KWong

I've never found Downy release to work well for me. I also don't like the smell, but had I got it to work I'd have lived with that.

As we say in Canada, "Sorry". And if it makes you feel better, I learned of this tip after a couple of trips and numerous battles with the shelf.

From your list: --Sailed with a sweetheart/spouse --Sailed with other family members --Done a repositioning cruise (technically - it was a Panama Canal cruise) --Sailed in or out of a port in your home town (not unless the Toronto Island Ferry counts) --Sailed in or out of a port in foreign country --Visited a cruise line's private island --Had a wardrobe malfunction on board (XYZ incident) --Sailed on a cruise line other than RC (Princess, DCL) --Had the chef make something special for only your table (it was because we found a plastic pouch in the soup (I presume it contained the soup) on a DCL cruise. I guess DCL gets some food from Sysco?) Additional: - My wife got to visit the infirmary - Won money at the casino - Lost money at the casino - Cursed people that stayed on 14 vs a dealer 10 at the casino - Wiped out on the pool deck - Sailed a river cruise

After watching the sail away from the balcony, we did some unpacking, and then it was time for dinner. We did get the early seating (5:30 on Independence), and our servers were Ryan and Mutsam (I may have his name wrong). Mutsam was fairly new, and this was in fact his first contract. I thought they did a good job over the course of the cruise. Nothing spectacular, but everything was done competently. My first night main was the Caribbean Jerk Pork Chop. Cooked very nicely, although perhaps not enough jerk flavour. We also asked for extra vegetables for our table. Seems weird, but we do eat a lot of veg, so this worked out for us. After dinner, we wandered around the promenade a bit. They had singers and musicians doing some standards – it was nice. (So much better than two singers and an iPad) We then went to register Olivia in Adventure Ocean. Hannah (my older one) was 12 so she went to look in on the Teen club meet and greet, but the kids there were mostly older teens, so she didn’t want to join in. She’s actually quite sociable, but I could definitely understand her apprehension. After this, I think that we experienced a first day adrenaline dump, as we all felt quite tired. I’d planned on doing some more first night exploring, but, well, sleep beckoned, and tomorrow would be a new day.

There was another reason for staying on Deck 11. Despite the sign indicating a noon start, I figured that Windjammer would open early, and it would be good to get in before the crowds did. And it was! I have to say that I like the entrance layout of the Windjammer on Independence. Not only do they have the ubiquitous antibacterial dispensers, but the sides are lined with wash stations, making it easy to clean your hands before entering. The last ship I was on, Allure, didn’t have that. The space feels more open as well, but that might be because we didn’t seem to eat at the absolute peak time for Windjammer, which was the case for us on Harmony and DCL Fantasy. In fact, it was the logjam on Fantasy that led me to try and avoid the main buffet if I could. After eating, there was still some time before staterooms were open, so Olivia (my younger one) decided to do some swimming. As we left the Windjammer, we noticed that the lines were way out the door. After the swim, the rooms were opened so we went down to check our room out. We had a standard Oceanview balcony on deck 7, but it was right at the end of Independence’s “hump” so there was a wee bit more room there. And if I recall correctly, this was the first time that we had a single room with a bathroom/couch/bed setup – we’d gotten bathroom/bed/couch all our other times, or in one case a connecting room. No biggie, just a new thing for us. After changing back into our regular clothes we decided to explore the ship a bit more. Deck 7 turned out to be quite an advantageous position as it was a short trip down to the Promenade, and a short trip up to the pool deck. We started down on the Promenade. I might be mistaken, but the Promenade on Independence is actually longer than that on the Oasis class ships. Granted, the promenade is certainly wider on Oasis class, but it certainly felt as if there wasn’t as much length. Perhaps I should’ve chalked that up to recency bias? Our next stop was the sports deck. Kids tried out the sky climber, and we took a look at the Flow Rider and SkyPads, which at that point had already closed the line due to the upcoming muster drill. We gave the swinging benches a go, and then it was time for the muster drill. We headed down to our room first, and our luggage was waiting in the hall. Nice! (This picture was not taken on the ship. But you can probably guess how we were able to spot our luggage) Muster drill was what it was. We had some folks who may have taken full advantage of the drink package, and we were outside facing west, so that was… interesting.

