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ellcee

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  1. Love
    ellcee reacted to KathyC in Sailing Celebrity Through the Eyes of a Royal Caribbean Cruiser   
    I’ve saved the best for last. Every night after turndown, we returned to the cabin to find not a towel animal, but a chocolate on our pillows. Huge throwback to classic cruising.  Deserves it's own post.
     

  2. Like
    ellcee reacted to KathyC in Sailing Celebrity Through the Eyes of a Royal Caribbean Cruiser   
    Other notables/comparisons to make:
    Captain’s Club.  There were a few special events offered to us, we attended the backstage tour, visited the breakfast one morning but that’s about all of the benefits we used, other than the complementary 90 minutes each of internet.  Since we had a drink package, we didn’t attend any of the nightly events. If you went to the Sky Lounge you could have passed canapes with your drinks, but we received an afternoon plate of treats with the Aquaclass cabin, and ate dinner early each evening, so we didn’t feel the need to go up for that.  Other events held were a wine tasting session (on a port day so we were off the ship) and an elegant tea (again, during a port day and we were off the ship). There was a special evening event that we elected not to attend, as we wanted to do the free slot tournament in the casino. We didn’t feel the need to hob knob with the captain or other officers in attendance - there was $50 casino credit on the line!  
    Biggest thing we noticed about the Captain’s Club?  NO ONE TALKED ABOUT THEIR STATUS.  We saw not a one person walking around with a special name tag or demanding attention.  LOL There were very few people wearing pins, but we didn’t get close enough to any of them to see what they were for.  Tony noticed a few but I really didn’t. I don’t know what they give Zenith members but I can’t say I met one since I had no way of knowing their status.  
    The people I met who were also Elite (and I only knew it because as we were chatting and I found out they had sailed a lot, I asked questions) but it seemed to be that I was the one bringing it up.  
    Guests on board were very mixed in age.  No sleepy retirees here!! There was honeymooners in their 20s all the way up to folks in their 80s.  The Silent Disco was so packed they extended it 45 minutes and people kept dancing until 2am every day.  We enjoyed getting to know people of all ages, including a wonderful couple who got engaged on board. 
    Crew.  The level of service given to every cruiser was top notch.  What you expect on Royal to just be offered to suite guests is given to all.  From the crew on the stairs wiping things down (who stop as you walk by, greet you, then resume their jobs after you pass) to the baristas making your coffee to the very visible and active Cruise Director (more visible than the Activities Manager) every guest is equally special.  They go above and beyond for every single cruiser. Since no one is wearing their special color seapass card on a lanyard, the crew has no idea who is “special” and who is not.  So everyone is special.  
    Certain categories of crew are allowed in all of the guest areas, like the production and entertainment staff.  They are very friendly, very approachable, and want to spend time with you. 
    Premium vs Classic drink packages. We had not planned on buying a drink package.  Since we weren’t flying into port, we could easily bring on two bottles of wine with us.  Our Aquaclass cabin comes with a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine, our Elite status gets us specialty coffees in the morning, and drinks in the evening, so to spend the money on the drink package wasn’t worth it to us.  I knew in advance about the complimentary beverages that were offered at certain events, and in the casino, so we figured we’d get through each day with that. Well...a week before we sailed we received an amazing promotion that you just couldn’t pass up.  BOGO premium drink package. It comes out to $34.50 per day, plus 20% gratuity, per person.  (Yes, you read that 20% right.  Watch for Royal to follow suit soon)  This was a TRUE BOGO. Tony’s account was charged full price for his package, and mine was charged $0.  No 50% to one and 50% to the other kind of thing. So almost $500 later we had a drink package. Not in the budget but we’ll just pull it from the next cruise.  We made full use of the package at the martini bar alone. Premium is worth the extra $10 a day in price, as you get larger drinks made with premium liquors. If you’re drinking mostly beer, then not worth the difference.  But for my husband, who enjoys a nightly whisk(e)y, drinking the good stuff is important.
    Port visits.  We had two stops, first St. Maarten and second St. Thomas.  Cruise Director was on pier both mornings chatting with the guests as they exited the ship.  Cheesy photo ops were of course available.  We did a ship excursion in St. Maarten and did our own in St. Thomas.  Upon returning to the ship, there was cold (wet with ice on them) towels, fruited waters, a covered area to sit, and in St. Thomas fruit kabobs.  Both days we were HOT - those cold towels were amazing to receive.

