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twangster

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Everything posted by twangster

  1. Source: Urban Dictionary https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pot Calling the Kettle Black Pot Calling the Kettle Black An expression that is said when one accuses another person of that which they are equally guilty of.
  2. Come to think of it, instead of signing out a towel at all, I could just swing by the pool deck in the morning where there are unused towels available presumably laid out by the ship for any guest to use.
  3. Might vary by credit card company but for Amex it's typically 3 or 4 business days. I do this all the time.
  4. If you like your experience and decide to go for the full OWD or Open Water Diver certification, consider doing that on a Royal Caribbean ship. We did our OWD in our home town and had to do the required certification dives in a local reservoir that was cold, dark and miserable. It sucked. For virtually the same price we could have done the OWD on board with Royal's PADI Five Star instructors and done our certification dives in beautiful waters of the Caribbean. That's almost like getting a free dive excursion and the cost to do it at home wasn't any cheaper. You do lose some of your cruise sea days doing the required instruction with the on-board PADI dive masters but it's sea day so no big deal. That's only for the full OWD certification. The Discover Scuba session doesn't use any of your sea days.
  5. Welcome to the message boards! I am a certified open water diver and I would highly recommend a Discover Scuba Excursion as long as it is performed by a PADI Five Star operator (or equivalent). You'll be fine booking through Royal since Royal operates PADI Five Star dive centers on much of it's fleet including Harmony. If you are booking direct with an island operator make sure you research them thoroughly. The "Discover Scuba" offered by PADI Five Star operators is a sanctioned program through the PADI. It will involve some instruction as outlined and required by PADI followed by a shallow dive in the ocean. Color drops off quickly with water depth and the best marine life and color is often in shallow water so it's a perfect match for a Discover Scuba session. Before getting my friend's daughter her full certification I took her to local PADI dive shop at home and we did a Discover Scuba session to make sure she would like it before springing for the cost of the full certification. Doing a Discover Scuba session on a cruise is a much better use of that money because a pool is a pretty boring dive.
  6. I suspect the delay in adding a text feature to the new app is because of this loophole. Pure speculation on my part. The problem is any texting feature requires notifications to be effective. When your phone is locked and in your pocket, you want a notification that someone sent you a text, otherwise having to check manually every 2 minutes would get old very fast. "Did someone send me a text, let's check" over and over - I don't think so. For Apple devices Royal must use the Apple notification platform to do it's thing as each app is sandboxed and can't reach out of the its sandbox especially when closed and phone is locked. In order to use the Apple notification platform they must unblock certain ports on Voom and it just so happens those are the same ports that WhatsApp, Youtube and iMessage use. Consequently they have delayed or possibly abandoned plans to add the chat feature they promised to the new Royal app for this exact reason.
  7. On other ships were I've done more than 7 nights then menu hasn't repeated verbatim, rather it's the same menu items you've seen before in different combinations. Night one might have chicken, beef and fish. Night 8 might be Lamb from night 2, beef, and the lasagna from night 4 or something to that effect. One new item may be introduced here or there. To be honest I've usually found something that interests me, even when I've done 19 nights on a B2B. On longer cruises some nights I simply go to the Windjammer for dinner for a different experience. Dinner in the WJ tend not to be as busy as lunch or breakfast there and there is usually everything there is create a nice dinner. Dinner rolls, salad options, variety of main entrees and ample choices of sides. There are some nice theme nights in the WJ too. On B2B I haven't seen any perks other than a special lunch for consecutive cruisers on day 1 of the next cruise. If you haven't already make sure to inform Royal that you are indeed consecutive cruisers, or have your travel agent do it, it's not an automatic thing as each cruise is distinct and separate from the next with new SeaPass cards, new onboard account, etc. In the US while doing a B2B you must disembark, visit US customs and wait with other consecutive cruisers to re-board once local authorities clear the ship. Consecutive cruisers are the first to board, followed by wedding parties and then pinnacle/suites, D+, D, etc. I'm not sure if the AU authorities have the same procedures.
  8. I think he was connected to wifi, perhaps just no Voom plan purchased? Youtube I am told is great, but not that great.
  9. Apparently YouTube slips through the crack as well. i'm not a huge user but others have reported it as so.
  10. I was fine just doing MDR food each night for 9 nights. Food is very personal though. I'm not a foodie and I am easily pleased (because I didn't have to make it). Certain items I've learned to avoid. Steak Dianne is high on the avoid list for me, but maybe someone else loves it. That's okay, to each their own. This applies to the whole fleet. Overall fantastic service in Grandeur's My Time MDR for me.
