Jill

Suite lounge on Harmony had a bar. If you’re a suite guest, you get free drinks. That’s why they didn’t use your vouchers

Jazz was in Central Park and also on Promenade This is what was going on this past sailing

Until you really know what you’re dealing with, you’ll just have to sit tight and discuss with your team. My oncologist was very much for living life and not missing big events (weddings, graduations etc). As someone else said, it could be a couple of weeks before you can start treatment. A lot depends if it’s an aggressive type or slow growing. Then there’s Covid, Flu and RSV going around. Luckily the time after thanksgiving and before Christmas is a slower time for cruising. You certainly don’t want to get sick before starting treatment Hoping you can go but if not, plan a big one after treatment. I had an awesome “I kicked cancer’s ass” cruise on oasis with close friends. Best of luck to you! I’m a little over 6 years cancer free from stage 4b endometrial cancer. It’s not a death sentence anymore. Be sure to ask for genomic testing on the tissue to help identify the best treatment drugs.

We just did the 12 night Holy Land on odyssey last month. We had an Airbnb in Rome for 3 nights after the cruise. We spent the night before the cruise in Civitavecchia in another Airbnb. More affordable than hotels. I used Daniele Your Driver in Rome (you can find him on Facebook) for all 3 of our transfers. Very reliable and very reasonable. We did the 5 night dining package with 7 nights in the MDR with My Time Dining. This was our Airbnb in Rome: https://abnb.me/QCPJFj7l7ub

Pool deck bars

Wonder 5/7/23 DBP $62.99 Beach Club $123 (down from $235)

Well I scored a deal! Well not really as compared to the old days, but I got the beach club for $123. It was at $225-which is ridiculous! Now it’s less ridiculous! Miss the days of $79.99 I did buy it at the ridiculous price to basically hold my spot. Not having to buy the DBP anymore helped. So the sale price was a nice surprise this morning One thing I like about the new CP format is you can buy without cancelling the old one first. That was always a worry that you’d cancel and when you go to buy at lower price it suddenly was sold out

My guess is Oasis will be doing her TA that last week of April as she’s due for her 5 year dry dock and then she’s doing the Western Med summer 2024. Symphony is leaving in April too for 2023 dry dock. Could be accommodating shipyard schedule and they need to get her over there edited to add: her first med sailing is May 9 so that’s my guess. Doesn’t seem like enough time though for dry dock

Owners suite are more expensive. Grand Suite aft are nice. Not sure though if the super structure gives you obstructed view. What’s the cabin number?

Ditto MEI

I was on odyssey Oct. 7-19. It was AWESOME! I don’t understand how a ship can go downhill to this extent in 12 days. Our dining room staff was excellent! All food was good (not great) and actually way better than our 3 post Covid US based cruises. We had 5 night specialty and 7 nights in MDR. Every menu in MDR was different each night We thought the ship was beautiful and will sail her again i did hear that disembark was horrendous but not unusual for transatlantic It’s possible a lot of crew left before the TA. We saw a lot of new crew coming onboard in Cyprus. I know our waiter in MDR was going home after that last Holy Land cruise right before the TA

I was “shopping” a 2 bedroom GS on Anthem for Norwegian fjords 2024 last night. $8448 for 4 people. Today it’s $8228. Not a super sale. We’re waiting another year for that cruise anyways but wanted to get a ballpark at what to expect price wise. Highly doubt my Wonder or Icon have gone down. Both were booked early. I’m sure @Sharlawill run the price checker program thingy so maybe I’ll get a nice little surprise

I have been told this is the case (supply) by someone who would know. Ending lobster all together was not an option. Enter Maine lobster.

I would just Uber. About 40 minutes

We were booked for May 27 this past year (Radiance Southbound) with a 3 day land tour. We had to cancel because my daughter and I both got Covid. Our neighbors went in August (Radiance Northbound) and their dog sledding excursion was cancelled because of too much snow melt. They were really disappointed but enjoyed the cruise and their 7 day land tour. If dog sledding is on your bucket list, go in May. The only real dog sledding (on ice/snow) requires helicopter to glacier otherwise the dog sledding excursions are on dirt.

We were just on Odyssey last month. I’m an oasis class fan but I actually really enjoyed Odyssey. First off we only had 3500 onboard so no waiting for activities. There also were very few kids. Maybe 2 dozen. I’d go for the biggest bang for your buck. CocoCay is very appealing but only 6 nights. I’d go with Allure and with the money you save, get a specialty dining package or splurge on an excursion.

Athens and Jerusalem offer overnights on some itineraries. We just spent 3 days in Israel and it was awesome! One day in Haifa and an overnight in Jerusalem

I filled out the form on the homepage of this blog and I got Sharla with MEI. Been very happy

My guess is it’ll be 2025 when she’s due for dry dock again. I’d expect her to then take her turn at the western med itinerary for that summer.

What have you heard that wasn’t finished?

However that was out of Europe and different supply chain

A friend of mine is a former hotel director for Royal and he told me the executive committee of each ship reads every survey and yes, the surveys greatly impact crew promotion/demotion. As far as anything else (food quality/customer satisfaction etc) that I do not know. BTW it wasn’t this person that told me about the no roll beef. That is someone who was VERY high up in food service for RCG

When I was told that I was surprised as well but did explain the inconsistencies I’ve experienced

I saw that too!

You can still do southern Caribbean out of Puerto Rico. It’s my favorite itinerary in the Caribbean Always a bummer but I’d try and reschedule for PR