KWong

14 hours ago, cruisellama said:

Good for a quick nap..

Power nap or "American Adventure at Epcot" nap?

For one of our cruises we had way too much OBC so used it for an "island tour" in Roatan. The tour was fine, but it wasn't worth the cost. So I'll be making better use of my OBC from now on. 

13 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I used to do the shot glasses and then they became a nuisance with where to put them; they were no more than dust collectors.  They went bye-bye with the move.

I keep saying that I'd try a DIY display. Clearly, that has yet to happen. 

7 hours ago, CrimsonCruiser said:

I want  to start collecting magnets or ornaments or something of the like for each new ship...but honestly they never quite scream to me when I'm on board.

BUT...I do always buy photos and somehow end up always buying something from the "street" sales.

I actually started my shot glass collection based on trying to find the cheesiest landmark image I could find (at an agreeable price). But the important thing was that I didn't overthink my purchases. And I think that if you're going to dive into the collecting hobby, that might help you get started. 

Ooops, double post.

31 minutes ago, Joe01 said:

Do Royal actually expect anyone (other than the most ardent cruisers - and let's be real, the majority who post on cruise forums fall into this category) to dish out thousands of pounds/dollars/whatever other currency to go on a cruise where they can't explore ports on their own, have to distance from other guests, have to wear face coverings everywhere on the ship and risk being imprisoned in a cabin if someone even tests positive for a virus?

I know it sucks for the industry big time but let's be realistic.

It's a good question. I would say "no, they are not." The casual cruiser will come back. It just won't be during this point where we're just starting to see vaccines being delivered, and probably won't be until we start being able to walk around without masks on. 

14 hours ago, princevaliantus said:

Question: What indicators give thought to RCG being a Zombie?

It's in your head. In your head...

3 hours ago, RickinSTL said:

For us.. we have to buy a ship magnet.. I know its dumb.. but we have to litter the Fridge with them lol 

 

I don't buy magnets, but I've been collecting shot glasses of destinations for years now. And a cruise ship certainly qualifies. 

If I'm being honest I don't like wearing masks. 
 

However it's something I've gotten used to doing. Even when I'm at the gym I wear one unless I'm doing cardio on the elliptical. 
 

So if I need to wear one whilst on vacation, so be it. 

This is why I sport a "We The North" lanyard and Jays/Expos/Texans caps. People can see that I have my teams - no need to ask about the Leafs. 
 

They do ask how someone from Toronto is a fan of the Texans though. 

37 minutes ago, Gears said:

If you fly to Toronto...after landing...the PA announcement: "Welcome to Toronto everyone! Proud home of the 1967 Stanley Cup Champions.".

I would laugh my head off if this did happen. But then the Leafs have been dead to me since about the turn of the century, so...

BBQ in the Solarium would be interesting. Create a combination suntan lotion/brisket aroma. 
 

I liked Samba, but I never saw too many people eating in there and given the format, you probably end up with a lot of cooked, uneaten food. 

Maybe they'll remove those clocks with the iPhone 4 charging docks...

1 hour ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

Same! I just read @Matt's latest blog post about double points being extended into Q1 of 2022 if we book by January 31st, 2021. Now I am looking at March 2022 cruises even though I wanted to wait until ships were sailing before making a new booking. I hope Royal Caribbean pays him a monthly stipend for all the blogs  tempting us to book more LOL! 

I actually booked a cottage in the Bruce Peninsula for early July because I needed to have a vacation to look forward to. It's not exactly a cruise, of course, but at least it gets me out of the house.

1 hour ago, Zacharius said:

Wow, I can't really think of too many. Sometimes I forget to pack until the last minute, if that's a tradition. I listen to reggae all year round, so there's no music that gets me psyched (and I can't stand Jimmy Buffet). No movies. I guess I am just boring. Perhaps dropping my dog off at my mother-in-laws house the night before? Oh, and if we're cruising out of Ft. Lauderdale, we always hit up The Field Irish pub right off the plane for onion rings and Guinness, followed by a walk out the jetty next to Halmos College to watch any ships leaving if there are. That's about it. 