  3. Like
    ellcee reacted to KathyC in Sailing Celebrity Through the Eyes of a Royal Caribbean Cruiser   
    Ice cream is located in OVC not on pool deck.  Multiple complementary flavors of hard ice cream and yogurt each day, all made fresh in the galley.  There are two flavors of soft serve each day. There are many candy toppings to choose from. This is separate from the paid gelato bar in the social areas - which are also made fresh daily on board.  I think there were 10 flavors to choose from there. Prices reasonable. 
    Blu is the specialty dining that is open to Aquaclass guests only.  It’s overall specialty is clean eating, with a spa flair, unique offerings.  As people who enjoy a plant-based, clean lifestyle, this was right up our alley.  Unfortunately we are a little TOO plant-based, and while most meals offered higher-end dishes like lamb, duck, filet mignon, tuna...we don’t really enjoy those foods.  We did like the “daily vegetable” option most days. But the Oceanview Cafe had the better vegetarian options each evening that we preferred. The last night of the cruise we ate dinner there (instead of eating early at Blu then having more at OVC later.)  On this class of ship, the galley for Blu is next to the one for the MDR, so you can order off either menu.
    Food venues I haven’t mentioned yet - pool grill where you could get hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, fries in the afternoons.  Spa Cafe with small portion, healthy offerings and smoothies, open breakfast and lunch. Coffee shop had complementary pastries all day.  Specialty dining choices are Tuscan (italian), Sushi on 5, Qsine (similar to Wonderland but will be changing to Le Petit Chef in a couple weeks).  Lumanae is the suite only specialty dining (similar to Coastal Kitchen.)
    Matt, just for you, below is a picture of the accompaniments to the Indian bar. 
    When the Pool Grill is open, you will not find burgers or hot dogs in the buffet.  


  4. Wow
    ellcee reacted to KathyC in Sailing Celebrity Through the Eyes of a Royal Caribbean Cruiser   
    We ate.  Lots and lots of food.  I saved this for the toward end as it’ll be pretty long.  
    Before I get into the food, we noticed one big difference that is not necessarily “better.”  There are handwashing stations in the buffet, and Purell stands all over, but handwashing was not really emphasized.  At all. We did see the washy washy cartoon once on embarkation day, but that was all. The buffet had multiple entrances to it, and only one was manned with a crew member holding Purell.  And that wasn’t all the time. We didn’t see many guests using the Purell, and we not once saw anyone but us washing their hands at the stations. But this ship was the only one in Celebrity’s fleet to get a score of 100 from both the US and Canada in 2019 from their surprise sanitary inspections.  We did witness bar staff wiping down menus in the Rendezvous Lounge one evening!
    As an Aquaclass guest, we had access to Blu for breakfast and dinner.  Since this was our first Celebrity sailing, we wanted to experience as many different venues as possible, so we breakfasted in a different spot every day.  Most notable to us, the buffet, named Oceanview Cafe (OVC).  Best buffet we’ve ever eaten in.  Food was varied, most always delicious (warm & not overcooked) and at the entrance is a map that changes with every meal.  You can see what is offered where, and often there is no repeats in the different sections/same on each side kind of thing.
    It’s open 24/7 for beverages, but will have some type of food until the wee hours of the morning.  Official hours end service at 12:30pm, but when a bunch of us walked in at 12:25 after Silent Disco, the pizza guy kept on making pizzas and the other staff left the other food options out until everyone had replenished their empty bellies.  Speaking of pizza - BEST CRUISE SHIP PIZZA.  Puts Sorrentos to shame.  BEST. Hand rolled, hand topped, made in the ovens right there.  Varieties offered changed throughout the week. Another offering we enjoyed was the eggs benedict bar.  No sitting for table service in the MDR if you don’t want. Get your eggs benedict, made the way you like it, and take it out to the pool.  At lunch there were rotating “bars” like baked potato bar, ramen soup bar. Ramen soup was amazing and we kept looking for it to reappear the rest of the week.  Alas, it did not.  This ship had the most unique "bar" areas in the buffet, ceviche, gravlax, pate, roasted meats...to name a few. 
     





