shoulder had the phone dialed to cancel, Devil on the other was waving around my credit card, needless to say....

I have bid the minimum and won. I have known pax who bid the maximum and over and have not. Bid what you can afford and hope for the best. There is very little in the way if strategy.

My kids are boh taking an origami class at our homeschool co-op. DD has started bringing folded pieces with us in the car for whenever we go through a drive thru, and she gives them to the people working the window. The smiles have been priceless, so the kids are going to fold tip money into different shapes forbthe cruise. It's the cash we were planning on giving anyway, just in a fun package. There are lots of videos on YouTube.

I imagine Symphony had a lot more lights turned on than the QM did for these crossings. Apparently Starlink internet is working almost as good as the internet on the QM did back in 1943 too.

35 days today!! well fam... J and i are at it again! harmony of the seas april 29-may 6th miami > st. maarten > san juan > PDCC > miami so, fun fact - the very first cruise i ever managed to get J to go on was indeed, on harmony, the first week of may. hence, our live blog title since then, we've worked out way through the fleet and in various cabin categories and can confidently state that the oasis class is our favorite. we've managed to not kill each other (she has much more patience with humanity in general ) and is very go with the flow to my type-A (or is it triple A at this point??) personality. this sailing was actually a total afterthought for us; since the pandemic, we'd only intended to go on symphony in february (many of you know how that turned out) and happened upon the deal of a life time for a central park balcony. we are committing the cardinal sin of flying down the morning we sail (details tbd on that one because we may be changing some details to make that morning of a little less horrible) but are basically in it for the sunshine and a return to st. maarten. lastly... i haven't told J this yet -- and i am pretty sure she hasn't noticed -- but we are, in fact, on deck 11. pray for us.

Day 4 First move this morning was to the Solarium hot tub at about where I again encountered my “tubmates” from Alaska, who were discussing the -20 temperatures they had left behind. Made the hot tub temperature seem even higher, and my sore leg muscles from yesterday’s treks were delighted! Then back to the cabin for a shower and get ready for the day. VB screen is still blank (except for the simulated balcony railing) so called Maintenance who said thy would check it. Off to breakfast in the MDR, where I’m welcomed with smiles and a window side 2 top - so nice! Sea day today, and it’s lived up to its name — lots of sea, and running high! A fair amount of wind, too, and not very warm, so most people are staying inside. Went to the Captain’s Corner with Captain James and CD Thiago. Really well done, although kind of sparsely attended. Got a nice fact sheet on Navigator which was very informative. Captain James is a great communicator and is very engaging. So, on to Sob reason #2: I decided to watch the GU-UConn elite 8 game in my cabin; listened to some of the radio broadcast during dinner (my AirPods were hidden by my hair, and I was careful not to outwardly react to what I was hearing.). Dinner was Mixed salad and arancini for appetizers, and New York Strip with baked potato and roast vegetables (broccoli and carrot slices). I asked for Medium — and I got Medium! The baked potato was perfect, and the broccoli, although I didn’t get any “roasted” impression, was nicely done without being soggy. BTW, I don’t eat cooked carrots if I can avoid it, and this time was no exception. So, I made a happy plate with just two carrot slices and a little strip of fat from the steak left on it. No dessert, as I had plans. On the way back up to the cabin, I grabbed a little slice of cake and two coconut cookies from Cafe Promenade, and two glasses of wine (to last the rest of the evening, I thought). OK, ready for the rest of the game! Well, no, I wasn’t ready for THAT outcome. At its conclusion, I turned off the TV and just kind of vegged for a while. Figured I would go to the Production show, and JUST as I reach deck 5, there’s an announcement that due to technical difficulties on the stage, the show will be postponed until Day 5. So there are hundreds of sad people around me now. Time for a Kraken and Coke, and a retreat to my cabin to work on language skills with Duolingo and vocabulary skills with Wordscapes. Oh, and did I mention that my VB screen is frozen once again? Tomorrow, Ensenada, where I can kayak my cares away! One piece of good news is that it should reach high tide right around the time we’ll be near La Bufadora (2 pm), so the water “geyser” should reach pretty good heights!

I see my 88.99 refund

Yikes, price! The price point is high enough. I fear if they designated it Star on the Ships that run that program the price would most likely price us out. I can be my own genie, I maintain I enjoy a larger cabin and I wish I could purchase it without the Star price tag or designation/perks. This one is perfect, I enjoyed the Star perks on my one Star sailing but I would rather pay a little less for my cabin. In my perfect world you purchase your cabin and then had a choice to add on the "Star" package.

@sammy79 big fans of the two bedroom grand suite! (When there is no #deck17, I enjoy a Crown Loft for sure) We stayed in the 2 bedroom on Odyssey & Adventure (huge balconies) and finally my lovely Serenade, balcony on deck 7 was smaller but the space is comfortable. Two bathrooms, well everyone knows I'm a super fan of that with a teen. Sky class amenity(yes on Odyssey it was great) or similar WOULD be nice on the other class of ships but it's a nice respite while on vacation. I sound like a broken record but I just wish Royal would get their act together & streamline the suite product across the fleet. It's a really enjoyable cabin.

I've visited Barcelona MANY times and have stayed in several different hotels. What I've learned over the years is that the best place to be as a tourist is as close as possible to the Placa Catalunya. The Placa is the large public square at the northern terminus of Las Ramblas, the great pedestrian promenade. All of Barcelona's transportation options use the Placa as a hub...including the HOHO bus tour. The cheap, easy Aerobus to and from the airport uses the Placa as it's ultimate stop. El Corte Ingles has an extremely large department store with a great Supermarket in its basement right on the Placa. Most of the tourist sites are easy walking distance. A taxi from the Placa to the cruise port is pretty inexpensive for the short ride. For our cruise coming up in April on Symphony of the Seas, we will be staying both pre- and post-cruise at the H10 Catalunya Plaza--a great little hotel right on the Placa. We stayed there pre- and post-cruise this past August as well. We've also stayed in the 1898 Hotel on Las Ramblas just south of the Placa and it's wonderful though a bit pricey. We've also stayed at the Hotel Continental, right on Las Ramblas, just off the Placa--You can't beat the location and it can be usually had for a bargain. The Hotel Jazz, just off the Placa is another longtime cruiser favorite. You can start with those...

I will admit, this is the first live blog I've actually read from start to finish. I LOVE YOU @Lovetocruise2002, and your family, and your writing style, and all the other comments mixed in. You may have started a new addiction for me - reading these live blogs! (or maybe I'll just search for your other ones, lol)

I could be wrong, but I thought I had read that any cruise lines that were using E-muster were having to pay Royal Caribbean a royalty, since RC had patented the process. I also read that this is why NCL had gone back to the manual muster. Maybe they got so much blow-back that they decided to bite the bullet and pay the royalty ?

My “Lounge view” this morning. That’s the Olympic Mountains off in the distance!

Ayyyy....Eagles fan here. We were on Oasis this past January and embarkation day was the NFC Championship game... the whole boardwalk\playmakers area and the aqua theater seating area was all full of Eagles fans (a few 49ers fans too) and it was a blast!! Nothing like starting the cruise with a trip to the super bowl! We had a boardwalk balcony room and our 11 yr old loved starting the EAGLES chant from up there down to the crowd! Oh man...that sounds "terrible". When is this again, I just want to make sure I don't ummm accidently...yeah, accidently... book that week. (this is a joke, I can see it being an actual pain in the ass)