The good news is that it gave me some time to explore Deck 11 and 12. Not having been on a Freedom class ship before, I was curious to see the layout. I liked it. Splashaway Bay has a layout similar to what I saw on Harmony, with the addition of a kiddie pool that hopefully wouldn’t be a “kid soup” pool similar to DCL’s Mickey pool. If you’ve been on DCL, you know what I’m talking about. The sides of the deck even had some windows open, to let in some air. The main pool area had a couple of pools bisected by a deck area, with a few hot tubs surrounding it. There was also a large video screen for movies. Further back was Solarium, which was actually a nice layout. In the bar, I noticed a BOGO deal on the drink package. Still more expensive than in the Cruise Planner, but hey, better than paying full price, if one were so inclined to purchase the package (I was not). In the adjoining terminal, we could see the Majesty, set to sail out that day as well.

Day 1 - Embarkation Day Whether it’s your first time or your 100th time, boarding your ship on that first day gives you that feeling that “it’s happening”. For me, it’s similar to when I finish checking in at a resort or open the door to my Airbnb. Nothing has really happened yet, but you Just Know that you’re ready for it. As always, we got the complimentary Hyatt Place breakfast, ensured that we were ready with our carry-on gear, visited the “cruise tag station” (a stand with two staplers some pens and tape and ...waited. Because we’re always ready a wee bit too early. No matter. We called an Uber around 10:15 and headed out to the terminal. We arrived at the terminal around 10:30, where it looked like there were people still getting out of customs. And it was early enough that few of the baggage carts were loaded up. This… was really early for us. Naturally we squandered that because we couldn’t find the big sign that said “Expedited Arrival”. I’d checked in via the app, and 3 of us were given Expedited Arrival. My wife, inexplicably, did not. No matter. After about 5 minutes, we were good to go and over to security, which was fast and efficient. A couple of obligatory “heading onboard” pictures and it was up to the ship. On board before 11:00, an estimated 25 brisk minutes from car to ship. We headed up to Windjammer to grab some lunch and… the sign said it opens at noon. Oops.

If you stay near the terminal you're a short ride away from Stanley Park. If you rent a car you can do some hiking near North Vancouver. Can't really recommend hotels since I've got relatives there.

Stick a washcloth on the shower shelf so that your small bottles don't fall between the cracks. Magnetic whiteboard outside the door if you're travelling with a large group. I think everything else I do is a general travel hack/tip.

That's interesting. I wonder if there's some analytics-based reason for requiring MTD to pay gratuities but not Set Dining.

I'm not surprised. And yet I'm ok with my kids watching this.

I would've blamed the autocorrect if it was wrong...

Yeah I can see Chicago getting complaints. Mamma Mia has some mature themes, but the risque factor is way lower than Chicago. I love the "Inside Baseball" info you're doling out. And yeah, I might have to take in a backstage tour. Some of the technical stuff is as fascinating as the on stage product. I can't imagine Mamma Mia going away so soon after it debuted on Allure, so you're safe there.

In 2006 I went from Toronto to Dulles to San Juan on Boxing Day for a departing-the-same-day Princess Cruise. Zero problems but with basically zero slack it's not something I'd try to do again. With that said, Virginia to FLL in April is obviously a shorter trip (and direct) so there is less chance for things to go wrong. It still might not be ideal to fly in the day of, but with that said I think it's an acceptable risk. What I always think of when I see "moot point":

We used the dollar store magnetic whiteboard solution. Worked just fine but chat would be nice all the same.

So I guess you could communicate via WhatsApp or WeChat then. Not ideal since people might get the messages later than planned, but still better than nothing?

Sounds like fun! We typically do a generational trip in the summer - at this point it's 14 of us: My parents, my two brothers, our spouses and kids (2 kids each). This year we're doing Symphony and I'll probably blog about that, like I'm doing with Indy right now. I like the shirts! I'm actually thinking of getting some shirts done up for the cruise. Maybe some baseball or soccer style shirseys with numbers and all that. Guess I"ve got some time to figure out a design. Anyway, looking forward to seeing how things go!