  5. Like
    ellcee reacted to KathyC in Sailing Celebrity Through the Eyes of a Royal Caribbean Cruiser   
    With three days at sea ahead of us, we had plenty of time to explore the ship, relax and get familiar with the Celebrity brand.  Over the course of that time, we:
    Played trivia: not huge on Celebrity. Usually light in attendance, and only offered a 1-2 times a day.  Great reminder of how smart you are not. Themes were usually general knowledge, pub style, and on 80s night there was an 80s trivia session. 
    Took 2 tours: 
    Galley Tour. Complementary and open to all. Another glass of champagne. 
    Backstage Tour. Captains Club offering. Not sure what minimum level is to participate.  Another glass of champagne.
    Enjoyed time in a smoke-free casino.  We never - I repeat never - gamble on RCCL, as we can’t stand the smoke, even in the non-smoking section.  We will go in, do our free slot pulls, and walk away with smelly clothes and an entry into a drawing later in the cruise.  On Summit, it was fantastic to be able to enjoy time playing, watching and drinking. Drinks are complimentary while you are playing. Bar servers come around to take your order. 

     
    Enjoyed live music.  There is live music all over the place, all throughout the day.  This ship doesn’t have a centrum/promenade/esplanade type area. There is the “Grand Foyer” that has beautiful orange marble steps, but the area is very closed in.  The steps lead to deck 3, where you’ll find all your “service desks” like Guest Services, Shore Excursions, Internet Cafe, Captain’s Club host. Those are all grouped together and away from the social areas of decks 4 & 5 like Cafe Bacio (coffee shop), Martini Bar, Gelataria (one complimentary scoop Elite and above), Casino and the main venue Rendezvous Lounge.  This is similar to the lounge in the aft of the Radiance Class ships, but more utilized. But back to the live music. At any time, you’ll find the house band at the pool, the DJ at the martini bar, a duo up at the Sunset Bar. Or any of those groups in any other place.  They move around all day, do sets in varying places, and were all very entertaining. There is no Schooner Bar type singer or performer.

     
    Hung out in the outdoor areas.  This class of ship does not offer a lower deck full walk-around the ship, nor does it have access to the helipad.  But up on decks 10 & 11 you can almost make it all the way around. If you are a suite guest, you have access to a special area called The Retreat, which blocks off the forward facing top decks.  In the aft, you can go to the outside seating area of the OVC, called the Sunset Bar (which is open until OVC closes after midnight) or you can go up to deck 12. Deck 11 is aft-facing balconies. Deck 12 aft has a lounge area with the tv screen.  Great place to relax, and it has “quiet hours” from 2-4 daily. Blankets are in holders on deck to use when you’re chilly. They do not require checking/signing out.  They are also available on the pool deck.
    Speaking of the pool deck, another major difference here.  You do not check out towels.  When you wake in the morning, each lounger has a towel on it.  You use it, put it in special bins when you are done, and move on.  If you need another, you go to the rack and take one. There are notes about chair hogs but we didn’t experience any of that as it wasn’t a full sailing and we had the conferences on board who spent most of their days behind closed doors.

     
    Another amazing towel amenity is that there are beach towels in your cabin to take off ship with you.  You return them to your cabin when done, and the stateroom attendant brings you clean ones for the next day.  If you’re heading to the beach, just put those towels in your complimentary (to keep) tote bag and off you go.  Rainy day? There is a golf umbrella and pocket sized umbrella in the cabin for your use (not to keep).  See something out at sea you want a closer up view? Use the binoculars that come in the cabin.  As an Aquaclass guest, we also received complimentary slippers (to keep), use of robes, and a drawstring bag.  There were yoga mats for use while onboard as well.