My wife seems to like Kelly's Landing near the Convention Centre hotel cluster so we've gone there the last 3 times we've sailed out of Port Everglades. So I guess that's a tradition as well?

34 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules. Danny from Harr travel does some detailed walkthroughs. If you want to know where every outlet is in your stateroom or every bathroom on the pool deck, see if he's done the ship you're sailing.

I also watch those walkthroughs. It's certainly quite thorough. To be honest, I'm watching a LOT of YouTube content nowadays (although I generally watch the livestreams on delay - sorry Matt!) and it's probably bad since I have the travel bug again. 

16 minutes ago, sk8erguy1978 said:

I make it a point to get travel sized stuff (& other helpful travel accessories) from Harmon.

I'm good with the travel-sized things - more than enough sample bottles and refillable travel bottles to get by (I like the soft silicone ones). 

It's mostly snacks and stuff that kids could eat on the plane (in the past, anyway) or in the pre-cruise hotel, or if I need to fill the emergency coffee stockpile with Starbucks Via singles.

Forgot to mention the daily weather check. Approximately 25% of Canadian conversations are about the weather (50% is comparing ourselves to the States, 20% is love and/or hate for the Maple Leafs, and 5% is "other", in case you were wondering) so I'm almost obliged to check out the weather patterns.

That One Last Trip to Walmart to pick up stuff I'd forgotten to get.

We also go out and eat foods that we're unlikely to get (usually Chinese or Vietnamese) while on board or near the hotels. We tend to take for granted all the Asian food options we have in Toronto, and forget that there might not be as much choice wherever we go.

I wonder if they have congee for breakfast. One of the things I remembered about Harmony was they had that, which was honestly kind of nice since that's something I eat on the regular.

I wonder if they'll move to digital credit and touchscreen betting instead of chips. I've seen that at Casino Windsor and it works well, but it definitely feels different when you don't have those chips to play with.

On 11/26/2020 at 4:26 PM, cruisellama said:

Didn't Jamie's land based restaurant operation go under?  Are the RCL based restaurants the last ones standing?  https://fortune.com/2019/05/21/jamie-oliver-restaurants/

A couple are still here in Toronto. However the company (KSF group) that owns the locations (along with other restaurants) filed for creditor protection this month.
 

They apparently owe $34 million to creditors, which seems insane. But I'm guessing that this might affect the Jamie's here. 

I think that if you're going to see unlimited pop up, it will be on Black Friday. 

To both of you - how long are your cruises? 100 is fine for 3/4 nights. For a 7 night, not so much.

On 11/4/2020 at 3:57 PM, Rose City Cruiser said:

Asian Pork Tacos.  When I ordered it, I was hoping for something at least similar to "Moo Shu Pork" with the thin pancakes.  

When I saw this on the menu I figured that it would be bao, and it was. But calling it a fusion taco sounds better. I was appropriately whelmed by it. 

I signed up because I could really use a vacation, even if said vacation is a test cruise and may require more of me than what the "new normal" would be.

With that said, because I live in Canada, the odds that I would be selected to volunteer is less likely than someone in the U.S., so I feel like this is a longshot at best.

3 hours ago, linkchaney2001 said:

It wasn’t me!

The "Shaggy Defence" will get you nowhere. 

On 11/4/2020 at 3:47 PM, Rose City Cruiser said:

The 4-hour drive from Miami is not too bad if you plan on arriving a couple days pre/post cruise.  

Depending on which direction the "tide" goes, maybe possibly Cuba will be opened up again?  Majesty/Empress will have purpose again.

This was something we were considering prior to our (cancelled) Symphony cruise last summer but in between switching jobs and lack of vacation time we couldn't justify the extra couple of days. 
 

The catamaran option seems interesting to me and I'll have to look into it if/when the border opens (non-loophole edition) and I can look at heading south again. 

13 hours ago, RBRSKI said:

I can't understand for the life of me how the CDC is allowing the airlines to fill all seats on the plane, while the cruise industry has such a better plan to accommodate for COVID19!  jetBlue just announced today all seats will be filled starting 12/1!!!

Does the CDC does have authority to override the FAA wrt air travel? I'm under the impression that they don't.