OCSC Mike

2 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Crown Lounge snacks

I still can't get over that sad little warming tray, lol.

4 minutes ago, Mrs. Thomas said:

I was just trying to get into my reservation to buy amenities but it's not letting me get to the page with the options. I can get into my reservation, but when I click "plan my reservation" it goes back to the log in screen. I tried more than once and it kept doing the same thing. It's frustrating! They need to get this fixed.

Same glitch here.

14 minutes ago, KevinK said:

I was surprise when the rep told me about this

It's well documented that (unfortunately) you can ask the same question to three different phone reps and get three different answers.

I don't have a definitive answer or solution for you (I thought kids kept their status like you did) but don't accept one phone rep's answer as the correct one.

12 minutes ago, mashley1021 said:

I promise I am 30... just with the eating habits of a teenager I guess  and I really don't drink much so that also furthers this I guess

My wife is... let's go with > 30... and she kinda eats like a big kid and barely drinks as well. We just turned D+ and I'm going to have to make an effort to use up our vouchers. She maxes out at 3 and can easily use less. I'm not a huge drinker myself so 8 vouchers for just me will likely wind up in a fridge half full of Truly and/or soda cans.

22 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I closed that browser pretty quickly lol

Not very unfrugal or YOLO of you!

10 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

They are nurse sharks

Yeah, that's one of the sharks she saw at CocoCay and it wasn't big. She also saw a lemon shark. One was by chill beach where the snorkeling is and the other was by the OTW cabanas. I forget which was which.

12 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Lots of touching and petting (sea lions, that is)

I mentioned your excursion to my wife and she was all in for the sea lions but her two encounters with small sharks at CocoCay was enough for her on that front, lol.

We've swam with dolphins, seen the usual suspects snorkeling (turtles, rays, etc.), and had a great time at the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward before our one Alaska cruise. We did a "puffin encounter" where you go into the puffin/penguin habitat and get to feed them fish for a pretty long time. Guess we'll have to add sea lions to the list now if we ever get to the DR or somewhere else that offers it.

We hardly even notice the CD these days. I really do think we're in our own little bubble with our boring/relaxing routine (which we obviously enjoy).

I will say it was pretty hard not to notice Ricky Matthews on Wonder last month though. That guy has some energy!

20 minutes ago, calvink669 said:

Those are some big shoes to fill!  I'm afraid, I'm neither as funny nor as witty as some of the OGs here.

Everyone has their own style and any blog is better than no blog. You'll be fine.

That said, I do like having my own little niche... not much competition for "frugal guy in interior positing mostly food & drink porn."

20 minutes ago, calvink669 said:

you might get a few cases of BUTI (Blogging under the Influence) on this trip

I bet many of us are looking forward to this part!

6 minutes ago, GatorCruiser said:

80+ cruises ! Mercy, how does one go about such numbers ? Please mentor me!

I think retirement helps. Been trying to speed it up but Powerball doesn't want to cooperate.

Yes, it's midnight in the time zone of where the ship leaves.

9 minutes ago, calvink669 said:

I, on the other hand, will likely get packed up Friday morning before our flight to Miami

I like your style. We have a one hour drive to PC so I do some packing the day before but always finish early in the morning before hopping in the car.

Playmakers lunch and night one filet in CK?

Between that stuff and Paradise Beach, sounds like we have some common preferences... except for the Star Class part, lol.

8 hours ago, Reigert2008 said:

we also get annoyed that the comedians in the comedy club are adult only and cuss like a sailor,, but then do a family show in the main theater.  Why can’t they just always be family friendly.

Because some people prefer adult comedy. You can't please everyone. I have no interest in Broadway shows but lots of people like them. I don't get annoyed that they offer them, I just don't go.

FWIW, there is no family friendly version of the comedy on some ships (like Wonder). They do another adult show around 10pm in the main theater on the last night. In the past, when I've seen the family friendly show after seeing the adult version first, I've mostly found them not funny at all b/c the comics always seemed forced to do a type of act that isn't really their preferred type of comedy.

We all like what we like.

12 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Oscar has been killing it with the mini menagerie..

Those are great!

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

We always go in about 10 minutes after it opens. No lines, plenty of window seats available.

Yep, yep, and yep.

18 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

The windjammer isn't chaotic unless you are in line right when it opens.

Every time I post something about how the WJ isn’t busy or chaotic when it first opens I get crickets so I basically gave up.

It takes a while for people to board, explore, find their way around, take care of issues, etc. I love being one of the first people there.

4 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Waaay more folks in the Crown Lounge on this leg.  Dan and I had to sit out in the VC area while I drink my coffee.  It’s a zoo inside.

One of the few perks of sailing with tons of kids during school breaks on Oasis class... I have yet to ever see a truly crowded CL since they started vouchers (obviously the DL was crowded back during the open bar happy hour days). It's a veritable ghost town in the mornings when I go to get my coffee. I was usually the only one there besides the crew member putting out breakfast at 7am on Wonder last month during spring break.

Granted I go on the early side (sometimes crazy early just to get coffee to go), but even if I went back with my wife at 8:30 or something, there were less than 10 people there. It was a bit more crowded during nightly "happy hour" (should be called snack time) but there were always plenty of seats.

14 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

It's been in its traditional late spot my last few cruises.  And still taking one side of the couple off stage.

Older ships?

As mentioned above, the combo of having seen it enough times and the 2:30pm start time is why we haven't been going.

1 hour ago, Nekki said:

Any idea what's going on?

Have you changed your password?

Sorry Turnaround went so poorly. Hopefully dinner and your new view make up for it.

BTW, I stay in the real dungeons... you had a window!

3 hours ago, Wowestgirl said:

We just booked Paradise Beach for June although I didn't see any daybeds available and my family and I really want one.  Did you book it far in advance?

Sorry to hear. I booked mine way back in November for July but most of them are still available as of today.

Maybe you're going on a busy port day with lots of ships in Cozumel? I'm going on a light day where only one other ship is there with us.

@Wowestgirl  Try e-mailing them and asking for one of the 3 new ones I mentioned above (#20-22). Those are showing as unavailable b/c they haven't been installed yet. They've been extremely helpful via e-mail.

9 minutes ago, PhantomWolf said:

I just punched in the information at the ballpark.  No picture of it was needed.  However, I am stunned that it accepted my selfie with other people behind me in the stands.

It accepts any facial picture/selfie as long as the resolution is high enough. What happens often is that when you get to the port for check-in you will be asked to take a new one (the agent quickly snaps a pic with their device). It's not big deal since it takes about 5 seconds but they seem to like our pictures for some reason and usually accept the ones we took.

12 minutes ago, Married2Grumpy said:

I just watched a You Tube video from a couple weeks ago and they said there is no longer a DJ at Oasis Lagoon. Can anyone who crushed in the last few weeks confirm that?

I didn't even notice last month but yes, multiple people have confirmed that the DJ is no longer there. FWIW, the music sounded exactly the same to me and we always sit in the exact same spot not far from the swim up bar. There's just no human DJ there anymore.

9 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Every restaurants looks good to me, but I don't even know what authentic truly is lol

In Italy = authentic to me, lol.

People say Mason Jar isn't authentically Southern... I know neither of us care... it's delicious!

I'm sure you'll enjoy whatever you pick.