     
    Enjoyed evening shows.  The production cast performed three unique shows and two theme nights.  One theme night was Motown, and it was held in the Sky Lounge “aka the nightclub”.  They sang, danced, performed, then stayed out on the dance floor for about 30 minutes and engaged with the guests.  The second theme night was the Full Moon Party held on the pool deck, this time with just the dancers.  Again they danced & performed, then stayed around and engaged with the guests. Some changed out of their costumes and came back out to dance some more.  Headliner entertainment was a comedian and a magician.
    Attended game shows.  Much tamer than Royal, even the battle of the genders was super tame.  Not hugely attended for the ones we went to.  
    Used the App to communicate.  You can use the ship wifi without a package to view your account, the daily activities, make reservations and chat with other guests.  Great feature.
  6. Like
    ellcee reacted to KathyC in Sailing Celebrity Through the Eyes of a Royal Caribbean Cruiser   
    This will be a partial recap/partial comparison post.  I thought it would be fun to put together a comparison of Celebrity to what we know as the “norm” of Royal Caribbean cruising.  We’ve sailed also on Norweigan (before it was NCL), Carnival & Disney in the past, but primarily are Loyal to Royal. In my recap, I have bolded the important differences.
    Ship: Celebrity Summit 
    Sail Date: October 20-26, 2019
    Itinerary: Repositioning cruise from Cape Liberty, NJ to San Juan, PR
    Three sea days followed by two ports, St. Maarten & St. Thomas
    Cabin: Aquaclass A2 cabin #: 9131
    Status: Royal Crown & Anchor Diamond = Celebrity Captain’s Club Elite
    Drink Pkg: Premium
    We parked our car at a Newark Airport Hotel, the Hilton, and took an Uber to the port. Since this was a repositioning cruise, we would not be returning to the same port we left from.  We booked parking through Way.com, which was significantly cheaper than parking at the airport. The hotel runs a complimentary shuttle 24/7, so this was perfect for our late arriving flight.  
    We noticed a difference from embarkation.  There is no separation of class.  No mention anywhere.  No suite line, no Zenith (their Pinnacle).  Some boarding passes listed “Expedited Arrival”, which one of ours did.  With that special notation, we had a separate security line/scanner, and separate port employee with iPad to check us in.  They re-took our picture, looked at our passports; we scanned our bags, and then by-passed the rest and walked straight on the ship.  Super fast and easy. They had the normal ship photo-op and on you went.  
    Upon crossing the threshold from the ramp to the ship, you scanned your boarding pass and were then officially on your cruise!  To celebrate this momentous occasion, you were offered either a glass of champagne or mimosa, complimentary.  No drink package necessary!  This was one of many times we were offered a complimentary beverage of this nature.
    With our glasses in hand, we then proceeded to our cabin on deck 9.  On the Summit, you proceed directly to your stateroom where your keys are in an envelope on the door and you get to drop off your carry-on bags and lock your valuables in the safe.  Even though the cabins are not ready until 1-1:30pm, you are not forced to lug your stuff.  When traveling with small kids, elderly grandparents or people with mobility issues - this is HUGE.  
    Free of our jackets and other belongings, we put our cards in a lanyard, and off we went to explore the ship.  Over the course of the week - we saw very few cruisers wearing lanyards.  This sailing had three travel agency groups having conferences, the largest group wore lanyards, but otherwise there was barely anyone.  We did see a few groups in matching t-shirts, but the lanyards were not a thing. By end of day 2 our lanyards were back on their hooks and instead the cards were placed in the lovely card holder we were each given.
    Also on this sailing was another conference, this one made up of Celebrity captains, hotel directors, and upper management including the CEO!  The captains and hotel directors attended a show one evening and all came out on stage to say hi.  Left to right - 1 Cruise Director, 11 Captains, out front Summit Captain Matt, 13 Hotel Directors.
     

  7. Wow
    ellcee got a reaction from PRebecca in When did you find out your GTY assignment?   
    I have GTY room for next November '20. It's already been assigned. I know that's rare.
  8. Like
    ellcee reacted to heffy2 in Anthem 10/24-11/2 The Last Canada/NE of the Season   
    Thank you Royal Caribbean Blog and all you WONDERFUL people who’ve posted content, you’re the reason I’m sitting here right now onboard Anthem leaving a soggy Portland. The Captain said we’re expecting 8-10 foot seas tonight. Wooo!!!




  9. Like
    ellcee reacted to heffy2 in Anthem 10/24-11/2 The Last Canada/NE of the Season   
    Good morning from Portland Maine!
     