Interesting. I didn't know this bit of information. Thanks!

Thanks! One year, we did a road trip out to Maine/Boston. Did a side trip out to Cape Cod and had some amazing fried clam bellies. I'm kind of surprised that places stick with clam strips instead of the whole clam, but maybe Sysco doesn't supply breaded whole clams? ? All the chartering was funny in a way. And realistically, I can't complain about effectively having my gratuities covered by the cruise line.

An HK-Brit. Nice! I'm HK-Canadian myself. My wife is actually Chinese-Vietnamese who was raised in Birmingham, so her accent is similar, albeit more Brummy than Scouse. Also, I've subscribed.

What you did really should've been the end of it. Unfortunately you got saddled with some unsavory types.

Day 0 - Travel Day As many people do, we tend to get to the port city the day before the cruise. There have been a couple of exceptions, but overall we’d rather pay for a night at a hotel than be concerned over potential delays flying in the day of. Being Canadians with fairly frequent travel to the US, we’ve invested in the NEXUS pass, which grants us expedited entry between Canada and the US as well as Global Entry and TSA precheck. And flying out of Toronto Pearson, it’s well worth the cost - I’d estimate that on a busy day it saves at least 45 minutes, and maybe 15 minutes on a light day. Bottom line, if you’re Canadian and fly out of an airport with US pre-clearance, it might be the best $50USD you’ll spend on an airplane-related item. Back on topic, flying the day before meant that we were flying on New Year’s Day. No big deal for us, as we simply haven’t been big New Year’s Eve partygoers after having kids. There is the nice bonus of not having to deal with any sort of traffic. Bag drop, customs and the flight were all uneventful. We did notice a bit of a line for folks looking to preclear customs (several Canadian airports have a US departures area complete with CBP officials, so that we don’t have to go through customs when we arrive) but with the NEXUS cards, we were through in about 10 minutes. After arrival and baggage claim, we took a taxi over to our hotel, the Hyatt Place 17th Street. We’ve stayed at this hotel a few times now, not necessarily out of brand loyalty but because the prices are usually quite good, via a dodgy-looking third party website. It’s also close to a variety of restaurants and shops, in case you forgot something or need to buy wine. Speaking of which, we effectively checked in, dropped our stuff off in the room, and went to eat a late lunch/early dinner. Based on our experience a couple of years ago, we headed to Kelly’s Landing, which specializes in New England-style seafood. And considering that it was New Year’s Day, with no Boston-related games on, at 3 in the afternoon, the place was quite busy. We ate quite a bit of fried stuff – calamari (my younger one is a sucker for this. Every time, every place), Ipswich clams, crab cakes and clam chowder (or is that chowdah?). The clams for me were the highlight, as they were full bodied clams that were fried very nicely. After that bit of gluttony, we shopped at Ross and TJ Maxx because my girls didn’t bring any fancy(ish) shoes. And in fairness, Hannah, my older one, had outgrown all of hers so this was not an unexpected occurrence. We managed to find some nice shoes, bought some water and some ibuprofen from Publix and it was back to the hotel for a nap. After the nap, the kids were a bit peckish so I went to a nearby takeaway to grab some American-style lo mein. And also to get some wine for the trip. After this, the kids went to bed, and I did a little reorganizing to get ourselves ready for embarkation day.

Had something similar happen to us on a previous cruise. Neighbours were nice but LOUD around 11pm when the (then) little ones were trying to sleep (I think they were video chatting with someone). I asked nicely once to please keep it down and when it didn't stop I went to guest services. They sent a team to listen and confirm the noise. I could still hear them afterwards but it was noticeably toned down. So that was fine for us In your scenario I think your options are basically talk to the hotel director or keep going to guest services. Not sure what else you could peacefully do with noisy kid neighbours on-board.

Thanks!

So long as the gratuities go to the crew and not to the cruise lines I'm ok with an increase. I've often wondered about how the crew salary is broken down. Do they pay the crew a normal salary but then garnish room, board and meals? Or is it low like a restaurant server but with room, board and meals included? At the end of the day, it doesn't and won't affect how I tip (I budget for a little "over and above" the going rate anyway) but it is a genuine curiousity on my part.