  11. So this is a known side effect that isn't published. It mostly benefits iPhones compared to Android devices. In order to make notifications work in Royal iQ they need to allow certain communication with Apple servers. As it turns out, iMessage and other notifications slip through this crack. That isn't by design, rather a side effect. As a result it has become known that you don't need to purchase a wifi Voom plan to get free iMessaging on Apple devices. Some Android users report that WhatsApp text works but it diidn't for me. Quantum class and Harmony - only ships that use Royal iQ. No such luck on any other ship.
  12. The main show like the Broadway shows will likely be the same. I saw it on Liberty in February and enjoyed it. Certain Royal Caribbean original production numbers may or may not change over 2 years. They are a significant cost to produce and staff up for. They just can't change those frequently but they may be getting close to doing so anyways so 2 years might put you over that threshold. Other acts will almost certainly change. Pub singers, bands, comedians, etc.
  13. I've sailed all of those ships. I'd book all of them again. I gotta say I love deck 7 extended balconies on Radiance class. Not sure what's available but the forward and aft deck 7 balconies on Serenade are pretty good if you can deal with seeing your neighbors. However compared to an aft 2 BDR suite on a longer sailing? As much as I love both ships I'm thinking Lady G wins that one. 3 days in port? I'm not sure I've seen that before. That's pretty cool. I'm guessing you have already sort of figured it out. Follow you heart. You know what works best for you.
  14. As I write this on July 10th, 2018 - Radiance of the Seas, Southbound, interior cabin, $499 pp. Ocean view $799. (plus $193 pp port fees/taxes) No special C&A discount, no casino rate or other promo. YOLO! Seriously, for Alaska this is a fantastic price. Airfare wasn't that bad either but when a 7 night Alaskan cruise is cheaper than a Caribbean cruise I YOLO booked it! I did this itinerary on Celebrity last year and I've already booked a few excursions I couldn't last time. Anchorage to Seward train is available too, both direct or through Royal. I booked it through Royal this time.
  15. Nice! Goldstar train will be awesome.
  16. If I recall, there is something like 67 public facing bars on Harmony. It was on a fact sheet in the all access tour. (it might be more than 67). 67 bar pub crawl?
  17. Let's count... 2 Flowriders Splashaway Bay (port aft of center) Hot tub (forward of Splashaway Bay) Kiddie pool (babies, within Splashaway but separate filtration) Sports Pool (starboard aft of center) Hot tub (forward of sports pool) Main pool (starboard forward of center) Hot tub (forward of main pool) Beach Pool (port forward of center) Hot tub (forward of beach pool) 4 Cantilevered hot tubs (near entrance of Solarium, 2 on each side of the ship right beside each other) Suite sun deck hot tub 3 Solarium hot tubs (forward within Solarium) Solarium Cooling station/mister/whatever it is 3 water slides Aqua theater pool
  18. Seward excursions through Royal are geared towards Northbound guests since many include airport drop off: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/destinations/shoreExcursions/subGateWayByPort/search.do?LocationCode=SWD&DestinationCode=ALCAN Trip Advisor has some fishy results in Seward. https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionsNear-g60873-d8266458-AVTEC_Seward_AK-Seward_Alaska.html
  19. I had heard of similar comments with respect to panning for gold excursions at any Alaskan port. Ironic as I think about it. The original gold rush in 1897 was largely over-blown, over-hyped and over-stated with very few winners but a whole lot of people who were misled and lost everything. Alaska excursions involving gold in some cases continue to maintain that phenomena 120 years later.
  20. Not all ships can do hot rocks in Izumi. Anthem for example doesn't offer hot rocks. Neither does Adventure because of the space they had to squeeze it in there during the last refresh. As Matt indicated the online menus are "sample" menus and not the exact menus for any ship.
  21. 3 day over a weekend when college is on break. I once did a B2B on Carnival out of Long Beach, CA. 4 night followed by 3 night, not during any official college break. 3 night was over the weekend. Distinct difference in clientele from the moment they stepped on board for the 2nd leg. Right out of a movie... "Dude!", "Bro!", "Dude!", "Bro!" (drunk girl vomits on pool bar). And that well before muster. I'm doing Mariner in September but chose the 4 night during the week cruise, more to avoid a ton of kids on the weekend. NCL Sky is a booze cruise because they have included booze. There is no equivalent on Royal so it's more a matter of timing.
  22. They count all water features in that 23. Harmony has a cooling station (fancy showers) in place of a solarium pool and that is probably 1 of that 23.
  23. Radiance class was the first thing that entered my head but I was seeking some clarification before going there. I really like them and have future bookings on all of them at the moment.
  24. The PTZtv website includes a map below the webcam that you can zoom in and out. Look for the link under the webcam that says "Show Marine Traffic Map and Twitter Feed". It will show you exactly how Port Canaveral is laid out. The map is provided by marinetraffic.com which is another great, free site to explore. They have an app as well for phones and tablets. Ships don't have to use the Intra Coastal waterway to go South. It's a straight shot pretty much due West East into the open Atlantic.
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