     



  10. Like
    ellcee reacted to JLMoran in Second Anthem - NJ to Bermuda - Oct 19 to Oct 24 - LIVE(ISH)   
    We got back to the Dockyard a little after 2 PM, and I suggested that we hit the craft shops and get whatever souvenirs we wanted to pick up. I didn't want to repeat last year's mistake and find ourselves racing the clock to all-aboard time, and it was a good choice. We were able to visit both the craft center, where we picked up another print to hang on our wall along with a couple of pairs of shell earrings for the girls, and the arts building next door that we missed on our last visit.
    No way we could afford any of the paintings on display, and I was extremely bummed to find that a print they had of a moon gate in St. George's was out of stock. No picture taken, out of respect for the copyright notices plastered all over the store and the fact that it's run as a charity. We did pick up a little soap dish / candy dish with a fish hand-painted on it, as Cathy really likes that sort of thing. It's a really neat place, definitely should check it out if you're there.
    We also found one surprise in the place, and kind of wished we could add it to our existing collection:

    No, not the chair! That would never go with the rest of our decor! ?
    Souvenirs in hand, we made our back to the ship and got ready for our sail-away from Bermuda. I wanted to get photos and went up to the North Star Bar, only find that in the hour since we got back on board, we'd become completely shrouded in fog!


     
    I grabbed my traditional margarita while I waited for the fog to clear, and was glad for the overhanging roof they had there as the fog turned to a light rain.

     
    Thankfully, just like in the Caribbean, the rain stopped fairly quickly. We pulled away from the dock only 5 minutes later than scheduled, possibly shy a few passengers; Cathy told me later on that the captain had called the names of about 6 passengers who weren't on board.
    I made my way forward on the walking track, and took my last look at Bermuda for at least a couple of years while the tugboats got us turned around and moving into the channel.



     
    While the rain had cleared out, the sky had not. @DDaley, I had you firmly in mind as I was taking these pics. Amazing cloud formations all through the night.




     
    While it may look like it, this last one is not from a fisheye lens. The clouds really were wrapped in a semi-ring around the island and us!

     
    It was 5:30, and sunset would be on us in just over an hour. I went back to my cabin for a short break and to meet back up with Cathy.
  11. Like
    ellcee reacted to JLMoran in Second Anthem - NJ to Bermuda - Oct 19 to Oct 24 - LIVE(ISH)   
    As with last year, we made our second and final day in Bermuda all about Horseshoe Bay. You already saw the posts I made from there on my phone, so I'm not going to repeat those comments about timing and such. This post is all about the amazing pics I caught with the DSC-RX100.
    First up, the beach itself looking towards the end with the little grotto.The pink wasn't as visible today as it was the last time, might be due to the earlier hour.

     
    This bird was there all day. Perched there when the beach opened up, never moved even once during our whole time there.

     
    The water started off reasonably calm...

    ... but the tide was definitely coming in. Before long, we were getting some nice spray off the rocks.


     
    This rock looked interesting. I wondered what the waves must have been like to undercut it that way.

    I found out a couple of minutes later.

     
    As crowded as the beach was getting by noon time, no one was going all that far out into the water; just about everyone stayed close to where they'd set up their umbrellas and/or loungers. They'd have had a much less crowded time in the water if they'd just walked over where I was standing.

    Although I'm sure this snorkeler appreciated having all the space to themselves.

     
    The other thing that was different about this day was the number of birds I saw. There were sandpipers...


    ...sparrows...

    ...and as you can see in that shot, a variety of bird I haven't seen before. At first I thought it was some kind of Grackle, but then I realized it wasn't solid black; it was actually black with numerous white dots on its body and white edging on its wing feathers. Got some much closer and better shots of it here. I think it's a European starling based on some Wikipedia searching today.


     
    This is going to be my last post to this blog for today; I still have to edit the photos I took during sail-away and our final sunset, plus arrival back in Bayonne, so that should be coming tomorrow or maybe not until Sunday.
  12. Like
    ellcee reacted to JLMoran in Second Anthem - NJ to Bermuda - Oct 19 to Oct 24 - LIVE(ISH)   
    The next part of our day was the sunset sailing we'd booked with the catamaran Restless Native by way of TripAdvisor. We almost missed it! Having seen it docked at the slip right by Calico Jack's earlier in the morning and again in the afternoon, we assumed that's where it would be located for boarding. Nope! Nowhere to be seen, even as it was getting really close to the boarding time noted on our tickets.
    Thankfully, Cathy insisted we ask another catamaran docked there if we knew where the Restless Native was boarding, and we were directed to the compass rose located on the main dock, in between both cruise ships. We made our way there and met up with the group, and pretty much just in time! The catamaran was actually docked past the Norwegian Gem, I guess to avoid conflicting with the route of the other catamaran we'd seen.
    To be clear, this was my fault. The email I got after booking did say we'd meet up on the dock in between the ships. But that little side slip area is pretty much in between the two ships, and after seeing Restless Native there twice we made the mistake of ass-u-me(ing).
    After boarding and taking one of the bench seats at the rear of the boat, we settled in for our night's trip. The sky was already looking promising, but we still had about a half hour before sunset.

    They were serving rum swizzles from the moment we set out, and we all enjoyed at least one; by the time the night was done I'd had three, but the fact is that the earlier ones were noticeably weaker than the ones that were served later. I made sure to keep one eye on the sun as it slowly sank lower in the sky.



     
    Now, at this point I feel like I need to pre-apologize to @Marc Van Niekerk -- I read his blog after taking these pics and coming up with a narrative, and wouldn't you know it but he beat me to the punch! I can't believe our two sunsets were a couple thousand miles apart, because his photos looked an awful lot like the ones I'm about to post. Marc, I swear these really are my own sunset pics and not copies of yours! ?
    So the main event is nearly here, but the low-hanging clouds on the horizon are making me more than a little nervous about whether we'd actually get anything good. Maybe 5 minutes before sunset, the sun started to peek through. The gentleman sitting at the cabin window facing the front of the boat was kind enough to let me slip in for a few moments to take these shots.


     
    Just a couple of minutes later, as sunset was creeping closer and the view was getting even better, everyone in the netting at the very front of the boat was blocking the view out of the cabin windows. I had a feeling this might be all there's be, and I decided I had to get creative with capturing the shot before I lost it. There was no way I could stand in the front or even on the side without falling or hurting myself, my foot just wouldn't have that. So I climbed up the steps to the deck, grabbed hold of the cabin roof with one hand, used the roof to brace the camera. The effort was totally worth it.


     
    As expected, that was all she wrote. The sun disappeared behind the clouds and never peeked through again. But we did get to see some very nice post-sunset colors in the sky as we sailed back to the dock.


     
    We pulled up to the dock about 7:30, right on time. 

  13. Love
    ellcee reacted to JustmeCindy in Peanut allergy question   
    That’s awesome. I’ll be sure to let the wait staff know about my issues then... I was just going to try to pick around what’s available (like I do in regular restaurants) but I guess I’ll be a bit self indulgent and let them help me ? Thanks for the advice. (Goodness, I hope my issue resolves itself like you! I miss enjoying food!)
  14. Love
    ellcee got a reaction from JustmeCindy in Peanut allergy question   
    My first RC cruise I was having a ton of food issues and I let the wait staff know and they were super helpful. (weirdly enough those issues went away, who even knows what that means, I couldn't eat a piece of bread without getting sick and now I can). The waiter brought me the menu the night before to pick what I'd want.
    Family members cruised over the summer and the son has severe allergies to multiple foods. I told her what I knew, she contacted RC when she booked and made it clear to the waitstaff. She was VERY concerned. They had no problems and everyone came home safe and happy.
  15. Like
    ellcee reacted to twangster in Guide to Chair Hogs   
    I like to help the greater cruise community.  
    I find a chair for myself that is available.  Then as I have observed an area for a while, I move chair hog stuff and return to my chair.  Some innocent person comes along and starts using the now empty chair.    Chair hog returns and confronts innocent person who can honestly claim they didn't do it, the chair was unused.  
    Walking to breakfast if I notice a series of hogged chairs that are still hogged when I return from breakfast I grab the towel and drop it off somewhere.   Chair is freed up. 
    I consider it a community service.  
  16. Like
    ellcee reacted to CGTLH in LIVEish, Back to Back to Back on Mariner!   
    Humble room for this voyage, better photos are to come.
     





  17. Like
    ellcee reacted to Sweety in Teacher Strike in Chicago   
    I am a teacher in Chicago. We are going into our second week of striking. The only thing that keeps me going is that I have several cruises booked. While picketing I tell myself your cruise on Explorer is approaching fast. Also, the week of November 4, I will be booking spring break 2022. The little things that keep me strong on the picket line.
  18. Like
    ellcee reacted to mk-ultra in Guide to Chair Hogs   
    I'm merciless with chogs.  On my last cruise, there were 4 sorta suite "cabanas" in the suites-only area that folks staked out at 8AM, clipping towels to chairs.  They'd literally be empty 90% of the time I walked by... hour-after-hour.  After seeing one empty for over an hour I just un-clipped their crap, folded it up on a table and made myself at home.  After reading a book for ~2 hours, I had an indignant couple ask me to leave "their" cabana.  Nope.  Take your stuff and find an empty one (if you can dislodge one of the other chogs).  If you really want to, complain to a crew member that I "took" the cabana and see how far that gets you.
  19. Like
    ellcee got a reaction from Kerry in RC Rewards credit card   
    I have it. I'm told there are better cards out there for rewards. It serves it's purpose for me so it's fine but maybe do a little research on a card that gives you better rewards to use. I use it as a side card to collect points for future OBC.
  20. Like
    ellcee reacted to FloridaCruiseGirl1210 in It's Going to Get Spooky on This Boos Cruise- Adventure OTS Not-So Live Blog   
    2 days to go until we board... I.e. one "full" night sleep lol
    We are nearly completely packed, just finished charging the electronics and some last minute meds and toiletries (I didn't cruise with my electric toothbrush last time and man did I miss it). Here is the waiting game... I purchased Southwest Earlybird Check-in for myself (so i can get on and hold a seat for the BF) so I should get that assignment in the next few hours. I tried to see my chiropractor today but he is out of the office all today which is very odd, so hopefully he will be in tomorrow...
    I did put in a last minute RoyalUp bid for an oceanview balcony, but realized after that our cruise was pulled from most websites, so I'm assuming we are fully booked. I'm not too concerned was thinking I might get some last minute magic. 
    We realized we forgot to pack pants for this sailing... for ice skating... hopefully they have the BFs skate size....if not, I guess I'll be going solo. 
    I was talking to some local Puerto Ricans last night at work and they even recommended Raices for Mofungo so I must be getting solid info from this blog ;)
    I'm too the point also in the cruise where I'm eerily on schedule and I'm afraid I'm missing something "MAJOR". 
    Let's just hope these next nearly 18 hours of work will go quickly... fingers crossed! 
  21. Like
    ellcee reacted to ThyriC in The Suite Life on Grandeur of the Seas to Bermuda 10/26-10-31 (live-ISH)   
    SUCCESS!  Through persuasion from mother in law and myself.... Hub's bringing his suit for formal night!!  He was going to do a button down shirt and nice pants, but... I got jacket and tie and dress shoes from him!!
    I did promise him though that he only had to wear it for dinner and once dinner was over he could run back to the cabin to put on his jeans again.
  22. Haha
    ellcee reacted to Lovetocruise2002 in The Suite Life on Grandeur of the Seas to Bermuda 10/26-10-31 (live-ISH)   
    Finally, some logic around here!
    IT WASN’T ME! 
    @twangster ?
    @Matt ??‍♀️?
    Back to regular programming. Lol
  23. Like
    ellcee reacted to Sweety in The Suite Life on Grandeur of the Seas to Bermuda 10/26-10-31 (live-ISH)   
    @WAAAYTOOO, sometimes we don't leave the ship. Growing up in Jamaica I lived the island life.
  24. Like
    ellcee reacted to CGTLH in LIVEish, Back to Back to Back on Mariner!   
    We all know the adage... good luck sleeping tonight...
    One final thought, this is the best thing to see.

  25. Like
    ellcee reacted to CGTLH in LIVEish, Back to Back to Back on Mariner!   
    Precruise hotel for the night is the Homewood Suites Port Canaveral. One package the hotel offers is a "Park n Cruise" deal.
    First time being able to take advantage of, they have an evening reception with some snack and complimentary beer and wine. Reason for it being the first time, only done Monday through Thursday.
    Tonight's theme is Octoberfest.

    They also offered soup and salad.

    The beer offering
     

     
    For the record I did enjoy a "pint" or two of lager. Have to start this vacation off the right way!

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